Transformation under Christ
Symbolic Differentiation
And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
Differentiation is an operator on functions that takes one functions and transforms it into another form. The new form is related to the old form--the derivative tells interesting information about how the original function behaves graphically--but it is a completely new function.
When someone accepts Jesus as Lord of their life and gives themselves wholly to God as one of His creatures, a similar transformation occurs. The person is transformed through Jesus and the Holy Spirit into a new self. This new self is redeemed, purified of unrighteousness, and claimed by God for eternal life. The new self is truly new, yet it still retains characteristics of the original self.
God does not want his people to be identical to one another. God's creatures are distinct individuals with unique thoughts, unique gifts, unique appearances, and unique contributions to the body of Christ! Let us rejoice in our diversity in the community of the redeemed!
