Trans

When you see the title above, what comes to mind? Let's be honest: the deluge of daily media nonsense has elevated "Transgender" to the top of the heap. What comes into our minds when we hear the prefix "Trans" says a lot about our world and ourselves.

I intend to take back that prefix. I will not allow the world to co-opt it from my vocabulary. So, when I think of the prefix "Trans," here is what I intend to think about instead, and why:

1. Transgression – It's a bit archaic, but it's everywhere in the Bible. Essentially a synonym for sin, transgression teases out the nuance of knowing a particular law and willfully choosing to violate it, to "go beyond" its boundary. So, when the Bible instructs us not to lie ... and we lie anyway ... we go beyond, we transgress the clearly written command written for our flourishing. We transgress.
2. Transfer – In daily use, transfer means to move something from Category A to Category B. In the Bible (Colossians 1:12-13) it says: "[The Father] has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light... [and] has delivered you from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the Kingdom of His Beloved Son (Jesus)..." I have been transferred to a brand new, eternal Kingdom. And that's awesome!
3. Transformation – to utterly change one's life ... like being born all over to a brand new life.
4. Transfixed – to be astonished; what my heart will experience the moment I see Jesus face-to-face; awe.
5. Transparent – see-through; when God looks at me, He can see right through me. Also, Revelation 21:21 says the streets of heaven will be made of gold, "like transparent glass." Won't that be something to walk upon!
6. Transfiguration – the event in Mark 9 where Jesus (with Peter, James, and John) ascends a mountain and is changed in appearance to dazzling brilliance (transfigured), accompanied by the Father's testimony: "This is My Son, whom I love. Listen to Him!"
7. Transaction – An exchange of this-for-that. Jesus' death on the cross was a transaction: He died in my place. He got what I deserved, so that I could have what He deserved. What a Transaction!
8. Transcendent – high and lifted up; "other" than us; different in a super-holy way; worthy of awe, full admiration, and loyalty.

I hope these words rescue your mind to think of godly, noble thoughts (Philippians 4:8) when you hear the prefix – Trans – in our cultural context. May you find yourself transported to new heights as you engage with our transcendent King, the Lord Jesus, who Himself accomplished the Great Transaction – taking our sin on Himself and transferring His righteousness to us.