Bigger on the Inside

Posted On July 12, 2020

“What a wonderful change in my life has been wrought
Since Jesus came into my heart!”

“Since Jesus Came into My Heart” by Rufus H. McDaniel

If you’re a sci-fi nerd like me, you probably already recognize the image above. If not, here’s a little background: This is the TARDIS from Doctor Who, a British science fiction series that’s been around since 1963. The show is about an alien Time Lord, simply known as “the Doctor,” who can travel anywhere in time or space in the TARDIS. He (or she) can also regenerate into a completely new body whenever the old one begins to die . . . more on that later. In case you’re wondering, TARDIS stands for Time And Relative Dimension In Space. The TARDIS is basically a combination space ship/time machine. On the outside, it looks like a British police call box from the 1960s (apparently, it got stuck that way). The inside, well, the video below describes its most notable characteristic . . .

Okay, so we’ve established that it’s bigger on the inside. The Doctor explains that this is because the TARDIS is “dimensionally transcendental,” which basically means that the inside and outside exist in different dimensions. This reminds me of what happens to us when we let Jesus into our lives. On the outside we are still part of the “earthly dimension,” but on the inside we become part of the “heavenly dimension.” Becoming a Christian means we have the wisdom of God, the love of Christ, and the power of the Holy Spirit living in us. Our whole perspective changes. We may look the same on the outside, but we become much, much bigger on the inside.

“For in him we live and move and have our being. . . . “

Acts 17:28 NIV

Once we let God in, He gets to work on us right away, reconstructing us into the image of His Son. We become new people. But this transformation is not a one-time event. One of the things that’s most noticeable about Doctor Who is that there have been so many versions of the Doctor — thirteen so far. This is how the series has been able to last so long. Every time the Doctor is about to die, he (or she) regenerates into a new body played by a new actor (or actress). Each new actor brings a new personality trait to the character, and the inside of the TARDIS usually gets a new look as well. This is like what God does with us. As we let our old sinful selves die, we get new life in Christ with new Christlike character traits. This process is repeated over and over for the rest of our earthly lives.

“God loves to decorate. God has to decorate. Let him live long enough in a heart, and that heart will begin to change.”

Max Lucado, Grace for the Moment

Max Lucado describes God’s transformative work in us as “remodeling of the heart.” Like remodeling a house, the process can be long and difficult. While we know all the hard work will be worth it in the end, it can be rough, even painful, to get through it. Leaving everything as it is would be easier. Change is scary. God calls us to let go of our old selves and trust Him. This can be hard. Just like an old version of the Doctor who has to make way for the new version, we may have a moment of panic. When it’s time for the tenth Doctor to regenerate into the eleventh, he confesses, “I don’t want to go.” But the Doctor still has vital work to do. Unless he regenerates, he will not be able to keep exploring the universe, saving civilizations, and helping people. We may not be ready to let go of our old lives either. But unless we do, we can’t move on and do the work God has planned for us.

” . . . count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.”

Romans 6:11 NIV

As Max Lucado reminds us, this renewing process is not always pleasant or comfortable:

“Portraits of hurt will be replaced by landscapes of grace. Walls of anger will be demolished and shaky foundations restored. . . . We don’t object when the Carpenter adds a few shelves, but he’s been known to gut the entire west wing.”

God won’t let us settle for anything less than a total restoration. He wants us to be like Jesus, and He won’t stop until the job is complete. C. S. Lewis explains that God is not just making us better. He is making us new. Lewis describes it this way:

“It is not like teaching a horse to jump better and better but like turning a horse into a winged creature. Of course, once it has got its wings, it will soar over fences which could never have been jumped and thus beat the natural horse at its own game. But there may be a period, while the wings are just beginning to grow, when it cannot do so: and at that stage the lumps on the shoulders — no one could tell by looking at them that they are going to be wings — may even give it an awkward appearance. . . . “

Christ came not just to improve us, but to transform us. The cool thing is, though, that once we have been transformed, we will also improve. As we allow the Holy Spirit to work in our lives, we will start to develop the character of Christ. This is not something we can do on our own, and it will take time. But once the work is complete, we will soar!

” . . . mere improvement is not redemption, though redemption always improves people even here and now and will, in the end, improve them to a degree we cannot yet imagine.”

C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

C. S. Lewis describes this new life in Christ as a type of evolution, changing us from God’s creatures into God’s children. Christ came down to earth as the “first instance of the new man.” He brought with Him new life. The rest of us become like Him, not through genetics, but by coming in contact with Him. C. S. Lewis calls it a “good infection.” Jesus Christ was like patient zero — He spread this “good infection” to His apostles and His early followers. They spread it to us, and we can spread it to others. Unlike the current pandemic we are facing, we want this “good infection” to spread to everyone.

“He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.'”

Mark 16:15 NIV

The Doctor in Doctor Who looks human, but he is not. The Doctor has a superior body with two hearts and, through the process of regeneration, has the ability to live forever. He’s like an improved version of a human. The same is true of us as Christians. When we accept Christ into our lives, we are transformed into new people, and we gain the ability to live forever with Him. Then through God’s restorative work in our lives, we become improved versions of ourselves. In Mere Christianity C. S. Lewis explains this evolutionary process:

“Century by century God has guided nature up to the point of producing creatures which can (if they will) be taken right out of nature, turned into ‘gods’. Will they allow themselves to be taken? In a way, it is like the crisis of birth. Until we rise and follow Christ we are still parts of Nature, still in the womb of our great mother. . . . I wonder what an ordinary baby would do if it had the choice. It might prefer to stay in the dark and warmth and safety of the womb. For of course it would think the womb meant safety. That would be just where it was wrong; for if it stays there it will die.”

“Jesus replied, ‘I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.'”

John 3:3 NLT

This week’s Scripture passages encourage us to live as “new creations” in Christ. There is a printer-friendly pdf version below the image. Also, just for fun, I have posted a video below of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales performing the Doctor Who theme song. Enjoy! And remember the lesson of the TARDIS: We may still look ordinary on the outside, but God is always working to make us bigger on the inside!

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation;
the old has gone, the new has come!”

2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV

References:

• “Doctor Who – Bigger on the inside.” YouTube, uploaded by thedahuhunter, 7 April 2012, www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqAbh87Z8rc.
• “Doctor Who Theme | #DWFinaleCountdown | Doctor Who.” YouTube, uploaded by Doctor Who, 14 July 2017, www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpI2gFEka_I.
• Lewis, C. S. “Mere Christianity.” The Complete C. S. Lewis Signature Classics, Harper San Francisco, 2002, pp. 1-177.
• Lucado, Max. Grace for the Moment: Inspirational Thoughts for Each Day of the Year. J. Countryman, 2000.
• “The Tenth Doctor Regenerates | David Tennant to Matt Smith | The End of Time | Doctor Who | BBC.” YouTube, uploaded by Doctor Who, 7 December 2012, www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVEY5AL5zzk.

Images:

• TARDIS featured image by Andrew Martin from Pixabay
• TARDIS image by Thomas B from Pixabay
• Heart Hands image by Photo Mix from Pixabay
• Winged Horse image by Dorota Kudyba from Pixabay