ROMANS 8:29

“For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters;”

My daughter’s two children, one boy and one girl, reflect the image of their parents. Some days we see more of my daughter in them, and other days, we see our son-in-law more. But inwardly, these two little ones are unique individuals. They may favor their parents in their outward appearance. But only time will tell what their own personalities will reveal.

Hmmm, that might just apply to today’s verse. Let me just say up front that I am NOT going to be talking about predestination today. That is a topic of discussion on another platform, not this one. Today I want to look at how we are “conformed to the image of His Son.” Unfortunately, too many people believe if they just believe in Jesus, that’s all that matters. I would argue that this verse requires more. Let’s take a look.

APPLICATION

The word “conformed” is sýmmorphos and only appears here in Romans 8:29 and in Philippians 3:21. It means, according to HELPS Word-studies “conformed, by sharing the same inner essence–identity (form); showing similar behavior from having the same essential nature.” Did you catch that? It’s not about the outward appearance. It’s an inner likeness. Back to my analogy of my grandchildren. Outwardly they look like their parents, but inwardly they are quite different.

God has determined His desire for each and every follower of Christ is to be like Jesus inwardly. There are a lot of people in the world today who claim outwardly to be a Christian, but their lifestyle and behaviors say something so unlike Jesus. I am sure you can think of examples of that. We are to be just like Jesus inwardly.

Philippians 3:21 says, “who will transform the body of our lowly condition into conformity with His glorious body, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.” Do I need to remind you that God already sees you in that glorified? Remember, He sees time differently than we do. He sees us in our glorified bodies, conformed to His Son’s image. So, why can’t we just agree with Him and be like Jesus?

Conforming to anything requires giving up something. For water to conform to the shape of a vessel, it must give up its free flowing desire. For us to conform to the image of His Son, we must give up all that we think we want to look like. It does not matter what the world thinks. It only matters what He sees in us. Let Him see only Jesus. Let our inward attitude and motives be conformed totally to Jesus’ image, which He has predestined to be His desire for us.

Father, let me look just like Jesus on the inside. Give me His heart for others.

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