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Romans 8:29 (KJV) 29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

• The word ‘For’ at the start of verse twenty-nine is a conjunction which carries us back to verse twenty-eight.
• It unveils to us the reason why God goes through the effort to make all things come out for our good.
• You are not just an afterthought to God.
• You are a pre-planned being with a definite calling and purpose.
• God’s invested much in us and, as any wise champion, He’s vitally engaged in the protection of His investment.
• Paul goes on and states ‘whom he did foreknow’.
• Who is ‘the whom’ in this phrase?’ Can they be identified?
• Whom refers to believers.
• So, when God says ‘whom He did foreknow’, He knew in advance who would say ‘Yes’ to His plan of salvation.
• Jesus died for ‘everyone’ but, in His foreknowledge, He knows who particularly will receive Jesus.
• Based on this knowledge, the ones who received Him were predestinated.
• The Greek word ‘foreknow’ or proginōskō means to know or choose beforehand.
• If you break the word proginōskō down in the Greek, you have ‘pro’ which means before and ‘ginosko’ which means to know or ‘to know before.’
• The word ‘foreknow’ occurs four other places in the New Testament (Romans 11:2, Acts 26:5, 1 Peter 1:20 and 2 Peter 3:17)
• God is a planner.
• He knows things in advance and acts upon that knowledge.

God Knows the End and Plans Accordingly

• Isaiah 46:10 declares that God knows the end from the beginning.

Isaiah 46:10 (KJV) 10 Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times the things that are not yet done, Saying, My counsel shall stand, And I will do all my pleasure:

• God knows what the end of His plan looks like.
• Armed with such knowledge, He then He backs up from the end and all the way to to the beginning and executes His plan.
• The phrase, ‘before the foundation of the world’, also seen in Ephesians 1:4, 1 Peter 1:20, and Revelation 13:8, or ‘before the ages’ as in, 1 Corinthians 2:7, 2 Timothy 2:9, and Titus 1:2, expresses this same thought.
• The Greek word predestinate means to predetermine, decide on beforehand, determine in advance, decree or appoint beforehand.
• Six times this word arises in the New Testament; Acts 4:28, Romans 8:29, 30, 1 Corinthians 2:7, and Ephesians 1:5, 11.
• The concept of predestination also appears in many places in the Old Testament; 2 Kings 19:25, Isaiah 22:11, 37:26, 54:17, and Jeremiah 1:5.
• Predestinating is the action of foreknowledge.
• What God knows, He acts upon.
• We are given the same admonition, that is to act on what we know (Luke 6:46-49).
• What action did God take?
• He conformed us to the image of Jesus.
• The idea of predestination, as presented in the six New Testament verses above, wraps itself around the person of Jesus and man’s salvation by Him.
• Now we come to the word ‘symmorphos’ or conformed.
• This word means having the same or similar form or nature.
• It comes from the word ‘sym’ or similar and ‘morphos’ or morph, which means to transform or change into.
• The word only occurs twice in the New Testament, here and in Philippians 3:21, where it speaks of our earthly body morphing or being transformed into His glorious body.
• The word ‘image’ means likeness, image or representation.
• We are ‘conformed to the image, likeness, or representation of his Son’.
• This was the exact plan from the beginning.
• We were made initially in His image and in His likeness per Genesis 1:26.
• Through Adam’s sin, our image was marred and altered.
• The salvation story carries us back to our roots and restores us to the original plan of God, a people made in His image.
• This leads us to one of the reasons God gave us the gospels.
• They give us a picture of Jesus.
• They give us a snapshot of the image we are to be transformed into.
• We are like him in nature (2 Corinthians 5:17).
• We are to conform to His works and deeds (John 14:12).
• And, we will be like Him in body (Matthew 17:1-2, Luke 24:36-43).
• The path’s been laid out for us.
• No matter what it may look like.
• No matter what spiritual condition or level a believer may be at.
• No matter if they are spiritual or carnal, it makes no difference all believers will be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ.
• We are set for this destination.
• We are honed in on this target.
• This was the preordained purpose of God made in the councils of heaven before the ages ever began.
• The Most High God did not check in with humanity to see if this would be an acceptable plan.
• Humanity didn’t even exist when God made this plan which leads to a thrilling realization.
• Before the problem existed, a solution stood in place.
• Before the devil ever thought to lead man astray, God had a plan to annihilate him.
• Before the fall of man occurred, the way back to God was in place.
• Before there was ever a sin nature, God set redemption in motion to set things right in the body.
• Before there was ever sin, there was a Savior.
• Marvelous!

An Entire Family of Sons

• Now, we get to the reason for it all, ‘that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.’
• The word ‘the’ in the phrase ‘the firstborn’ is not in the original language.
• The phrase should read ‘that he might be firstborn among many brethren.’
• ‘Firstborn’ isn’t another title for Jesus.
• ‘Firstborn’ isn’t a reference to being raised from the dead.
• Many were raised from the dead prior to Jesus (1 Kings 17:11-17).
• Jesus Himself raised some from the dead like Lazarus in John 11 and the widow’s son in Luke 7.
• So, what does ‘firstborn’ mean?
• It means the new birth process of becoming a new creature, the process of going from spiritual death to spiritual life, Jesus received first.
• He was the first man ‘born again.’
• Jesus is the archetype of a saved man.
• Why did Jesus have to receive the New Birth?
• Because 2 Corinthians 5:21 states Jesus was made sin for us.
• God determined beforehand in the councils of Heaven to have an entire family of sons that look just like Jesus.
• This makes Jesus the firstborn son of an entire family.
• He is the first of a new race of men.
• If there never had been a plan to have more sons, than Jesus would have been the ONLY born among NO brethren instead of the firstborn among many.

Call to Action:

Now that you know you are destined to be conformed to the image of Jesus, it’s up to you. It’s up to you believe it. Act on it and make it your determined goal to realize it.

Question: In the past year how have you embraced the vision of Christlikeness? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below.

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