We will be like Jesus!

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 brethren; Let’s work backward in this verse. God planned for Jesus to be the firstborn of many brethren, so He had to have that purpose as the determining factor as He worked in their lives to make them like His Son. To create them, He had to foreknow them, and for them, He causes all things to work for that glorious good of being Jesus’ brethren forever. Does that encourage you? It should. Notice also that this verse contains a conditional clause. God did something in order that something else might come into being. The verb proorizo or predestined tells us what God did. We get our English word horizon from the root of this verb. It means to set a boundary around something or to mark off. When the prefix pro is added to the word, it means this action was done before or prior to the action. The same prefix pro is in the Greek word for foreknew. So we get the idea that those God knew prior to their existence, He also marked them off prior to their existence for a specific purpose. He put a horizon around them before they were born. This means that the horizon or boundary which dictates all of God’s actions toward His children is the purpose of conforming them into the image of Jesus Christ, His Son, so He would be the firstborn among many brethren. Nothing can thwart this purpose because no one is greater than God to hinder Him from doing what pleases Him. He set the boundary around us, and nothing and no one can prevent it from occurring. Let’s take great hope and encouragement from what Paul was writing. In other letters, Paul chose a marriage analogy as the end goal: Jesus Christ standing in His glory with His spotless bride. But here in Rom. 8, he has clearly depicted the end goal of all of history and creation: Jesus Christ sharing His glory with the redeemed sons of God, His brethren. This is going to happen! For real! Living to love with Jesus is participating in Jesus’ love for His brothers. We are to look at them as He does—with the predetermined purpose in view as if the work is completed (that, by the way is the point of the next verse). He loves us, not because we are worthy of love or because He can trust us, but because His Father chose us to be recipients of His love and righteousness. He will glorify His Son when the Son raises up all whom the Father gave to Him and presents them before Him and all the host of heaven—holy and blameless and beyond reproach (Col. 1:22). Our inheritance is the glory of God! This hope fuels our love for Jesus and each other. We want to do everything we can with Jesus to facilitate, encourage, and hasten conformity into Jesus’ likeness as we relate to our brothers and sisters in Christ. Acknowledgment: Music from “Carried by the Father” by Eric Terlizzi. www.ericterlizzi.com