376. Chosen to Be Conformed to the Image of His Son

“For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.” Rom. 8:29.

These He foreknew. Has God not foreknown all humanity? Yes, of course. He knew Judas Iscariot long before he was born into the world. Read in Psalm 109. He also knew the antichrist and spoke of him through His prophets. He also foreknew His own beloved Son, Jesus Christ, and spoke of Him from beginning to end.

What does it mean that these “whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son”?

God foreknew our disposition before the foundations of the world. He knew we had a desire to follow the laws of God, and that our love for God was higher than our own lusts—higher than everything else. He knew we were willing to be freed from the earth and from all people for His sake, just like His Son.

These are the ones God foreknew. He understood their upright mindset, their love for the truth and for righteousness. It was this type of human material He chose to be conformed to the image of His Son.

God does not desire that any sinner should perish, but that all should come to repentance and live. We know that those who are suffering and sick have a need for healing, not those who are strong and healthy. When a person has his or her sins forgiven and, in a sense, does not suffer from that any more, it is very easy for them to just take it easy and relax. But that is not being conformed to the image of His Son.

God, by the Holy Spirit, will guide us into all truth, into cleansing ourselves, into paying back old debts, and into making right again that which we have done wrong, as long as it is in our strength to do so and as long as the Spirit of God testifies for us. In the last days many will cleanse and purify themselves.

Likewise, God has already seen those who, for the rest of their life, will live their life according to the will of God, so that by that will they can be conformed to the image of the Son. He has seen who would empty the cup of sufferings in order to be glorified with Him. And He has seen those who hated the sufferings of Christ and the cross.

Verse 30. “Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called.” God called Saul of Tarsus in the middle of his persecution of the Christians. He testified about Paul, that he was a chosen vessel. He foreknew Paul and called him.

“Whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.”

God was so certain in what He saw from before the foundation of the world that these whom He predestined, He also called, justified, and glorified. He saw that they stood the test, and He saw that they would get the victory through the power and guidance of the Spirit of God.

Now some will say, “All right, but look at Demas. He forsook Paul and received a love of the present world.” Yes, God saw Demas and did not choose him to be conformed to the image of His Son.

Verse 31. “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?”