THE DETERMINED OBJECTIVE OF SALVATION Our text is not a sudden departure from the line of reasoning being developed. Ponder again what marvelous thoughts have been presented to us. -- Tomorrow:
"And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. 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. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us." (Romans 8:28-34, NKJV)
Devotion 16 of 33
1. Faith has brought us into a fierce struggle with the flesh (7:15-25).
2. We are not condemned, even though we struggle and are tempted (8:1-4).
3. No concessions can be made to the flesh, even though it makes demands upon us (8:5-8).
4. The Holy Spirit is assisting us in the struggle with the flesh, directing and empowering us to mortify it (8:9-13).
5. The Spirit testifies to our spirit that we are the sons of God, even though we are engaged in warfare (8:16).
6. Our sonship and future glory are related to our present sufferings (8:17).
7. Our sufferings are not worthy to be compared with the glory that will be revealed in us (8:19).
8. The whole creation joins us in the travailing groans of expectation (8:20-22).
9. The redeemed are groaning in travail, expecting the redemption of their bodies (8:23).
10. The expectation of hope enables us to fight the good fight of faith (8:24-25).
11. The Holy Spirit helps our infirmities, making effective intercession for us, because we do not know what to pray for (8:26-27).
12. God Himself is working everything together, including our suffering and groaning, for our ultimate good (8:28).
Verses 29-30 explain WHY all is being worked together for our good. It is not just happenstance. Divine purpose is behind it all. God has predestinated that His children will be conformed to the "image." or representation, of His Son. That predetermination is what guarantees the outcome that all will work together for our good.
CONFORMITY TO THE IMAGE INVOLVES MEANS
This verse is not teaching a mere Divine appointment, but the means through which that sure and unalterable assignation will be realized! Because we are standing on holy ground, great care must be taken to properly present what is declared in this passage. I have sought to make a distinction between being conformed to the "image of His Son," and being conformed to the Son. Let it be clear, we "shall be like Him," according to the promise of God (1 John 3:1-2). When Jesus appears, we will also "appear with Him in glory" (Col 3:4), receiving bodies "like unto His glorious body" (Phil 3:20-21). That is a precious truth that must be heartily embraced by the saints.
However, this is not what is being taught in the verses under consideration. God has predestinated His children will be conformed to the "image," or representation, of His Son. In my judgment, this is declaring the same thing affirmed in Second Corinthians. "But we all, with open [unveiled] face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord" (3:18). Later in the same book, this reality is stated again: "For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" (4:6).
This process refers to being changed by what we have beheld of Christ. God is conforming us to what we see, or perceive, of Christ Jesus. This is not cast into the area of personal opinion, for God Himself is the One revealing the Son. He does this through the Gospel, but in an intensely personal way. The principle is precisely the same as experienced by Moses in the holy mount. His person was altered by what he saw of God which is precisely the point in Second Corinthians 3:7-18).
In our sufferings, the Holy Spirit so powerfully intercedes for us that God enables us to see Christ Jesus, His Son, more clearly and precisely. As we behold that revealed "image of His Son," we are actually conformed to what is perceived.
AN EXAMPLE
We have a concrete example of this in the death of Stephen. When this mighty man of God was rejected by the Jewish council, Scripture says, "he, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God." The sight was so glorious he shouted, "Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!" (Acts 7:55-56, NKJV). Now, we will see how that perception influenced Stephen.
The council immediately led Stephen out of the city and stoned him. As the stones struck upon this saint, he knelt down, crying out with a loud voice: "Lord, do not charge them with this sin" (Acts 7:60). What had happened? In his sufferings, Stephen was given to see the Lord Jesus, and was conformed to the image he perceived! His response to his own sufferings precisely conformed to the Lord's own response to those who killed Him: "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do" (Lk 23:34).
PRAYER POINT: Father, in the name of Jesus, grant by Your grace for me to see more of Jesus through extended exposure to His glory. I know the sight will impact upon me for Your glory and my good.