Romans 8:29 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.
Be not conformed:
One of the greatest dangers facing Christians is the temptation to conform to the world and its image – the things around them, the fades, fashions and mannerisms and language. In Rom 12:2 we are commanded not to be conformed to the world but to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. In Rom 12:2 the word conformed is similar to the word in Rom 8:29 with the exception it means a “willing and purposeful” act on our part. The word in Rom 8:29 means something that happens in us from outside actions. Being transformed is the word we use for the process that caterpillars go through when they go from the worm stage to a butterfly or moth. It is a process that occurs within progressing to the outside. In Matt 17:2 this word is used about Jesus being transformed by God’s power. The Romans 12 passage commands us not to be like the world but allow the truth of God to change us from within and allow it to work out in our life.
Conformed to Christ:
God’s desire is for all His children to be conformed to the image (moral likeness) of His Son, Jesus Christ. Before we can be conformed the way God desires, we must first be conformable to His death (Phil 3:10) and have the old man put to death. It is the carnal nature that prevents us from being more like Christ in our everyday living.
Paul said, “that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, being made conformable unto His death.” Paul also told us that our old man has been put to death with Christ on the cross and we are to reckon ourselves dead unto sin and not to yield our members to sin but to righteousness.
God allows or causes things in our life so that we may learn to trust Him and lean upon Him in those times so that we may learn from and of Christ (Matt 11:28-30). God’s desire is that we grow in our faith and trust of him and also in the faith – the body of truth recorded in His word.
Beyond death:
When Christ returns we will experience what Paul says in Phil 3:21. Here the word fashioned is the same word conformed in Rom 8:29 indicating that this word no only refers to the moral part but also the physical aspect of our change. These mortal and corruptible bodies will be fashioned like His glorified body (1 Cor 15:49-53) and carried into heaven because we cannot reside in heaven as we are now.
The best to come:
All of this is great but the best will be when we actually get to heaven. John tells us 1 Jn 3:2 that we will be like Him in ways we do not even imagine – holiness, love, wisdom and more. This is all part of our predestination mentioned in our text verse.