In order that…

“For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers” (Romans 8:29).

Why did God foreknow and predestine some to be conformed to the image of his Son? The answer is not found in us but in God. Romans 8:29 tells us that those who have been predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son were conformed in order that Jesus might be the firstborn among many brothers. Jesus is the point even in our being conformed by God to Jesus. As much as it grinds against our natural disposition to assume that we are the point of all that God does we must press on to know the Lord (Hosea 6:3) and not ourselves if we are in search for the truth.

Psalm 23 also shows us that our being led in the paths of righteousness – or being conformed to the image of Jesus, as it says in Romans 8:29 – is for God’s name’s sake (Psalm 23:3). The main reason that God is pleased to lead us in paths of righteousness or to conform us to the image of his Son is not so that we can be better disciples or even that we can grow in sanctification (although those are often some of the glorious results). The main reason that God leads and conforms us is God. He is concerned mainly with his own glory. And this is good news for those who trust in the Lord because for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28).

As theologian and author, J. I. Packer, once said, “The subject of the old gospel was God and his ways with men; the subject of the new is man and the help God gives him. There is a world of difference.” It was J. I. Packer’s urging in his writing and the urging of this brief blog post that we remember our relation to God and the gospel.