Conformed to the Image of His Son
Introduction. When parents send their children to school, they have clear expectations. Because an education is the pathway to greater opportunities, their progress in learning is very important and is closely monitored. The Holy Spirit revealed that God feels exactly the same way about His children as He lamented in Hosea. “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” (Hos. 4:6).
Many blessings are lost if we don’t put forth our greatest efforts. The Holy Spirit urged: “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God,” by “rightly dividing the word of truth.” Jesus asked God in prayer to “sanctify them in the truth, your word is truth.” Even our “faith comes by hearing the word of Christ.” Thus knowledge of the truth brings God’s approval, greater sanctification, and a stronger faith. God is deeply concerned in our progress and our efforts to learn the word left by the Holy Spirit “to guide us into all truth.” (2Tim. 2:15; Jn. 17:17; 16:12-13; Rom. 10:17).
Before obeying the gospel, all were “alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them.” Their only knowledge was a “vain manner of life handed down from your fathers.” God gave the gospel so we could leave all this behind by becoming “renewed in the spirit of your mind” and putting “on the new man.” Those who seize this opportunity manifest a faith and trust in God and an appreciation for the wonderful blessings God has bestowed in making this possible. “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!” Through our knowledge of the truth God has made it possible for us “to be conformed to the image of His Son.” (1Pet. 1:18; Eph. 4:18-24; 1Jn, 3:1; Rom. 8:29).
God wants us to understand these things so we can feel blessed as we are gaining this knowledge. Our wretched plight was chronicled by Paul “I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died.” After that moment, we were all “dead in trespasses and sins,” and “children of wrath, just as the rest.” The damage sin had wrought on our soul was so devastating that God used “born again” and “a new creation to describe what He had to do to restore us.” (Rom. 7:7; Eph. 2:1-8; Rom. 6:23; Jn. 3:3-5; 2Cor. 5:17).
Jesus revealed that without being “born again,” “of water and the Spirit,” we “cannot enter the kingdom of God.” (John 3:3-5) The fulfillment of this revealed the full nature of this renovation. “Being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses.” All this power was unlocked when we were “buried with Him in baptism.” (Col. 2:12-13)
Although many today deny and reject it, baptism is the new birth. It is in water, it is commanded by the Holy Spirit, and it is how we are “born of water and the Spirit.” When Peter saw the Holy Spirit testifying of the faith in the Gentiles, he said, “Can anyone forbid water, that these should not be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have? 48 And he commanded them to be baptized.” The Holy Spirit also used Paul to confirm this conclusion, calling baptism “the washing of water by the word” and “the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit.” (Jn. 1:12; Acts 10:47-48; 11:17; Eph. 5:26; Titus 3:5).
It is because it is a new birth that we have so much to learn. “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.” God wants us to see that there are new things to learn so we can leave the old ways behind. We have to learn to walk differently, “Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.” We have to learn to talk differently, “Let no corrupt speech proceed out of your mouth, but such as is good for edifying.” There is so much more to being born again than we can imagine. We “have been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God,” and we must “as newborn babes, long for the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby.” (2Cor. 5:17; Gal. 5:16; Eph. 4:29; 1Pet. 1:22-25, 2:1-2).
Even our food changed! “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” After we are born again, as we read, study, and grow, we change our priorities and effort. “Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you.” (Mt. 4:4; Jn. 6:27).
We must not underestimate the power the Scriptures contain! When studying God’s word, we are “beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord,” and “are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory.” No longer forced to being “conformed to this world,” we can now be “transformed by the renewing of your mind, by “proving what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” By looking into this mirror and proving the will of God, we forge our way to being “conformed to the image of His Son.” But the pace and the distance covered are set by our own study and growth. We must be “renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him.” (2Cor. 3:18 Rom. 12:2; Col. 3:10-11).
Only knowledge of the Word can change us from “children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine.” Only diligent study of the gospel of Christ can help us “grow up in all things into Him who is the head — Christ.” Our efforts put forth to accomplish this are closely monitored. (Eph. 4:14-15).
God allots a specific period of time for each of us, based on our abilities and our opportunities. Just as exams at the end of each school year assess progress, so God assesses ours. Like the one talent man who refused to “trade and make gain,” our failure to learn and grow brings a strong rebuke: “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God.” After the new birth, there are two paths open to the disciple. There are those who read, study, and memorize the Scriptures, pray for wisdom, and seek to teach. These are the Christians who are mature and “by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.” They are like Ezra, “For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the Law of the Lord, and to do it, and to teach.” The second path leads to those who for their whole lives continue to be those “unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe.” (Eph. 4:11-15; Heb. 5:11-14; Mt 25:14-30; Ezra 7:10).
We must move from carnal to spiritual. Paul rebuked those in Corinth because they had not “longed for the spiritual milk:” He “could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ.” They had not “put off concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind.” They had not yet progressed to “put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.” (1Cor. 3:1-3; Eph. 4:22-24).
Conclusion. The amazing truth is that God created the gospel with the power to allow us to be born again, to learn and grow, and to become like Jesus. God “predestined (us) to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.” Think of it! Through the power of the gospel and our efforts to learn it, we fulfill our eternal destiny and take our place in the kingdom with Jesus as our brother. The Scriptures are a “mirror” to show us “the glory of the Lord.” As we partake of this spiritual food, we “are being transformed into the same image.” Jesus is the firstborn son and when we are born again, we are adopted into the same family and to those who “walk just as He walked,” “He is not ashamed to call them brethren.” (1Jn. 2:6; Heb. 2:11)
Many blessings are lost if we don’t put forth our greatest efforts. The Holy Spirit urged: “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God,” by “rightly dividing the word of truth.” Jesus asked God in prayer to “sanctify them in the truth, your word is truth.” Even our “faith comes by hearing the word of Christ.” Thus knowledge of the truth brings God’s approval, greater sanctification, and a stronger faith. God is deeply concerned in our progress and our efforts to learn the word left by the Holy Spirit “to guide us into all truth.” (2Tim. 2:15; Jn. 17:17; 16:12-13; Rom. 10:17).
Before obeying the gospel, all were “alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them.” Their only knowledge was a “vain manner of life handed down from your fathers.” God gave the gospel so we could leave all this behind by becoming “renewed in the spirit of your mind” and putting “on the new man.” Those who seize this opportunity manifest a faith and trust in God and an appreciation for the wonderful blessings God has bestowed in making this possible. “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!” Through our knowledge of the truth God has made it possible for us “to be conformed to the image of His Son.” (1Pet. 1:18; Eph. 4:18-24; 1Jn, 3:1; Rom. 8:29).
God wants us to understand these things so we can feel blessed as we are gaining this knowledge. Our wretched plight was chronicled by Paul “I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died.” After that moment, we were all “dead in trespasses and sins,” and “children of wrath, just as the rest.” The damage sin had wrought on our soul was so devastating that God used “born again” and “a new creation to describe what He had to do to restore us.” (Rom. 7:7; Eph. 2:1-8; Rom. 6:23; Jn. 3:3-5; 2Cor. 5:17).
Jesus revealed that without being “born again,” “of water and the Spirit,” we “cannot enter the kingdom of God.” (John 3:3-5) The fulfillment of this revealed the full nature of this renovation. “Being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses.” All this power was unlocked when we were “buried with Him in baptism.” (Col. 2:12-13)
Although many today deny and reject it, baptism is the new birth. It is in water, it is commanded by the Holy Spirit, and it is how we are “born of water and the Spirit.” When Peter saw the Holy Spirit testifying of the faith in the Gentiles, he said, “Can anyone forbid water, that these should not be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have? 48 And he commanded them to be baptized.” The Holy Spirit also used Paul to confirm this conclusion, calling baptism “the washing of water by the word” and “the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit.” (Jn. 1:12; Acts 10:47-48; 11:17; Eph. 5:26; Titus 3:5).
It is because it is a new birth that we have so much to learn. “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.” God wants us to see that there are new things to learn so we can leave the old ways behind. We have to learn to walk differently, “Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.” We have to learn to talk differently, “Let no corrupt speech proceed out of your mouth, but such as is good for edifying.” There is so much more to being born again than we can imagine. We “have been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God,” and we must “as newborn babes, long for the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby.” (2Cor. 5:17; Gal. 5:16; Eph. 4:29; 1Pet. 1:22-25, 2:1-2).
Even our food changed! “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” After we are born again, as we read, study, and grow, we change our priorities and effort. “Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you.” (Mt. 4:4; Jn. 6:27).
We must not underestimate the power the Scriptures contain! When studying God’s word, we are “beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord,” and “are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory.” No longer forced to being “conformed to this world,” we can now be “transformed by the renewing of your mind, by “proving what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” By looking into this mirror and proving the will of God, we forge our way to being “conformed to the image of His Son.” But the pace and the distance covered are set by our own study and growth. We must be “renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him.” (2Cor. 3:18 Rom. 12:2; Col. 3:10-11).
Only knowledge of the Word can change us from “children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine.” Only diligent study of the gospel of Christ can help us “grow up in all things into Him who is the head — Christ.” Our efforts put forth to accomplish this are closely monitored. (Eph. 4:14-15).
God allots a specific period of time for each of us, based on our abilities and our opportunities. Just as exams at the end of each school year assess progress, so God assesses ours. Like the one talent man who refused to “trade and make gain,” our failure to learn and grow brings a strong rebuke: “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God.” After the new birth, there are two paths open to the disciple. There are those who read, study, and memorize the Scriptures, pray for wisdom, and seek to teach. These are the Christians who are mature and “by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.” They are like Ezra, “For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the Law of the Lord, and to do it, and to teach.” The second path leads to those who for their whole lives continue to be those “unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe.” (Eph. 4:11-15; Heb. 5:11-14; Mt 25:14-30; Ezra 7:10).
We must move from carnal to spiritual. Paul rebuked those in Corinth because they had not “longed for the spiritual milk:” He “could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ.” They had not “put off concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind.” They had not yet progressed to “put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.” (1Cor. 3:1-3; Eph. 4:22-24).
Conclusion. The amazing truth is that God created the gospel with the power to allow us to be born again, to learn and grow, and to become like Jesus. God “predestined (us) to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.” Think of it! Through the power of the gospel and our efforts to learn it, we fulfill our eternal destiny and take our place in the kingdom with Jesus as our brother. The Scriptures are a “mirror” to show us “the glory of the Lord.” As we partake of this spiritual food, we “are being transformed into the same image.” Jesus is the firstborn son and when we are born again, we are adopted into the same family and to those who “walk just as He walked,” “He is not ashamed to call them brethren.” (1Jn. 2:6; Heb. 2:11)
- Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. 2 Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. 3 And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure. (1Jn. 3:1-3)
- “as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; 15 but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 because it is written, "Be holy, for I am holy." (1Pet. 1:14-15)