Transformation issues in conformation (Rom. 8:29), which is higher than transformation. Transformation is inward and is a matter of essence. Conformation is outward and is a matter of shape. Transformation involves a change in form, whereas conformation involves the shaping of this form into a certain image, the image of Christ. Christ has an image, and we need to be conformed to it. For us to be transformed means that we have a change in form. For us to be conformed means that our form is changed into Christ’s form, into His image.
Sanctification, transformation, and conformation cannot be separated, for they are interrelated. The Lord is sanctifying us and transforming us so that we may be conformed to His image. Conformation comes through transformation, and transformation results in conformation.
The believers are being conformed to the image of God’s firstborn Son. Romans 8:29 tells us, “Whom He foreknew, He also predestinated to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He should be the Firstborn among many brothers.” Hence, we are being conformed not simply to the image of God’s Son but to the image of God’s firstborn Son.
Christ’s divine sonship has two aspects: the aspect of the only begotten Son and the aspect of the firstborn Son. As the only begotten Son, Christ is unique, but as the firstborn Son of God, He is the first among many sons. Romans 8:29 tells us definitely that we are being conformed to the image of God’s firstborn Son. Christ’s resurrection was His birth as God’s firstborn Son. Acts 13:33 reveals that to the man Jesus resurrection was a birth. He was begotten by God in His resurrection to be the firstborn Son of God among many brothers. He was the only begotten Son of God from eternity (John 1:18; 3:16). After incarnation and through resurrection He was begotten by God in His humanity to be God’s firstborn Son. In His incarnation Christ was born of Mary, and in resurrection He had another birth. When Christ was born of Mary, He was born as a man, and His humanity had nothing to do with God’s sonship. Strictly speaking, the human part of Jesus was not the Son of God but the Son of Man. Therefore, it was necessary for the human part of the Lord Jesus to be born into the divine sonship through resurrection. Hence, Christ’s resurrection was a new birth for Him. He was already the only begotten Son of God before His incarnation. Then through incarnation He was born to be a man. Later, in resurrection He was born to be the firstborn Son of God. This was prophesied in Psalm 2:7: “Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.” Acts 13:33, which quotes from Psalm 2:7, indicates that Christ was begotten as the Son of God on the day of His resurrection. He needed to be begotten by resurrection because He had put on humanity. As to His divinity there was no need for Him to be begotten as the Son of God, but as to His humanity there was the need for this. On the day of Christ’s resurrection His human nature was uplifted and transfigured into a glorious substance. This was the begetting by resurrection. In this way the Lord Jesus was begotten to be the firstborn Son of God.
Christ’s being the firstborn Son of God implies that He has many brothers and that He is the Firstborn among these brothers. The birth that took place through Christ’s resurrection involved the birth not only of an individual but of a group, a group that includes the firstborn Son of God and all the believers as the many sons of God. This indicates that through one birth, one delivery, many sons of God were brought forth. According to God’s view, all His chosen people were born together with Christ in His resurrection. This is the reason 1 Peter 1:3 says that we have been regenerated through the resurrection of Christ. When Christ was resurrected, we were regenerated. We were all brought forth by means of a single universal delivery. In Christ’s resurrection millions of God’s sons were born to be the brothers of Christ, the firstborn Son of God.
As believers in Christ, we all are sons of God and brothers of the firstborn Son. Through regeneration we have the divine nature (2 Pet. 1:4). Although we are human beings, we now have the divine nature. Although the Lord Jesus is divine, He also has the human nature. This means that both the Lord Jesus and we are the same in that both He and we have the human nature and the divine nature. Now we are being conformed to the image of Christ as the firstborn Son of God. He, the firstborn Son, is the prototype, and we, the many sons, are the mass production. Christ is the mold, the model, the pattern. God has put us into Him so that we may be molded, conformed, into the image of the firstborn Son. Eventually we all shall be conformed to this mold, to this image.
Romans 1:3 and 4 say, “Concerning His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who came out of the seed of David according to the flesh, and was designated the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness out of the resurrection of the dead.” In these verses Christ, the Son of God, is the prototype, whereas in 8:29 the many brothers are those who have been mass produced from the prototype. In 1:4 the one Son is designated, but in 8:29 the many sons are conformed. The designation of the one Son is related to the prototype; the conformation of the many sons is the work of mass production. Having gained the firstborn Son as the prototype, God is now seeking to have the mass production in order to produce many sons in the image of the Firstborn.
Although we have been regenerated to be the sons of God and we have the appearance of God’s sons in some respects, in most respects we do not yet have this appearance. For this reason, we need to be saved in the life of Christ (Rom. 5:10) from self-likeness, that is, from the expression, the appearance, of the self. The expression of our self is our self-likeness. How much we need to be saved from our self-likeness in order to bear the appearance of God’s sons! To be saved from our self-likeness is to be conformed to the image of the firstborn Son of God. Therefore, when we have been saved from our self-likeness and have been fully conformed to the image of Christ as the firstborn Son of God, we shall be sons of God in reality, and in every respect we shall bear the appearance of His sons.
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