Transformation produces conformation (Rom. 8:29). Conformation is the completion of transformation. Transformation is inward, a matter of essence. Conformation is outward, a matter of shape. While transformation involves a change in shape, conformation further involves molding this shape into a specific image, the image of Christ. Our being transformed means that there is some change in shape. Our being conformed means that our shape has been changed into the image of Christ.
Sanctification, transformation, and conformation cannot be separated. The Lord is sanctifying us and transforming us so that we may be conformed to the image of Christ, the firstborn Son of God, and so that we may be the same as He is in life, nature, and image as His expression, but not have any part in His Godhead.
The believers also are gradually being conformed to the image of God’s firstborn Son. Romans 8:29 tells us, “Those whom He foreknew, He also predestinated to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the Firstborn among many brothers.” Therefore, we are conformed not merely to the image of the Son of God but to the image of the firstborn Son of God.
There are two aspects to the divine sonship of Christ: the aspect of being the only begotten Son and that of being the firstborn Son. As the only begotten Son, Christ is unique, but as the firstborn Son of God, Christ is the first One among many brothers. Romans 8:29 indicates that we are being conformed to the image of God’s firstborn Son. From eternity He was the only begotten Son of God (John 1:18; 3:16). After incarnation, through resurrection He was begotten by God in His humanity to be God’s firstborn Son. This is the second birth of Christ. When Christ was born of Mary, He was born to be a man; His humanity had nothing to do with the sonship of God; He was the Son of Man, not the Son of God. Hence, the human part of the Lord Jesus needed to be begotten into the divine sonship through resurrection. Psalm 2:7 prophesies concerning this matter: “You are My Son; / Today I have begotten You.” Acts 13:33, quoting Psalm 2:7, indicates that Christ was begotten as the Son of God on the day of resurrection. In terms of His divinity, He did not need to be begotten to be the Son of God, but in terms of His humanity, He needed to be begotten through resurrection. On the day of Christ’s resurrection, His crucified humanity was enlivened by the Spirit of His divinity and uplifted into the sonship of the only begotten Son of God. This is to be born through resurrection. Thus, in resurrection Christ was born as God’s firstborn Son.
Christ’s being the Firstborn implies that He has many brothers and that He is the Firstborn among the brothers. The birth through Christ’s resurrection consisted not only of an individual birth but also of a corporate birth; this corporate entity includes God’s firstborn Son and the believers as His many brothers. This means that in one birth, one delivery, God’s many sons were born. All of God’s chosen people were born together with Christ in His resurrection. When Christ was resurrected, we were regenerated (1 Pet. 1:3). We were all born through this one universal delivery. In the resurrection of Christ, innumerable sons of God were born as the many brothers of God’s firstborn Son.
Romans 1:3-4 says, “Concerning His Son, who came out of the seed of David according to the flesh, who was designated the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness out of the resurrection of the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord.” In this portion of the Bible, Christ, the Son of God, is the prototype; in Romans 8:29 the many brothers are the mass production of this prototype. In 1:4 the Son was designated, but in 8:29 the many sons are conformed. The designation of the Son is related to the prototype; the conformation of the many sons is the working out of a mass reproduction. God has the Firstborn as the prototype, and now He wants a mass production to obtain many sons who have the image of the Firstborn. Ultimately, the believers are conformed to the image of God’s firstborn Son, Christ.