Conformed To The Image of Christ

"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." (Romans 8:29)

Those whose profession of faith begins and ends with a ticket to heaven have failed to grasp the truth that the Christian life is not merely a destination in life - it is the journey of life. Our destiny is to be conformed to the image of Christ. But what does that really mean?

ERASED AND REPLACED

When I was a young Christian I heard many sermons on what it meant to be conformed to the image of Christ. All of them stressed the idea that there was something deeply wrong with me that needed to be changed. The work of the Cross had indeed saved me - but the "me" it had saved was still not liked by God. Thus, the person I was needed to be replaced! And the Christian journey was God's way of changing me into someone He could love - namely His Son. In other words, God's "wonderful plan" for my life was that I would ultimately be erased and replaced! And standing in my place would be the personality and character of Jesus. While we love to romanticize what it means to be "conformed to the image of Christ" - in reality this kind of thinking amounts to the ultimate kind of rejection!


CONFORMED

There is a flaw in this kind of theology which is born out of a misunderstanding of the word "conformed." We think it means that God wants to push us out of the way to make room for His Son. But the Greek word for "conformed" is symmorphos and it means "to assume the shape or form of another object." Being conformed to the image of Christ, therefore, does not mean that we are to be replaced by Christ. It means that we are to be re-shaped so that we become complimentary and compatible to Christ.

On many cold winter mornings I have awakened to find that sometime during the night Rebecca had conformed her body to mine to help stay warm. This is the best illustration of what it means to be conformed to Christ. It means to "cleave" to Him in thought, deed, and  desire.


OTHERNESS

Christ loves us not because we are just like him; but because we are uniquely ourselves. It is our "otherness" that draws Him to us. We can never forget that the covenant we have with Christ is a marriage covenant. He is the Bridegroom and we are His Bride. Therefore, spiritually speaking Jesus is cast in the role of the masculine and we are cast in the role of the feminine. Whether we are male or female - single or married - we are all called to be the spiritual wife of Christ.

JOINED TO THE "OTHERNESS" OF OUR FLESH

In popular Christian theology, the flesh is thought to be inherently evil. We speak of being in the "flesh" and being in the "Spirit" as though one was the exact opposite of the other. Jewish theology makes no such distinction. The flesh of man is just as sacred as the soul. We know that our bodies are indeed the "temples of the Holy Spirit."  (1 Cor. 6:19,20) In the spiritual marriage covenant Christ has forged with us, the Bible says He has made Himself "one flesh with us" (Eph 5:31,32) Notice it doesn't say one "spirit" but one "flesh." It is the "otherness" or our humanity that Christ desires to share with us!

HOW DO WE CONFORM?

The question remains - "how do we conform to the image of Christ?" We become conformed to Him to the same degree we build and nurture an intimate relationship with Him. His likes become our likes. His desires become ours as well. We lay aside our own plans to embrace His vision and destiny for our lives. In short - being conformed to Him does not mean we are replaced - it means we are embraced.