Made in His Image

Romans 8:29-30 (NIV)

For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

When I have a little trouble wrapping my head around a passage of Scripture, I like to read it in other translations. This passage has a lot of meat in it, delivering ideas that often get misunderstood. The Message translation tries to convey the meaning of the original in modern language. It reads,

God knew what he was doing from the very beginning. He decided from the outset to shape the lives of those who love him along the same lines as the life of his Son. The Son stands first in the line of humanity he restored. We see the original and intended shape of our lives there in him. After God made that decision of what his children should be like, he followed it up by calling people by name. After he called them by name, he set them on a solid basis with himself. And then, after getting them established, he stayed with them to the end, gloriously completing what he had begun.

Say “predestination” in a lot of religious contexts, and you can know ahead of time that it is going to lead to a lot of discussion and disagreement. But I think The Message gives us an accurate flavor: Jesus wasn’t a Plan B. He was and is the ideal, the intended shape of our lives.

It makes me think of this: while still in high school, I realized writing would be central to my life. I looked up to many writers and aspired to be like them. When a fellow author wrote the foreword to a book I published last year, he compared my writing to that of Mark Twain and Lewis Grizzard. I took that as one of the greatest compliments I have ever received. They were two of the writers who shaped my life.

God knew all along that Jesus is our model, our image, our intended shape. It may almost be a cliche now, but it’s still true: what would Jesus do? When people look at you and me, do they see us shaped by Jesus?

Let’s pray: Father, thank you for the gift of your Son. Not only through his life, death, and resurrection are we connected to you and to each other, but in him we have the ideal for each of us to seek to become. Keep our eyes always on Jesus. Amen.

This devotional was written and read by Donn King.

Grace for All is a daily devotional podcast produced by the members of the congregation of First United Methodist Church in Maryville, Tennessee. With these devotionals, we want to remind listeners on a daily basis of the love and grace that God extends to all human beings, no matter their location, status, or condition in life.

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