Original Art
For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son Romans 8:29
Image – If it weren’t for the influence of the Old Testament, we might get a completely mistaken impression about this verse. In the Greek world, as in our world, an image is not the original. It is a copy, a representation of the original. When I show you an image of St. Mark’s basilica in Venice, I don’t provide you with the original. You only get a picture. So, if we read this verse with a Greek mind, we are likely to think that God’s purpose is to somehow make us into copies of Jesus. We aren’t really supposed to be exactly like him. We are only to be a xerox copy, not the real thing.
Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, the New Testament authors go out of their way to make sure that we are not thinking like Greeks. Hebrews 10:1 contrasts eikon (image) with skia (shadow, appearance). Paul makes a similar distinction in Romans 1:23. Jesus is described as the absolutely equivalent eikon of the Father (2 Cor. 4:4 and Col. 1:15). All of this stems from Genesis 1:27 where God created Man in His own image. “Image” in the Biblical accounts is no copy. It is the original work of art.
Now consider what this means for our verse. We are destined by God’s choice to be conformed to the exact, original work of art found in the Son. This does not mean that we will become Jesus. Nor does it mean we will become gods. It means that the perfect creation of Man found in the purposeful act of God in Genesis 1:27 will be restored. God intends to bring back the original work of art He made in Adam – the image bearer. And God is going to do that through His Son, Jesus. In fact, it has always been God’s intention that we should become the true sons and daughters He once created (this is predestined). As that occurs, we will discover we look more and more like the One Son He conceived. The vital union that began with God’s decision to create beings in His own image is now going to be fulfilled by participation in intimate relationship with Jesus. “Those who are in Christ’s image are in God’s image in the true and original sense” (Kittel).
This is heavy-duty discussion. You and I are destined, by God’s own edict, to be restored to the original art. The way that is going to happen is by participation in the life of the Son. Don’t be discouraged if you still struggle with flaws. The original art is going to be restored. God did not introduce a plan of redemption so that you could just look like the original. He is not interested in copies. He is interested in a return to the Garden, in all its glory, because that is what He wanted in the first place – and He is not going to settle for anything less.
How does it make you feel to know that God wants you to be fully restored as His image bearer? You must be jumping off rooftops with that announcement. Just think about it! Sometime in the future you will be God’s fully formed vice-regent once again. Then you can walk in the cool of the evening and converse with the Lord of the universe and not be ashamed.
