Conformed to the image of Christ...

“For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son...” (Romans 8:29) God has a goal for you, and that goal is for you to be “...conformed to the image of his Son...”  The Bible tells us that this goal is predestinated for us… But what does that mean?

Simply put, it means God has already decided that you should be like Jesus. 

Think about it like this. If you pour plaster into a footprint, that plaster conforms to that footprint.

Will that plaster cast be as perfect as the original foot? No. It will be made out of plaster, and will have imperfections… From the mixture the plaster is made from, from irregularities in the soil the print was in... it will not be perfect, but it will be LIKE the original. One could identify the two as similar, just like police detectives investigating a crime can determine that a suspect is the one who left a footprint at the scene. 

As Christians, God has an expectation for us to be LIKE Christ... and we should strive to be LIKE Christ. The Bible tells us that people in the early church were called Christians first at Antioch… It was meant as a mocking term, because it meant ‘little Christs,’ but they wore it as a badge of honor. Why? Because even the world could see the similarity between them and Jesus. Even though they were simply earthen vessels and had numerous imperfections, they were recognizably similar to Christ.

On this side of heaven, we will never be perfect like Christ, but if the world can't see a similarity between you and Christ, you have some serious work to do.