Charles Spurgeon Commentary Romans 8:29

"For whom he foreknew, he also foreordained [to be] conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren:" — Romans 8:29 (ASV)

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.

That was the very aim and purpose of their predestination: that they might become like Christ, their great, perfect, elder Brother.

"'Christ, be my first elect,' he said,
Then chose our souls in Christ our Head
Before he gave the mountains birth
Or laid foundations for the earth."

For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the first-born among many brethren.

This is their character, which they perceive, and which others may in some measure perceive. We are to be like him then, conformed to his image. And if we are joint-heirs with him, what a joy it is that we are to be partakers of his nature, made like him!

Christ will be reflected, and in some measure repeated, in all his people; and this shall be the very glory of heaven, that whichever way you look, you shall see either Christ himself or his likeness in his people.

If you have ever stood in a room full of mirrors everywhere, how wonderfully your own likeness has been repeated! And heaven shall be a mirror chamber, in which Christ shall be seen in every one of his people.

He predestined them to be conformed to the image of his Son.

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.

What an eternal honour for all believers, that they might be among the "many brethren" of Christ, God's firstborn and well-beloved Son! Here too, we see the purpose of God's foreknowledge and predestination, that we should be "conformed to the image of his Son."

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.

Oh, what a glorious privilege is yours and mine, if we are indeed children of God! We are, in some respects, children of God in the same sense as Christ himself is; he is the firstborn, and we are among his many brethren.

For whom he did foreknow,

That is, he looked upon them with pleasure and delight from before all worlds. Whom he loved and called to be his own. Christ is the man, the archetype. He is not to be a lone man. It is not good for man to be alone, not even for the man; and there are to be other men called by God's grace who are to be made like him, who are to be his brethren. These, whom God foreknew, with fore-love he has ordained, determined, and predestinated to be made like his Son.