Printer-Friendly          E-mail this page

Transformed into His Likeness
(From Forerunner Commentary)

Genesis 1:26-27  (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up) From the beginning of the Bible, man is shown to be in an exalted position, different from the rest of the natural creation. He is given dominion over all of the earth. Man's exaltation, his glory, is in the fact that he is in the image of God. In the Old Testament, the primary thrust of being in the image of God involves shape and form. God strongly implies that man is created after the God-kind. What we can derive from this, when connected to other scriptures that show the same general principle, is that when we are changed—when we are transformed (Job 14:14; I Corinthians 15:35-54)—we will be changed into the kind from which we have sprung—God! John W. Ritenbaugh We Shall Be God! (Part 2)

Job 14:14-15  (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up) Job knew what was happening, that God was creating in him. He knew that a transformation was to come into his life after he had died—"if a man dies." God has a desire to be reunited with those who have died, with those in whom He has been working as well. He has a desire to finish His work! As long as the person is in the grave, God's creative powers and efforts are not yet concluded! What He wants to do is to match the spiritual character He has created within the person while alive as a human being with a glorious spiritual body that He will give them upon resurrecting them from the dead! Job understood this. Thousands of years ago, he knew it! Do we know it today as well as Job did then? John W. Ritenbaugh We Shall Be God! (Part 1)

Isaiah 6:10  (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up) In simple terms, convert also means "to change," as in ice to water or dollars to pesos. Theologically, it means changing from sinner to saint, filthy to holy, worldly to godly. In Acts 3:19, Peter uses "repent" and "convert" together. Both entail a recognition of self and sin and beating a hasty path to righteousness. Paul explains the repentance, conversion, and salvation process by contrasting two terms. We must not be conformed to the world ("similar to, identical to, in agreement with, or compliant"), but transformed ("changed in composition or structure, character, or condition, converted"). Repentance means changing one's whole life! Martin G. Collins Basic Doctrines: Repentance

Matthew 7:21-24  (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up) Most assuredly, neither Jesus' teaching nor His manner of living conformed to this world. His warning is that many will use His name and authority to do marvelous works, but in their personal lives they will not submit to the very instructions that would develop their relationship with God and work to produce His image in them! The only conclusion we can draw is that, despite receiving the instruction, they nonetheless conformed to the world. Clearly, if we do not know God because we are not really walking in His shoes, as it were, if He does not recognize us or see in us any family resemblance to Him because we are not at one with Him, He will command us to depart, to leave the Marriage Supper! We will not spend eternity with Him. We will have built our house on sandy ground despite all the privileges and warnings given to us! John W. Ritenbaugh The Elements of Motivation (Part Two): Vision

Romans 12:1-2  (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up) To grasp this properly, one must understand these two verses against the background of the book of Romans. The preceding eleven chapters contain the doctrinal foundation and prelude to the last four chapters of practical Christian living. These two verses bridge the gap between the doctrinal foundation and the practical, daily applications. In these two verses, he is essentially saying, "In light of what I have told you, this is what you are obligated to do in order to serve—that is, to love—Christ." First, we must operate by these two principles and give up our whole being constantly to these pursuits. Second, we must yield ourselves so that we are not merely avoiding conformity to this world but being transformed into a new being, proving to ourselves the benefits of this way of life. Thus, we are to apply these two principles to the subject of the rest of chapter 12, which primarily concerns relationships with the brethren within the church, and secondarily, with those in the world. John W. Ritenbaugh An Unpayable Debt and Obligation

1 Corinthians 15:42-49  (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up) The image Paul speaks of is not merely that we will be composed of spirit even as Christ is, but that our very nature and character be like His. If God desired that we merely be spirit, He could have made us like angels. Angels, however, are not God; they are angels. God is doing a work in us through which we will become like Him, not like angels. His purpose requires that we cooperate. Though our part is very small by comparison to what He is doing, it is nonetheless vital. Notice how Paul draws this beautiful section of I Corinthians to a conclusion by drawing our attention to what it will take on our part to make God's purpose work: "But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord" (I Corinthians 15:57-58). John W. Ritenbaugh The Elements of Motivation (Part Three): Hope

1 Corinthians 15:49  (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up) The "heavenly Man" is Jesus Christ. We will be transformed to be like His glorious body. If we are to have a body, which will be like His, then He must also have a body now. When God restored Him to His former glory (Jesus' prayer in John 17:3-5 requests He be restored to the glory He had with the Father before the world was), He then returned to the kind of body He had before when He was the model for Adam. Do we understand what this means? When He was resurrected, He was restored to what He was before when He was the model for mankind. As the model for Adam, He was like He was when He was resurrected. He was God. The composition was spirit, not flesh, but His body had shape and solidity (remember that He was touched in His resurrection appearances). John W. Ritenbaugh Image and Likeness of God (Part 2)

1 Corinthians 15:49  (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up) As we are now flesh, we shall be spirit?at the resurrection, that is, when we shall be "born again"?when we shall see, enter into, the Kingdom of God?when we are spirit?at the resurrection! Herbert W. Armstrong (1892-1986) Life After Death?

1 Corinthians 15:49  (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up) I Corinthians 15:49 shows the end of the process, which it encompasses in just a brief phrase, "we shall also bear the image of the heavenly." We were born into the human family, and we have borne the image of that family, an image that all of mankind has in common. All of us have the human spirit. We may be different ethnically. We may look different from the person sitting next to us, but now in Christ Jesus He is building a commonality, one God intends us to use to increase our fellowship with Him, as well as increase and deepen the respect and fellowship that we have for each other until we come to bear the image of the heavenly. Then, of course, the fellowship will be in totality. That is where Christians are headed. John W. Ritenbaugh Truth (Part 4)

2 Corinthians 3:10-18  (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up) The Revised English Bible renders it this way: Indeed, the glory that once was is now no glory at all; it is outshone by a still greater glory. For if what was to fade away had its glory, how much greater is the glory of what endures! With such a hope as this we speak out boldly; it is not for us to do as Moses did: he put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from gazing at the end of what was fading away. In any case their minds had become closed, for that same veil is there to this very day when the lesson is read from the old covenant; and it is never lifted, because only in Christ is it taken away. Indeed to this very day, every time the law of Moses is read, a veil lies over the mind of the hearer. But (as scripture says) "Whenever he turns to the Lord the veil is removed." Now the Lord of whom this passage speaks is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. And because for us there is no veil over the face, we all see as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, and we are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory through the power of the Lord who is the Spirit. Do we understand this last verse? We are being transformed into the glory of His likeness! This passage is a comparison of the two covenants. This illustration may be helpful. When we see the full moon on a cloudless night, it is reflecting the glory of the sun. It is likely that the moon will reflect enough light that a person can see fairly clearly to make his way, even though it is nighttime. But once the sun is up, there is absolutely no comparison between the glory of the sun and the glory of the moon! As glorious as the moon looked, shining in its full glory during the dark of night, it is nothing at all compared to the full glory of the sun! This illustrates the difference between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant. The Old Covenant is the moon, bright enough to shine and containing enough reflective glory that, whenever Moses was in the presence of God, he came away with his face reflecting that glory. But that glory faded away! Soon, Moses' face was just like every other Israelite's face. Paul desires to help us understand the greatness, the magnitude, of the difference between the New Covenant and the Old Covenant! The Old Covenant had a glory, but it was a fading one! God never intended it to last! But the New Covenant is so exceedingly great—it is like the difference between the sun in all of its strength and the moon! The glory of the sun does not fade away! We need to look at some differences. Under the Old Covenant, Moses reflected the glory of God. That was wonderful, but it was external, temporary. It faded. Under the New Covenant, it is not just one person reflecting the glory of God but all Christians! It is not displayed outwardly on the face, but inwardly in their nature and character. It is a progressive transformation that increases until the Christian's character is transformed to be like the Lord's glorious character! And at the resurrection, his body will changed to conform to Christ's (I John 3:2). Man's potential not to be a greater man. He is not going to be an angel. He is going to be God! That is the image into which those of us having the Spirit of God are being transformed! For the Christian, it is the image of God after which he is being created—what we are going through this process for! We are moving through this process—through the creative power of God and our own choices—from the glory of man to the glory of God! What does God create in this process? We understand that His purpose in creating is to create the character of God in us. But how is this done? What does God create that produces the character? (Character is actually the fruit of what God creates.) God creates circumstances in which we receive the experience of being confronted with choices according to the will of God. He wants us to learn to react according to His will, according to His law. He wants us to experience, analyze, gain knowledge, deduce, understand, and finally decide to do the right thing. He puts us in circumstances to force the issue—to make us choose. God's spiritual creation is still going on! John W. Ritenbaugh We Shall Be God! (Part 1)

2 Corinthians 3:18  (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up) But we all [Christians], with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being changed [transformed] into the same image [the image of God] from glory to glory [from that of man to God] just as by [the means of] the Spirit of the Lord. John W. Ritenbaugh The Covenants, Grace and Law (Part 1)

2 Corinthians 5:17  (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up) Each Christian is a new lump of clay—being molded and shaped by a Master Potter! We are already physical and mortal, so He must be forming, creating something else in the image of God! God's creative efforts did not end in Genesis 1. He merely reached a stage, a platform, from which springs the most important aspect of the creation. The new creation is the creation of a new order, a Family in His image—and not just physically, but also spiritually. He wants our minds and hearts in His image as well. Ephesians 4:13 says that we to grow to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. John W. Ritenbaugh We Shall Be God! (Part 1)

Ephesians 2:10  (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up) This agrees perfectly with Isaiah 64:8 and Job 14:14-15. God has a desire for the work of His hand. He is a Master Potter, and we are the clay. Here it is in New Testament terminology: "We are His workmanship." God is creating us—in Christ Jesus. The Creator is still creating. He is molding, fashioning, changing us, transforming us to possess His own noble, righteous, holy, spiritual character. Salvation then is actually a process of creating character. John W. Ritenbaugh We Shall Be God! (Part 1)

Ephesians 2:10  (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up) The word "we" in New Testament language usually refers to Christians, as Paul intended in verse 10. We, then—if we are Christians—are God's "workmanship." We today are being "created"—why?—"for good works." God, with the Holy Spirit He has put within us, is forming in us perfect spiritual character! He is creating us in His own character-image! He is creating us to be the supreme masterpiece of all His works of creation—individuals who will ultimately be capable of exercising awesome powers in the universe! Man, the material creation, is only the first phase. Now the clay model has to be fashioned and molded by experience, with the aid of God's Holy Spirit, into the finished spiritual masterpiece. An analogy of this process would be a caterpillar going through a metamorphosis and emerging a beautiful butterfly. Man must undergo a spiritual "metamorphosis," or change—to emerge as perfect spiritual members in the divine God Family! What It Means to Be Born Again

Ephesians 2:10  (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up) We have been resurrected to life, as it were, so that there will be a change in the kind of life we live due to God being at work in us. The Creator is at work; in fact, interestingly, workmanship can be translated "work of art." God is not merely giving a command and transforming us, but He is artistically molding and shaping us. He takes into consideration all the nuances of our personalities, all of the differences of all those with whom He is working: Americans, Canadians, Australians, British, French, Dutch, Filippino, Mexican, Asians, Jews, and everybody else. He is working with us, not just to stamp us out as with a die, making the same impression on every piece, but He is instead approaching His work artistically. In art, infinite expressions are possible. The greatest Artist of all is at work within us. John W. Ritenbaugh Truth (Part 4)

Ephesians 4:22-23  (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up) The heart changed. The way that man is like God does not have so much to do with form and shape as it does with qualities of mind. It is while we were in the world that the mind became corrupted because we just absorbed—we conformed to—the image of this world, which is the image of Satan the Devil in its many forms. This is why we have to be renewed in the spirit of our mind, to be created in the image of His Son. John W. Ritenbaugh We Shall Be God! (Part 1)

Ephesians 4:22-24  (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up) This occurrence of "holy" (verse 24) is a different word from the other word that is most frequently translated as "holy." This word means "to be without contamination." If one becomes dirty because of work—say there is dirt on one's face, hands, arms, and perhaps some of it is grease—it is very difficult to get it off. Will that dirt that contaminates one come off just because one wishes it so? No, we become uncontaminated, clean, because we work at it. The analogy is being followed through here. Paul's illustration explains that effort must be made to become holy, to be transformed into the image of God. There is action required on our part. John W. Ritenbaugh Love and Works

Philippians 3:20-21  (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up) The essential idea here is that, at His return, Christ will transform a saint's outward appearance so that it will conform to His resurrected body and match the essential character of the person as well—the character of God created within the person. He will give each Christian a glorious body to match his glorious character—the character of God! John W. Ritenbaugh We Shall Be God! (Part 1)

Colossians 3:10-11  (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up) Considering these two verses in context, Paul is saying that because the Colossians had undergone the radical transformation of receiving the new nature and being renewed, they should work hard at making practical the salvation Christ made possible. They should do this by ceasing to do the things that separate and starting to do the things that bond. From chapter two, he carries over an underlying assumption that some measure of doctrinal difference is probably exacerbating the unity problem. John W. Ritenbaugh All in All

Colossians 3:10  (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up) It is not just a general picture of God, but specifically the image of Christ, who created us, that we are being formed into. He becomes the goal of salvation of redeemed men. To be conformed to the world requires little or no effort; we just naturally blend. But the Christian must consciously put on Christ. Those traits of character and personality are not something that is put in us by fiat. They must be acquired. John W. Ritenbaugh We Shall Be God! (Part 2)

2 Thessalonians 2:13  (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up) Sanctification is also known as becoming holy (Ephesians 1:4) and being conformed to His image (Romans 8:29). It cannot be left out of God's purpose because it is the step whereby we are transformed into the image of His Son, as well as into the image of the Father. It is in this step that we begin to take on the characteristics of the Family—where we begin to think and act like the current members of the Family of God. The character, the mindset, the attitudes, the perspective, the way we think, the way we look at things begins to become just like the God's. Jesus says in Matthew 5:14, 16 that "a city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. . . . Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works." Sanctification—if it is taking place in a person—cannot be hidden. Why is God so concerned about sanctification? Because 1) this is the step in His purpose in which the major portion of the transformation takes place, and 2) it can be seen—this is how we make a witness! Thus, when Paul sees the working faith, the laboring love, and the patient hope of the Thessalonians, he writes: . . . remembering without ceasing your work of faith, labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of our God and Father, knowing, beloved brethren, your election by God. (I Thessalonians 1:3-4) Seeing the fruits of their lives, he knew that they had been begotten by God—that they had God's Spirit—because they had begun "looking" like the Family. Therefore, if a person claims to be a son of God but habitually lives in sin—he is deceiving himself. Those qualities that identify his "spiritual ancestry" begin to show. "Family ties" can be seen. John W. Ritenbaugh The Covenants, Grace and Law (Part 9)

2 Timothy 1:8-9  (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up) II Timothy 1:8-9 and Titus 3:5 together reveal that our hope for salvation and completion as a son of God in Christ's image, prepared for the resurrection to eternal life, all comes down to one thing—God. Was it not God who saved Israel from their slavery? Was it not God who provided for them the whole way through the wilderness, then gave them their inheritance regardless of any promise? Would they have had any hope without Him in the picture, first giving the promise and then fulfilling what He said He would do? Could they have delivered themselves? Could they have provided for themselves? Could they have taken over the Promised Land? Their hope had to be in God, that He would follow through. The promise did not save them. It was the God who made the promise. John W. Ritenbaugh Perseverance and Hope

Hebrews 2:10-11  (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up) God sanctifies us through Jesus Christ and graciously justifies us by means of Christ's blood, providing us with His Son's righteousness and granting us entrance into a relationship with Him. The sanctification process writes the laws of God in our hearts and minds, making His righteousness real and practical to daily life. During this process, which requires our cooperation with Him in His purpose, we literally become conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. The overwhelming majority of Christian works come to the fore within this process as part of the preparation for God's Kingdom. John W. Ritenbaugh Power Belongs to God (Part Two)

1 Peter 1:2-5  (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up) We have been summoned to a great cause. The summons is personal and specific. It presents us the challenge of choosing to live a life worthy of the awesome vocation to which God has summoned us. Our calling has become our life's work. God has summoned us to yield to His creative efforts of reproducing Himself, just as II Corinthians 3:18 instructs us: "But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord." John W. Ritenbaugh The Elements of Motivation (Part Five): Who We Are

1 John 3:1-3  (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up) The goal is salvation, a concept that needs to be rescued from the small ideas man has assigned to it. Protestant religion has degraded it by talking about it incessantly. But salvation is such a majestic idea! It denotes the comprehensive process of God's purpose by which He is justifying, sanctifying, and transforming His children. John shows us the transformation. God does this by calling us, granting us repentance, forgiving our sins, accepting us as righteous in His sight through Christ, and then progressively changing us through His awesome creative power, by His Spirit, into the image of His Son, until we become like Christ, born as God, with new bodies in a new world, the new heaven and the new earth. It is deliverance from the degrading, mean lives in which we have been held captive in this world! It is living in the Kingdom of God, its goal! We must never be guilty of minimizing the awesomeness of such a great salvation. John W. Ritenbaugh Guard the Truth!

1 John 3:2  (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up) This verse plainly states that "now we are children of God; and . . . we shall be like Him." Since God is going to be "all in all," and since we are already considered by Him to be part of the same organism as Christ, who is God, and will have bodies conformed to His glorious body, there is only one thing we can be after the resurrection—God! After all His preparation to mold us into His image, do we suddenly turn into something else, something less than what He is in terms of being a member of His Family? John W. Ritenbaugh All in All

1 John 3:2  (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up) We will be like Him! The process of identification with Christ has begun and is not yet complete, but it is moving in that direction. It is our responsibility to do what we can to submit to God, so we are living as He does. John W. Ritenbaugh The Resurrection From the Dead

 

XML RSS  feeds available		The Berean: Daily Verse and Comment Sign up for the Berean: Daily Verse and Comment, and have Biblical truth delivered to your inbox. This daily newsletter provides a starting point for personal study, and gives valuable insight into the verses that make up the Word of God. See what over 35,000 subscribers are already receiving each day. Email Address:
We respect your privacy. Your email address will not be sold, distributed, rented, or in any way given out to a third party. We have nothing to sell. You may easily unsubscribe at any time.

Printer-Friendly          E-mail this page