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God's Plan with You and Me

Published since 22. Nov. 2025
Bible passages:
Romans 8:29-30
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“Those whom He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified” (Romans 8:29-30).

“Those whom He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified” (Romans 8:29-30).

These words are well-known to many readers of the Bible. They form a unity and show us something of God's eternal purpose that He has made. We could also call it His “counsel,” His “purpose,” or His “thoughts of salvation.” This eternal purpose shows us what has been in God's heart since eternity (before the foundation of the world). It is tremendous to think that the great God allows us—in human terms—to take a look into His heart.

God had planned something for us that no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and that has never entered the heart of man. His purpose will surely be fulfilled because nothing depends on us. It is His counsel.

An eternal dimension

God's purpose has an eternal dimension. It goes on from eternity to eternity. In between lies the time in which we live here. Various passages in the New Testament show us something of this:

  • The origin of purpose is God. 2 Timothy 1:9 speaks of “His own purpose and grace.” It is His eternal purpose. God has made this plan! We can only marvel. Everything comes from Him. Any human glory—any honor on our part—is completely excluded.
  • The center of God's purpose is Christ. God knew Him before the foundation of the world but revealed Him at the end of time (1 Peter 1:20). Christ was not chosen before the foundation of the world. God could not make a choice. But He recognized Him as the One through whom He could accomplish His purpose. His eternal plan was that people could share the glory of the Lord Jesus as man in the Millennial Kingdom and behold the glory of Jesus Christ as the eternal Son of God in the Father's house. There, He will be the firstborn among many brothers.
  • The foundation of God's purpose is Golgotha. Without the cross, the counsel of God could not have been fulfilled. We find this in Acts 4:27-28, where Peter recalls that Herod, Pontius Pilate, and the nations gathered in Jerusalem to do all that the hand and counsel of God had previously determined should be done.
  • The objects of God's purpose—and this makes us both humble and happy—are us. We see this both in Romans 8:29-30 and Ephesians 1:4-5, where we are made aware that we are children and sons of God. Colossians 1:12 speaks of us being made able to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light, which refers to the atmosphere of the Father's house.

A five-link chain

In the verses quoted from Romans 8, Paul mentions five points that can be compared to a chain of five links. This chain comes from eternity, so to speak, dives into the present time, and goes back into eternity:

  1. We are foreknown. God thought of us with loving affection before anything was created.
  2. We are predestined. God has chosen us for a very specific purpose. We are to be conformed to the image of His Son so that He may be the firstborn among many brothers.
  3. We are called. God's call comes in time. It is given to people who respond to this call through the work of the Holy Spirit.
  4. We are justified. We have responded to His call and believed in the Savior. God has brought us into a state necessary for His purpose to be fulfilled with us.
  5. We are glorified. Paul describes it as if God's counsel has already been fulfilled when he says, “He has also glorified these.” In eternity, what has already been promised to us now will become reality.

Previously foreknown - previously predestined

“Foreknown” and “predestined” do not mean the same thing. Before the foundation of the world, God recognized each of us as a person. And He intended us—the previously recognized persons—for a very specific part: the special Christian part.

When the Bible says that God “foreknew” us, i.e., before the foundation of the world, it gives us a glimpse into eternity. God saw us before anything was created. He knew that we would one day live in the time of grace. However, the expression “foreknowledge” goes further than just God having knowledge of our existence. Rather, it refers to a loving affection in grace. He thought of us in love and with joy before the foundation of the world.

The expression “predestined” is only used for God in the New Testament (cf. Acts 4:28; 1 Corinthians 2:7; Ephesians 1:5, 11). On the one hand, it shows the sovereignty and omniscience of God. In eternity, He chose all those who would believe in Jesus Christ in the time of grace for a specific part. On the other hand, this term indicates God's specific goal. It was His intention that we should one day be conformed to the image of His Son so that He might be the firstborn among many brothers. This is the Christian part that we will actually take possession of when the Lord Jesus comes in the Rapture. In faith, we are already rejoicing about it today.

The Christian possession

The typical Christian possession (or blessing) is far more than forgiveness of sins—as great and powerful as that already is. It goes beyond what believers had or will have in other ages of salvation—i.e., in the Old Testament and also after the time of grace.

Christians have a twofold possession

On the one hand, we receive an inheritance in connection with creation. We are heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ. God will one day place all the works of His hands under the feet of the Son of Man. This will be the case in the Millennial Kingdom. He is the heir, and we are His co-heirs. We will appear with the Lord Jesus when He comes in power and glory to establish His kingdom here on earth and take up His reign. He will share this glory with us. His kingdom will last a thousand years. This will be followed by the eternal state with new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness will no longer reign but dwell (2 Peter 3:13).

On the other hand, the Christian blessing is connected with the Father's house. There, we will see and admire the glory of the eternal Son. We possess His life. He calls us His “brothers.” For all eternity, He will be the firstborn among many brothers.

We must distinguish between these two sides of our destiny, but we cannot separate them. One is the public side—visible in this world and before others. The other is the hidden side—only visible to the family of God.

When the Lord prayed to His Father in John 17, He spoke of these two sides at the end of this prayer. In verses 22 and 23, He mentions the public side: “And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me” (John 17:22-23). The Lord Jesus shares His glory as a human being with us, and this will become visible before the eyes of this world. It will recognize that we are conformed to the image of the Son of God.

But in verse 24, He speaks of the hidden side: “Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world” (John 17:24). This is about His glory as the eternal Son. We will never be able to share this glory with Him. But we will look at it with admiration and marvel at how much the Father loves the Son. This is only possible because He remains human and calls us His “brothers.”

Conformed to the image of His Son

When Paul says that we will be conformed to the image of His Son, this primarily has to do with the public side of our destiny, when we will appear with the Lord Jesus. It is clear that it is then about Him as man. Nevertheless, the image of His “Son” is spoken of with regard to us. The Lord Jesus is the eternal God and man in one person. We can never separate the divinity and humanity of the Lord Jesus from one another, but we can distinguish between them. This is about the image of the Son of God insofar as He became man.

Being conformed to the image of His Son does not mean that we become gods or are introduced into the Godhead. We are and remain human beings. We cannot change our origin or our nature. We are indeed a new creation in Christ, but we remain creatures (which must never be said of the Lord Jesus). However, as far as His position as glorified man in relation to creation is concerned, we are placed in the same position as He is. But He remains the most exalted, the most prominent. Nevertheless, He shares His glory with us.

John writes: “Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him” (1 John 3:2). When will that be? When He appears in power and glory. Then, what Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15:49 will be fulfilled: “...we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man.”

Being conformed to His image does not mean that we carry the absolute characteristics of God within us. Nor does it mean that we only resemble Him outwardly. Of course, our bodies will be transformed to conform to His body of glory (Philippians 3:21). But being “like Him” is more. It implies that we will be morally like Him, i.e., without sin. We are then not only freed from the power of sin but from sin itself. His purity, His holiness, and His perfection as a human being will find their bright reflection in us. This will be seen when He comes “to be glorified in His saints on that day and to be admired among all those who believe” (2 Thessalonians 1:10).

The firstborn

The Lord Jesus always remains the firstborn, and this is presented in the title “the firstborn.” This title expresses His dignity, which belongs to Him alone.

One can be born as the firstborn (e.g., Genesis 49:3). But one can also be made the firstborn, i.e., the highest and noblest. This is beautifully expressed in relation to David, of whom God says: “I will also appoint Him My firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth” (Psalm 89:27).

In the New Testament, the Lord Jesus is described as

  • the firstborn of all creation (Colossians 1:15),
  • the firstborn from the dead (Colossians 1:18),
  • the firstborn of the dead (Revelation 1:5),
  • the firstborn among many brethren (Romans 8:29).

Hebrews 1:6 speaks of the firstborn without addition. This passage refers to the public side of the kingdom: “But when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says: 'Let all the angels of God worship Him.'” This is the moment of His public appearance.

The expression “firstborn” has to do with the public and the hidden side. Romans 8 refers to the hidden side.

Among many brethren

The addition “among many brethren” also seems to include the hidden side of our destiny—the Father's house. The Lord is not ashamed to call us His brothers. We would never dare call Him a brother because we do not want to pull Him down to our level. But He says to Mary in John 20:17: “...go to My brethren and say to them, 'I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.'”

Because He calls us His brothers and we possess eternal life, which has its home in the Father's house, we will one day be in that glorious place. There, we will behold His glory and marvel at the love with which the Father loved Him before the foundation of the world.

We marvel at how closely the two sides of our destiny are connected and how they almost merge into one another. We will be like Him when He appears in glory to establish the kingdom. We will be in the Father's house as those whom He calls brothers and will admire Him in adoration. We can only marvel that such a thing is contained in the counsel of God!

Called and justified

These expressions tell us what God has done with us in time:

He has called us. This does not simply mean that God calls all people to come to Him. What is meant is the call that is also accepted through the work of the Holy Spirit. It is about the effective call of God. For this, we are grateful to Him from the bottom of our hearts. If He had not called us, none of us would have come to Him.

He has justified us. That is what we absolutely needed as sinners. Only as the justified can God see us “in Christ” (Romans 8:1). Without being justified, it would be impossible for us to share His glory as a human being or to see His glory as a son. Justification is to be understood very comprehensively here. It took place firstly with regard to our sins (Romans 3:23-26) and secondly with regard to sin (Romans 6:7; acquitted = justified).

Glorified

Finally, Paul speaks of what—in terms of time—still lies ahead of us. Nevertheless, it is expressed here in the past tense as an accomplished fact. Faith rejoices in this form of presentation. When it comes to our point of view, we are still waiting for fulfillment. For God, however, everything is already a fact. His purpose is so immutable and certain that Paul can say, “He has also glorified these.”

Without the Lord Jesus, there would be no glory for us. In the kingdom, we will share His glory with Him, and in the Father's house, we will see His glory. But one huge difference will always remain. As the eternal Son of the Father's love, this glory is inherent in Him. When we think of eternity, He has always had this glory. As the Son of Man, however, He acquired this glory through His death at Golgotha. He could rightly say to His Father: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You” (John 17:1). But when we think of ourselves, it is always a gift of glory. We had nothing and earned nothing. It is all a miracle of God's grace. We can only worship in amazement.

 

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