God's Design

For those He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers. {30} And those He predestined, He also called; and those He called, He also justified; and those He justified, He also glorified {Romans 8:29–30}

God knew what he was doing from the very beginning. He decided from the outset to shape the lives of those who love Him along the same lines as the life of His Son. The Son stands first in the line of humanity He restored. We see the original and intended shape of our lives there in Him. {30} After God made that decision of what His children should be like, He followed it up by calling people by name. After He called them by name, He set them on a solid basis with Himself. And then, after getting them established, He stayed with them to the end, gloriously completing what He had begun. {Romans 8:29-30}

For God knew His people in advance, and He chose them to become like His Son, so that His Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. {30} And having chosen them, He called them to come to Him. And having called them, He gave them right standing with Himself. And having given them right standing, He gave them His glory.
{Romans 8:29-30}

Our life is a part of God's grand design. God has known about us and had a plan for our life before time began. He knew everything about us before we were even born (Jer. 1:5). God predetermined (prearranged, fixed) that we would become like His Son. Our life, therefore, has a destiny. Christ is the model upon which the Father is developing our life. We are meant to have a relationship with the Father that is as intimate as the relationship between Jesus and the Father(John 17:21). Every event He allows into our life is designed to make us more like Christ.

God's call came when He invited us to join Him in the process! His call was extremely personal, designed specifically for our response. How wonderful to realize that at a particular moment in history, Almighty God spoke personally to us, and invited us to become His child! Because of our sin, we could never live blamelessly. But God forgave our sin and justified us, declaring us righteous. All the spiritual debt we carried with Him was forgiven, and we are freed to enjoy God and to serve Him for the rest of eternity. In Biblical times, the glory of God's people was His presence. We are glorified because the fullness of God now dwells within us , and we will one day be with Him (Col. 1:27; 2:9). He invites us to join Him in working out His will in our life—conforming us to His image (Phil. 2:12).