The Ultimate in 3D Imaging

 “For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed

to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.

Romans 8:29

Remember that three-headed mythical creature you drew back in the fifth grade? The one with the cat-like fangs, dragon wings, and hooves of a horse? The one you called the “LiDraHodrox”? Well, now, thanks to an incredible new invention, you can transform that drawing into an actual 3-D figurine. It’s as easy as clicking the “print” button on your computer. Easy, that is, if you own a “Form 1 High-Res 3D Printer.”

The “Form 1 High-Res 3D Printer” utilizes “high-end stereolithography technology” to do what it does. And what it does is really, stinking cool.

The Form 1 is about the size of a small college-refrigerator, and it is lightweight enough to sit on your desk. It can construct details as small as 300 microns and print objects up to 4.9” x 4.9” x 6.5 in. It utilizes a photopolymer-based process in which a high precision system directs a laser across a tray of liquid resin and causes a thin layer to solidify. A build platform then rises in preparation for the next layer. After thousands of repetitions, the desired object is complete.

This method of fabrication is not new. The idea has been around for a while. The first company seeking to commercialize the procedure was founded in 1986, by the same guy who coined the term “sterolithography.” Several versions of these 3-D printers exist and have existed for some time.

But what is new is the accessibility and affordability of this technology. The “Form 1 High-Res 3D Printer” costs a mere $3,299.00. And it comes with an entire liter of resin! (Additional liters cost $149 each.)

I predict that this printer will be just the first of many smaller, cheaper 3D printers. I envision a day, not long from now, when folks will have one sitting next to their inkjet and laser printers. And, in that day, we will no longer have to run to the hardware store to replace that small plastic gear with the broken teeth. We’ll download the schematic, click a button, and watch as our 3D printer creates the replacement. And chess sets with missing pawns? A thing of the past!

Hearing about that printer got me thinking about God’s work of conforming us believers to the image of His Son. The Scriptures speak a great deal about God’s work in us. They teach that He is molding and shaping us into Jesus’ image, causing us to become more and more a testimony to His grace and power.

In Ephesians 2:10, we are called God’s workmanship. The word translated there is poiema, and it refers to that which is created or made. It underscores the creative force of the Almighty creator, as we see expressed in our transliteration of the word – “poem.” We believers are His poem, created by Him for the purpose of “good works.” (That sounds a little like the gear-thing I mentioned above. The gear is designed to accomplish a desired task, and then it is created, becoming an expression of the designer’s creative forethought.)

Fortunately for us, however, we are not just gears or two-bit replacement parts. We are of an infinitely greater value. The design God uses for us is the image of His own Son, Jesus Christ!

Now, just for fun, let’s see if we can put this in terms of our 3D printer analogy. (And, yes, I know it will break down eventually. It has to. The finite can never adequately encapsulate the infinite.) But, regardless…

We accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, and we are declared positionally righteous. We are granted a legal righteousness before God, and we are credited with the righteousness of Christ Himself. This righteousness, though an actual and legal reality, is not yet manifested in our thoughts and actions. – At this point of the process, the new believer is a little like the liquid resin in the tray. It has just been placed there and a high-intensity laser beam has begun to focus upon it. Assuming the electrical supply remains constant and there are no software glitches, the final product is assured. Even though it is not yet present. – In the spiritual realm, of course, there are no glitches. God will accomplish what He begins. When God begins this work of conformity, it will be accomplished.

After we have believed on Jesus, we begin to grow spiritually. The Holy Spirit applies the Word of God to our hearts and minds, causing us to eschew sin and choose righteousness. More and more, day by day, we are conformed to the image of Christ. This process is called sanctification, and it is the righteousness of God made practical in our lives. – In terms of our 3D printer, this is the point at which the laser beam begins shooting back and forth, causing layer upon layer of resin to form and harden. As the layers increase, the image becomes visible. – In the spiritual realm, our walk with the Lord causes an ever-increasing conformity to the image of Jesus Christ. And moment by moment, we begin to look more like Him.

 Eventually, the process is completed. For the believer, this occurs at glorification, the moment when he is completely conformed to the image of Christ Jesus. This, I believe, occurs in a spiritual sense, at the moment of death, when we enter into the presence of the Lord, and, physically, at the Rapture of the Church, when we, the believers from the Church Age, will receive our glorified bodies. – This is that moment when the laser has completed its work and is deactivated. The process is complete, and the image is fully rendered.

There are obvious weaknesses with the analogy. The most obvious is that we are not simply liquid resin. We are spiritual beings still struggling with the sin principle, and God, in His sovereignty, has made it possible for us to quench the Spirit and interfere with His work of sanctification. It’s as if the resin were alive and could resist the urgings of the laser. And, if that were to happen, of course, the outcome would be poor. In the case of our 3D printer, it would be irremediable.

But, praise God, in our case, it is not. The promise of God is that He will start, continue, and complete this work of conformity. He will transform us into the image of His Son. Yes, we may mess things up. We may stick our fingers where they don’t belong and muddle the whole thing. But His promise is that He will take what we have, rework it and ultimately transform it into the perfect image of Jesus Christ.

And that’s really, stinking cool.

Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called,

these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.

Romans 8:30