“But Christ in his humanity stands as more than an example for us. If he were only our example, we would cry in despair and in utter frustration, for an example alone falls short of changing the heart and imparting new life. As an example alone he would show us what we ought to be but what we could never become.
We thank God for Christ as our example, but ‘we thank Him that He is much more than our example.’ He is our Redeemer, and he is our life. He became all that we are in order to become our sin-bearer, and as perfect man he died in place of sinners and has purchased the sanctifying Spirit for us.
So in Jesus we see not only what we should be but what we shall be. As our forerunner he has run the race ahead of us and shown us what we shall become by his work for us and in us. ‘We shall be like him.’”
Fred G. Zaspel, The Theology of B.B. Warfield: A Systematic Summary
Emphasis and paragraph breaks mine.