UNTIL CHRIST BE FORMED IN YOU!

UNTIL CHRIST BE FORMED IN YOU!

Heb 1:1-3

1:1 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,

2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;

3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;

          The word translated “express image” is the Greek character which actually refers to a graver, one who does engraving or the tool of the engraver. It means “an exact copy of the original.” Jesus was and is God! He had not only the image but the character, the moral attributes, of his father.

Gal 4:19-20

19 My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you,

20 I desire to be present with you now, and to change my voice; for I stand in doubt of you.

          Paul fretted over the people of the church at Galatia because they had a desire to be back under the law. They were about to abandon grace! Paul said he had his doubts about them and their condition. He had called them “foolish Galatians” (3:1) and considered them to have been “bewitched.”

          Paul, who had endured the labor to give them spiritual birth, now felt that he was once again suffering the pains of birth for them. Such is the tender mercies of his ministry to them that he was ready to begin again to secure their salvation. So it is in our modern day that so many who make professions of Christ do not easily develop His character, or moral attributes. Shouldn’t the love of God make his subjects more loving? Shouldn’t we be more merciful because we have received his mercy? Shouldn’t we be holy because He is holy? Shouldn’t we cooperate until the ministry of the Holy Spirit forms and engraves the image of Christ in us?

Eph 4:11-13

11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;

12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:

13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:

          Such is the purpose of pastors and teachers. We are to aid in the development of the fullness of Christ in each one under our care. In many ways this ministry requires much more exertion and diligence than evangelism. Giving birth is hard but parenting is more so.

Dear Lord, help me to cooperate with you and your ministers until Christ is formed in me. AMEN