In Galatians 4:19 Paul says, “My children, of whom I am again in travail until Christ is formed in you.” Christ was born into the Galatian believers, but not formed in them when they were regenerated through Paul’s preaching the gospel to them the first time. The apostle then travailed again that Christ might be formed in them. Christ, a living person, was the focus of Paul’s gospel. His preaching was to bring forth Christ, the Son of the living God, in the believers. Paul’s preaching was emphatically Christ-centered. According to the book of Galatians, Christ has been revealed in us (1:16), He is now living in us (2:20), and He will be formed in us (4:29). To have Christ formed in us is to have Christ grown in us in full. First Christ was born into us at our conversion, now He lives in us in our Christian life, and He will be formed in us at our maturity.
Paul’s word about Christ being formed in us implies that we are being constituted of Christ. To have Christ formed in us is a living, organic matter. Christ is now living in us so that we may be constituted of Him organically. He intends to constitute our being-our mind, emotion, and will-of Himself. He will constitute every part of our soul so that we may have His form, His image, in every part of our being. The word “formed” in Galatians 4:19 corresponds to the word “image” in 2 Corinthians 3:18, where Paul tells us that we are being transformed into Christ’s image. This image is a form. Christ must be formed in us so that we may express Him by being in His image.
The indwelling Christ is living in us, He is being formed in us, and He is becoming our constitution. This is transformation. In our thinking, for example, we should take Christ as our person. If we do this, His element will become part of the very constitution of our mind. Eventually, our entire being will be constituted of the element of Christ. As a result, our constitution will simply be Christ Himself.
The second stanza of #499 in Hymns speaks of Christ being formed in us:
Oh, what a joy! Oh, what a rest!
Christ now is being formed in me.
His very nature and life divine
In my whole being inwrought shall be.
All that I am came to an end,
And all of Christ is all to me.
This stanza of the hymn was written with Galatians 4:19 as the basis. For Christ to be formed within us means that His element is being constituted into our being. In other words, His being becomes our being, and His constitution becomes our constitution. This is not merely a matter of the element of Christ being within us but of having the element of Christ constituted into our being. To be constituted of Christ in this way involves a process of organic transformation and formation. In this process something living is being constituted into, wrought into, our being.
The New Testament reveals that Christ is deeply related to our being. This is not merely a concept, theory, or theology. This is a divine fact that we need to experience in full. It is a fact that Christ with His element dwells within us. As the living One, He with His element is working within us organically, constituting Himself into our being so that we may have His form and express His image. Paul travailed that Christ might be formed in the believers in this way.
Second Corinthians 3:18 says, “We all with unveiled face, beholding and reflecting as a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord Spirit.” Being transformed into Christ’s image from glory to glory is not a doctrine. Doctrine cannot transform us into Christ’s image. This transforming work can be accomplished only as our being is constituted of Christ’s living element. Then we can be transformed into His image. Our Christ today is the One who lives in us and also the One who is being formed in our being by constituting us of His divine element.
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