Experiencing, Enjoying, and Expressing Christ (2)
Message Seven
The One Who Is Formed in the Believers
OPENING WORD OF THE PROPHESYING MEETING
Reading the verses in each day.
Reading the main points in the outlines.
Pray-reading the verses:
Gal. 4:19 My children, with whom I travail again in birth until Christ is formed in you.
2 Cor. 3:18 But we all with unveiled face, beholding and reflecting like a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord Spirit.
Word of Appetizer
What is the significance of having Christ formed in us?
To have Christ formed in us is to have Christ fully grown in us. First, Christ was born into us at the time we repented and believed into Him, then He lives in us in our Christian life (Gal. 2:20), and finally, He will be formed in us at our maturity.
To have Christ formed in us is to allow the all-inclusive Spirit to occupy every part of our inner being. To have Christ formed in us is to have the three parts of our soul—our mind, emotion, and will—renewed.
Spiritual Burden
Christ needs to be formed in us so that we may be sons of full age and heirs to inherit God’s promised blessing and so that we may mature in the divine sonship.
We need to pray that the Lord will bring us into the experience and enjoyment of Christ, who has been born into us, is now living in us, and will be formed in us at our maturity in order that we may be sons of full age and heirs of God’s promised blessing and that we may mature in the divine sonship.
Concluding Word of the Prophesying Meeting
The Revelation of the Truth
The New Testament reveals that Christ is deeply related to our inner being and desires to have a subjective relationship with us.
Christ was crucified (Gal. 3:1) to redeem us out of the curse of the law (v. 13) and rescue us out of the evil religious course of the world (1:4), and He was resurrected from the dead so that He might live in us (2:20) and be formed in us at our maturity (4:19).
In Galatians 4:19 Christ is presented as the One who is formed in the believers.
To have Christ formed in us is to have Christ fully grown in us.
Christ needs to be formed in us so that we may be sons of full age and heirs to inherit God’s promised blessing and so that we may mature in the divine sonship.
The Experience of Life
Christ was crucified (Gal. 3:1) to redeem us out of the curse of the law (v. 13) and rescue us out of the evil religious course of the world (1:4), and He was resurrected from the dead so that He might live in us (2:20) and be formed in us at our maturity.
To have Christ formed in us is to have Christ fully grown in us. Everything other than Christ must diminish, and Christ must become everything to us in our experience; this is to have Christ formed in us.
Practice and Application
We need to allow Christ to saturate every part of our inner being; He must occupy us and saturate our mind, emotion, and will. Christ should not only spread into our mind, emotion, and will; He should actually become our mind, emotion, and will.
We need to pray that the Lord will bring us into the experience and enjoyment of Christ, who has been born into us, is now living in us, and will be formed in us at our maturity in order that we may be sons of full age and heirs of God’s promised blessing and that we may mature in the divine sonship.
PROPHESYING TOPICS—TWELVE TOPICS PER WEEK
Day 1
T1 It pleased God to reveal His Son in him (Gal. 1:15-16)
(Please illustrate that this revelation was not merely an outward vision but an inward seeing.)
T2 The gospel that the apostle received through the revelation of Christ is the center of God’s revelation in the New Testament (Gal. 1:15-16)
(Please illustrate that what is the focal point of the apostle Paul’s gospel.)
Day 2
T1 The book of Galatians reveals the basic truths of God’s New Testament economy (Gal. 2:19-20)
(Please illustrate that among these basic truths, the most basic one is found in 2:20.)
T2 To be dead to law means that we have been discharged from the law in which we were held (Gal. 2:19-20)
(Please illustrate that because we have died to law, we are no longer obligated to keep the law by the striving of the flesh.)
Day 3
T1 When Christ was crucified, we were included in Him according to God’s economy (Rom. 6:6)
(Please illustrate we have died in Christ through His death, but now He lives in us through His resurrection.)
T2 God’s economy is not that we try to keep the law in the strength of our flesh (Rom. 6:6; John 15:5)
(Please illustrate that His economy is to work Himself into us.)
Day 4
T1 Christ, a living person, is the focus of Paul’s gospel (Gal. 4:19; Phil. 2:5)
(Please illustrate with examples that the book of Galatians is emphatically Christ-centered. )
T2 To have Christ formed in us is to have Christ fully grown in us (Gal. 4:19; Phil. 2:5)
(Please illustrate that what caused Paul to suffer again, like a mother laboring in giving birth.)
Day 5
T1 To have Christ formed in us is to allow Him to permeate our being and saturate our inward parts (2 Cor. 3:18)
(Please illustrate that in order to have Christ formed in us, we need to drop everything other than Christ Himself, no matter how good these things may be.)
T2 To have Christ formed in us is a living, organic matter (2 Cor. 3:18; Rom. 8:29)
(Please illustrate that the Lord intends to constitute our whole being—our mind, emotion, and will—with Himself.)
Day 6
T1 Our mind is the leading part of our soul (Rom. 12:2)
(Please illustrate that to have Christ formed in us is to have the three parts of our soul—our mind, emotion, and will—renewed. )
T2 In order to be God’s sons, we need to be permeated and saturated with Christ (Gal. 3:26)
(Please illustrate that the book of Galatians reveals that God’s intention is for Christ to be wrought into His chosen people that they may become sons of God.)
