Is Christ Being Formed in You?
I don’t know about you, but as a father of 4 kiddos I have a bucket list of places that I want to take my kids before they are grown and out of the house. And one of the places that is toward the top of my list is the Grand Canyon. How could it not be? 277 miles long, 18 miles wide, 6000 feet deep. If ever you wanted to feel your own smallness in comparison to the grandeur of God’s creation then look no further.
But as stunning and as gorgeous as this natural wonder is, it’s no surprise that it is also fraught with danger. Every year an average of 12 people die at the Grand Canyon, for reasons ranging from injury to inexperience to sheer stupidity. And so to help the general populace safe, the park rangers make a point to post warning signs in key areas all around the park.
Signs like:
Danger. Use Caution near the edge. Makes sense.
Watch out for reptiles: rattlesnakes, lizards, spiders, centipedes, scorpions, etc.
Caution: sheer cliff, control your children and pets. And my personal favorite:
• “Are you fit and adventurous? You fit the profile of the 3 recent deaths here at the Grand
Canyon. Most heat and injury related deaths occur within earshot of this sign— 5 minutes from the top.”
And I start this way this morning, because in our passage in Galatians, Paul is dealing with a people on the edge. At the time of writing the Christians in Galatia are close to taking the plunge into law keeping. They are beginning to believe that in order to be complete, in order to be fully righteous before God they must begin to keep the Jewish law. To keep the sabbaths and religious festivals and ultimately be circumcised.
And Paul comes along and says you foolish Galatians, don’t you see the cliff? To rely on the law is to fall away from reliance on Christ and it will the death of you. And so in our passage this morning Paul posts 3 warning signs to urging the Galatians not depart from Christ. Each of these signs comes in the way of a reminder.
This forms our outline here this morning.
I. First in verse 8, Remember who you used to be (8)
II. Second in verses 9-11 Remember who you now are (9-11)
III. Third in verses 12-20 Remember who spoke God’s word to you (12-20)
Verse 8
1. Remember who you used to be.
Read with me verse 8.
Gal. 4:8 “Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods.”
Paul reminds the Galatians here of who they used to be. He says, brothers, there was a day when you did not know God. And at first that doesn’t seem like an overly significant statement. But what we have to realize is that Paul is doing much more here than making a statement about the past ignorance of these Christians.
Because when Paul talks about “knowing God” or not knowing God this goes far deeper than mere information. To know someone is a statement about relationship. For Paul to know someone is to be intimately aquatinted with them, to be in their good graces, to be the recipients of their blessing. That’s what Paul means by “know.” And so the opposite is also true. To not know God is not just a reference to someone’s ignorance of God, or lack of information. No, to not know God is to be cut off from God.
So much so that in 2 Thess. 1 Paul says that God will inflict judgment on those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
To not know God is to be in a terrifying state. It’s a state of impending wrath. And Paul says to the Galatians, that’s who you once were. You were cut off from God. You were among to whom Jesus would say in the last day ‘I never knew you; depart from me,”
But that’s not all Paul says here, look at the second half of verse 8 Paul says you “were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods.”
Paul reminds them that when it came to their worship, and their devotion, and their service, they couldn’t claim neutrality because they were in fact intimately acquainted with those who are not gods at all.
It’s well known that those in the Greco-Roman world were immeshed in the worship of a whole pantheon of false God. And the Galatians were no exception. They were willing participants in the rituals and festivals and sacrifices to the false gods of paganism. And Paul says here” not that they are really god’s at all.”
Which begs the question how can you be a slave to a god with no real existence? Well here’s the thing, if we trace the a biblical understanding of these false Gods back to 1 Corinthians we find that there is a demonic realm that undergirds and permeates the idol worship that the Galatians used to take part in. Pauls says that “what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons.”
Paul says, that’s who you were. Not only did you not know God, You were in fact slaves to the spiritual forces of darkness over this present evil age.
To quote from Ephesians 2
“And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience”
We should see in the Galatians a portrait of ourselves, brothers and sisters. We too were once slaves. Morally incapable of choosing God over our sin. Although we believed that we could stop sinning anytime that we liked, isn’t it interesting that we never did? Isn’t it interesting we kept coming back to our favorite vices again and again even when we knew it was killing us? Even when others warned us against it? And underneath all of this was a sinister, demonic plot to destroy our souls eternally.
Paul says take a good look at who you used to be and we would do well to do the same. And this brings us to point 2:
II. Remember who you are now.
verse 9 But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God
Paul begins by pointing them to their present day reality.
He says You have now come to know God. And again this isn’t just knowing some facts about God. He’s reminding them of their intimate relationship with the God of the Universe. This is a knowing that harkens back to verse 6 “you are sons, and God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!”
That’s who you are, Galatians! And that’s who you are brothers and sisters, for everyone who has surrendered your life to Christ! You’re a son! You are a daughter! Your sins are forgiven! The gospel has turned rebels into friends. And slaves into sons. Make no mistake about it, in Christ God is anything but neutral about you. He knows you and he delights in you. And he proclaims over you in Christ “this is my beloved with whom I am well pleased.” This is the kind of knowing that we are talking about here.
And I love this because right after this Paul, sort of stops to correct himself. He says, but now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God. He’s says just to clarify for a moment, you do know that it was God who took the initiative in knowing you right? In man’s relationship with the Almighty, it is God who is the initiator. We simply respond.
As one commentator put it: “Humans do indeed come to know God, but they do so only because God first determines to “know” us in Christ.”
And it’s against this backdrop that Paul asks the first question of this passage.
He says “Now that that you have come to know God, or rather be known by him, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more?”
I have reminded you who you used to be. And I’ve reminded you of who you are now. How in the world can you go back? How can you turn back to demons? How can you revert back to paganism? Don’t you see how insane that is?
And although this is a potent question–– if we have been paying attention so far in the book of Galatians, we should be scratching ours heads a bit. The careful reader should be asking at this point, who is considering a return to paganism, Paul? The temptation for those in Galatia was not to go back to pagan temples but to go to the Jewish synagogue. Not to sacrifice to Jupiter but to keep kosher to observe the sabbath to be circumcised.
And verse 10 confirms this. Paul says, you observe days and months and seasons and years. They were beginning to keep Jewish sabbaths, and Jewish annual festivals, and Jewish high holy days all in an effort to bring their Christian faith to completion.
And yet what Paul seems to be saying is that this kind of observance of the Jewish law, is in fact a kind of return to paganism.
How in the world can that be the case?
And I think to answer this we need to step back for just a moment and look at Paul’s understanding of the law here in Galatians. And again in particular we need to remember the temporary function of the law.
One of the words that shows up again and again in Galatians 3 is the word until. Listen for this as Paul tells us the the purpose of the law.
Gal. 3:19 Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made
Or again Galatians 3:23 and 24 listen to this
Galatians 3:23-24 Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. 24 So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith.
We need to see that although the law was good and right for Israel to follow, it’s purpose was temporary. It was meant to keep the people of God under lock and key until Christ came. The law was meant to both remind the people of God of their sin and to restrain the people of God in their sin. But it was never meant to be the long term solution. It was a holding pen that kept the people of God temporarily confined until God sent his Son.
Think about it like this.
Most of us in this room have had the country of Ukraine on our hearts and in our prayers with much frequency over the last week. And one of the things that Ukrainians are thankful for like never before are the subway systems and parking garages and bomb shelters under their major cities. These underground spaces are precious like never before. They offer a level of safety and security while chaos reigns in the streets above them.
But I want you to imagine a scenario with me for just a moment.
Imagine that in a miraculous answer to our prayers Ukraine is actually able to stave off the Russian invasion. Man, I’m praying that. I want you to imagine that Ukraine is able to win this war. And the shelling stops. And the Russian military performs a full retreat. And celebrations begin.
Can you imagine with me the joy of emerging from the subway system back into the light of day? Can you imagine he thrill of returning back to a home above the ground?
And here’s my point in all of this. The law is strikingly similar to a bomb shelter. It is a wonderful thing to have for a very specific allotment of time, namely when bombs are falling.
But it would be odd, wouldn’t it. If days and weeks and months of peace went by and yet the people stayed in the bomb shelter? Not because they needed to but because they wanted to. And wouldn’t it be odder still if those in the shelter began to persuade those above ground to leave their homes and come back into the underground?
This is what was happening in Galatia.
Paul is saying, you guys the gospel has come. The Lord Jesus Christ has given himself to deliver us from this present evil age. The war has been won. Freedom has been won.
A new age dawned in the gospel. Christ came not just to restrain sin, but to destroy it. He came not as a temporary solution but as the permanent solution. When he came he brought the Kingdom with him. The age of the Spirit. The age of faith. The age of freedom. The age of salvation for both Jew and Greek.
And catch this, it’s only in the realm of the gospel that the rulers and the demonic powers of this age have been defeated. It’s only in Jesus that kingdom of darkness is overthrown.
And so Paul is saying, to crawl back into the bomb shelter of law keeping is to walk away from the gospel. And he says if you go back down there just know that you are walking away from the power of the gospel. The law will have no power to set you free from that same demonic influence that you once followed.
In this way a return to the law is a return to paganism. A return to slavery.
Remember who you are Christian. What you need is to live in the power of the Spirit through faith, and not to return to the law.
And this brings us to our final point
III. Remember who spoke God’s word to you
As I thought about how to characterize verses 12-20 again and again the Lord brought to mind a verse from 3 John. John says “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.” But here in Galatians 4 we are reminded that the opposite is also true. In these verses it is on full display that Paul has no greater sorrow than to hear that his children are not walking in the truth.
And again this wasn’t always the case. Paul recounts here how the Galatians opened up both heart and home to him. They had every reason to turn him away, and yet Paul says, you did not scorn or despise me, but received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus. You welcomed me as a divine messenger as one who really and truly spoke for God. Paul loved these brothers. And he had been loved by them. This letter isn’t some cold theological treaty but a letter written by a man who is in anguish over the direction of his spiritual children. Much as a loving mother and father would be in distress to see their son walk away from the faith. And he fears that all of his ministry efforts among them have been in vain.
He says in verse 16, Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth? My message hasn’t changed. Why then the change in your reception?
And in verse 17 he warns them of their new found friends. He says They make much of you, but for no good purpose. They want to shut you out, that you may make much of them.
Listen brothers, your new friends aren’t who you think they are. Yes, they eagerly seek you out, and flatter you, but it’s only because they are likewise seeking praise from you. Again and again in the Scriptures we see that one of the clearest signs that someone is a false teacher is that desire for the praise and the approval of man.
Paul says, brothers, don’t be duped by these guys. They are not trying to impart something to you they want something from you. They are not mainly aimed at your good nor at the glory of God they are after the fame of their own name. They want you as notches in their belt. As evidence that they really are influential and important.
And when we get to verse 19 we need to do a full stop. Because here we discover the very heart of Paul. And we see the stark and startling contrast between Paul and these false teachers that the Galatians had begun to follow.
Look at verse 19 “My little children, for whom I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you.”
This is the cry of Paul’s heart, that Christ would be formed in his hearers. That they would put on the mind of Christ. That their thoughts would look more and more like Jesus’ thoughts. That their motivation in all they do would look more and more like the motivation of Christ.
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And that their mission would become the mission of Christ. And that all of this would be done in reliance upon the power of Christ, which is the Holy Spirit.
Paul is in anguish for this to happen. He’s in agony because it seems like this life in Christ which was once so promising has already begun to fade. He’s recalling the first time that Christ began to dwell in their hearts through faith and now he’s wondering is there still a heart beat?
And into this pain, and into this heart break, Paul issues a single command in these verses. Look back at verse 12,
Gal. 4:12 Brothers, I entreat you, become as I am, for I also have become as you are.
Brothers remember me. Become like I am. Remember how I was free from following the Jewish law as I was with you. And join me in this brothers. Turn from this path of insanity that you are on by following my example.
And this command to imitate Paul is really a command to imitate one in whom Christ has been formed. We must learn to say again and again together with Paul the words of Galatians 2:20
20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Conclusion
As we prepare to move to the table, I want to leave you with a single question this morning: Is Christ being formed in you? I’m not asking if he was formed in you in the past. I’m asking right now, present day, is Christ being formed in you or not?
John Piper put it this way
“For some of you these are the very days in which for the first time the beauty of the gospel of grace is beginning to shine on the horizon of your soul. But others of you look back months or years or decades, to a golden era of faith when Christ was powerfully taking shape in your life. But something has changed. There has been a kind of settling into the world, and the vibrant sense of being an alien and an exile in the world has faded. And the powerful shaping forces in your life are not coming from Christ within but from the world without.”
And so brothers and sisters, I ask again is Christ being formed in you? Is his influence in your life greater than any other influence?
Are you putting on the mind of Christ? Are your thoughts day by day becoming more like the thoughts of Christ? Are you delighting in the things that Christ delight in? Are you dealing with anxiety like Christ would?
And what about your speech? When you speak, does your speech resemble the speech of Christ? When you open your mouth do your words sound like what Jesus sounds like?
What about what drives you? Does your motivation resemble the motivation of Christ? Does your mission resemble the mission of Christ?
And here’s the last and most important question of all— are you relying on the power of Christ to make all of this happen? This goes far beyond mere imitation. Christ has to do this in you.
Are you day by day looking away from yourself and trusting that it is Jesus himself who must accomplish these things in you by his Holy Spirit?