Galatians 3:22 But the Scripture declares that the whole world is a prisoner of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe.
In the Apostle Paul’s letter to the believers in Galatia, he said that the whole world is a prisoner of sin. Previous to this, he told the Romans that “for everyone has sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” But praise the Lord that Paul declared that Christ lives in the believers for them to have Him formed in them (Gal. 4:19). Christ has been revealed in us (Gal. 1:16). He is now living in us (Gal. 2:2). And He will be formed in us. To have Christ formed in us is to have Christ grow in us in full.
First, Christ was born into us at our regeneration, now He lives in us in our Christian life, and He will be formed in us at our maturity, as we grow into Him. For Christ to be formed in us is to have Him as the constitution in our body. This is a living, and inner development. The word “formed” corresponds to the “image” in 2Corinthians 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 as His image. As the living One, He with His Godly element is working and operating within us organically, changing our beings to express His image.
Christ lives in the believers so to make home in their hearts (Eph. 3:17). This indicates that He wants to make His home deep down in our being. As He strengthened our inner man, the way is opened so that He can spread in us, fill us, and saturate us. Isn’t this wonderful? Christ is filling us as our strength, as our weapon, as our wisdom, as our love, as our never ending treasury filled with boundless stores of grace, and as our life!!! The more Christ fills and spreads in us, the more He settles down in us and makes His home in us. This means that He occupies every part of our inner being, possessing all these parts and saturating them with Himself.
Paul says in Ephesians 3:16-17, “I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.” Amen! Christ as a wonderful Person is now living in us to strengthen us with a special power, God’s power, to make us overcome all negative things. And as we overcome, He desires that we open our hearts to Him to make Him dwell in our hearts as His permanent residence. This is what God has planned and intended in the eternity past for a Christian to be – a person having Christ and full of Christ! Praise the Lord!