That Christ Be Formed in Me: The Tests That Prepare the Son's Image

Introduction

Pastor Malu BIALUTA opens the year 2024 at ICC with a simple and committing wish: "That Christ be formed in me so that I may be in his image and likeness." He starts from Galatians 4:18-19, where Paul writes to his children in the faith: "It is good to be zealously affected always in a good thing... my little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you." Three words will guide you: zeal, good, formed. And behind that formation lies a reality few Christians accept: no trial, no formation; no formation, no likeness.

Message outline

1. Zeal: far more than an emotion, a firm footing to possess

• Zeal comes from the Greek dzelos. It has often been defined as "to burn with ardor, to boil with fervor, to be eager in pursuit of what is good."
• But zeal is also having a firm footing. That is why Paul, in Ephesians 6:15, speaks of zeal like shoes: the shoe is a source of footing.
• "Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon shall be yours," you do not go there barefoot, you go with shoes on. Zeal gives you the ability to possess your inheritance. You can miss your inheritance because you serve God without zeal.
• Zeal is also the condition of a prepared person, who guards their place, who sets rules for themselves, who keeps a steady spirit.
• Peter understood this. One day he turns Jesus away from the cross out of love and hears back: "Get behind me, Satan." Shortly before, he had confessed Jesus as the Messiah. Zeal does not keep you from falling, but it keeps you pursuing consistency and communion with the Spirit.
• If you criticize, you slander, and you are comfortable doing it, there is a problem: your spirit is not steady. Someone with a steady spirit feels uneasy the moment they commit a sin.

2. Good: four concrete things God calls "good"

• The word "good" in Greek is kalos. It does not refer to just anything pleasant.
• Putting yourself at the service of the body. 1 Peter 4:10: "As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God." When the body moves, everything in the body moves with it. How do you expect the body to move forward if you yourself are not contributing? This year, you need to serve.
• Having good conduct among unbelievers. 1 Peter 2:12: "Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God." Where your church family is not around, how do you behave?
• Holding fast to the Spirit and to sound doctrine. Today there are Christians who build their own worship experience buffet style, like at a restaurant: fifteen minutes of one preacher, fifteen minutes of another, and they end up with a confused head. What is it you actually want to hear? Connect to the grace flowing from your spiritual fathers, seek out sound doctrine.
• Encouraging one another to do good works. When you have a friend who blocks you from doing good works, you need to cut ties.

3. Formed: God will not let go of you until Christ has taken shape in you

• "My little children, of whom I travail in birth again..." Physically, labor pains end once the child is born. Spiritually, the labor pains end when Christ is formed in the child.
• "Formed" in Greek is morpho. In Hebrew, yatsar (Isaiah 64:8: "we are the clay, and thou our potter"). It means: to shape, to prepare the heart, to set boundaries, and above all to let yourself be transformed.
• Ephesians 2:10 says we are his workmanship, poiema, a poem, a painting that God is creating. But you cannot be shaped if you do not surrender.
• Genesis 1:26-27: God created us in his image and likeness so that we would have dominion. The purpose of your creation is not to be a victim of circumstances. Ephesians 2:10 specifies that you were "created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them."
• No transformation without formation. No formation without trial. Just like school: nobody likes exams, but you do not move up a grade without taking them.
• Malu shares his own story: in Morocco, when he was asked to take charge of a church, he ran, career minded, and left to study in Luxembourg. Result: ten years going in circles. Today in Montreal, when he was called to Colois, he was afraid of losing another ten years. Everyone has their own cycle of disobedience.

4. The tests that prepare Christ in you

• The test of the heart. God chose David according to his own heart (Acts 13:22). Your harvest depends on the quality of your soil (Matthew 13). Do not let any root of bitterness spring up and cause trouble (Hebrews 12:15). Invest in your heart.
• The test of service. "Let my people go, that they may serve me" (Exodus 8:1). The purpose of salvation is to serve him. If you do not serve, you have not understood why you were saved.
• The test of honor. Proverbs 20:20: "Whoso curseth his father or his mother, his lamp shall be put out in obscure darkness." When you speak evil of your spiritual fathers, you close doors on yourself. Do not fall into overfamiliarity.
• The test of obedience. John 14:15: "If ye love me, keep my commandments." Genesis 26:4-5: God multiplies Abraham's descendants "because that Abraham obeyed my voice." Obedience blesses not only you, but also your descendants.
• The test of discretion. Joseph might have become prime minister without going through prison, had he not told his dreams to his brothers. Proverbs 20:19: "Meddle not with him that flattereth with his lips." David, on the other hand, never told anyone he had killed the lion and the bear, he only spoke of it when facing Goliath. Your harvest is hidden in passing this test.
• The test of faithfulness. David faithfully kept the sheep of a failing father, and fought lions for them.
• The test of productivity. Matthew 25:24: the servant who buries his talent treats God as harsh. Not so: God had sown into his life. Be productive.
• The test of tenacity. Judges 6:11: when Gideon is called, he is threshing wheat while the Midianites are taking everything. How did he manage to still have wheat? He did not give up. We often give up when we are close to the goal.
• The test of intimidation. Ezekiel 3:8-9: "I have made thy forehead strong against their foreheads... as an adamant harder than flint." They will try to silence Christians in this season. Your hardened forehead shows in the way you pray: relentlessly, hoping against hope.
• The test of faith. Do not pray out of fear, pray out of faith. We believe in a strong God, but the moment sorcery is mentioned, we tremble. Sorcery has no more power than Christ in you.
• The test of detachment. Remember the rich young man. Do not become attached to the possessions of this world.
• The test of integrity. There are people we prayed for, so they would get a job, and the moment they get it, they stop coming to church.
• The test of sanctification. David failed with Bathsheba. Joseph succeeded before Potiphar's wife. The secret: flee.
• The test of managing glory. When you reach the top, how do you handle it?
• The test of forgiveness. If you are holding someone in your heart, release them. There are many believers in whom the Spirit does not move because there is a cohabitation going on. Christ needs to have all the room.

Key takeaways

• Zeal is not just an emotion: it is a firm footing that gives you the ability to possess your inheritance.
• The "good" according to the Bible translates into concrete acts: serving the body, walking uprightly in front of unbelievers, holding fast to sound doctrine, encouraging others toward what is good.
• Christ being formed in you is the very purpose of your spiritual birth. Until it happens, the intercession continues.
• No transformation without formation, no formation without trial. Every recurring test signals a level God wants you to move past.
• Being like Christ is not a slogan: it is a work of the heart, carried out by the Holy Spirit, under your daily decision to surrender.

Personal application

1. Where are you concretely serving this year, with the gift God has given you for the body?
2. Does your conduct outside the church speak of Christ, or would it need adjusting?
3. What "test" does God keep bringing back into your life that you have not yet passed?
4. Is there someone locked away in your heart that you need to release through forgiveness today?
5. What friendship or influence is blocking you from doing good works, and are you ready to cut it off?

Verses cited

• Galatians 4:18-19 · Until Christ be formed in you
• Genesis 1:26-27 · In our image, after our likeness
• Ephesians 2:10 · His workmanship, created in Christ for good works
• Ephesians 6:15 · The shoes of zeal
• 1 Peter 4:10 · Ministering to one another with the gift received
• 1 Peter 2:12 · Good conduct among unbelievers
• Isaiah 64:8 · Thou art our father, we are the clay
• Acts 13:22 · David, a man after my own heart
• Matthew 13 · The parable of the sower and the good soil
• Hebrews 12:15 · No root of bitterness
• Exodus 8:1 · Let my people go, that they may serve me
• Proverbs 20:19-20 · Discretion and honoring parents
• John 14:15 · If you love me, keep my commandments
• Genesis 26:4-5 · Abraham's obedience blesses his descendants
• Matthew 25:24-30 · The buried talent
• Judges 6:11 · Gideon threshing wheat
• Ezekiel 3:8-9 · A forehead like a diamond

Frequently asked questions

What does it concretely mean for "Christ to be formed in me"?

The Greek word for "formed" is morpho, which means to shape, to take form, to let yourself be transformed. Christ being formed in you is not just having accepted Jesus once, it is letting the Holy Spirit shape your character until your reactions, your choices, your words start to resemble those of the Son. Paul says he suffers labor pains again: this means spiritual mentoring does not stop at conversion, it continues as long as the likeness to Christ is not visible in our lives.

Why does God allow so many trials if I already belong to him?

There is no formation without trial, and no transformation without formation. This is not a cruel principle, it is the logic of all learning, even in school, you do not move up a grade without an exam. God does not tempt, he tests. Every recurring test in your life signals a level God wants to bring you to. If you identify the nature of the test (heart, obedience, discretion, tenacity, sanctification, forgiveness...), you understand what he expects of you and why the same situation keeps coming back.

How can I serve God even when I feel small or tired?

1 Peter 4:10 says everyone has received a gift for serving others. You do not need a spectacular gift: when the body moves, whatever is in the body moves with it. Serve where you are, with what you have. Also recognize that true zeal is not first of all an emotion, it is a firm footing, a steadiness of spirit, maintained through communion with the Holy Spirit and by listening to sound doctrine.