Christ is Formed in us & is Making His Home in our Heart to make us His Reproduction

We believers in Christ are to live the same way that Christ lived, for we need to become a reproduction of Christ; this can take place only by experiencing Christ as the One living in us, being formed in us, and making His home in our hearts. Amen!

Praise the Lord that we have been regenerated with the life of God! At the time of our conversion, when we believed into the Lord Jesus, we did not merely adhere to a church or believe in a set of doctrines but rather, we repented and called on the name of the Lord, and we received the very life of God!

The apostle John says that everyone who receives Christ, that is, believes into Christ, God gives the authority to be called children of God, those who are born not of the will of man or of the will of the flesh but of God (John 1:12-13). Amazing!

However, just as a human baby has no idea what just happened when they were born but rather, they need to grow and learn what the human life is, so we as believers in Christ need to grow in life and realize what the divine life is.

This means that we need to realize that we are born of God and we have Christ living in us.

The Bible tells us that the Lord Jesus is with our spirit (2 Tim. 4:22) and that Christ is our life (Col. 3:4).

On the one hand, we have our human life, which is very real to us, for we live it out and we learn what it means.

On the other hand, we have the divine life, even Christ as the Spirit living and dwelling in our spirit.

All genuine believers in Christ have Christ living in them. It is a great day when we realize that Christ lives in us.

The most wonderful person in the universe, Jesus Christ, lives in us! Paul testified of this saying that it was no longer he who lived but Christ who lived in him (Gal. 2:20). Wow!

And to Paul, to live was Christ. Amazing! This means that, whether Paul was in prison or not, he just lived Christ, for Christ lived in him.

The Christian life is the most mysterious and yet the most amazing life, for it is a life of living Christ, having Christ live in us.

We believers in Christ are becoming a reproduction of Christ by living one spirit with the Lord and by allowing the Lord Jesus to live in us.

He is in us, He is in our spirit, and He wants to live in us. But we’re so used to living in ourselves and by ourselves, and we seem to know what we’re doing, not needing the Lord. Oh, Lord!

May we turn to our spirit again and again to learn to live in the mingled spirit so that Christ may live in us and we may live out Christ! This is the true Christian life.

To become a Reproduction of Christ we need to have Christ Formed in us

We believers in Christ are becoming a reproduction of Christ in an organic way by having Christ being born in us, living in us, being formed in us, and making His home in our heart.

First, He is born in us through our regeneration. Then, Christ is being formed in us (Gal. 4:19).

The Apostle Paul preached the gospel to the saints in Galatia, and Christ was born in them; however, Christ was not fully formed in them, so the apostle travailed again in birth until Christ is formed in them.

He had as his goal of his preaching and serving that Christ would be formed in the believers.

First, he preached the gospel to them, and then he labored and even travailed again in birth over the believers so that Christ may take shape in them, that is, He would be formed in them.

Paul’s preaching was emphatically centered on Christ; he didn’t do a work to improve the believers or correct them but so that Christ would be formed in them.

This is the way that we are becoming a reproduction of Christ – by having Christ formed in us.

First, He is revealed in us (Gal. 1:15-16), then He is living in us (2:20), and now He is being formed in us (4:19).

To have Christ formed in us is to have Christ grown in us to the full.

He is in us, and we cannot deny that He lives in us, but He is not yet fully formed in us; others still see us living so many times, not Christ.

An illustration of this is an egg with the life of a chicken in that egg.

When the egg first begins to incubate, you know that the life of the chicken is in the egg.

If you were to shine a light on that egg, it is hard to tell, where is the chicken, where is the head and the tail and the beak.

We know there’s life in there, but nothing has been formed yet in that egg.

Only when the incubation process comes to completion will the chicken come out.

This is very similar to our situation. Christ is in us, His life is in us, but others can’t see much of Christ.

If someone were to shine a light on us, they may see something of Christ there, but they can’t really tell what is it.

We need to grow in life and have Christ formed in us until he is fully seen in us.

Day after day, month after month, and year after year, Christ grows in us, Christ lives in us, and Christ is being formed in us.

As we grow in life and have Christ formed in us, others will see something of Christ in our living and in our speaking.

As the Lord grows even more, they will see more of Christ.

Christ is now living in us so that we may be constituted of Him organically.

Day by day we eat Christ in His word, we cooperate with Him in our daily living, and we keep in touch with Him throughout the day.

We open our being to Him, we pray and call on His name, and He grows a little more.

He wants to be formed in our mind, emotion, and will. He wants to be formed in the way we think so that we think the same way that He does.

So we need to set our mind on our spirit (Rom. 8:6) and learn to set our mind on the things which are above, not on the earth, for Christ should be our unique focus and goal.

He wants to be formed in our emotions; our emotions are so troublesome, so much up and down, but the Lord wants to attune our emotions and make them one with His inner feelings. It takes a lot of time for this to happen.

And it takes a lot of labour and travailing from the side of those who care for us to help us to have Christ formed in us.

As Christ is being formed in us, we also want to dispense this Christ into others, and they may get saved.

Now that someone gets saved, what do we do? What do we do with a little baby in Christ?

We need to learn to minister Christ to them and feed them with the riches of God’s word and nourish them with the milk of God’s word so that they grow in life.

As they grow in life, we need to continue to labour and travail until Christ is formed in them.

This is our Christian life: we have Christ living in us and Christ being formed in us, and we are learning to help others enjoy Christ, grow in Christ, and have Christ formed in them.

Thank the Lord that He was born into us at the time we repented and believed in Him (John 1:12-13; 3:15)!

Now He lives in us in our Christian life, and finally, He will be formed in us at our maturity (Gal. 2:20; 4:19).

To have Christ formed in us is to allow the life-giving Spirit to occupy and spread into every part of our being so that Christ may be fully grown in us (Col. 2:19; Eph. 4:15-16).

He wants to spread in us and grow in our inner being until He occupies all our inner being with Himself.

To have Christ formed in us implies that we are being constituted with Christ organically (Col. 3:10-11) until Christ is our all in all!

Formed in Galatians 4:19 corresponds to the image in 2 Corinthians 3:18; Christ will be formed in us so that we may express Him in His image.

May we learn to open to the Lord and cooperate with Him for Him to grow in us until Christ is formed in us.

Lord Jesus, thank You for being born in us to make us children of God, believers in Christ, and genuine Christians. Hallelujah, Christ is in us, for He is our very life! We open to You, dear Lord. Grow in us today. Grow and spread in all the inner parts of our being. May You have a way to live in us. May it be no longer us who live but Christ who lives in us. Live in us today. We allow You as the Spirit to spread into and occupy every part of our inner being. Oh, may Christ grow in us to the full so that Christ may be formed in us! Amen, Lord, may we have Your form, Your shape, Your image! Grow in us unto maturity and be formed in us! We exercise our spirit to come to You in Your word and we call on Your name throughout the day so that we may enjoy all Your riches. Lord Jesus, grow in us a little more today. Spread in our mind, emotion, and will, and occupy all our heart. We want to have Christ revealed in us, living in us, and being formed in us so that we may become a reproduction of Christ!

The Christ who Lives in us and is being Formed in us is Making His Home in our Hearts

We believers in Christ have a wonderful Person living in us: Jesus Christ, who is our life and our person.

If we read the New Testament carefully we will realise that Christ is deeply related to our being.

He not only died for us to redeem us and now He’s up in heaven at the right hand of God.

Even more, He became a life-giving Spirit, and as the Spirit He comes into our spirit to dispense Himself into us and to work Himself into every part of our being.

He came into us at the time of our regeneration, and now He is growing in us and spreading in us so that Christ may live in us and be formed in us.

The Christ who lives in us and who is being formed in us is now making His home in our hearts (Eph. 3:17).

He doesn’t just teach us or supply us; even more, He is making His home in our heart.

Our heart is the representative of our being, even the center of our whole being.

The Lord is obtaining a reproduction of Christ not by outwardly correcting us but by coming into us and then doing an inner work in the center of our being.

He came into our spirit, and now He is spreading in our heart to make His home in our heart.

Christ is settling in our heart, making our heart His home.

Our heart is composed of four parts – our mind, our emotion, our will, plus our conscience.

Through regeneration, Christ came into our spirit (2 Tim. 4:22), and now He intends to spread from our spirit into every part of our hearts.

As we turn our heart to the Lord (2 Cor. 3:16-17), He shine in us, He spreads in us, and He makes His home in our heart.

From our spirit, Christ spreads in our mind to renew our mind, and He spreads in our emotion and will.

He wants to saturate, permeate, and occupy every part of our heart so that He may make His home in our mind, emotion, and will.

As He makes His home in our hearts, Christ controls our entire inward being and strengthens every part with Himself.

Christ doesn’t want to be imprisoned in our spirit; He wants to get out, to spread, and to occupy every part of our soul.

This is not an easy matter, for the person in our heart is the self; we are building up our self throughout the years, and the self rules and reigns in us.

But here is Christ, our new person, who wants to make His home in our heart.

There is a gentle struggle between Christ and us.

He is in us, there’s no doubt about that, but there’s a struggle between Him and us.

He wants to spread in our mind and possess our mind; we, however, may not be open.

He is there, knocking at the door and asking us to let Him into our thoughts, the reoccurring thoughts and concepts in which we dwell and into which we go down a rabbit hole.

God is not barging into our heart; He is not forcing His way in us but rather, He wants our consent.

We may not give Him the ground today, but He comes back tomorrow.

The Father strengthens us with power into our inner man according to the riches of His glory so that Christ may make His home in our heart.

There are many obstacles in us that stop Christ and hinder Him from advancing in us and possessing in us.

For example, there may be some sins, some insulation, that hinders Him.

1 John 1:9 tells us that, if we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us of our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

But then there may be another obstacle: limitation; we set limits to the Lord inwardly.

He wants to spread in us, but we limit Him; we don’t allow Him to spread in the way we think, the things we love, and the decisions we make.

He will not knock down the door to impose His will; rather, He draws us to Himself and works in all situations and things to cause us to be open to Him a little more.

Through our experiences of failures and mistakes, we are a little more open to the Lord so that He may interrupt our thoughts and renew them, adjust our emotions and make them one with His feelings, and influence our decisions, even making our will submissive to His will.

As Christ lives in us, is formed in us, and makes His home in our hearts, we become a reproduction of Christ for the corporate expression of God (Rom. 8:29; 12:4-5; Rev. 21:2).

The result of Christ living in us, being formed in us, and making His home in our heart is that we become a reproduction of Christ so that He may gain a corporate expression on earth.

Father God, strengthen us with power through Your Spirit into the inner man so that Christ may make His home in our hearts through faith. Amen, Lord, may the Christ who is being formed in us spread in our inner being and make His home in our heart. Make Your home in us today, dear Lord Jesus. We welcome You in our mind, emotion, and will. We open to You from the depths of our being. Have a way to spread in us and occupy every part of our inner being. Oh Lord, may You make Your home in us so that You may supply and strengthen every inward part with Yourself. We open to You concerning the way we think, the thoughts we harbor, and the concepts we hold dear. We give You the consent to spread in our mind, adjust our thoughts, and renew the way we think. We open our emotions and feelings to You; have Your way to balance our emotions and attune them so that we may have Your feelings and sentiments. Amen, Lord, what about our will? Spread in our will and subdue it. Never let us win. May we yield to You in the gentle struggle we have with You. Have Your way in us, Lord. May Christ live in us, be formed in us, and make His home in our hearts so that we become a reproduction of Christ for the corporate expression of God!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration for this article/sharing comes from the Word of God, the enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by brother Ted Williamson in the message for this week, and portions from, The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 55, by Witness Lee, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Living a Christian Life and Church Life under the Government of God for the Economy of God (2024 Thanksgiving Blending Conference), week 4, Becoming a Reproduction of Christ and Experiencing Christ as the Shepherd of Our Souls.
• Similar articles on this topic:
  – Having Christ make His home in our hearts, a portion from, Living In and With the Divine Trinity, Chapter 11, by Witness Lee.
  – Christ being formed in us, via, Living to Him.
  – Christ making His home in our hearts, a portion from, Life-Study of 1 & 2 Samuel, Chapter 30, by Witness Lee.
  – Transformed to the Expression of God, via, New Jerusalem blog.
  – The Ministry Produced through Revelation and Suffering, Part One: Revelation (4) – From chapter five of The Ministers in the Lord’s Recovery – Genuine Ministers of the New Covenant, via, Shepherding Words.
  – 8 Verses that Show Jesus Christ Lives in You, via, Bibles for Europe blog.
  – Galatians (Program #23) – The Need for Christ To Be Formed, via, Bible study radio.
  – To participate in the bountiful supply of the Spirit and enjoy the riches of Christ by receiving the Word of God (1) – a portion from, Life-Study of Philippians, Chapter 39.
  – Is Christ being formed in you? More via, Holding to Truth in Love.
  – Christ being formed in us, a portion from, The Crucified Christ, Chapter 2, by Witness Lee.
  – Can a Christian definitely say, I am saved? The answer: YES! More via, CSOC Youtube.
  – Christ formed in us – a portion from, Concerning the Lord’s Recovery, Chapter 4, by Witness Lee.
  – 8 Verses that Show Jesus Christ Lives in You, via, Bibles for America blog.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – It is God’s intent and pleasure / To have Christ revealed in me, / Nothing outward as religion, / But His Christ within to be. / It is God’s intent and pleasure / That His Christ be wrought in me; / Nothing outwardly performing, / But His Christ my all to be. (Hymns #538 stanza 1 and chorus)
  – ’Tis when the Spirit strengthens us / And Christ His home makes in our hearts, / The Father’s fulness with His love / Will fill us in our inward parts. / In Christ, the Father we possess, / Receiving Him for all our need; / In Spirit we experience Christ / As life and everything indeed. (Hymns #243 stanzas 5-6)
  – In spirit mingled, we are one, O Lord, / The human and divine in one accord; / Yet Thou must have a proper faculty / That all Thy glorious personality / May be expressed. / So, Lord, I give my heart to Thee today, / That it may be Thy home in every way, / A place for Thee to come and settle down, / And all Thy grand recovery work to crown / In one new man. (Hymns #1179 stanzas 4-5)