Galatians 4:19 - Paul vs Alien

"My children, whom again I am suffering birth pains until which Christ should be formed in you..."

-Paul had given birth!  Spiritual birth, that is - to these believers in Galatia.  He had helped them be born into eternal life through trusting in Christ and in His finished work on the cross.  And that process was incredibly laborious, it was akin to giving birth, labor pains and all.  Not to say that he had literal physical pain comparable to what a woman experiences during labor and delivery.  Altho he was certainly persecuted and beaten and stoned (Acts 13.50, 14.5-6, 14.19).  And he also worked long and hard and struggled at various points even while with them to help them understand and follow the true path of faith (Acts 13.43, 13.45, 14.3, 14.19, 14.21-23)(cf 2Corinthians 11.23-29).  In a spiritual sense he is very much both mother and father to them (cf 1Thessalonians 2.11, 2.7).

-But here’s the point - because he is their parent in Christ, he naturally cares and always will care - deeply - for them.  He wants to help them grow up and stand on two feet and be able to take care of themselves.  Make wise decisions.  Become more like their Savior.  And now that they are in fact straying from the path (or are being encouraged to do so), Paul is again burdened for them.  What parent’s heart does not go out after and yearn after their prodigal child?  He is agonizing over them, praying for them, and exhorting them to return to the way of grace (cf 1Corinthians 4.14).  "Christ-in-you" needs for them (and for us all) to become more than simply positional truth, more than just some propositional pie-in-the-sky mumbo jumbo - it needs to become reality.  The verb in the Greek is "morph" - we are literally talking about morphing into Jesus.  This is Alien, but instead of Sigourney Weaver trying to stop an alien life form being planted in John Hurt's belly and busting out and killing him and everyone else, we have Paul trying to encourage the process of this heavenly Life being planted and forming in these Galatians and busting out to produce abundant eternal life not only in them but to the ends of the earth.  Christ in me.  He needs to become real - in and through me.  I need to get real with Jesus, and let Him show up for real, do His thing, take over.  I need to stay on target, focused on him, laying hold of Him and letting Him lay hold of them.  More of Him, and less of me.  He must increase, I must decrease.  This is the journey of faith, of following our Savior, where He thru His Spirit lives in our hearts, taking up residence, making Himself a(t) home and rolling out the ultimate spiritual makeover, such that it is truly no longer I who lives but Christ lives in me (Galatians 2.20).  Visibly, tangibly, manifestly so.  Palpable.  Unmistakably divine.  That is my life if I am I in Christ.  That was Paul’s vision and burden for these (and all) believers, and the goal toward which he tirelessly applied himself on their behalf.