Galatians 4:19 English Standard Version (ESV) my little children, for whom I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you!
John 1:15-17 English Standard Version
15 (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”) 16 For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
Do we find ourselves struggling over these two verses together? We perceive that we have not come to the fullness of Christ in us but yet believe we have received His fullness. Let us reason with one another.
We have been born again and have become a new creation. Christ in us is Christ in all His fullness when we are reborn just as a baby is fully human at birth. That baby has done nothing to demonstrate the maturity that only time can bring about. It is much the same way with us now that we have entered into the Kingdom of God.
This relationship is likened to a betrothal. The bride has a past, a history, a mind of her own. Until the wedding she gets to know the love of the groom and in discovering how much He loves her, her attitudes about being an individual with a mind of her own melt away in favor of loving her betrothed.
The more time she spends with Him the more she changes but she will not be one with Him until the wedding.
Paul’s expression in Galatians 4:19 is a reflection of his calling to build Christ’s church, to preach the gospel and oversee many members of His church, His bride. We are members of a large wedding party. Like Paul we should recognize our responsibility to Jesus to love those whom He loves and called to be members with us.
Loving Jesus requires us to love those He loves.