The "male child" is the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the one who will govern all nations with the rod of iron. He is being born as the Church, Zion, travails.

Notice again:

My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you, (Galatians 4:19—NIV)

The Lord Jesus told us the wheat and tares will come to maturity together. The wheat are believers in whom Christ is being formed. The tares are people in whom Antichrist is being formed.

A nation shall be born "at once." That nation is the royal priesthood of God, namely Christ formed in the believers. As soon as Christ is formed in the believers Satan will be torn from the heavens and will never be permitted to reenter. He no longer will have opportunity to accuse the saints before God.

All depends on Christ being formed in the believers. The believers cannot overcome Satan until Christ is formed in them.

So we see that a timetable is operating. In the last days of the Church Age the Holy Spirit will place an unprecedented emphasis on Christ being formed in us. This means the gifts and ministries of the Body of Christ will function as never before, because it is through the operation of the gifts and ministries that we shall be brought to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

The pulpit-congregation model is now vestigial. Every pastor and leader must work toward bringing each church member into his or her ministry. Christ cannot be formed in us until the various ministries are operating.

Also, each of us must be learning to live by the body and blood of Christ. Christ is formed in us as we partake of His body and blood, which we do each time we go to Him for strength and wisdom to keep God's commandments.

In addition to the gifts and ministries, and the body and blood of Christ, there are a number of other techniques used by the Holy Spirit to form Christ in us. One very important technique is that of bringing us into imprisonment and suffering until our self-will is destroyed and we learn to lean on the Lord for every decision we make. We must always be sternly obedient to the Father!

All of world history, no matter how chaotic and destructive it appears at any given time, is working to bring God's predestined sons into the image of their elder Brother, the Lord Jesus Christ. God holds the world in His mighty hand, causing all events, personages, and things to work together for good for those whom He has called from the foundation of the world.

The order of redemption is as follows: we are forgiven through the blood atonement; we receive the Holy Spirit—the "oil on the blood"; through the Holy Spirit we keep God's commandments; Christ is formed in us; the Father and the Son take up Their eternal abode in us; we serve God forever in His kingdom as the members of His royal priesthood.

To be continued.