In God’s Eyes Each Believer is a Sheaf Full of Life, since God Sees us in Christ!

2 Cor. 5:16 So then we, from now on, know no one according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him so no longer. So then if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old things have passed away; behold, they have become new.

Jacob had one dream – the dream of Bethel, the house of God – but Joseph had two dreams – the dream of sheaves of wheat full of life and with the heavenly bodies full of light. In order for the dream of Bethel to be accomplished in reality today we need to have the two dreams of Joseph to guide us in our daily Christian living and our being in the church life.

Joseph was a “master of dreams” (Gen. 37:19), and through his dreams God showed him that, according to His view, all His people are sheaves of wheat (full of life) and heavenly bodies (full of light) (see Gen. 37:5-11).

According to Joseph’s view, his brothers (who were part of God’s people) were evil, full of lust, and doing all kinds of bad things; so he told on them to his father.

But according to God’s view, at best Joseph was a sheaf of wheat full of life, and at worst his brothers were also sheaves of wheat full of life; the only difference was that, for the time being, God chose Joseph to be the ruler among them, but otherwise they all were the same.

This brings to light a very practical matter in our daily Christian life and church life: the way we view the other brothers and sisters and the way God views them.

When we come into the church life we think we are in heavens: the saints are wonderful, everyone is enjoying the Lord, there’s singing and praises, and the Lord is so real.

But as we live the church life for a while, and especially as we live with the saints and coordinate with them in fellowship, we may think that the saints are not that good but rather some are so slow in what they do, others are this way or that way, etc.

In other words, as we live the Christian life and the church life, we may have certain views of the saints, and these views are mostly based on our background, experience, knowledge, etc. However, we need to see God’s view of His people: He views them in Christ as being the same, sheaves of life, full of life in His sight.

We need to come to the Lord and receive this view and we will be saved from criticizing or judging our fellow brothers and sisters. If we view the saints the way the Lord views them, we will love the saints, appreciate them, and seek to be built up with them by seeing Christ in them; this will bring in the reality of Bethel, the house of God.

In God’s Eyes Each one of His People is “a Sheaf of Wheat” Full of Life

Genesis 37:7 There we were, binding sheaves in the field, when suddenly my sheaf rose up and remained standing; and then your sheaves gathered around and bowed down to my sheaf.

The two dreams that Joseph had (Gen. 37:7-9) were both from God for the purpose of unveiling God’s divine view concerning the nature, position, function, and goal of God’s people on earth. Through these two dreams Joseph saw how God viewed His people.

In order for us to fulfill the dream of Bethel and see the building of God’s house, it matters a lot what our view is toward God’s people.

In his first dream Joseph saw sheaves in the field: each one of his brothers had a sheaf, and their sheaves bowed down to his sheaf. On the one hand, Joseph was chosen by God to rule, but on the other hand, both him and his brothers are represented by “sheaves of wheat”.

This dream reveals that, at the most, Joseph was just a sheaf and that, at the worst, his brothers were also sheaves – both Joseph and his brothers were sheaves (Gen. 37:7-8). The only difference between him and his brothers was that God chose Joseph to reign – but this doesn’t mean in any way that he was better than them.

We need to realize that in God’s eyes we all – the brothers and sisters in Christ – are the same, whether good or bad; we are sheaves of life. We were regenerated with God’s life and we’re now full of life, sheaves of wheat.

When we look at one another or coordinate in fellowship concerning things in the church life, we need to see the saints as sheaves of life (not as “scorpions”, “turtles”, or anything else).

Our eyes may be sharp, we may be quick to pass judgement, and, because of our background and culture, we base everything on our viewpoint.

In order for us to be a reigning one, we need to realize that in God’s eyes we are the same with the other saints whom we may consider being “worse” than us. There are two examples in the Old Testament that strengthen this matter:

God Sees No Iniquity or Trouble in His People: He Sees them in Christ!

When God looks at His people, He does not see them according to what they are in themselves but according to what they are in Christ! (W. Lee, Life-Study of Genesis)

In Numbers 23 Balak called on Balaam to come and curse the people of Israel for him, but Balaam spoke only what God gave him to speak. He said, “He has not beheld iniquity in Jacob, / Nor has He seen trouble in Israel” (Num. 23:21a).

According to the human point of view, the people of Israel were stubborn, stiff-necked, rebellious against God, and un-submissive to God’s word through Moses. But according to God’s view, in the sight of God Israel is without iniquity or faults.

This shows us that in ourselves we as God’s people may have many defects, but in God’s redemption and in Christ we have NO defects. God sees us in Christ; when God looks at His people, He doesn’t see them according to what they are in themselves but according to what they are in Christ!

In the church life we should also do the same: we should seek to know others in Christ and according to the Spirit (see 2 Cor. 5:16-17).

We may judge other believers according to our view of what they do and say, but God chose them in Christ and He sees them as having no iniquity. Are you smarter than God when you judge your fellow believers? Do you think you can see things better than God when you criticize the saints? Doesn’t God know the real situation?

If we touch the Lord in a real way concerning His people, He will show us that God chose each one of us in Christ not because of what we are or what we can do, but IN CHRIST! Outside of Christ none of us is qualified, but in Christ, we all have been accepted before God!

May we know others no longer according to the flesh but according to the spirit, because everyone who is in Christ is a new creation. May we no longer commit the sin of passing on judgement on one another so easily because of something we see with our own eyes or realize based on our own view. Each brother and sister has Christ in him / her, and each genuine believer is in Christ.

Lord Jesus, save us from criticizing or judging the saints based on our own view of what they do and say. Cause us to see the saints the way You see them – sheaves full of life. Oh Lord, may we know one another no longer according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. May we realize that God chose us all in Christ, and in Christ all the saints are wonderful, full of life, and accepted by God! Lord, give us Your view of the saints, and change our natural view and appreciation of Your believers!

All God’s People are Full of Life to Produce Food for the Meal Offering to Satisfy God and Man

When Elijah complained against Israel and said, “The children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, thrown down Your altars, and slain Your prophets with the sword; and I alone am left, and they seek to take my life” (1 Kings 19:10), he based this on his assessment of the situation of God’s people, which seemed to be true according to his view of things.

But Jehovah replied, “Yet I have left Myself seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed unto Baal and every mouth that has not kissed him” (1 Kings 19:18).

We may think that “we are the only ones 100% for the Lord”, and the rest are not so absolute for Him but rather even persecute us and cause us trouble. But the Lord sees things differently; He already has a few thousand that are absolute for Him and He cares for them, and so we should not lose heart, criticize, condemn, or judge, but simply turn to the Lord, receive the heavenly dream, and we will see things the way He sees them.

We don’t know: we may think that others are rebellious or have forsaken the Lord, but He has preserved so many!

We need to learn not to trust our own view and assessment. Even when the church is seemingly in a low condition and is weak, God’s view of the church is always very high. The church is glorious, high, perfect, spotless, being constantly washed in the water in the word to be the bride of Christ.

We are not a “lone sheaf of life in the whole church”; rather, all the saints are sheaves of life to produce food for the meal offering to satisfy God and man (Lev. 2:4-5).

In spite of how short and difficult others may be, there is a portion of Christ in each one of them, and we need to see Christ in others and appreciate Him. Don’t look at others’ “trash can”, digging up the dirt and garbage; seek to see Christ in others and overlook their shortcomings.

We all have the old creation, but the new creation is coming out of the old creation, and we need to see and appreciate the new creation in others! Without the old creation the new creation cannot come into being; we need to be renewed in our mind and have God’s view to see every believer as a sheaf of life having Christ in him!

Thank You, Lord, for regenerating us with Your divine life to make us a sheaf full of life to produce food for the meal offering to satisfy God and man. Lord, renew our mind and uplift our view of the believers You put us with. May we see the new creation in them. May we pay more attention to the Christ in the saints and NOT point out their shortcoming or defects. Lord Jesus, bring us in the heavenly dream of the church as the glorious bride and the believers as the sheaves of life!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration: the Word of God, my Christian experience, bro. James Lee’s sharing in the message for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Genesis, msgs. 115 and 118, as quoted in, the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-Study of Genesis (3), week 7 / msg 7, The Life of Joseph as a Copy of the life of Christ and Living as a Sheaf of Life and as a Star of Light.
• Picture credit: Gen. 37:7 picture via, Christian Pictures Blog.
• Hymns on this topic:
  # When I’m with the saints, / Christ in them see! / Our hope is He! / Hope of glory! / When I’m with the saints, / Foretaste have we! / Conformed to Him we’ll be! (Song on Seeing Christ in the Saints)
  # Now He’s the living Spirit who within our spirit dwells, / And by His sweet anointing, how His life within us swells! / As with the saints we’re meeting, full released our spirits soar, / For now our Lord is dearer than He ever was before. (Hymns #1152)
  # How glorious is Thy church, Oh Lord— / No trace of sin in her. / What myst’ry this: God died as man, / For, oh, He loves her so! / Glorious, Glorious church, / She is Thy dear Bride; / She was built from Thine own side; / She is the same as Thee. (Song on the Glorious Church)