The Reigning Aspect of the Mature Life sees all Saints as Full of Life and Light

The Christ constituted into our being is the reigning aspect of the mature life in us (typified by Joseph in the Old Testament); may we see that all people of God are sheaves full of life and heavenly bodies full of light, and the church is glorious and wonderful. Praise the Lord!

This week in our morning revival we come to a new topic, The Reigning Aspect of the Mature Life Seen in the Life of Joseph.

May the Lord grant us to turn our hearts to Him in a fresh way so that we can hear what the Spirit says to the churches and care for the Spirit’s speaking.

As we are learning to enjoy Christ for our growth in life unto maturity for the Lord to have His Body, we need to see what maturity is.

What is maturity?

We need to grow in life unto maturity; our growth in the Lord needs to result in our maturity in the Lord so that we become the mature bride the Lord will marry at His return.

If we consider our Christian life we realize that to be a Christian is not merely difficult but it is impossible; it is impossible for us to be a Christian in and of ourselves, but the Spirit who lives in us can be a Christian.

What is impossible with man is possible with God.

The Lord as our Doctor specializes in the realm of impossibility; He deals with impossible cases.

As we come to Him day by day, He infuses Himself into us little by little so that we can be a proper Christian.

Only the processed and consummated Triune God as the consummated Spirit in us can be a Christian, and only the Spirit can be an overcomer.

May we live in the mingled spirit today and day by day so that the Spirit with our spirit may live in us, be expressed through us, and do all things in us for us to be proper Christians, those who overcome to express the Lord in all the things of our daily life.

This week in particular in our morning revival we will focus on Joseph, and in particular how we can see the reigning aspect of the mature life in the life of Joseph.

Our God is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; with Jacob, we see many dealings and much work of transformation until he became mature, and then Joseph is the reigning aspect of Jacob’s mature life.

Jacob had many struggles with God, from his birth when he tried to pull the heel of his brother so that he would be born first to his stealing the birthright from Esau, cheating Esau out of the blessing, and then continuing with his schemes to cheat his uncle Laban.

Then, when Jacob was coming back home with all his possessions, the Lord appeared to him as a man during the night and wrestled with him all night; then the Lord touched the socket of his thigh, touching his natural life, his natural strength, and God changed his name from Jacob into Israel.

From that point on, Jacob began a deeper process of transformation and eventually maturity.

If we look at the life of Jacob, we see many things, many painful experiences, and many processes that he went through in order to be transformed and arrive to maturity.

In Joseph, however, we see no struggles or problems; he was a perfect type of Christ, and he represents the reigning aspect of the mature life of Jacob.

The Christ Constituted into our Being is the Reigning Aspect of the Mature Life

When God changed Jacob’s name, this was an indication that Jacob was matured, for he got a new name, being a new person.

On one hand, his disposition was changed, and on the other hand, he was also matured, being able to be a prince of God, one who can reign with God.

Where and how do we see that Jacob reigned with God as a prince of God?

We see this in the life of Joseph, who is part of Jacob’s history and is intertwined with his story.

The reigning aspect of the matured Jacob, who is now Israel, is portrayed in the biography of Joseph.

In a sense, we should not consider Joseph as a person separate from Jacob, for Joseph represents an aspect of Jacob.

That’s the reason the last fourteen chapters of Genesis combine the record of Joseph’s life with that of Jacob.

According to spiritual experience, Jacob and Joseph are one person; Joseph represents the reigning aspect of the mature Israel, the constitution of Christ in Jacob’s mature nature; as a mature saint constituted with Christ, the perfect One, Jacob reigned through Joseph (Gen. 41:39-44; Heb. 6:1a; Gal. 6:8; 5:22-23).

Joseph is a type of Christ; he signifies the reigning aspect of a matured saint.

The reigning aspect of a mature saint is perfect, and if we read Joseph’s story from beginning to end, we see that he was perfect; he’s a perfect example of the perfect Christ.

We believers in Christ, however, are not perfect; we are far from being perfect, but we are being perfected.

Actually, when we are in our spirit, when we’re one with the Lord in our spirit, we are perfect, and we are reigning in life.

We can reign in life by being in our spirit, for the reigning aspect of the mature life is in our spirit.

The Christ constituted into our being is the reigning aspect of the divine life, and when we are in our spirit, we reign in life one with Christ (Rom. 8:4; 5:10, 17).

In each one of us – the believers in Christ who are regenerated with the divine life – there is a part that is constituted of Christ.

Even if we were regenerated just a few minutes ago, there’s a part of us that is constituted of Christ – our mingled spirit.

This is the beginning of Christ’s constitution in us.

When we are in our spirit, we are reigning with Christ, for the Christ constituted into our being is the reigning aspect of the divine life.

The reigning aspect typified by Joseph is Christ constituted into our being (Gal. 4:19).

Has Christ fully been constituted into our being? No, not yet; we do have a constitution of Christ, but we need more of Christ to be constituted into us.

None of us should be content; we all need to go on with the Lord, enjoy Him, and allow Him to work Himself into us a little more today.

May we be saved from languishing in the land (Deut. 4:25), taking the Lord and His word for granted and not being fresh with the Lord.

We may have had an original impression of our love for the Lord and we may have enjoyed the Lord for a while, but what about today?

Are we still fresh, new, real, living, and active with the Lord? Or did we graduate from enjoying the Lord?

May our enjoyment of the Lord go deeper and deeper to become richer and higher.

We need to grow in life and be brought on to maturity day by day.

May we grow in life unto maturity to be constituted with Christ until the reigning aspect of the mature life comes forth in us.

May we learn to live in the mingled spirit little by little and day by day until we have the top portion, the top aspect, of living Christ and magnifying Him, even reigning in life with Christ.

Lord Jesus, thank You for coming into us to regenerate us with the divine life and make us children of God. Hallelujah, Christ is being constituted into our being to live in us, spread in us, and become our everything. Amen, Lord, keep us enjoying You today. We want to enjoy You in a fresh and new way. May our enjoyment of Christ be deeper and richer day by day. Save us from languishing in the land by not enjoying You in a fresh way. We want to grow in life unto maturity so that we may arrive at maturity and reign in life one with Christ. Amen, Lord, keep us turning to You in our mingled spirit. May the Christ constituted into our being be lived out as the reigning aspect of the mature life. May the part of our being constituted with Christ grow and arrive to maturity so that we may reign in life with Christ and express God in His dominion. Bring us on to maturity, Lord. Oh Jesus Christ, grow in us, and let all things else recede!

Seeing that the Church is Excellent and the Saints are Full of Life and Light

One of the outstanding things about Joseph was his dreams; God gave him two dreams, and then later Joseph was used by God to interpret others’ dreams according to God. He was even called a “master of dreams” (Gen. 37:19).

He dreamed that, according to God’s view, His people are sheaves of wheat full of life and heavenly bodies full of light (vv. 5-11).

Joseph had two dreams, both from God, which unveiled to him the divine view concerning the nature, position, function, and goal of God’s people on earth.

His brother hated him, however, not only because he had these dreams in which it seemed that everyone would come to bow down before him, but because their father Jacob preferred Joseph and gave him a coat of many colours.

The true meaning of Joseph’s dream is that we believers in Christ, the heavenly people of God, are like sheaves of wheat full of life and like heavenly bodies full of light.

Joseph’s dreams bothered his brothers and even his father, for they focused on the matter of everyone else’s sheaf and the stars and moon and the sun coming down to bow before him, but the real meaning of his dreams was deeper than that.

When we believers in Christ grow in life unto maturity, when we have the reigning aspect of the mature life, we will realize that all God’s people are excellent and wonderful, and the saints are full of life and light.

According to God’s view, we are like heavenly bodies full of light and like sheaves of wheat, full of life.

This is how God views us as saints, and this is how He views the church.

The more mature in life we become, the less we speak negatively concerning the saints or the church and the more excellent we see the church and the saints.

We realize that, according to God’s view, the church is excellent, and all the saints are full of life and light.

May we have God’s telescope to see through time, beyond what is seen at present, and behold the New Jerusalem, where there’s nothing but shining saints full of light and life.

There are no scorpions, gophers, or snakes in the New Jerusalem; there are only heavenly people who are full of life and light, for they have been fully transformed and matured by God.

Today we may focus on what the saints do and say, and we may be offended or displeased with the saints; however, we need to realize that, whenever we speak negatively of the church and the saints, we suffer death.

Instead of speaking evil of the saints and the church, no matter how right we may be in our own eyes in saying what we say, we need to turn to the Lord and use the divine telescope and speak of the church and the saints according to how God sees them.

We have to use the “divine telescope” to see through time and behold the New Jerusalem, where there is nothing but sheaves full of life and stars full of light.

Thus, the reigning aspect of the mature life never speaks negatively concerning the saints or the church (Gen. 38:27-30; Matt. 7:1-5; 1 Pet. 3:8-9).

This is why we need to deal with our hearts and exercise our spirit all the time in the church life and in our daily Christian life.

When we exercise our spirit, we get out our divine telescope and see others not according to their faults or weaknesses but according to Christ, so they are wonderful, full of life and light.

May we look at one another in the church life through the divine telescope to see through time and behold the New Jerusalem, where there are only persons full of life and light expressing God!

The more we speak concerning the saints in this way, not in a utopian way or in some wishful thinking way but by exercising our spirit to see the saints the way God sees them, the more we enjoy life and light.

But if we put ourselves in God’s shoes and think that we can judge the saints, we ourselves will be judged and will suffer death – death in our spirit, soul, and even in our body.

May we never speak negatively concerning the saints.

May we not gossip about them but rather, love one another with the Lord as our love and never speak about others behind their back but minister Christ to them and speak of them as the Lord speaks of them.

Of course, we need to love the saints with discernment, but at the same time we need to realize that, as long as someone is regenerated, no matter what his condition is, he is a child of God full of life and light.

So we need to minister life and light to others and seek to present them full-grown in Christ.

It may seem that this saint has this problem, that saint has that weakness, and so many saints seem to be dormant and even backsliding; it is not our position to judge, for the Lord does not judge.

The Lord is not judging the saints; He is working to transform them into sheaves of wheat full of life and into heavenly bodies full of light.

May we all have God’s eternal view of the saints and bless the saints, bless the church, and speak well of the saints and the church according to God’s view of the church and the saints.

Lord Jesus, we love You and we love the church! We forget about our shortsightedness and focus on You, even taking the divine telescope to see the saints as You see them. Hallelujah, the church is glorious! Praise the Lord, the saints are wonderful! Amen, Lord, how wonderful is the church and how excellent are the saints. All saints are like sheaves of wheat full of life and like heavenly bodies full of light. Amen, Lord, the saints are full of life and light. Grant us to see the saints the way You see them. Give us Your heavenly, divine, eternal view of the church and of the saints so that we may see and appreciate the saints and the church even as You do. Save us from being short-sighted and judgmental toward the saints and the church. Lord, we’re not the ones to judge, for we ourselves have many weaknesses and failures, yet You receive us, You dispense Yourslef as life into us, and You transform us into persons full of life and light. Hallelujah for our wonderful God who has a glorious and excellent church filled with marvellous saints!

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 Ed Marks in the message for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Genesis, msg. 110, by Witness Lee, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Enjoyment of Christ and our Growth in Life unto Maturity (2023 Thanksgiving Blending Conference), week 5, entitled, The Reigning Aspect of the Mature Life Seen in the Life of Joseph.
• Similar articles on this topic:
  – Being matured – the reigning aspect of the matured Israel (4), a portion from, Life-Study of Genesis, Chapter 115.
  – The word of righteousness: the warnings in the book of Hebrews, article in, Affirmation and Critique.
  – The Reigning Aspect of the Mature Life Seen in the Life of Joseph, a message via, youtube from the Northern Conference in Thailand 2023.
  – Living as a sheaf of life, a portion from, Life-Study of Genesis, Chapter 111, by Witness Lee.
  – Living an overcoming life by reigning life to become the New Jerusalem as the city of life, a portion via, Church in Regina.
  – The believers’ reigning in the kingdom as unveiled in the book of Revelation, article by David Yoon in, Affirmation and Critique.
  – Living the kingdom life, a portion from, Life-Study of Genesis, Chapter 111, by Witness Lee.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – O Jesus Christ, grow Thou in me, / And all things else recede; / My heart be daily nearer Thee, / From sin be daily freed. / Each day let Thy supporting might / My weakness still embrace; / My darkness vanish in Thy light, / Thy life my death efface. (Hymns #395 stanza 1 and chorus)
  – Oh, the church of Christ is glorious, and we are part of it— / We’re so happy that the Lord has made us one! / There’s a Body in the universe and we belong to it— / Hallelujah, for the Lord has made us one! / Hallelujah for the Body! / We are members of the Body! / We are wholly for the Body! / Hallelujah, for the Lord has made us one! (Hymns #1226 stanza 1)
  – In the age of Revelation, / Out from all denomination, / We are in the local churches, / In spirit one. / Nothing old or religious binds, / Everyone’s a star that shines; / Every church a golden lampstand, / Burning with Christ. / Christ and a burning church, / Christ and a burning church, / Christ and the church with the saints, / all shining stars! / Hallelujah, hallelujah, / Lord, we’ve given our all to Thee / To be burning in the spirit, to be / shining forth with Christ. (Hymns #1264)