Our destiny as believers in Christ is to reign with Christ for God over all things. Today we need to submit to God’s authority and His sovereign arrangement in our circumstances and environment so that we may reign in life through Christ.
The reigning in life the Bible talks about has nothing to do with outwardly ruling over people or things. It is an inward reigning, a reigning over the self, the flesh, and anything negative inside of us and in our environment.
We need to desire to reign in life. We can’t “wait for it to happen” – we must have a desire to reign in life for God. Many negative things take place today in the world around us simply because the good and moral people don’t rule and don’t stand up for what they believe and practice. Many situations of deadness and dryness in the church meetings can be avoided if we desire to reign in life and we cooperate with the Lord to do so.
We need to turn to our spirit all the time, obeying the Lord’s leading within, and exercise to speak Christ, minister Christ, and live Christ. This means that we need to have a desire to reign in life and take the initiative to exercise our spirit, submit to God’s authority, and reign in life through Christ.
All the believers who daily receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness are able, because of the Christ in them, to reign in life for God. When grace reigns in us, when we allow the enjoyment of God as grace to reign in us, we reign in life.
And when we reign in life – just as God does – we are becoming God in life, nature, expression, and function, but not in the Godhead (see Rom. 5:17, 21).
Having the Desire to Reign in Life and Rising up!
Reigning in life is not a “future state” to which we will one day attend, after many tribulations and trials; rather, we need to have the desire to reign in life today!
We may think we are not qualified or mature enough, but we need to desire to reign in life with Christ today in our daily life and in the church life. This means that we need to rise up, stand in the position of ascension in Christ, and reign in life through Christ!
We submit to God’s authority – both to Christ as the Head of the Body, to the circumstances and situations He arranges for us, to the people He places in authority over us, and to the more mature saints in the church – and we rise up to reign and rule for God. This means that we must positively and actively reign for God over all things, especially the negative things.
If we desire to reign, our spirit shouldn’t be timid, fearful, or lax, but willing to exercise God’s authority, positively and actively dealing with all the works of the enemy. There are many rebellious and unlawful things happening both in the world and in the church, and we as people who desire to reign in life need to deal with them.
Sometimes the atmosphere in meetings is weak and even confused since the wrong testimonies and prayers are uttered. We shouldn’t “wait for the Holy Spirit to direct the meeting” in such cases but rather exercise our spirit one with the Lord and reign in life.
Many times we need to reign in life over our disposition and desire not to speak, and cooperate with the Lord by calling a hymn, sharing a verse or a testimony for the uplifting of the atmosphere in the meeting. We shouldn’t be presumptuous or over-functioning harshly, but we should neither be those who allow the atmosphere in the meetings to be depressed or dead.
There’s a great need for men who are willing to rise and stand in the position of ascension and order! There’s a great need for men who positively and actively exercise authority for God to rule over all the confused and lawless situation and destroy the antagonistic works of the enemy!
Lord, make us such men! We desire to reign in life with Christ for God! Make our spirit strong and positive. Save us from being passive, negative, or loose. We want to be active and strong, positive and diligent in exercising our spirit and being one with You to exercise Your authority. Lord, gain so many who submit to Your authority, stand in the position ascension, and exercise God’s authority consistently!
Reigning in Life by Being Ruled in the Sweetness of Love
When we received the Lord Jesus as our Savior, we were delivered from the authority of darkness and we were transferred into the kingdom of the Son of God’s love (see Col. 1:13). This means we are now in a realm of love – we live in the kingdom of the Son of God’s love, where we are ruled and restricted not by force or punishment but in the sweetness of love.
When we are under the ruling of the divine life, we are inwardly restricted and ruled by God in the sweetness of love. When we allow the divine life to reign in us, our hearts are being directed by the Lord (see Prov. 21:1; 2 Thes. 3:5).
We no longer live in the realm of darkness, sin, and death, but in the realm of God’s life, His love, and His light. Our habit is now changing from living in sin to being constrained by the love of Christ to give in to Him and let Him rule in us (2 Cor. 5:14).
The way we can become perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect is by allowing the Lord’s love to constrain us, rule in us, and be expressed through us by loving not only our friends and relatives but loving all men (and especially our enemies).
Receiving the Abundance of Grace to Reign in Life
When some hear about “reigning in life” they may think of authority, judgement, soberness, righteousness, etc. and they are frightened. But in God’s eyes, reigning in life is a normal Christian’s situation and condition as he allows His love to constrain Him and as he receives grace.
For us as believers in Christ to reign in life, we need to receive the abundance of grace – not only some grace, a little grace, or a lot of grace, but the ABUNDANCE of grace (see Rom. 5:17, 21). Just as sin and death are nothing by Satan personified, so grace is nothing but the Triune God being enjoyed by us.
The enjoyment of the Lord as grace is with those who love Him (see Eph. 6:24; John 21:15-17). When we exercise our spirit to touch the Lord and enjoy Him, the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ as the bountiful supply of the Triune God is enjoyed by us, causing us to reign in life (see Heb. 10:29b; Gal. 6:18; Phil. 4:23; Philem. 25; 2 Tim. 4:22).
Even the word of God, as we read it, speak it, and hear it – it is the word of grace (see Acts 20:32; Col. 3:16; cf. Jer. 15:16).
When in the church life we meet with the saints on the ground of oneness, we enjoy the Lord and we experience the processed Triune God as the grace of life – which grace is also visible for others to see and enjoy (see Psa. 133:3; 1 Pet. 3:7; Acts 4:33; 11:23).
In our sufferings and trials, as we go through hardships and rough situations, we can experience the Lord as our increasing and all-sufficient grace (see 2 Cor. 12:9).
In our work for the Lord and with the Lord, we need to labor for the Lord in the power of His grace, enjoying Him as grace all the time until it is the grace of God operating in us and through us (see 1 Cor. 15:10, 58; 3:10, 12a).
When we meet others, we need to be good stewards of the varied grace of God – grace meets man’s every need, and we need to minister grace to others for them to enjoy the Lord (see 1 Pet. 4:10; Eph. 3:2; 2 Cor. 1:15; Eph. 4:29).
Finally, by the power of grace, the strength of grace, and the life of grace, we can be right with God and with one another. The grace we enjoy, live out, speak, minister, stand on, and experience – this grace produces righteousness (Heb. 11:7).
As we enjoy the Lord as grace, grace will reign in us and will cause us to reign in life! We will reign in life as God reigns – we become God in life and nature but not in the Godhead – by enjoying the Triune God as grace in the grafted life, in the organic union with God in spirit (see Rom. 11:17-24; Gal. 2:20). Hallelujah for grace!
Lord, keep us enjoying You as grace in abundance! We love hearing and being in the word of grace. We enjoy being with the saints on the ground of oneness, enjoying the Triune God as grace. Lord, increase the level of grace. Increase our enjoyment of the Triune God as grace so that we may be full of grace and minister grace to others. We want to let grace reign in us – may the enjoyment of Christ rule in our being! Lord of all grace, cause us to reign in life by receiving the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration (besides the Word of God and my Christian experience): bro. Andrew Yu’s speaking in this message and portions from, The Experience of Life (see pp. 351-354), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Entering into the Fourth Stage of the Experience of Life to Arrive at a Full-Grown Man for the Fulfillment of God’s Purpose, week 4 / msg 4, The Fourth Stage of the Experience of Life (3) – Reigning in Life.
- Further reading: Salvation in Life in the Book of Romans (see ch. 7), and, Living a Life according to the High Peak of God’s Revelation (see ch. 2).
- Hymns on this topic:
# Thy mighty love, O God, constraineth me, / As some strong tide it presseth on its way, / Seeking a channel in my self-bound soul, / Yearning to sweep all barriers away.
# So, why not open up and call His name, “Oh Lord!“ / Find your spirit where His grace has been outpoured. / Call His name, taste His grace, exercise before His face / He’s longing and yearning. / He’s hoping and waiting. / He’s ever desiring for you… / To turn to Him.
# Christ’s saving life when expressed in each town, / Strengthens the saints causing grace to abound; / And by the reigning in life every church / Is blent together, and Satan is crushed.
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