In our experience, to reign in life means to be under the ruling of the divine life, the ruling and limitation of the divine life; this means that we need to be instructed and governed by the word of God through the exercise of our spirit.
We need to be those who reign in life; our enjoyment and experience of Christ must advance and proceed until we reach the stage of kingship, reigning in life with Christ over all things.
How do we reign in life and what does it mean to reign in life?
To reign in life does not mean that we act in an authoritarian way and give out commands to things or people.
Rather, for us to reign in life is to be under the rule of the divine life within us.
When the divine life reigns in us, we reign in life. When God rules in us, we can rule in the divine life.
And we reign in life by receiving the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness. Amen!
May we be those who live an overcoming life by reigning in life to become the New Jerusalem as the city of life. May we be open to the Lord daily to receive the abundance of grace.
As we enjoy God in Christ as the Spirit to be everything to us for our enjoyment, we are sanctified, renewed, transformed, and conformed to the image of Christ.
Hallelujah, we have been regenerated to enjoy the Lord and partake of Him!
We have been born again of God to enjoy the divine life with all its riches so that our whole being – spirit, soul, and body – would be swallowed up by life and we would reign in life!
God’s original intention is to have man as a vessel to contain Him as life to express Him and represent Him.
When we were regenerated by God, the divine gene got into us, and this gene is operating in us to make us the same as Christ in every possible way.
We simply need to spend time with the Lord daily, contact Him, and turn to Him, and His life in us will grow.
As we grow in life, the divine life in us spreads and enlarges in our being, and the kingdom of God grows in us and even through us.
The New Testament shows us that the Triune God has been incarnated in order to be sown into His chosen people and develop within them into a kingdom.
The kingdom that Christ came to bring in and preach is not anything outward like a set of rules and regulations, nor is it anything of organization or teachings; rather, it is a life, the divine life, being propagated into man and growing in man until it becomes the kingdom of God.
The kingdom of God is something of life, and we as believers in Christ have the seed of the kingdom and cooperate with the Lord for the kingdom seed to grow, develop, and reach maturity so that we may have a rich entrance into the eternal kingdom of God. Amen!
To Reign in Life means to be Under the Ruling of the Divine Life, the Restriction and Limitation of the Divine Life in our Spirit
![But the centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not fit for You to enter under my roof; but only speak a word, and my servant will be healed. For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one, Go, and he goes; and to another, Come, and he comes; and to my slave, Do this, and he does [it.] Now when Jesus heard [this,] He marveled and said to those who followed, Truly I say to you, With no one in Israel have I found such great faith. Matt. 8:8-10](https://i0.wp.com/www.agodman.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/But-the-centurion-answered-and-said-Lord-I-am-not-fit-for-You-to-enter-under-my-roof-683x1024.webp?resize=450%2C675&ssl=1 "But the centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not fit for You to enter under my roof; but only speak a word, and my servant will be healed. For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one, Go, and he goes; and to another, Come, and he comes; and to my slave, Do this, and he does [it.] Now when Jesus heard [this,] He marveled and said to those who followed, Truly I say to you, With no one in Israel have I found such great faith. Matt. 8:8-10")
In our daily experience, for us to reign in life is to be under the ruling of the divine life.
The Lord Jesus was a pattern of reigning in life by being under the ruling of the divine life of the Father (Matt. 8:5-13).
When the Roman centurion asked the Lord to heal his sick servant, he told Him that he was not worthy to have Him come under his roof, but that the Lord would say a word and the servant would be healed.
He realized that the Lord was a Man under authority, so He had the authority to speak a word and the sickness would leave.
The centurion knew that he himself was a man under authority, so he had the authority to tell his slaves to come or go, and they obeyed him; similarly, he saw that the Lord was under God’s authority, so He had the authority to command sickness to go.
Reigning in life means that we are under the ruling of the divine life.
The Lord Jesus did everything under the Father’s rule; He went to certain places at a certain time and said certain things because the Father in Him directed Him to do it or say it.
He rejected his natural humanity and lived a life under the limitation and restrictions of the life of His heavenly Father.
Because He practically lived under the ruling of the divine life of the Father, Christ reigned in life.
He is our pattern; we must reign in life in the church life by being under the ruling of the divine life within us.
Paul was also a pattern to us in this respect; in his life and ministry, Paul was under the ruling of the divine life (2 Cor. 2:12-14).
He did not just go somewhere because he wanted to; he followed the Lord’s leading within and His guidance through the environment.
He was under the ruling of the divine life within him, so he was one with the Lord when he spoke or did certain things.
Paul set up a pattern of living the church life for the living of the Body life (Rom. 15:14 – 16:27).
He was under the ruling of the divine life and preached the gospel first to the gentiles (15:14-24) and then he brought them into the fellowship of the Body of Christ with the Jewish churches through their giving in love to provide for the necessities of the saints in Jerusalem (vv. 25-33).
Then, by his recommendations and greetings in 16:1-24, Paul blended together many saints and churches under his ministry for the practical living of the Body of Christ in the universal fellowship of the Body.
We all need to practice the restriction and limitations of the divine life in our daily life and in the church life.
For us to reign in life, we need to be under the ruling of the divine life within us.
May we who have received the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness practice the restriction and limitation in the divine life day by day.
When we live under the rule of the kingdom of God, we have a life of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit (Rom. 14:17-18; 1 Cor. 12:3).
To live in this way is to serve Christ as a slave, and such a life is well pleasing to God and approved by men.
When we live under the rule of the divine life within us, we live in the kingdom of God; the church life becomes a pleasant place, a place filled with righteousness toward ourselves, peace toward man, and joy in the Holy Spirit toward God.
If we serve Christ in this way by living under the limitation and restriction of the divine life in our spirit, we will live a life that is well pleasing to God and approved by men.
This is the genuine way of serving God, the way of enjoying Christ as the tree of life, which is the way of depending on the Lord for all things and living under His rule and reign within.
Lord Jesus, we want to be those reigning in life by receiving the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness. We open to You, Lord, and we allow You to rule and reign in us. May we be those who live under the ruling of the divine life within us. Save us from living according to what we think or desire. May we allow You to limit and restrict us in Your divine life. May we accept the limitation and restriction in the divine life in our spirit so that we may live in the kingdom of God. Amen, Lord, may our living be under the ruling of the divine life within so that we may live a life that is well-pleasing to God and approved by men. Keep us tuning to You, checking with You concerning all things, and eating You as the tree of life so that we may depend on You in all things and live under Your rule and reign within.
As those who Aspire to Reign in Life, we need to be Governed and Ruled by the Word of God
Deuteronomy 17 has a specific provision concerning the king – the king had to write his own copy of the law and be ruled and governed by the word of God throughout his kingship.
A proper king first had to be instructed, governed, ruled and controlled by the word of God (Deut. 17:14-15, 18-20).
This principle should be the same with the elders in the churches and with all of us who aspire to reign in life (2 Tim. 3:14-17).
On one hand, reigning in life is being under the rule of the divine life within us.
On the other hand, we reign in life by being governed and ruled by the word of God.
In order for the elders to administrate and manage the church, they have to be reconstituted with the word of God (1 Tim. 3:2; 5:17); as a result, they will be under God’s government, under God’s rule and control.
![And when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write out for himself a copy of this law in a book, out of [that which is] before the Levitical priests. Deut. 17:18 So that his heart may not be lifted up above his brothers and he may not turn aside from the commandment to the right or to the left; that he and his sons may extend their days over their kingdom in the midst of Israel. Deut. 17:20](https://i0.wp.com/www.agodman.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/And-when-he-sits-on-the-throne-of-his-kingdom-he-shall-write-out-for-himself-a-copy-of-this-law-683x1024.webp?resize=450%2C675&ssl=1 "And when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write out for himself a copy of this law in a book, out of [that which is] before the Levitical priests. Deut. 17:18 So that his heart may not be lifted up above his brothers and he may not turn aside from the commandment to the right or to the left; that he and his sons may extend their days over their kingdom in the midst of Israel. Deut. 17:20")
Then, spontaneously, God will be in their decisions, and the elders will represent God to manage the affairs of the church; this kind of management is not democracy but a theocracy.
Not only the elders but we all who aspire to reign in life by being under the ruling of the divine life within, we need to come to the Lord in His word every day and let the Lord speak to us.
We need to “write our own copy of the law” by getting into the Word, praying over the word, committing the word to our memory, and enjoying the Lord in His word.
How can we know the Lord without being in His word? How can we be under the ruling of the divine life within us if we don’t read the Bible?
We should never take a vacation from the Bible; rather, we need to read the word of God in the spirit and atmosphere of prayer.
If we daily read the word of God and contact the Lord in our reading, we will be governed and ruled by the word of God.
We have the Word – the written word is our daily food, we need to take in the word and say Amen.
Then, throughout the day the written word will become our inner supply and the living word will speak to us from within, regulating our daily living.
When we read the word of God, we will be governed and controlled by God’s word, and our hearts will not be lifted up among the saints.
We will not go to the left or to the right but we will be kept in the central lane of God’s economy.
In Neh. 8:1-18 we see that, under the leadership of Ezra and Nehemiah, the returned people of Israel were collectively reconstituted by and with God through His word to be a nation as God’s testimony.
When the remnant of the people of Israel returned to the good land, they were Babylonian in their constitution and in their being; they came out of Babylon, but they were inwardly reconstituted with what was in Babylon.
So they had to be reconstituted with the word of God.
Today we need to be under the shining of the Lord through His word so that we may be reconstituted with Him in His word.
![But you, continue in the things which you have learned and have been assured of, knowing from which ones you have learned [them] And that from a babe you have known the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise unto salvation through the faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for conviction, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, That the man of God may be complete, fully equipped for every good work. 2 Tim. 3:14-17](https://i0.wp.com/www.agodman.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/But-you-continue-in-the-things-which-you-have-learned-and-have-been-assured-of-knowing-from-which-ones-you-have-learned-683x1024.webp?resize=450%2C675&ssl=1 "But you, continue in the things which you have learned and have been assured of, knowing from which ones you have learned [them] And that from a babe you have known the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise unto salvation through the faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for conviction, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, That the man of God may be complete, fully equipped for every good work. 2 Tim. 3:14-17")
To reconstitute the people of God is to educate them by putting them into the Word of God so that they may be saturated with the word.
The word of God is one with the Spirit (John 6:63; Eph. 6:17); as we daily read the divine Word, the word of God works within us and the Spirit – through the word – spontaneously dispenses God’s nature with God’s element into our being, causing us to be constituted with God.
We may not feel anything different inside of us but, every time we contact the Lord in His word, something of His element is being infused into us, and we are inwardly being reconstituted with Him.
This element of God infused into our being through His word is the living word of God, and this word speaks to us, regulates us, controls us, and governs us.
Many times we are about to do something or say something, and God’s living word within us stops us, for we know that this is not according to God.
The way for us to reign in life by being under the rule of the divine life is by being in God’s word and allowing the Word to regulate us and limit us from within.
May we be those who pay the price to be in the word of God day by day in a consistent way so that we may be reconstituted with God’s thoughts, His feelings, and His desires.
May we be inwardly remade, reconstructed, and reconstituted with God’s element as we remain in the word of God, so that we may live under the ruling of the divine life as we let the word of God abide in us richly.
Lord Jesus, we aspire to reign in life in our daily life. We come to You in Your word; speak to us and infuse us with Yourself through Your word. Oh Lord, we need to be reconstituted with You inwardly. Work Yourself into us through Your word. Saturate us with Your word. We want to pay the price to be educated by being put in the word of God to be saturated with Yourself. May Your word be living and operative to us, speaking to us and infusing us with God’s element. May Your word be living and operative in us throughout the day, regulating our daily living from within. Amen, Lord, dispense more of God’s nature with God’s element into our being to constitute us with God as we come to Your word! May we reign in life by being under the rule of the divine life and by being instructed, governed, ruled, and controlled by the word of God!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by brother Ed Marks in the message, and portions from, Life-study of Deuteronomy, msg. 17, by Witness Lee, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-study of 1 and 2 Kings (2022 summer training), week 12, entitled, Living an Overcoming Life by Reigning in Life to Become the New Jerusalem as the City of Life.
- Hymns on this topic:
– God’s Kingdom on the earth is now / His sovereign government within; / ’Tis Christ Himself in us to live / As Lord and King to rule and reign. / His life with His authority / Enthrones Him now within our hearts / To govern all our words and deeds / And regulate our inward parts. (Hymns #942 stanzas 1-2)
– Submitted to God’s ruling, / All virtue thus will win; / Rebellion to His Headship / Is but the root of sin. / The evil aim of Satan- / God’s throne to overthrow; / Our aim and goal is ever / His rule to fully know. (Hymns #941 stanza 4)
– We have the Word! The written Word’s our daily food; / We mix this Word with faith and say “Amen!” / Then thro’ the day, the spoken Word will speak to us / And regulate our living from within. (Hymns #1287, stanza 3)
About aGodMan
God’s intention with Israel was to have on earth a divinely constituted people to be His testimony. However, most of those who had returned to Jerusalem from the captivity in Babylon had been born and raised not in Israel but in Babylon. The Babylonian element had been wrought into them and constituted into their being. Therefore, after they returned to the land of their fathers to be citizens of the nation of Israel, they needed to be reconstituted. In order to be reconstituted, they needed to come back to God by coming back to His law, that is, His word. Under Ezra and Nehemiah the returned people of Israel were collectively constituted by and with God through His word to be a nation as God’s testimony. See note Neh. 13:301, par. 1.
In order to reconstitute the people of God, there is the need to educate them with the word that comes out of the mouth of God and which expresses God. To reconstitute the people of God is to educate them by putting them into the Word of God that they may be saturated with the word. The word of God is one with the Spirit (John 6:63; Eph. 6:17). Through our daily reading of the divine Word, the word of God works within us, and the Spirit, through the word, spontaneously dispenses God’s nature with God’s element into our being, causing us to be constituted with God. Neh. 8:1, footnote 1, Recovery Version Bible
The king was to write out for himself a copy of the law in a book, out of that which was before the Levitical priests (Deut. 17:18). The law here refers to the Pentateuch… A proper king among the children of Israel was one who was instructed, governed, ruled, and controlled by the word of God. The principle should be the same with the elders in the churches today… In order to administrate, to manage, the church, the elders must be reconstituted with the holy word of God. As a result, they will be under God’s government, under God’s rule and control. Then spontaneously God will be in their decisions, and the elders will represent God to manage the affairs of the church. This kind of management is theocracy. Life-study of Deuteronomy, p. 121, by Witness Lee
As those who aspire to reign in life, we need to be under the rule of the divine life within us and allow the word of God to govern, rule, and control us.
May we be in the word of God daily in a living way to be infused with God’s element so that this living word would speak to us and regulate us from within!
To reign in life is to be under ruling of the divine life of the Father, this is so that we may live the churchlife the body life…
Through our daily reading of the divine Word, the word of God works within us, and the Spirit, through the word, spontaneously dispenses God’s nature with God’s element into our being, causing us to be constituted with God!
We see today that we must reign in life in order to live the church life.
We must reject our natural humanity and live under the restriction of the divine life.
Our God needs those who will practice the restriction & limitation of the divine life.
He wants a divinely constituted people to be His testimony.
In order to be reconstituted, we need to be educated in the word of God, for the word expresses God.
As we pray-read the word, we become one with the Spirit who dispenses God’s nature & element into our being.
How crucial it is, brother, that we devote ourselves to absorbing God in His word.
Hallelujah for the word, the Spirit and the blood
Amen, O Word of God
Wow, Yes Lord we aspire to reign in life, keep us in Your Holy Word in a living way to be infused and governed by the divine life! Lord grow in us unto maturity!!! Amen!!
Yes, we need to live what we are supposed to live.
Jesus in His life as a God- man is our model. He didn’t live His own will, but Father’s will.
Therefore, as long as He is in us as a life giving Spirit, we need to live as a shining moon reflecting His light upon this dark world as His witness.
Amen brother!
Praise the Lord we have the Word and the Spirit now to keep calling on Him and be reconstituted by him.
Amen
Amen Lord, keep us in your word so that your word can operate in as the divine life to govern,rule,and control,infused and regulate us from within .Oh Lord how much we depend on you.
Deut. 17:20 So that his heart may not be lifted up above his brothers and he may not turn aside from the commandment to the right or to the left; that he and his sons may extend their days over their kingdom in the midst of Israel.
John 15:9-11 As the Father has loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; even as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you that My joy may be in you and that your joy may be made full.
Eph. 5:25-27 Husbands, love your wives even as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her That He might sanctify her, cleansing her by the washing of the water in the word, That He might present the church to Himself glorious, not having spot or wrinkle or any such things, but that she would be holy and without blemish.
RR:
“…As a man, He rejected His natural humanity and lived a human life under the restriction of the divine life of His heavenly Father. By practically being under the ruling of the divine life of the Father, He was reigning in life. This is the pattern that we should follow”.
“We must reign in life to live the church life”.
(CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 5, “Crystallization-study of the Complete Salvation of God in Romans,” p. 450)
“…Paul first preached the gospel to the Gentiles (15:14-24) and then brought them into the fellowship of the Body of Christ with the Jewish churches through their giving in love to provide for the necessities of the saints in Jerusalem (vv. 25-33). This was to bring the two into the fellowship of the one Body”.
“…in [Romans] 16:1-24, Paul was blending together many saints and many churches under his ministry for the practical living of the Body of Christ in the universal fellowship of the Body…”
“The principle should be the same with the elders in the churches today…In order to administrate, to manage, the church, the elders must be reconstituted with the holy word of God…”
“…In order to be reconstituted, they needed to come back to God by coming back to His law, that is, His word…”.
“In order to reconstitute the people of God, there is the need to educate them with the word that comes out of the mouth of God and which expresses God. To reconstitute the people of God is to educate them by putting them into the Word of God that they may be saturated with the word. The word of God is one with the Spirit (John 6:63; Eph. 6:17). Through our daily reading of the divine Word, the word of God works within us, and the Spirit, through the word, spontaneously dispenses God’s nature with God’s element into our being, causing us to be constituted with God. (Neh. 8:1, footnote 1)”.
Oh Lord!! Oh Lord!! Forgive us for not taking the proper time to be educated in Your word so we can be in the Spirit.
Forgive us for reading what others received as direct revelation from You instead us seeking Your Word in a personal and intimate way.
We need to abide in You, we need Your love, we need to keep Your commandments, and we need Your joy, that joy that will be in us as a full expression of Your presence in our life.
We don’t need to be lifted above others, instead, we need to lift up each other within your precious Body.
Without the Lord’s word we will only lift up our ego and always look for a leadership position. Humbleness and meekness is obtaining by abiding in His love and commandments, this way, He will be fully expressed without no effort on our own. Amen!
Amen Lord! Do keep us enjoying You as the Spirit in Your word and in the church, to be constituted with Your life and nature for Your expression and testimony in this age! Produce us as Your overcomers and keep us under Your Headship to be ruled and control by You to fulfill God eternal purpose! We love You Lord Jesus!
Dear brother, to reign in life is to be under the ruling of the divine life.We must reign in life to live the church life.
Today there is the need for all the believers who have received the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness to practice the restriction and limitation in the divine life.