Genesis 37—45
is a record
of the process of Jacob’s maturity:
In Genesis 27
we see a supplanter;
in chapter 37,
a transformed man;
and at the end of chapter 45,
a mature person.
To be transformed
is to be metabolically changed
in our natural life,
whereas to be matured
is to be filled with the divine life
that changes us:
The last stage of transformation
is maturity, the fullness of life:
God’s eternal purpose
can only be accomplished
through our transformation and maturity.
Maturity is
a matter of having the divine life
imparted into us again and again
until we have the fullness of life.
Maturity is
a matter of the enlargement of capacity:
Maturity in life
is the sum total
of receiving the discipline
of the Holy Spirit.
Others may see a person
who has matured in life,
but they cannot see
the accumulated discipline
of the Holy Spirit
which that person
has received secretly
day by day
throughout the years.
God will sovereignly use
persons, things, and events
to empty us of everything
that has filled us
and to take away every preoccupation
so that we
may have an increased capacity
to be filled with God.
The life of Jacob
reveals that everything
that happens to us
is under God’s sovereignty
for our transformation and maturity;
nothing is accidental:
In order to become mature,
Jacob first had to suffer
the loss of Joseph, the treasure of his heart.
A mature believer
has learned that God
is merciful and all-sufficient
to meet his needs
in every kind of situation.
His trust and rest
are altogether in the mercy
of his all-sufficient God,
no longer in himself or in his ability.
In Song of Songs 6:13
the lover of Christ,
having passed through
the various stages of transformation,
has become,
in the maturity of Christ’s life,
the Shulammite,
the reproduction and duplication of Christ
to match Him for their marriage:
Shulammite is
the feminine form of Solomon,
indicating that,
in the maturity of life,
she has become
the same as Christ
in life, in nature, in expression, and in function
for the accomplishment of God’s eternal economy.
In Song of Songs 3
the lover of Christ
reaches a mature stage,
becoming a palanquin,
and eventually is reckoned
by the Lord
as Jerusalem:
She reaches this stage
by the breaking of her natural man
and by the subduing of her will.
Through her living in Christ’s ascension
as the new creation in resurrection,
the lover of Christ
becomes mature
in the riches of the life of Christ
so that she becomes
the building of God, the sanctuary of God.
We need to experience the development
of the divine life and the divine nature
contained in the divine seed
that has been sown into us
so that we
may have a rich entrance
into the eternal kingdom:
We have been allotted
the wonderful, equally precious faith,
and this faith
is an all-inclusive seed:
All the divine riches
are in this seed,
but we must be diligent
to develop them;
to grow to maturity
is to develop
what we already have.
By developing these virtues,
we grow in life,
and eventually,
we will reach maturity,
be full of Christ,
and be qualified and equipped
to be kings
in the coming kingdom.
We need to have
the full development and maturity
from the seed
of faith,
through the roots
of virtue and knowledge,
the trunk of self-control,
and the branches
of endurance and godliness,
to the blossom and fruit
of brotherly love and love.
The ultimate development
of the divine nature within us
is love
—agape,
the Greek word
used in the New Testament
for the divine love,
which God is
in His nature:
We need to let the divine seed
of the allotted faith
develop to its consummation
in the divine and nobler love.
When we partake of the divine nature
and grow in life unto maturity,
we are filled with God as love,
and we become persons of love,
even love itself.
We should be diligent
to pursue the growth, development,
and maturity of the divine life and nature
for a rich entrance
into the eternal kingdom.
Paul’s burden in the book of Hebrews
was to bring the believers
out of the initial stage of salvation
on to maturity:
To be brought on to maturity
is to be brought into
the word of righteousness
concerning Christ’s heavenly ministry
and the way of God’s economy,
the word that is solid food:
The book of Hebrews
was written to bring the believers on
from the good word
concerning Christ’s earthly ministry
to the word of righteousness
concerning Christ’s heavenly ministry
and thereby bring the believers on to maturity.
The word of righteousness
embodies the thought of
God’s justice and righteousness
and governmental dealings with His people.
Righteousness is
a matter of God’s kingdom;
righteousness issues from God in His administration
and is related to His government and rule.
The Lord wants to bring us on to maturity,
but we must cooperate with His gracious work:
We need to share with Christ
in His attainments.
We need to be diligent
to enter into the remaining Sabbath rest.
We need to come forward
to the throne of grace
to receive mercy and find grace.
We need to feed on the solid food
to enjoy Christ
as the High Priest
according to the order of Melchizedek.
The goal of Paul’s ministry
was to present every man
mature, full-grown, in Christ
for the one new man:
The Greek word
rendered “full-grown” in Colossians 1:28
may also be translated
“perfect,” “complete,” or “mature.”
Paul’s ministry
was to dispense Christ into others
so that they would be perfect and complete
by maturing in Christ
unto full growth.
For the one new man
we need to labor and struggle
to present all the believers
full-grown in Christ,
ministering Christ as life to them
so that they can live by Him
and grow with Him
unto maturity.
Our goal
in preaching the gospel to sinners
and in fellowshipping with the saints
is to minister Christ into them
so that they may mature in life
and be presented full-grown in Him;
this is for the growth of the new man.
In order to become
the one new man
in reality and practicality,
we need to grow up into Christ
in all things:
When we grow up into Christ
in all things,
we will
no longer be different kinds of persons;
rather, we will spontaneously take Christ
as our person and our life.
When we grow up into Christ
in all things
to be a full-grown man,
we all will be one
in Christ;
this is
the universal one new man
for the fulfillment
of God’s eternal purpose.
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Prophecy note, 9 November 2014
Jacob’s long wait
for the return of his sons from Egypt
was surely a trial.
This was
under the sovereign hand of God
to prolong Jacob’s suffering
that he might be emptied of everything.
Our preoccupations
frustrate the growth of life.
Due to these preoccupations,
there is
not much room
in our being
for the divine life.
But when Jacob
heard the news
about Joseph in Egypt,
he had been emptied of
every preoccupation.
Nothing was occupying
his inner being.
Rachel had died,
his twelve sons had gone away,
and Jacob had been utterly emptied out.
He was so empty
that when the good news came,
he was not excited by it.
In fact,
his heart was numb.
Jacob actually did not react to
all these dealings
in the last stage
for his maturity.
He no longer had
his own activity.
Rather, without any struggle,
he absolutely submitted to
his circumstances.
He took
all the situations
as they happened.
Concerning the probable loss
of his sons,
he said,
“If I am to be bereaved of
my children,
I shall be bereaved”.
What submission
this was!
When the news came regarding Joseph,
Jacob had not only been transformed;
he was completely filled with
the divine life.
He had become mature.
We must see
that in all the localities
we are doing only one thing,
and that is
to minister Christ
and to pray
that others
may hold to Christ
as the truth
in love
and grow up into Him
in all things.
Eventually,
there will be
only Christ.
When we grow up into Christ
in all things,
we will
no longer be different kinds of persons;
rather, we will spontaneously take Christ
as our person and our life.
When we grow up into Christ
in all things
to be a full-grown man,
we all
will be one
in Christ;
this is
the universal one new man
for the fulfillment
of God’s eternal purpose.
Day 6
The goal of Paul’s ministry
was to present every man
full-grown in Christ.
Whenever I consider this phrase,
present every man full-grown,
as used in Colossians 1:28,
I sense how short I am.
I am warned by the Spirit within me
regarding my ministry.
I am concerned about
how many I shall be able to present
full-grown in Christ.
The burden of this responsibility
weighs upon me greatly.
Inwardly
I am charged
to announce Christ
and to warn others
and teach them regarding Christ
so that I may present them
full-grown in Christ.
Paul’s concept in Colossians 1:28
is completely different from
that held by
Christian ministers and pastors today.
Paul’s concept concerning his ministry
was that of dispensing Christ into others
so that they
may grow in Christ to maturity.
He knew
that Christ had to be added into the believers
until they became full-grown in Christ.
We need to have
the same concept as Paul.
As the elders care for
the saints in the churches,
they should seek to present
all the dear ones
full-grown in Christ.
Speaking of Christ
who dwells in us
as the hope of glory,
Paul says,
“Whom we announce,
admonishing every man
and teaching every man
in all wisdom
that we may present every man
full-grown in Christ” (Col. 1:28).
The Greek word rendered “full-grown”
may also be translated
“mature,” “complete,” or “perfect.”
Paul’s ministry
was to impart Christ to others
so that they
may be perfect and complete
by maturing in Christ
unto full growth.
However,
many Christian workers today
do not have any concept
of presenting every man
full-grown in Christ.
The goal of their work
is something other than this.
But we must have the same goal
that Paul had.
Even in preaching the gospel,
our aim should be
to impart life
in order to present others
mature, full-grown, in Christ.
As we preach the gospel to unbelievers,
minister Christ to them,
and help them to receive the Lord,
our goal is not merely that
they should be saved
from the lake of fire
and from God’s condemnation.
Our goal is
not only for them
to experience God’s forgiveness;
it is to minister Christ into them
so that they may
eventually be presented
full-grown in Christ.
If we fail to impart Christ to others
as we preach the gospel,
our gospel preaching
will fall short of
God’s standard.
Christ must be infused into all those
to whom we speak.
Imparting Christ
should be our aim
in our gospel preaching.
We should have the same goal
in our fellowship with the saints.
As we contact the saints,
our goal should be
to minister Christ into them
so that they may mature in Him.
We need to hold to Christ
as the truth
and grow into
Christ, the life-giving Spirit,
in all things.
This will make us
the new man.
If we grow up into Christ in all things,
then in Christ
there will not be
this kind of person
or that kind of person.
There will not be
any kind of person
but Christ,
who is all and in all.
This is
the new man.
Brothers and sisters,
we must see
that in all the localities
we are doing only one thing,
and that is
to minister Christ
and to pray
that others may hold to Christ
as the truth
in love
and grow up into Him
in all things.
Eventually,
there will not be
this kind of people
or that kind of people,
but there will be
only Christ.
This is
the new man.
When we grow up into Christ
in this way,
spontaneously
we will allow Christ
to be the person.
Christ as the person
is not individual or local
but universal.
If all the brothers and sisters
in all six continents
take Christ as the person,
then spontaneously
all the brothers and sisters
on the earth
in His recovery
will be
the one new man.
Day 5
Paul’s burden in the book of Hebrews
was to bring the believers
out of the “kindergarten” stage
and to bring them on to maturity,
to the word of righteousness
concerning Christ’s heavenly ministry,
concerning the way of His economy,
which is the solid food
for them to reach maturity.
In the New Testament age
God’s main work
is to bring forth the new creation,
and the new creation work
is based upon regeneration in our spirit
by God’s divine life, not by any miracle.
From the time of regeneration,
God continues to renew us,
to sanctify us dispositionally,
to transform us
from one degree of glory
to another degree of glory,
and eventually to conform us
to the image of the firstborn Son of God
unto glorification.
This is the main work of God
in the New Testament age
to create His new creation.
God produces the new creation
by regenerating the fallen and dead creation
with His own divine life
in the very spirit of the fallen and dead people,
whom He chose in eternity past,
to make them a new creation.
This is accomplished by Himself
as the divine life, as the Spirit,
entering into His chosen people’s spirit
to regenerate them,
to sanctify them,
to transform them,
and to conform them unto glorification.
Christians do not understand
the word of righteousness
concerning God’s governmental dealings.
Such words
are like hard bones,
and many, unable to understand them,
throw them away.
But whether we understand these words or not,
we are still under God’s governmental dealings.
The word regarding God’s governmental dealings
is the word of righteousness,
not the word of grace
nor the word of life.
The word about not entering into God’s rest
is a word of righteousness,
not a word of grace.
In Hebrews 3:15, a quotation from Psalm 95,
we are told,
“Today
if you hear His voice,
do not harden your hearts
as in the provocation.”
Hebrews 4:11,
another word of righteousness,
says,
“Let us therefore be diligent
to enter into that rest
lest anyone fall
after the same example of disobedience.”
Keep in mind
that the word of righteousness
is deeper than
the rudiments of the beginning of the oracles of God,
because it embodies the deeper thought
of God’s justice and righteousness
in His dispensational and governmental dealings
with His people.
Righteousness issues from God
for His administration.
This righteousness is Christ
to be our righteousness (1 Cor. 1:30),
making us God’s righteousness in Him
(not making us righteous before God).
Through Christ’s redemption,
man, who is a sinner and is even sin,
is made God’s righteousness,
being reconciled to the righteous God,
and is made a new creation
living to God
for His eternal purpose.
In the experience of our spiritual life,
there is always the Lord’s doing, on the one side,
and our pursuing in cooperation with Him, on the other side.
The Lord wants to bring us on to maturity,
but we still need to cooperate with Him
by being brought on to perfection, to maturity.
The Lord wants to bring us on,
but we must let Him do it.
This is our willing cooperation
with His gracious work.
In order to be brought on to perfection, to maturity,
we need to share with Christ
in His attainments,
to be diligent to enter into
the remaining Sabbath rest,
to come forward to
the throne of grace
to receive mercy and find grace,
and to feed on the solid food
to enjoy Christ
as our High Priest
according to the order of Melchizedek.
Day 4
Second Peter 1:11
indicates that we
may have an entrance
richly and bountifully supplied
into the kingdom of our Lord.
However, a good number of Christians
will not have
such an entrance,
because they have never built up this entrance
by developing the divine seed unto maturity.
If we have the development of the divine life
and are constituted of
the elements of the divine nature,
a rich and bountiful entrance
into the coming kingdom
will be supplied to us.
We Christians are destined
to be kings in the Lord’s kingdom.
It is impossible
to be a king without maturity.
Even if the Lord
would want to enthrone as a king someone
who is not mature,
that person would realize
that he is not able to exercise the kingship.
This indicates
that even we ourselves know
that we need to grow to maturity
in order to be kings.
According to Peter’s word
in 2 Peter 1:5-11,
to grow to maturity
is to develop
what we have already received.
We have been allotted
the wonderful like precious faith,
and this faith
is an all-inclusive seed.
All the divine riches
are in this seed,
but we must be diligent
to develop them
into virtue.
Then we need to develop in our virtue knowledge;
in knowledge, self-control;
in self-control, endurance;
in endurance, godliness;
in godliness, brotherly love;
and in brotherly love, love.
By developing these virtues
we grow,
and eventually we shall reach maturity.
As a result,
we shall be full of Christ,
and, in Paul’s words,
we shall arrive at
the measure of the stature
of the fullness of Christ.
Then we shall be qualified and equipped
to be kings
in the coming kingdom.
In 2 Peter 1:5-7
we have the development
from faith to love.
Eventually,
we have
the full development and maturity
from the seed
of faith,
through the roots
of virtue and knowledge,
the trunk
of self-control,
and the branches
of endurance and godliness,
to the blossom and the fruit
of brotherly love and love.
The consummation
of our enjoying the divine nature
is agape, the divine love.
Love is the ultimate development
in the divine nature
and the consummation of the development
of the divine nature.
We have the allotted faith within us
as the divine portion
and God has given us
exceedingly great and precious promises
that we might become partakers
of the divine nature.
As we cooperate with this divine nature,
it will have the opportunity
to develop itself to its consummation,
which is love.
When we remain in the fellowship,
we touch the source,
and we enjoy the divine love
as the essence
and the divine light
as the expression.
This means
we partake of the divine nature.
In this enjoyment
we let the divine seed of the allotted faith
develop to its consummation
—the divine nobler love.
When you partake of the divine nature
to the uttermost,
you will be filled with
God as love.
This issues in
a manner of life,
and this manner of life
is a separated and distinct life,
making you no more common
but holy.
Holiness is the manner of this life
that enjoys the divine nature
to the uttermost.
When we enjoy God as love,
we even become love,
and this issues in holiness.
Holiness is the manner.
When we become love,
we become different and distinct
from the common people.
Because you are a person
enjoying the divine nature,
you are a person of love.
The people around you
would notice
that you are different and distinct.
This is
not a matter of behavior,
but it is
a matter of our being.
Day 3
Song of Songs 6:13 says,
“Return, return, O Shulammite;
/ Return, return, that we may gaze at you.
/ Why should you gaze at the Shulammite,
/ As upon the dance of two camps?”
Here the lover’s name Shulammite,
which is the feminine form of Solomon,
is first used,
indicating that at this point
she has become Solomon’s duplication, counterpart,
the same as Solomon in life, nature, and image,
as Eve to Adam,
signifying that the lover of Christ
becomes the same as Him
in life, nature, and image
to match Him
for their marriage.
Shulammite is the feminine form of Solomon,
indicating that now the overcomers
have become the same as Christ.
All the overcomers
must be one with God
and must be Christ.
The Shulammite was a country girl.
Now, as a counterpart of Solomon,
she has become the same as Solomon
in life, in nature, in expression, and in function
for the carrying out of God’s economy.
In these four things
—life, nature, expression, and function—
we become the same as God and Christ
but not in Their Godhead.
To say
that we are the same as God in His Godhead
is a great blasphemy,
but if we say
that we cannot be the same as God
in life, nature, expression, and function,
this is unbelief.
The Bible tells us again and again
that God wants to be one with us
and to make us one with Him.
This is God’s intention.
The phrases in Christ and in the Lord
are used repeatedly in the New Testament.
Paul told us
to rejoice always in the Lord (Phil. 4:4).
In ourselves we cannot rejoice.
We can only sigh all the time.
But in the Lord
we are able to do all things (Phil. 4:13).
Surely our God
is more qualified than Solomon.
He is able to make us the same as He is
in His life, in His nature, in His expression, and in His function
to carry out His economy.
This signifies
that the overcomers were sinners.
Now, in the maturity of Christ’s life,
they have become the same as Christ
in life, in nature, in expression, and in function
for the accomplishment of God’s eternal economy.
Many times
in the past forty years
I have come back to the Song of Songs.
I have had many experiences in this book,
and I have come to realize
that it speaks not only of love
but also of the subduing of the will.
To have complete, adequate, and thorough transformation,
there must be
the subduing of the will.
The more our will is subdued,
the more we will be transformed.
Song of Songs 3
tells us of the maturity
of the seeking one,
and chapter 4
continues by explaining
how she reached such a mature stage.
But this is not all.
Eventually,
she is reckoned by the Lord
as Jerusalem.
This is the maturity
that is mentioned in chapter 3
when she becomes the palanquin.
A palanquin is
a miniature of the city.
The city contains the Lord
in a full way,
and the palanquin contains the Lord
on a smaller scale.
This is the maturity
mentioned in chapter 3.
Then chapter 4 explains
that such a maturity
is reached by the subduing of the will.
The Beloved’s praising His lover,
saying that she
is as beautiful as the heavenly sanctuary (Tirzah)
and as lovely as the heavenly Jerusalem,
indicates that through her living in Christ’s ascension
as the new creation in resurrection,
the lover of Christ
becomes mature in the riches of the life of Christ
so that she becomes not only a garden to Christ
but also the building of God,
the sanctuary of God
and its safeguard.
Day 2
Time is needed
for life to mature.
Maturity is
a matter of the enlargement of capacity.
You must allow God
to give you time
to suffer beyond measure;
then your capacity
will be enlarged.
To escape God’s arrangement just one time
is to lose an opportunity
to have our capacity enlarged.
This will prolong the time
required for life to mature in us
and will even require us
to make up this lesson
in order to reach maturity.
A believer can never be the same
after passing through suffering.
Either he will have his capacity enlarged
or he will become more hardened.
For this reason,
when believers
are passing through suffering,
they must pay attention
and they must realize
that maturity in life
is the sum total of receiving
the discipline of the Holy Spirit.
People may see a person
who has matured in life,
but they cannot see
the accumulated discipline
of the Holy Spirit
which that person
has received secretly
day by day
throughout the years.
Jacob’s long wait
for the return of his sons from Egypt
was surely a trial.
This was under the sovereign hand of God
to prolong Jacob’s suffering
that he might be emptied of everything.
Our preoccupations
frustrate the growth of life.
Due to these preoccupations,
there is
not much room in our being
for the divine life.
But when Jacob heard the news
about Joseph in Egypt,
he had been emptied of
every preoccupation.
Nothing was occupying
his inner being.
Rachel had died,
his twelve sons had gone away,
and Jacob had been utterly emptied out.
He was so empty
that when the good news came,
he was not excited by it.
In fact,
his heart was numb (Gen. 45:26).
When the news came regarding Joseph,
Jacob had not only been transformed;
he was completely filled with
the divine life.
He had become mature.
Even in chapter 37
Jacob could not bear God’s image
or exercise God’s dominion.
Although he was transformed,
he was not yet mature.
His partiality toward Joseph
proves that he was not mature.
This partial love
was a weak point.
Do not think
that a transformed person
cannot be partial in his love
or have other weak points.
Therefore, God
sovereignly placed Jacob
under His hand
that he might become mature.
In order to become mature,
Jacob firstly had to suffer
the loss of Joseph,
the treasure of his heart.
It seems impossible
that Joseph could have been lost.
He could easily have died of
a certain illness,
but how could Jacob have lost him?
Although he was not to die,
because he was still very useful,
he had to be taken away
from Jacob.
Jacob actually did not react to
all these dealings
in the last stage for his maturity.
He no longer had
his own activity.
Rather, without any struggle,
he absolutely submitted to
his circumstances.
He took all the situations
as they happened (Gen. 43:11, 13).
Concerning the probable loss of his sons,
he said,
“If I am to be bereaved of my children,
I shall be bereaved” (43:14).
What submission this was!
In his early days
Jacob always trusted in
his own skill and ability.
However,
after the dealings in the last stage,
his trust
was no longer in himself,
but in God.
Jacob had come to know
God’s mercy.
In his experiences
through all his life,
he eventually realized
that it was God’s mercy,
not his skill and ability,
that had counted in his situations.
And he had also learned
that this merciful God
is all-sufficient,
not only almighty,
to meet his needs
in every kind of situation.
Hence, Jacob said to his sons,
“May the All-sufficient God
grant you mercy
before the man” (43:14).
Now his trust and rest
are altogether in the mercy
of his all-sufficient God,
no longer in himself and in his ability.
Here we see a man
who has been fully transformed
for maturity.
Day 1
To be transformed
is to be changed
in our natural life,
whereas to be matured
is to be filled with the divine life
that changes us.
We may be transformed
in our natural life,
yet not be filled with the divine life.
Genesis 37 through 45
is a record
of the process of Jacob’s maturity.
This process
began in 37:1,
and it lasted until 45:28.
In the last five chapters of this book
we see a Jacob
who has fully matured.
Probably in all his life
Jacob never suffered as much as
he did in these nine chapters.
They are
truly a story of Jacob’s suffering.
In these chapters
we have the dealings
in the last stage of Jacob’s life.
The sufferings he underwent here
deeply touched his personal feelings.
After these chapters,
Jacob had
no further dealings.
Rather, he was fully matured,
he was filled with the divine life,
and he had
the expression of God
and the dominion of God.
For God’s expression and dominion
there is
the need of maturity.
Only a mature life
can bear God’s image
and exercise His dominion.
In Genesis 27
we see a supplanter.
He had many hands,
he was able to do everything,
and no one could defeat him.
Whoever came in contact with Jacob
—his father, his brother, or his uncle—
was the loser.
Jacob, on the contrary,
always came out ahead.
He made a gain
from his brother,
from his father,
and from his uncle.
He even made a gain
from Rachel, Leah, and their two maids.
However, at the time of Rachel’s death,
Jacob began to suffer loss.
But even this loss
produced a gain,
and that gain
was Benjamin.
In chapter 37
Jacob underwent
another loss, the loss of Joseph.
In this chapter
Jacob did not gain anything.
From this point onward,
Jacob lost
one thing after another.
Eventually,
in chapter 47,
he gained the fullness of life.
The fullness of life
is blessing,
which is
the overflow of life.
When you are filled past the brim with life,
this life
will overflow into others.
This overflow
is the blessing.
Therefore, in chapter 27
we see a supplanter;
in chapter 37,
a transformed man;
and in chapter 47,
a mature person.
Jacob’s transformation
began at the time
God came in to touch him (32:25),
and it continued until chapter 37,
when the process of transformation
was relatively complete.
However, in this chapter
Jacob did not yet have
maturity, the fullness of life.
In order to gain this,
he had to experience
the dealings in the last stage,
the dealings at Hebron.
We need to point out the difference
between transformation and maturity.
The last stage of transformation
is maturity.
Maturity means
the fullness of life.
When one is mature,
he has
no shortage of life.
The more life we have,
the more mature we are.
An infant
is obviously not mature,
but a grown man
is mature.
For a human being to be mature
means that his life
has come into fullness.
God’s eternal purpose
can only be accomplished
through our transformation and maturity.
Jacob’s experience
is an excellent illustration of this.
This metabolic change
begins with regeneration.
When we were saved,
we were not only justified and our sins forgiven;
we were also regenerated.
At regeneration
a new life, the divine life,
was put into our spirit.
From the time of our regeneration,
this life has been transforming
our natural life.
As the divine life changes our natural life,
it imparts
more and more of the divine life
into our being.
Therefore, transformation
is the change of our natural life.
When this change reaches
the point of fullness,
the time of maturity has come.
Maturity is
not a matter of our being changed;
it is a matter of having the divine life
imparted to us again and again
until we have the fullness of life.