The book of Song of Songs shows us how a believer is growing in life unto maturity to fully match Christ, even becoming the Shulammite, the feminine form of Solomon – the same as Christ in every possible way.
The loving seeker of Christ is progressively experiencing Christ until he reaches full maturity, becoming the reproduction and duplication of Christ to match Him for their marriage (see Song of Songs 6:13).
The Lord further likens the mature yet loving seeker to a palm tree, indicating that, in our mature state before the Lord, we have the fullness of the stature of Christ (see Song of Songs 7:8; Eph. 4:13).
As the Lord grows in us and we cooperate with Him by letting Him gain more ground in our being, we become full of the stature of Christ, beloved and lovely in His sight, and we match Him in full.
Our desire then is to work together with our Beloved in the Body of Christ – not focused merely on our local church or local area, but even sojourning from one place to another to work together with Christ for the building up of His Body (see Song of Songs 7:11; Eph. 4:12).
Eventually, the consummation of the process of transformation and growth in life is that we become mature in life, and we hope to be raptured by the Lord through the redemption of our body (see Song of Songs 8:1-5; Rev. 12:5, 7-11; 14:1, 4; 19:7).
Our prayer and desire is that the Lord would return soon and bring us into His glory, transfiguring the body of our humiliation into the body of His glory, for the fulfillment of God’s purpose! Wow, what a wonderful destiny we have, and how much we pray that this would happen sooner in our lifetime!
Becoming the Shulammite, the Reproduction and Duplication of Christ
In Song of Songs 6:13 we see that, as a result of the process of transformation and growth in life, we become “the Shulammite”, the feminine form of Christ as our Solomon.
Just as Eve came out of Adam and matched Adam, being the same as he is in every possible way for their marriage, so we are becoming the duplication and reproduction of Christ, the same in life, nature, expression, image, and function, so that we may match Him for eternity for our marriage life together (see Gen. 2:20-23; 2 Cor. 3:18; Rom. 8:29).
This is our destiny – to become the New Jerusalem, where the redeeming God and all His redeemed (that’s us, the Shulammite) become one for our marriage life for eternity.
As we let Christ grow in us and make His home deep down in every inward part, as we are being transformed into the same image as Him, we become a “female Christ”, the same as He is, and others see no longer us living but Christ living in us (Gal. 2:20; Phil. 1:19).
In the maturity of Christ’s life in us, we as lovers of Christ become the Shulammite – the reproduction and duplication of Christ to corporately match Him for our marriage (Song of Songs 6:13; Rev. 19:7-8). Hallelujah!
Likened to a Palm Tree – Having the Fullness of the Stature of Christ
In the beginning of our experience of Christ, we have no growth or maturity – we are likened to a lily and a dove – but as we grow in life unto maturity, we arrive at the fullness of the stature of Christ (Song of Songs 7:8; Eph. 4:13).
The Lord likens the mature seeker to a palm tree, standing upright and shooting into the sky, with full stature and maturity. The roots of the palm tree are in touch with the spring of living water, and even though the scorching sun shines on the leaves, the tree still grows without hindrance.
Through we may suffer great trials in the wilderness today, we are not affected – we remain in the intimate union and communion with Christ, and we grow into the fullness of Christ.
The palm tree represents the Lord Himself in the Bible, and in the Song of Songs we as mature loving seekers of Christ are likened to a palm tree. This means that we arrive at the stature of the fullness of Christ, abiding in our organic union with Him and growing unto full maturity for His corporate expression and manifestation.
Carrying out with our Beloved a Work that is for the Entire World
It is so easy to be focused only on the local church, the local area, or even the local district where the Lord has placed us, while forgetting or not emphasizing the entire Body of Christ.
But in the maturity of the life of Christ in us, we as the Shulammite want to carry out with our Beloved a work that is not only for our own locality or region but for the entire world (see Song of Songs 7:11; Eph. 4:12). We now work together with the Lord for His Body, being mature and full grown in life.
Yes, we are in a local church; yes, we seek to be built up with the saints in our locality; but at the same time, we want to carry out with our Beloved the world that is for the entire Body of Christ, being willing even to sojourn from one place to another to minister Christ.
We give the Lord our love in the vineyards, among the churches, where we see that the vine has budded (the saints are growing in life), the blossom is open (the riches of Christ are expressed in the saints), and the pomegranates are in bloom.
Our work as mature believers is diligently not for ourselves and not only for our local church, but in the local churches together with our Beloved. Our work is in the Body and for the Body, and we work one with the Lord.
Paul was a real Shulammite – he lived Christ (Phil. 1:21) and he did everything in the index of His eyes, caring for the churches according to Christ.
He established local churches and then worked to bring them into the full realization of the Body of Christ by visiting them, blending them, sending letters to them and encouraging them to read them in other churches also, bringing them in the fellowship of the Body through giving, and praying for them.
How we need to grow in life unto maturity until we arrive at the stage that we live Christ and we work together with Him for His Body in all the churches!
Becoming Mature in Life and Hoping to be Raptured
The consummation of our growth and transformation in life is that we as lovers of Christ become mature in life and we hope to be raptured through the redemption of our body (just as the loving seeker did in Song of Songs 8:1-5).
Through our growth and transformation, we become mature in life and the same as Christ in every aspect and from every view, except for the fact that we still have the flesh. We want to fully match Him and be with Him completely, and our yearning and desire is to be raptured through the redemption of our body.
Such mature ones hope to be saved from our groaning from their flesh (see Rom. 8:19-25), and they hope to be raptured through God’s redemption of their body (Rom. 8:23; Eph. 4:30).
Today we may still desire some things of this world, or we may make some compromises….but we will one day become mature through our growth and transformation, and then we will simply desire to be raptured to be with the Lord and be released from this body of death. In a real and proper sense, we will become spiritual, heavenly, in ascension, and kingly, reigning with Christ.
We all CAN become such a one, and we MUST become fully mature! Don’t believe Satan’s lie. Don’t believe in your failures today, and don’t look at your situation right now. Simply cooperate with God’s life which is in you!
Let us all go on unto maturity. Let us allow the Lord make His home in our heart. Let us cooperate with Him like never before, so that together with all the saints in all the churches we may grow in life unto maturity and match Christ corporately for our marriage life for eternity!
Lord Jesus, our dear Bridegroom, we love You! We open to You right now – we want to cooperate with You as never before. Make Your home in all our heart. Take us on unto maturity, until we become Your corporate duplication and reproduction. Lord, we want to grow up in the divine life and let Your life transform us until we match You in every possible way. We want to work together with You for the building up of Your Body, and we desire that You would return soon to take us to Yourself! Come, Lord Jesus!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my Christian experience, bro. Minoru Chan’s speaking in the message for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Song of Songs (msgs. 7-9), 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 6/ msg 6, The Fourth Stage of the Experience of Life (5) – Full of the Stature of Christ.
- Further reading: recommending the books, Song of Songs (by Watchman Nee, see, Collected Works of Watchman Nee, vol. 23, pp. 107-108).
- Hymns on this topic:
# The Shulamite, His duplication, / His counterpart has now become. / She’s the same in life and nature, / His expression to the full; / Consummated as the New Jerusalem.
# Now we’re one His purpose to fulfill, / As the one new man of His plan. / Unto Him be glory in the church, / And in Jesus Christ forevermore—Amen!
# As we become the same as Christ / In life, nature, expression, and function, / We are qualified to work with Him / For His Body. / As we trust in the Lord helplessly, / Depend on Him as our love and strength, / And listen to His speaking, / Our hope is to be raptured / Through the redemption of our body. / And our prayer is— / “Come, Lord Jesus!”
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