Being Metabolically Changed by and Being Filled with the Divine Life that Changes us

To be transformed is to be metabolically changed in our natural life by and with the divine life, and to be matured is to be filled with the divine life that changes us; we need to be brought on to maturity until we’re filled with the divine life that transforms us. Amen, Lord Jesus, bring us on to maturity today!

As we are prayerfully considering the matter of the preparation of the bride, this week we come to the topic, The Maturity of the Bride. What a fantastic opportunity we have to consider and pray over the matter of the preparation of the bride!

Wow, just think about it, what a thought that we human beings can be part of the bride of Christ! This is not just a thought, actually; it is something taking place as we speak, for we believers in Christ are regenerated by God with His life and nature and we can grow in life unto maturity to be the bride of Christ.

The Bible shows us the blueprint in Genesis 1-2 and the finished product in Revelation 21-22; God will gain what He is after!

He is gaining His bride, His wife. God is a lover; He is perfect and almighty, but He needs a counterpart, and He wants to gain us, His people, to be His counterpart. Wow!

He wants to have a bride that matches Him in life and nature, someone who is perfect, beautiful, mature, and built up to be the same as He is.

This is why God created man; He created man in His image and according to His likeness so that man would receive the life of God, be filled with God’s life, and be perfected and built up as a corporate person to be His bride.

When God put man in front of the tree of life in the garden of Eden, it is almost as if He gave man a wedding invitation: partake of this tree and you will live forever as the counterpart of God.

Yes, man was made in God’s image and according to His likeness, but man also needs to have God’s life, even to be filled with His life and be mature in His life so that God and man, man and God, would become one for eternity.

Today this wedding invitation is extended to all of us: we need to simply take of the tree of life and we can be one with God, even dwell with God for eternity!

However, Genesis shows us the tragedy of man not choosing the tree of life, for he was deceived by Satan; man declined God’s wedding invitation.

Man was created by God to be joined to God in life and love, but man declined His invitation. Well, our God is still faithful to His purpose and He is faithful to His will; He will not let this matter go. He wants to gain His bride, and He will gain His bride.

May we be those who accept the Lord’s wedding invitation today by enjoying Him, partaking of Him as life, and allowing His divine life to grow in us unto maturity so that we may be prepared as the bride of Christ.

Being Transformed is being Metabolically Changed in our Natural Life; being Matured is being Filled with the Divine Life that Changes us

As we prayerfully consider the matter of the preparation of the bride of Christ, we realise that this bride needs to be mature; the Lord will not come to marry an immature or infantile bride but a mature bride who matches Him in every possible way.

Therefore, what we need today is to grow in life unto maturity so that we may be mature and perfected as the bride of Christ.

On the one hand, we believers in Christ need to be transformed by the divine life so that we may match Christ and be conformed to His image. On the other hand, we need to be brought on to maturity so that we may be filled with the divine life that changes us.

The meaning of the word mature in Greek is “at the end point.” This means that we are arriving at maturity.

None of us is mature yet; however, we are in a wonderful process in which day by day the Lord is growing in us unto maturity. There is a difference between transformation and maturity.

Transformation is a metabolic change in life; to be transformed is to be metabolically changed in our natural life by the divine life (Rom. 12:2; 2 Cor. 3:18).

However, maturity is to be filled with the divine life that transforms us.

When we see a child, we realise that he is not mature; he is in a process of growth, there is some transformation happening in him, but he is not mature, for growth in life unto maturity is needed.

However, a grown man is mature; there is some transformation there, for he’s changed in the way he thinks, behaves, and acts, but there’s also the maturity in life.

Similarly in the Christian life, to be transformed is to be metabolically changed in our natural life, and to be matured is to be filled with the divine life that changes us (Heb. 6:1; Col. 4:12; Rom. 12:2; 2 Pet. 1:3).

Maturity is not a matter of improving our behavior; it is being filled with the divine life that transforms us.

Being mature is not a matter of trying to improve ourselves to become better, more spiritual, and more ethical; it is a matter of the increase of Christ in us until we reach maturity.

Hebrews 6:1 says, Therefore leaving the word of the beginning of Christ, let us be brought on to maturity.

We need to know the elementary things, but we need to grow and be brought on to maturity. We need to stand mature and fully assured in all the will of God (Col. 4:12).

On one hand, we need to be transformed in our natural life, for we are still in the natural life, still living in the natural man, and still expressing ourselves and not the Lord.

So we need to come to the Lord in His word day by day and not be fashioned according to this age but be transformed by the renewing of the mind so that we may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and well pleasing and perfect (Rom. 12:2).

Our human life is necessary for God’s economy if it is transformed and changed; we need to be transformed in nature so that the divine life is mingled with the transformed human life to become one.

Again, this is not something that is merely outward, the improving of our behaviour or a change in our living by being perfected or trained; this has to do with the inward metabolic change by the divine life in our natural life.

We all, with unveiled face, need to be daily beholding the Lord so that we may also reflect Him and be transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord Spirit (2 Cor. 3:18).

In our Christian life, we believers in Christ need a metabolic change. What we need is not any outward correction or alteration; we need an inward change in nature and in life.

Only the Lord’s life can transform our natural life, and this can take place only with our cooperation. He will not just do it in us; we need to open to the Lord, come to Him, behold Him, and read and pray over His word.

When we allow His word to renew us, dwell in us, speak to us, and inwardly operate in us, as we behold the Lord with an unveiled face, we will be inwardly transformed.

We need to realise that, at the time of our regeneration, the divine life came into our spirit, and now this life seeks to spread, seep in, and increase into our soul, beginning with our mind, to transform us into the image of Christ.

As the divine life changes our natural life, it imparts more and more of the divine life into our being.

The final point of our transformation, the last stage of our transformation, is maturity in life. Transformation is the process of being changed in life; when this change reaches the point of fullness, the time of maturity has come.

Maturity is the final point of being changed, when we are filled with the divine life that changes us.

We need to be transformed day by day and we also need to be brought unto maturity. A mature believer knows and cares for the Body of Christ, being Body-conscious and Body-centred (1 Cor. 12:16, 18-19, 21, 24).

Being mature is not merely something individualistic; a mature person cares for the Body and is centred on the Body, for maturity in life is for the building up of the Body and the preparation of the bride.

We are in the church life today, and as those living in the church life, we need to grow in life unto maturity to be mature in life.

Lord Jesus, thank You for coming into us as life to regenerate us and make us children of God. Hallelujah, we have the divine life of God in our spirit, and we are now God-men, men filled with God in spirit! We open to You, Lord, and we come to You in Your word with an unveiled face so that we may behold You. Unveil us, Lord, and shine on us; we want to behold and reflect You! Amen, with an unveiled face, we want to behold You so that we may be transformed into the same image from glory to glory even as from the Lord Spirit! Transform us into Your image by Your life. We open to Your inner, metabolic changing by Your life. Amen, Lord, grow in us. Impart more of Your life into us until we are filled with the divine life that changes us. May we be brought on to maturity. Oh Lord, we don’t want to only be transformed in Your life, but even more, be mature in Your life! May Your divine life fill us to the uttermost until we are brought on to maturity and are prepared as Your bride!

Being Open Vessels to be Filled with God as Life and be Brought on to Maturity

It is good to know the difference between being transformed and being mature; we need to see that to be transformed is to be changed by the divine life in our natural life, while being mature is being filled with the divine life that changes us.

We may meet someone who goes through a lot of trials and sufferings, and we can see that he’s hanging on; he is still going on with the Lord, but we may not sense much flowing of the divine life with them.

But we may meet someone who simply blesses us with their presence, flowing out the divine life; they also go through sufferings and trials, but with them there’s the overflow of life, for they reach maturity in life. We can see this with Jacob in the Old Testament.

He went through a long period of transformation as he was with Laban, then met his brother Esau, and later with his sons and the loss of Joseph.

All these things caused him to be open to God to work in him to transform him and change him inwardly.

But something happened with Jacob after he lost Joseph; he was told that his beloved son, Joseph, must have been killed by a wild beast, and then a period of almost twenty years of silence happened (Gen. 37:20-33).

While Joseph was in Egypt, we are not told much about Jacob; he was silent, he did not have any ambitions, interests, or things to do.

He was an open vessel to the Lord and lived in fellowship with God, and even though not much was happening outwardly with him and for him, he was simply being matured.

Through the loss of Joseph, Jacob became an open vessel to God. God had a way to work something deeper in Jacob, even to make him mature in life. Before he lost Joseph, he was not that open; the loss of Joseph caused him to simply be an open vessel to God.

The only thing that Jacob did not lose was God’s presence; he lived at Hebron in fellowship with God. Though he experienced a great loss and he thought that it was all over for him, Jacob constantly lived in fellowship with God at Hebron.

Nothing hindered him anymore from living in fellowship with God; though it was not confirmed that Joseph was devoured by wild beasts, Jacob might have thought that perhaps he would never see Joseph again. This pressed Jacob and caused him to open his vessel to God as never before.

Again, not much was happening outwardly with Jacob; he didn’t seek to supplant others or do things here and there, but inwardly, he was opened to God.

As he was open to God, all these years, the heavenly rain was continuously falling into him, and he was being filled with the divine life to become mature.

He probably thought a lot about Joseph, but he opened to God, and he became more open to God for being matured in life. The result of this whole process of twenty years was that he was mature in life, and all he did was to bless everyone; blessing is the issue of being mature in life (Gen. 47:10; 48).

Today, we need to grow in life unto maturity; we need to be transformed, but even more, we need to allow the divine life to fill us. The Lord is faithful to remove anything that causes us not to open to Him fully, and as we remain open to Him, He will fill our inner being with Himself.

If we lose something or someone, if something or someone dear is taken from us, may we just open to the Lord and be open vessels to Him so that His life in us may increase and grow in us to maturity.

May we constantly remain in fellowship with God, no matter what happens, and may we continuously be open to receive the divine dispensing and grow in life unto maturity for the preparation and maturity of the bride of Christ.

Lord Jesus, we open our vessel to You today; grow in us unto maturity. May Your life in us grow little by little, day by day. Save us from remaining the same. Oh Lord, no matter what happens to us, no matter our loss and the sufferings we go through, keep our vessel open to Your divine dispensing. Dispense Yourself into us little by little, day by day. Grant us to have normal days under the divine dispensing. Work Yourself into us. May Your life in us grow. We love You, Lord, and we fully open from within. We want to live in constant fellowship with You, allowing You to increase the level of Your life in us. May the divine life that changes us grow in us and bring us to maturity. Keep us in Your presence today. Fill us with Your life. Fill us to overflowing. Overflow through us as life. May we pay more attention to life than to work. May we grow in Your life, be mature in Your life, and flow Your life out!

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 the brother Ray Mulligan in this conference, and portions from, Life-study of Genesis (msg. 62, by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Maturity of the Bride (2025 Memorial Day Blending Conference), week 3, The Building of the Bride – day 1.
• Similar articles on this topic:
  – Being matured – the process of maturity, a portion from, Life-Study of Genesis, Chapter 93.
  – What Is Transformation in the Bible? More via, Bibles for Australia blog.
  – God as Savior in Transformation and Conformation (1), article via, Affirmation and Critique.
  – Christ Growing in Our Heart (4): The Significance of Speaking in the Experience of Jacob and Joseph, via, Living to Him.
  – Transformation being a metabolic process, a portion from, Life-Study of 1 & 2 Samuel, Chapter 26, by Witness Lee.
  – Genesis (Program #124) – The Reigning Aspect of the Matured Israel (1), via, Bible study radio.
  – Growth and Maturity in the Divine Life, a portion from, God’s Salvation in Life, Chapter 2, by Witness Lee.
  – What Is Spiritual Growth? More via, Bibles for America blog.
  – Being full of the life and nature of Christ, a portion from, The Experience of Life, Chapter 19, by Witness Lee.
  – Preparing Christ’s Bride – The Living of His Overcomers, via, Holding to Truth in Love.
  – The prerequisite for maturity in the spiritual life is to grow continually in this life. Sharing via Instagram.
  – Pay the Price to Mature for New Jerusalem, via, New Jerusalem blog.
  – What is Transformation? More via, The Hearing of Faith.
  – The spiritual experience of the divine truth of transformation, article by, Ed Marks, in Affirmation and Critique.
  – The Kernel of the Book of Genesis, outline via, The Church in Chicago.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – Thy anointing Spirit / Me shall permeate, / All my soul and spirit / Thou wouldst saturate; / Every part transforming / Till conformed to Thee, / Till Thy life shall bring me / To maturity. / … / I would cease completely / From my efforts vain, / Let Thy life transform me, / Full release to gain; / Build me up with others / Till in us Thou see / Thy complete expression / Glorifying Thee. (Hymns #841 stanzas 3 and 6)
  – By the power of His Spirit / In His pattern He transforms; / From His glory to His glory / To His image He conforms. / He transforms, all sanctifying, / Till like Him we are matured; / He transforms, our soul possessing, / Till His stature is secured. (Hymns #750 stanzas 4-5)
  – Lord, teach us to discern the spirit / That we may be transformed in soul, / Till we’re conformed to Thine own image, / Till we’re matured and reach the goal. / Lord, teach us to discern the spirit, / To us Thy living Word so give / That soul from spirit be divided / And in the holiest place we’ll live. (Hymns #746 stanzas 6-7)