As believers in Christ, we need to pursue the growth and 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 (2 Pet. 1:1, 4-11).
When we repented and believed into the Lord, the Lord Jesus as the Sower has sown Himself as the seed of life into our being, and this seed has been growing and developing to become a realm in us, a realm over which God can rule in the divine life. This is the kingdom of God.
The kingdom of God is the rule of God within us in His divine life. Yes, God rules over the whole universe, and yes, He rules over all people and things that exist, but He wants to bring His kingdom within us, and He wants to rule in man by means of His divine life.
When the Lord Jesus came on earth, the kingdom of God came; the kingdom was with Him and it was Himself, and after His death and resurrection man can receive the kingdom seed in his spirit.
Praise the Lord for the Lord Jesus as the seed of the kingdom of God who was sown into us, God’s chosen and redeemed people, to develop in us into God’s ruling realm!
If we realise that the Lord Jesus as the seed of the kingdom has been sown into us, we will pay very much attention to 2 Peter 1, where we are told of the need for the development of the divine life and the divine nature contained in the seed of the kingdom which has been sown into us, for by cooperating with the Lord in this way we will have a rich entrance into the eternal kingdom.
On one hand at the time of our regeneration we were brought into the kingdom of God and the kingdom has come into us; on the other hand, we need to cooperate with the Lord to develop and spread this kingdom in us and through us, and we need to live in the reality of the kingdom of God in the church life today, so that we may be rewarded with the manifestation of the kingdom in the coming age.
This means that the kingdom of God has to spread in us by our growth in the divine life, and we need to let the Lord rule and reign in our being in the many things of our daily life.
In both big decision and small decisions, in difficult things and in happy situations, in our ups and downs, we need to turn to the Lord and open to Him, asking Him not only to guide us but to grow in us so that the kingdom of God would spread and increase in us.
Being Diligent to Develop the Riches in the Divine Seed through our Growth in Life
Praise the Lord, all believers in Christ have been allotted the wonderful equally precious faith, and this faith is an all-inclusive seed sown into us (2 Pet. 1:1).
All the divine riches are in the seed of the kingdom sown into us, but we need to develop these riches; we need to grow to maturity so that we may develop what we already have (2 Pet. 1:1-8; 3:18).
This development is something divinely human, and it involves us bountifully supplying in our faith virtue, in virtue, knowledge; in knowledge, self-control; in self-control, endurance; in endurance, godliness; in godliness, brotherly love; and in brotherly love, love.
These things exist in us – they are the riches contained in the divine seed sown into us, but we need to develop them by our growth in the divine life.
The equally precious faith has already been allotted to us, and we have both the divine life and the divine nature; now as partakers of the divine nature, we need to be diligent to develop the riches of the divine seed through our growth in the divine life.
We enter the kingdom of God day by day by the growth of the inner life. For the kingdom to develop in us we need to humble ourselves, empty ourselves, and unload ourselves.
We need to open to the Lord and ask Him to un-occupy us from any culture, religion, ethics, morality, philosophy, improvement of character, and we need to be released from any effort of “being spiritual”, scriptural, holy, and victorious.
All our knowledge and efforts need to be put aside, and we should care only for Christ and for the growth of Christ within us.
We need to learn to give more ground to Christ to grow in us so that the divine seed would grow, spread, and increase in us through our growth in the divine life. In this way, we will have a rich entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ.
We can also have a rich entrance by losing our soul-life today (see Matt. 16:25-28). For us to be diligent to develop the riches in the divine seed through our growth in life means that we have to lose our soul-life with its enjoyment in this age, thus undergoing transformation.
The more we lose the enjoyment of the soul in this age, the richer entrance we will have.
We have the seed of faith, the growing power, and He has also given us the promises that He will send the rain, the growth, and the harvest if we cooperate with Him.
Praise the Lord, He has provided everything we ever need for the seed of the kingdom to grow in us, but we need to be diligent to develop the riches in the divine seed through our growth in the divine life!
By developing these virtues, we grow in life, and we will eventually reach maturity, be full of Christ, and be qualified and equipped to be kings in the coming kingdom (Eph. 4:13-15; Col. 2:19; 2 Pet. 1:11).
Thank You Lord for allotting to us the wonderful equally precious faith, which is an all-inclusive seed sown into us. We want to be diligent to develop the riches of the divine seed through our growth in life so that there may be a rich entrance given to us into the eternal kingdom. Lord, we turn our heart to You; we come to You to cooperate with You by losing our soul-life with our soulish enjoyment, and by humbling ourselves to receive the growth from You. Lord, we want to develop the virtues in the divine life and the divine nature so that we may grow in life and reach maturity to be kings in the coming kingdom!
Being Diligent to Pursue the Growth and Development of the Divine Life and Nature for a Rich Entrance into the Eternal Kingdom
May we be those who are diligent to pursue the growth and development of the divine life and the divine nature for a rich entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Pet. 1:10-11).
We need to have a pursuing spirit; to pursue is not something we do casually but rather, something we do by being focused and energised to gain something.
Are we pursuing the growth and development of the divine life and nature for a rich entrance to be granted to us in the eternal kingdom? May the Lord recover a pursuing spirit among us.
May we seek FIRST the kingdom of God and His righteousness (Matt. 6:33), and may we learn to provide for our household before the Lord.
In pursuing the Lord we should forget all the things which are behind and stretch forward to the things which are before, seeking to grow and develop the divine life and divine nature.
The bountiful supply that we enjoy in the development of the divine life and divine nature will bountifully supply us a rich entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ.
As we cooperate with the Lord by pursuing the growth and development of the divine life and divine nature, our enjoyment of the Lord increases, and our joy in the Lord gets greater and deeper.
The kingdom of God is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit (Rom. 14:17); if we care for the righteousness by being strict to ourselves before the Lord, if we seek to have peace with the Lord and with others, and if we enjoy the Lord, we are in the kingdom.
The divine power has granted to us all things which relate to life and godliness, and we have become partakers of the divine nature. Now we need to pursue the growth and development of the divine life and divine nature through growth in life unto the rich entrance into the eternal kingdom.
The bountiful supply that we enjoy in the development of the divine life and divine nature will bountifully supply us a rich entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord.
Such a supply will enable and qualify us to enter into the coming kingdom by all the riches of the divine life and divine nature as our excellent virtues (energy) unto the splendid glory of God! Hallelujah!
This means that we shouldn’t stop at merely being saved but even more, after being saved, we should pursue the growth and maturity in the divine life so that we may receive the kingdom reward.
We all need to have such a pursuing spirit, being diligent to pursue the growth and development of the divine life and divine nature for a rich entrance into the eternal kingdom.
At home, on the street, at work, in the car, and wherever we are, we can open to the Lord and pray, uttering short prayers of cooperating with His life to grow in us.
We need to not waste time – we do have enough time, and the Lord is still with us and in us, but we should not waste our time but be diligent to pray, open to the Lord, and cooperate with Him so that we may pursue the growth and development of the divine life and divine nature, so that a rich entrance may be granted to us into the eternal kingdom.
Lord Jesus, grant us a pursuing spirit; we want to pursue the growth and development of the divine life and divine nature for a rich entrance to be granted to us into the eternal kingdom! Amen, Lord, we forget the things which are behind and stretch forward toward You to pursue the growth in the divine life! May the bountiful supply that we enjoy in the development of the divine life and divine nature supply us bountifully with a rich entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord! Amen, Lord, may this supply enable and qualify us to enter into the coming kingdom by all the riches of the divine life and divine nature as our excellent virtues unto the splendid glory of God!
You can read this article also in Romanian – citiți acest articol / această împărtășire și în limba română via următorul link, Să urmărim creșterea și dezvoltarea vieții și naturii divine pentru a intra în împărăție.
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by bro. Ron Kangas for this week, and portions from, Life-study of 2 Peter, msgs. 6-7 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Development of the Kingdom of God in the Church Life and the Christian Life (2019 spring ITERO), week 1, The Development of the Kingdom of God into a Realm over Which God Rules in His Divine Life.
- Hymns on this topic:
# The Lord, the seed of life, / Has sown Himself into our heart / To grow up into fullness / And become His counterpart. / The seed requires no rules or forms, / For water is its need— / By this the all-inclusive seed / Will grow in us indeed! / The seed is simply Jesus! / Oh, Jesus lives in me! / And by His growth this seed / in us will reach maturity. (Hymns #1242)
# Precious faith in each saint, precious equally, / Precious faith holding us, holding ceaselessly. / Disagree or agree, still it holds us fast, / Day by day, eternally this faith shall last. / Power divine wrought in us is the source so great; / Power divine is in us now to operate. / Hence will spring everything for our life within / And for godliness without, expressing Him. (Hymns #1211)
# Since we received Your life, Lord, a seed’s been growing there: / The seed of inward glory, the glory we will share! / By growing ’til the blossom of glory blooms in full, / We’ll thus enjoy Your increase and glory bountiful. (Hymns #1290)
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