«　WEEK 8　DAY 4　»

　　Eph. 3:2 If indeed you have heard of the stewardship of the grace of God which was given to me for you.

　　8-9 To me, less than the least of all saints, was this grace given to announce to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ as the gospel and to enlighten all that they may see what the economy of the mystery is…

　　In Greek, the word rendered “stewardship” in Ephesians 3:2 is the same word rendered “economy” in 1:10 and 3:9. The stewardship of the grace is the dispensing of the grace of God into God's chosen people for the producing and building up of the church. Out of this stewardship comes the ministry of the apostle, who is a steward in God's house, ministering Christ as God's grace to God's household.

　　The Greek word translated “stewardship” in verse 2 is oikonomia. According to ancient usage, oikonomia denoted a stewardship, a dispensation, or an administration. At the time of Paul, many rich families had stewards whose responsibility was to distribute food and other necessities to members of the household. Our Father has a great family, a divine household. Because our Father has such vast riches, there is the need in His household for many stewards to dispense these riches to His children. This dispensing is the stewardship. Hence, a stewardship is a dispensation….This dispensation is the stewardship with the dispensing ministry of the ministers of God. This ministry of dispensing is also God's administration. Today God administrates by dispensing Himself into us. This stewardship, this dispensation, this administration, is God's economy. In the New Testament economy of God there is the desperate need for the stewardship of grace. (Life-study of Ephesians, pp. 241-242)

　　The stewardship of the grace is the dispensing of the riches of Christ. According to the context of Ephesians 3, grace refers to the riches of Christ. When the riches of Christ are enjoyed by you, they become grace. Paul's ministry was to dispense the riches of Christ as grace to the believers….This is what we are doing in the ministry today. This stewardship is according to God's economy. With God it is a matter of economy; with us it is a matter of stewardship. All the saints, no matter how insignificant they may seem to be, have a stewardship according to God's economy. This means that every saint can infuse Christ into others. Even a young sister in high school can dispense Christ into her classmates. This dispensing of Christ into others is the stewardship according to God's economy.

　　The desire of God's heart is to dispense Himself into man…. This is the central point of the whole Bible. God does not want to remain in Himself; He wants to get into us. Therefore, in eternity past He purposed to dispense Himself into us….God's economy is to carry out the dispensing of Himself into man. We share in this economy through our stewardship, our ministry of dis­pensing the riches of Christ. Therefore, the stewardship of the grace is according to God's economy. The apostle Paul was not the only one with a stewardship. In 3:8 he refers to himself as “less than the least of all saints.” This indicates that Paul was even smaller than we are. Our concept needs to be radically changed. If Paul could be a steward, then we also can be stewards and dispense the riches of Christ into others.

　　This stewardship of the grace is for God's dispensation. We have seen that the desire of God's heart is to dispense His riches, which actually are Himself, into His chosen people. After these riches have been dispensed into us, we need to take up the burden to dispense them into others. With God, these riches are His economy; with us, they are the stewardship; and when they are dispensed by us into others, they are God's dispensation. When God's economy reaches us, it becomes our stewardship. (Life-study of Ephesians, pp. 244-245)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Ephesians, msg. 28