Ⅱ
God's economy is God's household administration, which is to dispense Himself in Christ into His chosen and redeemed people that He may have a house to express Himself, which house is the church, the Body of Christ—1 Tim. 1:4; 3:15:
A
God's economy, as His household administration, is to produce and constitute a Body for His Son—Eph. 1:22-23; 2:16; 3:6; 4:4, 16; 5:30.
B
The central subject of the Bible is the economy of God, and the entire Bible is concerned with the economy of God—1 Tim. 1:4; Eph. 1:10:
１
The governing and controlling vision in the Bible is the divine economy—Prov. 29:18a.
２
In our reading of the Bible, we need to focus our attention on the divine economy for the divine dispensing—Eph. 3:9.
３
Unless we know God's economy, we will not understand the Bible—Luke 24:45.
C
Christ is the element, sphere, means, goal, and aim of God's eternal economy; He is everything in God's economy—Matt. 17:5; Luke 24:44.
D
God's economy is to dispense Himself into our being that our being may be constituted with His being; this can be accomplished only by God dispensing Himself into us as the divine life—Eph. 3:16-17a; Rom. 8:2, 6, 10-11.
E
The economy of God is that God became flesh, passed through human living, died, resurrected, and became the life-giving Spirit to enter into us as life and to dispense God into us so that we may be transformed for the producing of the church, which is the Body of Christ, the house of God, the kingdom of God, and the counterpart of Christ, the ultimate aggregate of which is the New Jerusalem—John 1:14, 29; 12:24; 20:22; 14:2; 3:3, 5, 29-30; Rev. 21:2.
F
God's economy is God becoming man that man may become God in life and nature but not in the Godhead to produce the organic Body of Christ, which will consummate in the New Jerusalem—Rom. 8:3; 1:3-4; 12:4-5; Rev. 21:10.
Morning Nourishment
Eph. 3:9 …To enlighten all that they may see what the economy of the mystery is, which throughout the ages has been hidden in God, who created all things.1:10 Unto the economy of the fullness of the times, to head up all things in Christ, the things in the heavens and the things on the earth, in Him.
The New Testament revelation, the teaching of the apostles, is concerned with God’s economy. According to 1 Timothy 1:3-4, we may say that God’s economy is the general term for God’s New Testament revelation… Different teachings refer to teachings that are not in line with the economy of God. What certain ones taught, though somewhat based on the New Testament revelation, were genealogies and the law. These were different from God’s economy in faith… This shows us that God’s economy is the New Testament revelation, the teaching of the apostles. It is uniquely one, perfect, and complete. Nothing can be added to it or taken away from it. Today in the church we should teach only according to the New Testament revelation, which is the apostles’ teaching. Anything less than this is inadequate, and anything more than this is man’s teaching, not the words of God’s economy. (CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 2, “The Governing and Controlling Vision in the Bible,” p. 276)
Today’s Reading
The ministry of Christ consists of His earthly ministry and His heavenly ministry. He carried out the earthly ministry in His flesh for the accomplishment of redemption. Once He accomplished redemption, He entered into the tomb for rest. Then in resurrection He became the Spirit and thus began His heavenly ministry. He became the Spirit in order to dispense God Himself into people. This dispensing is He Himself coming into us… The issue of this dispensing is the church, which is the Body of Christ, the house of God, the kingdom of God, and the counterpart of Christ as His bride, the ultimate consummation of which is the New Jerusalem.God’s economy is that God became flesh, passed through human living, died, and resurrected; then He became the Spirit and entered into men to dispense God into them for their regeneration, issuing in the church. The church as the Body of Christ is His continuation, enlargement, and multiplication; it is also the kingdom of God, the house of God, and at the same time the counterpart of Christ as His bride. The ultimate consummation of the totality of all these items is the New Jerusalem.
Once you see the economy of God, you will know how to be an elder, and all your troubles will be gone… I am just like you. You have the flesh; I also have the flesh. You are weak; I am weaker. You have troubles; I have more troubles, and my troubles are more complicated. How can you be an elder? You have to see that God became flesh, passed through human living, died daily, eventually died on the cross, and then resurrected and became the Spirit. This Spirit enters into us to dispense God into us. If you see these things, you will know how to be an elder. If you pray over these words and let them get into you, you will spontaneously realize how to be an elder. Hence, this is a governing vision and a controlling vision.
You need to learn to say that the Bible has two sections: The first section is the types and prophecies, and the second section is the fulfillment and accomplishment. All the things referred to in the Bible are for the fulfillment and accomplishment of the economy of God. The economy of God is that God became flesh, passed through human living, died, resurrected, and became the Spirit to enter into us as life and dispense God into us that we may be transformed for the producing of the church, which is the Body of Christ, the house of God, the kingdom of God, and the counterpart of Christ, the ultimate aggregate of which is the New Jerusalem. This is the Bible, and this is the vision that governs and controls us. (CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 2, “The Governing and Controlling Vision in the Bible,” pp. 281-282)
Further Reading: CWWL, 1990, vol. 3, “The Divine Dispensing for the Divine Economy,” ch. 1