THE THIRD PART: 24 CRUCIAL LINES IN THE BIBLE
The Divine Dispensing
Message One
The Central View of the Divine Dispensing
Scripture Reading: Eph. 1:10; 3:9; 1 Tim. 1:4; 1 Cor. 9:17; Eph. 3:2; Col. 1:25; 1 Cor. 4:1; 1 Pet. 4:10; Gen. 1:26-27; 2:9-12, 22; Rev. 21:1-3, 11, 18-22; 22:1-2
I. If we look into the entire Bible from Genesis to Revelation, we could see God’s works and also the goal of God’s works; we must see not only God’s dispensation but also the goal of God’s dispensation; that is, God is working Himself into His chosen people—Gen. 1:26-27; Rev. 21:10; 22:17: (CWWL, 1983, vol. 2, “The Divine Dispensing of the Divine Trinity”, ch. 1)
A. Genesis 1 tells us that God created man in His own image; this surely indicates that God wants man to express Himself—Gen. 1:26-27. (CWWL, 1983, vol. 2, “The Divine Dispensing of the Divine Trinity”, ch. 1)
B. At the end of the Bible there is a city which bears the glory of God and which is the composition of many names; there are twelve names from Israel and twelve from the church; the city bears the glorious image of God, denoting that this composition of God’s redeemed ones is the expression of God—Rev. 21:11-12. (CWWL, 1983, vol. 2, “The Divine Dispensing of the Divine Trinity”, ch. 1)
C. This makes it very clear that God’s goal is to work Himself into His redeemed people; God wants to work Himself into His chosen people that He may have a full expression in eternity; this is the goal of God’s full salvation; God’s dispensation is toward this goal—Gal. 2:20; 4:19; Col. 3:4. (CWWL, 1983, vol. 2, “The Divine Dispensing of the Divine Trinity”, ch. 1)
II. Dispensation is a translation of the Greek word, oikonomia; the basic meaning of this word is a kind of arrangement, a kind of an arranged order; so it may be considered as a plan, as a management, or as an administration; God has a divine arrangement of His administration; the entire Bible tells us God has been working and is still working on this plan—1 Tim. 1:4; cf. Eph. 1:10, footnote 2; 3:9: (CWWL, 1983, vol. 2, “The Divine Dispensing of the Divine Trinity”, ch. 1)
A. In Ephesians 1:10 we can see that there is a plan, an arrangement, or an administration for God to head up all things in Christ. (CWWL, 1983, vol. 2, “The Divine Dispensing of the Divine Trinity”, ch. 1)
B. First God would collect His chosen people and put them into Christ, then He would work Christ into them so that they all might become the parts and members of Christ with Christ as their Head; all these dear Christians have been headed up into Christ—Eph. 1:4, 10, 22-23. (CWWL, 1983, vol. 2, “The Divine Dispensing of the Divine Trinity”, ch. 1)
C. Although we may come from many different countries, we have been headed up into Christ; in the name of Christ and in His enlivening Spirit we have been headed up into Christ—Eph. 1:10; Col. 3:10-11. (CWWL, 1983, vol. 2, “The Divine Dispensing of the Divine Trinity”, ch. 1)
D. In the fullness of the times God will head up the entire universe into Christ, by that time, God will be fully expressed—Eph. 1:10-12. (CWWL, 1983, vol. 2, “The Divine Dispensing of the Divine Trinity”, ch. 1)
III. According to the context of Ephesians 3:9, God’s plan of His full salvation is to dispense the unsearchable riches of Christ into His chosen people to produce the church; the dispensing of Christ’s riches is for the producing of the church to fulfill God’s eternal purpose—3:20-21: (CWWL, 1983, vol. 2, “The Divine Dispensing of the Divine Trinity”, ch. 1)
A. The church has been produced by the dispensing of the unsearchable riches of Christ—v. 8. (CWWL, 1984, vol. 3, “The Divine Economy”, ch. 1)
B. The church is not a religious organization, but the church is the Body of Christ produced by the dispensing of the riches of Christ into all the believers—v. 8. (CWWL, 1984, vol. 3, “The Divine Economy”, ch. 1)
C. Every time we are gathered into the name of the Lord Jesus, we enjoy the dispensing of the riches of Christ into our being. It is this dispensing of the Triune God into us that makes us members of the Body of Christ—Matt. 18:20. (CWWL, 1984, vol. 3, “The Divine Economy”, ch. 1)
D. In the church life the Lord has redeemed us from different peoples and from different races, yet we all are one. We are one because we have the same life. The same riches of Christ have been dispensed and are being dispensed into all of us—Col. 3:10-11. (CWWL, 1984, vol. 3, “The Divine Economy”, ch. 1)
IV. In 1 Timothy 1:4 we see God’s household administration, which is to dispense Himself into His children that He may have a household, the church, to express Himself: (CWWL, 1983, vol. 2, “The Divine Dispensing of the Divine Trinity”, ch. 1)
A. Economy is God’s household administration to dispense the divine riches of the Triune God as life and life supply into His chosen and redeemed people—v. 4: (CWWL, 1984, vol. 3, “The Divine Economy”, ch. 1)
1. The root of the word economy refers to the parceling out of food, the distributing of food as in parcels; to distribute is to dispense—v. 4. (CWWL, 1984, vol. 3, “The Divine Economy”, ch. 1)
2. In God’s economy, God wants to dispense Himself as food to us; He dispenses Himself into His people as life, as life supply, and as everything to them—Gen. 2:8-9. (CWWL, 1984, vol. 3, “The Divine Economy”, ch. 1)
B. Our Father surely has a great house with a rich store of the unsearchable riches of Christ—Eph. 2:19; 3:8. (CWWL, 1983, vol. 2, “The Divine Dispensing of the Divine Trinity”, ch. 1)
C. This great house needs some administration, some management, some system, some plan to dispense and distribute all the riches to God’s people—Eph. 3:8-9. (CWWL, 1983, vol. 2, “The Divine Dispensing of the Divine Trinity”, ch. 1)
D. Paul was given the stewardship, the office, the duty, of God’s dispensation to distribute all the riches of Christ—Eph. 3:2, 8: (CWWL, 1983, vol. 2, “The Divine Dispensing of the Divine Trinity”, ch. 1)
1. The biggest distributor in the New Testament was the Apostle Paul; the unsearchable riches of Christ were under his administration and distribution; even today we are still under the distribution of Paul—Eph. 3:2; Col. 1:25. (CWWL, 1983, vol. 2, “The Divine Dispensing of the Divine Trinity”, ch. 1)
2. Many unsearchable riches are under Paul’s distribution; his distribution is just to distribute the unsearchable riches of Christ to all of us in order that we may be the expression of God—Eph. 3:8, 21. (CWWL, 1983, vol. 2, “The Divine Dispensing of the Divine Trinity”, ch. 1)
E. All this indicates that the intention of God in His dispensation is to dispense all His riches in Christ through the Spirit into His chosen people that they may enjoy Him and become His expression—Eph. 3:16-21. (CWWL, 1983, vol. 2, “The Divine Dispensing of the Divine Trinity”, ch. 1)
V. In the first two chapters of the Bible there is God’s intention, and in the last two chapters of the Bible there is the consummation of God’s intention; both sections show us the goal of God’s dispensation—a bride to be His counterpart, His expression—Rev. 21:2-3, 11: (CWWL, 1983, vol. 2, “The Divine Dispensing of the Divine Trinity”, ch. 1)
A. God’s dispensation began from Adam and has been going on through all the generations; it will consummate in the New Jerusalem where we can see the goal of God’s dispensation—Eph. 1:10; 3:9; Rev. 21:2. (CWWL, 1983, vol. 2, “The Divine Dispensing of the Divine Trinity”, ch. 1)
B. The New Jerusalem will be built up with God the Father’s divine nature, with God the Son’s death and resurrection, and with God the Spirit’s transformation; that will be the universal bride to satisfy God’s desire for His eternal expression; this is the consummation of God’s intention. (CWWL, 1983, vol. 2, “The Divine Dispensing of the Divine Trinity”, ch. 1)
C. Today we need to contact the Triune God to be supplied and nourished with the divine life as the river of water of life and as the tree of life, that we might be transformed with the Father’s golden nature through the Son’s death and resurrection and by the work of God the Spirit; we need to cooperate with the Triune God—Gen. 1:26-27; Rev. 21:10; 22:1-2, 17. (CWWL, 1983, vol. 2, “The Divine Dispensing of the Divine Trinity”, ch. 1)