GOD’S ECONOMY
SERIES THIRTEEN
GOD’S ECONOMY IN ALL THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE
God’s Economy as Revealed in the New Testament
Message Four
God’s Economy as Revealed in Luke
Scripture Reading: Luke 1:31-32, 35, 68-69, 75, 78-79, 2:40, 52, 9:51-56, 13:10-17, 19:1-10, 6:17-49, 4:16-22, Acts 26:18, Levi. 25:8-13, John 8:36
I. Christ, as the wonderful center of the entire Bible, is all-inclusive, having many aspects; the New Testament at its beginning presents four biographies to portray the four main aspects of this all-inclusive Christ—Matt. 1:1 and footnote 1: (2013 ICC, msg. 1)
A. The Gospel of Matthew testifies that He is the King, the Christ of God prophesied in the Old Testament, who brings the kingdom of the heavens to the earth—v. 1 12:42: (2013 ICC, msg. 1)
B. The Gospel of Mark tells us that He is the Servant of God, laboring for God faithfully; Mark’s account is most simple, for a servant does not warrant a detailed record—Matt. 1:1 footnote 1, Mark 8:6. (2013 ICC, msg. 1)
C. The Gospel of Luke presents a full picture of Him as he only proper and normal man who ever lived on this earth; as such a man, He is he Savior of mankind—Matt. 1:1 footnote 1, Luke 7:50. (2013 ICC, msg. 1)
D. The Gospel of John unveils Him as he Son of God, the very God Himself, who is life to God’s people—Matt. 1:1 footnote 1, John 9:35-37. (2013 ICC, msg. 1)
II. In his Gospel Luke displays and presents to us mainly five crucial and excellent aspects concerning the Man-Savior: His birth, ministry, death, resurrection, and ascension—Luke 1:35, 4:18-19: (Life-study of Luke, msg. 55)
A. The Man-Savior’s birth was of and with the Spirit of God essentially; this birth made Him a God-man to be the Man-Savior—1:35. (Life-study of Luke, msg. 55)
B. His ministry was by and through the Spirit of God economically to carry out God’s economy in His jubilee—4:18-19. (Life-study of Luke, msg. 55)
C. His death was by the God-man to accomplish God’s redemption for man and to release Himself into man as the fire of life to burn on the earth—23:42-43, 12:49-50. (Life-study of Luke, msg. 55)
D. His resurrection was God’s vindication of Him and of His work, His success in all His achievements, and His victory over the universal enemy of God. His ascension was God’s exaltation of Him. (Life-study of Luke, msg. 55)
E. His ascension was God’s exaltation of Him; in ascension He was made the Christ of God and the Lord of all to carry out His heavenly ministry on earth as the all-inclusive Spirit poured out from the heavens upon His Body composed of His believers, as recorded by Luke in his further writing, the Acts—Acts 2:36, 4, 17-18. (Life-study of Luke, msg. 55)
III. The subject of the Gospel of Luke is the Man-Savior and His salvation in the highest standard of morality—1:31-32, 35, 68-69, 78-79: (2008 ST, msg. 2)
A. The Gospel of Luke reveals that in the Man-Savior we have the mingling of the divine attributes with the human virtues to produce the highest standard of morality—1:35: (2008 ST, msg. 2)
1. The Man-Savior and His salvation are both in the highest standard of morality—2:52, 7:11-17. (2008 ST, msg. 2)
2. According to the Gospel of Luke, our Savior lives, behaves, and works in the highest standard of morality, and His salvation is carried out in the highest standard of morality—10:25-37. (2008 ST, msg. 2)
B. The record in the Gospel of Luke has a particular characteristic—to reveal in the Man-Savior the mingling of the divine attributes with the human virtues to produce the highest standard of morality for the New Testament jubilee—1:31-32, 35, 42, 68-69, 75, 78-79, 4:16-19. (2008 ST, msg. 2)
IV. The Gospel of Luke portrays the Lord Jesus as a God-man, the Man-Savior, with the highest standard of morality—9:51-56, 13:10-17, 19:1-10: (2008 ST, msg. 2)
A. In the Gospel of Luke three categories of the things reveal that the Lord Jesus, the Man-Savior, lived in the highest standard of morality, with the human virtues strengthened and enriched by the divine attributes—4:16-21, 10:30-37, 7:36-50: (2008 ST, msg. 2)
1. Gospel messages—4:16-21, 7:41-43, 12:14-21, 13:2-5. (2008 ST, msg. 2)
2. Gospel parables—10:30-37, 14:16-24, 15:3-32, 18:9-14. (2008 ST, msg. 2)
3. Gospel cases—7:36-50, 13:10-17, 16:19-31, 19:1-10, 23:39-43. (2008 ST, msg. 2)
B. When the Lord Jesus went into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil, He was the highest kind of man—a God-man in the highest standard of morality—4:1-13: (2008 ST, msg. 2)
1. The Lord Jesus stood as such a man before the devil—v. 2-4. (2008 ST, msg. 2)
2. In the Gospel of Luke the temptation to worship the devil in exchange for he kingdoms of the earth is given in detail; this also indicates the highest standard of morality—v. 5-8. (2008 ST, msg. 2)
3. The Man-Savior, the One who lived in the highest standard of morality, could not be seduced or moved by anything—v. 9-13. (2008 ST, msg. 2)
4. Only a life in the highest standard of morality—that is, a life in which the divine attributes are expressed in the human virtues—can withstand such a temptation—v. 4, 12. (2008 ST, msg. 2)
C. In 22:47—23:25 the Lord Jesus is portrayed as the true God and a real man: (2008 ST, msg. 2)
1. The God-man was arrested, mocked, blasphemed, despised, and judged, but as He passed through all his, He is fully portrayed as having the highest standard of morality, as possessing the human virtues with the divine attributes and with the all-surpassing divine splendor—22:63-71. (2008 ST, msg. 2)
2. As the true God and a real and proper man, He was fully qualified to be the Substitute for the sinners for whom He intended to die—23:34, 43. (2008 ST, msg. 2)
V. The Lord’s teaching in 6:17-49 gives us a clear view of the highest standard of morality: (2008 ST, msg. 2)
A. The Man-Savior has the kind of life described in verses 17 through 49. (2008 ST, msg. 2)
B. Actually, Christ Himself is the highest standard of morality, for He is the man created by God in Genesis 1:26 plus the tree of life mentioned in Genesis 2:9. (2008 ST, msg. 2)
C. The highest standard of morality is now a person living in us and making it possible for us to live Christ—Gal. 2:20, Phil. 1:20-21a. (2008 ST, msg. 2)
D. The Man-Savior’s teaching concerning the highest standard of morality is based on the divine life with its expression, the divine word—Luke 6:35, 47-48: (2008 ST, msg. 2)
1. The living that is according to the highest standard of morality issues from the divine life with which we have been born of the Most High—v. 35. (2008 ST, msg. 2)
2. The Lord’s word in verses 43 and 44 reveals life as the source and living as he issue; His disciples are he good trees with the divine life, and out from this life issues a living that is the expression of God. (2008 ST, msg. 2)
VI. The proclamation of the jubilee in Luke 4 governs the central thought of the whole Gospel of Luke, and the parable of the prodigal son in Luke 15 is an excellent illustration of the jubilee—v. 11-32. (2003 FTTA-Fall, msg. 33)
A. The year of the jubilee is the age of grace, the age of Christ as grace dispensed into us for our enjoyment by His words of grace—4:22, Psa. 45:2, John 1:14-17: (2003 FTTA-Fall, msg. 33)
1. In the year of jubilee there were two main blessings: the returning of every man to his lost possession and the liberation from slavery—Levi. 25:8-17. (2003 FTTA-Fall, msg. 33)
2. The Hebrew word for jubilee means a joyful noise, a shouting with the blasting of a trumpet, and a proclamation; it is a proclamation not of sorrow or lamentation but of the gospel, the good news of great joy—Luke 2:10-11. (2003 FTTA-Fall, msg. 33)
3. The New Testament jubilee is an age of ecstasy for our salvation—cf. 2 Cor. 5:13-15, 6:2. (2003 FTTA-Fall, msg. 33)
B. The prodigal son left his father’s house, selling his possession and himself—v. 13-16. (2003 FTTA-Fall, msg. 33)
C. One day the prodigal son returned to his possession and his father’s house; that was a jubilee, a liberation, and everything became pleasant and satisfying—v. 20, 24, cf. Levi. 25:11: (2003 FTTA-Fall, msg. 33)
1. To be saved is to return to our inheritance, to return to God, to come back to God and enjoy Him anew as our possession—Eph. 1:13-14. (2003 FTTA-Fall, msg. 33)
2. We must receive the Lord Jesus as the real jubilee in us; if we have Him, we have God as our possession and can be delivered from the bondage of sin and Satan to have real freedom and rest—Acts 26:18, Eph. 1:14, Col. 1:12, Matt. 11:28. (2003 FTTA-Fall, msg. 33)
3. Even though genuine Christians have God, many are like lights that do not shine, because they do not “turn on the switch” by taking God as their portion—Eph. 4:18, cf. Phil. 2:12-16. (2003 FTTA-Fall, msg. 33)
VII. The living of the jubilee is a living in the enjoyment of Christ, a living of enjoying God as our inheritance and real freedom—Acts 26:18, John 8:36: (2003 FTTA-Fall, msg. 33)
A. In the jubilee all things are pleasant and satisfying to our heart, and we are free from anxiety, at ease, and exultant; hence, everything is to our satisfaction—Psa. 103:1-5. (2003 FTTA-Fall, msg. 33)
B. The secret of a Christian’s enjoyment of rest is his gaining God as his enjoyment; if we have God, everything is to our satisfaction—Phil 4:6, John 16:33: (2003 FTTA-Fall, msg. 33)
1. If our heart is set on any person, thing, or matter other than the Lord, this is idolatry, and the end is wretchedness—1 John 5:21, cf. Ezek. 14:3, 5, 6:9. (2003 FTTA-Fall, msg. 33)
2. Paul learned the secret of living in the jubilee, the secret of gaining Christ in any environment—Phil. 4:5-7, 11-13. (2003 FTTA-Fall, msg. 33)
3. Everything can be satisfying to us only after we have gained the all-inclusive Christ as our enjoyment; it is not outward persons, matters, or things, but Christ within who enables us to be calm and free of worries as we face all kinds of situations—John 16:33. (2003 FTTA-Fall, msg. 33)