God’s Economy: recovered by Witness Lee, enjoyed by local churches

Summary

Although the term economy is widely known, its application in the context of the things of God is unfamiliar, even to many Christians. Economy is the anglicized form of the Greek word oikonomia, which occurs throughout the New Testament. Oikonomia is a compound noun composed of oikos, which means “house,” and nomos, which means “law.” Hence, economy denotes the law, administration, or management of the resources of a household (see Word Studies and Dictionary Definitions). Its original, now archaic usage referred to a system or plan needed by wealthy householders to dispense food and other necessities to all the members of the household. More generally, economy refers to a plan or arrangement designed to carry out a certain purpose.

God is like an immensely wealthy householder. He desires to dispense His unsearchable riches (Ephesians 3:8) to all of His people, but to accomplish this immense task He needs a plan, an arrangement, an economy.

The Origination—God’s Good Pleasure

God’s economy is His plan to carry out His eternal purpose in order to satisfy His heart’s desire. Ephesians 1:5 speaks of “the good pleasure of His will,” revealing to us that God has a good pleasure, a heart’s delight, something that makes Him happy. God is neither impassive nor void of feeling. His heart burns with the longing to gain an expression among the human race that will forever satisfy Him. He was therefore willing to pay a tremendous price and, in Christ, undergo a costly process in order to pursue, attract, and win man for His economy. Thus, His attention is fixed and His heart set on the fulfillment of His economy.

The Way—God’s Dispensing

The crucial focus of God’s economy is the dispensing of the Triune God into man. The entire New Testament reveals that God’s unique desire is to dispense Himself into His chosen and redeemed people to be their life, their life supply, and everything to them (John 10:10b; Colossians 3:4; 2 Corinthians 12:9). God carries out this dispensing in and through Himself as the Divine Trinity. God the Father is the Source, the Originator of the divine dispensing; God the Son is its course and means, the One through whom this dispensing is accomplished; and God the Spirit is the instrument and sphere in whom God’s dispensing is realized and conveyed to man.

The Steps—Christ’s Person and Work

In God’s economy, Christ is everything. His person and work constitute the center as well as the circumference of the entire sphere of divine activity in the economy of God. According to Ephesians 3:11, God initially made His eternal purpose in Christ Jesus. Then, in the realm of time Christ accomplished God’s economy through the processes of His incarnation, human living, death, resurrection, and ascension. In His incarnation, Christ brought the infinite God into the finite man. In His human living, Christ expressed the bountiful God in His rich attributes through Christ’s human virtues. In His death, Christ redeemed all of the things created by God and fallen in sin, terminated all things of the old creation, and released the divine life. In His resurrection, Christ was begotten by God in His humanity to be the Firstborn Son of God (Acts 13:33), He became the life-giving Spirit (1 Corinthians 15:45b), and He regenerated the believers for His body (1 Peter 1:3). In His ascension, Christ was officially inaugurated to be the Lord of all.

Process	Accomplishments
Incarnation	Bringing the infinite God into the finite man (John 1:1, 14; Colossians 2:9)
Human Living	Expressing the bountiful God in His rich attributes through Christ’s human virtues (Luke 7:13-16)
Crucifixion	Redeeming all the things created by God and fallen in sin (Colossians 1:20) Terminating all things of the old creation (Romans 6:6) Releasing the divine life (John 12:24)
Resurrection	Being begotten as the Firstborn Son of God (Acts 13:33; Romans 8:29) Becoming the life-giving Spirit (1 Corinthians 15:45b) Regenerating all the believers (1 Peter 1:3)
Ascension	Being inaugurated to be the Lord of all (Acts 2:36) Pouring out the Spirit of power upon His believers (Acts 2:2-4)

Now as the incarnated, resurrected, and ascended “God-man,” Christ is on the throne of God in the heavens (Hebrews 1:3; Revelation 22:1) administrating the universe to carry out God’s economy. Furthermore, He dwells within all of His believers, rendering them life and grace (2 Corinthians 13:5; 12:9) for their full salvation and growth in the divine life unto maturity.

The Experience—Enjoying the Divine Dispensing

The believers’ experience of God’s economy has everything to do with receiving and enjoying the dispensing of the riches of the divine life and nature (2 Peter 1:4). Surprisingly, the New Testament does not direct us to improve our outward behavior; rather, it charges us to receive the Holy Spirit as our breath (John 20:22), drink the Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:13), and eat Christ (John 6:57). Such enjoyment of Christ in this way causes us to grow in the divine life (1 Peter 2:2), thereby gradually transforming us into His image (2 Corinthians 3:18).

The Goal—the Ultimate Consummation

The goal of God’s economy is to have many believers who are fully transformed by Christ (2 Corinthians 3:18) and conformed to His glorious image (Romans 8:29). Together, these believers constitute the church, the Body of Christ in the present age (Ephesians 1:22b-23; Colossians 1:18). Ultimately, God’s economy will consummate in the New Jerusalem, which will exist throughout eternity as the complete expression of the Triune God in humanity.