Day: December 18, 2022

We must see that the New Jerusalem has its initial coming and that it also has its consummate coming, its full coming. The initial coming of the New Jerusalem will be in the millennial kingdom for one thousand years on a small scale. At that time, not all the saved ones but only the overcomers, including the overcomers both in the [343] Old Testament and in the New Testament, will participate in it. The overcomers are a group of God’s people who are perfected, completed, and matured. They are the only people who are qualified to participate in the New Jerusalem in its initial stage. Although the majority of the saints are God’s chosen and saved ones, they have not allowed the grace of God to work in them thoroughly. Hence, most of them have not become mature. They are typified by the five foolish virgins (Matt. 25:1-13). Therefore, they will still have to buy oil. This means that they will still need to be matured.

God’s Matured People Constituting the New Jerusalem

At the Lord’s coming back, all believers will pass through His judgment seat to receive judgment from Him (2 Cor. 5:10). The matured overcomers will enter the kingdom to constitute the New Jerusalem in its initial stage. Hence, the New Jerusalem is not a physical city but a constitution of the matured people of God. Being constituted is different from being organized. Our body is constituted, not organized. A wooden table, however, is organized. Anything organized is inorganic and lifeless, and it can be taken apart and then put back together again. Government organizations and wooden tables are examples of this. However, anything constituted is organic and is constituted with life. It cannot be taken apart and then put back together. Our body is an example of this. In like manner, the New Jerusalem is an entity constituted with the chosen and matured people of God who have reached the maturity in life. It is a constitution in life of God’s matured people. Therefore, the New Jerusalem is not a physical city but an organic constitution.

The Coming of the New Jerusalem in Two Stages

The New Jerusalem is a particular, organic constitution. Its scale is still quite small in the millennial kingdom because it will be constituted only with the overcomers. The saints, including those in the Old Testament, who died without being matured are typified by the five foolish virgins. That they all died is signified by the virgins becoming drowsy and falling asleep (Matt. 25:5). In the millennial kingdom God will cast them out into the outer darkness to be dealt with and disciplined (8:12; 22:13; 25:30). Therefore, in the present age, the age of grace, God supplies man with grace. However, in the age of the millennial kingdom God will deal with man according [344] to righteousness. At that time there will be no more grace but only righteousness. God will deal with His people righteously. This dealing is to compel us to receive grace and be matured in this age.

All God’s immature people, whether in the Old Testament or the New Testament, will be cast out into the outer darkness during the millennial kingdom so that they may be dealt with and become matured. After they have become matured, the new heaven and new earth will come, and they will be incorporated with the New Jerusalem of the millennial kingdom to be constituted into a great New Jerusalem. Thus, the coming of the New Jerusalem has two stages: the initial stage as a miniature and the completing stage as the consummation. The initial coming is in the millennial kingdom, and the complete and full coming is in the new heaven and new earth. This is the main content of God’s economy.

THE WAY GOD CARRIES OUT HIS ECONOMY

What is the purpose of God in accomplishing His economy? What does He intend to do? In His economy God intends, arranges, and plans to dispense Himself into His chosen, created, called, redeemed, and regenerated people. Therefore, God first chose us before the foundation of the world and then created us in time. Afterward, He called us and then redeemed us. After He redeemed us, He dispensed Himself into us and regenerated us. Thus, we became those who were not only created by God but also born of Him. Once we have God in us, we become those who are born of Him. We have His life and nature and have become His children (John 1:12-13).

Hence, God’s economy is God’s intention, plan, and arrangement, which is also His purpose and His heart’s pleasure and delight. God’s heart’s desire and purpose is nothing other than to dispense Himself into His chosen, created, called, redeemed, and regenerated people. Moreover, He will also sanctify, renew, transform, and conform them. Eventually, He will glorify His people, bringing them into His glory.

THE DIVINE DISPENSING OF THE DIVINE TRINITY

How does God dispense Himself into us? In order to dispense Himself into us, God has to be triune. The Triune God dispenses Himself through His Divine Trinity—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. Ephesians is a book on the divine dispensing. From chapter 1 [345] Paul begins to speak about this dispensing: first is the Father’s selection, then the Son’s redemption, and then the Spirit’s application. The Father is the source, and all the riches are in Him. The Son is the embodiment of the Father, and all that the Father is, has, and can do are embodied in the Son. Furthermore, the Son is realized as the Spirit. Hence, the Son comes as the Father, and the Spirit comes into us as the Son. In this way, when we have the Spirit, we also have the Son and the Father. The Divine Trinity—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit—is the means by which God dispenses Himself into us.

It is by the Divine Trinity that God is able to dispense Himself into all His chosen, created, called, redeemed, and regenerated people. Hence, if we want to understand God’s economy, we must know the Divine Trinity for the divine dispensing. We cannot know the divine dispensing without knowing the Divine Trinity. Therefore, at the end of 2 Corinthians Paul draws a conclusion, saying, “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all” (13:14). This is God dispensing Himself into us through His Divine Trinity.

The Divine Trinity carries out His divine dispensing through the divine Spirit. Today we all must be filled with this Spirit. When we are filled with this Spirit, we are filled with the Triune God. There is a good portrait of this in the Old Testament: the totality of three generations of men—Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This is, in fact, the best illustration of this matter. In Exodus 3:15 God said, “Jehovah…the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob…This is My name.” This means that God is God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit. As God the Father, He is the source—He is the One who plans, chooses, decides, and arranges. As God the Son, He is the course—He is the One who accomplishes the Father’s plan. Whatever we need, He has accomplished for us. We need to deal with sin, the world, the flesh, the corrupted self, Satan, and all our problems before God, yet He has already accomplished everything for us. God the Son went to the cross with seven statuses: the Lamb, a man in the flesh, the last Adam, the Firstborn of all creation, the bronze serpent, the Peacemaker, and a grain of wheat. In this way He accomplished an all-inclusive death and dealt with all our problems. Then, with the riches of all that He is and has, He has been realized as the Spirit and has come into us so that we may partake of all the fullness of the Triune God. [346]

The chorus of Hymns, #608 says, “The Triune God has now become our all!” This hymn clearly explains how the Triune God has become our blessed portion and how He is dispensing Himself into us. In Ephesians 3:8 the apostle Paul says, “To me…was this grace given to announce to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ as the gospel.” Here to announce means not only “to preach” but also “to transmit.” This means that Paul received a commission from God to transfuse the unsearchable riches of Christ into the Gentiles so that they all would have the Triune God in them. In this way they could become the members of Christ and, aggregately, the Body of Christ (v. 6). The revelation in Ephesians concerning the Body of Christ and the members of Christ is very complete and thorough.

Daniel 2 also mentions four kinds of metal: gold, silver, bronze, and iron, representing four kinds of authority and glory. Gold is the most honorable one, silver is less honorable than gold, bronze is less honorable than silver, and iron has no honor but is solid and strong. This means that during the Babylonian age, the age of gold, the monarchs were not only dictatorial but also honored by the people. Later, the monarchs received less honor during the times of Medo-Persia and of Greece. Then, at the time of the Roman Empire they received even less honor because there was a senate with great authority. For example, Augustus did not install himself but was installed by the senate to be the Roman Caesar. This means that although the Roman Empire was very powerful, it did not have much honor; hence, it is iron. After the iron, what followed was something partly of iron and partly of clay. This means that what came out was partly democratic and partly dictatorial, or partly democratic and partly monarchic (constitutional monarchy). Up to this day, countries such as Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Japan still maintain this kind of political system. They still have the establishment of the crown in some form. They [340] are all half-iron and half-clay, having iron and clay mixed together. It is even more so in Communist countries. They honor the people in word but in reality are totally dictatorial. Thus, they are also a mixture of iron and clay, being partly iron and partly clay.

For this reason it is hard, even impossible, to count how long this period of partly iron and partly clay will last. But no matter what, the length of time covered by the feet and that covered by the legs are more or less the same. At this point in history, we should be at the upper part of the feet of the great human image. The great human image that Nebuchadnezzar saw begins with the head of gold, that is, the Babylonian Empire, and ends with the ten toes, that is, the ten nations that will be united to form the restored Roman Empire (Rev. 17:12-13). According to the prophecy of the Bible, and according to the history and situation of the world, although the Lord Jesus may not come back within the next few years, the time should not be too far away.

The Dispensation of the Age of Grace

Concerning these four ages, it is hard to ascertain the number of years of the third age, the age of grace. The reason is that the length of time between the sixty-two weeks and the last week is a mystery. The interval between the sixty-two weeks and the last week is the age of grace. This age lasts from the calves, which are below the knees, to the toes of the great human image. This period of time is difficult to calculate. Concerning the head, the breast and the arms, the abdomen and the thighs, and the two legs of the great human image, history has already demonstrated clearly that they refer to the four empires—Babylon, Medo-Persia, Macedonia-Greece, and Rome. In particular, the two legs refer to the Roman Empire. In the Bible iron signifies authority (Rev. 12:5) and denotes dictatorship or autocracy. After iron ended, clay has been rising gradually. Clay signifies democracy and the rights of the people, because man was created by God with the dust of the earth. For people to have rights is related to clay. Up to the present, the presidents of the United States have strongly advocated human rights. This means that they preferred to have a great amount of clay. However, the Communist countries prefer to have a great amount of iron, so they are countries with “iron curtains.” This is the mixture of partly iron and partly clay, yet the two “will not cleave to one another” (Dan. 2:43). Not [341] only is it hard to calculate the years in this period, but this period itself is even a mystery.

The Four Dispensations 
in God’s Economy

The four dispensations in God’s eternal economy—the dispensation of the patriarchs, the dispensation of law, the dispensation of grace, and the dispensation of righteousness—in their practical carrying out are actually four periods. Hence, the word dispensation is really hard to understand according to its literal meaning, and it is even more difficult to understand when used in theology. Therefore, practically, it is best to use the word age. Accordingly, the dispensation of the patriarchs is the age of the patriarchs, the dispensation of law is the age of law, the dispensation of grace is the age of grace, and the dispensation of righteousness is the age of righteousness, the age of the kingdom.

GOD’S ECONOMY 
BEING GOD’S HOUSEHOLD ADMINISTRATION

From the preceding paragraphs we can understand that oikonomia is God’s household administration. In brief, it is God’s administration. Ephesians 1:10 says, “Unto the economy of the fullness of the times”; this means “unto the administration, the household administration of God, of the fullness of the ages.” God’s administration or household administration is an arrangement in God’s house. From this we see that it is best to translate this word into economy, the anglicized form of the Greek word oikonomia.

The cultural history of the whole world can be said to have been recorded in the Bible, because everything was created, arranged, and ordained by God. For example, we can see from the feet that are “partly of iron and partly of clay” that a long time ago the Bible referred to democracy. This helps us to understand the meaning of the Chinese term ching lun. When we describe someone who is full of plans, intentions, and arrangements, we say that such a one is “filled with ching lun.” Regrettably, such an expression does not exist in the English language. Hence, in the English Recovery Version we use the word economy. Other English versions use dispensation instead of economy. For instance, the American Standard Version uses dispensation in Ephesians 1:10 and 3:9. Such a rendering does not [342] clearly express the original meaning of the word and makes it hard for people to understand.

After a thorough study of human history, culture, and language with its usage, Webster’s Dictionary was compiled. In this dictionary there are many definitions for the word dispensation. One of the definitions says that this word refers to “a divine ordering and administration of worldly affairs,” and another definition says that it refers to “a period of history during which a particular divine revelation has predominated in the affairs of mankind.” This means that there is an administration in every age or period, and the age itself can be referred to by the administration in that age. Therefore, in God’s economy there are the dispensations, or arrangements, of the age of the patriarchs, the age of law, the age of grace, and the age of righteousness.

THE CONTENT OF GOD’S ECONOMY

We have already seen what God’s economy is, and we have also seen the dispensations of God in His economy in four ages. Moreover, we understand that God’s economy is God’s household administration. Now we will go on to see the content of God’s economy. Ephesians 1:9-11, Ephesians 3:9-11, and 1 Timothy 1:4 are all concerning God’s economy. Not only do we need to be familiar with these verses and their contents so that we may fully know the truth contained in them, but we also need to be constituted with this truth by constantly pondering over and being exercised in these verses in order to be able to further explain and preach this truth to others.

God’s Economy Beginning with Adam 
and Concluding with the New Jerusalem

A person who serves the Lord must have a vision. The vision of God’s economy has a beginning, a process, and a conclusion. The vision of this economy began with Adam, passes through at least seven thousand years, and will conclude with the New Jerusalem, that is, with the coming of the new heaven and the new earth.