The Central Subject of the Bible is the Economy of God, His Dispensing into man to gain the Church

The entire Bible is concerned with the economy of God, for the central subject of the Bible is the economy of God; God’s economy is His household administration, which is to dispense Himself in Christ into us, His chosen and redeemed people, so that He may have a house to express Himself – this house is the church, the Body of Christ.

Hallelujah for God’s economy!

When we read the Bible, we need to have the glasses of God’s economy on, for everything that the Bible says is concerning the economy of God.

We must have a vision of God’s economy and be strong, and unshakable, in the vision of the economy of God.

For us to see such a vision, however, we need to be brought into the realm of God’s economy.

Many people read the Bible, and to so many of the Bible readers, this book is not about God’s economy.

Paul even says that some teach the Bible, but they teach things other than God’s economy, which is in faith.

The Bible contains many things, and depending on the kind of person one is, the Bible becomes a certain kind of book to him.

If someone loves to be rich and have prosperity if he seeks to make more money and accumulate more things, he will find things in the Bible that confirm his desire, and he will use those things to do what he wants to do.

If someone is strict and wants to keep the law and even enforce the proper rules, he will find many things in the Bible that fit his disposition, and he will use these to say that this is what the Bible says. But what does the Bible really speak about?

This book – THE BOOK – was written by many authors over a span of more than one thousand years, and it seemingly speaks about many things.

In the Old Testament, we have a lot of stories, history, prophecies, poetry, proverbs, and the law; in the New Testament we have Jesus and His disciples who disseminate His teaching, and Paul seems to be a prolific writer who expounds on many deep things.

But what does the Bible really speak about? God is the Author of the Bible, and He divinely inspired all the writers to write and put in words what He wanted them to.

So if God wrote the Bible, He must have something in His heart, a plan or an intention, before He wrote the Bible.

There is a deep desire in God’s heart, a plan from eternity to eternity, something that He wants to do and which is not affected by man and what man does.

This is what the Bible calls, God’s economy; Paul confirmed that this economy of God was hidden in ages past, but it was revealed to the holy apostles and prophets in spirit.

The apostles saw something concerning God’s economy, wrote about it, and communicated it to us; now we can see the heavenly vision and be controlled and governed by it so that, whatever we do and say, we would cooperate with God for the accomplishing of His economy.

The Central Subject of the Bible is the Economy of God, His Dispensing into Man to gain the Church

What is the central subject of the Bible? What is the Bible really talking about? According to the divine revelation in the word of God, the central subject of the Bible is the economy of God.

What is God’s economy? There are many ways to define or expound on God’s economy; just as there are many studies and aspects of the economy of a country, so there are many ways to define and explain what God’s economy is.

God’s economy is God’s household administration, which is to dispense Himself in Christ into His chosen and redeemed people so that He may have a house to express Himself; this house is the church, the Body of Christ, consummating in the New Jerusalem (1 Tim. 1:4; 3:15).

If we see this, we will come to the Lord in the morning and ask Him to dispense Himself into us more and more each day.

When we pray and read the Bible, we will open our being to the divine dispensing, for this is the best way to cooperate with God for His economy.

God’s economy is His household administration to produce and constitute a Body for His Son (Eph. 1:22-23; 2:16; 3:6; 4:4, 16; 5:30).

He wants to obtain a corporate expression for Christ so that God in Christ would be expressed corporately through man.

The goal of God’s economy in this age is the reality of the Body of Christ, the church.

This is what Eph. 4:16 speaks about, that the Body is building itself up in love through the functioning of the perfected members of the Body, each in their measure, to cause the building.

We are happy to be here in the church life in the Lord’s recovery, but our realization is that the local churches, as precious and sweet as they are, are not the goal of God’s economy.

The goal of God’s economy is to gain the Body of Christ, the church, as the corporate expression of the Triune God in humanity; for this, God dispenses Himself in Christ as the Spirit into our being to make us functioning members of the Body of Christ, the church.

There must be a change in our being, a change in our vision and pursuit; we must see the vision of God’s economy and we must allow the Lord to dispense Himself into us to produce the church, the Body of Christ.

As we contact the Lord, spend time with Him, and receive His dispensing, we are inwardly changed, transformed, to be conformed to the image of Christ and be fitted with the saints into the church as the Body of Christ.

As we enjoy the Lord day by day, pursue Him, and run after Him, we aspire to be overcomers, even co-kings with Christ; this is all for the church, the Body of Christ, for Him to gain His corporate expression on earth.

May we realize that the central subject of the Bible is the economy of God and that the entire Bible is concerned with God’s economy, which is in faith (1 Tim. 1:4; Eph. 1:10).

The governing and controlling vision in the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, both in the Old and in the New Testament, is the divine economy.

Therefore, as we read the Bible and pray over the verses that the Lord brings to us, we need to focus our attention not on minor things or things that we like but focus on the divine economy for the divine dispensing.

The Lord knows our situation and the situation of all the saints; He knows what our health is like, He knows our responsibilities, and He knows how much energy we have.

It would be great if many saints would spend time year after year reading the Bible, again and again, focusing not on this or that but the economy of God with His divine dispensing.

As we read from Genesis to Revelation, may we focus on what is in God’s heart; may we not allow our natural man to choose things that fit our disposition but remain under the governing and controlling vision of God’s economy as we read and pray over God’s word.

Unless we know God’s economy, we will not understand the Bible (Luke 24:45).

The focus of God’s economy is Christ and the church, the mystery of God and the mystery of Christ which, together, form the great mystery, Christ and the church.

When the Lord Jesus was on earth, He always pointed out that all things in the Old Testament were speaking about Him; the law, the prophets, the psalms, and everything in the Old Testament was about the Lord Jesus, the embodiment of God.

Christ Himself is the element, the sphere, the means, the goal, and the aim of God’s eternal economy, for Christ is everything in God’s economy (Matt. 17:5; Luke 24:44).

We need to hear Christ only, focus on Christ only, and enjoy Christ only, for the building up of the church as the Body of Christ, the corporate expression of God.

We are not the center of God’s economy, and our need is not the focus of what God desires to do; rather, we were created for God, and when His need is met, we are satisfied.

The economy of God is the meaning of our life, for we were created for God’s economy, and we are being regenerated, renewed, sanctified, transformed, and conformed to the image of Christ for the fulfillment of God’s economy.

Thank You, Lord, for unveiling us to see God’s economy, the central subject of the Bible! Hallelujah, God in His economy is dispensing Himself in Christ into us, His chosen and redeemed people, to make us the church, the Body of Christ! Praise You, Lord, for granting us the governing and controlling vision of God’s economy. We open to Your divine dispensing. We come to Your word with much prayer to feed on You and receive the divine dispensing. Keep us in Your word, Lord, with a turned hear to You, so that we may receive more of the divine element into us. Work yourself into us, dear Lord, for the building up of the church as the Body of Christ!

The Economy of God is God passing through a Process to Dispense Himself into us for the Church, the Body of Christ

What the Bible reveals concerning the economy of God, which is the central subject of the Bible, is that God’s economy is to dispense Himself into our being so 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. 3:16-17; Rom. 8:2, 6, 10-11).

In our contact with the Lord, we need to enjoy Him and open our whole being to receive His divine dispensing.

As we have one-on-one contact with the Lord, even the deepest contact with Him in our mingled spirit, we need to open our entire being to Him.

Every morning and at every time that we are with the Lord in fellowship, we need to turn our heart to Him and exercise our spirit to contact Him by faith.

We need to simply allow Him access to the deepest parts of our being.

The Lord will not force His way into us, nor will He override our free will; He is waiting for our consent.

So we need to pray and open all the parts of our inner being to the Lord so that He may deliver us from ourselves and bring us into a deeper organic union with Him; in this union, we enjoy all that He is and He dispenses Himself into us.

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).

The economy of God is God passing through a process to dispense Himself into us for the building up of the church, the Body of Christ.

In His economy, God became man so that, after man passes through a process, man would also 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). Wow!

This is the highest peak in God’s economy, which is that God became man to make man God in life and nature but not in the Godhead for Him to gain and produce the organic Body of Christ, which will consummate in the holy city, New Jerusalem.

The Lord recovered the highest peak of the divine revelation not merely for us to know what it is and to increase our knowledge; it is for us to live a certain kind of life under the divine dispensing for the high peak to be carried out practically.

Some people may oppose this high truth, thinking that this was Lucifer’s temptation, for he wanted to become the same as God.

Some say that this is too high, and we humans shouldn’t even think that we are becoming God in life and nature. But this is what the Bible says.

We are members of the Body of Christ, and the Head is Christ; just as our human head and members share in the same life and nature, so we and Christ share the same life and nature.

And just as Eve was taken out of Adam and returned to Adam to be joined to him as one flesh, so we are taken out of Christ through His death and resurrection, and we are becoming the same as He is to be His counterpart for eternity.

God is making us the same as He is in life, nature, expression, and function so that we may be part of the organic Body of Christ and components of the bride of Christ to match Him in every possible way. What a glory that would be for God!

Hallelujah, in His economy God became flesh and then became the life-giving Spirit to enter into us as life and dispense God into us! Praise the Lord, now God in Christ as the Spirit is in us so that we may be transformed for the producing of the church, which is His Body! Amen, Lord, we open to Your divine dispensing today. We turn our heart to You to behold You with an unveiled face and be infused with You so that we may be transformed into the same image from glory to glory! Hallelujah, we human beings are being made the same as Christ in life and nature but not in the Godhead to be the living and functioning members of the Body of Christ! Amen, Lord, gain what You are after in Your economy! We fully open to You for Your economy to be carried out in us!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by the brothers, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1994-1997, vol. 2, “The Governing and Controlling Vision in the Bible,” pp. 281-282, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, God’s Economy in Faith (2022 spring ITERO), week 1, entitled, The Governing and Controlling Vision of Gods Economy in Faith.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – As the product, the fulfillment, / Will the church in glory stand, / Consummation of the purpose / In eternal ages planned. / God will have His corporate vessel, / All His glory to contain; / Lord, we’re wholly for Thy purpose / All Thy goal in us attain. (Hymns #1325)
  – God’s economy and goal / According to His heart’s desire / Are to build Himself into our being / And to build us into His being / In order to mingle His divinity with our humanity / Into one entity (one entity)— / The Body of Christ, / Which consummates the New Jerusalem. (Song on, God’s economy is His plan to dispense Himself)
  – God’s eternal economy / Is to make man the same as He is / In life and nature, / But not in the Godhead / And to make Himself one with man / And man one with Him / Thus to be enlarged and expanded in His expression / That all His divine, that all His divine / Attributes may be expressed in human virtues. (Song on, God’s eternal economy)