The Overcomers Experience the Divine Economy in the Church Life for the New Creation

As believers in Christ, we need to be the overcomers who experience the divine economy in the church life for the new creation to be produced out of the old creation.

The divine economy is to produce the new creation out of the chaotic old creation, for God’s desire in His heart is to gain the overcomers, those who overcome to eat of Him as the hidden manna, rule and reign with Him, and are fully one with Him to be the new creation.

Hallelujah for God’s economy!

We praise the Lord for releasing and recovering the highest peak of the divine revelation in the Bible, which is that God became man to make man God in life and nature but not in the Godhead for God to have a corporate expression in man so that His divine attributes would be expressed through man’s human virtues.

This is the reason that God created the universe, man, and all things on earth; He did it all for the church, the Body of Christ, and the corporate expression of the Triune God in man.

And we all as believers in Christ are members of the Body of Christ; just as the members of our human body are one with the head and even the same as the head in life and nature, so we are being made the same as Christ in life and nature – but He Himself will have the headship, the Godhead.

And there is one circulation of blood in the Body of Christ, for we all share of the same one divine life that flows into us and among us.

When God gains the built-up Body of Christ, the bride will be prepared, and the Lord will return; the bride of Christ is composed of the overcomers, those who live in the reality of the Body of Christ today to be co-kings with Him the millennium.

God’s intention in His economy is seen from the very first few chapters of the Bible with the creation of man; He created man in His image and according to His likeness, and He wants man to express Him and represent Him with His dominion.

Furthermore, just as God built Eve out of Adam’s rib and brought her to the man, so God today is building a corporate entity, the church as the corporate Eve, to bring her to “the man”, Christ, to be His counterpart for eternity.

This bride of Christ is exactly the same as Christ, just as Eve was exactly the same as Adam, just in a female form.

Therefore, for Christ to obtain a counterpart for Himself so that He would have an eternal married life with His bride, He needs to reproduce Himself in us, and we need to be filled with Christ and constituted with Christ until we become the same as Christ to be the church, the Body of Christ, the bride of Christ, consummating in the New Jerusalem.

God is working on us and in us today not merely to make us better or to shape us in the image of Christ; He is working Himself into us, doing a work in the innermost parts of our being, for Him to make us the same as Christ in life, nature, expression, and function, but not in the Godhead.

May we cooperate with the Lord according to the high peak of the divine revelation through our prayer and our consent to His inner operation and outward working.

In the Church Life we Experience the Divine Economy producing the New Creation out of the Chaotic Old Creation to Consummate the New Jerusalem

In His divine economy, God intends to produce the new creation out of the chaotic old creation (Gal. 6:15; 2 Cor. 5:17).

If we look around us in society and in the world, all we see is the satanic chaos in every aspect of man’s living, work, and personal life and family life.

We are in the midst of chaos right now both in our country and in our city and even in our family life; the satanic chaos is everywhere.

Just look at Ukraine, a country that is these days under the invasion of Russia.

The history of the universe is a history of God’s economy and Satan’s chaos (Gen. 1:1-2, 26; Rev. 20:10 – 21:4); on one hand, God carries out His economy, and on the other hand, Satan does his best to make a mess.

Satan is roaming about and trying to destroy man and corrupt society; he also operates to wear out the saints of the Most High.

But praise the Lord, in the church life today we experience the divine economy producing the new creation out of the chaotic old creation to consummate the New Jerusalem!

We are now in the process of bringing forth the new creation out of the old creation, and this process will continue until the end of the millennium.

At the end of the millennium, the new heaven and the new earth will appear with the New Jerusalem, the holy city; this city will be the consummation of the divine economy.

And the New Jerusalem will be the enlargement and consummation of today’s church life.

In the church life today we as saints experience the divine economy with the help of and in the middle of the satanic chaos.

Yes, there is chaos around us and sometimes even in our being, but we can experience the divine economy producing the new creation out of the satanic old creation.

Though we may not see it now, for we may be so focused on or affected by the satanic chaos, the satanic chaos helps our Christian life and also our church life.

When Christ came for the first time, or the first part of Christ’s coming, He initiated the New Testament economy; He didn’t come to solve all the problems of mankind, but He came to initiate God’s New Testament economy and bring forth the new creation.

One day He will return in His second coming, or the second part of His coming, and he will consummate the New Testament economy.

Between the initiation and the consummation of God’s New Testament economy, however, there is a long period of time in which we believers in Christ live in the church life and experience the divine economy.

Actually, the church life is also a part of Christ’s coming; He has come, but His coming is still taking place in the church life.

As we live the church life today by eating, drinking, and breathing Jesus, as we experience and enjoy the Lord and minister Him to one another in many ways, Christ’s coming is still taking place, and we experience it together.

Every time a sinner is baptized, that is a further step of Christ’s coming; similarly, our growth in the divine life is the advancement of the Lord’s coming, and our being vitalized with the saints for His increase is the furthering of His coming.

Both in the Bible and in our experience, the satanic chaos always goes along with the divine economy (Eph. 3:8-10; 4:14-16; 6:24).

We may enjoy the Lord with the saints, we may receive His speaking and strengthening in the meetings, and we may have such a sweet and nourishing time with Him in the morning, but not too long after, Satan comes in to bring in chaos.

But praise the Lord, God is also operating to do something wonderful for His economy; death cannot hold the resurrection life, and though the enemy seems to have the victory, again and again, he will not prevail!

Rather, as the satanic chaos is happening, we can live in the church life to experience the divine economy for the bringing forth of the new creation with the help of the satanic chaos to consummate the New Jerusalem!

Lord Jesus, we want to live one spirit with You today in the church life. May we experience the divine economy for the producing of the new creation out of the chaotic old creation to consummate the New Jerusalem. Amen, Lord, we give ourselves to You today to just enjoy You, experience You and be filled with You. We do not look at the satanic chaos but focus on the divine economy. Work Yourself into us. Gain in us what You are after. May there be more of the new creation being produced in our being and in all Your saints. Amen, Lord, we stand against any attack of the enemy through the chaotic situation today and we pray for Your divine economy to prevail and be carried out!

Being the Overcomers who eat the Hidden Manna, are Burning for the Lord, and Triumph in the Constructive Divine Economy

It is easy to see the satanic chaos all around us, but it is not that easy to see God’s economy and be one with Him for the carrying out of His heart’s desire today.

So many Christians today are defeated by the enemy day after day, and so many genuine believers in Christ are worn out by the enemy’s attacks.

The Lord needs some who overcome, some who would be one with Him to conquer the destructive satanic chaos and triumph in the constructive divine economy (Rev. 2:7b, 11b, 17b, 26-28; 3:5, 12, 21).

There is One who has already overcome, and this unique overcomer lives in us. Christ as the Overcomer wants to reproduce Himself in us to overcome in us.

He wants to make all His believers overcomers, those who conquer the satanic chaos and triumph in the divine economy.

May we be those who experience the divine economy in the church life today to be produced as the Lord’s overcomers today.

The Lord’s recovery is for the carrying out of God’s economy; we are in the church life today not just for our need to be met but even more, we’re here for God’s need to be met.

We want to give heed to the Lord’s calling for overcomers as seen in Rev. 2 and 3; though the church has been degraded, the Lord is still calling for His overcomers.

We need to be those who enjoy Christ as the hidden manna, overcome the clergy-laity system, are burning for the Lord, and triumph in the constructive divine economy.

The Lord’s call for the overcomers in Rev. 2:12-17 shows that He desires to gain those who enjoy Christ as the hidden manna and overcome the worldliness of the degraded church with the idolatrous teaching of Balaam and the hierarchical teaching of the Nicolaitans.

The manna is ready for us to pick and enjoy every morning, for Christ is available for us to enjoy and partake of freely.

However, we need to overcome by eating Jesus as the hidden manna, a special portion reserved for the Lord’s overcoming seekers, who overcome the degradation of the worldly church.

We need to have some deeper experiences of Christ. Our experience of Christ shouldn’t just be in an open way, before others, or for others to see and know.

We need to have some deeper experiences of Christ, even hidden experiences of Him in the Holy of Holies, in the hidden place, even in Christ Himself as the Ark.

When we come to the meetings, we need to overcome any system of clergy-laity; we all need to function in our measure as members of the Body of Christ.

None of us is the pastor; we all are those who function, for we all can speak for the Lord and teach the truth.

As we function by speaking in the meetings of the church, we overthrow any clergy-laity system and we build up the Body by being perfected in our function.

Furthermore, we need to experience the divine economy for the producing of the new creation by being hot and burning for the Lord.

Instead of being lukewarm, we need to come to Him and buy gold refined by fire, white garments, and eyesalve, so that we may not be spewed out of the Lord’s mouth but rather, we would be invited to dine with Him and sit with Him on His throne (Rev. 3:15-21).

In this age, we need to be those who eat with the Lord, enjoy Him, and feast with Him, having our love for Him rekindled so that we may be qualified to sit with Him on His throne in the coming age.

We all should aspire to be the Lord’s overcomers who will participate in the Lord’s authority in the next age to be co-kings with Him ruling over the earth in the coming millennial kingdom.

Amen, may the Lord put in us such a holy aspiration to be His overcomers today!

Lord Jesus, make us Your overcomers today. We come to You to enjoy You not only in a general way but even in a hidden way as the special portion reserved for Your overcoming seekers. Amen, Lord, make us Your overcoming seekers today, those who are not defeated by the satanic chaos but triumph in the divine economy! Deepen our experience of Christ. We give ourselves to You, dear Lord, to be in the meetings of the church and be perfected to function in our measure. Hallelujah, we all can speak for the Lord to build up the church! Amen, Lord, rekindle our love for You. May we be hot, burning for You, and may we overcome any lukewarmness in our being. Lord Jesus, we want to be Your overcomers today, those who experience the divine economy even in this satanic chaos to triumph over it and bring in the next age!

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, 1991-1992, vol. 3, “The Satanic Chaos in the Old Creation and the Divine Economy for the New Creation,” pp. 258-261, 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:
  – God’s economy and His eternal plan, / His heart’s desire and intention is to be one with man. / Yet man has failed completely throughout all history. / But hallelujah! Praise the Lord! God’s life is now in me. / … / Now the church life is so precious with all the saints so dear. / Enjoying all Your riches, our vision is so clear, / That all would prophesy of Christ from what they’ve seen, / According to Your scripture in First Corinthians fourteen. (Song on, God’s economy and His eternal plan)
  – Will you be an overcomer? / Testimony bear! / Keep away from false religion, / ”Hidden manna” share. / Will you be an overcomer, / Simple, real, and pure? / Overcome all evil mixture, / Ruling pow’r secure. (Hymns #894)
  – Overcome! Overcome! / Overcome the degradation of the church! / All your working lay aside, / All the teachings that divide; / Eat the Lord whate’er betide— / Overcome! / Eating is man’s destiny / And the Lord’s recovery; / This defeats the enemy— / Overcome! / Come enjoy the tree of life, / Leave the doctrines, leave the strife! / Overcome by eating Christ— / Overcome! (Hymns #1273)