I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision. Acts 26:19
The whole Bible is written and composed according to a governing vision, which is the vision of God’s economy. The governing vision in the word of God is the vision of God’s economy.
This vision has been hidden throughout the ages in God, but He revealed it to His holy apostles and prophets in spirit (Eph. 3:9). God’s economy should be the only thing we teach and speak in the church life, otherwise we are prone to produce divisions (see 1 Tim. 1:4).
God’s economy is the Triune God working Himself into His chosen and redeemed people in order to saturate their entire being with the Divine Trinity for the producing and building up of the Body of Christ consummating in the New Jerusalem (see Eph. 3:16-17; 4:4-6; Rev. 21:2, 9-10).
The central work of God and the governing vision in the Bible is God working Himself into His people in order to produce and build up the Body of Christ, His corporate expression on the earth. When we see such a vision, our whole life is changed and our lifestyle will be different. We will pray one with the Apostle Paul, Father, strengthen us through Your Spirit into our inner man so that Christ may make His home in our hearts!
If we see the governing vision in the Bible we will be different persons – we will care not so much for outward yet necessary things but for the inward reality, praying for God to work Himself into us and into the saints for His Body.
In order to accomplish His economy, God went through the process of incarnation, human living, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension, and now as the life-giving Spirit He is in our spirit to renew us, sanctify us, transform us, and eventually glorify us so that we may become the same as Christ is in life and nature to be God’s corporate expression in the universe.
The Apostle Paul was governed by this vision and his whole life he served and lived under this vision, not being disobedient to the heavenly vision (Acts 26:19). Such a vision has a powerful and lasting effect on our being, changing our concepts, attitude, conversations, and thoughts, and it will supply us, encourage us, and strengthen us to do whatever the Lord leads us to do in the Body for the building up of the church!
Lord Jesus, show us the governing vision in the Bible. Enlighten the eyes of our heart to see the vision of God’s economy. Lord, may we care only for Your central work of working Yourself into man to build up the Body of Christ and consummate the New Jerusalem. Father, strengthen us with power through Your Spirit into our inner man so that Christ may make His home in our heart through faith!
Seeing the Governing Vision in the Bible – the Vision of God’s Economy
Without vision, people cast off restraint (Prov. 29:18a), but if we see the heavenly vision, the governing vision of the Bible, we will live a life with this vision and being supplied by this vision.
What is the governing vision in the Bible? According to the entire revelation in the Scriptures, the governing vision in the Bible is the vision of God’s economy, the vision of the Triune God working Himself into His people to saturate and permeate them with the Divine Trinity for the producing and building up of the Body of Christ consummating in the New Jerusalem.
If we see this vision, we will not pray for peripheral or auxiliary things related to our Christian life or church life but we will tell the Lord,
Lord, work Yourself into me for Your Body! Build Yourself into me and constitute me with Yourself for the producing and building up of Your organic Body to consummate the New Jerusalem! Lord, work Yourself into all Your chosen and redeemed people in order to saturate their entire being with the Divine Trinity!
If we see this vision, we will pray for nothing else but this. We will stop praying for this or that and pray mainly that the Triune God would saturate our being for the Body of Christ.
The economy of God is that God became flesh, passed through human living, died, resurrected, and became the Spirit to enter into us as life and dispense God into us 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. This is the Bible, and this is the vision that governs and controls us. (The Governing and Controlling Vision in the Bible, p. 17)
If we have the vision of God’s economy, the governing vision in the Bible, we are in the Lord’s recovery intrinsically and we are in God’s economy essentially. The center of gravity in our Christian life is the vision of God’s economy, and such a vision makes us one with God in His heart’s desire which has now become our heart’s desire.
This is what God cares for. He longs that His people would see and be governed by the central vision of His economy. The entire Bible was written according to the principle of the vision of the Triune God being wrought into His redeemed people.
The Father is the fountain, the Son is the fatness with the riches, and the Spirit is the river of water of life to saturate us with the Divine Trinity (see Psa. 36:9). The love of God is the source, the grace of Christ is the expression and enjoyment of the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit transmits and dispenses the Triune God into our being (2 Cor. 13:14).
The Father strengthens us with power through His Spirit into our inner man so that Christ would make His home in our heart through faith (Eph. 3:16-17). God the Father is over all, through all, and in all; God the Son is organically joined to us through faith, and God the Spirit is the essence of the Body for the building up of the Body of Christ in oneness (Eph. 4:4-6).
Throughout the Bible we see that the Triune God desires to work Himself into His people. If we have this governing vision, the Bible will be a different book to us, and we will realize that the principle according to which God’s word was written matches the central vision in God’s economy.
Lord Jesus, we are here for Your economy! You created us for Your economy. You redeemed us to work Yourself into us. You are shepherding us so that we may open to You and allow You to saturate us with the Divine Trinity. You placed us in the church life for Your central work, Your economy. Lord, we want to contribute to Your heart’s desire by allowing You to saturate us with Yourself so that You may have the Body, the Bride, the Kingdom, and the New Jerusalem!
We’re Being Changed by Seeing the Heavenly Vision and Having it Wrought into our Being
If we see the heavenly vision and it is wrought into our being, this vision will have a powerful and lasting effect on us (Prov. 29:18a; Acts 26:19).
When Saul was met by the Lord and saw the heavenly vision on the way to Damascus, this left a great impression on him and the rest of his life he was governed by this vision (Acts 26:19). If we see the heavenly vision and have it wrought into us, this vision will have a powerful and lasting effect on us.
It is not enough to objectively see and mentally understand what God’s economy is. We must begin with the objective scene, but that scene needs to be transmitted into us to become the subjective scenery of God’s economy wrought into our being.
Such a vision will keep us, govern us, restrict us, limit us, and supply us to go on with the Lord in oneness with Him for His economy. Once you see the vision and have it wrought into you, that scenery cannot be denied, left, or abandoned; the heavenly vision will constantly supply you within and at the same time will limit you, restrict you, and govern you in your daily living.
You may be temporarily defeated, but the vision will not let you give up. You may be down and the enemy may have “won this round”, but you will not stay down because there’s a vision inside of your energizing you and causing you to rise up again!
Once we see the glorious heavenly vision, we will be revolutionized and our entire being is changed in its concept, attitude, conversation, and thought. The heavenly vision will cause us to be beside ourselves (on the one hand) and restricted in our living (on the other hand).
Our whole lifestyle is changed once we see the heavenly vision of God’s economy. We will no longer have a “mixed lifestyle”, being one way with the saints and yet another way with others.
The heavenly vision captures us for God’s economy, reconstitutes us with the Divine Trinity, governs us in our daily living, directs us in the accomplishment of God’s economy, restricts us and controls us when it comes to doing things apart from or besides this vision, and preserves us in God’s purpose.
What preserves us in the church life in the Lord’s recovery is the heavenly vision seen by us and wrought into our being. The Lord Jesus as the Head of the Body controls and directs the members of the Body not by “human intermediaries” but by the heavenly vision. There’s no human control in the church life but there is a vision being wrought into us and governing us.
We don’t merely “grasp the concept” of God’s economy or “get the idea” of the governing vision but we have the vision of God’s economy wrought into our being. The heavenly vision restricts us to the central line of the divine revelation with its focus on God’s New Testament economy.
Only the Triune God can make this happen, and only this vision will carry us on no matter what.
Lord, You know our lifestyle, our attitude, our way of speaking, and our concepts. Work Yourself into us and work the vision of God’s economy into our being. Save us from a mere mental understanding or grasping the concept of what God’s economy is. Lord, may the objective scene become the inward subjective scenery of God’s economy in our being! May You gain many saints who are governed by the heavenly vision by having this vision wrought into their being! Oh Lord, accomplish Your economy by working Yourself into us for the building up of the Body to consummate the New Jerusalem!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my Christian experience, bro. Ron Kangas’ sharing in the message for this week, and portions from, The Governing and Controlling Vision in the Bible (ch. 1), as quoted in, the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Heavenly Vision, week 1 / msg 1, The Governing and Controlling Vision—the Vision of God’s Economy..
- Hymns on this topic:
# God’s intention is for Christ / To be wrought into His chosen people / That they may become the sons of God / For His corporate expression. (Song on God’s Intention)
# 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)
# God needs men who pray; / Those who lay the tracks for Him; / God’s economy is carried out through men of prayer. / They love not themselves; / But a willing sacrifice. / What they fear—offending God, losing His presence dear. (Song on Praying to Carry out God’s Economy)
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