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In this chapter we come to the divine economy. Many of us have been Christians for years, but we have never heard a message on God’s economy. It is difficult to find a book in Christian bookstores with the word economy in the title. Nevertheless, this word economy is the focal point of the divine revelation in the New Testament. Although not many Christians know this, the demons and evil spirits realize it and would try to keep this matter veiled.
Economy is an anglicized form of a Greek word that is rich in meaning. In the King James Version this word is translated “dispensation” (1 Cor. 9:17; Eph. 1:10; 3:2 and Col. 1:25), “fellowship” (Eph. 3:9), “stewardship” (Luke 16:2-4), and “edifying” (1 Tim. 1:4). The Greek word first means a dispensation. God’s economy is His dispensation. God desires to dispense Himself into us, His chosen vessels. Second, in the Bible, economy denotes household management. God’s economy is His household management. Third, the word economy means a stewardship. In the ancient times there was a steward in the royal family who had a service called the stewardship. Hence, God’s economy is God’s stewardship. Peter, John, James, Andrew, and Paul were among God’s stewards. In 1 Corinthians 9:17 Paul says that a stewardship had been entrusted to him. This stewardship is to carry out God’s household management. Fourth, economy refers to administration. The divine economy is God’s administration. God has a purpose, a plan with a goal. In order to accomplish this purpose, He has an economy to dispense Himself and a household management with His stewardship so that He may administrate this universe. This is the definition of God’s economy.
In this chapter we are concerned with the focus of the divine economy. God’s economy is universally vast, and its scope is unlimited. We simply cannot know the full extent of God’s economy. It is sufficient for us to understand the focus of the divine economy. In the focus of the divine economy there are two elements — the divine Spirit and the human spirit.
John 4:24 says that God is Spirit. Just as a ring may be gold in nature, so God is altogether Spirit. But John 7:39 says that “the Spirit was not yet.” What does it mean to say that God is Spirit but that the Spirit is not yet? Is not the Spirit in John 4:24 the Spirit in John 7:39? Certainly it is. God is Spirit, and this Spirit has existed from eternity. Apparently, then, there seems to be a contradiction between John 4:24 and John 7:39. The illustration of making tea may help us to resolve this apparent contradiction. Suppose you order a cup of tea in a restaurant. However, the waitress brings you a cup of hot water and a tea bag. At that time, you may say that the tea is not yet. But after the tea bag has been placed into the water and remains there for a while, you will have tea. Likewise, on the one hand, God is Spirit, but on the other hand, the Spirit was not yet. The words not yet indicate that something was about to happen to the existing Spirit. God was the existing Spirit, but the Spirit was not yet. This indicates that something was about to be added to the existing Spirit to cause it to become the Spirit.
In Matthew 28:19 the Lord Jesus spoke of baptizing people into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. How can we explain the fact that God is Spirit and yet He is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit? Since God is Spirit and the Father is God Himself, the Father must be Spirit. The same is true of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are all Spirit. Nevertheless, there is just one Spirit. It might have been simpler if the Lord had said to baptize the nations into the Spirit. However, the Lord spoke of baptizing them into the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. There is just one name here, not three. The Father, the Son, and the Spirit are all for God’s dispensation and indicate God’s dispensation with His riches. God is not simple but very rich. In the Godhead we have the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. This not only indicates His dispensation but also implies His richness.
If you read the Bible carefully and are not influenced by traditional theology, you will realize that the Father is embodied in the Son and that the Son is realized in the Spirit. Otherwise, how could the three have just one name? In order for us to be baptized into the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, the three must be one. To be baptized into the Spirit is to be baptized also into the Son (Gal. 3:27; Rom. 6:3), and to be baptized into the Son is to be baptized also into the Father. The Father and the Son are both realized in the Holy Spirit. Therefore, in the Holy Spirit we have all the riches of the Godhead.
Neither the Father nor the Son was clearly revealed in the Old Testament. But when the Lord Jesus came, He spoke a great deal about His Father and about the heavenly Father. This indicates that the Father was revealed in the Son. After the resurrection of Christ, the Son was manifested, the Father was revealed further, and the Spirit became the Spirit of Jesus Christ. Therefore, after His resurrection Jesus commanded His disciples to baptize the nations into the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
First Corinthians 15:45 says that the last Adam became a life-giving Spirit. This Spirit must refer to the Spirit of God, for besides the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, there is not another Spirit who gives life. In the universe there is just one unique divine Spirit who gives life. The divine Spirit first is God Himself, for God is Spirit. But, as we have seen, John 7:39 says that the Spirit was not yet. This Spirit is the reality of the Son with the Father. The Father and the Son are realized in the Spirit. The last Adam is included in the life-giving Spirit because the last Adam has become such a Spirit. Philippians 1:19 speaks of the bountiful supply, not of the Spirit of God but of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. The phrase the Spirit of Jesus Christ includes both Jesus, the Nazarene, and Christ, God’s Messiah, the anointed One. Thus, the Spirit is no longer merely the Spirit of God; the Spirit of God now is both the Spirit of Jesus (Acts 16:7) and the Spirit of Christ (Rom. 8:9).
When the Spirit was the Spirit of God, He was the realization of God. God was in Him. But now He has become the Spirit of Jesus Christ. This surely implies that Jesus and Christ are realized in this Spirit. In the Spirit we now have not only the element of God but also the element of Jesus and the element of Christ. Before Jesus was crucified and resurrected, the Spirit of Jesus Christ was not yet, although the Spirit of God was there already. But after Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection, the Spirit of God became the Spirit of Jesus Christ. This Spirit is the life-giving Spirit in 1 Corinthians 15:45.
The last book of the Bible, Revelation, speaks of the seven Spirits of God (5:6). Recently, I heard someone say that these seven Spirits of God are the seven angels of the seven churches. Revelation 1:20 says that the seven stars are the seven angels, or messengers, of the seven churches, and in Revelation 3:1 the Lord referred to Himself as the One who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars. How then can we say that the seven Spirits of God are the seven angels? This is like saying that a person’s eyes are the same as his feet. There is no doubt that the seven Spirits are the Spirit of God.
Notice that in Revelation 5:6 the seven Spirits of God are the seven eyes of the Lamb. According to the traditional teaching of the Trinity, the Father is separate from the Son, and the Son is separate from the Spirit. But Revelation 5:6 says that the seven Spirits (the Spirit) are the eyes of the Lamb (the Son). Traditional theology speaks of the three persons of the Godhead, but according to the book of Revelation, the third is the eyes of the second. How ridiculous it is to separate the third from the second, making Them two separate persons! Some Christians have said, in writing, that the Father, the Son, and the Spirit are three separate persons, but the Bible reveals that the third is the eyes of the second. Are not the seven Spirits of God the Holy Spirit? Then how can the Holy Spirit, the third of the Godhead, be the eyes of the Lamb, the second of the Godhead?
Many of those who argue on behalf of the traditional understanding of the Trinity appeal to the Nicene Creed formulated in A.D. 325 at the Council of Nicaea. But at the time of that council, seven books of the New Testament, including Revelation, were not yet recognized by the church. These seven books were recognized at the Council of Carthage in North Africa in A.D. 397. When the Nicene Creed was formulated, the book of Revelation had not been recognized as authoritative. Thus, this creed says nothing about the seven Spirits of God. This proves that the creed adopted by the Catholic Church and so many denominations is not complete.
Do you know the first time that the title Holy Spirit is used? This title cannot be found in the Old Testament. In fact, the word holy is not to be found in the book of Genesis. The first time holy is used is in relation to the calling of Moses in Exodus 3. God told Moses to take off his shoes because he was standing on holy ground (v. 5). In Psalm 51:11 and in Isaiah 63:10-11 the King James Version mistakenly uses the term Holy Spirit. Instead, these verses speak of “the Spirit of Your holiness” and “His Spirit of holiness.” Only in the New Testament do we find mention of the Holy Spirit. The title Holy Spirit is first used when Mary was about to conceive the Lord Jesus (Matt. 1:18; Luke 1:35). Thus, the term the Holy Spirit is first used regarding the incarnation of Christ.
God is Spirit, yet this God is the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This means that the Son with the Father is realized in the Holy Spirit. This Spirit eventually became the Spirit of Jesus Christ as the life-giving Spirit. Before Christ was crucified and resurrected, such a Spirit was not yet. It became such a Spirit only after Christ’s resurrection. This Spirit, the third of the Godhead, is the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, and the life-giving Spirit. Not only God Himself but also all the riches of the Godhead are in this Spirit. The fact that this Spirit is the Spirit of Jesus Christ indicates that Jesus and Christ are realized in this Spirit. Today our Jesus is realized in this Spirit. Therefore, God, the Father, the Son, Jesus, and Christ are all realized in the Spirit. Because Jesus is a man, humanity is also included in this Spirit. Since this man has passed through crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension, all these are now included in the Spirit. Moreover, this wonderful Spirit has become intensified sevenfold. This is the Spirit revealed in the Bible, the first aspect of the focus of God’s economy.
Whatever God is, is in this Spirit. The Father, the Son, Jesus, Christ, humanity, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension are all implied in this wonderful Spirit that has been intensified to become the seven Spirits of God. We all need such a full definition of the Spirit. We need to accept the vision of this Spirit found in the Bible and then pray ourselves into the realization of this Spirit.
Because this Spirit is so rich and bountiful, Philippians 1:19 speaks of the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. The reason the supply of this Spirit is bountiful is that the Spirit includes God, the riches of the Father and the Son, the element of Jesus’ humanity, and the element of Christ, the anointed One of God. This Spirit also includes crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension. All this is found in the Spirit. This Spirit is not merely a power but a person. This wonderful Spirit has been intensified sevenfold to become the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth (Rev. 5:6). Today the very Spirit we have received into us is such a Spirit. May we all have a thorough and rich revelation of this Spirit.
The divine Spirit is in our human spirit. Romans 8:16 says that the Spirit witnesses with our spirit that we are children of God. Furthermore, 1 Corinthians 6:17 says that he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit. Now we have not only the divine Spirit in our spirit but also the mingling of the divine Spirit with our spirit. Thus, the two spirits are one. Some are opposed to the concept of mingling. Those who oppose this wonder how it is possible for the divine Spirit to be mingled with our spirit. If the divine Spirit and the human spirit can be one spirit, then why can they not be mingled? Without mingling, how could the two spirits become one? Praise the Lord that these two spirits have been mingled into one spirit! This is the reason that in the verses concerning our walk in the spirit, it is difficult for the translators to determine whether to render pneuma as “Spirit” or as “spirit.” Actually, to walk according to the spirit means to walk according to both the divine Spirit and the human spirit, according to the two spirits mingled as one. The two spirits are mingled not in the heavens or outside of us but within us. This is the focus of the divine economy. Whatever God intends to do or accomplish is related to this focus. If we would have certain basic spiritual experiences, we must have a clear understanding that the focus of God’s economy is the mingled spirit, the divine Spirit mingled with the human spirit.
Those who live according to the flesh and the lusts of the flesh are the lowest type of people. Those who live according to the mind and the will are somewhat higher. Humanly speaking, those who live according to the conscience, which is part of man’s spirit, may be considered the highest type of people. But we are even higher than this, for we live not only according to the conscience but according to the mingled spirit. Therefore, we are on the highest level. Here, on this level, we have the Christian life and also the church life. This is the focus of God’s economy. We should walk according to this, that is, according to the mingled spirit. We should be a person in such a spirit as was the apostle John in Revelation (1:10).
