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Thus far in these messages on the conclusion of the New Testament we have covered four persons: God, Christ, the Spirit, and the believers. In the remaining messages we shall cover three corporate persons: the church, the kingdom, and the New Jerusalem. The church is a corporate person. The kingdom also is a corporate person. According to chapter two of Daniel, Christ, the heavenly stone, will eventually become a great mountain filling the entire earth. This is the kingdom as the increase of Christ. The New Jerusalem in the new heaven and new earth will also be a corporate person. First we shall consider the church and then the kingdom and the New Jerusalem.
The first matter we shall consider concerning the church is the hidden mystery in God’s eternal economy. In this universe there is a hidden mystery, a mystery hidden in God. This hidden mystery is in God’s eternal economy. Here we have two crucial words — mystery and economy — modified respectively by the adjectives “hidden” and “eternal.” Hence, in the New Testament we have the hidden mystery and the eternal economy.
In revealing the divine things, Paul, under the inspiration of the Spirit, uses the word “economy” in his writings. The English word economy is an anglicized form of the Greek word oikonomia. Some dictionaries define oikonomia as a dispensation, a special arrangement, a plan with a purpose. These definitions are correct. However, if we know only this much concerning oikonomia, we shall not know the deep and complete significance of this Greek word.
If we would understand the meaning of oikonomia, we need to realize that this Greek word is composed of two words — oikos, meaning house or household, and nomos, meaning law. Economy, therefore, is a “house law,” a household administration. God’s household is His house, His dwelling place. This means that God’s dwelling place is His family, His household. This household has an economy, a household law. Here “law” means regulations, and these regulations refer to a household administration. In order to have a household administration, an administration in your house or family, there surely is the need for a particular arrangement. Such an arrangement is a house law.
In using the word oikonomia, a word that denotes a household administration, Paul was implying that God, who made this oikonomia, has the intention to have a house, a household, a family. In eternity past God was alone. He was triune — the Father, the Son, and the Spirit — yet He, the one God, was alone. However, God’s oikonomia, His household arrangement, implies that in eternity past He intended to have a household, for without a household, He cannot have an administration. Furthermore, without a household God would not be able to carry out a plan. In order for God to carry out His plan in His household administration, He needs a household, a family. This is the reason Ephesians 1:5 reveals that, before the foundation of the world. God the Father predestinated us unto sonship. This predestination was with the intention of having sons. Therefore, God’s original intention was to have sons. The book of Romans tells us that, in Christ’s redemption, God has made many sinners into sons of God. These sons are the many brothers of Christ, God’s unique, only-begotten Son. From this we can see that God intends to have many sons to form His household through which He can carry out His eternal oikonomia.
In this oikonomia, which is eternal and of God, a mystery was hidden. What is a mystery? We may say that a mystery is a mysterious story. A mystery, a mysterious story, was hidden in the eternal God and in His eternal oikonomia. As we shall see, this mystery, this mysterious story, is the church.
Today the word “church” is very common. But when Paul comes to the revelation of the church, he uses certain mysterious expressions. He calls the church a mystery, even a hidden mystery. This mystery is hidden in God’s household arrangement. In eternity past, God the Father had a household arrangement, and in that arrangement a mystery was hidden.
Now we need to look into the details concerning God’s eternal economy. This economy is an eternal plan; it is also a purpose. In Ephesians the word “purpose” is used three times, twice as a noun (1:11; 3:11) and once as a verb (1:9). God is purposeful, and He has a purpose. But what does the word “purpose” mean? I believe that the best definition is that a purpose is a determined intent. A purpose is a strong intent to do something or to gain something. The eternal economy of God is of God’s determined intent, of God’s purpose. In eternity past God had such an intent to gain something, to have something. God is determined to have the church. With a definite and strong determination, God intends to have the church.
According to Ephesians 3:11, God’s eternal purpose is “the purpose of the ages.” The purpose of the ages is the purpose of eternity, the eternal purpose, the eternal plan of God made in eternity past. Hence, the expression “the purpose of the ages,” a literal translation of the Greek, simply means the eternal purpose.
Besides the terms economy, mystery, and purpose, a number of other important terms are used by Paul in Ephesians. The next term we shall consider is “will.” Three times in Ephesians 1 Paul speaks of God’s will: the good pleasure of His will (v. 5), the mystery of His will (v. 9), and the counsel of His will (v. 11). God has an economy because in eternity God had a will. Because this will was hidden in Him, it was a mystery. But in His wisdom and prudence God has made this hidden mystery known to us through His revelation in Christ, that is, through Christ’s incarnation, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension.
God’s eternal, determined intent is to have something. This intent, this purpose, plan, and arrangement, household administration, is of God’s will. We need to be impressed with the fact that God’s purpose, His determined intent, is of God’s will. God’s will is the source, and the purpose is the outcome. God’s eternal purpose is of His will.
At this point we need to ask what God’s will is. What is the will which is the source of God’s purpose, the source of God’s determined intent? The simplest answer is that God’s will is what God wants. Anything or anyone that is living wants something. This means that every living person has a will. As soon as a child is born, he wants something, and what the child wants is his will. In speaking of God’s will, therefore, we may say that God’s will is what He wants.
What does God want? God wants the church. God wants us for the church. The church is something of God’s will, for the church is what God wants.
In eternity past, God wanted to have the church. His wanting to have the church is His will. Of this will God determined an intent, and this intent is His purpose. Furthermore, this purpose is a plan, an arrangement, that is to be carried out in God’s family, in His household.
We need to see that four crucial words — economy, mystery, purpose, and will — are all related to the church. The church is something God wants, the church is the goal of God’s determined intent, and the church is the mystery in God’s economy, the mysterious story in God’s household administration. This is revealed in Paul’s writing in chapters 1 and 3 of Ephesians.
God’s eternal purpose is of His will. Now we need to see that God’s will is according to God’s good pleasure (Eph. 1:9). God’s good pleasure is His heart pleasure, which we may call the desire of His heart. Our God is living, loving, and purposeful. The living, loving, and purposeful God surely has a desire. Every living thing and especially every living person has a desire, a good pleasure. If we desire pleasure, then certainly God does also. Only something dead or nonliving has no such need. The more living we are, the more pleasure we need. The degree of our livingness determines how much pleasure we need. Because God is certainly the most living One, He surely needs the most pleasure. If we, as fallen sinners, require pleasure, then how much more does God, the living One, have a deep need for it. The book of Ephesians reveals that God needs pleasure; it reveals the desire of God’s heart. The biblical term for “the desire of God’s heart” is “the good pleasure of His will.” The good pleasure of God’s will is the desire of God’s heart.
Our God is living and loving. John 3:16 says, “God so loved the world.” Why did God love the world? He loved the world because out of the world He will have His good pleasure, His heart’s desire.
The eternal purpose of God is of God’s will according to God’s good pleasure, which He purposed in Himself. God’s purpose, God’s will, and God’s good pleasure are interrelated. The living, loving, purposeful God has a desire, which is His good pleasure. God had this desire, this good pleasure, in eternity past. Then within Himself He determined to accomplish something in order to have the fulfillment of His desire. This means that God’s desire became His determined intent to have what He wants. Therefore, the source of God’s eternal economy is actually God’s good pleasure. First, God had a pleasure, a desire. Then He determined to carry out this desire, and this became God’s will, what God wants. Hence, God’s good pleasure, His desire, comes first. Within Himself God purposed to carry out this desire, to get what He wants, and that became His will. What God wants is the church. From this we can see that the church is God’s good pleasure, God’s will, God’s purpose, and God’s oikonomia. Furthermore, all this is a mystery, a hidden, mysterious story. This indicates that the church is a great matter, for the church is God’s desire, God’s good pleasure. God’s will is to have the church, and He has purposed to carry out the desire to have the church which He wants. Therefore based upon His desire, will, and purpose, God made a plan, an oikonomia, a household arrangement, a household administration. Therefore, God’s economy is His planned administration to carry out His eternal purpose to have the church.
God had a desire, a good pleasure, according to which He has a will. Based upon His will, God made a purpose, a determined intent. He then made a plan to administrate His purpose, and this plan is to dispense Himself as life, life supply, and everything into His chosen people. This is the economy of God.
Ephesians 3:11 speaks of the purpose of the ages which God “made in Christ Jesus our Lord.” This purpose is the plan, the plan is the arrangement, and the arrangement is the household administration, which is the oikonomia. This oikonomia was made in Christ.
Ephesians 1:9 says that God’s good pleasure was purposed in Himself. Now we see that in 3:11 God’s purpose was made in Christ. First, God’s purpose was formed in Himself. Then in order to make this purpose a household administration, it was made in Christ.
The phrase “in Christ” in 3:11 implies three crucial significances. First, it implies, or indicates, that in eternity past Christ existed simultaneously with God. Certain verses in Ephesians speak of God’s thought, will, determination, purpose, and plan in eternity past. The fact that this purpose, this plan, was made in Christ implies Christ’s eternal, divine existence. It also indicates Christ’s deity. Christ, who had no beginning, exists eternally and simultaneously with God.
Second, the title Christ in Ephesians 3:11 implies, or indicates, that Christ is the embodiment of God. The book of Colossians reveals that Christ is the embodiment of the Triune God. “In Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily” (Col. 2:9). The entire Triune God is embodied in Christ, for all the fullness of the Godhead, that is, of the Triune God, dwells in Christ bodily. Hence, the title Christ in Ephesians 3:11 indicates that this One is God’s embodiment.
Because the Triune God has embodied Himself in Christ, Christ is the mystery of God, the mysterious story of God. Outside of Christ there is no God, and outside of Christ we cannot find God or contact God, because the Triune God is altogether embodied in Christ.
Third, the title Christ in 3:11 implies a commission. In the New Testament the Lord Jesus is called both the Christ and the Son of God. In Matthew 16:16 Peter said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” John 20:31 says, “These have been written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.” What is the difference between the Christ and the Son of God? The Son of God denotes the Lord’s person, and the Christ denotes His commission. Christ is the embodiment of the Triune God, and the Son of God is the expression of God the Father. As such a one, the Son of God, the expression of God, was anointed to be God’s Christ, and He was commissioned to bring forth many sons of God so that God may have a household.
As God’s anointed and commissioned One, Christ has brought forth many sons for God’s household through seven steps: creation, redemption, regeneration, sanctification, transformation, conformation, and glorification. First, all things, including mankind made in God’s image, were created through Christ. After man fell, Christ came to accomplish redemption, to bring back fallen man. Next, Christ regenerated God’s chosen people. Regeneration is followed by sanctification, transformation, and conformation to Christ’s own image. Ultimately, the many sons of God will be brought into the glory of God. All this is for the purpose of bringing forth many sons of God, who are the many brothers of Christ. This is clearly revealed in Romans 8:29, which speaks of the many brothers of God’s firstborn Son. Now God has many sons to form into a family, a household, which He can administrate for the carrying out of His eternal plan to have the church.
In the morning of His resurrection, the Lord Jesus referred to His disciples as His brothers. He said to Mary, “Go to My brothers and say to them, I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God” (John 20:17). Furthermore, Hebrews 2 reveals that, in His resurrection, the Lord declared His Father’s name to His brothers and that His brothers have become the church (vv. 11-12). The church, therefore, is a composition of all the sons of God, who are the many brothers of Christ.
God made His eternal economy in Christ. The Christ revealed in the New Testament is the embodiment of the Triune God and all the processes through which He has passed, including creation, incarnation, human living, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension. In such a Christ God made His eternal economy. Therefore, Christ is the element, sphere, means, goal, and aim of God’s eternal economy. Christ is everything in God’s economy. In fact, all the contents of the eternal economy of God are simply Christ. Christ is the center of God’s eternal plan. Christ is the element and the sphere in which, with which, and through which God carries out His household administration to have the church as the household of God and the Body of Christ.
