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I. The all-inclusive Christ being the divine dispensing as the common portion from God to the believers, supplying to them the riches of God in Christ:
А. Being enjoyed by the believers together — 1 Cor. 1:2b.
1 Corinthians 1:2b
...with all those who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in every place, who is theirs and ours.
B. Being what God has called the believers into — 1 Cor. 1:9.
1 Corinthians 1:9
God is faithful, through whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
II. The all-inclusive Christ being the divine dispensing as the power from God to the believers, supplying and sustaining them in what they are and what they do — 1 Cor. 1:24a:
1 Corinthians 1:24a
But to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks...
А. Being with a dynamic power.
B. Strengthening the believers.
III. The all-inclusive Christ being the divine dispensing as the wisdom from God to the believers, sustaining them in the divine economy and plan — 1 Cor. 1:24b, 30:
1 Corinthians 1:24b
...Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
1 Corinthians 1:30
But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became wisdom to us from God: both righteousness and sanctification and redemption.
А. Being with counsel.
B. Affording the saints the strategies that they need.
IV. The all-inclusive Christ being the divine dispensing as the righteousness from God to the believers, supplying to them the righteous way of God — 1 Cor. 1:30:
1 Corinthians 1:30
But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became wisdom to us from God: both righteousness and sanctification and redemption.
А. In procedures and methods.
B. That the believers may be perfectly righteous and right toward God, toward men, and toward all things.
V. The all-inclusive Christ being the divine dispensing as the sanctification from God to the believers, supplying to them God’s sanctifying nature — 1 Cor. 1:30:
1 Corinthians 1:30
But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became wisdom to us from God: both righteousness and sanctification and redemption.
А. In position and nature.
B. That the believers’ spirit, soul, and body may be fully sanctified.
VI. The all-inclusive Christ being the divine dispensing as the redemption from God to the believers, supplying to them daily the divine glory, which manifests God — 1 Cor. 1:30:
1 Corinthians 1:30
But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became wisdom to us from God: both righteousness and sanctification and redemption.
А. Not only for the believers’ life and walk today.
B. But for the future redemption of their body, that their whole being may enter God’s glory and may express God’s glory and radiance forever.
Prayer: Lord, we worship You from the depths of our being, that You have gathered us once again into Your name. Lord, we believe that You are with us, that Your Spirit is here, and that Your Word is opened up to us. Lord, we thank You that in this dark age we have Your bright holy Word in our hands, as a lamp that shines in a dark place. We fully believe that You will release Yourself from Your word tonight. Lord, we want to be fully open to You. May Your Spirit move freely in this meeting. Lord, fill us all, and transfuse Your desire and Your word into us and into our mouth. May our speaking be Your speaking, and may You speak in our speaking. Lord, deliver us from wasted and idle words so that we can speak purely about You, about Your glory, Your person, what You are, and what You have done, and may all of us gain something from You. Lord, cover all of us with Your victorious blood. Oppose for us all the powers of darkness. May glory be to You and blessing be to the saints. Amen.
During the last ten years, from 1980 until now, the Lord’s leading among us has gradually opened up to us in one specific direction the mysteries in the Bible. This direction is the divine economy. With this divine economy there is a divine dispensing. The word economy is used especially by Paul in his Epistles (Eph. 1:10; 3:9; 1 Cor. 9:17; 1 Tim. 1:4). The word means a plan, an arrangement, and a purpose. God’s economy, plan, arrangement, and purpose is to dispense Himself into His chosen, created, and redeemed people. When we repent and believe in the Lord, God redeems, justifies, and regenerates us. This first step of regeneration, by which God enters into our spirit, is the beginning of God’s dispensing into us. Hence, regeneration is the beginning of the divine dispensing of the divine economy. Through this dispensing, the complete God is dispensed into millions of people. He is in you and at the same time is in me. He is in all of those who have believed in the Lord. Throughout the ages, millions of believers have had this same God within them. He has dispensed Himself to us, yet He Himself is not divided. He is complete in every one of us who has believed. This One is complete, yet He is distributed to everyone, and everyone has a part in Him.
This is like a house that has been completed, whose power lines have been installed. When they are connected to the power source, electricity comes. From that time on, the electricity stored in the power station is continually distributed into the house, and all the electric appliances are able to function. The operation of all the appliances depends on the distribution of the power station. Once the electricity stops, everything loses its function. Today in this universe there is a tremendous thing. Our God is like electricity. One day He installed Himself from the heavenly power station into us, the believers. During the past ten years among us, the Lord has shown us continually that God has a mysterious economy, which is to dispense Himself as a complete Being into every one of us. When we call on the name of the Lord, believe, and are baptized, God is transmitted into us. The Triune God has dispensed Himself into us. Within us, such a wonderful dispensing has taken place.
In the previous chapters we have seen God’s dispensing from the Gospel of John and from the book of Romans. Later, we will consider God’s dispensing from the book of Ephesians. Now we will consider God’s dispensing from 1 and 2 Corinthians.
Through the divine dispensing, the all-inclusive Christ becomes the common portion from God to the believers, continually supplying to the believers the riches of God in Christ. This can be considered as the general description of the divine dispensing in 1 and 2 Corinthians. Under this general description, there are five items that speak of the all-inclusive Christ as the power, wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption from God to the believers.
Christ as the all-inclusive One belongs to all the believers. He is jointly participated in by all of them (1 Cor. 1:2b). He is our portion, given to us by God (Col. 1:12). Furthermore, He is the One into whom God has called the believers. First Corinthians 1:9 says, “God is faithful, through whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” This shows that we have partaken of the union with Jesus Christ the Son of God and have jointly participated in His fellowship. God has called us into such a fellowship, to enjoy Christ as God’s portion dispensed to us, which includes power, wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. These five items contain the divine and rich dispensing of God. God has dispensed Christ as these five items to us.
Who is Christ? Christ is the embodiment of the Triune God. For God to give us Christ is for Him to give us Himself. As what is He being given to us? To say that He is given to us to be our Savior and Redeemer is a shallow understanding. To say that He is given to us as life goes a little deeper. From 1 Corinthians 1 we see that God has given us Christ, that is, He has given us Himself, to be our power, wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. Every one of these five items is simply Christ Himself. Christ is the power, wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption given by God to us. This is true not only on the day of regeneration, but thereafter Christ is continually given by God to us. This is like the electricity in the power station. From the day the house was built and the power lines installed, electricity has been transmitted continually into the house and has been made available for the operation of every electric appliance.
From the time we first called, “O Lord Jesus, I believe in You; I receive You,” the Lord Jesus as the heavenly electricity has been connected to us, and the transmission has begun. From that day on, it has never stopped. As far as I am concerned, during the past sixty-five years, there has continually been a transmission from God to me. With every one of us who is a regenerated and saved person, there is such a transmission within. Although at times we are weak, in darkness, and even sin and are temporarily cut off, we are forgiven and are connected once again whenever we turn and confess our sins. The transmission of Christ resumes, and we can enjoy Christ as our power, wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.
First Corinthians 1:24 tells us that the crucified Christ is the power of God. Christ as the power of God is a dynamic power; He strengthens the believers, supplying and sustaining them in what they are and what they do. In all our circumstances and conditions, Christ as the power from God first enables us to suffer; second, to bear the burdens; third, to be unshakable; and fourth, to stand firm. This can be compared to what Paul says: “I am able to do all things in Him who empowers me” (Phil. 4:13). Christ as the power of God is daily supplying and sustaining us through His divine dispensing.
First Corinthians 1:24 also tells us that the crucified Christ is the wisdom of God. Through Christ’s incarnation and crucifixion, God removed man’s sins and annulled Satan, the one who corrupted man, thus releasing the divine life and making it available to all those who believe in Him. This is God’s wisdom. This wisdom is full of counsel, affording the saints the strategies that they need. In the church life today, as long as we have Christ as our wisdom from God, all the problems will no longer continue to be problems.
Christ as the righteousness from God to us (v. 30) is not only for justification concerning our past offenses but is for our living today. It enables us to be right and just toward God, man, and everything else in procedures and methods. Christ is dispensed from God into us to be our life, power, and wisdom so that we can live out this righteous living and be righteous in every word, deed, movement, and action.
Christ as the sanctification from God to us (v. 30) is sanctifying us not only in position but in disposition also so that we can be set apart to God from everything common. He is the power of our sanctification, and He is also the factor for our sanctification. Through Him the divine dispensing is continually transmitted into us, sanctifying our whole being — spirit, soul, and body — making us holy, full of the divine element to live out an excelling living.
Finally, Christ as the redemption from God to us (v. 30) will transfigure our body through His divine life so that we will have the body of His glory (Phil. 3:21). Here we need to realize that everything that God glorifies has to be redeemed by passing through the judgment of the cross. First, there is redemption, then glory. More or less, every one of us is still in the old creation and in the natural life. For this reason we need to take the judgment of the cross in order that we can receive Christ as our redemption and can be qualified to enjoy God’s glory. This is not only for the believers’ living today but for the redemption of their bodies in the future so that their whole being can enter into God’s glory and can express God’s glory and radiance forever.
Today and every day in the church life, we need the all-inclusive Christ to be our power, wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. All the divine riches of Christ are being continually dispensed from God into us. The more He is dispensed into us, the more the divine element within us increases so that eventually our whole being is supplied and sustained by Him.
