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Scripture Reading: Col. 2:17; Heb. 8:5; 10:1a
I. Individual types:
А. Adam and Eve — Christ and the church — Gen. 2:18, 21-24; Eph. 5:30-32:
1. Adam — Christ as the expression of God.
2. Eve — the church as the expression of Christ.
B. From Adam, the fallen one, to Noah, the one who worked together with God — from a fallen sinner to a saint working together with the Lord:
1. The fallen Adam wearing the skin of a sacrifice — a sinner receiving Christ as his covering righteousness — Gen. 3:21; Gal. 3:27; 1 Cor. 1:30.
2. Abel, the one inheriting salvation, offering up a lamb as a sacrifice — a believer living in Christ to become the righteousness of God, being acceptable to Him — Gen. 4:4; 2 Cor. 5:21.
3. Enosh, the frail one, calling on the name of Jehovah — a frail believer calling on the name of the Lord to enjoy Him as his portion — Gen. 4:26; Acts 9:14; 2 Tim. 2:22; 1 Cor. 1:2.
4. Enoch, the one pursuing after God, walking with God — a believer who pursues after the Lord living together with the Lord — Gen. 5:22-24; John 14:19b; Gal. 2:20.
5. Noah, the one walking with God, working with Him — a believer who lives together with the Lord working together with the Lord to work out his own salvation — Gen. 6:9b, 14, 18; Phil. 2:12b.
C. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob with Joseph — the threefold experience of a called believer in the Triune God, from his selection to his reigning:
1. As the father, Abraham being called by God and justified by faith, living by faith and living in fellowship with God — a believer experiencing the calling and justification of God the Father, by faith living a life of fellowshipping with Him — Gen. 12:1; 15:6; Heb. 11:9; Gen. 18:1, 17, 22-33; 1 Cor. 1:9; Rom. 8:30; Gal. 2:20b; 1 John 1:3, 6.
2. As the son, Isaac by faith inheriting all the promised blessings — a believer living in fellowship with God experiencing the inheritance of all the grace in God the Son for the enjoyment in satisfaction and rest — Gen. 25:5; Heb. 11:9; Eph. 3:6; Gal. 3:29.
3. As the one inheriting from his grandfather and his father, Jacob being chosen by God, experiencing trials to become the Israel of God, bringing God’s blessing to everyone — a believer chosen by God, enjoying the love of God the Father and the grace of God the Son, experiencing the transformation of God the Spirit through trials in his environment, to become a mature man to bestow God’s blessings upon others — Gen. 25:23; Rom. 9:10-13; Gen. 27:41-45; 31:1-2; 32:28; 47:7, 10; 48:9, 15-16, 20; 49:26, 28; 1 Pet. 1:2; Rom. 8:28; 2 Cor. 3:18; 1 Cor. 15:58; Heb. 6:1; Rom. 12:14.
4. As the one who in experience forms a part of Jacob, Joseph reigning and dispensing widely the riches of God to everyone — a believer who is transformed, overcoming, and mature, reigning for the Lord and dispensing the riches of God in Christ to everyone — Gen. 41:40-44, 55-57; 2 Cor. 2:14-16; Eph. 3:8; Rev. 20:4, 6.
Prayer: Lord, our hearts are rejoicing, and our spirits are praising. You are the Lord of grace. We look to You for the meeting tonight. May You visit every one of us. We praise You that whenever You gather us together into Your name, You speak to us and give grace to us. Speak to us again tonight, and be gracious to us again. May everyone receive the portion reserved for him, and may everyone touch You and gain You. May You speak in our speaking and visit every one of us in our speaking. May You even glorify Your own name and bind Your enemy, Satan. Lord, for the sake of Your testimony, Your church, and Your recovery in Korea today, grant us Your blessing in many ways so that You may gain the ground and have Your way in this land and so that this whole nation would be blessed. In Your mighty name we pray. Amen.
In this conference we have received the burden from the Lord to consider the matter of God’s economy. The word economy in Greek means “house law.” It refers to the household management or household administration and is understood to mean an administrative arrangement, a plan, an intention, or a proposal. From this wonderful term we can see that the God we believe in and whom we serve is a God of purpose, plan, move, and activity. He is full of matters related to His economy. Even before the foundation of the earth He in Christ made a plan and a decision, that is, an arrangement and a proposal. Hence, He has set forth an economy for the ages.
Superficially, it seems that the Old Testament is a record of stories of individuals, a history of the nation of Israel, plus some songs, proverbs, and prophecies. Although we cannot find the word economy there, yet God’s economy is there. When we come to the New Testament, especially when we come to the Epistles of the apostle Paul, the one who received the highest and the greatest revelation, we find that he repeatedly uses the term economy. In Ephesians 1 he says that God, according to His good pleasure, has an economy for the ages, which is to head up all things in Christ (vv. 9-10). In chapter 3 he tells us again that God is accomplishing this through the church. The church is the highest means whereby God heads up all things under the authority of Christ for the fulfillment of His economy (vv. 9-10; 1:10). The entire book of Ephesians shows us how God accomplishes His economy through the church by the Triune God working Himself into tripartite men whom He created so that He could be their life, life element, and life sphere to constitute them the church. Through the church God will head up all things in Christ. By the time we come to 1 Timothy 1, we see Paul telling his co-worker Timothy to remain in Ephesus to charge people not to teach things other than God’s economy (vv. 3-4). This shows us that any doctrine that causes the saints to deviate from the central lane and ultimate goal of God’s economy is a different teaching and is a deception of Satan. We need to emphasize God’s economy again and again so that it becomes the central lane and ultimate goal for our Christian life.
Our God is the one unique God. He is the Lord of all creation. For His economy, however, there is a distinction of three. He is the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. The Father, the Son, and the Spirit are the three persons, or three hypostases, of the one God. The Father is the source, the Son is the expression, and the Spirit is the entering in. In eternity past He was the Father, hidden in light, unapproachable by man, being invisible and untouchable. One day, in time, He put on human flesh and came among men, manifesting Himself visibly before men. This is the Son, who was called Jesus. When He came, He did not come by Himself, leaving the Father behind. Rather, He came from the Father and with the Father. While He was living and moving on earth, the Holy Father was with Him, and the Holy Spirit was leading Him in everything. Hence, the whole Triune God was in Jesus. When man sees Jesus, he sees the Son; he who has the Son has the Father; and he who has the Father has the Spirit. This shows us that the Father is the source and that the Son is the expression. Then the Son went to the cross to die there. After that He entered into resurrection, and the Spirit was manifested. Therefore, the Spirit is the realization of the Son and is also the entering in of the Son. This Spirit enters into all those who believe in the Lord and becomes their life, their life supply, and their everything. In this way the Triune God is joined to man and even mingles with man. This is the story on God’s side. Our God is triune.
On man’s side, we are also of three parts. Outwardly, we have a body. Inside the body we have the soul. Within the soul is the spirit. Hence, Paul says in 1 Thessalonians that God wants to sanctify our whole spirit, soul, and body (5:23). Although we are small, we are not simple. Within this small man there are a lot of levels. Outwardly, we have a visible form. Within this form there is a soul, which is our personality, the seat of our self. In the depth of our being, there is still one more part, which is our spirit. The spirit is for us to worship God and to contact God. If we exercise our mind, we will not find God. But if we would forget our thoughts and would exercise our spirit to call “O Lord Jesus” a few times, we will touch God in the depth of our being and will feel that God has touched us. This proves that our spirit within us wants God. It also proves that God is real, true, and living. If you call any other name, such as that of Confucius or Washington, you will not have any feeling, even if you call a hundred times. This is because they are all dead and buried. But if you call “O Lord Jesus” in any language, whether it be English, Korean, or Chinese, you will have a certain feeling within. Perhaps you will feel that you have wronged Him. Perhaps you will want to praise Him, or perhaps you will want to tell others how good Jesus is. This proves that Jesus is the living God, and He is living within you. I believe that all of us who have believed in the Lord Jesus have had this kind of experience.
Hence, we have to see that the God revealed in the Bible is the Triune God. He is the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. We also are of three parts. The Triune God desires to work Himself into the tripartite man. First, He enters into our spirit to regenerate us. Next, He wants to increase His territory within us. He desires to expand from our spirit to our mind, emotion, and will. This requires that we hand ourselves completely over to Him. We have to surrender to Him our mind, thoughts, emotion, love, and decisions. In this matter we always have our reservations, and we are always debating and bargaining with the Lord. The Lord is not satisfied with gaining our spirit only. He wants to go one step further to gain our soul.
What is sanctification? To be sanctified is to have the Lord Jesus gain our inward parts step by step. When the Lord gains our mind, our mind is sanctified. When He gains our emotion, our emotion is sanctified. This is the renewing and transforming mentioned in the New Testament. Our spirit is sanctified already, but our soul must be transformed. Now the Lord is transforming us every day until the day He comes, when He will transfigure our body. By then even our body will be sanctified, and He will gain our entire tripartite being. Our spirit, soul, and body will all be occupied and saturated by Him, and He will be fully manifested from within us. This is the basic thought of God’s economy.
God’s economy is the Triune God working Himself bit by bit into us, the tripartite men. The revelation of the New Testament shows us that the Lord Jesus, who saved us, is the embodiment of the Triune God. He desires to work the Triune God — the Father, the Son, and the Spirit — into us. Therefore, we the believers have the Father in us, the Son in us, and the Spirit in us. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 13:14, “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” The Triune God — the Father, the Son, and the Spirit — is enjoyed by us here. How mysterious! Our God is not one but three. But though He is three, yet He is still one. Our human mind can never understand this. We can only acknowledge it as such. The entire Triune God is here; the love of the Father is here, the grace of the Son is here, and the fellowship of the Spirit is also here.
This is not all. On our side, we are not of one part only. Rather, we are of three parts. We have a spirit, a soul, and a body. The Triune God is not just in our spirit; He is spreading out from our spirit. The question is whether or not we would allow Him to spread. Are we willing to be subject to Him and to give Him all the ground? When we give Him all the ground, He will gain us completely to be His living members, coordinating with all the members to become His Body. This is God’s economy. The whole Bible is a record of this. In the Old Testament it is revealed in types. In the New Testament it is unfolded in revelation.
In this chapter we will first look at God’s economy in the types of the Old Testament. If we read the Old Testament carefully, we will see that it is roughly divided into two sections. The first section is a history of nine persons. The second section is a history of the nation of Israel. Both the history of the nine persons and the history of the nation of Israel are types and pictures. They both describe the same thing — God’s economy.
We will first consider the first section of the Old Testament, which is the story of nine persons recorded in the fifty chapters of the book of Genesis. The first five persons of these nine form one group — Adam, Abel, Enosh, Enoch, and Noah. The last four form another group — Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph. The first group shows us how God works Himself into the sinner. The last group shows us how this man into whom God has worked Himself experiences Him as the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. In the end the sinner becomes Israel, who is the prince of God, ruling for God and dispensing His riches into men.
Among these nine persons, the first is Adam. Adam is a type in two aspects. After his creation and before his fall, he is a type of Christ as the embodiment of God. Adam was created by God according to His own image for the purpose of expressing Him. God also entrusted him with the authority to rule over all things to represent Him. Hence, the created Adam is a type of Christ expressing God and ruling for God as the Head.
God took a rib from Adam to form a woman (2:22) who was Eve, his wife. Eve is a type of the church as the expression of Christ. As Eve was from Adam, so the church is from Christ. This picture shows us the desire of God in His economy. God is the unique Male in the universe. He needs a counterpart (v. 18), which is the created man, redeemed and regenerated by Christ, transformed, and built together to become the church. This is why at the end of the Bible we see the Spirit and the bride speaking as one in Revelation 22:17. The Spirit is the ultimate expression of the Triune God. He is the processed Triune God. He has a bride, which means that He is married to the created, redeemed, regenerated, transformed, and glorified tripartite man. This matter was mentioned by John the Baptist in John 3: “He who has the bride is the bridegroom” (v. 29). The Bridegroom is the Lord Jesus, and the bride is the church. Ephesians 5 also says that as Adam and Eve were made husband and wife, so Christ and the church are made one Body (vv. 30-32). When we come to Revelation 19, we see that the marriage of the Lamb has come (v. 7). Chapter 21 says that the holy city, New Jerusalem, comes down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband (v. 2). The New Jerusalem is on the one hand the dwelling place of God and on the other hand the bride of the Lamb. The Lamb is the embodiment of the Triune God, and the Lamb’s bride is a composition of the redeemed ones throughout the ages. In eternity future the Triune God will become one Body with His redeemed tripartite man. The two will become one universal couple. This is the goal of God’s economy.
Not long after Adam was created, he fell and became the first sinner. He is, therefore, a type of the sinner. On the side of creation, he represents Christ. On the side of the fall, he represents us, the sinners. From Adam, the fallen one, to Noah, the one working together with God, we have a type of the fallen sinner becoming a saint working together with God. We were all Adam, fallen sinners. But God has saved us and has made us step by step to be Noah, working together with God and building an ark for Him.
When Adam sinned, he knew that he was naked and had nowhere to hide himself (Gen. 3:7-8). God gave him the skin of a sacrifice for coats (v. 21) to be his covering. This typifies that we, the descendants of Adam and the fallen sinners, are all naked and are not able to stand before God. But the Lord Jesus has become the Lamb of God (John 1:29), having been slain for us and having shed His blood to redeem us from our sins. Moreover, He gave Himself to us to be our righteous covering. Hence, we who have believed and are baptized into Christ have put on Christ (Gal. 3:27) and are able to stand before God.
After Adam we have Abel. Genesis 4:4 says that Abel offered up a lamb as a sacrifice for God’s acceptance. This typifies that we, the saved ones who have put on Christ, live daily in Christ to live Him out so that we would become the righteousness of God (2 Cor. 5:21). When we offer up this Christ whom we live out as a sacrifice to God for His satisfaction, we are accepted by God in Him.
The third person is Enosh. The meaning of his name is “the frail one.” He called on the name of Jehovah. This is a type of the frail believer calling on the name of the Lord to enjoy Him as his portion. After we are saved, we put on Christ as our righteousness before God and learn to live in Him to live Him out. But many times we feel that we are weak and not able to overcome our own weaknesses. The only way is to call “O Lord Jesus!” By calling on His name, we overcome to enjoy the riches of the Lord.
The fourth person is Enoch, the one pursuing after God and walking with God. He is a type of the believer who pursues after the Lord and who lives and moves together with the Lord. When you are about to lose your temper or show a long face, you can experience victory, walk with the Lord, and live together with Him by calling on the name of the Lord. In this way you are changed from an “Enosh” to an “Enoch,” from a weak believer to one who walks with the Lord.
The fifth person is Noah. Noah worked with God to build the ark. This is one step further from Enoch’s walking with God. First, the fallen sinner Adam puts on Christ, being acceptable to God to become Abel. Then through his weakness he becomes Enosh, who calls on the Lord all the time. As a further step, he becomes Enoch, who walks with God. As a result, he becomes Noah, who works together with God, building the ark every day, not only for the salvation of others but to save himself as well. Philippians 2:12 says to “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” Today we all have to be in fear and trembling, walking with God and working together with Him to build our own ark so that we can save not only others but also ourselves from the judgment of God and the corrupted age into a new age. In this new age we live before God to offer up the burnt offering for God’s satisfaction.
Adam, Abel, Enosh, Enoch, and Noah form the first group of five people. Their history is a picture of every believer. We are sinners saved by God to the extent that we become those who work together with God.
After Noah there are four more persons — Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob with Joseph. They form one group. They typify the called believer’s threefold experience of the Triune God, from his selection to his reigning.
If we have the experience of the first group of five people, we will surely experience God the Father in the way of Abraham’s experience. Abraham was one called by God and justified by faith, who lived by faith and lived in fellowship with God. This is a type of the believer experiencing the calling and justification of God the Father and by faith living a life of fellowshipping with Him. Our experience of the Triune God is similar to that experienced by Abraham. God the Father first called us. Then we walk by Him, living by faith and living in fellowship with Him.
After we have the experience of Abraham, we enjoy all the riches of the Father deposited in the Son. This is the experience of Isaac. Isaac by faith inherited all the promised blessings. This is a type of a believer who lives in fellowship with God receiving the inheritance of all the grace in God the Son for his enjoyment in satisfaction and rest. Abraham left everything to Isaac. We who belong to Christ are the descendants of Abraham. We also have received an inheritance according to the promise for our enjoyment in satisfaction and rest.
After we experience the riches of the Son, God the Spirit will lead us to experience Jacob’s portion. Jacob was chosen by God to experience trials to become the Israel of God, bringing God’s blessing to everyone. This is a type of the believer chosen by God who enjoys the love of God the Father and the grace of God the Son and experiences the transformation of God the Spirit through trials in his environment to become a mature man to bestow God’s blessings to others. When we who are in Christ enjoy His riches, the Spirit will lead us to pass through all kinds of trials in our environment to be transformed by the Spirit to become Israel, the prince of God.
Joseph in experience forms a part of Jacob. He reigned in Egypt for God, dispensing all the rich food to the whole world. This is a type of the transformed, overcoming, and mature believer reigning for the Lord, dispensing the riches of God in Christ to everyone.
Hence, from the experience of the first group of five people, we go on to experience the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. In the end we all become Israel, the prince of God, reigning for God and dispensing the riches of God in Christ to everyone. This is what the second group of four people typifies. The experiences of these nine people tell us how God accomplishes His economy in us, the believers. Today, although every one of us is different in our spiritual experience — some being higher, and others being lower — we have to look to God’s mercy that we would go on and advance further and further in the process of God’s economy.
