The Progressive Unveiling of God's Dispensation in the Bible
Ephesians 1:10
Unto the economy of the fullness of the times, to head up all things in Christ, the things in the heavens and the things on the earth, in Him;
After the fall of man, God's dispensation came in, beginning on a very small scale. With Abel we cannot see much of the dispensation of God as the life supply to His chosen people. With Enoch, however, there is a slight implication of such a dispensation, but it is not very clear. When we come to Noah, we can see the dispensation of God as the life supply on a very small scale. Then in the lives of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob we see a certain amount of God's dispensation. Furthermore, with Moses and the tabernacle there was an administration, a household arrangement, an intimate stewardship. This is clearly seen with Moses, Aaron, and the priests with the Levitical service. Coming to the New Testament, we have the dispensation of life with the Lord Jesus. What a sweet, intimate stewardship there was with Him! Throughout His ministry, He was dispensing God as the life supply to His chosen ones. This intimate stewardship is continued with the Apostles, especially with the Apostle Paul, who had the stewardship of the grace of God. In his ministry Paul was constantly dispensing Christ as life into the believers. Paul's ministry was a sweet and intimate stewardship, a pleasant household arrangement. Paul even taught Timothy how to behave in the house of God (1 Tim. 3:15). The way to behave in God's house is to have the household arrangement, an intimate stewardship, and to dispense Christ to all the members of God's household. It is not by controlling or even by a governmental administration; it is by a sweet dispensation, an intimate stewardship, a very dear household arrangement.
Life-Study of Ephesians,87-88, by Witness Lee.
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