CHRIST BEING IN US AS OUR LIFE
The all-inclusive Christ, the very Christ who is all and in all, is our life (Col. 3:4). Today He is in us, for He cannot be our life without being in us. Some say that Christ is only in the heavens, yet they also say that Christ is their life. How can this be? How could Christ be our life when He is only in the heavens and we are on the earth? This would mean that our life is in the heavens far away from us. This so-called systematic theology is too systematic. Praise the Lord, the Christ who is our life is not only in the heavens! He is also in us, and He is one with us, as 1 Corinthians 6:17 says: “But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit.”
THE ECONOMY OF THE MYSTERY
Ephesians 3:8 and 9 says, “To me, less than the least of all saints, was this grace given to announce to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ as the gospel and to enlighten all that they may see what the economy of the mystery is, which throughout the ages has been hidden in God, who created all things.” The economy of the mystery in verse 9 is the dispensing of the unsearchable riches of Christ in verse 8.
The Steps of God’s Economy
Creation
For God to dispense His unsearchable riches is not an easy or simple thing. God’s economy is not first a matter of preaching the gospel. The first matter in God’s economy is creation. In creation God brought all things, especially man, into being. In order for Christ to be dispensed into us, we first needed to be created. If we were never created, how could Christ be dispensed into us? Thank God for His creation! Creation is the first step of God’s economy.
Incarnation
After creation, the next step in God’s economy is incarnation. Creation is to bring man into existence, while incarnation is to bring God into man, into His creation. Before incarnation, God was God and man was man; these two were separate. Through incarnation, however, God came into man. The issue was a man named Jesus, who was not only man but also God. He is man and God, God with man; therefore, His name is Emmanuel, which means God with us (Matt. 1:23).
Crucifixion
Incarnation brought God into man, but God’s economy was still not complete. After incarnation comes crucifixion. Creation brought us into being, incarnation brought God into us, and crucifixion terminates us. First, Christ brought God into us, then in crucifixion, He brought us to the cross and terminated us (Gal. 2:20; Rom. 6:6).
Resurrection
The next step is resurrection. Resurrection is to bring us into God. Incarnation brings God into us, and resurrection brings us into God. These steps of creation, incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection are the economy of the mystery. Today this economy is still a mystery to many people, but today we know this economy, this dispensation, of such a wonderful Christ.
(Enjoying the Riches of Christ for the Building Up of the Church as the Body of Christ, Chapter 2, by Witness Lee)
