THE DIVINE ECONOMY
The Arrangement of the Eternal Plan
of God’s Household Administration
The Mystery of God’s Will,
a Mystery Which from the Ages
Has Been Hidden in God, Who Created All Things
The divine economy is the arrangement of the eternal plan of God’s household administration (Eph. 1:9-10; 3:9-11; 1 Tim. 1:3-4). The divine economy is the mystery of God’s will, a mystery which from the ages has been hidden in God, who created all things (Eph. 1:9; 3:9). It was a mystery because it was not unveiled to any human being in past ages. Adam and Abraham were never told about God’s economy. It was hidden in God; therefore, it was a hidden mystery. Men could see the creation, but they could not understand the purpose of the creation. Today this mystery has been unveiled to us.
According to God’s Eternal Purpose Made in Christ
to Head Up All Things in Christ
The divine economy is according to God’s eternal purpose (Eph. 3:11) which He made in Christ to head up all things in Christ (1:10). Today we still cannot see all things headed up in Christ, but we do see this heading up on a small scale. God is heading up the believers of Christ. God’s intention is to head up all Christians in Christ to be one. Satan’s intention, however, is to divide. Any division, regardless of the reason, must be condemned because division is against God’s heading up of all things in Christ.
To Have a Church to Be the Body of Christ
as His Fullness for a Corporate Expression
of the Processed Triune God
God desires to have a church to be the Body of Christ as His fullness for a corporate expression of the processed Triune God (Eph. 1:23; 3:19b). This is not just a congregation composed of a number of believers. The Body of Christ is an organic Body of a great person—Christ. In order for Christ to have such a Body, He must dispense Himself into His chosen and redeemed people.
(The Divine Dispensing for the Divine Economy, Chapter 1, by Witness Lee)
