XIX. THE GOD FOR THE ETERNAL ECONOMY
As a whole, the God of Abraham is the God of speaking in appearing, with calling, in a vision, and in the human friendship, to unveil to His intimate friend on the earth what He aspired for him to be and what He wanted him to do according to His heart’s desire for the accomplishment of the eternal economy for the Divine Trinity. What God did was in His friendship with a human friend, but this was for the accomplishment of God’s economy. This is because God wanted this friend to have a seed and that seed is Christ, who is the centrality and universality of God’s eternal economy. Thus, in the life of Abraham we see the beginning, the foundation, of the accomplishment of God’s eternal economy. For the accomplishment of His economy, God dealt with Abraham in the way of human friendship.
XX. THE GOD OF THE NEW TESTAMENT BELIEVERS
AND THE GOD OF JESUS CHRIST
The way God worked on Abraham is the way He works on the believers in the New Testament. The first one justified by faith was Abraham (Gen. 15:6). Paul said that Abraham is the father of all those who are justified by faith, so Abraham is the father of all the New Testament believers (Gal. 3:6-7). Our father’s God should be our God.
On the morning of His resurrection the Lord Jesus told His disciples that He was ascending to His Father and our Father and to His God and our God (John 20:17). Thus, the God of Abraham and the God of Jesus Christ (Eph. 1:17a) both are the God of the New Testament believers. In the relationship between God and us, the Bible puts us on the same standing not only as Abraham but also as Jesus Christ. O, what a wonder! Since we are the sons of Abraham in Christ (Gal. 3:29), his God is our God, and since we are one with Christ (Gal. 3:27), His God is also our God. To explain this fully, the entire New Testament from Matthew 1 to Revelation 22 is needed.
The God of Abraham is the God of crucifixion, signified by circumcision, and the God of resurrection for the new birth of God’s elect by God’s grace. Hence, this God is the God of His New Testament with His New Testament blessing for His New Testament economy. Today we are enjoying the New Testament blessing in Christ. Faith in Christ brings us into the blessing that God promised to Abraham, which is the promise of the all-inclusive Spirit, who has the bountiful supply (Phil. 1:19), as the New Testament blessing (Gal. 3:9, 14). We can never forget that, as the seed of Abraham, we have his God as our God, in whom we participate for our divine enjoyment, nor can we disregard that, as the members of Christ, we have His God as our God, who is our eternal portion in His eternal life.
(The History of God in His Union With Man, Chapter 7, by Witness Lee)
