In Ephesians 1:10 and 3:9 the word oikonomia is used for household administration, which is God’s plan to dispense Himself into His chosen people. In Ephesians 3:2, Colossians 1:25 and 1 Corinthians 9:17 the same word refers to Paul’s stewardship. The word stewardship is used in the sense of dispensing. Paul’s stewardship was the dispensing of the unsearchable riches of Christ into God’s chosen people. With Paul the word stewardship refers to the divine dispensing.
The word steward is used in 1 Peter 4:10, which says that we all need to be good stewards, dispensing the varied grace of God. The varied grace of the rich God needs many stewards to dispense it; this dispensing is their stewardship.
What I am doing in the ministry is to dispense the riches of Christ. If you tell me I am a good Bible teacher, I appreciate your word, but I do not like to hear it. Do not consider me a teacher! I am a dispenser! I am not merely teaching the Bible; I am dispensing. I once went to get a flu shot. There was a long line of people, and all of us had to offer our arm so that we could get the shot. In my ministry I want to give people a shot, an injection, of the riches of Christ! I have the full assurance that whoever comes to this ministry will get such an injection!
Our stewardship today is the same as Paul’s. Paul’s stewardship was simply to give people an injection: that is, to distribute, to dispense, the unsearchable riches of Christ into God’s chosen people. This is God’s economy, His plan, His administration.
God had a good pleasure, and according to His good pleasure He made a plan. Following this, He arranged a universal administration of His household to dispense His riches into His chosen people. Then He selected us, not only before we were created, but also before the foundation of the world (Eph. 1:4; 1 Pet. 1:1-2). Nothing of His creation had yet come into existence when He selected us.
It is difficult to buy things in a shopping center because there are so many things to choose from. People do not buy blindly; they consider and choose carefully what they will buy. In eternity past, before His creation, God saw you and said, “I like that one.” Without being selected, I do not believe I could have become a Christian. Even though I was born into Christianity, I was not a Christian until I was nineteen years of age. I was educated within Christianity, but I still did not believe. However, one day God touched me and said, “I want you.” That day I was caught. How about you? Behind the scenes there is an eternal and almighty hand directing everything. Our selection is a wonderful thing.
Our heavenly Father is happy when He sees us. We are His heart’s desire, His good pleasure. God’s pleasure is not with the moon, the sun, the heavens, or the earth. He tells us clearly in His Word that He is not satisfied merely with the earth and the heavens. What satisfies Him is His chosen people. We are His good pleasure, and His plan was made for us.