Many Christians think that the book of Romans is deeper than the books of 1 and 2 Corinthians. In a sense, Romans is deeper than 1 and 2 Corinthians. But as far as the church life is concerned, these two Epistles are deeper than Romans, for they are more practical. Of the fourteen Epistles of Paul, the most practical Epistles are the books of 1 and 2 Corinthians.
Whenever we touch the practical aspect of the church life, we have trouble. If we stay in the realm of doctrine or if we approach the church in a theoretical way, everything may seem to be fine. But when we come to the practicality of the church, we face difficulties. In 1 and 2 Corinthians there are many troubles, but Paul gives us the remedy for all these troubles. For this reason, in these books the depths of God are revealed in a practical way.
In these messages on 1 and 2 Corinthians we shall consider the divine dispensing of the Divine Trinity. I believe that the expression “divine dispensing” was originated by us. The divine dispensing certainly is not a matter of doctrine; on the contrary, the divine dispensing is a matter of the depths of God realized in a practical way.
As the title of this message indicates, according to 1 Corinthians, the divine dispensing of the Divine Trinity issues in the practical life of a local church and in a local church. Therefore, as we consider the divine dispensing of the Divine Trinity in this Epistle, we come to something very practical, and this practical matter is the life of a local church.
In Ephesians 2:10 Paul says, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God before prepared that we should walk in them.” The Greek word for “workmanship” here is poiema, which can also be translated masterpiece. This Greek word means something which has been made, a handiwork, or something which has been written or composed as a poem. Not only poetic writing, but also any work of art that expresses the maker’s wisdom and design is a poem. We, the church, the masterpiece of God’s work, are also a poem, expressing God’s infinite wisdom and divine design.
As a poem written, composed, by God, the church is God’s masterpiece created in Christ Jesus. To create is to call something not being as being; that is, to create is to call something into existence. Anything that is created is altogether new. Because the church has been created in Christ Jesus, the church is a new creation. We, the church, as the masterpiece of God’s work, are an absolutely new item in the universe, an item freshly brought forth by God. We have been created by God in Christ through regeneration to be His new creation (2 Cor. 5:17).
Since the church is a new creation, we are not the church when we live in our old nature or by the old creation. The church is something absolutely new, something created of God by His Spirit in Christ. Therefore, the Trinity—God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit—is involved in the producing of the church. Actually, the church is produced through the dispensing of the Divine Trinity. This means that the church is a new creation produced through the divine dispensing of the Divine Trinity. Because the church is of God, by the Spirit, and in Christ, it is God’s masterpiece, His poem.
What are the letters with which the church as God’s poem is composed? What is the alphabet used in writing this poem? In the last book of the New Testament, the book of Revelation, we see that the Triune God is Himself this alphabet. Revelation 1:8 says, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, says the Lord God, He who is, and who was, and who is coming, the Almighty.” Alpha is the first letter of the Greek alphabet, and Omega is the last letter. Not only is God the first and last letter of the alphabet; He is also the other letters, all the letters between Alpha and Omega. Therefore, He is the letters used to make up the words that compose this poem. Just as all poetry is composed of words written with letters of the alphabet, so the church as God’s poem is composed of God Himself as the letters.
We have seen that in Revelation 1:8 the Lord God declares that He is the Alpha and the Omega. But in Revelation 22:13 the Lord Jesus says, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the beginning and the end.” Does this mean that there are two sets of letters, one related to God and the other to the Lord Jesus? No, these verses indicate that God and the Lord Jesus are one. In the first chapter of Revelation God declares that He is the Alpha and the Omega, and then in the last chapter of Revelation the Lord Jesus makes the same declaration concerning Himself. This indicates that the entire Godhead is the divine alphabet. Our Triune God is the whole alphabet: the Alpha, the Beta, the Gamma, the Delta, and all the letters through Omega. Actually, the New Testament is not composed of the letters of the Greek alphabet. The entire New Testament is composed of the letters in the divine and heavenly alphabet, letters which are actually the Triune God Himself.
I can testify that for more than sixty years I have been learning to compose something with the Triune God as letters. I have become accustomed to using these heavenly letters. I would encourage all of you to learn to write with these letters, realizing that the New Testament actually is composed of God Himself. The Triune God is every letter of the alphabet used in writing the New Testament.
Some readers may be wondering what it means to compose something with the Triune God as the letters of the alphabet. Perhaps I may use as an illustration a recent experience in ministering the Word of God. Not long ago I gave some messages on the basic revelation in the holy Scriptures. In those messages I spoke concerning God’s plan, Christ’s redemption (including His incarnation, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension), the Spirit’s application, the believers, the church, the kingdom, and the New Jerusalem as the ultimate consummation. In giving all those messages I applied the Triune God as the letters of the spiritual alphabet. Every aspect of the church as God’s poem is composed with the Triune God as the alphabet.