In order to see what God’s economy is, we need to consider each instance in which the word economy is used in the New Testament. Economy in the New Testament does not mean what we understand by the modern usage of economy. The word economy in the New Testament is not a translation but an anglicized Greek word that means “stewardship.” In ancient times large, wealthy families had stewards to take care of the household affairs. Stewardship is the title of the service of a steward. The Greek word for economy also indicates an administration. In a large family the stewardship was an administration; the stewards administrated the affairs of the family. The Greek word also indicates the dispensing of certain things. All the supplies of a large family, such as food and clothing, were taken care of by the steward. Thus, there was the need of the dispensing of these supplies. The steward served the family by dispensing the necessities of life to the members of the family. Hence, the word economy means a stewardship as an administration to dispense the life necessities to the members of a household.
God has a large family, a great household, and He has a number of stewards. Paul wrote to the Ephesians, “If indeed you have heard of the stewardship of the grace of God which was given to me for you” (Eph. 3:2). Paul’s ministry, which was part of this stewardship, was to dispense Christ as the supply to all those in God’s house. God’s economy is simply the dispensing of Christ to all God’s chosen people as their life supply. In other words, God’s economy is simply to work Christ into God’s children. All the apostles, from Peter to Timothy, were stewards in this one stewardship, dispensing Christ to God’s children.
The entire New Testament was written to carry out God’s economy to dispense Christ as the life supply to the children of God. There are twenty-seven books from various writers, but these books do not teach differently. Apparently, the four Gospels are different from one another, but actually, they all teach Christ, only from different angles. This may be likened to taking four photos of one person from four different sides. Each photo will show different aspects of the person, but together they will give a complete picture of the person. The twenty-seven books in the New Testament teach different aspects of one person, Christ.
The New Testament deals uniquely with Christ. However, this one person is not simple. According to the sequence in the four Gospels, He is a king, a servant, a man, and God. Concerning who He is, we can list many different titles, such as Redeemer, Savior, Lord, Master, Creator, Shepherd, Bridegroom, and High Priest. Concerning what He is, He is the life, the light, the way, the truth, the door, the pasture, the water, the bread of life, and the Lamb of God. According to Colossians 2:16-17 every positive thing in the universe is a shadow of Christ. The light we see with our eyes is not the real light; the real light is Christ. The real air and the real food are Christ. The reality of every positive thing in the universe is Christ. Verse 16 tells us that Christ is the new moon, a light appearing in the darkest, blackest, most hopeless time. Christ is this new beginning in the midst of darkness. Whenever we are in a dark time, we should not be disappointed but realize that Christ is our bright new beginning at that very moment. Christ is also our feast, a time of special enjoyment. Also, Christ is the real Sabbath. In the new man, which is the Body of Christ, the church, Christ is all and in all (3:10-11). Because Christ is all in the new man, we all must be Christ. In the church there are no natural persons; we are all crucified (Gal. 2:20). In the church we are all constituted with Christ.
Paul’s exhortation in 1 Timothy 1:3-4 indicates that even in the first century there were different teachings; some were teaching things other than Christ. These different teachings included myths, which are different kinds of interesting stories. Young and old people alike all like to hear interesting stories. The stranger and more peculiar the story is, the more we like it. Besides myths, some also taught unending genealogies. Verse 7 indicates that there were teachers of the law. Colossians 2:8 reveals that there were also teachers of Greek philosophy, referring to Gnosticism.
While the apostle Paul was still on the earth, different teachings had already crept in. All the apostles from Peter to Timothy taught the same thing, God’s economy, which is to dispense Christ into the believers. Christ for the church is the unique topic of the New Testament. Anything else is a different teaching. However, even as early as the first century, other teachings crept in besides the one teaching concerning Christ for the church.