The Triune God is dispensed and wrought into us in the Body, the fullness of the all-filling Christ, that we may be His full expression (v. 23). The result of the sixth item is the producing of the Body of Christ. This Body, being the fullness of the all-filling Christ, is the expression of the Triune God to the fullest extent. This is the ultimate consummation of God’s dispensation according to His divine economy.
Let us review the seven points in chapter one which prove that God is being dispensed and wrought into us. The first point concerns holiness. The only way we can be holy is for God to be wrought into us. When God selected us, His intention was not that we wear a certain style of clothing or comb our hair in a particular way. We need to cast aside that concept of holiness. Holiness is God Himself wrought into us. We need to take care of the dispensing of God into us. The kind of clothes we wear should depend on Him. He is living, real, and sensitive. To be saturated with Him is to be holy.
Likewise, the way to become sons of God is not by improving ourselves nor correcting ourselves. Concerning this, teachings and regulations are of no avail. The only thing that works is having the Son of God dispensed into us and wrought into our being.
The same is true of the redemption of our bodies. Eventually, we shall be fully redeemed by having God saturate us. This redemption is not the redemption by the blood; it is the redemption of our bodies through the saturation of God. Romans 8 says that this redemption is the full sonship, the completion of sonship. This means that the redemption of our bodies is the final step in the process of “sonizing.” God is now “sonizing” us by saturating us with Himself. At the time of the redemption of our bodies, this work of “sonizing” will be completed.
The hope of glory is also related to the Triune God dispensed into us and wrought into our being. According to the commonly-accepted Christian teaching, we shall one day suddenly find ourselves transported into a realm of glory. However, the only way we can be glorified is to be saturated with God day by day. The burden of my ministry is for you to be saturated with the Triune God. I long for the Triune God to be dispensed into you and for you to be saturated with Him. This saturation lasts forever; it cannot be eradicated. The glory comes from this saturation. Hence, the Christian life is a life of being saturated with the Triune God. Eventually, through this saturation, we shall be glorified.
The divine power that is transmitted into us saturates us with the Triune God. We have seen that this power is to the church, toward us who believe. The Greek word translated “toward” in verse 19 may also be rendered “into.” Thus, the divine power is into us who believe. This conveys the idea of saturation. Every part and area of our being is to be saturated with the divine power. This is what the Lord is doing in His recovery today.
On the day we repented, the divine power was installed in us. Now it is no longer merely the power from on high; it is the power within us. When we open ourselves, this power comes into function to saturate us with the divine essence transmitted into us from the heavens. Today this transmission is moving within us like the blood that circulates throughout our body. Because we are not always open or because we may have problems in our conscience, mind, emotion, or will, the transmission may temporarily be restricted. If we would experience a continual transmission, we need to repent, confess, and make a clearance of all hindrances. Then the transmission will be restored and will continue to saturate our being.
It is in the dispensing of the Triune God into us and His working of Himself into our being that we are the church. Now we can understand why the church is mentioned at the end of chapter one. The church is not produced by forming the saints into an organization. On the contrary, the church is produced by the transmission from the ascended Christ. The church produced in this way is the Body. The so-called churches are not the Body. They are not an organism; rather they are somewhat like an artificial body, an organization. The church is the organism that comes out of the transmission of the all-inclusive Christ. This church, the Body of Christ, is the fullness of the One who fills all in all.
What a great matter it is to see that chapter one of Ephesians issues in the Body! The church as the Body of Christ is produced by God’s well-speaking, and the basic factor of this well-speaking is that the divine life is dispensed into us and wrought into our being. The church is the issue of God’s well-speaking, the basic factor of which is the Triune God dispensed and wrought into us. God’s dispensation began in eternity past; passed through creation, incarnation, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension; and now reaches His chosen ones to make them His holy people, the sons of God, the sealed ones, and the Body as the fullness of Christ.
The Body comes from the transmission of the all-inclusive Christ. This transmission is the sum total of God’s well-speaking. To enjoy the transmission we need a sober mind, a fervent emotion, a submissive will, and a pure conscience. Through the experience of this transmission, we become the Body. What we need today is more of this all-inclusive transmission. Hallelujah, the Triune God is being transmitted into us! Therefore, we do not have mere teachings—we have dispensation, transmission, and saturation. This is the basic concept in Ephesians 1.