The second step God took in working out His economy was predestination. Ephesians 1:5 says, “Having predestinated us unto sonship through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will.” The Greek word rendered predestinated can also be translated “marked out beforehand.” Marking out beforehand is the process, while predestination is the purpose to determine a destiny beforehand. God firstly selected us and then marked us out beforehand, that is, before the foundation of the world, unto a certain destiny. This destiny is sonship. We were predestinated to be sons of God even before we were created. Hence, as God’s creatures we need to be regenerated by Him that we may participate in His life to be His sons. Sonship implies not only the life, but also the position of the son. God’s marked-out ones have the life to be His sons and the position to inherit God Himself.
We all need to have the realization that we have been marked out by God for the accomplishment of His economy. Because God has put His mark on us, we cannot run away from Him. We were marked out by God before we were born, even before the foundation of the world. Since we have been pre-marked, we have no choice except to give ourselves to the Lord for His recovery and even to be beside ourselves for the church life.
Other human beings cannot see God’s mark on us, but all the beings in the spiritual world can see it. The angels, the demons, and Satan himself know that we have been marked out by God.
This mark is not merely outward, but something very inward. Because of this inward mark, we have no peace unless we give ourselves to the church life. We are a selected and marked-out people. This was accomplished by God in eternity past.
In 1:7 Paul speaks of redemption through the blood of Christ. We were chosen and predestinated. But after creation we became fallen. Hence, we need redemption, which God has accomplished for us in Christ through His blood. Redemption is the third step God took in carrying out His economy.
Redemption is not only for our personal and individual salvation; it is for the church. In fact, God did not redeem us individually; He redeemed us corporately. This means that He redeemed His chosen church. Therefore, selection, predestination, and redemption are all for the church.
The fourth step, closely related to redemption, is God’s salvation. When Paul speaks of salvation in 2:5 and 8, he speaks of a corporate salvation. We have been saved not as individuals, but as a corporate entity. Consider the type of the children of Israel in the Old Testament. They were not saved from the tyranny of the Egyptians one by one. On the contrary, the entire nation of Israel was saved at the same time. Yes, each of the children of Israel had an individual experience of this salvation, but they were saved corporately, all at the same time. This indicates that God’s salvation is not for individuals, but for the church.
In chapter five Paul deals with sanctification, another step in the carrying out of God’s economy concerning Christ with the church. Although we have been redeemed, we are still in the process of sanctification. This process involves a change both of our position and of our disposition. As this change takes place, we are transformed.
Still another step in the carrying out of God’s economy is growth. We need to grow up into Christ, the Head, in all things until we arrive at a full-grown man (4:15, 13). I can testify that many who have been with us for some years have truly grown in the Lord. I praise Him that the saints are growing. This growth is for the accomplishment of God’s economy.
Along with the growth, we have the building up. In 2:22 Paul says that we are being built together into a dwelling place of God in spirit. In 4:12 he speaks of the building up of the Body of Christ, and in 4:16 he indicates that, according to the operation in the measure of each part, the Body grows and builds itself up in love.
We have been selected, predestinated, redeemed, and saved. Now we are being sanctified and are gradually growing in Christ. As we grow, we are being built up as the Body of Christ. These are the steps God takes in carrying out His economy.
God’s economy is revealed not only in Ephesians, but also in chapter fifteen of John. This chapter is the unique chapter in the Gospels revealing God’s economy. John 15:1 says, “I am the true vine, and My Father is the husbandman,” and in verse 5 the Lord says, “I am the vine, you are the branches.” This true vine, which is the Son, with its branches, which are the believers in the Son, is the organism of the Triune God in God’s economy to grow with His riches and to express His divine life. The Father as the husbandman is the source, the author, the planner, the planter, the life, the substance, the soil, the water, the air, the sunshine, and everything to the vine. The Son as the vine is the center of God’s economy and the embodiment of all the riches of the Father. The Father, by cultivating the Son, works Himself with all His riches into the vine. Eventually, the vine expresses the Father through its branches in a corporate way. This is the Father’s economy in the universe.
God’s economy is the vine with the branches, Christ with the church. God’s intention is to care for this vine and the branches until we grow to maturity. Regarding His economy, may God bless us and grant us a clear vision.