In the first two chapters, we saw the vision concerning the Divine Trinity and the vision concerning the economy of the Divine Trinity. In this chapter we want to see the vision concerning the dispensing of the Divine Trinity. The dispensing of the Divine Trinity is included in His economy. God's economy is His household administration. In ancient times a large family of perhaps a few generations would live together. Such a large family was in need of an administration, an arrangement, for the food to be dispensed to them. In the Old Testament, Joseph is a good example of a household administrator, a steward. He was the administrator of Pharaoh's house. The supply of food was under Joseph's stewardship. His stewardship was to dispense the food to all those in Pharaoh's house.
We must see the distinction between the terms dispensation and dispensing. God's dispensation, His economy, is His plan to dispense Himself as the rich supply to all of His chosen people. In God's dispensation, God intends to dispense Himself into His people. Dispensing is imparting, distributing, and giving. God is giving Himself, imparting Himself, distributing Himself, dispensing Himself, into His people for their enjoyment. This dispensing is of the Triune God—of the Father, of the Son, and of the Spirit.
The dispensing of the Triune God can first be seen in John 1:14 and 16. These verses tell us that the Word [the Triune God] became flesh and tabernacled among us, full of grace and reality, and that of His fullness we all received, and grace upon grace. What was the purpose of the Triune God becoming flesh and tabernacling among us? It is correct to say that the Triune God became incarnated to be our Savior, but this is too superficial. We need to realize that John 1:14 is like a big ocean. It's significance is deep, broad, and beyond our natural understanding. This verse is also like a deep mine full of treasures.
John 1:14 says that the incarnated Triune God was full of grace and reality. Many Christians do not have a proper realization of what grace and reality are. Grace is God Himself for our enjoyment. A line from Hymns, #497 says, "Grace in its highest definition is God in the Son to be enjoyed by us." Grace is God being enjoyed by us, and reality is God being realized by us. Grace is God for our enjoyment, and reality is God for our possession. Nothing is real in the universe except God. The real light is our God. Our real drink is God. Our food is God. God is the reality. The phrase "full of grace and reality" in verse 14 indicates that the incarnation is for God to come to dispense Himself into us as our enjoyment and as our possession. We need to see such a great vision. The incarnation of the Divine Trinity is for the dispensing of Himself into us for our enjoyment and for our inheritance. In His dispensing we enjoy Him and inherit Him as our possession, as our reality.
Revelation 21 and 22 reveal that in the New Jerusalem in eternity future, God will be our unique reality. The city has no need of the sun or of the moon because God Himself is the light and Christ is the lamp (21:23; 22:5). The light in the universe will not be something made by man but will be God Himself. God is the reality of light, and He is our possession, our inheritance. In the New Jerusalem there is also the river of water of life (22:1). This river is a symbol of the Spirit as the supply of the divine and spiritual water to meet our need. Our food in the New Jerusalem will be the fruit of the tree of life (22:2). Thus, in the New Jerusalem, the light is God Himself, the water is God Himself, and the food is God Himself. He is the reality of these necessities. God came in incarnation with all these riches of grace and reality. We enjoy and inherit Him as such a rich supply.