The saints in the Lord’s recovery should learn the truths concerning the essential and economical aspects of the Trinity. Essential refers to the constitution and the existence of God, which is God Himself. A person’s constitution and existence are himself. The essential aspect of the Trinity speaks of the person of the Triune God. The term economical refers to an intention, a plan, or an arrangement. Undoubtedly, this refers to God’s move, acts, and work. Whereas the essential aspect of the Trinity refers to God’s constitution, God’s existence, and God Himself, the economical aspect of the Trinity refers to God’s plan, God’s intention, God’s arrangement, God’s move, God’s acts, and God’s work.
To put it simply, essence refers to God Himself, and economy refers to His work. God the Father had a plan in eternity past. According to this plan, He chose us and predestinated us (Eph. 1:3-6). Not only so, in eternity past God the Father ordained that His Son would become a man, die on behalf of men, and accomplish God’s redemption (vv. 7-12). God also ordained that the Spirit would apply to us what God the Father planned and what God the Son accomplished (vv. 13-14). This is God’s economy; it is God’s plan, God’s work, and God’s move.
When the Son of God, the Lord Jesus, came to be a man on the earth, everything He did was economical. When He was baptized in the river Jordan, the Holy Spirit descended upon Him, and God the Father spoke from the heavens (Matt. 3:16-17); this was economical. With regard to His economy, there is the aspect of the move of the three of the Triune God—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. Furthermore, the Triune God works in three stages. The Father planned before the foundation of the world. The Son accomplished what the Father planned in the four Gospels. The Spirit’s application takes place in Acts and the Epistles. We can clearly see three consecutive steps. The first step is the Father’s plan, the second step is the Son’s accomplishment of the Father’s plan, and the third step is the Spirit’s application of the Son’s accomplishment of the Father’s plan. These three steps are not related to God’s essence but to His economy.
When the Lord Jesus was on the earth, He often prayed to God the Father. In Matthew 11:25-26 He prayed, “I extol You, Father, Lord of heaven and of earth, because You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants. Yes, Father, for thus it has been well-pleasing in Your sight.” Then in 27:46 when He was on the cross, He prayed, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” The Son prayed to the Father; this indicates that the Son and the Father are distinct. This is the economical aspect.
The truths in the Bible are of two sides; anything that exists in the universe has two sides. Even a thin sheet of paper has two sides: the front and the back. Our head also has two sides: the front has seven holes, and the back has none. We could never come to a conclusion as to what a person looks like if we see him only from the front or the back. Hence, on the one hand, the Lord Jesus stood in the water, and the Father spoke from heaven (3:16-17). On the other hand, Isaiah 9:6 says, “A Son is given to us; / ... And His name will be called / ... Eternal Father.” The Son is called the Father, indicating that the Son is the Father. This shows the twofoldness of the truth.
When the Lord Jesus was on the earth, His disciple Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father and it is sufficient for us” (John 14:8). Philip seemed to be saying, “We understand that You are the Son. We see You every day, but we are not satisfied. We want to see the Father. If You could show us the Father, we would be content.” After hearing this, the Lord Jesus said, “Have I been so long a time with you, and you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how is it that you say, Show us the Father?” (v. 9). The Lord seemed to be saying, “You have seen Me for more than three years. How can you say that you have not seen the Father? Why is it you still do not know that when you see Me, you see the Father? Why do you still ask Me to show you the Father? Why do you still not know that I am in the Father?” The Lord then said, “I am in the Father and the Father is in Me” (v. 10). Hence, we can say that when the Lord Jesus was praying on the earth to the Father in heaven, He was in the Father, and when the Father in heaven listened to Him praying on earth, the Father was in the Son. The Lord said, “I and the Father are one” (10:30). Isaiah 9:6 says that the Son is called the Father. Second Corinthians 3:17 says, “The Lord is the Spirit.” Therefore, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit are one. This is the word in the Bible.
The Bible also speaks of “the last Adam” (1 Cor. 15:45b). The last Adam is the incarnated Lord, who passed through death and resurrection to become the life-giving Spirit. If we say that the life-giving Spirit is not the Holy Spirit, then is there a second Spirit who came to give life besides the Holy Spirit? This is heresy. The life-giving Spirit is definitely the Holy Spirit.
The Bible has two sides. On the one hand, it speaks of the economical aspect of the Trinity in relation to God’s move, God’s work. On the other hand, it speaks of the essential aspect of the Trinity in relation to God Himself, God’s existence. When the Lord Jesus came to the earth to accomplish God’s work, He stood in the water; this was part of His move. When the Spirit descended like a dove, this was also part of His move, and when the Father spoke from the heavens, this was part of His move. The Lord praying to the Father in heaven was also a move, a work. All these are related to God’s economical aspect. In God’s economy and in His essence, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit are distinct but not separate. The three are one.