We have covered these two points-the mystery and the economy. We have seen that this economy is to carry out the mystery. Without the economy, God’s mystery could never be brought forth.
The first aspect of God’s economy is to dispense Himself into all of us. Dispensing does not mean primarily a period of time but a kind of doing, a kind of action. God is doing a wonderful work to dispense Himself into His chosen ones. Hence, the first aspect of God’s economy is the aspect of dispensing.
It is so strange that on the first page of the Bible God is revealed as the Triune God. If we would study Genesis chapter one in Hebrew, we could see that the title used for God is not a singular noun. It is a triple noun. “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth” (Gen. 1:1). God in this sentence is triple in Hebrew. Furthermore, in verse 26 of the same chapter, God used the pronoun “our” to denote Himself. This means something very mysterious. There is one God, yet He is triple. This is a mystery! In Genesis 1:26 we see that first He said, “Let us.” He was talking to Himself and called Himself “us.” That was a time before the creation of man. He did not talk to the angels. Surely the angels would not be implied here. He called Himself “us.” “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” Then verse 27 says, “So God created man in His own image.” “Our image” eventually is “His image.” Now, is God plural or singular? When God came to the point where He was related to man, He revealed Himself in such a triune way, denoting that He is the Triune God. This is the initial stage in Genesis.
We then come to Isaiah 9:6 which tells us, “Unto us a son is given.” This is no more objective; now God becomes quite subjective to us because a Son is given to us. A Son is given to us, yet this Son is called the Father. This Son given to us is called “the Father of eternity.” This is the proper translation according to the Hebrew. The Father, the everlasting Father, is the Father of eternity. This Son given to us in time is the very Father who was there in eternity. There in eternity He was the Father, and here in time, in our age, He is given as the Son. Now, is He the Father or the Son, the Son or the Father? At that end of eternity He was the Father, and at this end of the age He is the Son. He is both because there are two ends.
There is hardly anything which can exist with just one end. For example, a lampstand has a bottom end and seven lamps on the top. The bottom end is one, and the top end is seven. This is why in the Bible there are eventually seven Spirits, and these seven Spirits are just the seven lamps. On the one hand, the lampstand is one, on the other hand it is seven; so it is both. On the eternal side or end, God is the Father, and at this end of the age as the One given to us, He is the Son. The Son is always the expression, and the Father is always the source. When we pray, we do not pray, “Son,” but we pray, “Father.” We receive the Son, yet we call Him Father. A Son is given, and His name is called the Father. We Christians do not say, “We believe in the Father, and we receive the Father.” No! We say, “We believe in the Son, and we receive the Son.” Yet 1 John 2:23 says that he who has the Son has the Father. We believe in the Son, and we receive the Son, yet whosoever receives the Son has the Father. After you receive the Son and pray to the Father, you should not leave the Son. The Son is given to you, and the Son brings you to the Father. In our Christian experience we don’t pray to the Son, we pray to the Father. The Son given to us is called the Father of eternity. This is the way that God dispenses Himself into humanity. He was the very divine source, so He was the Father in eternity. He is called the Father of eternity, but for Him to dispense Himself into humanity, He must be a Son given to us. Hence, John 3:16 says, “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son.” God has given His Son. Do not consider that this Son is separate from God. This Son given to us is none less than God Himself. When you receive the Son, you just receive God, and in your prayer you do not call Him Son, but you call Him Father.
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