Seeing the Economy of the Mystery Hidden in God and daily Receiving God’s Dispensing

Eph. 3:3-5 That by revelation the mystery was made known to me, as I have written previously in brief, by which, in reading it, you can perceive my understanding in the mystery of Christ, which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in spirit.From the beginning of the world the purpose of creation was a mystery hidden in God, but in the New Testament God has revealed the economy of the mystery to His believers, showing us that His intention is to gain the church, His corporate expression.

Everything in the universe exists for a purpose, because God, the One who created all things, is a God of purpose.

In His purpose God created the universe, the heavens, the earth, the animals, the plants, and all living things, and He also created man in His image and with His likeness. However, Adam did not know what was the purpose of his creation, and neither did Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David, and the prophets in the Old Testament.

As we see in one of Peter’s epistles, the prophets tried to look into this, and as we read from the book of Job, this righteous man knew there was something hidden in God.

The atheists say there’s no God and there’s no reason behind all these things, but the Bible clearly says that God has created all things and He has a purpose – He desires to gain the church, His corporate expression.

The way He gains His church is not by forcing Himself on people and constraining them to follow Him, but by appearing to them, courting them, even becoming one of them, so that as the Spirit He would enter into all those who willingly receive Him by believing into Him.

When we hear the gospel and believe into the Lord, we receive the divine life in our spirit, and we touch the meaning of our human existence. When we touch the Lord and enjoy Him, we touch and enjoy something of eternity, and we participate in something eternal.

But even after we are regenerated, we may not know what is the purpose of God, what is the meaning of our human existence, and what is God’s hidden plan for the earth, the universe, and us.

We need the book of Ephesians to show us the mystery hidden in God, the economy of the mystery which He made in Himself, and how this is related to us and applied to us.

We need both the word of God and the ministry of the age, the ministry of the apostles which opens up the word of God, to understand and realize what is in God’s heart, what is the economy of the mystery, and how we can be part of the fulfillment of God’s economy.

God intends to gain the church so that the church would express Him through the sonship, so that He would make His multifarious wisdom known to the enemy, and so that He may head up all things in Christ.

What is the Purpose of Creation? What is the Mystery Hidden in God, and what’s the Economy of the Mystery?

Eph. 3:9-11 And to enlighten all that they may see what the economy of the mystery is, which throughout the ages has been hidden in God, who created all things, In order that now to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenlies the multifarious wisdom of God might be made known through the church, According to the eternal purpose which He made in Christ Jesus our Lord.God created everything, and no one knew why; no one knew what is the purpose of creation. Many millions of people lived on earth, but how many found, understood, lived in, and enjoyed the meaning of their human existence?

The deep longing in God’s heart is that we would ask Him, Lord, why am I here? Why do I exist? Why did You create me? When we come to God and ask Him this, He can reveal to us His hidden purpose, which is to dispense Himself into His chosen people (Eph. 3:9).

God is a God who hides Himself, and for centuries He hid the mystery of His purpose in His heart. Even today most people, when they are not blinded by the god of this age with his distractions and entertainment, they ask themselves,

Why am I here? Why do I exist? Am I simply the product of blind purposeless evolution as they tell me in university? Am I here by accident, at random, and with no purpose? Am I just a blob of neurons in a bag of water, as the scientists tell me?

From the beginning of the world the purpose of creation was a mystery hidden in God, and no one knew what the purpose of creation was (Rev. 4:11; Eph. 3:9; Col. 1:16).

Job, a man who feared God and lived in a righteous way, was right in saying, You have hidden these things in your heart: I know that this is with You (John 10:13), for what was hidden in God was the mystery of the ages.

Job was righteous and lived properly before God, yet God dealt with him in a way that caused him to wonder what is going on, what’s the meaning of all this, and what’s the meaning of his human existence; his conclusion was that there must be something hidden in the heart of God, a mystery, that He doesn’t reveal to him.

This is correct: God has something hidden in His heart concerning us, and He made the economy of the mystery to carry out what is in His heart.

One day the Lord came, and He died, resurrected, ascended, came down as the Holy Spirit, and raised up a number of persons. Some of these persons were apostles, prophets, and teachers, who received the revelation. The mystery hidden in God was revealed to them at that time. They saw and came to know that the purpose of creation is to have the church. The church was a mystery hidden in God in the past generations until it was revealed to the apostles and prophets in the New Testament time. Witness Lee, Basic Principles for the Practice of the Church Life, pp. 9-10

In Ephesians we see that God, who created all things, has the economy of the mystery in His heart; this is to dispense Himself into His chosen people that He may produce and gain the church as His corporate expression.

But who sees what is in God’s heart? Who is open to Him to receive the revelation of the mystery hidden in Him? Who comes before the Lord with an unveiled face and seeks the meaning of their human existence?

Even among the believers, who knows the mystery hidden in God, the purpose of God, the plan that God had when He created all things?

As believers in Christ we need to realize that, after creating man in His image and according to His likeness, God kept His intention hidden throughout the ages, but He has revealed it to us in the New Testament, and now the economy of the mystery has been revealed!

With the help of the Bible (which reveals the revealed mystery of God) and the ministry of the apostles (which open up the mystery of God), we can now know what the mystery of God is, and we can cooperate with Him to enlighten others that they also may see what the economy of the mystery is!

Thank You Lord for putting a seeking deep in our heart for something eternal. There’s something hidden in You, Lord, concerning Your purpose in creating man. We want to know You and know what is the economy of the mystery which was hidden in God, who created all things. Unveil us, Lord, that we may see the mystery hidden in God and we may find what is the meaning of our human existence. Lord, may we see and may we be those who enlighten others to also see what the economy of the mystery is!

The Mystery Hidden in God’s Heart is His Economy to Dispense Himself into us to gain a Corporate Expression of Himself

The Bible, which consists of sixty-six books, begins with God and His creation in Genesis and consummates with the New Jerusalem in Revelation. Between these two ends of the Bible, there are history, teachings, prophecies, and types. But if we understand the Bible only according to these things, we still do not know the Bible. We need to see the eternal economy of God, which is God’s eternal intention with His heart’s desire to dispense Himself in His Divine Trinity as the Father in the Son by the Spirit into His chosen people to be their life and nature that they may be the same as He is for His fullness, His expression. Life-study of Job, p. 57, by Witness LeePraise the Lord, in the last of these days God has revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in spirit what the economy of the mystery is!

The mystery hidden in God’s heart is simply God’s eternal economy (Eph. 1:10; 3:9; 1 Tim. 1:4), which is God’s eternal intention to dispense Himself in His Divine Trinity into His chosen people to be their life and nature so that they may be the same as He is as His duplication to become the church, the Body of Christ, consummating in the New Jerusalem for eternity (Rev. 21:2-22:5).

The hidden mystery is that God in His Divine Trinity – the Father, the Son, and the Spirit – desires to be dispensed into us, His creation, to make us His duplication, His corporate expression.

For this to happen, God first created the heavens, laid the foundations of the earth, and formed a spirit within man (Zech. 12:1); the heavens are for the earth, the earth provides everything for man’s existence, and man has a spirit to receive, contact, and contain God.

God’s creation focuses on man, and man is for God’s purpose, which is to gain the church, His corporate expression.

The goal is for God to gain a corporate expression; for us to be God’s corporate expression, we must become the same as God in life and nature, so that we may express Him.

If we are only human beings, we can only express the human life, which is a fallen human life. But God has chosen us to be holy (the same as God in His nature) and to be sons of God (having God’s life and the position of a son of God) to be the church as the Body of Christ, the fulness of the One who fills all in all (Eph. 1:25).

The mystery hidden in God’s heart is God’s eternal economy (Eph. 1:10; 3:9; 1 Tim. 1:4), which is God’s eternal intention with His heart’s desire to dispense Himself in His Divine Trinity as the Father in the Son by the Spirit into His chosen people to be their life and nature so that they may be the same as He is as His duplication (Rom. 8:29; 1 John 3:2), to become an organism, the Body of Christ as the new man (Eph. 2:15-16), for God’s fullness, God’s expression (1:22-23; 3:19), which will become the New Jerusalem (Rev. 21:2—22:5). The Recovery of the Church (2017 fall ITERO), outline 1The church is the fullness of Christ, and the church is composed of believers who are holy as God is holy and who have God’s life in them.

The high peak of the divine revelation is not something abstract or impractical but it is at the core of the economy of the mystery!

God’s economy is to dispense Himself into us to make us the duplication of the resurrected Christ for God’s corporate expression.

When we touch this and realize that God’s central work is nothing else but to work Himself into us for His corporate expression, our life is full of meaning!

Every day as we live our Christian life we can live in the reality of the economy of the mystery, enjoying more of God’s dispensing, saturating, and constituting, so that we may become His corporate expression.

Oh, if we all would open to the Lord every day to allow Him to work Himself into us as much as possible day by day!

Lord, dispense Yourself into us more and more every day until You gain the church, Your corporate expression. We want to stop our being and our doing and just allow You to work Yourself into us as much as possible today, so that we may be sanctified, transformed, and conformed to Your image and be part of Your corporate expression. May our life and work contribute to the fulfillment of Your heart’s desire and the accomplishing of Your economy. Lord, may we have a full revelation of and a daily living in the economy of the mystery which is hidden deep in God!

References and Hymns on this Topic
  • Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by Ron Kangas for this week, and portions from, The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 337 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Recovery of the Church (2017 fall ITERO), week 1, Seeing God’s Eternal Purpose concerning the Church and Enlightening All concerning the Economy of the Mystery Hidden in God.
  • Hymns on this topic:
    # What miracle! What mystery! / That God and man should blended be! / God became man to make man God, / Untraceable economy! / From His good pleasure, heart’s desire, / His highest goal attained will be. (Song on God’s miracle and mystery)
    # O Lord, O Lord, by Your economy / So flood us with Your glory, saturate us thoroughly. / Come out, come out, break forth in glory here, / And from the church, O glorious One, in glory soon appear. (Hymns #1177)
    # God by His dispensing, / God’s economy, / Will fulfill His purpose / In His trinity; / From the loving Father, / Through the Son as grace, / In the mingled Spirit, / Is His dwelling place. (Song on, The Central Line in the Bible)
About aGodMan

A God-man is a normal believer in Christ; the author of this article is one who is learning to be a normal Christian, a daily enjoyer of Christ, a living and functioning member in the Body of Christ. Amen, Lord, make us such ones for the building up of the Body of Christ!

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brother L.
brother L.
6 years ago

Job complained that God, knowing that he was not wicked and not acquitting him of his iniquity, ill-treated him without cause on his side and attacked him again and again according to what was hidden in God’s heart (Job 10:1-17). Job said to God, “Make known to me why You contend with me” (v. 2b). In verse 13 he went on to say, “You have hidden these things in Your heart; / I know that this is with You.” This indicates that Job could not find the reason for God’s treatment of him, but he believed that there had to be some reason hidden in God’s heart. Job was right; something was hidden in God’s heart. Ephesians 3:9 tells us of the mystery hidden in God. This is the mystery of the ages.

Adam himself did not know why God created him in His image according to His likeness (Gen. 1:26). God kept His intention hidden throughout the ages, not telling Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, Solomon, Isaiah, or any of the prophets. The Creator did a lot in His creation, but before the New Testament time He did not unveil to anyone what His purpose was.

The hidden mystery is that God in His Divine Trinity desires to be dispensed and wrought into His creation, man, to make man His duplication, to make man His expression. (Life-study of Job, pp. 50-51, by Witness Lee)

Stephanie W.
Stephanie W.
6 years ago

Our God, Our Lord, You created the heavens and the earth to give man, your vessel, the environment to live. You placed food to grow to sustain him. You made all things in creation that man would thrive. How beautiful You chose to make man in Your image and formed his human spirit to contact You. God and man are mingled to produce the church. Hallelujah!

Juliet C.
Juliet C.
6 years ago

Praise the Lord for the economy of the mystery of God. Amen

Klazien B.
Klazien B.
6 years ago

Thank You Lord ..Praise You Lord …Oh Lord jesus I love You

Moh S.
Moh S.
6 years ago

Amen, Lord unveil us so we can enlighten others. Thank you Lord for bringing us into the desire hidden in You, hidden in Your heart. Make our heart a duplication of Your heart. Lord bring us deeper into Your eternal purpose, into the mystery hidden from the ages, which You have revealed to us, thank You Lord!

Ronnie L.
Ronnie L.
6 years ago

“He has put eternity in their heart” Ecclesiastes 3:11

Sandra B.
Sandra B.
6 years ago

Amen glory hallelujah Jesus is Lord!

Mike D.
Mike D.
6 years ago

Lord daily fill us and build us