THE GRACE OF GOD IN THE ECONOMY OF GOD
Message Two
Experiencing the Grace of God in the Economy of God
Scripture Reading: Eph. 1:10; 3:9; 1 Tim. 1:4; Gal. 6:18; 1 Cor. 15:10; 2 Pet. 3:18a
I. God's eternal economy is to gain a group of people, that the Triune God may dispense Himself into them to be their life and everything so that they may be joined to Him as one, be filled and occupied with Him, and be one organic entity with Him on earth to be the Body of Christ, the church, for His corporate expression—Eph. 1:3-23:
A. The eternal economy of God is the central line of the entire Scripture—v. 10; 3:9.
B. The interpretation of the Scriptures should be strictly governed by this central line under its enlightenment—Luke 24:27, 32, 44.
C. The one thing that should be focused on, emphasized, and ministered is the New Testament economy of God—1 Tim. 1:4.
D. The Christian life is a life that is for God's economy—2 Cor. 5:14-15.
II. "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit"—Gal. 6:18:
A. The mark of God's economy is that Christ today is the grace of God in our spirit—v. 18:
1. Our regenerated spirit indwelt by the Spirit is the focus of God's promised blessing—John 3:6; Rom. 8:10; 15:29; Eph. 1:3.
2. We need the grace of the Lord, which is the bountiful supply of the all-inclusive Spirit, to be with our spirit—Phil. 1:19; 2 Tim. 4:22.
B. The grace of Jesus Christ is the bountiful supply of the Triune God (who is embodied in the Son and realized as the life-giving Spirit) enjoyed by us through the exercise of our human spirit—John 1:14; 1 Cor. 15:45b; 2 Tim. 4:22; Philem. 25:
1. Grace is God the Father embodied in the Son who is realized as the Spirit; ultimately, the Spirit is grace—Heb. 10:29.
2. This grace, the ultimate consummation of the Triune God, now dwells in our spirit—Phil. 4:23.
3. Our spirit is the only place where we can experience grace—2 Tim. 4:22.
4. In order to receive and enjoy grace, we need to turn to our spirit and remain there, recognizing the Lord as the Head and the King, respecting His position, honoring His authority, and seeing that the throne of grace is in our spirit—Gal. 6:18; Heb. 4:16.
C. As children of God, we should be those who receive and enjoy the grace of our Lord in our spirit—2 Cor. 13:14; Philem. 25:
1. The receiving of Christ as the Spirit of grace is a lifelong, continuous matter— John 1:16; Rev. 22:21.
2. Day by day a marvelous divine transmission should take place as God supplies the Spirit of grace bountifully, and we receive the Spirit of grace continually—Gal. 3:2-5; John 3:34.
3. The way to open ourselves to the heavenly transmission in order to receive the supply of the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit of grace is by exercising our spirit to pray and call on the Lord—1 Thes. 5:16-18; Rom. 10:12-13.
4. As we receive and enjoy the processed and consummated Triune God as our grace, we will gradually become one with Him organically; He will become our constituent, and we will become His expression—2 Cor. 1:12; 12:9.
III. "By the grace of God I am what I am; and His grace unto me did not turn out to be in vain,…yet not I but the grace of God which is with me"—1 Cor. 15:10:
A. Grace, mentioned three times in 1 Corinthians 15:10, is the resurrected Christ becoming the life-giving Spirit (v. 45) to bring the processed Triune God in resurrection into us to be our life and life supply that we may live in resurrection:
1. Grace is the Triune God becoming life and everything to us—John 1:17; Gal. 2:21.
2. It is by this grace that Saul of Tarsus, the foremost of sinners (1 Tim. 1:15-16), became the foremost apostle, laboring more abundantly than all the apostles.
3. Paul's ministry and living by this grace are an undeniable testimony to Christ's resurrection—2 Cor. 1:12; 12:9.
B. Not I but the grace of God in 1 Corinthians 15:10 equals no longer I…but…Christ in Galatians 2:20; this shows that Christ Himself is the grace of God—God Himself working through the apostle:
1. The grace that motivated the apostle Paul and operated in him was not some matter or some thing but a living person, the resurrected Christ, the embodiment of God the Father who became the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit, who dwelt in the apostle as his everything.
2. This corresponds to Paul's declaration in Philippians 4:13: "I am able to do all things in Him who empowers me":
a. In Philippians 4:13 Him refers to the resurrected Christ who became the life-giving Spirit.
b. In such a Christ, Paul was empowered to do all things; this is the grace of God.
IV. "Grow in the grace…of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ"—2 Pet. 3:18a:
A. Grace is the Triune God being life and the life supply to us and in us; to grow in grace is to grow in this inward source of the supply of life—1 Pet. 5:10.
B. Grace is God processed through incarnation, death, resurrection, and ascension; all these elements of grace are within us to be one with us—Phil. 4:23:
1. Grace is God Himself as our life to be one with us, to save us, to make His home in us, and to be formed in us; to grow in grace is to grow in the increase of God—Col. 2:19.
2. Grace is God's visitation to us to stay in us and make Himself one with us; we need to grow in such grace for His glory today and unto the day of eternity—Rev. 22:21.