One Administration to Carry Out His Purpose
It is rare to hear about God’s economy. Again, this word is also translated “dispensation”, which is how we most often hear it. The “dispensation of the grace of God for the Gentiles” has everything to do with the mystery of God’s purpose concerning the Church. There’s an administration for producing the Church as the fullness of Christ, which is His body, through dispensing the unsearchable riches of Christ. God has an eternal purpose, which is to produce the Church. For the accomplishment of that eternal purpose, there’s an an economy, a household order, an “administration” or a dispensation. All of these are the same word in Greek, oikonomia. If there are two phrases we should learn to be familiar with from Paul’s writings, they are “God’s Eternal Purpose” and “God’s Economy”. God’s Eternal Purpose is to have the Church as the expression of Christ. God’s economy is His administration, or the program that He put in place to carry and accomplish this purpose.
Dispensationalists will say there are a number of different dispensations and that’s true in a sense. There were different periods of time when God revealed different truths – all of which were preparatory and shadows. But now, Christ has come, and the reality has come. This is the focus of God’s administration. Technically the Bible reveals one administration from eternity past to eternity future. We see this in Ephesians 1:10
Eph 1:10 made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:
According to this passage, there is something called the “dispensation of the fullness of the times” in which God is gathering everything together in Christ. He created everything in Christ. Christ is the heir of all things and He holds everything together, but it needs to be reconciled and headed up in Him. The same chapter also reveals that God is accomplishing this “heading up” by making Christ head over all things to the Church, which is His Body, the “fulness of Him who fills all in all” (Eph 1:23). In resurrection, God made Christ to be the Head of the Church. This was a major step in the carrying out of His administration to head up all things in Christ. According to Romans 8:19, the whole universe has been subject to futility for the manifestation of the Sons of God. When that occurs, the universe will be brought into liberty.
The Goal of God’s economy is to produce the Church, over which Christ is the head, and through which God will head up all things in Christ. All events are working towards this great purpose and are part of its process. The process has many stages, including some that were preparatory (prior to Christ coming) and some that will be “cleanup”. For example, after we are glorified there will be the Millenial Kingdom followed by the new heavens and the new earth. So, yes, there’s one administration, but this administration is process with many stages that some call “dispensations” or “ages”. This is fine as long as we don’t get so bogged down with the different dispensations that we miss the Purpose behind the “Administration of the Fullness of the Times” which is the Church. Right now, we’re in the age where Christ in resurrection is building the Church to be the Body of Christ. Eventually, this masterpiece will be complete and removed from the earth, set up as an object of adornment in God’s house to be the counterpart of Christ. We will reign with Him, exercising authority with Him as co-regents. We are His bride, His heirs, His brothers, the Sons of God, and the Body of Christ. Then there will still be the Kingdom for the salvation of Israel, at the end of which, Israel and the Church will be headed up in Christ as the New Jerusalem which will come out from God and be His dwelling among men in the New Heavens and the New Earth.