WEEK 3 — DAY 4
Morning Nourishment
Eph.
1:10 "Unto the economy of the fullness of the times, to head up all
things in Christ, the things in the heavens and the things on the
earth,in Him.
Rom.
8:21 "In hope that the creation itself will also be freed from the
slavery of corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of
God."
The divine
transmission revealed in Ephesians 1 has a great goal—the heading up of
all things in Christ....The economy, or dispensation, which God purposed
in Himself is to head up all things in Christ at the fullness of the
times. The times [in verse 10] refer to the ages. The fullness of the
times will be when the new heaven and new earth come after all the
dispensations of God in all the ages have been completed.
God has made Christ the Head over all things. Through all the
dispensations of God in all the ages, all things will be headed up in
Christ in the new heaven and new earth. This will be God's eternal
administration and economy. (Life-study of Luke, pp. 662-663)
Today's Reading
At present the whole universe is being corrupted and is
deteriorating.Consider the condition of the human race. No one is able
to head up the nations. Nevertheless, God is heading up all things in
Christ, the unique Head. However, we need to know that for God's heading
up of all things, this unique
Head needs a Body, and this Body is the church. The church is the Body
through whom God is heading up all things in Christ.
Ephesians 1:10 speaks of an economy of the fullness of the times. This
indicates that at the fullness of God's dispensations the heading up of
all things will be complete. This heading up is done by God through a
universal man. The Head of this man is Christ, and the Body of this man
is the church.This universal man, comprising the Head and the Body, is
the means by which and the sphere in which God is heading up all things
in the entire universe.
Because God is heading up all things through a universal man
constituted of Christ, the Head, and the church, the Body, we as members
of the Body need to keep the oneness under the headship. The subtlety
of the enemy is to divide the members of the Body of Christ. However, we
are standing for a testimony of the oneness of the believers. In the
Lord's recovery we stand as one. Praise Him that here there is a
testimony of oneness! This oneness is the instrument,channel, and sphere
that God is using to head up all things in Christ.
Concerning the heading up of all things in Christ and through the
church,I would ask you to consider Romans 8:19-22: "For the anxious
watching of the creation eagerly awaits the revelation of the sons of
God. For the creation was made subject to vanity, not of its own will,
but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself
will also be freed from the slavery of corruption into the freedom of
the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation
groans together and travails in pain together until now." Here we see
that all creation is groaning, sighing, because of its corruption.
Creation is expecting, eagerly awaiting, the manifestation of the sons
of God. At that time all divisions and separations will be removed, and
all things, not only mankind, will be headed up in Christ.
First, Christ is heading up the believers. Then through His Body He
will head up all things. This is marvelous. Although the heading up of
all things in Christ and through the church is far beyond our
understanding, it is nonetheless a fact.
According to man's view, the heading up of the entire universe seems to
be an impossibility. Someone may say, "You talk about the heading up of
all things in one unique head? This is impossible." To man, this is
impossible,but it is not impossible with God. With Him, nothing is
impossible (Mark 10:27). (Life-study of Luke, pp. 663-664)
Further Reading: The Issue of the Dispensing of the Processed Trinity
and the Transmitting of the Transcending Christ, ch. 4; Life and
Building as Portrayed in the Song of Songs, ch. 5
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