THE CHRISTIAN ECONOMY
[p. 379] THE CHRISTIAN ECONOMY
John 3: 35; John 6: 32; John 16: 27; John 20: 17
I have in mind to speak about the Father in relation to the economy into which believers are introduced. I use this word ‘economy’ because it has special significance in this connection, and it has relation to the various dispensations of God. It is expressed in the baptismal formula at the end of Matthew’s gospel; the Lord directs His disciples to go and make disciples, “baptising them to the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit”. The idea of the economy is expressed thus, and involves the supreme privileges and blessings of God. Matthew, in recording the Lord’s charge to His apostles, tells us they were directed to “make disciples”, which implied that they were persons of moral persuasion — moral power; for to make a disciple is not simply to enlighten a man so that he believes, but it involves that one has power with him. The Lord, in view of that, said that “all power” had been given to Him in heaven and on earth, and that He would be with them always, so that they would have resources enough. In their missionary service they were to “make disciples of all the nations” — a very large commission, the magnitude of which is scarcely taken in by us. The persons accepting the baptism were to be introduced to such an economy as that “of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit”: a realm in which the Persons of the Godhead would be active; and active, not in judgment, but in blessing.
This condition is a very great advance on the old economy under Moses. That was the first economy; before that, it was simply a question of man with God, without any official intermediary. Under Moses, the first economy was set up; then again under David, while including that of Moses, there was an increase in advantages and privileges; for God was known not only [p. 380] in a mediator, but in a king, involving much in excess. But when we come to Matthew — which gospel is an extension of the Old Testament, as I may say, for all that was of God in the Old is brought into the New — we are introduced to this new economy of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The assembly stands in that relation. So when the Father is introduced in Matthew 5, it is as their Father, the Father of believers. The economy comes in in chapter 3, by way of a voice, manifesting Christ as the Son of God; but in chapter 5 the disciples are brought immediately into relation with God as their Father — it has that advantage at once.
Now in John we have a different view; and I want to point out the difference, and show that he leads on to something beyond Matthew for us. So he speaks of the Father first as Christ’s Father — “the Father”, or “my Father” — the Lord never says “your Father” to the disciples, until we arrive at chapter 20. It may be inquired why there is this difference. I believe that it involves a clear understanding of our privileges as John presents them, and that we shall thus come the better to know Him with whom we shall presently be associated, and our relations with the Father — a very great matter. So the Lord at the present time is stressing John’s ministry, so that we should understand who the Lord Jesus is, and who the Father is.
John begins his narrative with the “beginning” — not the beginning of Israel’s history, nor does he state of what it is the beginning — he just says, “In the beginning was the Word”. Then he goes on to say, “and the Word was with God” — indicating thus the separate and distinct existence of His Person; and he adds, “the Word was God”. Now that is to be known at the outset, if we are to understand John; He presents this as that which is to be laid hold of by us at once, and tenaciously held to. Then that One — “the Word” — has become flesh, verse 14, and was apprehended or seen by certain persons who could say, “we have contemplated his glory, a glory as of an only-begotten with a father”. It is in that relation with the Father that He is contemplated, a relationship which brings Him within the range of men. No creature could take in His relations in the Godhead as seen in verse 1; that He was “with God” is stated, but what the relations were is beyond us to name. Scripture does not name them. Suffice it for us to accept that the Person was there, and there in the “form of God” — for He “was God”. But now we come to His being apprehended by men in the light of relationship as “an only-begotten with a father” — that is, as a Man with the Father. What the affections expressed were I do not attempt to say, but those who contemplated His glory had some conception of it. What an impression it must have made on those who saw the Lord in His relations with God! He was to be seen in other relations, too, of course — in sufferings, in reproach; coming in and going out amongst them in His service to them; all this was educational for them, particularly His service to them seen in chapter 13 of this gospel. The view of Him I have called attention to has not reference to that, however, but to His relations with the Father — that He is in the bosom of the Father. He is there according to verse 18; not He was, but is; “the only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him”. That is His position in christianity, as John presents it.
Then in chapter 3, John says, “The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand”. This is the economy; the Father hands everything over into the hand of One whom He loves — One here designated “the Son”. Think of the hand in which the Father has placed all things! Then chapter 5 is full of the relations of the Son to the Father; much is said as to the equality of the Son with the Father. “He who honours not the Son, honours not the Father who has sent him”. Thus we gather light as to His Person. The Son, having [p. 382] taken a subject place in regard of His service, is yet on an equality with the Father throughout John’s gospel. Though He leaves the form He had and takes a bondman’s form, the very act declares His dignity, His greatness! In Philippians 2 we read that He “emptied himself, taking a bondman’s form”. He was not told to do it; it was His own act; He took a subject place. Now all that is in chapter 5; it is all nourishment for our souls, so that we might be built up in the divine system. He tells us, “The Son can do nothing of himself save whatever he sees the Father doing” — indeed, much vital truth is contained in the intervening verses.
In chapter 6 there is hunger; it was so in the world then, as it is now; men disregard the great economy that God has set up. So the sign in chapter 6 is food — He feeds the five thousand. Those who benefited by the sign would seek to make Him a king, because He could meet their temporal needs, but that puts Him on a very low level. God could feed men without the need of the Son coming down. The material creation supplies more than enough for all the men and women on earth; there is fish, flesh, and vegetables in plenty for all, “The earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof”. But these here would make Him a king because of the loaves and fishes. Then there is the question as to Moses in the wilderness and the manna; that too, was a question of food. It supplies the Lord with the opportunity He wanted. He shows them that Moses did not give them the true bread; the bread which they ate was not that, but they ate the manna in the wilderness and died. It was rained down on them — showing that there was plenty of it; the face of the wilderness, we are told, was covered with it; all they had to do was to go out and gather it. It was pure and white; spiritually it was Christ, but actually it was food to nourish flesh and blood, and was therefore not the true bread out of heaven. So Jesus immediately introduces the divine [p. 383] economy in connection with the Father: He says, “my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven”. The economy, as John presents it, is a wholly spiritual matter. You must dismiss for the moment the question of material things, even the thought of the kingdom in which the Lord will reign presently over the earth in relation to material things, and seek to lay hold of the spiritual realm where the Father and the Son and the Spirit are active, and in which the true bread from heaven is available — bread, in connection with which a man lives, and moreover lives eternally.
In the synoptic gospels the Father is largely connected with material things; the Lord says, “your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things”. He has made us and He knows us, and “like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him”. It corresponds with the apostle’s teaching in 2 Corinthians 6: “come out from among them, and be ye separate ... and I ... will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty”. But the Lord is not stressing that in John; He is aiming at higher things, something that is altogether beyond temporal things. That is all settled in the synoptic gospels, which are rightly placed first. We are already believers in John, but He wants to make true believers of us. Hence in the first sign in John we are told that He manifested forth His glory, and “his disciples believed on him”. That is what the Lord is doing here, so He says, “my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven”, that is, the Father sent it. I would seek help to express what it is to come into this economy, where every feature of what God is is connected with the Father as known in grace. The Father is always connected in John’s gospel with the thought of grace. “The Father judgeth no man”. He is occupied with grace, and the bread He gives is the best in heaven! It is spiritually the true bread which comes down out of heaven and gives [p. 384] life to the world. The Lord says, “my flesh is truly food and my blood is truly drink”.
I pass on to chapter 16. Much intervenes in what follows, for John’s gospel is full of precious meaning; every word is full of it; no gospel deserves such concentration of attention as John’s. So we have these instances in chapter 16. Chapters 13 to 17 form one section; they refer to what the synoptic gospels record in a few words; all these chapters are spoken within, in the seclusion of love; so that we are now in the presence of the most precious communications of the Lord. He says, “the Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God”. That is a challenge to our hearts; we should be concerned as to whether we are in the right circle. John’s ministry is bringing about a circle where love is known; these chapters unfold it. The Lord was in that circle where He was free to express all that was in His heart, all the Father’s affection for them — that they were the objects of the Father’s affection. These four chapters unfold to us what He said to them about the Father, and about the Spirit, and about His own affections towards them; and so here He says, “the Father himself loveth you”. That is the circle with which the Lord is delighted, the circle that the Father loves, loving them indeed, as He says, “because ye have loved me”. He gives them credit for loving Him. Perhaps we might think we have but little love for Christ, but the Father gives you credit for much more than you would think of. Take Moses for an example. The Spirit speaks of his movements in Egypt: “By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter; ... esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt”. If you had asked Moses how he regarded Christ, he could not have told you; it is the comment of the Spirit upon his movements, when he came out openly and claimed the Hebrews as his [p. 385] brethren. Identifying yourself with the people of God is esteemed as choosing the reproach of Christ. Not one of the worthies of the Old Testament would have said of themselves what the Holy Spirit says of them; they could not have the intelligence of persons who have the Holy Spirit, for they had their part in a different dispensation. So here the Lord says, “ye have had affection for me, and have believed that I came out from God”. You see the platform they were on; they believed that He came out from God, that He was not an ordinary man such as David or Solomon. They believed in His Person, and they had affection for Him. I would that everyone could take that in.
In chapter 20 we have been drawn along by the ministry of love in those chapters; we have heard the blessed unfoldings of love in His utterances to His Father in chapter 17, and have witnessed His sufferings in chapters 18 and 19, and now we come to a risen Christ in chapter 20. To any true lover He will make Himself known: “he that loves me shall be loved by my Father, and I will love him and will manifest myself to him”. He manifests Himself to love — to Mary of Magdala; but she was not at first an intelligent lover. Mary of Bethany was an intelligent lover; she knew what to offer. Mary of Magdala had the affections but not the intelligence, and John’s ministry would make us intelligent lovers. But she is adjusted; she turns herself round and says to the Lord, “Rabboni!” In chapter 1 they call Him “Rabbi” — it is simply Teacher; but Mary says, My Teacher. She would say, ‘I am instructed by Him, I learn from Him’, and the Lord acknowledges it and says, Now you can take the message. She was adjusted; she was intelligent. The effect of ministry is not simply that I love Christ, but that I am intelligent. The point is that He is my Teacher — there is no other in that sense. She says, “Rabboni”, and Jesus says, “Touch me not”. She would have resumed her relations [p. 386] with Him after the flesh, but there are better things than that in store, as the signs have already indicated; the signs point on to something beyond. So it is a question here of being instructed, and Jesus says, “Touch me not”. We might ask, Why should He forbid that? There are people today who talk of the life of Christ on earth; they assume that Jesus came in in relation to man here, and enhanced man’s position, but that runs counter to this instruction, “Touch me not”. He says, “I am not yet ascended” — He is going to link us on there; the end of all this instruction is to lead us on to that, “Go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father”. It is not now a question of the economy here, but of privilege there. This wonderful message shows that He is going into heaven; He is ascending to the Father’s realm of things, what He has established up there; He is ascending to His Father and ours. It is no longer a question of “my Father” or “the Father” only, but of yours — “my Father, and your Father”. That gives me a status up there, where He has ascended — I am one of His brethren.
How wonderfully this works out! The working out of the economy in John leads on to the most exalted things, for we understand that Christ’s Father has become our Father, and in relation to another scene. The Lord is seeking not only to prepare us for present service in the assembly, and then for public service corresponding to that here; but He is preparing us for ascension and for all that that involves, so that we shall not be strangers there, but persons who know the place and the relations proper to it — a much greater thing!
May the Lord give us a greater sense of this in our souls!