Stewardship And God’s Administration

Feature 3 –January 2019 – Grace & Truth Magazine

Stewardship And God’s Administration

The End And The End Of The End
A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the land; the prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and My people love to have it so” (Jer. 5:30-31 KJV ). Each period of God’s administration has been put into human hands and therefore failed terribly. Even a priesthood and a school of prophets ended by lording over the people of God and making money out of what God had entrusted to them.

God always had a glorious end in view. Each failure brought a new revelation and fresh glory to our God and His promised Messiah. “And thou, profane wicked prince of Israel, whose day is come, when iniquity shall have an end, thus saith the Lord God; remove the diadem, and take off the crown; this shall not be the same: exalt him that is low and abase him that is high. I will overturn, overturn, overturn it: and it shall be no more, until He come whose right it is: and I will give it to Him” (Ezek. 21:25-27).

God’s Plan Clearly Set Out
At the very beginning we find the first couple in a beautiful garden which God had planted. They were charged with tending and guarding the garden and being fruitful and multiplying, thereby populating the earth. Was there an enemy from whom the garden needed to be guarded or kept (Gen. 2:15)? Was it the task of Adam and Eve, with their descendants, to extend that idyllic state to encompass the whole earth with beauty and love? To both questions we may safely answer, “Yes.”

Alas, they did not get very far before Satan drew them away from God’s purpose. The result of this, the fall, was expulsion from the garden and the necessity of living at the expense of hard toil. After they attempted to cover themselves with fig leaves, God gave them a covering of animal skins: “Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord GOD make coats of skins and clothed them” (3:21).

God’s voice was heard in the garden; it appears that God was in the habit of enjoying the company of our first parents. But after the fall, for sinful man to approach God, innocent victims had to die and their beauty become a covering for sinners. These sacrifices pointed forward to the time when the Lord Jesus “offered Himself without spot to God” (Heb. 9:14).

One other thing of very great importance was the forecast of the coming of the Seed of a woman who would destroy Satan and be wounded in doing so (Gen. 3:15). This prophecy takes us to the time of the Lord Jesus on earth and the period of grace. Ultimately, the prophecy takes us to its final fulfilment at the very end when the promised Seed is all-victorious, and peace, love and truth with righteousness are ushered in to last forever and forever.

What Does The Word “Dispensation” Mean?
We see in the first chapters of the Bible how God initiated a task for the human race. This is the meaning of “dispensation.” It is often translated “stewardship,” such as in Luke 16:2-4, and is literally “law of a household.” Paul spoke of “a dispensation of the gospel” (1 Cor. 9:17), “the dispensation of the grace of God (Eph. 3:2) and “the dispensation of God” (Col. 1:25).

A joyful task was originally given to the first humans. God shared their delight in their surroundings and activity. Then came disaster, and the forces of evil defeated the man and his wife. God came to their rescue and fellowship was restored, involving all three persons of the Godhead. This process was to be repeated again and again.

Succeeding Generations
After Adam and Eve we find an earth filled with violence and corruption (Gen. 6:5-6). Whatever God does, Satan tries to undo, drawing the people of God away from Him. The plan of the Evil One has been to corrupt the human race, both mentally and physically, but God would raise up a man. At this point it was Noah, whose name means “rest.” He foreshadowed the Lord Jesus, who said, “Come unto Me, all ye who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Mt. 11:28).

Noah was instructed to build an ark – a place of safety from the overwhelming judgment of the flood; “The eternal God is thy refuge” (Dt. 33:27). The ark was a promise, confirmed by the rainbow of salvation for all who believe God’s warning of coming judgment and go to the Savior.

After the flood, we find the judgment of the city and tower men built. They had said, “Go to, let us build a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth” (Gen. 11:4). This, of course, was in direct disobedience to the command of God to “be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth” (9:1).

Satan had had his man, Nimrod the mighty hunter (10:9), who foreshadowed the Antichrist of the end times. He set about building an empire with himself as the emperor. Since that time, the Devil has filled men with ambition and ruthless cunning that he might control. Each age shows how he lives to achieve his boast, “I will be like the most High” (Isa. 14:14).

Two men appeared who held the light of God in the darkness of the world where empires strive for dominance and vile passions are unleashed. Abraham (Abram) was called to go to a land his descendants were to inherit (Gen. 12:1). He also paid tithes to one who was king of righteousness and king of peace. This king was also a priest, and as king-priest, along with his titles, he is a picture of the Lord Jesus. “And Melchisedeck, king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God. And he blessed him” (14:18-19). By means of these two men, God showed how He would bring forth the Seed of a woman through Abraham, and He also used them to show how the way to God and the Word of God was being kept open.

The Law And The Testimony
The succeeding ages saw the power of God through the judgments on Egypt, the crossing of the Red Sea and the wilderness journey. God gave Moses His law and instituted the Levitical priesthood with the service of the tabernacle. Dwelling with His people, He was also revealing more to them of Himself and His gracious dealings. Even the law, which condemns the sin of mankind, became an instrument of grace. “Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ ... But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster” (Gal. 3:24-25). As the New Testament unfolds how Christ fulfilled the law, we find ourselves lifted up to the heavenlies.

The Lord Jesus taught His disciples many things, but in wonderful grace He also taught the woman of Samaria some amazing truths. He spoke of the living water, and He showed her the secrets of her inner sinfulness. Then He opened up more truth which had not been revealed previously. “Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe Me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth; for the Father seeketh such to worship Him” (Jn. 4:21-23). He ended this when the woman brought up the matter of the Messiah, the Anointed, the Seed. “Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am He” (v.26).

We live in the age of grace, and there is more to be fulfilled which the Lord Jesus, when He comes for His heavenly people and later to earth for His earthly people, will finally complete. The words of Daniel will, perhaps soon, be completely fulfilled, while a fearful and wondering world will be dazzled by the brightness of His glory as He steps back onto the Mount of Olives, “when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Th. 1:7-8, see Zech. 14:3-4; Acts 1:6-12). “Seventy weeks [seventy sevens] are determined upon Thy people and upon Thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make and end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy” (Dan. 9:24).

We who live today see increasing evil, but we are encouraged by these Scriptures that our Father God and our Lord Jesus Christ have all matters well in hand. They will bring everything to its right and fitting conclusion.

By Roger Penney