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October 7, 2021

The Stewardship of God

Col 1:24 I now rejoice in my sufferings on your behalf and fill up on my part that which is lacking of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for His Body, which is the church; 25 Of which I became a minister according to the stewardship of God, which was given to me for you, to complete the word of God,

It is important to understand accurately the meaning of stewardship [in v. 25] . The Greek word rendered stewardship here, oikonomia [economy] , is the same word rendered dispensation in Ephesians 1:10 and 3:9. According to ancient usage, oikonomia denoted a stewardship, a dispensation, or an administration. At the time of Paul, many rich families had stewards whose responsibility was to distribute food and other supplies to members of the household. Our Father has a great family, a divine household. Because our Father has such vast riches, there is the need in His household for many stewards to dispense these riches to His children. This dispensing is the stewardship. Hence, a stewardship is a dispensation. This dispensation is the stewardship with the dispensing ministry of the ministers of God. This ministry of dispensing is also God's administration. Today God administrates by dispensing Himself into us. This stewardship, this dispensation, this administration, is God's economy. In the New Testament economy of God there is the desperate need of the stewardship of God. We have pointed out that stewardship refers to the dispensation of wealth in a royal or upper-class family. God's royal family is rich in Christ. According to the Epistle to the Colossians, God's family is especially rich in Christ as the all-inclusive and preeminent One, as the One who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation, and the firstborn from among the dead. The riches of such a Christ, who is the full expression of the Triune God, need to be dispensed into the members of God's family. This service of dispensing, which in 1:25 is called the stewardship of God, was the work of the Apostle Paul. It also should be our work today. (c) 2007 Living Stream Ministry.

Bible verses are taken from the Recovery Version of the Bible and Words of Ministry from Witness Lee, Life-study of Colossians, pp. 89-90. Both are published by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, CA. Please visit us at www.emanna.com. Send comments to: [email protected].

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Life-study of Colossians