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| Paul - a steward of God's grace |
An Outline of History
Change is difficult - difficult to face and often difficult to manage. Few people enjoy it. Children starting school, moving school, or even just changing classes can be unhappy for a while, at least until a new routine has been established. Moving home or starting a new job can be traumatic. Nevertheless, change is also inevitable, change is natural, and change should be expected. Because growth brings change – progress brings change – life brings change. Apart from the immutability of God, nothing stays the same forever. And even the Immutable has initiated change. He has introduced change in His dealings with humankind. The world and its inhabitants are under the sovereign control of God. He is the Creator and all of humankind is responsible to Him. Paul makes this very point in his speech in Athens. “God, who made the world and everything in it … He is Lord of heaven and earth”. (Acts 17:24) Jesus also refers to His Father as “Lord of heaven and earth”. (Mt 11:25; see also Luke 10.21) Events that appear to contradict this truth only happen within the permissive will of God. This is clearly the main message of both Job and Daniel. The calamitous events that Satan inflicted on Job and his family were only allowed within the will of God. With this in mind, the Bible sometimes views the world as a household under stewardship. The word used is οἰκονομία so translated in the NASB, “I have a stewardship entrusted to me” (1 Cor. 9.17); and “… if indeed you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace which was given to me for you” (Eph.3.2). And again, “Of this church I was made a minister according to the stewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit, so that I might fully carry out the preaching of the word of God” (Col.1.25). In Ephesians and Timothy it is translated ‘administration’. “… with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth” (Eph 1:10); “and to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God who created all things” (Eph 3:9); and Timothy; “… nor to pay attention to myths and endless genealogies, which give rise to mere speculation rather than furthering the administration of God which is by faith” (1 Tim. 1:4). It is not too great a stretch to understand that the world and its occupants are viewed as a household; a household under the sovereign control of the ‘Lord of heaven and earth’; a household ordered and administered according to the principles He put in place.
In this paradigm, that the world and humanity that occupies it are viewed as a household, it is not an overstatement to say that God has certain ‘house’ rules. They are the outworking of those principles of righteousness that govern His relationship with humankind. He does not change, He is the Immutable; and He is sovereign and holy. Those that approach Him can only do so by acknowledging this. Celestial servants of His cry night and day, “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty” (Rev. 4.8; cf. Isa.6.3). But as our circumstances change, so there are changes in God’s ‘house rules’. It could be considered in terms of growing up. As a child matures so the disciplines placed upon him become more sophisticated. When God changed His house rules, it has usually been in the wake of an event that has had far-reaching effects.
When Adam transgressed the one commandment, God changed the house rules.
When the nation Israel was delivered from slavery, for them He changed
the house rules.
When the Messiah died for the sins of the world, He changed
the house rules.
In God’s household, responsibilities are held by chosen individuals. In the verses where Paul uses the word ‘οἰκονομία’ he refers to his responsibility under God in terms of him occupying the office of steward. In that office and with that responsibility he was charged to promulgate the new ‘house rules’ that were brought in as a result of the sacrifice of the Son of God.
Let us examine the history of the relationship between God and humankind and consider the constancy of the Immutable and the education He instituted for the benefit of us mortals. We will pay particular attention to the change in His ‘house rules’ at the time of the decease, resurrection and ascension of the Messiah, and consider how the new house rules were communicated and if the early church found any difficulty in applying them. The covenants of the Bible, the main subject of this book, are statements that illuminate and elucidate God’s house rules and an examination of them will surely prove profitable.
Next Time: Changes initiated by the Immutable
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