With regard to dispensations, I was thinking about the fact that God is God of the past, present. and future, and that basically these correspond to the three major dispensations in the bible: law, grace and kingdom. And it occurred to me that each administration was administered by each person of the Godhead. Law was administered by God the Father, grace is by God the Spirit, and Kingdom will be by God the Son. Probably something you already know but I thought it was cool.
Yes! God is a God that is past, present and future—he's the eternal, ever-existing one!
Therefore he is, right now, in every dispensation, although we humans are presently in the grace dispensation.
And yes, like you said...one could sum up these 3 major time periods by saying that each member of the Godhead administers a part:
Law—the Father
He is the One from whom all righteousness flows.
Grace—the Holy Spirit:
Although the book of John says that grace and truth came by Jesus Christ, but Christ’s death for Israel is based on the "Spirit of Grace and supplications."
Zechariah 12:10
And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn).
Kingdom—the Son
It is God, the Son—the Lord Jesus Christ—that will reign on the earth seated on David's throne.
By the way, in the bible, a dispensation is defined a set of instructions given by God to man for man's obedience. Simply put, a dispensation is the way that God operates during that certain period of time—what he is doing in relationship to mankind!
1 Corinthians 12:6
And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all.
Colossians 2:12
Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation [working] of God, who hath raised him from the dead.
Philippians 2:13
For it is God which worketh [operates] in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
Yes, the past could be summed up as the law dispensation—although the law came forth about 2,500 after Adam's creation. But generally speaking, you could call that time before Christ, the law dispensation.
If you really want to get technical, and scriptural, our Apostle Paul labels the time between Adam and Moses in Romans 5 simply as pre-law, where death still reigned:
Romans 5:13-14
(For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.
The next dispensation after "Pre-Law”/Adam to Moses is the dispensation of law! God went from dealing with man by appearing to them personally to instruct them, to now primarily giving his word to mankind in written/recorded form. This record of his word was called the "Law of Moses" and given to the nation of Israel.
Israel (and eventually thru them to all of mankind) was under these instructions until the promised one/anointed one/Messiah should come. Once he showed up (and graciously died for Israel's/mankind's sins), a performance-based acceptance program would no longer be needed because he would then write his laws onto their hearts.
John 1:17
For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
God, by sending his Son to/for Israel was very gracious. We also find out later that thru that same Son and his crosswork that we gentiles receive God's grace in this present dispensation of pure grace, as well.
Then after this dispensation is done, the next thing on God's prophetic schedule is to give Israel their long-awaited earthly kingdom. Therefore the next dispensation will be the dispensation of the kingdom.
By the way, although the three dispensations that discussed above are the major ones, there are really more than three dispensations; there are seven in the bible:
Times Past
1. Eternity past
Before heaven and earth and all things therein were created, the Godhead existed and operated in love one toward another.
2. Adam to Moses (Pre-Law)
God dealt with men in a certain way—he did not dole out the ‘instant rod-of-iron justice and punishment’ like he will under the law. For example: when Cain killed Able, God did not slay him right away!
3. Moses to Christ/Paul (Law)
God dealt with men based on His written law—swift justice. (Israel did not maintain prisons.)
But Now
4. Christ/Paul to kingdom (Grace)
Our current dispensation where he deals with man based on pure grace.
Ages to Come
5. Kingdom to "Fulness of Times"
1,000-year first installment of Christ earthly kingdom where He rules men with a rod of iron until he glorifies all men on earth
6. Fulness of times
The time period where God reconciles totally all things under the headship of the Lord Jesus Christ. He will "purify and cleanse" both heaven and earth completely from all sin/iniquity/uncleanness. (This could possibly take 33,000 years for God to work this particular dispensation-within-a-dispensation…but that’s another study for another time!)
7. Eternity Future
An eternity wherein perfect love exists between God and all His creation, just like he intended from the beginning.
Hopefully this
helps!
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Do you have a question
for Pastor Ron?
It is also interesting and vital to keep in mind…
ReplyDeleteAs Pastor Ron stated above:
“A dispensation is defined a set of instructions given by God to man for man's obedience.”
God authorized and equipped a ‘spokesman’ with those dispensational instructions that were to be followed.
First when the earth was supernaturally created and mankind birthed, Adam was the first spokesman for God—that is, he was PERSONALLY given God’s word to be 'dispensed' to mankind. …but mankind failed to heed those instructions.
Then when the Nation of Israel was supernaturally created (birthed, when God brought them out of Egypt), Moses was the second spokesman for God—PERSONALLY given God’s word to be 'dispensed' to Israel. …but Israel failed to heed that set of instructions.
And, finally, when the Church, the Body of Christ was supernaturally created (birthed, on the Road to Damascus) Paul then became God’s spokesman for God—that is, he was PERSONALLY given God’s word, replacing the Law of Moses with the Law of Christ to be 'dispensed' to all who would receive and believe, and then in pure grace sealing them with the Holy Spirit. …the Holy Spirit can and will not fail.
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: [Ephesians 2:8]
For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe. [1 Thessalonians 2:13]