Eph 1:9 Making known to us the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Himself, (10) Unto the economy [dispensation] of the fullness of the times, to head up all things in Christ …
3:2 If indeed you have heard of the stewardship [dispensation] of the grace of God which was given to me for you,
Dispensation here refers to a dispensing. For example, a mother dispenses food to her children every morning at breakfast. As the children sit down at the table, the mother dispenses nourishing food for them to eat. In such a dispensation a proper control is always exercised. I have observed this with my own grandchildren, who obey their grandmother better than they obey me, because she is the one who dispenses treats to them.
The heading up of all things in Christ does not take place by a governmental administration. On the contrary, it comes about by a sweet stewardship, by an intimate household arrangement, by a pleasant dispensation. It takes place through the dispensing of the abundant life supply of the Triune God into us. God is working Himself into His chosen ones by a sweet, intimate stewardship. Paul’s ministry was such a stewardship. It was a model of the dispensation of grace, of the dispensing of God as grace into His chosen ones.
By this dispensation of grace, the dispensing of God Himself as our enjoyment, the factor of life is ministered into the chosen ones. As the life factor gets into them, they are raised up and attached to Christ in the Body. This is the dispensation that heads up all things in Christ.
