The Building God vs. The Dispensing God

 

The Building God vs. The Dispensing God

John 4:14 Whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. And the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.

1 Corinthians 15:45 So it is written: “The first man, Adam, was a living soul; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit.”

Matthew 16:18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.

Ephesians 3:17 That Christ might make his home in you through faith, that you might be rooted and established in love.

Revelation 21:2 And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 

Item	The Building God	The Dispensing God
Meaning	God builds Himself into His chosen people and builds them into Himself, ultimately becoming a built city—the New Jerusalem	God dispenses Himself into His chosen and redeemed people as their life, life supply, and everything
Reason	God has an eternal desire to gain a corporate expression and dwelling place	God desires that man may practically experience and enjoy Him
Focus	Result-oriented: for the completion of God’s building	Process-oriented:  for life supply and inward experience
Distinction	Emphasizes structure, coordination, blending, and completion	Emphasizes life, supply, flow, and enjoyment
Effect	Produces the church consummating in the New Jerusalem as God’s eternal dwelling and expression	Produces growth in life, transformation, and maturity unto building
Explanation	The processed and consummated Triune God, as source, element, and essence, builds the church by building Himself into us	The Divine Trinity dispenses God Himself: the Father as the source, the Son as the fountain, and the Spirit as the flow
Mutual Relationship	Building is the issue and consummation of dispensing	Dispensing is the means and inward power of building
Biblical Example	The New Jerusalem as God Himself built into a city (God being built and gaining a building)	The river of water of life and the tree of life continually dispensing God
Human Experience	Being joined, blended, coordinated, and built together in the Body	Being supplied, nourished, renewed, and inwardly satisfied
Application	Live in the Body, allowing God to build Himself into us and build us into Him	Daily come to drink, receive, and enjoy God’s dispensing
Spiritual Burden	Not merely to have life, but to fulfill God’s building	Not merely to know God objectively, but to experience Him subjectively
Prophesying Guidance	“The Lord is building Himself into us for the completion of the New Jerusalem.”	“God is still dispensing Himself today as our life supply.”
Conclusion	God is not only the dispensing God; He is the building and built God	All divine dispensing is for the ultimate divine building
Scriptures	Gen. 1:1; 2 Sam. 7:12, 14a; Matt. 16:18; Eph. 3:17; Rev. 21:2, 10, 18–19a, 21	2 Cor. 13:14; Rev. 22:1–2; 21:6b; 7:17a; John 4:14b

 

Spiritual Summary: 

The Bible reveals that God is not only the dispensing God but also the building and built God. Through His divine dispensing, He places Himself into His chosen and redeemed people as their life, supply, and everything. All this dispensing is for the purpose of divine building—God building Himself into us and building us into Him. Ultimately, this building reaches its consummation in the New Jerusalem, where God and His people dwell in mutual union, forming His eternal, corporate, and glorious expression.

 

 *Please refer to the 2025 Thanksgiving International Symposium on Christ, the All-Inclusive Christ Revealed in the Gospel of Matthew, Part Four: Christ as the Center of the Processed Triune God.

Job, David VS the New Jerusalem — God’s Building

 

Job, David VS the New Jerusalem — God’s Building

Matthew 16:18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome her.

Ephesians 3:17 That Christ might make his home in your hearts by faith, that you might be rooted and established in love.

Revelation 21:2 And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 

Aspect	Job	David	The New Jerusalem — God’s Building
Theme	The highest achievement of human perfection	A man according to God’s heart	The ultimate consummation of God’s eternal economy
Meaning	A representative of human integrity, uprightness, and fear of God	A representative of loving God and responding to His will	The mingling of divinity and humanity as one corporate entity
Reason	To expose the limitation of human virtue apart from God Himself	To reveal that loving God is not sufficient without God wrought into man	To fulfill God’s desire to build Himself into His redeemed people
Lesson	God strips man of all achievements to gain man Himself	Being after God’s heart still requires Christ living within	God’s goal is not behavior but building
Function / Effect	Shows that human perfection cannot satisfy God	Shows that outward faithfulness can still fail	Produces a corporate man as God’s mutual dwelling place
Explanation	Job was perfect outwardly, yet lacked God inwardly	David loved God but fell because God was not built into him	The New Jerusalem is God and man dwelling in one another
Relationship	Reveals the limit of natural human life	Transitional figure pointing to Christ within	The ultimate completion of Job’s and David’s experiences
Example	God questioned Job, bringing him to self-nullification	God promised to build David a house (2 Sam. 7)	The city with gates and foundations bearing God’s people’s names
Application	Stop trusting spiritual achievements	Seek Christ living in us, not merely loving God	Allow God to build Himself into us daily
Burden	Let go of “how perfect I am”	Let go of “how much I love God”	Receive God to become our intrinsic constitution
Prophesying Guidance	Human virtue cannot replace God Himself	God desires inward reality, not outward devotion	God’s goal is a built-up corporate expression
Conclusion	Job ends with gaining God Himself	David points to the need of Christ as life	The New Jerusalem consummates God’s building work
Related Scriptures	Job 1:1; 42:1–6	2 Sam. 7:12–14; Ps. 51; Gal. 2:20	Rev. 21:2–3, 12, 14, 22; John 14:23; 1 Cor. 3:12; Eph. 2:21–22

 

Core Summary:

Job and David reveal the highest human spirituality, yet both fall short; only the New Jerusalem fulfills God’s heart by producing a corporate entity where the processed Triune God and redeemed humanity are mingled and built together.

 

*Please refer to the 2025 Thanksgiving International Symposium on Christ, the All-Inclusive Christ Revealed in the Gospel of Matthew, Part Four: Christ as the Center of the Processed Triune God.

The Processed Triune God vs. the Consummated Triune God

 

The Processed Triune God vs. the Consummated Triune God

John 7:39 Jesus spoke of the Spirit who would receive those who believe in him, but at that time the Spirit did not yet exist, because Jesus had not yet been glorified.

Romans 8:9 …If the Spirit of God dwells in you, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit. However, if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. 

Item	The Processed Triune God	The Consummated Triune God
Meaning	The Triune God who entered time and history and passed through incarnation, human living, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension for the fulfillment of His economy	The Triune God who, after completing all the processes, has become “the Spirit” as the ultimate, experiential, and enterable form
Reason	To solve the problems of sin, death, Satan, and fallen humanity, and to make it possible for God to enter into man	To enable believers to be baptized into the Triune God and to enjoy all His riches in the New Testament economy
Illustration	A seed passing through growth and maturation	A fully ripened fruit ready to be eaten and supply life
Function	To accomplish redemption and prepare the way for the mingling of God and man	To be life, life supply, and building for God’s dispensing into man
Explanation	God originally had only divinity; through incarnation He took on humanity, and through death and resurrection He brought humanity into glory	In resurrection Christ became the life-giving Spirit, including all that the Father, the Son, and the Spirit are and have accomplished
Result	All the objective steps of God’s work were completed	The Triune God became the all-inclusive, consummated Spirit who can be received and experienced
Mutual Relationship	The necessary process and prerequisite	The issue and totality of the process; the two are inseparable
Examples	Jesus in incarnation, Christ on the cross, the resurrected Lord	The Spirit, the river of life, God in the New Jerusalem
Application	To know Christ’s historical and redemptive work	To live in the Spirit and enjoy the riches of the Triune God daily
Burden	Not merely objective knowledge of Christ	Subjective experience of the consummated Triune God as life and building
Prophesying Guidance	Proclaim: Christ has passed through every process for me	Proclaim: I have been baptized into the consummated Triune God
Conclusion	The processed Triune God is God’s way to reach man	The consummated Triune God is God entering into man for eternal expression
Related Scriptures	Matt. 1:23; John 1:14; Phil. 2:6–8; Heb. 2:14; John 19:30; 1 Cor. 15:3–4	Matt. 28:19; 1 Cor. 15:45; 2 Cor. 3:17; 2 Cor. 13:14; Gal. 3:27; Rev. 22:17

 

Spiritual Summary:

The Triune God is not merely objective and historical. Through incarnation, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension, He has been processed and ultimately consummated as the Spirit, into whom believers are baptized to enjoy the divine dispensing and to be built together as the New Jerusalem for God’s eternal expression.

 

*Please refer to the 2025 Thanksgiving International Symposium on Christ, the All-Inclusive Christ Revealed in the Gospel of Matthew, Part Four: Christ as the Center of the Processed Triune God.