Ephesians 1:9

(1:9-10) Paul is using the plural here ("He made known to us"), in order that we might all personally identify with what he is saying. It is specifically true, however, that Paul was the individual to whom God revealed his intentions for that entire special company of men and women placed into union with His Son, Jesus Christ, which is called "the Church." Having redeemed us (the Church), the Father now, through the work of the Revealer, the Holy Spirit, brings us into knowledge of truths heretofore hidden from men, including even Israel under the Law.

"It is in Acts 9:20 that the Lord Jesus is first proclaimed, by Paul, as the Son of God--and this is a distinct advance of truth concerning Him. Paul already stood in clearer light regarding the risen and glorified Lord than did the other apostles, for they had known Him primarily, in humiliation, and they were His messengers to Israel, of whom is Christ 'as concerning the flesh' (Romans 9:5). But Paul's first vision of the Lord Jesus was as the Glorified One, the Son of God, in resurrection glory." --Wm. R. Newell

"Oikonomian" is translated "dispensation", "stewardship", or "administration", by different scholars. The definition fits the common ideas of all of these. A dispensation is a period of human history from God's point of view. It involves a circumstance that exists on Earth and which involves the way in which man is related to God and the means by which God reveals Himself to man. In the Old Testament, this was mainly through the Mosaic Law given to Israel. The illustrations of God and His attributes were displayed in Tabernacle and Temple ceremonies and rites for all of Israel to see and understand. In the period from Pentecost until the Rapture of the Church, His revelation is through His Word, which reveals the Lord Jesus Christ under the direct ministry of the Holy Spirit. After the Church is taken out of the world, and Israel is brought under God's judgment and care, a period of personal reign by Jesus Christ for 1,000 years (the Millennium) will ensue. That is the "dispensation of the fullness of times", the final period of earthly history involving man. After that time, earth and heaven will be removed and replaced with a new heaven and earth for all eternity.