2013-08-02 13:17:34 Joshuachang

晨興聖言─創世記結晶讀經(一)(42)

第四週 ‧ 週二

晨興餧養

弗三 17『使基督藉着信,安家在你們心裏…。』

林後三 18『但我們眾人既然以沒有帕子遮蔽的臉,好像鏡子觀看並返照主的榮光,就漸漸變化成為與祂
                      同樣的形像,從榮耀到榮耀,乃是從主靈變化成的。』

    神按着祂的形像,照着祂的樣式造人,目的是要人接受祂作生命,並彰顯祂一切的屬性。

    我們若對聖經(舊約和新約)的整個啓示有包羅萬有的眼光,就會看見神設計人是要人與祂成為一。神在已過的永遠裏作了這種設計。神設計人要人與祂成為一,這是一件大事。當然,在有關人與神成為一這件事上,我們在聖經裏找不到『設計』這辭。然而,我們若對神聖話語的啓示有包羅萬有的眼光,就會看見在已過的永遠裏,神曾設計人要人與祂成為一(路加福音生命讀經,五五七頁)。

信息選讀

    我們可用房屋的設計與建造為例,說明神對人的設計。我們在蓋造房子以前,首先需要設計。同樣的,聖經裏也有神的設計與建造。聖經從始至終有神建造的完整啓示。神為着祂的建造有所設計。祂設計要有人,而人應當與祂成為一(路加福音生命讀經,五五七頁)。

    現在我們要問,為甚麼神造人是按着祂自己的形像,使人成為祂自己的復本,並且為甚麼神為人造了靈。神的經綸就是這些問題的答案。約翰四章二十四節告訴我們,神是靈,我們必須在靈裏敬拜祂。只有靈纔能敬拜靈。因着祂神聖的經綸,神按着祂自己的形像,照着祂自己的樣式造人,給人有個靈可以敬拜祂、接觸祂。神聖的經綸就是要完成將神分賜到人裏面的神聖分賜。神按着祂自己的形像造人…;神給人造靈,使祂能將自己分賜到人裏面(神聖的經綸,九頁)。

    神造我們是按着祂自己的形像,為要使我們能作祂的彰顯者(創一 26)。我們這些人都是神的器皿,
神要把祂自己放在我們裏面,為着彰顯祂自己(羅九 23~24)。神在創世之前就揀選了我們,豫定我們,要把我們模成神兒子的形像(弗一 4~5,羅八29)(人生的意義與正確的奉獻,五四至五五頁)。

    人是按着神的形像造的。因此,神所造的人有愛、有光,也有度量成為公義的與聖別的。即使人墮落了,人在墮落的光景裏仍有愛、有光,也有度量像神那樣公義且聖別。神按着自己的形像造人,這就是說,神造人有度量,能有神的愛、光、義、聖。人的愛、光、義、聖,就是我們所稱的人性美德。這些美德是神所造的。…人性美德乃是神所造的,用以盛裝神的屬性。人性的愛、光、義、聖是受造的度量,用以盛裝神聖的愛、光、義、聖。

    普世的人都同意,恨人是違背我們良心的。不僅如此,說謊、偷竊、在黑暗中行事,也是違背我們良心的。甚至未得救的人收了飯館或商店多找的錢,也會有不義的感覺。

    這裏的要點是,人被神所造,有愛有光,行事公義,為人聖別。人有這些美德,因為人是按着神的形像,就是按着神愛、光、義、聖的形像造的。神所造的人性美德,乃是盛裝神屬性的度量。神這樣造人,目的就是要人接受祂作生命樹,作人的生命和內容(路加福音生命讀經,五六四至五六五頁)。

     參讀:神聖的經綸,第一至二章;人生的意義與正確的奉獻,第二至三篇。



  ‹‹  WEEK 4 — DAY 2  ›› 

Morning Nourishment

Eph. 3:17 "That Christ may make His home in your hearts through faith..."

2 Cor. 3:18 "But we all with unveiled face, beholding and reflecting like a mirror the glory of
the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the
Lord Spirit."

    God's purpose in the creation of man in His image and after His likeness was that man would receive Him as life and express Him in all His attributes.

    If we have an all-inclusive view of the entire revelation in the Scriptures, both of the Old Testament and of the New Testament, we shall see that God designed man to be one with Him. God made this design in eternity past. It is a great matter that God designed man to be one with Him. Of course, in the Bible we cannot find the word design used with respect to man's being one with God. Nevertheless, if we have an all-inclusive view of the revelation in the holy Word, we shall see that in eternity past God designed man to be one with Him. (Life-study of Luke, pp. 483-484)

    Today's Reading

    We may use the designing and building of a house as an illustration of God's design concerning man. Before we build a house, we first need a design. Likewise, in the Bible we have both God's design and His building. Throughout the Scriptures we have a complete revelation of God's building. For His building God had a design. He designed to have man and that man should be one with Him. (Life-study of Luke, p. 484)

    Now we need to ask why God created man in His own image, making man a copy of Himself, and why God created man with a spirit. God's economy is the answer to these questions. John 4:24 tells us that God is Spirit and that we must worship Him in spirit. Only the spirit can worship the Spirit. God created man in His own image, after His own likeness, with a spirit to worship Him and contact Him because of His divine economy. The divine economy is to carry out the divine dispensing of God into man. God created man in His own image...with a spirit so that He could dispense Himself into man. (The Divine Economy, p. 14)

    God created us in His own image so that we would be His expression (Gen. 1:26). We are God's vessels to contain Him so that He may be expressed through us (Rom. 9:23). God chose us and predestinated us before the foundation of the world so that we would be conformed to the image of His Son (Eph. 1:4-5; Rom. 8:29). (The Meaning of Human Life and a Proper Consecration, p. 44)

    Man was made in God's image. The man created by God, therefore, has love, light, and the capacity to be righteous and holy. Even though we are fallen, we still have in our fallen condition love, light, and the capacity to be right and to be holy like God. For God to create man in His own image means that God created man with the capacity to have His love, light, righteousness, and holiness. Human love, light, righteousness, and holiness are what we call the human virtues. These virtues were created by God....The human virtues were created by God to contain His attributes. Human love, light, righteousness, and holiness are created capacities to contain the divine love, light, righteousness, and holiness.

    People everywhere agree that hating others is contrary to our conscience. Furthermore, it is also contrary to our conscience to lie, steal, and do things in darkness. Even an unsaved person may have the sense that it would be unrighteous to keep extra change given to him by mistake in a restaurant or store.

     The point here is that man was made by God to have love and light and to walk righteously and to be holy. Man has these virtues because he was created in God's image, in the image of God's love, light, righteousness, and holiness. The human virtues created by God are the capacity to contain God's attributes. God created man in this way with the intention that man would take Him as the tree of life to be his life and content. (Life-study of Luke, pp. 489-490)

     Further  Reading:  The  Divine  Economy,  chs.  1-2;  The  Meaning  of  Human  Life  and  a  Proper Consecration, chs. 2-3