2013-07-11 11:30:42 Joshuachang

晨興聖言─保羅的完成職事(56)

第五週 • 週六

晨興餧養

創一 26『神說,我們要按着我們的形像,照着我們的樣式造人,使他們管理…全地…。』

啓十二 5『婦人生了一個男孩子,是將來要用鐵杖轄管萬國的;她的孩子被提到神和祂的寶座那裏去
                   了。』

    我們若活新造,就是神的真以色列。照着創世記,雅各這個抓腳跟的人,篡奪者,被變化成爲以色列,神的君王與得勝者。…今天我們需要成爲這樣的以色列,就是君王,在地上執行神的行政。我們若有第二種憑着靈而行,就是照着神永遠的定旨按規律而行,我們就會非常實際的成爲新造,我們也就是神的以色列,代表神,行使祂的權柄,並在地上執行祂的行政,以完成祂的定旨。最終,這個神的以色列,要成爲新耶路撒冷。

    神的新以色列必須是新造。爲此,我們需要神自己作到我們裏面,浸透我們,並使我們與祂成爲一。然
後我們需要過這樣調和的生活。我們過新造調和的生活,就會成爲今天神在地上的以色列,祂的君王與得
勝者,執行祂的權柄,代表祂的行政。今天神的以色列是要來新耶路撒冷的小影,新耶路撒冷將是新造和
神的以色列終極的完成。願我們都看見這點,並且照此而行(加拉太書生命讀經,四六二至四六三頁)。

信息選讀

    保羅在加拉太六章十六節…用動詞 stoicheo 〔史托依奇歐,中文譯作『行』〕:『凡照這準則而行的,願平安憐憫臨到他們,就是臨到神的以色列。』將這裏的原文繙作『照基本原則而行』是正確的。這裏保羅加上『照這準則』這辭。照上下文,『這準則』就是前節所題作爲新造的準則。『照這準則而行』,就是活新造。

    保羅在十五節說:『受割禮不受割禮,都無關緊要,要緊的乃是作新造。』這裏我們看見,我們不是要過受割禮的生活,也不是要過不受割禮的生活;不是要過宗教的生活,也不是要過非宗教的生活。我們乃是要活新造。這裏的新造就是所有神兒子的總和。神的眾子就是新造。

    照着聖經的啓示,神的心意是要使我們成爲祂的兒子。神創造人類時,作了必要的準備,要達到這目標。祂按着自己的形像,照着自己的樣式造人,祂設計並創造人作器皿盛裝祂。因爲我們墮落了,神就差遣祂的兒子來救贖我們。我們相信基督的時候,神就差祂兒子的靈進入我們裏面,重生我們,使我們成爲神的兒子。如今那靈,三一神的終極完成,住在我們靈裏,作工、運行、活動並膏抹我們,使我們完滿的成爲神的兒子。我們是神的兒子,需要憑着這靈而行,以這靈作我們的基本準則、基本原則。這樣憑着靈而行,就是照着基本準則而行。

    我們不應當以道德標準或宗教要求作爲我們的原則。我們的基本原則應當是新造,就是神聖的兒子名分,連同神的生命與性情。一天過一天,我們需要以兒子的名分,就是新造,作爲我們的基本原則,並且照着這個原則而行。我們若這樣作,就要在神兒子的名分裏長大成熟。這樣,我們有一天就要在榮耀裏,神要從我們裏面照耀出來。這樣,我們將是三一神浩大的、宇宙的、團體的彰顯。那就是神聖兒子名分的完成。在我們的日常生活中,我們應當實行照着這兒子名分作我們的基本原則、基本準則而活。讚美主,我們這樣行是可能的!(加拉太書生命讀經,五○二至五○三、五○七至五○八頁)

    參讀:加拉太書生命讀經, 第四十二、四十四、四十六篇。


WEEK 5 — DAY 6

Morning Nourishment

Gen. 1:26 "And God said, Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let
                     them have dominion...over all the earth..."

Rev. 12:5 "And she brought forth a son, a man-child, who is to shepherd all the nations with an
                       iron rod; and her child was caught up to God and to His throne."

    If we live a new creation, we shall be the real Israel of God. According to the book of Genesis, Jacob, a heel-holder, a supplanter, was transformed into Israel, a prince of God and a victor....Today we need to be such an Israel, a prince to execute God's government on earth. If we have the second kind of walk by the Spirit, an orderly walk according to God's eternal purpose, we shall become a new creation in a very practical way, and we shall also be the Israel of God, representing God, exercising His authority, and carrying out His administration on earth for the fulfillment of His purpose. Ultimately, this Israel of God will become the New Jerusalem.

    The new Israel of God must be a new creation. For this we need God Himself to be wrought into us, to saturate us, and to make us one with Him. Then we need to live such a mingled life. By living the mingled life of the new creation, we shall be the Israel of God on earth today, His princes and victors executing His authority and representing His government. Today's Israel of
God is a miniature of the coming New Jerusalem, which will be the ultimate consummation of the new creation and of the Israel of God. May we all see this and walk according to it! (Life-study of Galatians, pp. 377-378)

Today's Reading

    Paul...uses the verb stoicheo [walk] in Galatians 6:16:"And as many as walk by this rule, peace be upon them and mercy, even upon the Israel of God." It is correct to render the Greek here as"walk according to the elementary principles." Here Paul added the phrase by this rule. According to the context,"this rule" is the rule of being a new creation, as mentioned in the preceding verse. To"walk by this rule" is to live a new creation.

    In  6:15  Paul  says,"For  neither  is  circumcision  anything  nor uncircumcision, but a new creation." Here we see that we are to live neither a life of circumcision nor of uncircumcision, neither a religious life nor an unreligious life. Rather, we are to live a new creation. The new creation here is the totality of all the sons of God. God's sons are the new creation.

    According to the revelation in the Bible, God's intention is to make us His sons. In His creation of mankind, God made the necessary preparations to reach this goal. He created man in His image and after His likeness. He designed and created man as a vessel to contain Him. Because we became fallen, God sent His Son to redeem us. When we believed in Christ, God sent the Spirit of His Son into us to regenerate us and make us sons of God. Now the Spirit, the ultimate consummation of the Triune God, dwells in our spirit to work, move, act, and anoint us that we may be sons of God in a full way. As God's sons, we need to walk according to this Spirit, taking the Spirit as our elementary rule, our basic principle. To walk by the Spirit in this way is to walk according to the elementary principles.

    We should not take ethical standards or religious requirements as our principle. Rather, our elementary principle should be the new creation, the divine sonship with the life and nature of God. Day by day, we need to take the sonship, the new creation, as our elementary principle and walk according to it. If we do this, we shall grow in God's sonship unto maturity. Then one day we shall be in glory, and God will shine forth from within us. In this way we shall be a vast, universal, corporate expression of the Triune God. That will be the consummation of the divine sonship. In our daily life we should practice living according to this sonship as our basic principle, our elementary rule. Praise the Lord that it is possible for us to walk in this way!
(Life-study of Galatians, pp. 410, 414)

    Further Reading: Life-study of Galatians, msgs. 42, 44, 46