晨興聖言-經歷、享受並彰顯基督(W14-6)

第十四週.週六

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晨興餧養

羅八37~39 『然而藉著那愛我們的,在這一切的事上,我們已經得勝有餘了。因為我深信,無論是死,是生,是天使,是掌權的,是現今的事,是要來的事,是有能的,是高,是深,或是別的受造之物,都不能叫我們與神的愛隔絕,這愛是在我們的主基督耶穌裏的。』 

保羅在羅馬八章三十七節告訴我們,藉著那愛我們的基督,我們在一切苦難上已經得勝有餘了。因著神對我們不變的愛,以及基督為我們成就的一切,患難逼迫不能壓制或勝過我們;反而藉著那愛我們的,我們勝過且征服這一切而有餘。(新約總論第十冊,八五至八六頁。)

信息選讀

神的愛是祂永遠救恩的源頭。這愛乃是在基督裏,由聖靈澆灌在我們心裏的,(羅五5,)甚麼都不能叫我們與神這愛隔絕。這愛在神的救恩裏,成了基督對我們的愛,經過基督的恩,為我們作了許多奇妙的事,直到在我們身上完成神完整的救恩。這許多奇妙的事,惹起神的仇敵,用種種苦難災害(八35~36)攻擊我們。但這些攻擊,因著我們對神在基督裏之愛的響應,都成了我們的益處。(28。)因此,我們在這一切苦難災害上,都是得勝有餘的。(37。)

我們是神所愛的,沒有甚麼能使我們與祂的愛隔絕。神一旦愛我們,就以永遠、不能隔絕的愛,永遠愛我們。所以,神的救恩藉著祂的愛得以穩固。這就是說,我們永遠的保障乃是神的愛。我們可得著保證,沒有甚麼會使我們與神的愛隔絕,因為這愛不是源於我們,或在於我們,乃是源於神,並在於祂。這愛是神在永遠裏所起始的。

在羅馬八章三十九節保羅指出,神那不能隔絕的愛,是在我們的主基督耶穌裏的。神的愛若是在基督之外顯出來,就會有難處,因為離了基督,甚至像發脾氣這樣的罪,也會使我們與神的愛隔絕。然而,神的愛不僅僅是神的愛本身,乃是在基督耶穌裏的神的愛。因為神的愛是在基督耶穌裏,我們就可得著保證,沒有甚麼能使我們與這愛隔絕。

神在基督裏的救恩已經把我們救到一個地步,一面在神的悅納中,享受這救恩的源頭,就是神在基督裏,那任何人事物都不能隔絕的愛;一面在神的生命中,經過主靈的模成,而達到這救恩的終極目標,就是進入那神聖無比的榮耀裏,與神同榮耀。(18,30。)

羅馬書頭八章啟示基督有神聖的性情與永遠的神性,基督神聖的人位乃是在神格裏。這幾章也表明,這位有神格的基督成為人,作大衛的後裔,經過為人生活、受死、復活的過程,因而成功神的救贖並進入神的榮耀裏;藉著這些過程,祂終極完成為基督的靈,而這基督的靈就是神的靈、生命的靈、並這位美妙基督的實際與素質。祂作為基督的靈,就能彀、也的確進到祂的信徒裏面,作他們的生命、生命的供應和一切。總而言之,基督是神,成為肉體來作人;基督在祂的人性裏,帶著肉體經過了死與復活的過程,成為賜生命的靈,為要與我們成為一靈,使我們成為祂的一部分,作祂奇妙身體的眾肢體。(新約總論第十冊,八六至八八頁。)

參讀:新約總論,第三百零二篇。

WEEK 14 — DAY 6

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Morning Nourishment

Rom. 8:37-39 But in all these things we more than conquer through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities nor things present nor things to come nor powers nor height nor depth nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

In Romans 8:37 Paul tells us that in all the sufferings we more than conquer through Christ who loved us. Because of God’s unchanging love for us and the fact that Christ has accomplished everything on our behalf, neither tribulation nor persecution can suppress or defeat us; rather, in all these things we more than overcome and conquer through Him who loved us. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 3083-3084)

Today's Reading

The love of God is the source of His eternal salvation. This love is in Christ and has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit (Rom. 5:5). Nothing can separate us from this love of God. In God’s salvation this love to us has become the love of Christ, which does many marvelous things for us through the grace of Christ until God’s complete salvation is accomplished in us. These marvelous things provoke God’s enemy to attack us with all kinds of sufferings and calamities (8:35-36). However, because of our response to the love of God in Christ, these attacks have become benefits to us (v. 28). Hence, we more than conquer in all our afflictions and calamities (v. 37).

We are God’s beloved ones, and nothing can separate us from His love. Once God loves us, He loves us forever with an eternal, inseparable love. Therefore, God’s salvation is secured by His love. This means that our eternal security is the love of God. We may be assured that nothing will separate us from the love of God, because this love does not derive from us or depend on us but is derived from God and depends on Him. This love was initiated by God in eternity.

In Romans 8:39 Paul points out that the inseparable love of God is in Christ Jesus our Lord. If the love of God were shown apart from Christ, there would be problems, for apart from Christ, even a sin such as losing our temper would separate us from the love of God. However, the love of God is not only the love of God itself but the love of God which is in Christ Jesus. Because the love of God is in Christ Jesus, we may be assured that nothing can separate us from it.

God’s salvation in Christ has saved us to the extent that, on the one hand, we are in God’s acceptance enjoying the source of this salvation, which is God’s love in Christ, from which we cannot be separated by any person, matter, or thing; and, on the other hand, we are in God’s life being conformed by the Lord Spirit to reach the ultimate goal of this salvation, that is, to enter into the incomparable divine glory and be glorified together with God (vv. 18, 30).

The first eight chapters of Romans reveal that Christ has divinity and eternal deity and that the divine person of Christ is in the Godhead. These chapters also show that this Christ who has the Godhead became a man as the seed of David, that He passed through the processes of human living, death, and resurrection, thereby accomplishing God’s redemption and entering into God’s glory, and that through these processes He was eventually consummated to become the Spirit of Christ, who is the Spirit of God, the Spirit of life, and the reality, the essence, of this wonderful Christ. It is as the Spirit of Christ that He can, and does, enter into His believers to be their life, their life supply, and their everything. In summary, Christ as God was incarnated to be a man, and Christ in His humanity with flesh passed through the processes of death and resurrection to become the life-giving Spirit in order to be one spirit with us that we might be a part of His being as members of His wonderful Body. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 3084-3085)

Further Reading: The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 302

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