晨興聖言-經歷、享受並彰顯基督(W23-1)

第二十三週.週一

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晨興餧養

約壹三1 『你們看,父賜給我們的是何等的愛,使我們得稱為神的兒女,我們也真是祂的兒女。世人所以不認識我們,是因未曾認識祂。』

弗五1  『所以你們要效法神,好像蒙愛的兒女一樣。』

保羅在以弗所五章一節的話是命令語氣,是一個囑咐。他囑咐我們要效法神。我們是神蒙愛的兒女,所以能效法神,這是何等榮耀的事實!我們既是神的兒女,就有祂的生命和性情。我們效法神,並不是憑我們天然的生命,乃是憑祂神聖的生命。我們這些神的兒女,乃是憑我們父神聖的生命,纔能完全,像祂一樣。(太五48。)

按照新約,在基督裏的信徒乃是神的兒女。我們既是神的兒女,就有神的生命。約翰一章十三節說,我們是從神生的。從神生,就是得著神的生命。不僅如此,彼後一章四節說,我們有分於神的性情。因為我們有神聖的生命與神聖的性情,我們就能效法神。這樣效法神與訓練猴子模倣人大不相同。猴子沒有人的生命和人的性情。但我們有神聖的生命和神聖的性情,所以我們能效法神。(以弗所書生命讀經,五○九至五一○頁。)

信息選讀

在基督裏的信徒是神的兒女。約壹三章一節說,『你們看,父賜給我們的是何等的愛,使我們得稱為神的兒女,我們也真是祂的兒女。』這裏『神的兒女』與二章二十九節『從祂生的』一致。我們已經從父這生命的源頭而生,成為神的兒女。人類竟能從神而生,罪人竟能成為神的兒女,這確是宇宙中最大的奇蹟!藉著這驚人的神聖出生,我們得著了神聖的生命,就是永遠的生命。藉著重生從神所得著的這生命,使我們能作神的兒女。這生命是我們作神兒女的權柄。(約一1213。)那靈同我們的靈見證,我們這些從前是魔鬼兒女的,如今乃是神的兒女。(羅八16。)甚至在我們軟弱或退後的時候,我們仍然深深確信我們是神的兒女,因為我們一旦從神而生,就永遠是祂的兒女。

約翰一章十二至十三節說,『凡接受祂的,就是信入祂名的人,祂就賜他們權柄,成為神的兒女。這等人不是從血生的,不是從肉體的意思生的,也不是從人的意思生的,乃是從神生的。』這裏我們看見,神的兒女是從神生的,不是從血生的,不是從肉體的意思生的,也不是從人的意思生的。這裏的血,表徵肉身的生命;肉體的意思,指成為肉體後墮落之人的意思;人的意思,指神所創造之人的意思。我們成為神的兒女時,不是從我們肉身的生命、我們墮落的生命、或我們受造的生命生的—我們乃是從神這非受造的生命生的。人成為神的兒女,就是人從神而生,有神的生命和性情。因著重生使我們從神而生,自然就使我們成為神的兒女,而與神有生命的關係。

我們從神而生,這確是一個奧祕。我們由神所造,乃是眾所公認的。但說神是我們的父,因而我們有祂的生命和性情,這是作極大的宣告。然而,神真是我們的父,這是一個驚人的事實。祂不是我們的養父或岳父,祂乃是將祂的生命賜給我們,使我們成為祂在生命裏的真兒女。

信徒成為神的兒女,是藉著因信入神兒子的名而接受祂。〔12。〕…作神兒女的權柄,乃是作我們生命的基督自己。我們因著信入主耶穌而接受祂,就從神而生,如今成為神的兒女。(新約總論第五冊,一一至一三頁。)

參讀:約翰一書生命讀經,第三十四篇。

WEEK 23 — DAY 1

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Morning Nourishment

1 John 3:1 Behold what manner of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and we are. Because of this the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.

Eph. 5:1 Be therefore imitators of God, as beloved children.

Paul’s word in Ephesians 5:1 is an imperative, a command. He commands us to be imitators of God. What a glorious fact that since we are His beloved children, we can be imitators of God! As the children of God, we have His life and nature. We imitate God not by our natural life but by His divine life. It is by our Father’s divine life that we, His children, can be perfect as He is (Matt. 5:48).

According to the New Testament, the believers in Christ are children of God. As God’s children, we have God’s life. John 1:13 says that we have been born of God. To be born of God is to have the life of God. Furthermore, 2 Peter 1:4 says that we are partakers of the divine nature. Because we have the divine life and the divine nature, we can be imitators of God. Imitating God in this way is much different from training a monkey to imitate a man. A monkey does not have the human life or the human nature. But we have the divine life and the divine nature. Therefore, we can be imitators of God. (Lifestudy of Ephesians, p. 409)

Todays Reading

The believers in Christ are children of God. First John 3:1 says, “Behold what manner of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and we are.” “Children of God” here corresponds to “begotten of Him” in 2:29. We have been begotten of the Father, the source of life, to be the children of God. Surely it is the greatest wonder in the universe that human beings could be begotten of God and sinners could be made children of God. Through such an amazing divine birth we have received the divine life, the eternal life. This life, obtained from God through regeneration, enables us to be God’s children. This life is the authority for us to be children of God (John 1:12-13). The Spirit witnesses with our spirit that we who once were children of the devil are now the children of God (Rom. 8:16). Even at times when we are weak or backsliding we still have the deep conviction that we are children of God, for once we have been born of God we are His children forever.

John 1:12 and 13 say, “As many as received Him, to them He gave authority to become children of God, to those who believe into His name, who were begotten not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” Here we see that the children of God have been begotten of God, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man. “Blood” here signifies the physical life; “the will of the flesh” denotes the will of fallen man after man became flesh; and “the will of man” refers to the will of man created by God. When we became children of God, we were not born of our physical life, our fallen life, or our created life—we were born of God, the uncreated life. For human beings to become children of God is for them to be born of God to have the divine life and nature. Because regeneration causes us to be born of God, it automatically causes us to become children of God and to have a relationship of life with God.

It surely is a mystery that we have been born of God. That we have been created by God is commonly admitted. But to say that God is our Father and that we therefore have His life and nature is to make a great claim. Nevertheless, it is an amazing fact that God is really our Father. And He is not our adopted father or our father-in-law, but the One who has given us His life that we may be His genuine children in life.

The believers become children of God through their receiving of the Son of God by believing into His name [v. 12]…The authority to be God’s children is Christ Himself as life to us. Having received the Lord Jesus by believing in Him, we have been born of God and now are children of God. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 1071-1073)

Further Reading: Life-study of 1 John, msg. 34

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