晨興聖言-經歷、享受並彰顯基督(W23-綱要)
第二十三週 神的兒女在愛和光中行事為人
讀經:弗一5,9,五1~14,約壹四8,16,一5
【週 一】
壹 神的喜悅乃是與人成為一,並使人在生命和性情上,但不在神格上,與祂一式一樣—弗一5,9。
貳 我們這些神的兒女乃是神人,由神而生,有神的生命和性情,屬於神的種類—五1,約壹三1,約一12~13:
一 神是我們真實、真正的父,我們是祂真實、真正的兒女—約壹三1,弗五1。
二 宇宙中最大的奇蹟,乃是人類竟能從神而生,罪人竟能成為神的兒女—約壹三1,9,四7,五1,4,18,約一12~13。
三 藉著這種驚人的神聖出生,我們得著了神聖的生命,就是永遠的生命,作為神聖的種子種到我們裏面—約壹一2,三9。
四 我們既是由神聖的生命所生,有神聖的生命,我們這些神的兒女就是神聖的人—五11~13,三1,10。
五 我們這些由神所生的人,不僅有神聖的生命,也有神聖的性情—彼後一4。
六 因為我們是神的兒女,有神的生命和性情,我們就能效法神—弗五1。
七 我們是父的兒女,有父的生命和性情,因此我們能完全,像我們的父完全一樣—太五48。
【週 二】
參 我們需要認識並經歷神作為愛和光—約壹四8,16,一5:
一 愛與光,事實上乃是神自己;這二者是神的所是,神的素質—四8,一5。
二 約翰一書先說神就是光,(一5,)然後說神就是愛。(四8,16。)
三 愛是神素質的性質,乃是恩典的源頭;光是神彰顯的性質,乃是真理的源頭。
四 神聖的愛向我們顯明,就成為恩典;神聖的光照耀在我們身上,就成為真理。
【週 三】
肆 我們這些神的兒女,應當在愛和光中行事為人—弗五2,8:
一 恩典與實際(真理)怎樣是以弗所四章十七至三十二節基本的元素,愛與光照樣是五章一至三十三節保羅勸勉的基本元素:
1 恩典是愛的發表,愛是恩典的源頭;真理是光的啟示,光是真理的根源—約壹四8,一5。
2 愛是神內在的本質,光是神外顯的元素;神內在的愛是可感覺的,神外顯的光是可看見的。
3 我們這些神兒女的日常行事為人,該由神愛的本質和光的元素二者所構成;這該是我們行事為人內在的源頭。
4 在愛和光裏行事為人,比照著真理並憑著恩典行事為人更深、更柔細。
【週 四】
二 『要在愛裏行事為人,正如基督愛我們,為我們捨了自己,作供物和祭物獻與神,成為馨香之氣』—弗五2:
1 在愛裏行事為人,就是在與神親密的關係中行事為人—參約壹三1:
a 在父面前,我們不僅享受恩典,就是愛的發表,我們也享受愛的本身。
b 我們在日常的行事為人中,該一直顧到我們父的感覺,因為我們親密的活在祂溫柔的愛裏。
【週 五】
2 以弗所書的目標,乃是要帶我們進入神的愛,就是祂內在的本質裏,使我們在甜美的神聖之愛裏享受祂的同在,而像基督一樣的愛別人—五25:
a 在愛的情形與氣氛中,我們被神浸透,在祂面前成為聖別、沒有瑕疵—一4。
b 我們在其中為著長大而生根、為著建造而立基的愛,乃是我們實際認識並經歷之神聖的愛—三17。
c 基督的愛就是基督自己,是不可度量且超越知識的,但我們能藉著經歷認識這愛—19節。
d 我們在基督裏面神的愛裏持守著真實,就是持守基督同祂的身體—四15。
e 基督的身體在愛裏把自己建造起來;為著建造基督的身體,我們無論是甚麼或作甚麼,愛乃是極超越的路—16節,林前十二31。
f 在不朽壞之中愛主,意思就是在新造裏,並照著以弗所書所啟示一切不朽壞的事項愛主—六24。
3 我們既已重生,成了神的種類,我們這些神的兒女就應當是愛,因為神就是愛;我們既在生命和性情上成了神,也就應當成為愛—約壹四8,16。
【週 六】
三 『你們從前是黑暗,但如今在主裏面乃是光,行事為人就要像光的兒女』—弗五8:
1 神是光,所以我們這些神的兒女,也是光的兒女—約壹一5,弗五8,約十二36。
2 我們不僅是光的兒女,並且就是光的本身;我們是光,因為我們在主裏與神是一—太五14,約壹一5。
3 當我們在光中時,我們就在對錯的範圍之外—7節。
4 我們若行事為人像光的兒女,就會結出以弗所五章九節所描述的果子:
a 光的果子,性質上必須是善的,手續上必須是義的,彰顯上必須是真實的,使神得以彰顯,成為我們日常行事為人的實際。
b 在善、義和真實中之光的果子,與三一神有關:
(一) 父神就是善,乃是光之果子的性質;因此,在九節的善,指著父神—太十九17。
(二) 義,指著子神,因為基督照著神義的手續,成就神的定旨—羅五17~18,21。
(三) 真實,就是光之果子的彰顯,指著靈神,因為祂是實際的靈—約十四17,十六13。
c 我們行事為人像光的兒女,證據乃是看有沒有結出這種果子。
Week Twenty-three
The Children of God Walking in Love and Light
Hymns: E13
Scripture Reading: Eph. 1:5, 9; 5:1-14; 1 John 4:8, 16; 1:5
§ Day 1
I.
Gods good pleasure is to be one with man and to make man the same as He
is in life and in nature but not in the Godhead—Eph. 1:5, 9.
II.
As the children of God, we are God-men, born of God, possessing the
life and nature of God, and belonging to the species of God—5:1; 1 John
3:1; John 1:12-13:
A. God is our real, genuine, Father, and we are His real, genuine, children—1 John 3:1; Eph. 5:1.
B.
The greatest wonder in the universe is that human beings could be
begotten of God and that sinners could be made children of God—1 John
3:1, 9; 4:7; 5:1, 4, 18; John 1:12-13.
C.
Through such an amazing divine birth we have received the divine life,
the eternal life, as the divine seed sown into our being—1 John 1:2;
3:9.
D. Since we have been born of the divine life and possess the divine life, we, the children of God, are divine persons—5:11-13; 3:1, 10.
E. As those who have been born of God, we have not only the divine life but also the divine nature—2 Pet. 1:4.
F. Because we are the children of God with the life and nature of God, we can be imitators of God—Eph. 5:1.
G. As the Fathers children, having the Fathers life and nature, we can be perfect as our Father is perfect—Matt. 5:48.
§ Day 2
III. We need to know and experience God as love and light—1 John 4:8, 16; 1:5:
A. Love and light are actually God Himself; they are Gods being, His essence—4:8; 1:5.
B. First John says that God is light (v. 5) and then that God is love (4:8, 16).
C.
Love, as the nature of Gods essence, is the source of grace, and light,
as the nature of Gods expression, is the source of truth.
D. When the divine love appears to us, it becomes grace, and when the divine light shines upon us, it becomes truth.
§ Day 3
IV. As children of God, we should walk in love and light—Eph. 5:2, 8:
A.
As grace and truth are the basic elements in 4:17-32, so love and light
are the basic elements of Pauls exhortation in 5:1-33:
1. Grace is the expression of love, and love is the source of grace; truth is the revelation of light, and light is the origin of truth—1 John 4:8; 1:5.
2.
Love is the inner substance of God, and light is the expressed element
of God; the inner love of God is sensible, and the outer light of God is
visible.
3.
Our daily walk as children of God should be constituted with both the
loving substance of God and the shining element of God; this should be
the inner source of our walk.
4. Walking in love and light is deeper and more tender than living according to truth and by grace.
§ Day 4
B.
"Walk in love, even as Christ also loved us and gave Himself up for us,
an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savor"—Eph.
5:2:
1. To walk in love is to walk in intimacy with God—cf. 1 John 3:1:
a. In the Fathers presence, we not only enjoy grace, the expression of love, but we also enjoy love itself.
b. In our daily walk we should always care for our Fathers feeling, for we live intimately in His tender love.
§ Day 5
2.
The goal of the book of Ephesians is to bring us into love as the inner
substance of God that we may enjoy His presence in the sweetness of the
divine love and thereby love others as Christ did—5:25:
a. In the condition and atmosphere of love, we are saturated with God to be holy and without blemish before Him—1:4.
b. The love in which we are rooted for growth and grounded for building is the divine love realized and experienced by us in a practical way— 3:17.
c.
The love of Christ, which is Christ Himself, is immeasurable and
knowledge-surpassing, yet we can know it by experiencing it—v. 19.
d. In the love of God in Christ, we hold to truth, that is, to Christ with His Body—4:15.
e.
The Body of Christ builds itself up in love; love is the most excellent
way for us to be anything and to do anything for the building up of the
Body of Christ—v. 16; 1 Cor. 12:31.
f.
To love the Lord in incorruptibility means to love Him in the new
creation and according to all the incorruptible things revealed in the
book of Ephesians—6:24.
3.
As those who have been regenerated to become Gods species, we, the
children of God, should be love because God is love; since we become God
in life and in nature, we also should become love—1 John 4:8, 16.
§ Day 6
C. "You were once darkness but are now light in the Lord; walk as children of light"—Eph. 5:8:
1. As God is light, so we, the children of God, are children of light—1 John 1:5; Eph. 5:8; John 12:36.
2.
We are not only children of light—we are light itself; we are light
because we are one with God in the Lord—Matt. 5:14; 1 John 1:5.
3. When we are in the light, we are outside the realm of right and wrong—v. 7.
4. If we walk as children of light, we will bear the fruit described in Ephesians 5:9:
a. The fruit of the light must be good in nature, righteous in procedure, and real in expression, that God may be expressed as the reality of our daily walk.
b. The fruit of the light in goodness, righteousness, and truth is related to the Triune God:
1)
God the Father as goodness is the nature of the fruit of the light;
therefore, goodness in verse 9 refers to God the Father—Matt. 19:17.
2)
Righteousness refers to God the Son, for Christ came to accomplish Gods
purpose according to Gods righteous procedure—Rom. 5:17-18, 21.
3) Truth, the expression of the fruit of the light, refers to God the Spirit, for He is the Spirit of reality—John 14:17; 16:13.
c. The proof that we are walking as children of light is seen in the bearing of such fruit.
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