晨興聖言-經歷、享受並彰顯基督(W24-1)
第二十四週.週一
晨興餧養
弗四7~8 『但恩典賜給我們各人,是照著基督恩賜的度量。所以經上說,「祂既升上高處,就擄掠了那些被擄的,將恩賜賜給人。」』
以弗所四章七至十六節向我們陳明基督是恩賜的賜與者。基督要被構成為恩賜的賜與者,必須經過宇宙的至高之處與極低之處,藉此充滿萬有。基督成為肉體並受死時,從宇宙的至高之處—天,降到宇宙的極低處—陰間;祂復活並升天時,從陰間升到天上。藉著祂的降下並升上,基督成了那充滿萬有者。…基督經過成為肉體和釘十字架,進入復活和升天,征服了宇宙中一切消極的事物,就如罪與死。尤其藉著祂的死,基督征服了神的仇敵撒但,摧毀他黑暗的權勢,從撒但手中擄掠了神所揀選的人,就是那些在撒但的國裏為其所擄的人。基督藉著祂的復活,將自己分賜到他們裏面作生命,並且在升天裏,帥領一列被征服的仇敵,作祂凱旋行列中的俘虜。藉著祂宇宙的歷程,祂的勝過仇敵,以及祂凱旋的行列,祂就彀資格成為恩賜的賜與者,將恩賜賜給祂的身體。(新約總論第十一冊,一九八頁。)
信息選讀
這些俘虜原先都是神所揀選的人,卻因著墮落,成了神仇敵撒但的俘虜。然而藉著基督的降下並升上,祂擊敗了撒但,重新擄掠了這些撒但的俘虜,用祂復活的生命點活他們,使他們成為祂凱旋行列中的俘虜,在行列中慶祝祂的得勝。基督又將他們當作恩賜賜給祂的身體,以建造祂的身體。這些恩賜包括使徒、申言者、傳福音者,以及牧人和教師。
基督升上高處,升到三層天上時,還沒有結束祂的歷程。祂升天後,又降下進入我們的靈裏。…今天基督仍在祂的歷程中;祂仍然在升上並降下。但如今祂的歷程主要是在我們裏面。…我們下沉時,基督就下到我們所在之處,把我們往上帶到神那裏。一天當中,我們可能多次被基督帶到天上。我們從經歷中能見證,基督在我們裏面降下又升上;祂上去又下來。雖然祂總是穩定的,但祂並不是靜止不動的;相反的,祂在我們裏面有許多的歷程。我們很難說基督在那裏。祂在天上,還是在地上?…事實上,基督是無所不在的。…祂的降下並升上乃是為了充滿萬有。〔弗四9~10。〕…藉著降下並升上,基督要以祂自己充滿我們。
許多信徒在召會中很少盡功用,因為他們還沒有被構成恩賜。…但基督在他們裏面降下並升上時,就俘擄他們,征服他們,並把他們構成賜給召會的恩賜。
以弗所四章八節啟示一個重要的原則:惟有基督在十字架上擊敗並擄掠神所揀選的人之後,基督纔能將他們領到諸天之上,作祂那被征服之仇敵行列中的俘虜,並使他們成為賜給身體的恩賜。…由於基督在十字架上擊敗了所有的仇敵,在宇宙中祂是得勝的,得了地位來充滿宇宙萬有。但因著我們在經歷中尚未被祂征服,祂在我們裏面也許不是得勝的,也沒有得著地位。我們要成為身體的恩賜盡功用,就必須被基督征服,並為基督所擊敗。…我們願意被基督擊敗,並為基督所擄掠時,基督就有立場,將我們建立為賜給身體的恩賜。(新約總論第十一冊,一九八至一九九、二○一至二○二、二○五頁。)
參讀:新約總論,第三百四十篇。
WEEK 24 — DAY 1
Morning Nourishment
Eph.
4:7-8 But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of
the gift of Christ. Therefore the Scripture says, “Having ascended to
the height, He led captive those taken captive and gave gifts to men.”
In
Ephesians 4:7-16 Christ is presented to us as the Giver of gifts. In
order for Christ to be constituted the Giver of gifts, He had to fill
all things by passing through the highest and lowest places in the
universe. In His incarnation and death, Christ descended from the
highest place in the universe, heaven, to the lowest place in the
universe, Hades; in His resurrection and ascension, He ascended from
Hades to heaven. Through His descending and ascending, Christ became the
One who fills all things…Christ passed through incarnation and
crucifixion and entered into resurrection and ascension to conquer all
the negative things in the universe such as sin and death. In
particular, through His death Christ conquered God’s enemy Satan,
destroyed his power of darkness, and captured from Satan’s hand God’s
chosen people, those who had been taken captive by Satan in his kingdom.
Through His resurrection Christ imparted Himself into them as life, and
in ascension He led these captives in His train of vanquished foes, His
train of the triumphal procession. By His universal traffic, His
victory over His enemy, and His triumphal procession He became qualified
to be the Giver of gifts to His Body. (The Conclusion of the New
Testament, p. 3411)
Todays Reading
Originally
these captives were all God’s chosen people. Yet through the fall they
became the captives of God’s enemy, Satan. Through His descending and
ascending, however, Christ defeated Satan and recaptured these captives
of Satan, enlivened them with His resurrection life, and made them His
captives in His triumphal procession, a procession celebrating His
victory. Christ then gave them as gifts to the Body for its building up;
these gifts include apostles, prophets, evangelists, and shepherds and
teachers.
When
Christ ascended up on high, to the third heaven, that was not the end
of His traveling. After He ascended, He descended into our spirit… Today
Christ is still traveling; that is, He is still ascending and
descending. However, now His traveling takes place mainly within us…When
we are down, Christ comes down to where we are and brings us up to God.
Many times during the course of a day we may be brought by Christ into
the heavens. From our experience we can testify that within us Christ
descends and ascends; He goes up and down. Although He is always steady,
He does not stand still. On the contrary, He does a great deal of
traveling within us. It is difficult to say where Christ is. Is He in
heaven or on earth?…Actually, Christ is everywhere…He descended and
ascended in order to fill all things [Eph. 4:9-10]…Through His
descending and ascending, Christ will fill us with Himself.
Many
believers have very little function in the church because they have not
yet been constituted as gifts…But as Christ descends and ascends within
them, He captures them, vanquishes them, and constitutes them into
gifts to His Body.
Verse
8 reveals an important principle that it was only after Christ on the
cross had defeated and captured God’s chosen people that Christ led them
to the heavens as His captives in His train of vanquished foes and made
them gifts to His Body…Because Christ on the cross defeated all His
enemies, He is victorious in the universe and has gained the ground to
fill all things in the universe. But He may not be victorious in us and
may not have ground in us, because we have not been subdued by Him in
our experience. In order for us to function as a gift to the Body, we
must be conquered and subdued by Christ…When we are willing to be
subdued and captured by Christ, we will give Christ the ground to
establish us as gifts to His Body. (The Conclusion of the New Testament,
pp. 3411-3414, 3416- 3417)
Further Reading: The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 340
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