晨興聖言-經歷、享受並彰顯基督(四)(W41-1)

第四十一週.週一

W41-d1-ch

晨興餧養

創二9 『耶和華神使各樣的樹從地裏長出來,可以悅人的眼目,也好作食物;園子當中有生命樹,還有善惡知識樹。』

西三4 『基督是我們的生命,祂顯現的時候,你們也要與祂一同顯現在榮耀裏。』

舊約論到創造,新約論到救贖。不論是在創造或救贖裏,神的目的、中心都是在於生命。…雖然神造了千千萬萬、各式各樣、形形色色的萬物,但神所要達到的目的,祂所指向的目標,就是生命。若是我們熟讀創世記頭兩章,並且安靜下來,在神面前重新默想神的創造,我們立刻能看見,神的創造是因著生命,並且達於生命;祂的創造是以生命為中心,也是以生命為目標。所以在起頭時,神從無創造出有。(李常受文集一九五三年第一冊,一四四頁。)

信息選讀

在神創造的程序裏,祂先創造了無生物,然後創造有生物。並且,生物的創造乃是從較低等的開始,越造越高。最後,祂所造最高的生物就是人。或許有人會問,何以見得人是神最高的造物?因為聖經說,神造人的時候,是按著祂自己的形像,照著祂自己的樣式造的。(創一26~27。)…不只如此,神還把祂管理萬有的權柄賜給人。(26,28。)所以,在萬有中,受造的人類像神,因為有神的形像;並且代表神,因為有神的權柄。神看一切所造的都甚好。(31。)祂在廣大的宇宙中,在形形色色的萬物裏,得著人有祂的形像,並有祂的權柄,能彀彰顯祂的榮耀,也能代表祂的權柄,祂是何等的滿足。

創世記二章告訴我們,當神造物的工完畢後,就在第七日歇了祂一切的工,安息了。(2。)許多人以為,至此神的工作已經完成,祂是真的安息、滿足了。其實不然,神的創造至此並未達到其目的。若是我們再往下讀,就會看見仍有許多問題。當神把人造好之後,便將人安置在伊甸園裏,(8,)園子當中,也就是園子中心,有一棵生命樹。(9。)生命樹是非常奇特的,聖經第一次題到『生命』,就是『生命』樹。這給我們看見,雖然神甚麼都造好了,人也豫備好,可以彰顯祂、代表祂,但神還不能滿意,因為神的目標還沒有達到。神的目標是甚麼呢?神的目標乃是生命,神把創造好的人,帶到生命樹那裏,祂把人擺在生命跟前。

神…將人帶到生命樹跟前,引導人、指示人,巴望人接觸那棵樹,好使生命能進到人裏面。神這樣作的目的,無非是要給我們看見,祂的創造乃是以生命作目標,以生命為目的。如果只有創造,人沒有達到生命,生命沒有進到人裏面,神的創造就沒有意義,沒有目的,也沒有結果。

整本聖經給我們看見生命這個目標。…我們基督徒乃是有基督作生命的人,(西三4,)祂在我們裏面拯救我們,作我們的生命。這個生命就是基督自己,也就是神自己。這個生命要帶領我們到永遠,這意思是,在永遠裏仍是生命的故事。…啟示錄給我們看見,在永遠裏我們所接觸的是生命河,所面對的是生命樹。(二二1~2上。)生命河從神和羔羊的寶座流出來,河的這邊與那邊有生命樹。我們在永世裏所接觸、所面對的就是這個生命。…所有蒙恩的人,在生命裏和神是相通的;在神的生命裏,蒙恩的人與神成為一。換言之,那個生命怎樣在神裏面,也同樣在我們裏面。(李常受文集一九五三年第一冊,一四四至一四五、一四八至一四九頁。)

參讀:創世記生命讀經,第十一篇;認識生命與召會,第一篇。

WEEK 41 — DAY 1

W41-d1-en

Morning Nourishment

Gen. 2:9 And out of the ground Jehovah God caused to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, as well as the tree of life in the middle of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Col. 3:4 When Christ our life is manifested, then you also will be manifested with Him in glory.

The Old Testament speaks of creation, and the New Testament speaks of redemption. Both in creation and redemption God’s purpose and center is life…Although God created many things of such diversity and variety, His purpose and final goal are simply life. If we read the first two chapters of Genesis and meditate quietly before God on His creation, we will see that God’s creation involves life and produces life. Life is the center and goal of God’s creation. In the beginning God created all things out of nothing. (CWWL, 1953, vol. 1, “Knowing Life and the Church,” p. 113)

Today’s Reading

In the orderly process of His creation, God first created inanimate objects, and then He created organic things. Furthermore, the creation of living beings started at the lowest level of life and advanced step by step to higher levels of life. Ultimately, the highest level of life created by God was man. Man is the highest life in God’s creation, because the Bible says that God created man in His own image and according to His own likeness (Gen. 1:26-27)…Furthermore, God also gave man the authority to have dominion over all things (vv. 26, 28). Thus, among all created things, man is like God because he has God’s image; he also represents God because he has God’s authority. God saw everything that He had made, and it was very good (v. 31). In this vast universe, among all the myriads of created things, God obtained a man with His image and authority, who could express His glory and represent His authority. This satisfied God!

God rested on the seventh day after He finished His work of creation (2:2). Many people think that God was at rest and satisfied because everything was finished at this point. However, even at this point God had not reached the purpose of His creation. If we continue reading, we will see that there were still many considerations. After God created man, He put him in the garden of Eden (v. 8). In the center of the garden was the tree of life (v. 9). The tree of life is very special. The first time life is spoken of in the Bible is in relation to the tree of life. This shows that God was still not satisfied, because He had not yet reached His goal, even though He had created everything and even though man had been prepared to express and represent God. What is God’s goal? God’s goal is life. God brought the man that He created to the tree of life and put him in front of life.

He guided and directed man to the tree of life, hoping that man would contact the tree so that life could be imparted into him. God did these things in order to show that life is the goal and purpose of His creation. If man does not come to life and life does not come into man, God’s creation of man would have no meaning, purpose, or result.

The entire Bible shows the goal of life…As Christians, we have Christ as our life (Col. 3:4). He is in us to save us and be our life. This life is Christ Himself, who is God Himself. This life will lead us into eternity, which means that even in eternity everything will be related to life. Revelation shows that in eternity we will contact the river of water of life and the tree of life. The river of water of life proceeds out of the throne of God and of the Lamb, and on this side and on that side of the river is the tree of life (22:1-2). In eternity we will contact and see life…All the believers are connected to God in life; thus, the believers and God are one in His life. In other words, just as life is in God, life is also in us. (CWWL, 1953, vol. 1, “Knowing Life and the Church,” pp. 113-114, 116)

Further Reading: Life-study of Genesis, msg. 11; CWWL, 1953, vol. 1, “Knowing Life and the Church,” ch. 1

留言

這個網誌中的熱門文章

晨興聖言-...使徒行傳極重要的方面(W1-綱要)

晨興聖言-經歷、享受並彰顯基督(W24-綱要)

晨興聖言-經歷、享受並彰顯基督(W19-綱要)