晨興聖言-亞伯拉罕、以撒、雅各的神-(W2-5)

第二週■週五

W02-d5-ch

晨興餧養

創十七 9 ~ 10『神又對亞伯拉罕說,至於你,你和你的後裔當世世代代遵守我的約。你們所有的男子都要受割禮;這就是我與你並你的後裔所立的約,是你們所當遵守的。』

在創世記十二章,神說的話是神對亞伯拉罕的應許。在十三章神重複那個應許,並加以保證。在十五章,神與亞伯拉罕立約,(8 ~ 12,18,)再次保證那個應許。雖然神一再的應許,並且立約作爲保證,在十六章亞伯拉罕的妻子卻題議亞伯拉罕娶她的使女夏甲爲妾,使她從夏甲得子。(1 ~ 3。)亞伯拉罕運用自己的肉體,娶了夏甲爲妾,夏甲就爲他生了一子,起名叫以實瑪利。這實在得罪了神!於是神對亞伯拉罕靜默了十三年之久。

當亞伯拉罕九十九歲時,神來重新堅定祂的約,這約成了割禮之約。(十七 9 ~ 14。)在祂向亞伯拉罕第三次顯現並第七次說話時,祂這位全豐全足的神成了給人行割禮的神,割除神選民在肉體裏天然的人,使他們成爲神的新造;這新造是由那憑神恩典而生的以撒所表徵,不是由那憑亞伯拉罕肉體而生的以實瑪利所表徵。(1 ~ 21,加四 22 ~ 31。)

割禮就是割除肉體,表徵我們墮落之人,我們天然之人的肉體,必須割除、了結、終止。使徒保羅說,在舊約裏肉身的割禮,乃是基督釘十字架對付我們身體之肉體的完全豫表。(西二 11。)…祂的釘十字架,乃是我們真實的割禮,割除我們的肉體及其邪情私慾。(加五 24。)(李常受文集一九九一至一九九二年第四册,一三四至一三五頁。)

信息選讀

甚至在神與亞伯拉罕立了割禮的約之後,亞伯拉罕仍然不願意放棄以實瑪利。(創十七 18。)他求神讓以實瑪利留下來,但神告訴他,神只與以撒堅定所立的約。(19。)神只承認亞伯拉罕從撒拉所生的後裔。按照加拉太四章,以撒是從恩典所生之人的豫表,而恩典是由撒拉所豫表。(22 ~ 31。)惟有從神恩典所生的一位,神纔算作是合法後裔,合法後嗣,可以承受神對亞伯拉罕的應許,並神與亞伯拉罕所立的約。

割禮指明神要我們天然的人被割除。然後神要我們在復活裏藉祂的恩典重生,這是由以撒所豫表的。因此,創世記十七章啓示基督的釘十字架與復活。釘十字架就是割除舊人;復活就是產生或生出新人,而新人乃是由以撒所表徵。…以撒的出生是基督復活的表號。神只承認由基督復活所生出的人是亞伯拉罕合法的後裔。(加三 29。)在創世記十七章,基督的釘十字架是由割禮所表徵,而基督的復活是由撒拉生以撒所表徵。彼前一章三節說,我們都已經藉基督的復活得重生了。…基督的死了結我們的舊人,基督的復活使我們的新人有新生的起頭,使我們成爲新造。

以撒是自主婦人所生,就是從恩典所生的。他是新約信徒的表樣。我們這些新約的信徒,都是從自主婦人生的,就是從神恩典生的。因此,以撒作爲亞伯拉罕的後裔,豫表基督,(加三 16,)也豫表所有新約的信徒。(29。)基督是頭,信徒是祂的身體。以撒不是從舊人憑肉體生的,乃是在復活裏憑神的恩典生的。…創世記十七章事實上是說到新約,就是新遺命。神在新約裏的經綸是全豐全足的。在新約裏,我們得着一切。我們有基督的死割除我們的舊人,我們也藉着基督的復活有了新的出生。(李常受文集一九九一至一九九二年第四册,一三五至一三六頁。)

參讀:神在祂與人聯結中的歷史,第七章。

WEEK 2 — DAY 5

W02-d5-en

Morning Nourishment

Gen. 17:9-10 And God said to Abraham, And as for you, you shall keep My covenant, you and your seed after you throughout their generations. This is My covenant, which you shall keep, between Me and you and your seed after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised.

In Genesis 12 God spoke a word as a promise to Abraham. In Genesis 13 God repeated that promise and confirmed it. In Genesis 15 God made a covenant with Abraham (vv. 8-12, 18) to reconfirm that promise. In spite of God’s repeated promise and His confirming covenant, in Genesis 16 Abraham’s wife proposed that he take Hagar her maid to bear a child for her (vv. 1-3). Abraham took, by exercising his flesh, Hagar, and she bore a son by the name of Ishmael. This was a real offense to God. And God became silent to Abraham for…thirteen years.

When Abraham was ninety-nine years old, God came in to reconfirm His covenant, which became a covenant of circumcision (17:9-14). In God’s third appearing with His seventh speaking to Abraham, He is the God of all- sufficiency in being the God of circumcision to cut off His chosen people’s natural man in the flesh so that they may become God’s new creation, signified by Isaac who was born by God’s grace, not as Ishmael who was born by Abraham’s flesh (vv. 1-21; Gal. 4:22-31).

Circumcision is the cutting off of the flesh, signifying that the flesh of our fallen man, our natural man, has to be cut off, ended, terminated. The apostle Paul said that the physical circumcision in the Old Testament was a full type of the crucifixion of Christ in dealing with the flesh of our body (Col. 2:11)… His crucifixion is our real circumcision, which cuts off our flesh with its passions and its lusts (Gal. 5:24). (CWWL, 1991-1992, vol. 4, “The History of God in His Union with Man,” p. 100)

Todays Reading

Even after God had made the covenant of circumcision with Abraham, he still did not want to give up Ishmael (Gen. 17:18). He asked God to let Ishmael remain, but God told him that He would establish His covenant only with Isaac (v. 19). God would recognize only Abraham’s seed who was brought forth by Sarah. According to Galatians 4, Isaac was a type of one born of grace, and grace is typified by Sarah (vv. 22-31). Only one who is born of God’s grace will be counted by God as a legal seed, a legal heir, to inherit what God has promised.

Circumcision indicates that God wants our natural man to be cut off. Then God wants us to be reborn by His grace in resurrection, typified by Isaac. Thus, Genesis 17 reveals Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection. The crucifixion is to cut off the old man; the resurrection is to bring forth, or to beget, the new man, and the new man is signified by Isaac. The birth of Isaac is a sign of Christ’s resurrection. God would recognize only the people brought forth by Christ’s resurrection as the legal seed of Abraham (Gal. 3:29). In Genesis 17 Christ’s crucifixion is signified by circumcision, and Christ’s resurrection is signified by Sarah’s begetting Isaac. First Peter 1:3 says that we all have been regenerated by the resurrection of Christ…Christ’s death terminated our old man, and Christ’s resurrection germinated our new man to make us the new creation.

Isaac was born of the free woman, born of grace. He was a pattern of the New Testament believers. We, the New Testament believers, are all born of the free woman, the grace of God. Thus, Isaac as Abraham’s seed typifies both Christ (Gal. 3:16) and all the New Testament believers (v. 29). Christ is the Head, and the believers are His Body. Isaac was born not by the flesh of the old man but by God’s grace in resurrection. Genesis 17 actually covers the new covenant, the new testament. God’s economy in the New Testament is all-sufficient. In the New Testament we have everything. We have the death of Christ to cut off our old man, and we have the new birth through Christ’s resurrection. (CWWL, 1991-1992, vol. 4, “The History of God in His Union with Man,” pp. 100-101)

Further Reading: CWWL, 1991-1992, vol. 4, “The History of God in His Union with Man,” ch. 7

 

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