12月11日 仰望主耶稣基督
12月11日，周四
仰望主耶稣基督
“胜过世界的是谁呢？不就是那信耶稣是神的儿子的吗？”（约翰壹书5:5）
当我从“抵挡世界的争战”这一角度思想主耶稣基督时，我不禁会问：祂为什么要来到这个世界？你看，这其实是在操练我们对基督的信心——把我们所信的真理认真地“算一算、想一想”。我相信，福音书中所记载的拿撒勒人耶稣，就是永生神的儿子。既然如此，我很自然就要继续追问：为什么神的儿子要取了“罪身的样式”，真正地成为一个人，并在地上生活呢？这背后究竟意味着什么？对此，只有一个清楚的答案：因为罪的权势、撒但的权势以及邪恶的权势。除此以外，没有第二种解释。神的儿子之所以降临，是因为唯有藉着祂，我们才能从这被罪捆绑的世界中得拯救。
换句话说，这一切又回到了罪的教义。世界被罪与邪恶所辖制，而只有当我真正相信“耶稣是神的儿子”时，我才会开始明白自己所卷入的争战，其本质是什么。为什么许多人对世界抱持着天真的乐观？因为他们从未认识罪的深重。但若你真的相信耶稣是神的儿子，那么你也必须承认：罪、邪恶与撒但的权势之巨大，已经使人完全无能为力，以至必须由神的儿子亲自降临来拯救我们。
信心正是这样使我们“胜过世界”的。若我不真正看见问题的本质，我又怎能胜过世界呢？当我信靠基督的那一刻，我就开始对问题有了洞察，因为唯有基督徒才能真正“看穿”这个世界。世人都在世界的辖制之下，被世界牵引、支配；但当我一成为基督徒，我就开始以属天的视角看待世界，识破它的虚假与欺骗。
默想主题：
神的儿子之所以降临，是因为唯有藉着祂，我们才能从这被罪捆绑的世界中得拯救。
麦琴（麦克谦）读经计划进度
家庭敬拜：代下11-12章，启2章
个人灵修：番3章，约1章
December 11, Thursday
LOOK AT THE LORD JESUS CHRIST
. . . but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?(1 JOHN 5:5)
As I look at the Lord Jesus Christ in terms of this fight against the world, I ask this question: Why did He ever come into this world? You see, I am now working out my faith in Christ. I believe that the person, Jesus of Nazareth, about whom I read in the Gospels, is the Son of God. Very well, I ask immediately, why did the Son of God ever take upon Himself the likeness of sinful flesh and live as man, as He indeed did? What is the meaning of it all? And there is only one answer to that question. It was because of the power of sin, the power of Satan, the power of evil. There is no other explanation. The Son of God came because He was the only way in which we could be delivered from the world.
In other words, it is the doctrine of sin again, the power of Satan and sin and evil. He came into this world because the world was dominated by sin, and it is only as I believe that “Jesus is the Son of God” that I begin to understand the nature of the fight in which I am engaged. People are optimistic about this world, and they are so because they have never understood the nature of sin. But if you believe that Jesus is the Son of God, you have to believe that the power of sin and evil and Satan is so tremendous that man had failed and the Son of God had to come.
Do you seen, then, how this enables us to overcome the world? How can I overcome the world unless I have seen the nature of the problem? The moment I have faith in Christ, I begin to understand the problem, for it is only the Christian who can see through this world. Everybody else is dominated by the world—governed by it. But the moment I become a Christian I see through the world.
A Thought to Ponder: The Son of God came because He was the only way in which we could be delivered from the world.