今天我们开始思想圣经其中一个最深刻的真理──在生命之先必有死亡。我们不难找出很多经文来证明这点，不过今天的经文已经足够了。那次序是不会错的──只有当一粒麦子死在地土里，它才能够产生更多子粒来。没有死亡便没有生命，就是这么简单。明白这一点是非常重要的，我甚至觉得，那些还没有掌握这观念的基督徒，是很容易在属灵的道路上迷失。

好些年前，一名机师在非洲一个小镇外把飞机撞在田原上。调查人员尝试找出撞机的原因。他们推测机师以为自己正在目的地降落，但实际上那只是一个名字相似的小镇，两个名字的拼写只相差一个字母。由于这位机师计划降落的地方比他实际着陆的地方要低一千呎，调查人员估计，他是相信自己还有一千呎才到达地面，所以才会撞机身亡。意外发生的原因是，他使用了错误的地图。

如果我们对「在生命之先必有死亡」这观念，有错误的「思想地图」，我们可能迷路，结果就会带来属灵的伤亡。如果我们要活，要真正地活，我们就必须愿意向所有的私欲死，意思是我们愿意放下所有个人的欲望。所谓一失足成千古恨，走错了一步，可能会浪费了我们的一生。

Today we begin to examine one of the most profound truths in the Bible - the principle that life is always preceded by death. It is not difficult to bring together a host of corroborative Scriptures to prove this point, but let the one that is before us suffice for now. The order is unmistakable - it is only when a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies that it produces more seeds. No death, no life - it is as simple as that. Understanding this issue is so important that I would go as far as to say that Christians who don't grasp the concept can easily lose their way spiritually.

Some years ago I read of a pilot whose plane crashed in a field outside a small town in Africa. Investigators looking for the cause of the crash surmised that the pilot thought he was landing at his intended destination when in fact he was approaching a town with a similar name. The difference in spelling was a matter of just one letter. His planned destination was a thousand feet lower than where he actually landed, and he was killed (so it is thought) because he believed he had a thousand feet more than was actually the case. He worked from the wrong map.

If we have the wrong "mental map" of the issue that is before us - that life is preceded by death - then we can miss our way and end up as a spiritual casualty. If we are to live - really live - then we must be willing to die to all self-interest. A missed step here may mean a miss-spent life.