神的异象
神「以及」……
经文
歌罗西书二1-15
1我愿意你们晓得,我为你们和老底嘉人,并一切没有与我亲自见面的人,是何等的尽心竭力;
2要叫他们的心得安慰,因爱心互相联络,以致丰丰足足在悟性中有充足的信心,使他们真知神的奥秘,就是基督;
3所积蓄的一切智慧知识,都在他里面藏着。
4我说这话,免得有人用花言巧语迷惑你们。
5我身子虽与你们相离,心却与你们同在,见你们循规蹈矩,信基督的心也坚固,我就欢喜了。
6你们既然接受了主基督耶稣,就当遵他而行,
7在他里面生根建造,信心坚固,正如你们所领的教训,感谢的心也更增长了。
8你们要谨慎,恐怕有人用他的理学和虚空的妄言,不照着基督,乃照人间的遗传和世上的小学就把你们掳去。
9因为神本性一切的丰盛都有形有体的居住在基督里面,
10你们在他里面也得了丰盛。他是各样执政掌权者的元首。
11你们在他里面也受了不是人手所行的割礼,乃是基督使你们脱去肉体情欲的割礼。
12你们既受洗与他一同埋葬,也就在此与他一同复活,都因信那叫他从死里复活神的功用。
13你们从前在过犯和未受割礼的肉体中死了,神赦免了你们(或作:我们)一切过犯,便叫你们与基督一同活过来;
14又涂抹了在律例上所写攻击我们,有碍于我们的字据,把他撤去,钉在十字架上。
15既将一切执政的、掌权的掳来,明显给众人看,就仗着十字架夸胜。
信息分享
诚如我们昨天所说的,我们对神的信仰,要是停留在我们需要神但还得加上某些其他东西的话,那么我们永远都不可能在神的完美中看到神,而在那个「以及」里面亦会存在我们最大的悲哀。如果我们删除那个「以及」,那我们就会有一些惊讶的发现,而这些令我们惊讶的事情包括:神完全能够在最艰难的情况底下帮助我们。我们无需担心说完全信任神会导致自己的潜力受限制。正如奥古斯丁(Augustine)说:「您为了您自己而创造我们,我们不安的心惟有在您里面才能找到安息。」
当耶和华将迦南分给以色列的各支派时,利未人得不到任何土地。神说:「我就是你的分,是你的产业」(民十八20)。这些话令利未人比他们的兄弟都更富有,而这原则对神的每一个孩子都是真实的。凡认识神的人都拥有世界最大的财富,他们可能没有很多地上的财宝,但这不是关键,因为他们拥有神,就是拥有重要的一切。
试想要是利未人对神这么说:「主啊,那很好,我想您成为我的份……但那边的湖又怎样呢?那座山又怎样呢?我们可以拥有它们吗?」我们有没有仰望那位给我们应许的主?有没有感到有了祂就已经很足够?或者是我们依旧认为我们需要神但还要加上其他别的东西?如果是这样,我们便没有真正地认识神了,我们只不过是知道了一点关于祂的事情。
「不安的心惟有在主里面才能找到安息」
进深研究
西一1-29;弗三19;约一16
1. 保罗为歌罗西人和以弗所人的祷告是甚么?
2. 约翰见证耶稣的甚么?
祈祷
天父,求您帮助我记得我属于您──这么一位充满创意、全然充足的神。求您让这真理活现在我心里,而不是存在我头脑中。求您让它成为我坚信的确据,而不是一种意识。奉耶稣的名祈求,阿们。
The Vision of God
God "and"...
Bible reading:
Colossians 2:1-15
1 I want you to know how hard I am contending for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not met me personally.
2 My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ,
3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
4 I tell you this so that no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments.
5 For though I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit and delight to see how disciplined you are and how firm your faith in Christ is. Spiritual Fullness in Christ
6 So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him,
7 rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.
8 See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces[a] of this world rather than on Christ.
9 For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form,
10 and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority.
11 In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self ruled by the flesh[b] was put off when you were circumcised by[c] Christ,
12 having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.
13 When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you[d] alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins,
14 having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross.
15 And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.[e]
Message
If, as we said yesterday, we have a faith in God which maintains we need God plus something else, the result will be that we will never discover God in all His fulness. In the "and" lies our greatest woe. If we omit the "and" we shall make some discoveries about God that will surprise us, and one of those surprises will be that He is perfectly capable of sustaining us in the most difficult situations. And we need not fear that by putting our trust fully in God we restrict our potential. As Augustine put it: "Thou hast formed us for Thyself and our hearts are restless till they find their rest in Thee."
When the Lord divided Canaan among the tribes of Israel, the Levites received no share of the land. God said: "I am your share and your inheritance" (Num. 18:20). Those words made the Levites richer than all their brethren, and this principle holds good for every child of God. The man or woman who knows God has the world's greatest treasure. He or she may not have many earthly treasures, but it will not make much difference, for in having Him they have everything that matters.
Imagine the Levites saying to God: "That's fine Lord, I want You to be my portion...but what about that lake over there. And that mountain. Could we just have those?" Do we look at the Lord who promises to be our portion and find that He is sufficient? Or are we still caught up with the idea that we need God plus something else? If we do then we do not really know God. We simply know about Him.
"Our hearts are restless till they find their rest in Thee"
Prayer
O Father, help me remember that I belong to You, the all-creative, all-sufficient God. Make this truth come alive for me, not just in my head but in my heart. Let it become a conviction, not just an opinion. In Jesus' Name I pray. Amen.
Further study
Colossians 1:1-29
Ephesians 3:19
John 1:16
1. What was Paul's prayer for the Colossians and Ephesians?
2. What did John testify of Jesus?
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