第九週■週一

w09d01-ch

晨興餧養

提前三16『並且，大哉！敬虔的奧祕！這是眾所公認的，就是：祂顯現於肉體，被稱義於靈裏，被天使看見，被傳於萬邦，被信仰於世人中，被接去於榮耀裏。』

約一14『話成了肉體，支搭帳幕在我們中間，…我們也見過祂的榮耀，正是從父而來獨生子的榮耀。』

提前三章十六節的『敬虔』這辭，意思是『像神』。因此，本節指明人可以有神的樣子、彰顯和顯現。按上下文看，本節裏『敬虔的奧祕』這辭，意思是神在祂的奧祕裏得以顯現並彰顯於肉體—人。敬虔乃是神顯現於肉體；敬虔的奧祕就是神顯現於人。從『敬虔的奧祕』轉到『祂』，含示神在肉體的顯現，基督，就是敬虔的奧祕。（西一27，加二20。）

神的顯現首先是在基督裏，那是在肉體裏個別的彰顯。（提前三16，西二9；約一1，14。）新約不是說只有神的兒子成爲肉體，乃是啓示神顯現於肉體，指明完整的神—父、子、靈—成爲肉體。因此，基督成爲肉體就是整個神顯現於肉體。（新約總論第十二册，二一七頁。）

信息選讀

話，就是神，成爲肉體。（約一1，14。）…話是神的解釋、說明和彰顯；因此，那成爲肉體的話—神顯現於肉體—乃是神在肉體裏的解釋、說明和彰顯。（18。）顯現於肉體的神，不僅是子，乃是整個的神—父、子、靈。

『於肉體』，意卽在人的樣式和樣子裏。（羅八3，腓二7 ～ 8。）基督是以人的形狀顯在人前，（林後五16，）然而，祂乃是神顯現於人。…基督在祂的人性裏活在地上，彰顯神達三十三年半之久。祂是神顯現於肉體。（提前三16。）

當祂這神人活在地上的時候，祂所過的生活不是憑祂屬人的生命，乃是憑祂神聖的生命。祂所過的爲人生活，不是憑着祂的人性，乃是憑着祂的神性。祂是個神人，但不是憑人的生命活着，乃是憑神的生命活着。所以祂的爲人生活不是憑屬人的生命活出來，乃是憑神聖的生命活出來的。祂是一直拒絕祂屬人的生命，把祂屬人的生命一直擺在十字架底下而活着。…祂的爲人生活不是彰顯人性，乃是彰顯神性，使神聖的屬性成爲人性的美德。這就是保羅在提前三章所說，基督是神顯現於肉體（16）的意思。

基督的成爲肉體產生了一個神人，在地上過一種生活，不是憑祂屬人的生命，乃是憑祂神聖的生命。祂在地上的日子，一直把自己擺在十字架上。祂留在十字架上受死，好叫祂能憑神活，不是彰顯人，乃是使神聖的屬性成爲人性的美德，而彰顯神。這是第一個神人作爲原型的生活。今天我們是祂的複製品，所以我們該過同樣的生活。…跟從耶穌就是要過神人的生活，不憑屬人的生命，乃憑神聖的生命，好叫神能彰顯或顯現於肉體，使祂神聖的屬性成爲人性的美德。這就是跟從基督的內在意義。我們這些神人必須過一種生活，不是憑我們自己，乃是憑另外一位；不是憑我們屬人的生命，乃是憑祂神聖的生命；不是彰顯我們自己，乃是彰顯祂的神性，使祂神聖的屬性，全都成爲我們人性的美德。（新約總論第十二册，二一八至二一九頁。）

參讀：新約總論，第三百六十三篇。

WEEK 9 — DAY 1

Morning Nourishment

1 Tim. 3:16 And confessedly, great is the mystery of godliness: He who was manifested in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen by angels, preached among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory.

John 1:14 And the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us (and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only Begotten from the Father)...

The word godliness in 1 Timothy 3:16 means “God-likeness.” Hence, this verse indicates that human beings may have the appearance, the expression, and the manifestation of God. In the context of this verse, the phrase the mystery of godliness means that God in His mystery can be manifested and expressed in the
flesh, in human beings. Godliness is God manifested in the flesh; the mystery of
godliness is God manifested in human beings. The transition from the mystery of godliness to He implies that Christ as the manifestation of God in the flesh is the mystery of godliness (Col. 1:27; Gal. 2:20).

God’s manifestation was first in Christ as an individual expression in the flesh (1 Tim. 3:16; Col. 2:9; John 1:1, 14). The New Testament does not say that only the Son of God was incarnated. Rather, it reveals that God was manifested in the flesh, indicating that the entire God—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit— was incarnated. Therefore, Christ in His incarnation was the entire God manifested in the flesh. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 3661-3662)

Today’s Reading

The Word, who is God, became flesh (John 1:1, 14)...The Word is God’s definition, explanation, and expression. Hence, the Word who became flesh— God manifested in the flesh— is God’s definition, explanation, and expression in the flesh (v. 18). God was manifested in the flesh not only as the Son but as the entire Triune God—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit.

The expression in the flesh means in the likeness, in the fashion, of man (Rom. 8:3; Phil. 2:7-8). Christ appeared to people in the form of man (2 Cor. 5:16), yet He was God manifested in a man. Christ lived in His humanity on the earth to express God for thirty-three and a half years. He is God manifested in the flesh (1 Tim. 3:16).

When He lived on earth as the God-man, He did not live by His human life but by His divine life. He lived a human life not by His humanity but by His divinity. He lived as a God-man yet not by the life of man but by the life of God. Hence, His human living was not lived out by the human life but by the divine life. He lived by always rejecting His human life, by always putting His human life under the cross...His human living did not express humanity but divinity in the divine attributes becoming the human virtues. This is what Paul meant in 1 Timothy 3 when he spoke of Christ as God manifested in the flesh (v. 16).

The incarnation of Christ produced a God-man who lived on the earth not by His human life but by His divine life. All His days on earth, He put Himself on the cross. He remained on the cross to die so that He might live by God, not to express man but to express God in His divine attributes becoming man’s virtues. This was the life of the first God-man as a prototype. Since today we are His reproduction, we should live the same kind of life. To follow Jesus is to live the life of a God-man, not by the human life but by the divine life, in order that God may be expressed, or manifested, in the flesh in all His divine attributes becoming the human virtues. This is the intrinsic significance of what it is to follow Christ. As God-men, we need to live a life not by ourselves but by another One, not by our human life but by His divine life, not to express ourselves but to express His divinity in His divine attributes which become our human virtues. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 3662- 3663)

Further Reading: The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 363