第六週■週一

w06d01-ch

晨興餧養

來十二2『望斷以及於耶穌，就是我們信心的創始者與成終者；祂爲那擺在前面的喜樂，就輕看羞辱，忍受了十字架，便坐在神寶座的右邊。』

弗五25『作丈夫的，要愛你們的妻子，正如基督愛召會，爲召會捨了自己。』

以弗所五章二十五節告訴我們，基督愛召會，爲召會捨了自己。基督愛召會，爲召會捨己，乃是爲着救贖和分賜生命。按約翰十九章三十四節，有血和水從主被扎的肋旁流出來。血是爲着救贖，水是爲着分賜生命，使召會能產生。以弗所五章二十五節說到召會的產生是藉着基督愛召會，爲召會捨了自己。（新約總論第三册，二五九至二六○頁。）

信息選讀

基督在祂的死裏爲我們的罪獻上自己作祭物。希伯來十章十二節說，『這一位旣爲罪一次獻上祭物，就永久在神的右邊坐下了。』舊約的祭司天天站着，（來十11，）一再獻上同樣的祭物，因爲他們所獻上的永不能除罪。…基督獻上祂自己，就完成了除罪的事。…基督爲着罪將自己當作那惟一的祭物獻給神，就把罪除掉。祂坐在天上乃是除罪的事已經成就的標記和證明。（一3。）祂無須再爲罪作甚麼，因祂已經一次永遠的作成了。

基督在十字架上擔當我們的罪。按以賽亞五十三章六節，基督在十字架上的時候，神將我們一切的罪都歸在神這羔羊身上。希伯來九章二十八節說，基督『一次被獻，擔當了多人的罪』。基督一次受死，擔當了我們的罪，並且在十字架上爲我們受了審判。（賽五三5，11。）

彼前二章二十四節告訴我們，基督『在木頭上，在祂的身體裏，親自擔當了我們的罪，使我們旣然向罪死了，就得以向義活着』。這裏的木頭，指木頭作的十字架，爲羅馬人處決罪犯的刑具，如舊約所豫言的。（申二一23，加三13。）這裏的罪，如在希伯來九章二十八節，指我們在外面行爲上所犯的罪；而約翰一章二十九節的罪，指我們生來在性情裏的罪。基督爲我們的罪死了，在十字架上擔當我們的罪，使我們能蒙神赦免。…基督在祂的死裏不僅擔當我們的罪，甚至爲我們成爲罪。『神使那不知罪的，替我們成爲罪。』（林後五21。）這指明神使基督爲我們成爲罪。基督沒有接觸罪，或親身經歷罪，所以就經歷說，祂是不知罪的。（參約八46，彼前二22，來四15，七26。）…然而，祂成爲罪，並除去世人的罪，使罪的問題得以解決。

基督在十字架的工作裏，也趕出這世界的王，並審判他的世界。『現在這世界受審判，這世界的王要被趕出去。』（約十二31。）這指明基督在祂死裏的工作，包括趕出這世界的王撒但。撒但以爲他使主耶穌釘十字架是智慧的。事實上，因着這樣作，撒但使自己被趕出去。十字架是神趕出撒但所用的方法。

在十字架的工作裏，主耶穌死了，乃是一粒麥子落在地裏死了，以釋放神聖的生命：『一粒麥子不落在地裏死了，仍舊是一粒；若是死了，就結出許多子粒來。』（24。）基督包羅萬有的死釋放了在祂裏面神聖的生命。作爲一粒麥子，祂死了，釋放出神聖的生命並點活神所救贖的人，以產生許多子粒；這些子粒能調和爲一個餅獻給神。這餅就是召會，基督的身體。（林前十17。）（新約總論第三册，二六六至二六七、二七一、二七五、二七九、二九○頁。）

參讀：真理課程四級卷一，第十七課。

WEEK 6 — DAY 1

w06d01-en

Morning Nourishment

Heb. 12:2 Looking away unto Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down on the right hand of the throne of God.

Eph. 5:25 Husbands, love your wives even as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her.

Ephesians 5:25 tells us that Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her. Christ’s loving the church and giving Himself up for her was for redemption and for the impartation of life. According to John 19:34, blood and water came out of the Lord’s pierced side. The blood was for redemption, and the water was for the impartation of life so that the church might come into existence. In Ephesians 5:25 we have the church coming into existence through Christ’s loving her and giving Himself up for her. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, p. 754)

Today’s Reading

In His death Christ offered Himself as a sacrifice for our sins. Hebrews 10:12 says, “This One, having offered one sacrifice for sins, sat down forever on the right hand of God.” The priests in the old covenant stood daily (v. 11) and offered the same sacrifices again and again, because what they offered could not take away sins…It was Christ’s offering of Himself that has accomplished the taking away of sins…Christ has put away sin by offering Himself to God as the unique sacrifice for sin. His sitting in heaven is a sign and proof that the taking away of sins has been accomplished (1:3). He no longer needs to do anything for sin, for He has done it once for all.

On the cross Christ bore our sins. According to Isaiah 53:6, when Christ was on the cross, God took all our sins and put them upon this Lamb of God. Hebrews 9:28 says that Christ has been “offered once to bear the sins of many.” Christ died once to bear our sins, and He suffered the judgment for us on the cross (Isa. 53:5, 11).

First Peter 2:24 tells us that Christ “bore up our sins in His body on the tree, in order that we, having died to sins, might live to righteousness.” The tree in this verse denotes the cross made of wood, a Roman instrument of capital punishment for the execution of malefactors, as prophesied in the Old Testament (Deut. 21:23; Gal. 3:13). Sins here, as in Hebrews 9:28, refer to sins we commit in our outward conduct, whereas sin in John 1:29 refers to the sin that is in our nature by birth. Christ died for our sins, carrying up our sins onto the cross, that we might be forgiven by God. In His death Christ not only bore our sins but even became sin for us. “Him who did not know sin He made sin on our behalf” (2 Cor. 5:21). This indicates that God made Christ sin for us. Christ did not know sin in an experiential way by contact or personal experience (cf. John 8:46; 1 Pet. 2:22; Heb. 4:15; 7:26)…Nevertheless, He became sin and took away the sin of the world so that the problem of sin might be solved.

In His work on the cross Christ also cast out the ruler of this world and judged his world. “Now is the judgment of this world; now shall the ruler of this world be cast out” (John 12:31). This indicates that Christ’s work in His death included the casting out of Satan, the ruler of this world. Satan thought that he was wise in having the Lord Jesus crucified. Actually, by doing this, Satan caused himself to be cast out. The cross was the way used by God to cast out Satan.

In His work on the cross the Lord Jesus died as a grain of wheat falling into death for the release of the divine life. “Unless the grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it abides alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit” (v. 24). Christ’s all-inclusive death released the divine life that was within Him. As a grain of wheat, He died to release the divine life and to enliven God’s redeemed ones, to produce many grains that can be blended together in a loaf to be offered to God. This loaf is the church, the Body of Christ (1 Cor. 10:17). (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 760, 764-765, 767, 770- 771, 779)

Further Reading: Truth Lessons—Level Four, vol. 1, lsn. 17