第六週•週一

w06d01-ch

晨興餧養

創一26『…我們要按着我們的形像，照着我們的樣式造人，使他們管理海裏的魚、空中的鳥、地上的牲畜、和全地、並地上所爬的一切爬物。』

   二2『到第七日，神造作的工已經完畢，就在第七日歇了祂一切造作的工，安息了。』

我們要對安息日的安息有正確的領會，就必須來看聖經第一次怎樣題到這事。聖經首次題到安息日，是在人被造之後。（創二2 ～ 3。）

如果在第六日人還沒有造出來，卽使萬物都造齊了，神還不能安息。工作完畢還不能使神得享安息，乃是人造出來了，神纔滿意，纔能安息。

在神創造的日子，除第二日外，神看着祂所造的都說，『好。』但在第六日末了，人造出來之後，神看着一切所造的，就說，『甚好。』（一31。）神說『甚好』，意思是說，祂滿意了。在第六日末了，神看見人有祂的形像彰顯祂，並且得着祂的權柄代表祂，神就能滿意的說，『甚好。』

當人在地上彰顯神並代表神，神的心就滿足了。當神有了這個，神就在第七日安息了。（希伯來書生命讀經，二三一至二三三頁。）

信息選讀

按照聖經的曆法，一日的開始不是在早晨，乃是在傍晚。我信人是在第六日末了造的。當人從神創造的手出來，就立卽進入第七日。對神來說，第七日是安息日。（創二2 ～ 3。）神的第七日是人的第一日，這意思是神已經爲人的享受豫備了一切。人被造以後，並沒有加入神的工作，乃是進入神的安息。…不要想你一定要作些甚麼。…你若想要作工，神要說，『傻孩子，我沒有工給你作，卻有許多豐富給你享受。來罷，與我同享安息！』…人就這樣作了。

我花了相當多時間去找，到底人在受造後作了甚麼。我發現除了喫和安息之外，他沒有作甚麼。…人在得救以後，總想要作點甚麼。忘掉作，來喫耶穌！來得滿足，來與神同享安息！

一九三六年，我在華北作工，爲着主的工作負擔沉重。工作相當艱難而試驗人，環境也不順利。我常騎腳踏車到郊外，放倒腳踏車，人平躺在地上，喊着說，『主阿，幫助我！』我很爲難且受試驗。有一天，在釋放信息之前，有話臨到我，說，『你知不知道人的頭一日就是神的第七日，神的第七日就是人的頭一日？爲甚麼你這麼勞苦？傻孩子，放下罷，丟掉你的工作，單單來就近我，與我同享安息。』在那個主日早晨，我釋放了一篇信息，說到神的第七日是人的頭一日。我告訴大家：『阿利路亞！今天是我的頭一日。幾個月來我非常勞苦，但現在我把工作拋開了。我不再勞苦了。今天我開始同神安息了。祂的第七日是我的頭一日。』

甚麼時候神滿足了，你就滿足了。甚麼時候你滿足了，就證明神安息了，祂滿足了。…不要作工。只要注意一件事：讓神達到祂的目標。…神的目標是祂的形像得着彰顯，祂的管治得着施行。只要你彰顯神的形像，並施行祂的管治對付仇敵，神就達到了祂的目標。神要說，『我滿足了。』然後你要說，『神阿，我也滿足了。』因此，你與神一同安息了。（創世記生命讀經，一四二至一四四頁。）

參讀：創世記生命讀經，第九篇。

WEEK 6 — DAY 1
Morning Nourishment
Gen. 1:26 …Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of heaven and over the cattle and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.

        2:2 And on the seventh day God finished His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done.

In order to have the proper understanding of the Sabbath rest, we need to consider the first mention of it in the Bible. The first time that the Bible mentions the Sabbath is after the creation of man (Gen. 2:2-3).

If man had not been created on the sixth day, God would have been unable to rest on the seventh day even though everything else had been created. It was not the completion of the work that caused God to rest—it was the creation of man. After God created man, He was satisfied and was able to rest.

In all the days of creation, except for the second day, God looked at His work and said, “Good.” But at the end of the sixth day, after man had been created, God saw everything that He had made and said, “Very good” (1:31). When He said, “Very good,” it meant that He was satisfied. At the end of the sixth day, seeing man in His image to express Him and committed with His authority to represent Him, God was satisfied and said, “Very good.”

God’s heart is satisfied by having man on the earth expressing and representing Him. When God had this, He rested on the seventh day. (Lifestudy of Hebrews, second edition, pp. 187-189)

Today’s Reading

According to the calendar of the Bible, a day does not start in the morning, but in the evening. I believe that man was made late on the sixth day. When man came out of God’s creating hand, he immediately entered the seventh day. The seventh day was to God the day of rest (Gen. 2:2-3). God’s seventh day was man’s first day. This means that God had prepared everything for man’s enjoyment. After man was created, he didn’t join in God’s work; he entered into God’s rest…Don’t think that you must do something…If you try to work, God will say, “Foolish child, I have no work for you to do, but I do have great riches for you to enjoy. Come, join Me in My rest”…Man did.

I have spent a good deal of time to find out what man did after he was created. I found out that he did nothing but eat and rest…After people are saved, they always think that they must do something. Forget about doing. Come to eat Jesus. Come to be satisfied. Come to join God in His rest.

In 1936, I was working in north China, very burdened for the Lord’s work. The work was hard and testing and circumstances were difficult. I would ride by bicycle to the suburbs, throw it down, fall flat on the ground and cry, “Lord, help me!” I was bothered and tested. One day, before giving a message, the word came to me and said, “Do you know that man’s first day is God’s seventh day? God’s seventh day was man’s first day. Why do you labor so hard? Stupid child, give up. Throw away your work. Just come to Me and join Me in My rest.” On that Sunday morning I gave a message that God’s seventh day was man’s first day. I told people, “Hallelujah! Today is my first day. For months I have been laboring very hard, but now I am throwing away my work. I will labor no longer. Today I have begun to rest with God. His seventh day is my first day.”

Whenever God is satisfied, you are satisfied. Whenever you are satisfied, that is a proof that God is at rest. He is satisfied. Don’t work. Just take care of one thing: to let God reach His goal…God’s goal is to have His image expressed and to have His dominion exercised. As long as you have God’s image expressed and God’s dominion exercised to deal with His enemy, God has reached His goal. God will say, “I am satisfied.” Then you will say, “God, I am satisfied too.” Thus, you rest with God. (Life-study of Genesis, pp. 114-115)

Further Reading: Life-study of Genesis, msg. 9