第四週■週五

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晨興餧養

林後五 17『因此，若有人在基督裏，他就是新造；舊事已過，看哪，都變成新的了。』

加六 15『受割禮不受割禮，都無關緊要，要緊的乃是作新造。』

基督在祂復活裏工作的另一面，是在七日的第一日復活，使新造有新生的起頭（林後五 17）。…主耶穌不是在七日的末一日，乃是在七日的第一日復活〔約二十 1〕，這是很有意義的。第一日指新起頭。在聖經裏，七日的第一日也稱爲第八日（約二十 26）。…主耶穌在一週中死了，並且在另一週的開始復活了。所以，主耶穌的復活是給新世代和新時代開路的新起頭（新約總論第三册，二九九至三○○頁）。

信息選讀

神用六日創造，在第七日安息。這七日是舊造的世代。藉着主耶穌的復活，新開創了另一世代。換句話說，藉着基督的復活，舊造過去了，新造開始了。…所以，七日的第一日表徵新造，新世代，新時代的開始。

基督在七日的第一日復活，這事實指明整個宇宙在基督的復活裏有新的起頭。祂的復活引進新的時期，新的時代。在神看來，整個舊造都與基督同釘十字架，並與祂同埋葬。然後在七日的第一日，由基督的復活有新的起頭。

主的死是舊造的了結，祂的復活是新造新生的起頭。爲這緣故，我們不守安息日，就是七日的第七日，而在主日，就是七日的第一日聚集。這就是說，在復活裏，我們是在第八日，或七日的第一日。新約別處稱七日的第一日爲主日（啓一 10），因主耶穌是在這日復活，成爲活的主，並且在復活裏引進新的起頭。

當基督復活，使新造有新生的起頭時，祂把舊造，就是細麻布和裹頭巾所象徵的（約二十 5 ～ 7），留在墳墓裏。耶穌的身體在被埋葬以前，是用細麻布裹着的（十九 40）。這指明祂帶着舊造的東西進到墳墓裏，表徵舊造藉着祂的埋葬被帶到墳墓裏。凡從主復活的身體上去掉，撇在墳墓裏的，都是象徵舊造。祂帶着舊造釘十字架，也帶着舊造埋葬。但祂從舊造裏復活，將舊造撇在墳墓裏，在復活裏成爲新造的初熟果子。

舊造沒有神聖的生命和性情；新造，就是由神所重生的信徒，卻有（一 13，三 15，彼後一 4）。因此我們是新造（加六 15），不是照着肉體的舊性情，乃是照着神聖生命的新性情。

舊造憑神聖的生命有新生的起頭，就成爲新造。我們在基督裏的信徒，已藉着祂的復活有了新生的起頭，如今乃是新造。舊造沒有神在其中，但新造開始於神以新生起頭的方式進到我們裏面。這新生的起頭就是神聖的生命分賜到信徒裏面。藉着這神聖生命的分賜，我們蒙了重生。所以，新生的起頭是神聖的生命分賜到信徒裏面，使他們重生，叫他們成爲新造（新約總論第三册，三○○至三○一
頁）。

參讀：羅馬書生命讀經，第二、四十四至四十五、五十二、五十四至五十五篇。

WEEK 4 — DAY 5

Morning Nourishment

2 Cor. 5:17 So then if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old things have passed away; behold, they have become new.

Gal. 6:15 For neither is circumcision anything nor uncircumcision, but a new creation is what matters.

Another aspect of Christ’s work in His resurrection is His rising on the first day of the week to germinate the new creation (2 Cor. 5:17)…It is significant that the Lord Jesus was resurrected not on the last day of the week but on the first day of the week [John 20:1]. The first day denotes a new beginning. In the Bible the first day of the week is also called the eighth day (v. 26)…The Lord Jesus died during one week, and He resurrected at the beginning of another week. Therefore, the resurrection of the Lord Jesus was a new start opening the way to a new generation and a new age. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 787-788)

Todays Reading

God created for six days and rested on the seventh. These seven days were the generation of the old creation. By the resurrection of the Lord Jesus another generation was newly started. In other words, by the resurrection of Christ the old creation has passed away and a new creation has begun…Therefore, the first day of the week signifies the beginning of a new creation, a new generation, and a new age.

The fact that Christ arose on the first day of the week indicates that the entire universe has a new beginning in Christ’s resurrection. His resurrection ushered in a new period, a new age. In the sight of God the entire old creation was crucified with Christ and buried with Him. Then on the first day of the week there was a new beginning with Christ’s resurrection.

The Lord’s death was the termination of the old creation; His resurrection was the germination of the new creation. For this reason, instead of keeping the Sabbath, the seventh day of the week, we meet on the Lord’s Day, the first day of the week. This means that in resurrection we are in the eighth day, or the first day of the week. Elsewhere, the New Testament calls the first day of the week the Lord’s Day (Rev. 1:10), for it was on this day that the Lord Jesus was resurrected to become the living Lord and to usher in a new beginning in resurrection.

When Christ resurrected to germinate a new creation, He left the old creation, signified by the linen cloths and the handkerchief (John 20:5-7), in the tomb. Before the body of Jesus was buried, it was bound in linen (19:40). This indicates that He went into the tomb with something of the old creation, signifying that the old creation was brought into the tomb by His burial. All the things which were cast off from the Lord’s resurrected body and left in His tomb signify the old creation. Christ was crucified with the old creation and buried with it. But He resurrected from within it, leaving it in the tomb and becoming the firstfruits of the new creation in resurrection.

The old creation does not have the divine life and nature. But the new creation, which consists of believers born again of God (John 1:13; 3:15; 2 Pet. 1:4), does have the divine life and nature. Therefore, we are a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17; Gal. 6:15), not according to the old nature of flesh but according to the new nature of the divine life.

When the old creation is germinated with the divine life, it becomes the new creation. We, the believers in Christ, who have been germinated through His resurrection, are now the new creation. The old creation does not have God in it, but the new creation begins by God coming into us in the way of germination. This germination is the impartation of the divine life into the believers. Through this impartation of the divine life we were regenerated. Therefore, germination is the impartation of the divine life into the believers for their regeneration to make them a new creation. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 788-789)

Further Reading: Life-study of Romans, msgs. 2, 44-45, 52, 54-55