第六週 • 週二

 w06d02-ch

晨興餧養

林後四6  因為那說光要從黑暗裏照出來的神，已經照在我們心裏，為着光照人，使人認識那顯在耶穌基督面上之神的榮耀。

腓二15　  使你們無可指摘、純潔無雜，在彎曲悖謬的世代中，作神無瑕疵的兒女；你們在其中好像發光之體顯在世界裏。

神的照耀產生了新約的眾執事，和他們的職事。…〔這裏有一個〕使徒福音職事的榮光〔林後四6〕和摩西律法職事的榮光〔三7，出三四29~30〕，二者之間的比較。在心裏，與裏面的生命有關；在面皮上，與裏面的生命無關。舊約的榮光是在表面上，但新約的榮光是極有深度的（聖經恢復本，林後四6注1，注2）。

〔在林後四章六節，我們心裏〕指使徒的心。他們代表新約所有的信徒。這裏的光照，指神的光從那些心裏蒙神光照的人，發光照耀別人，…與馬太五章十六節的照，並腓立比二章十五節的顯相同。神照在我們心裏，為叫我們光照別人，使他們認識神顯在基督面上的榮耀，也就是認識那彰顯神，表明神的基督（約一18）（林後四6註3，註4）。

信息選讀

耶穌基督的面〔林後四6〕是與摩西的面（三7）相比。…前者照在恩典和實際藉着祂而來者的面上，結果乃是義和那靈—生命（8~9）；後者照在律法藉着他而賜者的面上（約一17），結果乃是定罪和死（林後三7、9）。神照在我們心裏，光照我們，不是使我們認識摩西面上的榮光，乃是使我們認識基督面上的榮耀；祂照明我們，不是使我們認識舊約摩西的律法，乃是使我們認識新約基督的福音。顯在耶穌基督面上之神的榮耀，就是耶穌基督所彰顯那榮耀的神，也就是那是神榮耀之光輝的耶穌基督（來一3）（聖經恢復本，林後四6註5）。

基督榮耀之福音的光照已經照亮我們；基督本是神的像。林後四章四節中基督榮耀的福音，與六節中認識神的榮耀相合。我們需要注意，按照六節，那使人認識神榮耀的光照，是顯在耶穌基督的面上。這指明使徒所傳的福音不是道理、神學或教訓，乃是一位可愛的人位；我們可以從祂的面上看見神的榮耀，神的像。我們經歷那照在耶穌基督面上之神的榮耀時，這照耀就將基督這神的像帶到我們裏面。我們乃是受這樣一位基督所吸引。

基督榮耀的福音首先照進我們裏面，然後要從我們裏面照出來。榮耀越在我們裏面照耀，就越穿透我們並浸透我們。至終，這裏面的榮耀要銷毀、吞沒我們整個裏面的人。然後基督榮耀之福音的光要藉着我們照耀出去。這樣的照耀無法藉着教訓而來，惟有藉着經歷基督纔能臨到；基督自己就是神的榮耀，也是神的顯現。我們讚美主，基督已經照進我們全人的深處，現今祂正在我們裏面照耀，並且要照透我們裏面的人。因此，我們需要注意基督這榮耀在裏面之內裏的照耀。神經綸的目標，乃是要我們都照耀出祂的榮耀。當我們在這樣的光照之下，基督就要以祂自己浸透我們，我們就享受基督活在我們裏面作我們生命和人位的甜美（新約總論第十冊，二三六至二三七、二三二至二三三頁）。

參讀：哥林多後書生命讀經，第九篇。

WEEK 6—DAY 2

Morning Nourishment

2 Cor. 4:6 Because the God who said, Out of darkness light shall shine, is the One who shined in our hearts to illuminate the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

Phil. 2:15 That you may be blameless and guileless, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverted generation, among whom you shine as luminaries in the world.

God’s shining produces the new covenant ministers and their ministry… [There is] a comparison between the glory of the apostolic ministry of the gospel [2 Cor. 4:6] and that of the Mosaic ministry of the law [3:7; Exo. 34:29- 30]. In the heart is related to the inner life, whereas on the skin of the face has nothing to do with the inner life. The glory of the old covenant is on the surface, but the glory of the new covenant has great depth.

Our hearts in 2 Corinthians 4:6 denotes the hearts of the apostles. They represent all the believers of the new covenant. The illumination here, which refers to the shining of God’s light on others out from those whose hearts have been enlightened by God,…is the same as the shining in Matthew 5:16 and Philippians 2:15. God shines in our hearts that we may shine on others so that they may have the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, that is, the knowledge of Christ, who expresses and declares God (John 1:18). (Lifestudy of 2 Corinthians, 2nd ed., p. 80)

Today’s Reading

The face of Jesus Christ [2 Cor. 4:6] is in comparison with the face of Moses (3:7)…The glory of the gospel shines in the face of One through whom grace and reality came, issuing in righteousness and life (vv. 8-9). The glory of the law shone in the face of one through whom the law was given (John 1:17), resulting in condemnation and death (2 Cor. 3:7, 9). The shining of God in our hearts is to illumine us that we may know not the glory on Moses’ face but the glory in Christ’s face. It is to enlighten us so that we may know not the law of Moses of the old covenant but the gospel of Christ of the new covenant. The glory of God manifested in the face of Jesus Christ is the God of glory expressed through Jesus Christ, and it is Jesus Christ who is the effulgence of the glory of God (Heb. 1:3). (Life-study of 2 Corinthians, 2nd ed., pp. 80-81)

The illumination of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, has shined on us. The gospel of the glory of Christ in 2 Corinthians 4:4 corresponds with the knowledge of the glory of God in verse 6. We need to note that according to verse 6 the illumination of the knowledge of the glory of God is in the face of Jesus Christ. This indicates that the gospel preached by the apostle was not a doctrine, theology, or teaching; rather, it was a lovely person on whose face we can see the glory of God, the image of God. When we experience the glory of God shining in the face of Jesus Christ, this shining brings into us Christ as the image of God. We are attracted to such a Christ.

The gospel of the glory of Christ first shines into us, and then it shines out from within us. The more the glory shines within us, the more it penetrates into our being and saturates it. Eventually, the inner glory will consume, swallow up, our entire inward being. Then the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ will shine out through us. Such a shining cannot come by way of teaching; it can come only through the experience of Christ who is Himself the glory of God and the manifestation of God. We praise the Lord that Christ has shone into the depths of our being, that now He is shining within us, and that He will shine throughout our inward being. Therefore, we need to pay attention to the inner shining of Christ as the glory within. The goal of God’s economy is that we all shine forth His glory. As we are under such a shining, Christ saturates us with Himself, and we enjoy the sweetness of Christ living in us to be our life and our person. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 3210, 3207)

Further Reading: Life-study of 2 Corinthians, msg. 9