第九週■週五

w09d05-ch

晨興餧養

約十二 23 ～ 24『耶穌回答說，人子得榮耀的時候到了。我實實在在的告訴你們，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。』

基督藉着成爲肉體所穿上的人性，成了遮藏祂神性之榮耀的外殼。我們在這裏說『祂的肉體』，也許比說『祂的人性』更好，因爲約翰一章十四節告訴我們，這位神成了肉體。…基督的神性本身就是神聖的榮耀。就如神是光，照樣，神性就是榮耀。當基督在肉體裏，在祂的人性裏，祂的肉體就是遮藏祂神性的外殼，因而遮藏了祂的榮耀。

因着神聖的榮耀遮藏在祂肉體的外殼裏，所以祂必須得榮耀。在十二章二十三節祂說，『人子得榮耀的時候到了。』在十七章一節祂禱告說，『父阿，時候到了，願你榮耀你的兒子，使兒子也榮耀你。』在五節祂繼續說，『父阿，現在求你使我與你同得榮耀，就是未有世界以先，我與你同有的榮耀。』（李常受文集一九九四至一九九七年第五册，四○一至四○二頁。）

信息選讀

當主耶穌神性的榮耀遮藏在祂肉體或人性的外殼裏時，祂受困迫和拘禁，渴望受死的浸，使祂神性的榮耀得以釋放出來。…主耶穌作爲一粒麥子若沒有死，就仍是一樣。…祂的成爲肉體，使祂神聖的榮耀遮藏在祂的肉體裏；但藉着祂的死，祂的榮耀就釋放出來，好在復活裏產生許多子粒，成爲祂的擴增，彰顯祂的榮耀。

當主耶穌卽將釘十字架之前，祂的禱告不是求父使祂復活，而是求父榮耀祂。…父藉着使主耶穌復活，答應了這個求得榮耀的禱告。…復活是爲着得榮耀。復活是因，得榮耀是果。…這樣的得榮耀乃是一種遷移，把基督從祂成肉體的時期遷入祂總括的時期；在這總括時期中，祂這位末後的亞當，在復活裏成了賜生命的靈。…神榮耀基督，乃是把基督從一個時期遷入另一個時期。祂原在第一個時期，就是成爲肉體的時期，但祂被遷移離開那個時期，進入第二個時期，就是總括的時期。在這總括的時期中，祂這位末後的亞當，在復活裏成了賜生命的靈。

基督的得榮耀產生一個結果——一個合併。…神在祂經綸中的願望，就是要得着一個獨一的合併。這是祂宇宙的事業。…神的目的就是要使祂自己與所有基督的信徒合併成爲一個合併。神聖三一的三者是一個合併，乃是藉着互相內在並藉着在一起是一的行事。這就是說，神聖三一的三者是一個合併，乃是藉着祂們的所是和所作。這是這個宇宙合併的開始，乃是開始於神自己。神的目的是要所有基督的信徒都合併到祂的合併裏，成爲一個擴大的合併。這擴大的合併揭示在約翰十四章十六至二十節。…這個合併就是基督得榮耀的結果。

在十四章有父的家，十五章有子的葡萄樹，十六章有那靈所生的孩子。父的家、子的真葡萄樹、和那靈的孩子，乃是基督得榮耀之結果，也就是宇宙合併的三個不同方面。（李常受文集一九九四至一九九七年第五册，四○三至四○四、四一二至四一三、四二二至四二三、四三○頁。）

參讀：基督爲父用神聖的榮耀所榮耀的結果，第一至六篇。

WEEK 9 — DAY 5

Morning Nourishment

John 12:23-24 And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, Unless the grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it abides alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.

Christ’s humanity through His incarnation became a shell to conceal the glory of His divinity. Instead of the words His humanity, it is perhaps better to use the expression His flesh, for John 1:14 tells us that the very God became flesh…Christ’s divinity is itself the divine glory. Just as God is light, divinity is glory. When Christ was in the flesh, in His humanity, His flesh was a shell that concealed His divinity and thereby concealed His glory.

Because the divine glory was concealed within the shell of His flesh, it was necessary for Him to be glorified. In John 12:23 He said, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.” In 17:1 He prayed, “Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son that the Son may glorify You.” In verse 5 He went on to say, “Now, glorify Me along with Yourself, Father, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.” (CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 5, “The Issue of Christ Being Glorified by the Father with the Divine Glory,” pp. 318-319)

Today’s Reading

While the glory of His divinity was concealed by the shell of His flesh or humanity, the Lord Jesus was pressed and constrained, longing to be baptized with the baptism of His death for the release of the glory of His divinity…If the Lord Jesus as a grain of wheat had not died, He would have remained the same…His incarnation caused His divine glory to be concealed in His flesh, but through His death His glory was released for the producing in His resurrection of the many grains, which become His increase as the expression of His glory.

Just before He was about to be crucified, the Lord Jesus prayed not that the Father would resurrect Him but that the Father would glorify Him…The Father answered this prayer for glorification by resurrecting the Lord Jesus… Resurrection is for glorification. Resurrection is the cause, and glorification is the effect, the result…Such a glorification is a transfer, transferring Christ from the stage of His incarnation into the stage of His inclusion, in which He, as the last Adam, became the life-giving Spirit in resurrection. God’s glorification of Christ transferred Christ from one stage to another stage. He was in the first stage, the stage of incarnation, but He was transferred out of that stage into the second stage, the stage of inclusion. In the stage of inclusion He, as the last Adam, became the life-giving Spirit in resurrection.

Christ’s glorification produced an issue—an incorporation…God’s desire in His economy is to have a unique incorporation. This is His universal concern…God’s intention is to incorporate Himself with all the believers of Christ into one incorporation. The three of the Divine Trinity are an incorporation by coinhering mutually and by working together as one. This means that the three of the Divine Trinity are an incorporation by what They are and by what They do. This is the beginning of the universal incorporation, an incorporation that started with God Himself. God’s intention is that all the believers of Christ would be incorporated into His incorporation to be an enlarged incorporation. This enlarged incorporation is unveiled in John 14:16-20…This incorporation is the issue of Christ’s glorification.

In John 14 we have the Father’s house; in John 15, the Son’s vine; and in John 16, the child born of the Spirit. The house of the Father, the true vine of the Son, and the child of the Spirit are the three different aspects of the universal incorporation as the issue of Christ’s glorification. (CWWL, 1994- 1997, vol. 5, “The Issue of Christ Being Glorified by the Father with the Divine Glory,” pp. 320-321, 327, 335-336, 341-342)

Further Reading: CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 5, “The Issue of Christ Being Glorified by the Father with the Divine Glory,” chs. 1—6