第四週■週一

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晨興餧養

彼前二21 ～ 23『你們蒙召原是爲此，因基督也爲你們受過苦，給你們留下榜樣，叫你們跟隨祂的腳蹤行；祂沒有犯過罪，口裏也找不到詭詐；祂被罵不還口，受苦不說威嚇的話，只將一切交給那按公義審判的。』

〔彼前二章二十一節的〕『榜樣』一辭已被一般的用法破壞。這辭原文的直譯是，給學生臨摹習字的字帖，範本。古時老師把字寫在紙上作爲範本。小孩子把另一張紙放在範本上，然後將範本上的字描到摹本上，以此來習字。…主耶穌已把祂的生活擺在我們面前，作我們臨摹的範本，叫我們跟隨祂的腳蹤行。（新約總論第三册，七七頁。）

信息選讀

然而，神的用意不是要我們試着靠自己的努力來效法祂。我們從經歷中知道，努力效法基督是不靈的。我們不能效法祂。我們所需要的不是效法，乃是複製。…在外面，基督是我們的榜樣；在裏面，基督是我們的人位，活在我們裏面，成形在我們裏面，並安家在我們裏面。藉着這過程，我們成爲原作的複製品，就是作我們榜樣之基督的複製品。

我們需要經歷那包含神聖生命之豐富的過程，藉此成爲基督的複製品，基督的摹本。完成這過程，我們就成爲基督的複製品。當三一神從信徒裏面彰顯出來的時候，就指明這樣的信徒成了基督這榜樣的複製品。那彰顯經過過程之三一神的生活方式，乃是基督的複製品。

作爲信徒的榜樣，基督乃是原版，用來製造祂自己的複製品。要領會基督是我們的榜樣，我們需要經歷。我們從經歷中知道，我們天天享受基督的時候，就是在經過屬靈複製的過程，使我們成爲基督活的摹本。

成爲基督的複製品與努力效法祂大不相同。舉例來說，人可以向猴子示範直立，猴子就效法人站起來。人行走，猴子也效法他，用兩腳行走。但倣效完畢後，人離開了，猴子就回去用四腳行走。至少在某種程度上，那些教導信徒效法基督的教師，就像人訓練猴子效法人一樣。這樣努力效法基督根本不靈。所以，我不鼓勵你效法基督，我只向你指出祂的豐富。我要向你指出，祂是活在我們裏面、成形在我們裏面、並安家在我們裏面的一位，使我們能經過過程，成爲我們的榜樣（基督）的複製品。（新約總論第三册，七七至七八頁。）

我們讀彼前二章十八至二十五節時，看見彼得在經歷上非常豐富。在這段他說到恩典、範本、救主、牧人和監督。基督是我們裏面的生命，祂也是給我們跟隨的榜樣。我們若憑着作我們裏面生命的基督而活，就是憑着內住的基督自己而活，我們就會經歷屬靈影印的過程，成爲基督的複製品。同時，我們會經歷祂作拯救我們的救主，作帶領並引導我們的牧人，並作照顧我們的監督。哦，彼得的經歷是豐富的，他的寫作是美妙的！願我們都照着這些經文裏所啓示的，操練享受基督。願我們都享受祂作恩典，作榜樣，並作美妙的救主、牧人和監督。（彼得前書生命讀經，二三一至二三二頁。）

參讀：新約總論，第五十六篇。

WEEK 4 — DAY 1

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Morning Nourishment

1 Pet. 2:21-23 For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered on your behalf, leaving you a model so that you may follow in His steps; who committed no sin, nor was guile found in His mouth; who being reviled did not revile in return; suffering, He did not threaten but kept committing all to Him who judges righteously.

The word model [in 1 Peter 2:21] has been spoiled by common usage. Literally, the Greek word means a writing-copy, an underwriting for students to use in tracing letters as they learn to draw them. In ancient times teachers would write letters on writing material, and those letters became a master copy. Another piece of writing material was put upon the master copy. Then the children would practice writing by tracing the letters from the master copy onto their copy…The Lord Jesus has set His life before us as an underwriting for us to copy by tracing and following His steps. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 600-601)

Today’s Reading

It is not God’s intention, however, that we try to imitate Christ by our own effort. We know from experience that trying to imitate Christ does not work. We are not able to imitate Him. What we need is not imitation, but reproduction…Outwardly Christ is our model, and inwardly He is our person, living in us, being formed in us, and making His home in us. Through this process we become a reproduction of the original, a reproduction of Christ as our model.

We need to become Christ’s reproduction, copies of Christ, by experiencing a process that involves the riches of the divine life. When this process is completed, we shall become a reproduction of Christ. When anyone observes the expression of the Triune God from within a believer, this indicates that such a believer has become a reproduction of Christ, the model. The manner of life that expresses the processed Triune God is a reproduction of Christ.

As a model to the believers, Christ is the original used for making a reproduction of Himself. In order to understand Christ as our model, we need experience. From experience we know that as we enjoy Christ day by day, we are undergoing the process of spiritual reproduction to make us living copies of Christ.

To become the reproduction of Christ is very different from trying to imitate Him. To illustrate, a man may set an example for a monkey to stand upright, and the monkey stands up, imitating the man. Then the man walks, and the monkey imitates him by walking on two feet. But after the imitation is finished, the man leaves, and the monkey goes back to walking on all fours. At least to a certain extent, those teachers who instruct believers to imitate Christ are like a man training a monkey to imitate a human being. Trying to imitate Christ in such a way simply does not work. Therefore, I do not encourage you to imitate Christ. Instead, I would point you to His riches. I would point you to Him as the One living in us, being formed in us, and making His home in us so that we may undergo the process of becoming the reproduction of Christ as our model. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 601-602)

As we read 1 Peter 2:18-25, we see that Peter was very rich in experience. In this portion he speaks of grace, the writing copy, the Savior, the Shepherd, and the Overseer. Christ is the life within us, and He is also the model for us to follow. If we live by Christ as our inward life, that is, by the indwelling Christ Himself, we will undergo the process of spiritual xeroxing to become a reproduction of Christ. At the same time, we will experience Him as the Savior saving us, as the Shepherd leading and guiding us, and as the Overseer caring for us…May we all practice to enjoy Christ according to what is revealed in these verses. May we all enjoy Him as grace, as the model, and as the wonderful Savior, Shepherd, and Overseer. (Life-study of 1 Peter, p. 194)

Further Reading: The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 56