第二十六週．週五

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晨興餧養

來五８～９　『祂雖然為兒子，還是因所受的苦難學了順從；祂既得以成全，就對凡順從祂的人，成了永遠救恩的根源。』

羅一５　　　『我們藉著祂，領受了恩典和使徒的職分，為祂的名在萬國中使人順從信仰。』

關於神格方面，主是與神同等；但祂所以作主，是神賞賜給祂的。主耶穌基督為主是神格倒空之後的事。所以主耶穌的神格乃是憑著祂的所是而有的，祂為神是祂本來的地位；但祂得著為主的地位是憑著祂所作的，是當祂放棄神格，完全維持了順服的原則，被升到高天，神纔賞賜祂為主。憑祂的自己說，祂是神；憑祂得的賞賜說，祂是主。（倪柝聲文集第三輯第一冊，一五六至一五七頁。）

信息選讀

腓立比二章〔五至十一節〕這一段是最難解、最起辯論的地方，但也是最神聖的地方。…好像當初在神位中有一個會議，神有一個計畫要創造宇宙。在這個計畫中，神位間彼此贊同，彼此領會，就有了作權柄代表的父。但如果有權柄而沒有順服，權柄就不能建立，因為權柄不是獨立的，所以神在宇宙中必須找到順服。神在宇宙中造出兩種的活物：第一種活物是天使—靈；第二種活物是人—魂。神的先見豫知天使的背叛和人的失敗，神的權柄不能建立在天使和亞當的後裔身上；所以神格中有一個和諧的定規，要在神格中先有權柄的建立，從那時起就有父神和子神的分別。然後到有一天，子神又倒空自己，甘心樂意出來成為受造的人，來作順服權柄的代表。犯罪並背叛的乃是人，所以…現在仍要藉著人的順服來建立神的權柄。這就是為甚麼主要來到地上作人，和一切受造的人完全一樣的緣故。

主的降生是神的出來。祂不在神那一邊作權柄，卻來到人這一邊受人的限制，且作了奴僕。主這樣作是冒了一個大險，因為主一從神格裏出來，便有回不去的可能。祂在子的地位上若不順服，雖可用權柄把神格取回來，但順服的原則就永遠斷絕了。主出來有兩條路可走回去：一條是出來作人，事事處處絕對無保留的完全順服，凡事建立神的權柄，無絲毫背叛，一步一步順服神帶祂回去，讓神立祂為主；第二條路，如果祂以作人、作奴僕有難處，因肉身的軟弱與限制，實在不能順服，祂也可以用祂神格的權柄、榮耀、能力衝回去。但主將第二條不該走的路丟掉了，祂卻存心順服，走這一條順服以至於死的路。祂既倒空自己，就不再充滿自己；這種出爾反爾，是祂所不作的。…必須祂在人的地位上順服至死纔能回去。（倪柝聲文集第三輯第一冊，一五七至一五八頁。）

參讀：權柄與順服，第五篇。

WEEK 26 — DAY 5

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Morning Nourishment

Heb. 5:8-9 Even though He was a Son, [He] learned obedience from the things which He suffered. And having been perfected, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation.

Rom. 1:5 Through whom we have received grace and apostleship unto the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles on behalf of His name.

Concerning His deity, the Lord was equal with God. But His being the Lord was something given to Him by God. Being made the Lord is something that happened after He emptied Himself in His deity. The deity of the Lord Jesus is something that is based on what He is. Being God is His original position. But His attainment of the position of Lord is based on what He has done. When He laid aside His divine form to fully maintain the principle of submission and subsequently ascended to the heavens, God accorded to Him the position of Lord. Based on Himself, He is God. Based on His attainment, He is Lord. (CWWN, vol. 47, “Authority and Submission,” p. 143)

Todays Reading

This portion in Philippians 2 [vv. 5-11] is very difficult to explain and very controversial. But it is also a most divine passage…It seems as if there was a conference in the Godhead in the beginning in which a plan was made to create the universe. In this plan the divine persons of the Godhead agreed with each other and came to the understanding that the Father would be the representation of authority. But if there was only authority without submission, authority could not be established, because authority is not something isolated. Hence, there must be submission in the universe. Two kinds of creatures were created in the universe. The first kind was the angels—spirits. The second kind was man— souls. God’s foreknowledge foresaw the rebellion of the angels and the failure of man. God’s authority cannot be built upon the angels or upon the descendants of Adam. In the Godhead there was a harmonious decision that authority would be established first within the Godhead. From that time on, there was a distinction in operation of the Father and the Son. One day the Son willingly emptied Himself to become a created man as the representation of submission to authority…It was man who sinned and rebelled. Therefore, only through the submission of a man could God’s authority be established. This is why the Lord had to come to the earth to become a man and to be the same as a creature in every way.

The birth of the Lord is the coming forth of God. He did not retain His authority by being God. Rather, He took up human restrictions by becoming a man, even the restriction of a slave. This was a very risky matter for the Lord. Once the Lord stepped out from the form of God, there was a possibility that He could not return as a man. If He had not been submissive, He could have reclaimed the divine form of His deity only in His position as the Son. However, the principle of submission would have been broken forever. When the Lord stepped out, there were only two ways for Him to return. One was to be a proper man, absolutely and unreservedly submitting with no trace of rebellion, being obedient step by step, and letting God bring Him back and set Him up as Lord. If being a slave had been too difficult for Him, if weakness and the limitations of the flesh had been too much for Him, and if submission had been beyond Him, the only other way to return would have been for Him to force His way back by using the authority and glory of His deity. But our Lord rejected this way, a way which He was not meant to take. He set His heart to subject Himself to the way of submission even unto death. Since He emptied Himself, He could no longer refill Himself. He did not vacillate in His mind…Before He returned, He completed His course of being obedient unto death in the position of a man. (CWWN, vol. 47, “Authority and Submission,” pp. 143-144)

Further Reading: CWWN, vol. 47, “Authority and Submission,” ch. 5