第六週 • 週五

W06-d5-ch

晨興餧養

羅六5    我們若在祂死的樣式裏與祂聯合生長，也必要在祂復活的樣式裏與祂聯合生長。

　八11   然而那叫耶穌從死人中復活者的靈，若住在你們裏面，那叫基督從死人中復活的，也必藉着祂住在你們裏面的靈，賜生命給你們必死的身體。

基督乃是因着從死人中復活，標出為神的兒子〔羅一4〕。保羅在羅馬六章五節說，『我們…也必要在祂復活的樣式裏與祂聯合生長。』…因着我們有分於基督的復活，我們就經歷標出為神兒子的過程。事實上，我們乃是藉復活而標出（羅馬書生命讀經，六五一頁）。

信息選讀

我們這些神的兒子是藉復活而標出，也就是藉着生命裏的改變而標出。讓我們…用康乃馨種子為例來說明。…照着生命的路，康乃馨種子被標出，乃是藉着種到土裏，長成一棵盛開的康乃馨。當康乃馨還是一棵幼苗時，我們很難認出是康乃馨，因為它看起來和其他植物的幼苗一樣。但是，這棵康乃馨越成長，就越標出。至終，它開了花，我們就都能認出它是康乃馨了。

同樣的原則，藉着復活的過程，因着生命的變化，我們就標出為神的兒子。有一天我們會達到『盛開』的階段。那就是我們的身體得贖、得榮耀的時候，也就是我們得着完滿兒子名分的時候（羅八23）。神兒子的生命已經栽種到我們的靈裏。我們現今就像種到土裏的康乃馨種子一樣，必須經過死和復活的過程。這使外面的人被毀壞，卻使裏面的生命能以長大、發展，至終開花。這就是復活。

所有受造之物一直在為此等候、歎息。我們也在歎息，因為我們還沒有達到我們該有的樣子。我們知道，我們在許多方面還有短缺，在許多事上還是犯錯，並且仍有失敗。但是在主的主宰權柄之下，甚至我們的失敗也被神用作這過程的一部分。…因着我們的失敗，我們醜陋的己就被拆毀。主就更有機會在我們裏面作工。

這復活的過程有四方面：聖別、變化、模成以及得榮。…聖別（成為聖別的過程）將我們帶進永遠生命的享受裏〔六22〕。…保羅在羅馬十二章二節說到變化；他說，我們不要模仿這世代，反要藉着心思的更新而變化。保羅在八章二十九節說到模成，在三十節說到得榮。我們將來的得榮乃是復活的終極步驟，就是把復活應用到身體上。因着我們的身體仍然服在死亡之下，所以我們有時候會輭弱，甚至還受病痛之苦。因此，我們的身體需要得贖；我們需要將復活應用到我們的身體上。我們這些在復活過程中的人，要經歷復活的末了一個步驟，就是我們的身體改變形狀，亦即我們的身體得榮。

我們裏面都能感覺到，今天我們的兒子名分還不完全。不過，兒子名分會越來越完全，直到我們得榮的時候，要達到高峰；那時，我們將有完滿的復活，並且在性情和外表上，都標出為神的兒子。我們不論在名義上或在實際上，不論在靈裏、在魂裏或是在身體裏，都是神的兒子。正如一粒康乃馨種子長大成為一株完全長成且盛開的植物，照樣，我們也要經過復活的過程，直到完滿的得着榮耀，並且標出為神的眾子。我們現今乃是在復活的過程中，使我們能以聖別、變化、模成並得榮。…這就是福音的中心目標（羅馬書生命讀經，六五一至六五四、六五六至六五七頁）。

參讀：羅馬書生命讀經，第五十二篇；新約總論，第二百八十七篇。

WEEK 6 — DAY 5

W06-d5-en

Morning Nourishment

Rom. 6:5 For if we have grown together with Him in the likeness of His death, indeed we will also be in the likeness of His resurrection.

      8:11 And if the Spirit of the One who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who indwells you.

Christ was designated the Son of God “out of the resurrection of the dead” [Rom. 1:4]. In 6:5 Paul says that “we will also be in the likeness of His resurrection.”…As we share Christ’s resurrection, we undergo the process of being designated the sons of God. We are designated, in fact, by resurrection. (Life-study of Romans, p. 536)

Todays Reading

As sons of God, we are designated by resurrection, that is, by a change in life. Let us use a carnation seed as an illustration…According to the way of life, the carnation seed is designated by being put into the earth so that it can grow into a blossoming carnation plant. When a carnation plant is still a tiny sprout, it is very difficult to recognize that it is a carnation, for it looks the same as other kinds of sprouts. But the more the carnation plant grows, the more it is designated. Eventually, by its blossom we all can recognize that it is a carnation.

In the same principle, we are designated the sons of God by a change in life through the process of resurrection. The day is coming when we will reach the stage of “full blossom.” That will be the time of the redemption, the glorification, of our body, which is the full sonship (Rom. 8:23). The life of the Son of God has been implanted into our spirit. Now we, like the carnation seed that is sown into the earth, must pass through the process of death and resurrection. This causes the outward man to be consumed, but it enables the inner life to grow, to develop, and, ultimately, to blossom. This is resurrection.

The entire creation is waiting and groaning for this. We also groan because we do not yet have the appearance we should have. We know that we are still short in so many respects and wrong in many things, and we still have failures. But under the Lord’s sovereignty, even our failures are used as part of the process…By our failures our ugly self is torn down, and the Lord has a greater opportunity to work within us.

In this process of resurrection there are four aspects: sanctification, transformation, conformation, and glorification…Sanctification, the process of being made holy, brings us into the enjoyment of eternal life [6:22]. In 12:2 Paul speaks of transformation, saying that we should not be fashioned according to this age but that we should be transformed by the renewing of the mind. In 8:29 Paul speaks of conformation, and in the next verse, of glorification. Our future glorification will be the ultimate step of resurrection; it is resurrection as applied to the body. Because our bodies are still subject to death, we are sometimes weak and even physically ill. Thus, we need the redemption of our bodies; we need resurrection applied to our bodies. As those who are in the process of resurrection, we have as the last step of resurrection, the transfiguration, the glorification, of our bodies.

We all have the sense within that today our sonship is not yet full. However, it will get fuller and fuller until it reaches the peak at the time of our glorification, when we will be fully resurrected and designated the sons of God in nature and in appearance. Both in name and in reality we will be the sons of God in spirit, in soul, and in body. Just as a carnation seed grows from a seed into a full-grown blossoming plant, so we will be processed through resurrection until we are fully glorified and designated as the many sons of God. We are now in the process of resurrection so that we may be sanctified, transformed, conformed, and glorified…This is the central aim of the gospel. (Life-study of Romans, pp. 536-538, 540)

Further Reading: Life-study of Romans, msg. 52; The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 287