經文: 「上帝說:我必與你同在。」— [聖經·出埃及記 3章12a節]
人對上帝的認知,第一個想法就是祂的能力;上帝本身也宣告祂的全能:「我是全能的上帝。」從聖經得知的第二個想法是祂的無所不在。上帝賜給祂的眾僕人的應許:祂必與他們同在,雖然祂是看不見的上帝,但信徒們憑信回應祂的承諾:「天父,謝謝祢與我同在。」
當耶穌對祂的門徒說:「天上地下所有的權柄,都賜給我了。」(馬太福音 28章18節) 之後,祂緊接著說:「我就常與你們同在。」(馬太福音 28章20節) 全能的上帝,必定是個無所不在的上帝。詩篇一百卅九篇,大衛提到上帝的無所不在,是超過人的理解能力,「這樣的知識奇妙,是我不能測的;至高,是我不能及的。」(詩篇 139篇6節)。
耶穌是百分之百的神,也是百分之百的人,上帝的同在與臨到基督耶穌身上的彰顯,更是一種奧祕。這樣的恩典使得我們可以呼求宣告祂的同在,成為我們的力量與喜樂;然而,很遺憾地,很多基督徒覺得這樣的真理深奧難懂,也懷疑耶穌的同在真實性,這樣,信仰如何能成為生活上的實際?
就像屬靈的各個層面,你如何明白自己已蒙恩得救?因為相信聖經的話,那從心裡接受耶穌的人必然得救;同樣的,相信上帝既應許與我們同在,祂就必與我們同在,我們就是憑著信心接受上帝的話,相信聖靈要一步步地帶領我們進入真理,如此上帝的應許就可成為生活的實際。
耶穌說要與我們同在,這意味是「每一天」與我們同在,沒有一天是例外的,而且是每時每刻與我們同在,沒有片刻須臾例外。這不是靠著我們自己去強求才能做到的,乃是上帝親自承擔這承諾,因為祂是無所不在、無所不能,永遠常存的上帝,在祂沒有轉動的影兒,對那些信靠祂的人,祂的應許必然成就,絕對不會落空。
而我們對上帝的態度,必須是謙卑地仰賴祂,用信心安息在主愛裡,主應許我們:「我必與你同在。」,讓我們憑信心單單地仰賴祂,相信祂保護我們,如同保護祂眼中的瞳人,要保守我們常在祂的平安裡,行走在祂的光中,並源源不絕供應我們服事祂的力量。
—《 神 的 心 意 》
[每日靈修 7月8日]
作者:慕安德烈
編輯:榮華興
『 The Omnipresence of Christ 』
Scripture: “So He said, “I will certainly be with you.” — [Exodus 3:12a]
The first thought of man in his conception of a God is that of power, however limited. The first thought of the true God is His omnipotence: “I am God Almighty.” The second thought in Scripture is His omnipresence. God ever gave His servants the promise of His unseen presence with them. To His “I am with thee,” their faith responded: “Thou art with me.” When Christ had said to His disciples, “All power is given unto Me in heaven and on earth,” the promise immediately follows, “I am with you always.” The Omnipotent One is surely the Omnipresent One.
The writer of Psalm 139:6. speaks of God’s omnipresence as something beyond his comprehension: “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it.”
The revelation of God’s omnipresence in the man Christ Jesus makes the mystery still deeper. It also makes the grace that enables us to claim this presence as our strength and our joy something unexpressibly blessed. And yet how many a servant of Christ when the promise is given him, finds it difficult to understand all that is implied in it, and how it can become the practical experience of his daily life.
Here, as elsewhere in the spiritual life, everything depends upon faith, accepting Christ’s word as a divine reality, and trusting the Holy Spirit to make it true to us from moment to moment. When Christ says “always” (Gr. “all the days”), He means to give us the assurance that there is not to be a day of our life in which that blessed presence is not to be with us. And that “all the days” implies “all the day.” There need not be a moment in which that presence cannot be our experience. It does not depend upon what we can effect, but upon what He undertakes to do. The omnipotent Christ is the omnipresent Christ, the ever-present is the everlasting, the unchangeable One. As sure as He is the unchangeable One will His presence, as the power of an endless life, be with each of His servants who trusts Him for it.
Our attitude must be that of a quiet, restful faith, of a humble, lowly dependence, in accordance with the word: “Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him.”
“Lo, I am with you alway.” Let our faith in Christ, the Omnipresent One, be in the quiet confidence that He will every day and every moment keep us as the apple of His eye, keep us in perfect peace, and in the sure experience of all the light and the strength we need in His service.
— God’s Best Secrets by Andrew Murray
「 8 July 」