於2017-10-13發佈


天國的福音─啟示錄 

這週讓我們來到聖經最美好與最令人興奮的宣告:

第七位天使吹號,天上就有大聲音說:世上的國成了我主和主基督的國;祂要作王,直到永永遠遠。

在神面前,坐在自己位上的二十四位長老,就面伏於地,敬拜神,

說:昔在、今在的主神─全能者啊,我們感謝祢!因祢執掌大權作王了(啟示錄11:15-17 

第七號或第七個全球信息將要釋放出來,是所有信息中最棒的─萬王之王將要得著祂的國,在全地掌權。『福音』就是『好消息』,地上再也沒有聽過比福音更好的消息了。 

耶穌說:這天國的福音要傳遍天下,對萬民作見證,然後末期才來到(馬太福音24:14)。許多人的看法是這福音還沒傳遍天下,而且從第一世紀開始就沒有傳了。現在多半呈現的是救恩的福音,而不是天國的福音。救恩的福音當然是『好消息』,美好到可以讓人理解為何單單救恩的福音就可以成為焦點,如此大有能力的改變全世界。但這卻不是全備的福音,也不是那必須被傳遍天下的福音。 

天國的福音關乎神要來的國度,先從耶穌十字救贖全地開始,但要繼續讓全地與神和好。這是追隨在重建人墮落結果之後,唯有當神子將重建好的全地交給父神,神自己來到地上住在人間,才算完成。 

知道地上將成為最初本要成為的樂園,幾乎美好到無法領會,但若知道全能神揀選地上成為祂的終極居所,更是遠超過人所能領會。神要再次在祂的園子與人同行;現在想一想:道路已為我們打開,讓我們現在就來經歷此。 

主使用人的墮落產生『新造的人』來超越原來的創造,我們現在正受邀活出來。成為新造的人不單是恢復到亞當所擁有的,更是受邀成為神家中的一份子,呈現出祂復活的屬神本質。祂邀請我們現在就與祂同坐寶座,開始活在屬天領域比地上更像家。 

正如有一古人曾寫著:『我們不是被呼召成為自然人偶爾擁有屬天經歷,我們乃是被呼召成為屬靈人偶爾才有自然經歷。』新造的人意思是成為新的物種,屬自然也屬靈,但會變得越來越屬靈。一些人相信這就是以諾所經歷的,以致於他和屬天領域只隔薄薄一層帕子,神只好直接把他提到天上。或許真是如此,但還有許多參考文獻顯示這是我們在基督裡的呼召─將我們的眼目放在上面的事,而不是地上的事。 

任何層面的復活都美好到超越我們此生所能領會,但我們也被告知有些人會達到一個『更好的復活』,這是保羅在腓立比書三章所寫的『神在基督耶穌裡從上面召我來得的獎賞』,保羅不認為自己已經得著,他乃是要專注一切,為要得著此崇高的呼召。 

在提摩太後書二章15節告訴我們要按著正意分解真理的道。我們不能只用一節經文或一個觀念,然後將其應用在全部,特別是當其他人以不同角度來看同件事時。這些不同並不是彼此之間的衝突,乃是顯明一個事件的不同觀點。舉例來說,有些人用屬天復活的參考文獻來假定凡得著永生的都將在天上復活,而聖經卻有許多地方談到那些復活之後住在地上的人。這兩者之間並沒有衝突,兩個都是對的,天上的復活是一個有些人達到的『更好的復活』,卻不是每個人都達得到。 

有些人假定每個相信基督的人都將得著天上的復活,而地上的復活是給那些在基督之前與神同行的義人,但聖經反駁了這樣的說法。即便如此,聖經對這兩種復活描寫得相當模糊,所以我們不應對我們的結論過於武斷。然而,我們可以確定的是有一個『更好的復活』只有一些人得著。 

請謹記在心 我們看見的有限,所以要保持敞開的心,似乎在啟示錄站在『寶座前』的許多人,靠著耶穌十架救贖的信仰已經得著永生,但他們沒有活出得勝的生活。根據耶穌所賜下極其嚴格的資格,今日多數的基督徒連門徒都達不到,但他們藉著十字架的救贖得以復活,得著永生。然而,真正掌權者將是那些照著耶穌在教導中明確指明的方式,而在來世得著權柄的人,例如才幹比喻的教導。 

在教會歷史中許多教師有對此深度豐富的討論與辯論;即便如此,我認為主故意讓此如此模糊,好讓我們竭力追求獎賞,就像保羅所言。然而,我們還有許多關於天國的細節可談,這些都是我們必須知道並開始傳揚的,這也是我期待聽到下一個被傳揚的偉大信息。 

 (摘自喬納 word for the week,Week36, 2017)


 
The Gospel of the Kingdom—The Book of Revelation
Week 36, 2017
Rick Joyner

         This week we come to one of the most wonderful and exciting declarations in the Bible:

         Then the seventh angel sounded; and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever."

         And the twenty-four elders, who sit on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying,

         "We give You thanks, O Lord God, the Almighty, who are and who were, because You have taken Your great power and have begun to reign” (Revelation 11:15-17).

         The seventh trumpet, or the seventh worldwide message to go forth, is the greatest of all—the King is taking up His kingdom and will now rule over the earth. “Gospel” means “good news,” and the earth has never heard better news than this.

         Jesus said this Gospel of the kingdom must be preached throughout the earth before the end of this age could come (see Matthew 24:14). It is the opinion of many that this Gospel has not been preached to the whole earth, and that it has not been preached since the first century. What has mostly been presented is the gospel of salvation, not the Gospel of the kingdom. The gospel of salvation is certainly “good news,” and so wonderful that it is understandable that this alone could become the focus and have such power to transform the world. Yet, it is not the whole Gospel, and it is not the Gospel that must be preached to the whole world.

         The Gospel of the kingdom is about the coming kingdom of God. It begins with the redemption of the earth by the cross of Jesus, but it goes on to the reconciliation of the earth to God. This is followed by its restoration from the consequences of the Fall. It is consummated when the Son delivers the restored earth to God, the Father, and God Himself comes to live on the earth among men.

         To know that the earth will be the paradise that it was originally intended to be is almost too wonderful to comprehend, but to know that Almighty God has chosen the earth to be His ultimate dwelling place takes it beyond comprehension. God is going to walk with man in His garden again. Now consider this—the way has already been opened for us to experience this now.

         The Lord has used the Fall of man to bring forth “a new creation” that transcends the original creation, and we have been invited to live in this now. Becoming a new creation is not just being restored back to what Adam had, but it is an invitation to become members of God’s own family and take on His divine nature in the resurrection. He has invited us to sit with Him now on His throne and become more at home in the heavenly realm than in the natural, earthly realm.

         As one of the ancients wrote, “We are not called to be natural men who have occasional heavenly experiences, but we are called to be spiritual men who have occasional natural experiences.” The new creation means to be a new species that is both natural and spiritual, but one that is morphing into becoming more and more spiritual. Some believe that this is what Enoch did so that there had become such a thin veil between him and the heavenly realm that God just pulled him over into heaven. Perhaps, but there are many references to this being our calling in Christ—to keep our eyes on things above and not on the earth.

         The resurrection at any level will be more wonderful than we can comprehend in this life, but we are also told of “a better resurrection” that some attain to. This is the “high calling of God in Christ” that Paul wrote about in Philippians 3. Paul did not consider that he had yet attained to it, but he had come to the place of focusing everything on attaining this high calling.

         In II Timothy 2:15, we are told about “rightly dividing the word of truth” (KNJV). We cannot take just one Scripture verse or concept and apply it to the whole when there are others that address the same issue differently. These differences are not in conflict with each other, but they reveal different aspects of an issue. For example, some have taken the references to the heavenly resurrection to assume that all who are given eternal life and are resurrected in heaven when many other Scriptures talk about those who inhabit the earth after the resurrection. These are not in conflict, but both are true. The heavenly resurrection is “the better resurrection” that some attain to, but not everyone.

         Some have assumed that everyone who believes in Christ will attain the heavenly resurrection, and that the earthly one is for those righteous ones who walked with God before Christ. Yet, there are Scriptures that refute this. Even so, the Scriptures are pretty ambiguous about both resurrections, so we should not be dogmatic about our conclusion. Nonetheless, we can be sure that there is “a better resurrection” that some attain to. 

         Keep in mind that we see in part, and so remaining open, it appears that the multitude that stands “before the throne” in Revelation has gained eternal life by their faith in the atonement of the cross of Jesus, but they have lived less than overcoming lives. Most Christians today would fall far short of even being a disciple, according to the incredibly stringent qualifications for this that Jesus gave. Yet they are resurrected and have gained eternal life by the faith they have in His atonement. However, they will be those reigned over by those who attained authority in the age to come through the ways Jesus specified in His teachings, such as in the Parable of the Talents.

         There are many deep and rich discussions and debates about this from teachers in church history. Even so, I think the Lord intentionally left this so ambiguous to keep us pressing on for the prize, like Paul the apostle expressed. However, about the kingdom itself we have many more specifics, and these we must know and begin to proclaim. This is the next great message that I am expecting to hear proclaimed.