於2022-05-07發佈

 

自由
雷克-喬納 Rick Joyner
翻譯:Kate 2022.5.7
轉載/轉寄 請註明出處:國度禱告網

昨日,我們學習了法老是這個時代的統治者撒旦的預表,以及埃及是這個現世的預表。我們還學習了法老在要求釋放主的子民時對摩西的抵擋。這是神預先安排的,因為祂的子民不是靠法老的允許,而是靠祂的能力得自由。在所有的抵擋,以及在法老試圖讓摩西妥協於神的呼召中,摩西仍然堅定不移,宣告屬於以色列人的 "蹄 "不會被留在埃及。如果我們要得自由,也必須這樣做。

在《啟示錄》中看到,即將降臨在地上的平行災禍具有相同的最終目的--讓主的子民以及其他受造物得自由。正如臨到埃及的災禍摧毀了埃及的神,臨到世界的災禍將摧毀人所造的神,並最終使人得自由。

降臨在埃及的最後一災,最終完全使主的子民從埃及得自由--逾越節。在哥林多前書5:7,我們讀到"......因為我們逾越節的羔羊基督已經被殺獻祭了"。逾越節是聖經中耶穌犧牲的預表,它使我們從這個世界的綑綁中得自由。讓我們看看它給我們提供了一個強大的模式,說明主耶穌為我們做了什麼,使我們得自由。這些內容取自《出埃及記》第12章(你可能想在繼續閱讀這一章)。我們將從第1-2節開始。

耶和華在埃及地曉諭摩西、亞倫說:
你們要以本月為正月,為一年之首。

主改變了整個希伯來曆法,使逾越節成為一年的開始。這是為了代表我們在分擔耶穌在十字架上的犧牲時擁有的新開始。正如我們在《哥林多後書》5:17中所讀到的:

若有人在基督裡,他就是新造的人,舊事已過,都變成新的了。

在以色列人吃完逾越節羊羔後的晚上,他們的整個世界都改變了。他們要離開他們一生最熟悉的地方,再也見不到它了。他們要去旅行,經過他們以前未曾見過的地方。當他們吃了逾越節的羊羔,他們的整個世界就改變了。當我們接受基督時,我們發生了巨大的變化,唯一的描述方法是說我們 "重生"了。我們從新開始。在一個超自然的轉化中,所有的事物對我們來說都是新的。

然而,發生在以色列人身上的事情與我們成為基督徒時發生的事情有一個基本區別。以色列人的環境改變了,但當我們接受基督時,我們就改變了。以色列人被帶出了埃及,但在新約中,埃及被帶出了我們--我們變成了新人。我們所處的世界可能是一樣的,但我們看世界的眼睛是不同的。

這是基督教最寶貴的真理之一--在基督裡我們有一個新開始。祂抹去了我們過去所有的失敗。世界上沒有其他宗教或哲學能有這樣的恩典和能力來改變人類。即便如此,當我們重生後,這並不是事情的結束,相反,這是一個開始。我們必須長大,進入靈性的成熟。我們的思維被改變是一個過程,但如果沒有我們第一次擁抱十字架時聖靈的最初重生,就不可能有這樣的轉化。我們被饒恕了!我們是基督裡的新造的人!

我們在基督裡被稱為 "新造的人",實際上意味著我們是一個新物種。這是我們必須掌握的東西,但似乎很少有基督徒做到。那些由神的靈重生的人,不再只是人類了。在十字架之前,人與神同行,但在新約下,神住在我們裡面。這就是為什麼耶穌在約翰福音16:7說:

但然而,我將真情告訴你們,我去是於你們有益的;我若不去,保惠師就不到你們這裡來;我若去,就差他來。

想到這一點。有什麼能比像這些門徒那樣與耶穌同行更好呢?但祂說,如果祂去了,讓保惠師,祂的靈來,對他們來說會更好!比與神同行更好的是讓神住在我們裡面!現在我們不是去祂的殿,我們就是祂的殿。我們今生的追求是活在這個最偉大的基督教真理的現實中--上帝讓人成為祂的居所。

新造的目標不僅僅是恢復到亞當在墮落前享有的無罪狀態。那是起點。我們的罪在耶穌的十字架上被除去。這不是我們能做到的,但我們可以住在祂裡面,祂裡面沒有罪。我們不是要讓自己變得完美,而是要更完美地住在那位住在我們裡面的人裡面。我們不指望自己有能力或良善,而是指望祂。

我們可能會跌倒並爬起來,但我們必須把注意力放在我們呼召的最終目標上,這一點我們在以弗所書4:15中看到:

惟用愛心說誠實話,凡事長進,連於元首基督

你被呼召在"凡事"成長為基督。你被呼召要像祂一樣,做祂所做的事。這是我們的旅程,我們的追求,我們決不能滿足於一個較小的願景。

我們將繼續研究十字架的力量,它使我們從這個世界的所有綑綁中解脫出來,並將我們釋放到所有受造物中最榮耀的追求—像基督。

 

Freedom
Rick Joyner
2022.5.7

On Day Three we studied how Pharaoh is a type of Satan, the ruler of this present age, and how Egypt is a type of this present world. We also studied the resistance that Pharaoh gave to Moses when he demanded that the Lord's people be set free. This was pre-ordained by God because His people were not to be set free by the permission of Pharaoh, but by His power. Through all of the resistance, and the attempts by Pharaoh to get Moses to compromise the call of God, Moses remained resolute, declaring "not a hoof" that belonged to Israel would be left behind in Egypt. We must do the same if we are going to be free.

We can see in the Book of Revelation how parallel plagues that are going to come upon the earth have the same ultimate purpose—to set the Lord's people free, as well as the rest of creation. Just as the plagues that came upon Egypt destroyed the gods of Egypt, the plagues that come upon the world will destroy the gods that men have made, and ultimately set men free.

There was one final plague that came upon Egypt which finally and completely set the Lord's people free from Egypt—the Passover. In I Corinthians 5:7 we read "...for Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed." The Passover was a biblical model of the sacrifice of Jesus that sets us free from bondage to this world. Let's look at a few of the ways that it gives us a powerful model of what the Lord Jesus did for us to set us free. These are taken from Exodus 12 (you may want to read this chapter before proceeding). We will start with verses 1-2:

Now the LORD said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt,
"This month shall be the beginning of months for you;
it is to be the first month of the year to you."

The Lord changed the entire Hebrew calendar so that the Passover would be the beginning of their year. This was to represent the new beginning that we have when we partake of the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. As we read in II Corinthians 5:17:

Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature;
the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.

The night that Israel partook of the Passover, their whole world was to change. They were to leave the place that they had known their entire lives never to see it again. They were going to journey through places that they had never seen before. When they took the Passover, their whole world changed! When we partake of Christ, we are so radically changed that the only way to describe it is to say that we are "born again." We start all over. All things become new to us in a supernatural transformation.

However, there is one basic difference between what happened to Israel and what happens when we become a Christian. Israel's environment changed, but when we partake of Christ we change. Israel was taken out of Egypt, but in the New Covenant, Egypt is taken out of us—we become new. The world we are in may be the same, but the eyes we see it through are different.

This is one of the most precious Christian truths—in Christ we have a new beginning. He wipes out all of our past failures. There is no other religion or philosophy in the world that has such grace and power to transform human beings. Even so, when we are born again, that is not the end of the matter, rather it is the beginning. We must grow up into spiritual maturity. Having our minds transformed is a process, but it would not be possible for such a transformation without the initial regeneration by the Holy Spirit that comes when we first embrace the cross. We are forgiven! We are new creatures in Christ!

That we are called "new creatures" in Christ actually means that we are a new species. This is something that we must grasp, but it seems that few Christians do. Those who are born again by the Spirit of God are no longer just human beings. Before the cross, men walked with God, but under the New Covenant God comes to live in us. That is why Jesus said in John 16:7:

"But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away;
for if I do not go away, the Helper shall not come to you;
but if I go, I will send Him to you."

Think of that. What could possibly be better than walking with Jesus the way that these disciples did? But He said it would be better for them if He went away so that the Helper, His Spirit could come! Even better than walking with God is to have God living inside of us! Now we do not go to His temple, we are His temple. Our quest in this life is to live in the reality of this greatest of Christian truths—God has made man His abode.

The goal of the new creation is not just to be restored to the sinless state that Adam enjoyed before the Fall. That is the starting point. Our sin is removed at the cross of Jesus. This is not something we can do, but we can abide in Him in whom there is no sin. We are not trying to make ourselves perfect, we are trying to more perfectly abide in the One who abides in us. We do not look to ourselves for the power or the goodness, but we look to Him.

We may stumble and get back up, but we must keep our focus on the ultimate goal of our calling, which we see in Ephesians 4:15:

but speaking the truth in love,
we are to grow up in all aspects into Him, who is the head, even Christ.

You were called to grow up in "all aspects" into Christ. You are called to be like Him and do the works that He did. This is our journey, our quest, and we must never settle for a lesser vision.

On Day Five we will continue to examine the power of the cross that sets us free from all bondage to this world and releases us into the most glorious quest in all of creation—Christlikeness.