DAY 16
合一
雷克-喬納 Rick Joyner
翻譯：Kate
轉載/轉寄 請註明出處：國度禱告網

神就照著自己的形像造人，乃是照著他的形像造男造女。（創世記1:27）

人最初是被創造為男性和女性。女人從男人身上拿出後，女人和男人需要合一，才能顯出上帝的形象。沒有一個男人能完全顯示出上帝的形象，任何女人也不能。我們需要彼此，這就是為什麼魔鬼的主要攻擊之一是欺騙男人和女人，讓他們認為他們不需要彼此。因此，同性戀是對我們被創造的目的的最大顛覆之一。

出於這個原因，如果魔鬼不能把男人和女人推向同性戀，牠至少會試圖模糊他們之間的區別。牠將試圖讓男人變得像女人，讓女人變得像男人，這樣他們就永遠無法實現真正的統一。男人與妻子合二為一的方式不是把她變成男人，而是承認和尊重她的差異。同樣，女人與丈夫合二為一的唯一途徑是承認和尊重丈夫的不同之處。一般來說，女性有男性沒有的優勢和觀點，男性也有女性沒有的優勢和觀點。這不是刻板印象；這只是承認一個事實，人們必須在精神上和科學上都是盲目的，才能看到這一點。我們成為合一，使我們能夠反映出上帝的形象，是透過承認我們的差異，並將差異視為互補，而不是矛盾。

哥林多後書3:18說："我們眾人既然敞著臉得以看見主的榮光，好像從鏡子裡返照，就變成主的形狀，榮上加榮，如同從主的靈變成的。" 要變成主的形像，需要我們不透過帕子看到祂的榮耀。魔鬼試圖給人類戴上許多帕子，所以即使我們看到主的榮耀，也會扭曲它，歪曲祂的真實反映。雖然主的形象既是男性又是女性，而且祂的本質是要聚集我們，就像母雞聚集她的小雞一樣，但上帝在整個聖經中被介紹為 "父親"，而從未被稱為 "母親"。淡化這一點就是用很厚的帕子扭曲了祂的形象。

"父親 "意味著 "生命的賜予者"。父親給予種子，母親培育種子。在聖經中，我們看到受造物是"一個"母親。以色列和教會在經文中也都被稱為"母親"。就像女人從亞當那裡被奪走，以便他們必須結合在一起，成為上帝完整的形象一樣，主將與祂的新娘完美結合，使受造物真正反映出祂的榮耀。然而，如果我們不看到各自的差異，就不可能有結合。神是父，祂是陽剛到極點的。如果我們要看到祂的榮耀並被改變成祂的形象，我們就不能損害這一基本真理。

在我們的時代，男人和女人的角色正受到嚴重的挑戰。然而，仇敵意圖作惡的，總是為愛神的人帶來好處。教會也在努力理解上帝為男人和女人安排的角色。我們必須利用這一挑戰，更加勤奮地尋找神對這些問題的答案。當男人成為他們被呼召的男人，女人成為她們被呼召的女人時，整個世界將敬畏他們，在他們的內心深處知道他們反映了他們被呼召的身份。

使徒保羅在《哥林多前書》4:15中說："你們學基督的，師傅雖有一萬，為父的卻是不多，因我在基督耶穌裡用福音生了你們。"今日的教會也是如此。有很多老師，但沒有很多父親在繁衍後代。這就是為什麼大多數偉大的教會和運動往往隨著其創始人的死亡而死亡。他們沒有在其他人身上複製他們的事工，否則事工就會繼續並倍增。教會中真正的屬靈父親不多，原因之一是要成為父親，必須有一個女人在場。除非婦女能夠在教會中佔據其應有的位置，否則將繼續出現有限的繁殖。這是我們這個時代的一個關鍵問題。很明顯，如果教會不抓住並促進婦女的真正釋放，世界將繼續陷入關於婦女得自由的更深的墮落中。沒有人比主更渴望讓婦女得自由。在婦女得自由之前，男人也不會得到真正得自由。如果基督身體的任何部分仍然處於綑綁之中，我們都是如此。

DAY 16
Unity
Rick Joyner

And God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them (Genesis 1:27).

Man was originally created male and female. After the woman was taken from man, it would take both the man and the woman, in unity, to reveal the image of God. No man can fully reveal the image of God, and neither can any woman. We need each other, and this is why one of the primary assaults of the devil is to deceive men and women into thinking that they do not need each other. Therefore, homosexuality is one of the ultimate perversions of the purpose for which we were created.

For this reason, if the devil cannot push men and women into homosexuality, he will at least try to blur the distinctions between them. He will try to get men to become like women, and women like men, so that true unity can never be achieved by them. The way a man becomes one with his wife is not by making her into a man, but rather by acknowledging and honoring her differences. Likewise, the only way that a woman can become one with her husband is by acknowledging and honoring the ways that he is different. In general, women have strengths and perspectives that men do not have, and men have strengths and perspectives that women do not have. This is not stereotyping; it is simply acknowledging a fact that one has to be both spiritually and scientifically blind not to see this. The way we become one, so that we can reflect the image of God, is by acknowledging our differences, and seeing them as complimentary, not contradictory.

II Corinthians 3:18 states, "But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit." To be transformed into the image of the Lord requires that we see His glory with an unveiled face. There are many veils the devil seeks to place on mankind, so that even if we see the Lord's glory, we will distort it, and pervert the true reflection of Him. Though the image of the Lord is both male and female, and there is the nature of Him that would gather us as a hen gathers her chicks, God is presented throughout the Scriptures as "Father," and is never called "Mother." To dilute this is to distort His image with a very thick veil.

"Father" means "life giver." The father gives the seed, and the mother nurtures the seed. In Scripture, we see the creation as "a" mother. Both Israel and the church are also referred to in Scripture as "mothers." Just as the woman was taken from Adam so that they would have to come together to be the complete image of God, the Lord will be joined perfectly to His bride to give the creation a true reflection of His glory. However, there can be no joining if we do not see the differences of each. God is the Father, and He is masculine to the uttermost. We must not compromise this basic truth if we are to see His glory and be changed into His image.

The roles of men and women are being severely challenged in our time. However, that which the enemy intends for evil always turns out for the good of those who love God. The church is also struggling with understanding the roles God intended for men and women. We must use this challenge to search even more diligently for God's answer to these questions. When men become the men they are called to be, and women become the women they are called to be, the whole world will stand in awe of them, knowing in the depths of their hearts that they reflect who they are called to be.

The Apostle Paul stated in I Corinthians 4:15: "For if you were to have countless tutors in Christ, yet you would not have many fathers." The same is true of the church today. There are many teachers, but not many fathers who are reproducing. That is why most great churches and movements tend to die with the death of their founders. They did not reproduce their ministry in others or it would carry on and multiply. One reason there are not many true spiritual fathers in the church is that for one to become a father, a woman must be present. Until women are able to take their rightful place in the church, there will continue to be limited reproduction. This is a crucial issue for our time. It is obvious that the world will continue to fall into a deeper depravity concerning women's liberation if the church does not seize and promote the true liberation of women. No one desires to liberate women more than the Lord. Neither will men be truly liberated until women are. If any part of the body of Christ is still in bondage, we all are.