January 6, 2010

Immanuel; God With Us - Part 1

Ministry In Word

IMMANUEL: GOD WITH US – Part 1


以马内利:神与我们同在

Isaiah 7:14

以赛亚书 7:14

“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.”

「因此,…,必有童女怀孕生子,给他起名叫以马内利。」


Painting facilitates one’s observation as well as itself being the product of observation. A

painter paints from what he sees, some of which with his filters and some without, and

some through others’ description of their own perceptions of the same or similar subject

matters. Through the sum total of all these the painter tries to produce in his painting an

objective reality.

繪畫促進你的觀察並且本身是觀察的產品。畫家畫他所看見的,一些经过他的過

濾和一些并無過濾,和一些通过别人洞察同樣或类似主题事项的描述。 通过所有

這一切畫家在他的繪畫中设法产生一个客觀的現實。


So is the reality of the birth of the Christ Child into human history. Through the

collection of the different narratives of the Gospel accounts on the birth of the Christ

Child we come to a definitive picture (painting) of this amazing reality: Immanuel, God

with us.

孩子基督的誕生进入人类历史的現實也是一样。 通过福音書不同記敘文的沤合我

們达到孩子基督誕生這驚人的現實的一張明確圖片(繪畫): 以马内利,神与我们同

在。


First it was the Jewish virgin girl Mary who heard the announcement from the angel

Gabriel of her pending conception of the Christ Child, “Greetings, you who are highly

favored! The Lord is with you.” (Lk 1:28) The Lord is with you, Mary! He is Immanuel

to the Virgin Mary. God was with the Virgin Mary. Sin came into this world through the

first woman resulting in Paradise lost, so it is most befitting that the first Messianic

promise was about “the seed of the woman”, not the offspring of the man (Ge 3:15). In

Genesis we cannot imagine how the Messiah will come as the seed of the woman, for all

humans are conceived through the seed of man. But in the birth of Jesus this promise

was fulfilled, for Jesus was conceived not by man but by the Holy Spirit. God’s grace

first came upon a young, innocent Jewish girl called Mary, before reaching to the

mankind. The Child that Mary delivered would deliver her as well as the whole

humanity that would receive Him.


首先是猶太童女马利亚從天使迦百列聽見她即將怀孕孩子基督的报告:「蒙大恩

的女子,我问你安,主和你同在了!」(路1:28) 。主和你同在了,马利亚!他对

圣母马利亚是以马内利。 神是与圣母马利亚同在。 罪通过第一位女人进入了這個

世界造成乐园的失落,因此第一個救世主的应许是關於「女人的後裔」而不是男

人的子孫(创3:15)是最为恰当。 在创世记我們不能想像弥赛亚怎麼將來成為女人

的後裔,因為所有人都是通过男人的後裔成胎。 但是在耶穌誕生中這個应许被实

现了,因为耶稣并不从男人而是从圣灵成胎。 神的恩惠首先临到名为马利亚的一

個年輕,天真的猶太女孩,才临到人類。 马利亚产下的孩子會拯救她並且拯救愿

意接受他的所有的人。


Secondly it was the lowly shepherds who saw an angel of the Lord. He announced to

them the birth of the Christ Child, “I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all

the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you, he is Christ the

Lord.” (Lk 2:10-11) It is good news to “all the people” because a Savior was born to

them. He is Immanuel to “all the people.” God left His glorious heavenly throne,

humiliated himself by taking on the form of a man. He further humbled himself by being

born into a poor carpenter’s family, as a helpless baby resting in the manger among

animals. He identified with the lowly, therefore his birth announcement was first giving

to these shepherds, these people despised and rejected by the society in general.

其次就是看见一位天使的一些卑微的牧羊人。天使向他们宣

布孩子基督的诞生:「我报给你们大喜的信息,是关乎万民

的;因今天在大卫的城里,为你们生了救主,就是主基

督。」(路2:10-11) 那是「关乎万民的」大喜的信息,因为

救主为他们生了。他是「关乎万民的」以马内利。神离开他

天上荣耀的宝座,使自己卑微,取了人的形象。他进一步谦

卑自己,诞生在一个穷木匠的家,成为一个弱小的婴孩躺在

马槽里,与动物为伍。他与卑微的人认同,因此他诞生的消

息首先报告给这些牧羊人,这些被社会大众所蔑视和屏弃的

人。



A great heavenly chorus then appeared, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the

highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.” (Lk 2:14) His favor rests in

those people with a simple faith waiting for the Messiah to come into their heart. He is

Immanuel to such people who have their hearts open awaiting Christ’s entry.

然後一个天上的大合唱队出现,颂赞神说:「在至高之处荣耀归与神!在地上平

安归与他所喜悦的人!」(路2:14) 他的平安归与那些有一个单纯的信心等候弥赛

亚进入他们心中的人。对这样敞开他们的心等候基督进入的人,他是以马内利。

To be continued next week.

下周待续。


May we open our hearts to God and trust Him with our simple, sincere faith. May He be

Immanuel to us throughout our life.


愿我们向神敞开我们的心,以我们单纯诚恳的信心信靠他。愿他成为我们一生的

以马内利。


Tom and Tehwan Tso

仲谋与德菀



“The outcome of your faith is the salvation of your souls.” 1Peter 1:9

“信心的果效, 就是灵魂的救恩” 彼得前书1:9

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