關於邪惡與苦難,每個基督徒都需要知道的事WHAT EVERY CHRISTIAN NEEDS TOKNOW ABOUT EVIL AND SUFFERING
作者:
Michael Horton 譯者: Maria Marta
「我受苦是與我有益，為要使我學習你的律例。」（詩一一九7）
上帝確實借著試煉使我們更接近祂，有時也借著試煉來管教，為的是糾正我們, 就如一個好父親對待他所愛的孩子那樣。 但在特定的試煉中，我們無法知道上帝到底做什麽。 羅馬書八章28節提醒我們「萬事都互相效力，叫愛神的人得益處」。 這並不是說萬事都有益處，或者說試煉總是為了管教；而只是說無論何事臨到我們，上帝都有一個計劃，祂已想出如何使用較暗的線來編織美麗的掛毯。
發生在我們身上的許多事------如不適、疾病、各種長期戰鬥-----都只是生活在墮落世界的結果。 但這些都不僅僅是偶發事故。上帝從不容許任何祂還未想出如何使其變成我們的益處的試煉臨到我們。羅馬書八章28節談論的最終益處是指我們的救恩。
在我自己所經歷過的試煉中，我可以說我無法理解上帝在做什麽。如果我推斷或者因為我沒有足夠的信心，上帝借著試煉來懲罰我，那我就錯了。但如果我認為它們純粹是意外事件，那我也是錯的。回顧過去，至少在某些情況下，我能看到上帝是如何使用它們來讓我更加依靠祂。但並非總是如此。
聖經沒有應許說，信徒們將受保護，免遭與墮落、罪惡世界相伴的常見邪惡的傷害。但我們所擁有的，是聖經一再重複的應許：「萬事都互相效力，叫愛神的人得益處」（羅八28）。聖經應許我們最終得救，而不是眼前, 現在的健康、快樂。 就像其他人一樣，我們可能感染致命的疾病。 但不同的是，我們有更大的盼望：不是延長我們作為屬肉體的孩子的生命，而是在基督親自回來時，延長已死的人復活的時間。
思想發生在2015年查爾斯頓教會（Charleston church）的恐怖屠殺。白人至上主義者迪倫羅夫（Dylann Roof）在一次聖經學習中殺死9名信徒。縱觀歷史基督徒因各種原因被殺害。無論信徒還是非信徒，我們都會經歷一些事，原因僅僅是我們生活在一個墮落的世界。
你可能認識一些人，他們聽過醫生說可怕的話：「你得了癌癥。」聽我說，你所經歷的已經是最好的了。現今這個時代被罪惡和死亡支配。 但耶穌基督已得勝，是新創造的開始。
而事實是，上帝對我們所應許的保守和安全遠遠勝於國土安全部、保險公司、我們的醫生所能提供的。不管今生發生什麼，我們都有這樣的承諾：不管怎樣，人生如霧， 轉眼就煙消雲散。但我們永遠與三一真神同住，共享永不結束的歡樂盛宴。
羅馬書五章1-5節說：「我們既因信稱義，就藉著我們的主耶穌基督得與神相和。 我們又藉著他，因信得進入現在所站的這恩典中，並且歡歡喜喜盼望神的榮耀。不但如此，就是在患難中也是歡歡喜喜的。因為知道患難生忍耐， 忍耐生老練，老練生盼望， 盼望不至於羞恥，因為所賜給我們的聖靈將神的愛澆灌在我們心裡。」
這裏我們領悟兩個要點：
首先，每一個試煉都有上帝的目的，祂確保它以某種方式為你的救恩效力。
其次，你和其他任何人都不會立即知道試煉的目的是什麽 -----也許永遠都不會知道。但知道我們有一位天父，祂有足夠的能力控制每一種情況，和祂足夠美善，會將悲劇變成祂恩典的勝利，這不是很好嗎?
盼望上述說話能安慰你，即使你仍然像詩人一樣呼喊: 「耶和華啊，你忘記我要到幾時呢？」 (詩十三1)。上帝正延遲基督的回來，目的是使萬事更新，直到祂所有來自各民族、各方言的選民被安全帶入祂的國。
WHAT EVERY CHRISTIAN NEEDS TO
KNOW ABOUT EVIL AND SUFFERING
By Michael
Horton
It is
good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes. (Psalm
119:71)
God
does use trials to draw us closer to him and sometimes uses them as
disciplines, to correct us as a good Father does the children he loves. But we
can’t know in a given trial what exactly God is up to. Romans 8:28 reminds us
that “God works all things together for good” for his people. It doesn’t say
that all things are good or that trials are always disciplinary. It just says
that whatever befalls us, God has a plan and has already figured out how he
will weave the darker threads into a beautiful tapestry.
Many
things that happen to us—like sickness, disease, prolonged battles of various
kinds—are just the result of living in a fallen world. But these aren’t just
random accidents. God never allows any trial that he hasn’t already figured out
how to turn to our profit. Our ultimate good that Romans 8:28 is talking about
is our salvation.
In my
own trials, I can say that there was no way I could have figured out what God
was doing. I would have been wrong to conclude that God sent them to punish me
or because I didn’t have enough faith. But I also would have been wrong to have
thought that they were just accidents. Looking back, I can see at least in some
cases how God used them to make me cling to him more. But not always.
There
is no promise in Scripture that believers will be protected from the common
evils that go with living in a fallen, sinful world. The promise that we have
again and again in Scripture is that “God works all things together for good”
for his people (Rom 8:28). That’s our ultimate salvation, not our health and
happiness here and now. We might contract a lethal disease, just like anyone
else. But the difference is that we have a greater hope: not of prolonging our
life as children of the flesh, but of the resurrection of the dead at Christ’s
bodily return.
Think
of the horrific massacre in a Charleston church in 2015. White supremacist
Dylann Roof killed 9 believers in the middle of a Bible study. But Christians
have been killed for various reasons throughout history. Then there’s the stuff
that we all go through, believer and unbeliever alike, just because we live in
a fallen world.
You
probably know people who’ve heard the frightening words from a doctor, “You
have cancer.” Look, this is not as good as it gets. This present age is
dominated by sin and death. But Jesus Christ has conquered, as the beginning of
the new creation.
As it
turns out, the protection and security that God promises us now are far greater
than anything that the Department of Homeland Security or insurance companies
or our doctors can offer us. Regardless of what happens to us in this life, we
have the promise that this life is just a vapor, a mist that fades quickly in
any case. We have a home with the Triune God forever, in a joyful feast that
never ends.
Romans
5:1–5 says,
Therefore,
since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord
Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace
in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that,
but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance,
and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does
not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through
the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
We
have two major takeaways here:
First,
God has a purpose for every trial that comes your way and he will make sure
that somehow it serves your salvation.
Second,
neither you nor anybody else can figure out what that purpose is in the
moment—and maybe never. Isn’t it good to know that we have a Father who is
powerful enough to control every circumstance and good enough to turn tragedies
into triumphs of his grace?
I
hope that this gives you comfort even though you still cry out with the
Psalmist, “How long O Lord” (Ps 18:1). God is delaying Christ’ return to make
all things new until all of his chosen people, from every nation and language,
are brought into the safety of his kingdom.
Aren’t
you glad that he’s given a space for you to come to Christ? Until the last of
his sheep are brought into his fold, we’ll be enduring this present evil age.
But we have his promise that, in him, we will rule and reign on the earth
forever without pain, suffering or death.