感謝讚美上帝護理的大能与豐盛的供應。 本網誌內的所有資源純屬學習交流之用。

2018-11-13


看到上帝Seeing God

[每日靈修] 11/12/2018,  駱鴻銘編譯

「沒有異象,民就放肆」(箴廿九18)。我們經常引用這節經文,以便我們可以受到啟發和挑戰,朝著未來的目標前進。我們讚揚那位有遠見的領導者,能夠描繪出更美好未來的人,並向我們展示達成目標的方法。我們是一個以目標為導向的社會。如果我們要讓我們的腎上腺素發揮作用,要挑起我們的熱情,我們就需要一個夢想,一個目標。

每個目標,每個短程異象都必須根據基督徒一切未來異象之最高和最終的標準來衡量。我們必須在眼前維持上帝子民的終極願景。我們看不見上帝,因祂是聖潔的,我們不是。我從未見過上帝,但我感受到祂的存在,並藉著祂的存在來推理。我讀了祂的話語,並聽見祂展示祂令人炫目的榮耀。但我從未見過祂。祂是看不見的。我不僅沒有面對面見過祂,其他人也沒有見過祂。創造預示著祂的威嚴;衆星宣告祂手中的工作。我們可以看到藝術家的作品,但藝術家自己仍然是隱藏的。

為什麼我們看不到上帝?這不是因為祂是個靈,也不是因為祂不在場。祂在這裏;毫無疑問。我們生活在一個用肉眼看不到真實實體的世界裡。我們肉眼看不見的東西會對我們產生巨大的影響。

雖然我們看不見電力和核電的力量,但它們影響著我們的日常生活。我們的身體可能隨時被危及生命的微生物入侵。望遠鏡和顯微鏡的精密儀器揭示出一個可以逃避我們肉眼的現實維度,。

然而,任何強大的顯微鏡都無法穿透遮蓋著上帝面容的面紗。沒有任何鏡頭能夠將我們的弱視力放大到看到上帝的水平。我們的問題不是視力的軟弱。所缺乏的不是視神經,不是我們的心靈,也不是我們的肉眼。我們看不到上帝,乃是因為祂是聖潔的,我們不是。聖經告訴我們,因著罪, 「人見上帝的面不能存活。」(出卅三20

活在神的面光中(在神面前禱告):
閱讀並比較以賽亞(賽六1~5)和約翰(啟一)所見的上帝的異象。

進一步研讀:
賽六1-3 當烏西雅王崩的那年,我見主坐在高高的寶座上。他的衣裳垂下,遮滿聖殿。 其上有撒拉弗侍立,各有六個翅膀:用兩個翅膀遮臉,兩個翅膀遮腳,兩個翅膀飛翔;彼此呼喊說:聖哉!聖哉!聖哉!萬軍之耶和華;他的榮光充滿全地!

Seeing God

“Where there is no vision, the people perish” (Prov. 29:18, KJV). We hear this verse quoted frequently in order that we may be inspired and challenged to move with intensity toward a future goal. We applaud the leader who is a visionary, one who can paint a picture of a better future and show us the way to attain it. We are a goal-oriented society. We need a dream, a target to aim for if we are to get our adrenaline moving and our passions stirred.

Every goal, every short-range vision must be measured against the supreme and final norm of all future Christian visions. We must keep before us the ultimate vision of the people of God. We cannot see God because He is holy and we are not. I have never seen God. I have felt His presence and reasoned through His existence. I have read His Word and heard of dazzling displays of His glory. But I have never seen Him. He is invisible. Not only have I never seen Him face to face, but no one else has seen Him either. The creation heralds His majesty; the stars declare His handiwork. We can view the work of the Artist, but the Artist Himself remains unseen.

Why can’t we see God? It is not because He is a spirit, nor is it because He is not present. He is here; there is no question about that. We live in a world of real entities that we cannot see with the naked eye. What is invisible to our eyes can have dramatic effects on us.

The forces of electricity and nuclear power affect our daily lives though we do not see them. Our bodies may be invaded at any moment by life-threatening microorganisms. The sophisticated instruments of telescopes and microscopes reveal a dimension of reality that escapes our naked glance.

There is no microscope powerful enough, though, to penetrate the veil that covers the face of God. There is no lens capable of magnifying our weak eyesight to the level of seeing God. Our problem is not a weakness of visual strength. It is not the optic nerve that is deficient. The deficiency is in our hearts, not our eyes. We cannot see God because He is holy and we are not. It is because of sin that we are told, “No man can see God and live.”

Coram Deo
Read and compare the visions of God seen by Isaiah (Isa. 6:1–5) and John (Rev. 1).

Passages for Further Study
Isaiah 6:1–3