[每日靈修] 2/1/2019, 駱鴻銘編譯
在聖經中，最高的女性形象歸給了教會。然而，在教會被視為母親之前，她首先被啟示為是一位新婦。在舊約中，以色列全體國民是耶和華的新婦。而在新約聖經中，教會是基督的新婦。
由此產生的家庭塑像有些奇怪。上帝是父；基督是兒子。身為上帝的兒子，基督又被稱為我們的長兄。教會是他的新婦。在家庭的用語中，這意味著教會是我們的長嫂。但是卻沒有人談到神聖的長嫂教會。
我們，連男帶女，都被賦予了「基督新婦」的稱號。我是男性，但我屬於一個用女性術語描述的身體的一部分。更奇怪的是，被稱為新娘的同一個實體（我是其中一部分），被視為我的母親。我不能成為自己的母親。
這些圖像並不是把一團荒唐或混亂的東西混雜在一起的結果。把教會稱為母親並不是胡說八道。雖然我們是由聖靈所生，但我們主要是在教會的搖籃裏得到屬靈生命的。如果教會不算是我們的出生地，那肯定算是我們的育兒園。蒙恩之道集中在她的懷裏。教會培育我們成熟的信仰。
活在神的面光中（在神面前禱告）：
反思上帝如何使用教會生育你、培養你、使你的信仰成熟。為這個運行在你身上的神聖過程感謝上帝。
進一步研讀：
約壹三1～2 你看父賜給我們是何等的慈愛，使我們得稱為神的兒女；我們也真是祂的兒女。世人所以不認識我們，是因未曾認識他。親愛的弟兄啊，我們現在是神的兒女，將來如何，還未顯明；但我們知道，主若顯現，我們必要像祂、因為必得見祂的真體。
約一12 凡接待祂的，就是信祂名的人，祂就賜他們權柄，作神的兒女。
Understanding
Relationships
In
the Bible, the supreme feminine image is ascribed to the church. Before the
church is ever seen as mother, though, she is first revealed as a bride. In the
Old Testament, the commonwealth of Israel is the bride of Yahweh. In the New
Testament, the church is the bride of Christ.
The
resulting familial imagery is somewhat strange. God is the Father; Christ is
the Son. As the Son of God, Christ is then referred to as our Elder Brother.
The church is His bride. In the language of family, this would then mean that
the church is our sister-in-law. But no one speaks of holy sister-in-law
church.
We,
both men and women, are given the title “bride of Christ.” I am male, yet I am
part of a body that is described in feminine terms. What is stranger is that
the same entity that is called bride, of which I am a part, is regarded as my
mother. I cannot be my own mother.
These
images are not the result of a jumbled mass of nonsense or confusion. It is not
a matter of nonsense to refer to the church as mother. Though we are born of
the Spirit, it is chiefly within the cradle of the church where we are birthed
into spiritual life. If the church is not our birthplace, it is surely our
nursery. It is in her bosom that the means of grace are concentrated. The
church nurtures us unto mature faith.
Coram
Deo
Reflect
on how God has used the church to birth you, nurture you, and mature your
faith. Thank God for this divine process that is at work in you.
Passages
for Further Study
1
John 3:1-2
John
1:12