2020-03-15


44 耶稣的顺服——耶稣基督实现了父神救赎的旨意Obedience - Jesus Christfulfilled His Father's redemptive will

《简明神学》Concise Theology: A Guide to Historic Christian Beliefs,巴刻(J. I. Packer)著/張麟至译,更新传道会,2007年。

44 耶稣的顺服——耶稣基督实现了父神救赎的旨意
Obedience - Jesus Christ fulfilled His Father's redemptive will

耶稣对他们说:[我实实在在告诉你们,子凭着自己不能做什么;惟有看见父所作的,子才能作;父所作的事,子也照样作。](约5:19

谦卑在圣经里的意思是说,不假装自己配不上、拒绝当负的责任,而是知道并守住神指定给你的位置。谦卑是持守住神的安排,不论是担任人前的领导高位(摩西有谦谦领袖之风,民12:3),还是默默无闻的从事低微工作。当耶稣很实际地说到,祂[心里柔和谦卑]时(太11:29),祂的意思是说,祂打心底按照天父为祂在地上生活所定的计划生活。

主就这样地持守住祂为第二位格之神的地位。圣三一的三个位格都是永恒的、自存的,都同样有份于神性所有的属性,而且总是共同一致地一同行事。三一神毫不改变的同工模式乃是这样:第二位格和第三位格的神总是与第一位格神的旨意认同,以致神子成为父神的执行者,而圣灵又有如前两者的代理者。实行父神旨意是神子的本性与喜乐(约4:34)。

至于救赎之事,父神给子神的旨意有时候被称为[救赎之约],因为它有计划、应许之两造协议的形式。《西敏斯特信仰告白》VIII.1将此协议(子所接受的父旨)摘要如下:

神在祂永恒的计划里,乐意拣选并立主耶稣——祂的独生子,为神人之间的中保,为先知、祭祀、君王、祂教会的头与救主、又早已立祂为承受万有的,并作世界的审判者。在永恒中神已定意为祂选召一群百姓,成为祂的后嗣,待日期满足时,使他们得救赎,蒙召、称义、成圣并得荣耀。

(关于此道理的想法和语汇,见弗3:11;彼前1:20;提前2:5;徒3:22;来5:5-6;路1:33;弗5:23;来1:2;徒17:31;赛53:10;约17:6;林前1:30;罗8:29-30

父神给子神所定的旨意可分两个阶段:第一个阶段是降卑。永恒的神子必须放下祂的荣耀,道成肉身,成为一个贫穷的人、宗教世界的局外者。最后,因着彼拉多的道德懦弱,祂受到祂狂妄的摆布,接受成为笑柄的审判,并被定罪为一名罪犯,承担世人的罪孽,以最残酷的死亡方式处死(腓2:6-8;林后8:9;加3:134:4-5)。第二阶段是高升。基督复活、升天了,现被父神指定为统管万有与教会的君王(腓2:9-11),祂赐下圣灵(约15:2616:7;徒2:33);从而将祂受死为我们所赢得的救赎,实施到我们身上。祂将父赐给祂的人吸引到祂自己那里(约6:4417:6),为他们代求(罗8:34;来7:25;约17章),像牧人照顾羊群那样保护他们,引导他们、眷顾他们(约10:27-30),祂现在正在按照父神的旨意,带领众子进到荣耀里去(2:10),祂且要继续不断地这样带领,直到所有神的选民都悔改得到新生命为止(彼后3:9)。

在以上所有的事工里,子神都真正谦卑地顺服父神,祂很自然、甘心且喜乐地活出仅次于父神的地位。与此同时,父神要子神与祂自己同等地受敬拜和被荣耀,这目标也逐日完成(约5:19-23)。


OBEDIENCE
JESUS CHRIST FULFILLED HIS FATHER’S REDEMPTIVE WILL

Jesus gave them this answer: “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.” JOHN 5:19

Humility in Scripture means, not pretending to be worthless and refusing positions of responsibility, but knowing and keeping the place God has appointed for one. Being humble is a matter of holding on to God’s arrangement, whether it means the high exposure of leadership (Moses was humble as a leader, Num. 12:3) or the obscurity of subservience. When Jesus stated matter-of-factly that he was “humble in heart” (Matt. 11:29), he meant that he was conscientiously following the Father’s plan for his earthly life.

In this he was keeping his place as the second Person of the Godhead. The three Persons of the Holy Trinity are eternal and self-existent, partaking equally of all aspects and attributes of deity, and always acting together in cooperative solidarity. But the unchanging cooperative pattern is that the second and third Persons identify with the purpose of the first, so that the Son becomes the Father’s executive and the Spirit acts as the agent of both. It is the Son’s nature and joy to do his Father’s will (John 4:34).

Regarding redemption, the Father’s will for the Son is sometimes called the covenant of redemption, since it has the form of an agreement between two parties on a program and a promise. The Westminster Confession summarizes the agreement (the Father’s purpose, accepted by the Son) as follows:

It pleased God in his eternal purpose, to choose and ordain the Lord Jesus, his only-begotten Son, to be the Mediator between God and man, the Prophet, Priest, and King, the Head and Savior of his Church, the heir of all things, and Judge of the world: unto whom he did from all eternity give a people, to be his seed, and to be by him in time redeemed, called, justified, sanctified, and glorified.
(For the ideas and phraseology of this statement, see Eph. 3:11; 1 Pet. 1:20; 1 Tim. 2:5; Acts 3:22; Heb. 5:5-6; Luke 1:33; Eph. 5:23; Heb. 1:2; Acts 17:31; Isa. 53:10; John 17:6; 1 Cor. 1:30; Rom. 8:29-30.)

This purpose of the Father for the Son had two stages. The first stage was humiliation. The eternal Son let go of his glory and through incarnation became a poor man and a religious outsider. Finally, by means of a show trial and unscrupulous manipulation of Pilate’s moral weakness, he became a condemned criminal dying a dreadful death as mankind’s sin-bearer (Phil. 2:6-8; 2 Cor. 8:9; Gal. 3:13; 4:4-5).

The second stage was exaltation. Christ rose, ascended, and now by his Father’s appointment reigns as king over the world and the church (Phil. 2:9-11), sending the Holy Spirit (John 15:26; 16:7; Acts 2:33) and thereby applying to us the redemption that by dying he won for us. Drawing those given him to himself (John 12:32), interceding for them (Rom. 8:34; Heb. 7:25; John 17), guarding, guiding, and caring for them as a shepherd cares for his sheep (John 10:27-30), he is currently bringing many sons to glory (Heb. 2:10) according to the Father’s plan, and he will continue to do so until all God’s elect have come to repentance and new life (2 Pet. 3:9).

In all of this the Son is obeying the Father in true humility, living out a natural, voluntary, and joyful subordination. Meanwhile, the Father’s aim of having the Son worshiped and glorified equally with himself is steadily being fulfilled (John 5:19-23).