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2017-02-17


在整個人類歷史中人都在和邪惡的問題爭鬥。「一位良善而聖潔的上帝為何會容許邪惡存在於祂所創造的世界裏」這是個必須回答的問題。或者,我們也可以問這個更尖銳的問題:「這位良善而聖潔的上帝,怎麼可能對萬事擁有主權,包括邪惡?」在他的《種種觀察》(Miscellanies)的第八十五道題中,愛德華茲(Jonathan Edwards)針對這個問題給出了最令人滿意的答案。在那裏,愛德華茲解釋說,上帝永恆地定旨了人——包括那些會行惡的人——的每個行動,但是祂定旨他們的行動,不是為了他們的邪惡,而是為了會從他們身上產生出來的良善。在這個意義下我們可以說上帝所諭旨的一切都是良善的。愛德華茲寫到Throughout human history, men have wrestled with the problem of evil. The question, How can a good and holy God allow evil to exist in the world that He created, is one that demands an answer. Or, to ask the question more pointedly, “How can the good and holy God be sovereign over all things including evil?” In his 85th entry of the Miscellanies, Jonathan Edwards gave a most satisfying answer to this question. There, Edwards explained that God eternally decreed every action of men–including those that should be sinful–but that He decreed them, not for the sinfulness of them but for the good that would come from them. In this sense, we can say that all that God ordained was good. Edwards wrote:

我們該這麼說神已經定旨人一切的行動是的他們所作的每個有罪的行動以及這些行動的每個處境祂決定他們日後在每個方面會變成什麼樣子祂決定未來必定會有這些行動並確保這些行動和他們本身一樣都會是有罪的但是神並沒有定旨這些有罪的行動是邪惡的而是定旨它們是良善的且這樣的定旨是堅定不移的。我們說定旨一個行動是邪惡的,意思不是要定旨一個行動,好叫它成為邪惡;而是要讓這個行動產生出邪惡來。神是為了要從邪惡中產生出良善,而定旨這個行動是邪惡的,而人是為了這個行動裏的邪惡來定旨這個行動。That we should say, that God has decreed every action of men, yea, every action that they do that is sinful, and every circumstance of those actions; [that] He determines that they shall be in every respect as they afterwards are; [that] He determines that there shall be such actions, and so obtains that they shall be so sinful as they are; and yet that God does not decree the actions that are sinful as sinful, but decrees [them] as good, is really consistent. We do not mean by decreeing an action as sinful, the same as decreeing an action so that it shall be sinful; but by decreeing an action as sinful, I mean decreeing [it] for the sake of the sinfulness of the action. God decrees that it shall be sinful for the sake of the good that He causes to arise from the sinfulness thereof, whereas man decrees it for the sake of the evil that is in it.1

這和威斯敏斯特信仰告白關於神的永恆諭旨所說的是完全一致的「從亙古到永遠上帝以祂自己的旨意按著祂最智慧、最聖潔的計劃自由地且永不改變地預定一切將要發生的事。雖然上帝如此預定,但是祂絕非罪惡的創始者,也沒有迫使受造者逆反其意志;並且不至於剝奪『第二因』的『自由運行』與『或然發生』的性質,反倒使它們得以確立。」(威斯敏斯特信仰告白,3.1)因此,上帝是否預定了邪惡?答案是同時強調「是!」與「不是!」。「是!」是因為,上帝對世上的一切邪惡都有主權,因為祂預定了所有墮落天使和人的一切行動;是的,祂沒有預定墮落天使和人的行動是邪惡的——儘管祂預定這些行動會成為邪惡——但是「為了要從邪惡中產生出良善,而定旨這個行動會是邪惡的」。This is in complete harmony with what the Westminster Confession of Faith says about the eternal decrees of God: God from all eternity, did, by the most wise and holy counsel of His own will, freely, and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass; yet so, as thereby neither is God the author of sin, nor is violence offered to the will of the creatures; nor is the liberty or contingency of second causes taken away, but rather established” (WCF 3.1). So, does God ordain evil? The answer is simultaneously an emphatic “Yes” and “No!” “Yes,” God is sovereign over all evil in the world in that He ordained all the actions of all fallen Angels and men; yet, He does not ordain the actions of fallen Angels and men as evil–though he ordained that they should become evil–but “for the sake of the good that He causes to arise from the sinfulness thereof.”

這會帶出第二個無可避免的問題「上帝預定那些要成為有罪的行動所要成就的良善是什麼呢」這最終的善就是顯明祂的屬性。愛德華茲在他的哲學大作《上帝預定這個世界的目的》The End for Which God Ordained the World訴諸羅馬書九章22-23節來正面討論這個主題。在那裏使徒保羅寫到This leads to the second inevitable question, namely, What is that good for which God ordained actions so that they should be sinful?” The ultimate good that arises from God ordaining all the actions of fallen Angels and men is the good of God getting glory by a display of His attributes. Edwards tackles this subject head on in his philosophical masterpiece, The End for Which God Ordained the World, by appealing to Romans 9:22-23. There the Apostle Paul wrote:

「倘若神要顯明他的忿怒彰顯他的權能就多多忍耐寬容那可怒預備遭毀滅的器皿 又要將他豐盛的榮耀彰顯在那蒙憐憫早預備得榮耀的器皿上。」羅九2223)“What if God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory” (Rom. 9:22-23).

使徒解釋說關於人的命運的永恆諭旨上帝作了祂所作的一切是為了彰顯祂屬性的榮耀。對那些還留在祂的震怒裏的人,上帝確保會有永恆的審判,以彰顯祂的公義。上帝既是公義也是聖潔的,必定會懲罰所有的邪惡。祂乃是藉著將祂百姓的罪歸算到祂兒子的身上,或是藉著在地獄裏永遠刑罰那些沒有重生的人,來完成這點。就後一種情況來說,上帝定旨邪惡是為了顯明祂的震怒和權能。這就是上帝定旨邪惡所要成就的善。就選民的情況來說,上帝藉著在祂兒子身上審判他們的罪,使罪人能與祂和好。這是為了在面對他們的罪的時候,彰顯祂的憐憫和恩典。這兩種情況都是從邪惡中帶出良善。The Apostle explained that God does all that he does with regard to the eternal decree regarding the destinies of men in order to show forth the glory of His attributes. Those who remain in a state of wrath, God has secured for eternal judgment to show forth his justice. God is a just and holy God and will punish all evil. He does this either by imputing the sin of His people to His Son or by punishing the unregenerate in hell forever. In the latter case, God has ordained evil in order to show forth His wrath and power. This is the good for which God has ordained evil. In the case of the elect, God has reconciled them to Himself by punishing their sin on His Son. This is to display His mercy and grace in the face of their sin. In both cases, good is brought out of evil.

在審判的那日我們會清楚看到我們掙扎著想要在此時此地見到的。奧古斯丁說得很妙,他說,世上有足夠的憐憫,好叫我們知道上帝是憐憫的;也有足夠的公義,叫我們知道上帝是公義的。在末日那天我們必定會看到這些滿有榮耀的良善的目的上帝就是為了這些預定了祂所有被造物的行動——包括那些會成為邪惡的行動。On Judgment Day, we will see clearly what we so struggle to see in the here and now. Augustine once put it so well when he said that there was just enough mercy in the world for us to know that God is merciful and just enough justice to know that God is just. On the Last Day, we will see the glorious good purposes for which God ordained the actions of all of His creatures–including those actions that would be evil.




2016-12-23

从圣经神学看伊甸园裡的两棵树ABiblical Theology of the Trees of the Garden

作者Nicholas T. Batzig   译者骆鸿铭译自

在圣经记载的一开始,有两棵树佇立在上帝以盟约和人打交道的中心:分别善恶树和生命树。这两棵树远非神话的虚构,而是伊甸园裡真正存在的树——正如伊甸园裡其他的树一样。上帝并未给这两棵树有什麼神奇的法力,好像从它们本身可以对我们的先祖传送出能力(ex opere operato;译按:by the work performed, 意思是:本身就有事效)一样。不是的。上帝把这两棵树分别出来,只是為了要让它们成為象徵,好代表一种它们本身以外的事实。正如洗礼和圣餐一样,这两棵树也是圣礼。它们指向超越它们本身的事实。虽然它们本身没有任何能力可以传递任何东西,然而,上帝已经赋予它们属灵的意义,好叫它们可以表徵出祂和亚当所立的约,并且以这两棵树為印记。我们不能低估它们的重要性。我们只能用第三棵树——十字架,即我们主耶穌基督的死亡之所——来解释。十字架既是分别善恶树,也是生命树。主耶穌恢復了亚当所失去的,包括道德上的正直与生命。请思考以下有关分别善恶树与生命树的圣经神学观点:At the outset of the biblical record, two trees stood at the center of Gods covenantal dealing with man–the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil and the Tree of Life. Far from being mythological concepts, these trees were–in a very real sense–just like any other trees in the Garden. God did not invest these trees with magical power to confer something out of their own resources, ex opere operato,  to our first father; rather He set them apart to represent a reality beyond themselves and to stand in the place of that for which they had become symbols. Like baptism and the Lord’s Supper the two trees were sacramental. They pointed to a reality beyond themselves. Though they had no power within themselves to confer anything, nevertheless, God had so invested them with spiritual meaning so that the covenantal arrangement into which He entered with Adam was signified and sealed with these trees. Their significance cannot be underestimated. They can only now be explained in light of a third tree–the cross on which our Lord Jesus died. The cross is both the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil and the Tree of Life. Jesus restores what Adam lost both with regard to moral uprightness and with regard to life. Consider the following biblical-theological aspects of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil and the Tree of Life:

分别善恶树The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil

廿世纪的改革宗神学家范泰尔Cornelius Van Til解释了分别善恶树的本质。他写道Cornelius Van Til helpfully explained the nature of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil when he wrote:

上帝在许多树中拣选了一棵树,并且「专横地」告诉人不要吃这棵树上的果子。……如果分别善恶树和其他的树在本质上有什麼不同,它就失去了它原本的作用。这棵被拣选的树必须和其他树具有相同的本质,这个诫命才有可能显得「专横」。因為要让超自然看起来是超自然,自然必须看起来是真正的自然。除非我们按照自然的原样来认识自然,否则我们也无法按照超自然的原样来认识超自然。要有真正的例外,首先必须要有规律。(註1God chose one tree from among many and arbitrarily told man not to eat of it…If the tree of the knowledge of good and evil had been naturally different from other trees it could not have served its unique purpose. That the commandment might appear as purely “arbitrary” the specially chosen tree had to be naturally like other trees. For the supernatural to appear as supernatural the natural had to appear as really natural. The supernatural could not be recognized for what it was unless the natural were also recognized for what it was. There had to be regularity if there was to be a genuine exception.1


这棵树(分别善恶树)表徵人所可能得到的后果——藉著顺服,或藉著悖逆;它是一个暂时的考验(probation)。霍志恆(Geerhardus Vos)解释到:This tree was a symbolic representation of what man could attain to, either by obedience or disobedience; it was a probation. Geerhardus Vos explained:

1. 藉著这棵树可以显明,可以让人清楚知道,人是否会陷入邪恶的状态,还是会在永远不变的良善状态中得到坚立。1. By this tree it would be made known and brought to light whether man would fall into the state of evil or would be confirmed in the state of immutable goodness.

2. 藉著这棵树,本来对人类来说只是在观念上的邪恶,可以成為一种实际的知识。或者,因為他还维持在一个未曾堕落的状态,藉著胜过诱惑,仍然可以得到更清楚的洞见,认识到邪恶的本质就是违背上帝的律法和漠视上帝主权的能力,因而同样可以对永恆不变的道德良善有著最高等的知识。22. By this tree man, who for the present knew evil only as an idea, could be led to the practical knowledge of evil. Or also because he, remaining unfallen, would still, by means of temptation overcome, gain clearer insight into the essence of evil as transgression of God’s law and disregard of His sovereign power, and likewise would attain the highest knowledge of immutable moral goodness.2

霍志恆在其他地方解释了撒但如何试图要歪曲分别善恶树的意义。他写到:Vos explained elsewhere how Satan sought to pervert the meaning of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil when he wrote:

我们必须把这棵树真正的目的,和那诱惑人的撒但在创世记三章5节所赋予它的解释区分开来。撒但的解释有两重涵义:首先,这棵树本身具有魔法的能力,可以传递善与恶的知识。这是把这整件事情的水平,从敬虔和道德的层次,降低到异教魔法的领域。其次,撒但是从嫉妒的动机来解释这个禁止令的……再次说,上帝在创世记三章22节所说的,是在暗指诱惑者所作的这个欺骗人的解释。那是一个反讽。(註3From the true conception of the purpose of the tree we must distinguish the interpretation placed upon it by the tempter according to Gen. 3.5. This carries a twofold implication: first that the tree has in itself, magically, the power of conferring knowledge of good and evil. This lowers the plane of the whole transaction from the religious and moral to the pagan-magical sphere. And secondly, Satan explains the prohibition from the motive of envy. … Again, the divine statement in Gen. 3.22 alludes to this deceitful representation of the tempter. It is ironical.2

正如霍志恆所说的,亚当的确获得了善恶的知识,然而,他是从成為邪恶的立场而得到的,并且因為是与他所行的邪恶成為对比,才记得什麼是良善。他是从邪恶这边,经歷到善恶的亲身知识。倘若我们以创世记一到三章作為起点,然后思考人蒙召要作判断的所有时机(即:在各种处境中决定什麼是善恶),我们很快会发现到,在人天然的状态裡,他总是倾向於选择邪恶,而不是良善。当耶和华藉著先知耶利米来评判以色列人的作為时,这是祂的结论:「耶和华说:我的百性愚顽,不认识我;他们是愚昧无知的儿女,有智慧行恶,没有知识行善。」(耶四22)稍后,主说到以色列人,他们「乃是恶上加恶,并不认识我。这是耶和华说的」(耶九22)。人所缺乏的良善的知识,就是认识耶和华的知识。先知书裡有许多类似的经文,说到耶和华控告人,包括祂的百姓以色列,从来没有学会行善。当然,我们知道,这是因為即使是在旧盟约裡的有形教会,仍然有许多人的心没有得到重生。当我们接近那第二棵分别善恶树——即十字架,我们的主耶穌代替我们而死的地方——时,就看到他们所行的邪恶之路的顶峰。Adam did indeed attain to the knowledge of good and evil, but, as Vos noted, he attained it from the standpoint of becoming evil and remembering the good in contrast to the evil he performed. He gained the experiential knowledge of good and evil from the evil side. If we make Genesis 1-3 our starting point, and then consider all the occasions in which man is called to make judgments (i.e. to decided between good and evil in each and every situation) we soon discover that he is always prone to choose the evil over the good in his natural state. When the LORD comes to assess Israel’s actions through the prophet Jeremiah this is what He concludes: ” For My people are foolish, they have not known Me. They are silly children, and they have no understanding. They are wise to do evil, But to do good they have no knowledge (Jeremiah 4:22). A little later on the Lord says of Israel, “‘they proceed from evil to evil, And they do not know Me,’ says the LORD.” It was knowledge of the LORD that was the knowledge of good that men lack. There are many similar verses in the prophets, in which the LORD brings the charge that men, including His people Israel, had not learned how to do good. Of course, we know that this is because even within the visible church of the Old Covenant most did not have regenerate hearts. We see the culmination of their evil ways as we approach the second tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil, namely, the cross on which our Lord Jesus died in our place.

在主耶穌被卖、并且被带到人间的审判官面前的那一夜,在祂解释,祂总是在公开的场合教导——这证明了祂的正直——之后,其中的一个差役用手掌打他。耶穌对他说:「我若说的不是,你可以指证那不是;我若说的是,你為什麼打我呢?」(约十八23)主耶穌是在说明,分别善恶的知识一直在发挥作用,而很明显地,当人在做与良善有关的决定时,每次都会不理性地选择邪恶。祂是所有真正善恶知识的源头。祂拒绝邪恶,选择良善。祂完成了第一个亚当所未能完成的。在我们的脑海裡,这应该是很明显的,即耶穌是那唯一的良善,正如祂是唯一的道路、真理、生命一样。所有与耶穌有关的事都涉及到良善和真理。但是这也正是使人心的邪恶彻底浮现到表面来的原因。再也没有比十字架更好的例子了。On the night when our Lord was betrayed and brought before earthly judges, He was struck by one of the soldiers after He explained that He always taught publicallythus vindicating His uprightness. To the soldier that struck Him Jesus replied, “If I have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil; but if good, why do you strike Me (John 18:23)?” Jesus was showing that the knowledge of good and evil is always active and that it is evident that men will irrationally choose evil every time they make a decision in relation to the good. He is the source of all true experiential knowledge of good and evil. He rejected the evil and chose the good. He did what the first Adam failed to do. Now it should be evident in our minds that Jesus is the Good, just as He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Everything that involves Jesus involves the Good and the True. But this is precisely what causes the evil in man’s heart to surface so radically. There is no greater example of this than at the cross.

十字架变成了那棵分别善恶的「树」(彼前二24;和合本译為「木头」)。在加略山上,犹太人和罗马人(代表所有的世人)做出了最邪恶的决定。他们喊叫说:「钉祂十字架!钉祂十字架!」从他们的脸上,那位神圣的判官显明了一个被邪恶所蒙蔽的世界,以及祂对这等邪恶的判决。但是就在那裡,那位没有罪的,為我们成為罪,好叫我们可以在祂裡面成為上帝的义(译按:林后五21)。约瑟的话从来不曾如此响亮:「从前你们的意思是要害我,但上帝的意思原是好的」(创五十20)。The cross becomes the tree (1 Peter 2:24) of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. At Calvary the Jews and Romans (representative of all men) make the ultimate decision for evil. In the face of their crying, “Crucify Him, crucify Him,” the Divine judge shows to a world blinded by evil, His verdict on that evil. But it is there that the One who did no evil was made sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. The words of Joseph never rang so loudly, “You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good” (Gen. 50:20).

被掛在树上的那位,恢復了良善的知识——对那些信靠祂的人而言——即亚当选择邪恶时所失去的。上帝已经选择要翻转这种情况,藉由被掛在树上的那位,在拥有祂形象的人身上,甚至包括我们的主耶穌基督,要恢復亚当所失去的一切。没有其他的树可以如此完整地彰显出善与恶的知识。这是最终的考验。如今,我们要如何回应上帝关於这棵树的吩咐,是唯一要紧的事。The One who hung on the tree restores the knowledge of the Goodto all those who trust in Him–that Adam lost by choosing the evil. God has chosen to reverse, in His image bearers, all that Adam lost by means of the One who hung on this tree, even our Lord Jesus Christ. There is no other tree that so fully manifests the knowledge of good and evil. This is the final probation. What we do with God’s command concerning this tree is the only thing that matters now.

生命树The Tree of Life

生命树也是圣礼——象徵人可以进入到的永生。人倘若遵行了与分别善恶树有关的考验,就可以进入到这个永生裡。亚当,上帝的儿子(路三38),因為吃了分别善恶树上的果子,因此弃绝了我们吃生命树上果子的权利。基督,那第二个亚当,藉由被掛在受咒诅的树上,赐给我们来到生命树前面的管道。傅格森(Sinclair Ferguson)的解释很有帮助。他解释了第一个亚当和他所吃的那棵树上的果子之间的关係,以及第二个亚当和祂所吃的那棵树上的果子(从属灵的意义来说)之间的关係。他说到:The tree of Life was also sacramental–symbolizing something of the eternal life that man could have entered into if he had obeyed with regard to the testing of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Adam, the son of God (Luke 3:38), forfeited our right to the Tree of Life by taking the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Christ, the second Adam, gives us access to the Tree of Life by hanging on the cursed tree. Sinclair Ferguson helpfully explains the relationship between the first Adam–and the Tree from which he ate–and the second Adam–and the Tree from which He ate (spiritually)–when he said:

耶穌在客西马尼园受到试探,使得祂祷告说:「倘若可行,求你叫这杯离开我。然而,不要照我的意思,只要照你的意思」,祂说这话的本质是什麼呢?这是完全圣洁的渴望。任何其他的渴望都是污秽的,不敬虔的。為什麼呢?因為一个圣洁的人从来不会有想要经歷被上帝弃绝的希望、渴望,或筹算。在我们主耶穌神圣的人性中,祂从来不会想要处在这样的境地中,使祂要喊叫:「我的上帝,我的上帝,為什麼离弃我?」What was the nature of Jesus temptation in the Garden that made Him say, “Let this cup pass from Me–that’s My desire”? That was a perfectly holy desire. Any other desire would have been an unholy and godless desire. Why? Because a holy man can never have any wish or desire or purpose to experience a sense of divine desolation. It was not within our Lord Jesus’ holy humanity to ever desire to be in a position where He would cry out, “My God, I am forsaken by You. Why?”

在客西马尼园,因著耶穌灵魂的圣洁,迫使祂向父神说:「我不要那棵树」。祂这样做是為了解除亚当和夏娃在伊甸园裡所作的——因為在伊甸园裡的那棵树是用相同的词汇来描述的——与其他树完全没有两样。倘若你经过那棵树,上面不会有弯曲的枝子写著:「我很丑,不要吃我。」树上的果子也不会说:「我很可怕;不要吃我。」去读创世记第三章开头,你会看到圣经是以和其他树同样的方式来描写这棵树的。因此,不是这棵树本身有什麼特别,使亚当可以说:「噢,我不想要这棵树」。The holiness of the soul of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane was compelled to say to the Father, “Not that tree;” and in doing so He was undoing what Adam and Eve, in the Garden of Eden, did–because the tree in the Garden of Eden is described in exactly the same terms as any other tree–there’s no other difference. If you had walked past that tree there was no crooked branches saying, “I’m ugly; don’t touch me.”  There would have been nothing about the fruit saying “I’m horrible; don’t eat me.” Just read the opening of Genesis 3 you’ll see that tree is described in terms of its nature exactly the same way as every other tree is described. So there was nothing in that tree itself that make Adam say, “Oh, I don’t want that tree.”

亚当蒙召要做的,是说:「那棵树本身没有什麼理由会让我说我不想要吃它,只除了上帝说过『不要吃它』以外。因此,在这点上,我必须俯伏在上帝面前,并且说:『我信靠祢』,即使我裡面所有的冲动都告诉我,『这棵树的果子看起来绝对是很甜美的』。」这是很明显的,因為上帝不会骗人,明明看起来很好吃,但是吃起来却有剧毒……因此,彷彿是说,在人类歷史这个奇怪光谱的另一端,耶穌是在面对另一棵树,而这整棵树——和伊甸园的那棵树来对比——都在对人说:「你不会想要得到我」,而祂的天父说:「我要你吃这树上的果子,你要这麼作,单纯是因為我是你的父亲,我吩咐你要用这种方式来拯救世上的男女。因此,耶穌啊,喝完这杯吧!」这整件事的奇妙之处在於(希伯来书继续说到那些哭喊和眼泪),耶穌吃了加略山的树的苦果,饮尽它最后的苦渣。这就是保罗為什麼会说:「祂存心顺服,以至於死,且死在十字架上」的原因。4What Adam was called to do was to say, There is no reason in that tree itself for me to say I do not want itexcept God has said, “Don’t touch it.” And so, at this point, I have to bow before God and say, “I trust you” even though everything in me says, “That tree looks absolutely delicious.” That’s actually obvious because God would not deceive a human being by making a tree that looked delicious and yet tasted poisonous…And so, as it were, on the other end of this strange spectrum of human history Jesus is facing another tree, and everything about that tree–in contrast with the tree in the Garden of Eden–is saying “You do not want me,” and His Father is saying, “That’s the tree whose fruit I want you to eat, and to do it simply because I’m Your Father, and I’m commanding You to save men and women in this way–So Jesus, take the cup.” And the wonder of it all is (and Hebrews goes on to speak about those loud cryings and tears), is that He took the bitter fruit of Calvary’s tree and consumed its last bitter dregs. That’s why Paul said, “He became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.3

傅格森如此继续展开这个论点Ferguson continues to develop this in the following way:

新约圣经对这个事实没有太多著墨即伊甸园的那棵树和基督被钉在十字架上的那棵树之间是有关联的。圣经只说到因為在这棵树上所发生的事人只要来到这棵树的面前咒诅就会落在耶穌身上然后在旧约圣经裡内置了这样的律法即被掛在树上的就是被上帝咒诅的——保罗在加拉太书三章3节具体说到这点……是要表明「耶穌没有被人用石头打死不是偶然的」。基督是如何死的,具有巨大的神圣意义。这解释了祂為何会被钉死在十字架上,而不是以其他方式受死…… The New Testament doesnt make much of the fact that there is a connectedness between the tree in the Garden of Eden and the tree on which Christ was crucified except that we do have Man coming to the tree and the curse falling upon Him because of what happens at the tree; and then there is, inbuilt into the Old Testament law, that the man who hangs on a tree is accursed of God–and Paul picks that up…in Galatians 3:13 to say quite specifically “It’s not accidental that Jesus was not stoned to death.” There is a huge divine significance in the manner in which He died. That’s another exposition of why it is that He dies by crucifixion and not by any other way…

如此,这其中的平行处乃是根植於保罗在罗马书五章12-21节的观念——我认為这是腓立比书二章5-11节背后的观念——即第一个亚当是悖逆的;第二个亚当是顺服的。第一个亚当努力要争取与上帝同等的地位;第二个亚当,祂本与上帝同等,却不坚持自己具有特殊的地位,反而倒空自己,取了奴僕的形象——以人的形式出现——祂死了,不仅死了,更是特别死在十字架上。5That parallel then is rooted in the notion of Paul in Romans 5:12-21I think it lies behind Philippians 2:5-11–that the first Adam is disobedient; the second Adam is obedient. The first Adam grasps at equality with God; the second Adam who possesses equality with God doesn’t count it a thing to be made a special consideration for Himself but humbles Himself, takes the form of a servant–being found in human form–He dies, and not just dies, but specifically dies the death of the cross.4

清教徒神学家华森(Thomas Watson)总结了这整件事,他对比了亚当「拿起、吃了」上帝吩咐他不要吃的那棵树上的果子,而基督也「拿起、吃了」上帝吩咐祂要吃的那树上的果子。基督如今在祂所设立的主餐中,吩咐祂的子民要「拿起、吃了」这棵树上的果子。十字架,就这个词真正的意义来说,对那些吃了它的果子的人而言,就是真正的「生命树」。基督使生命的果子可以產生出来,好叫我们可以藉著选择那良善的(即:基督),并且拒绝邪恶,而亲身经歷到、学习到善恶的知识。在荣耀之中,所有信靠基督的人,要藉著吃喝祂而永远吃那生命树上的果子(啟二7,廿二2)。我们会恢復对於善恶的知识,好叫我们可以从此选择那良善的,而拒绝邪恶。愿我们都可以藉著信心在基督裡被上帝寻著,好叫我们的知识是与第一个亚当因為吃了上帝吩咐他不要吃的那棵树上的果子所带给我们的知识完全相反的知识,也让我们可以认识到如今我们可以拿起来吃的生命树上的果子的祝福。The Purtian, Thomas Watson, summed up the whole matter by drawing a contrast between Adam taking and eating from the tree of which he was commanded not to eat, and Christ “taking and eating” from the tree of which he was commanded to eat. Christ now commands His people to “take and eat” from this tree in the institution of the Supper. The cross is, in the truest sense of the word, “The Tree of Life” for those who eat of its fruit. Christ has caused the fruit of life to be born that we might experientially learn the knowledge of Good and Evil by choosing the good (i.e. Christ) and rejecting the evil. In glory, all those who have trusted in Christ will eat of the Tree of Life forever by feeding on Him forever (Rev. 2:7; 22:2). We will have the Knowledge of Good and Evil restored perfectly so that we will every choose the good and reject the evil. May we be found in Christ by faith so that we may know the reversal of all that the first Adam brought upon us by taking from the tree of which God commanded him not to eat, and that we might know the blessing of now being able to take and eat of the Tree of Life.

1. An excerpt taken from Cornelius Van Til’s article, “Nature and Scripture,” in The Infallible Word.
2. Geerhardus Vos (2012–2014). Reformed Dogmatics. (A. Godbehere, R. van Ijken, D. van der Kraan, H. Boonstra, J. Pater, & A. Janssen, Trans., R. B. Gaffin, Ed.) (Vol. 2, pp. 28–29). Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
3. Vos, Geerhardus  Biblical Theology (1948), pp. 27-33.
4. Sinclair Ferguson “Why the God-Man?” from the 2011 Ligonier Ministries National Conference (at the 53:33 mark)
5. Ferguson “Q & A” from 2011 Ligonier Ministries National Conference (beginning at the 31:34 mark).



扭转伊甸园的咒诅The Curse Reversed

作者:Nicholas T. Batzig   译者:骆鸿铭


要了解耶穌救赎工作的本质,一个重大的关键是明白上帝对持有祂形象的人,在他们悖逆后所宣告的咒诅。当亚当一犯罪抵挡上帝,把罪咎和败坏带给全人类后,上帝立刻降临,带来与祂的受造之物的行动匹配的盟约咒诅。祂的第一个咒诅宣告是针对那恶者,牠引我们第一对始祖,要他们反叛上帝;然后祂宣告对女人的咒诅,最后祂宣告对亚当的咒诅——所有人类的盟约元首。One of the great keys to understanding the nature of Jesus saving work is to understand the nature of the curse pronounced by God on His rebellious image bearers. No sooner did Adam sin against God, bringing guilt and corruption to the who human race, that God came with the covenant curses commensurate with the actions of His creatures. He first pronounces the curse on the evil One, who tempted our first parents to rebel against God; then He pronounced the curse on the woman and finally He pronounced the curse on the man–the federal head of all humanity.

这些咒诅最迷人之处是它们是有策略地按照每个被造之物悖逆的顺序而赐下的,而且它们是有策略地根据每个受造之物在成全被造界的使命上,要藉著「生养眾多」、「遍满地面」,以及治理大地所扮演的角色而安排的。简而言之,亚当和夏娃原本要藉著顺服上帝,并通过充满这个世界、改善这个世界,把世界变成伊甸园。这个世界本是上帝所造,要赐给拥有祂形象的人,作為一个可以居住的產业。以下是关於咒诅,以及上帝藉著第二个亚当的救赎和新创造之工,扭转这个咒诅的五个看法。What is most fascinating about these curses is that they are strategically given in the order in which each creature rebelled, and they are strategically placed with regard to the role that each was to play in fulfilling the creation mandate to “have dominion” by being “fruitful and multiplying,” and by filling the earth and subduing it. In short, Adam and Eve were to turn the world into the Garden by obeying God and by populating and cultivating this world that God had created to be a habitable inheritance for His image bearers. Here are five thoughts about the curses and the way in which God reverses the curse through the second Adam in His work of redemption and new creation:

一、第一个咒诅放在蛇的身上,因為牠是第一个悖逆的,也是第一个把混乱带到上帝的世界的。1. The first curse was place on the serpent because he was the first to rebel and the first to bring disorder into Gods world.

圣经清楚表明,「犯罪的是属魔鬼,因為魔鬼从起初就犯罪。上帝的儿子显现出来,為要除灭魔鬼的作為。」 圣经其餘的部分,用傅格森的话说,「基本上就是创世记三章15节的详尽註脚」,是展开上帝放置在撒但和牠的后裔,以及女人和她的后裔之间的敌意。当然,我们必须认识到,圣经中「后裔」(seed)这个字,其性质是第一人称单数、阳性,但是眾多的人,在一个次要和相关的意义上,是被包括在这个字眼当中的。它含有那一位(the one,即基督)和这人(the man)的观念。在这首先的咒诅裡,含有一个应许。这是对救赎主的第一次应许。上帝应许要打破蛇的头,即便蛇会攻击并伤害女人后裔的脚跟。在蛇和女人后裔之间的战争中,蛇会受到一个致命伤,而那位救赎主会受到一个本意是要致命,却成為有如只是伤了祂的脚跟的伤。这两个伤处的差别在於,救赎主会在祂从死裡復生当中获得医治。Stuart Robinson,一位南方长老会的神学家,在他精彩的圣经神学名著《论救赎》(Discourses of Redemption)中,阐述了亚当和夏娃在这首先的应许裡所学到的八件事。他解释说,他们也许学会了:The Scriptures make clear that the Son of God was manifest to destroy the work of the devil” (1 John 3:8). The rest of the Bible is, in the words of Sinclair Ferguson, “essentially an extended footnote to Genesis 3:15.” It is the unfolding of the enmity that God set between Satan and his seed and the woman and her seed. Of course, we need to recognize that the word ‘Seed’ in Scripture is first singular and masculine in nature, but that a plurality of persons is included in it in a secondary and related sense. It carries the idea of the One (i.e. Christ) and the man. In this first curse, there is a promise. This is the first promise of a Redeemer. God promises to crush the head of the serpent, even as the serpent attacks and bruises the heal of the Seed of the woman. In the warfare between the serpent and the Seed of the woman, the serpent would experience a fatal wound while the Redeemer would experience a wound that was meant to be fatal but which would be as if he only had his heal bruised. The difference between the two wounds is that the Redeemers would be remedied in His resurrection from the dead. Stuart Robinson, an old Southern Presbyterian theologian, in his biblical-theological masterpiece Discourses of Redemption, set out eight things that Adam and Eve could have known from this first promise. He explained that they could have known:

1. 人类的救赎者和恢復者会是个男人因為女人的后裔是「他」。That the Redeemer and Restorer of the race is to be man, since he is to be the seed of the woman.

2. 与此同时,祂会是个比人还要伟大的存在,祂甚至比撒但更大;因為祂会成為人类的征服者的征服者,在祂的努力下,祂要恢復一个罪恶的世界,是人所失去的世界;然而祂却是无罪的,因此祂必然是神圣的。That He is, at the same time, to be a being greater than man, and greater even than Satan; since he is to be the conqueror of mans conqueror, and, against all his efforts, to recover a sinful world which man had lost; being yet sinless, he must therefore be divine.

3. 此救赎必然会涉及到一个与撒但的本性「為仇」的新本性(人在堕落后就臣服在撒但的本性之下)。That this redemption shall involve a new nature, at enmity with the Satan nature, to which man has now become subject.

4. 这个本性是由上帝的能力所重生的因為与撒但為仇并不是一种自然的情感而是耶和华如此说「我要把敌意放在……That this new nature is a regeneration by Divine power; since the enmity to Satan is not a natural emotion, but, saith Jehovah, I will put enmity, &c.

5. 此救赎必要藉著代替性的受难来完成,因為救赎主的脚跟必要在恢復的工作中受伤。This redemption shall be accomplished by vicarious suffering; since the Redeemer shall suffer the bruising of his heel in the work of recovery.

6. 此救赎之工必会涉及到把一群蒙拣选的后裔,一群「特殊的百姓」招聚出来,与一群受撒但控制的天然后裔為仇。That this work of redemption shall involve the gathering out of an elect seed a peculiar people at enmity with the natural offspring of a race subject to Satan.

7. 此救赎必要涉及到这群特殊百姓永久的冲突,在其代表性的元首之下,企图要伤撒但的头,也就是,「摧毁魔鬼的作為」。That this redemption shall involve & perpetual conflict of the peculiar people, under its representative head, in the effort to bruise the head of Satan, that is, to destroy the works of the Devil.

8. 此救赎必要涉及到女人的后裔在受难之后的最终胜利;因此必要涉及到胜过死亡,并且把人类恢復到它原始的状态,既有灵性,也有身体,即堕落之前完全蒙福的状态。1This redemption shall involve the ultimate triumph, after suffering, of the womans seed ; and therefore involves a triumph over death and a restoration of the humanity to its original estate, as a spiritual in conjunction with a physical nature, in perfect blessedness as before its fall.1

圣经為女人后裔和蛇的后裔之间的敌意作出了见证。该隐,圣经说他是「属那恶者」,对亚伯怀著敌意;世人对挪亚和罗德怀著敌意;埃及人迫害以色列人;以色列人和非利士人之间的冲突(以及所有与以色列争战的国家,或欺压以色列的国家)。儘管不是所有的以色列人都与救赎主在救恩上有联合,然而旧约的以色列国是那将要来的上帝的儿子的预表,也是培育那将要来的救赎主的温床;因此,在救赎歷史中,祂代表著女人的后裔。当救赎主降临时,这个敌意出现在魔鬼和基督在旷野裡的冲突,在法利赛人、撒都该人、大祭司和文士对基督的反对上;基督,连同施行约翰,解释说他们是「毒蛇的种类」,「他们的父是魔鬼」。最后,这个战争出现在基督的復活和高升后,世人对教会的反对上(啟十二章)。儘管基督藉著祂在十字架上的死,打败了魔鬼(太十二22-30;约十二31西二15),我们仍在等候这个胜利的完全彰显。到那时,基督和祂的教会要在最后审判中,将撒但践踏在脚下(罗十六20)。简而言之,耶穌在十字架上的死是「D-Day」(D日;攻击发起日),而最后审判是「V-Day」(V日;最后胜利日)。在十字架上确然发生的事,会在最后审判中完全实现。The Scriptures bear out the enmity between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent in the enmity that Cain, who is said to be “of the evil one,” toward Abel, in the hostility of the world toward Noah and Lot, in the oppression of Israel by Egypt and in the conflict between Israel and the Philistines (as well as all the other nations with which they battled or were oppressed). While all Israel was not savingly united to the Redeemer, the nation–in the Old Testament–was a type of the coming Son of God and the seedbed of the coming Redeemer; therefore, it stood in the place of the Seed of the woman in redemptive history. In the coming of the Redeemer, this enmity is seen in the conflict between the Devil and Christ in the wilderness, in the opposition of the Pharisees, Sadducees, Chief Priests and Scribes to Christ who, together with John the Baptist, explained that they were “a brood of vipers” and “of their father the devil.” Finally, the warfare is seen in the worlds opposition to the church after the resurrection and ascension of Christ (Rev. 12). While Christ defeated the devil by virtue of His death on the cross (Matt. 12:22-30; John 12:31 and Col. 2:15), we await the full manifestation of the victory when Christ and His Church crush Satan under the feet in final judgment (Rom. 16:20). In short, Jesus’ death on the cross was D-Day and the final judgment is V-Day. What happened definitively on the cross will come to full fruition in the judgment.

二、在对蛇的咒诅中提到了女人,因為她是最先悖逆的,救赎也要藉著她而来。
2. The woman is mentioned in the curse placed on the serpent because she was the first to rebel and the one through whom redemption would come.

如果有人问到,為什麼在对蛇的咒诅中首先提到女人,然后上帝才对我们第一对父母说话,我们可以给出几个重要的回答。第一,首先悖逆的是女人。如此,上帝先对女人说话就是顺理成章的。不过,耶和华也没有过於苛责女人,以免她因為她的行动备受她丈夫的奚落而过於伤心。创世记三章15节提到的耶和华所说有关女人后裔的事,是提摩太前书二章15节所关心的。If someone were to ask why the woman is addressed first in the curse placed on the serpent and then in God’s address to our first parents, we could give several important answers. The first is that it was the women who first disobeyed. It is right then that God would address the woman first. However, the Lord also removes some of the reproach from the woman–lest she should have too much sorrow to bear from the scorn of her husband for her action. The Redeemer would come from the woman. It is possible that reference to what the Lord says about the woman’s seed in Genesis 3:15 is in view in 1 Timothy 2:15.

三、对女人的咒诅是就她在遍满地面的使命上所扮演的角色而宣告的。
3. The curse placed on the woman was pronounced with regard to her role in the dominion mandate.

当我们问到:上帝為什麼要在宣告祂对女人的咒诅时,把祂的咒诅放在生產这个行动上,这就引发了另一个问题。而这个答案是,这似乎和女人在堕落之前,在生產的事情中所扮演的角色有关。亚当和夏娃本来应该要履行创造的使命,要「生养眾多,遍满地面,治理大地」。亚当和夏娃可以向外扩展花园圣殿的方式,是通过生养眾多来彰显上帝的荣耀。既然女人让自己被骗,放弃了她按照上帝原先所希望的、人要履行的治理大地的权力,她就要在她原先可以履行这个使命的地方受苦,以提醒她,她如今已经无法完成了。女人如今只能按照她和她的盟约的头的形象,生出败坏的儿女。即使在我们这个时代,有很多人高抬他们的儿女,以及他们在养育子女上的成就,到一个程度,彷彿他们相信,他们可以达成上帝在创造时的原始意图。Still, another question arises when we ask why God placed His curse upon the act of child-bearing when He pronounced His curse upon the woman. The answer, it seems, regards the role childbearing prior to the fall. Adam and Eve were to fulfill the creational mandate to “be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it.” The way in which Adam and Eve would extend the Garden-Temple out would be by populating and cultivating to the glory of God. Now that the woman has allowed herself to be deceived and has forfeited the right to fulfill the dominion mandate in the way in which God originally intended for man to do, she would have pain in the place in which she would have originally fulfilled it as a reminder that she could no longer do so. Woman would now bear corrupt children in the fallen image of she and her federal head. Too many, even in our own day, elevate their children and their parenting to such a level that it seems as though they believe that they can achieve the original intention of God at creation.

在祂满有恩典的筹算中,上帝继续成就祂要人治理大地的意图,甚至部分是通过生儿育女的过程。不过,以一种人永远无法想像的方式。上帝要成為人,由女子所生,且生在律法之下,好叫祂可以从律法的咒诅中救赎我们,并且藉著祂自己的死造就一个新的创造。希伯来书的作者把这点说得很清楚,他提到「来世」,并且解释说,我们「至今还不见万物都服祂」,但「唯独见那成為比天使小一点的耶穌,因為受死的苦,就得了尊贵荣耀為冠冕,叫祂因著上帝的恩,為人人(祂所有的百姓)嚐了死味。」(来二8-9In His gracious purposes, God continued to fulfill his intention for man to have dominion and, even, in part, through child-bearing. However, it was in a way in which man could have never imagined. God would become man, born of the woman, born under the law so that He might redeem us of the curse of the Law and bring about the new creation through His own death. The writer of Hebrews makes this clear when he speaks of the “world to come” and explains that we “do not yet see all things put under man,” but “we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the Angels, for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for all His people.”

四、放置在男人身上的咒诅和他统治大地的使命有关。
4. The curse place on the man regarded his role in the dominion mandate.

正如上帝在女人本来要在统管世界的职责上所要扮演的角色上,向她宣告咒诅,同样,上帝也在这件事上咒诅男人。男人本来应当「修理、看守」伊甸园。工作本来是男人履行统管使命的基本方式之一。藉著使用耶和华赐给他的恩赐,男人可以為了万王之王的荣耀而治理世界。与此相反,上帝如今说,对堕落之后的人来说,工作会变得艰难和痛苦。男人要汗流满面才能糊口。男人本是从土而来,如今地却要给他长出荆棘和蒺藜。在堕落之前本来应该是简单而可以享受的事,如今却变得劳苦而繁重。As God pronounced a curse on the women in the very place in which she was to play a role in taking dominion of the world, so He did with regard to the man. Man was to “tend and keep” the Garden. Work was one of the primary ways in which man would fulfill the dominion mandate. By using the gifts that the Lord gave him, man would subdue the world for the glory the King of Kings. Instead, God said that work would be difficult and painful for man after the fall. Man would work by the sweat of his brow in order to eat bread. The ground, out of which the man had been made, would now bear thorns and thistles. Everything that would have been easy and enjoyable prior to the fall would now be toilsome and burdensome.

在堕落之后,人企图藉著他自己所作的来履行统管的使命,只是徒劳无功。人从此无法靠他自己的工作来履行这个统管的使命。不过,有一个人要来,会以祂的一生和死亡的工作,来完成这个使命。在祂復活之后,耶穌告诉祂的门徒,「天上地下所有的权柄都赐给我了,所以,你们要去,使万民作我的门徒。」耶穌获得了所有的权柄和能力,上帝的儿子和新创造的代表,以及得赎的人类。祂如今坐在上帝的宝座上,藉著福音的传讲,使人作祂的门徒,叫万物服在祂的脚下。After the fall, man tries to fulfill the dominion mandate by which he does–and he tries in vain. No longer would man be able to fulfill the dominion mandate by His own work. However, a Man would come who would fulfill the mandate by His work in His life and death. After His resurrection, Jesus told His disciples, “All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples.” Jesus gains all authority and power and the Son of God and representative of the new creation and redeemed humanity. A Man now sits on the throne of God and is subduing all things to Himself through the preaching of the Gospel and the making of disciples.

五、基督,末后的亚当,把亚当的咒诅担在自己身上,以救赎祂的百姓。
5. Christ, the Last Adam, took the curse of Adam upon Himself in order to redeem His people.

正如对女人的咒诅同样的情况,耶和华要在对男人的咒诅中带来祝福。男人的罪和咒诅的解答,会在耶穌基督,第二个亚当(罗五12-21)身上找到。祂是末后的人——前来代表祂在亚当裡堕落的百姓,好叫他们得以认识救赎。用傅格森的话说,「耶穌消解了亚当所作的一切,并且完成了亚当所未能完成的一切。」祂成了咒诅,好除去我们身上的咒诅。祂完美地遵行了上帝的律法,好叫所有信祂的人配得称义。耶穌的救赎大工最有趣的一个层面是,上帝在伊甸园裡对人所宣告的咒诅是如何落在耶穌身上的——也是在花园裡。As was true with regard to the woman and her curse, the Lord mean to bring blessing from the curse placed on man. The solution to Adam’s sin and the curse is found in Jesus Christ, the second Adam (Romans 5:12-21). He is the last man–who came to represent His people who were fallen in Adam so that they might know redemption. In the words of Sinclair Ferguson, “Jesus undid everything Adam did and did everything Adam failed to do.” He became a curse in order to remove the curse from us. He kept the Law of God perfectly so as to merit righteousness for those who would believe. One of the most interesting aspects of Jesus’ work of redemption is the way in which the curse that was pronounced over man in the Garden falls on Him–in Gardens.

当耶穌正要完成祂的救赎大工之际,圣经告诉我们,祂在园子裡,「汗如大血点滴在地上」(路廿二44)马太•亨利註解到:「汗伴随著罪而来,是咒诅的一部分,创三19。因此,当基督為我们成為罪身、成為咒诅时,祂流出了极為悲痛的汗,而在祂脸上的汗水中,我们得以吃饼,好叫祂可以使我们成圣,并且把对我们的试炼化為甘甜。」When Jesus was fully entering into the work of redemption, we are told that He sweat great drops of blood in the Garden. Matthew Henry noted: Sweat came in with sin, and was a branch of the curse, Gen. 3:19. And therefore when Christ was made sin and a curse for us, He underwent a grievous sweat, that in the sweat of His face we might eat bread, and that He might sanctify and sweeten all our trials to us.

明白这位神而人者,在祂努力要解除亚当所作的一切时,所必须忍受的工作的重担,并不是件微不足道的小事。It is no small thing to see how the God-Man had to endure the burden of work as He was working to undo everything that Adam had done.

其次,耶穌在祂受难的当儿,头上扎著荆棘的冠冕。对我来说,这是祂成為背负罪孽、除去咒诅的第二个亚当,最有力的一幅图像。再次,马太•亨利写到:「荆棘伴随著罪而来,是咒诅的一部分,而咒诅是罪的结果,创三18。因此,基督,既然為我们成了咒诅,為我们死了,好除去我们身上的咒诅,就感到这些荆棘带来的痛苦和剧痛,不,是把它们绑在祂头上做冠冕(伯三十一36);因為祂為我们受难是祂的荣耀。」(译按:见太廿七26-32註)Secondly, Jesus wore the crown a thorns during His hours of suffering. This, it seems to me, is one of the most powerful pictures of Him becoming the sin-bearing, curse-removing Second Adam. Again, Matthew Henry wrote: Thorns came in with sin, and were part of the curse that was the product of sin, Gen. 3:18 . Therefore Christ, being made a curse for us, and dying to remove the curse from us, felt the pain and smart of those thorns, nay, and binds them as a crown to him (Job. 31:36 ); for his sufferings for us were his glory.

最后,耶穌死了。我们在圣经裡读到有关祂受难的细节之一是:「气就断了。」(可十五37)上帝给了人「生命的气息」。耶穌,第二个亚当,捨了自己的气息,好叫我们可以拥有属於的生命气息。耶穌在十字架上全然忍受了堕落的咒诅。耶穌代替祂的百姓而死。马太•亨利精闢地说到:「基督确确实实死了,因為祂放弃了圣灵(the ghost);祂人类的灵魂啟程前往精灵的世界,把祂的身体留在一个毫无生气的泥块裡」。Finally, Jesus died. One of the details about the sufferings of which we read in Scripture is that “He breathed His last” (Mark 15:24). God had given man “the breath of life.” Jesus, the second Man, gave up that breath so that we might have the spiritual breath of life. Jesus endured the curse of the fall to the full on the cross. Jesus died in the place of His people. Henry put it so well when he wrote:Christ was really and truly dead, for he gave up the ghost; his human soul departed to the world of spirits, and left his body a breathless clod of clay.

有趣的是,正如祂在客西马尼园开始祂的受难,同样地,祂也被埋葬在一个花园裡。安布罗斯(Isaac Ambrose),在他精彩的著作《仰望耶穌》(Looking Unto Jesus)裡,作出以下有力的观察:花园是我们堕落之所,因此,基督选择从花园来开始祂救赎我们的工作……请思想祂进入客西马尼园:在亚当犯罪的园子裡,而基督必须在这个园子裡受苦。当祂进到这个园子,马上就感到极度痛苦。」Interestingly, just as he began his sufferings in the Garden of Gethsemane, so he finished them by being buried in a Garden. Isaac Ambrose, in his wonderful book Looking Unto Jesus, made the following powerful observation: A garden was the place wherein we fell, and therefore Christ made choise of a garden to begin the work of our redemption…Confider him entering into the garden of Gethfemane: in a garden Adam sinned, and in this garden Christ must suffer. Into this garden no sooner was he entered, but he began to be agonized.

但耶穌不只是捨了祂肉身的生命,祂也為我们忍受上帝完全的怒气。这是许多人对使徒信经这句话的理解:「祂下到阴间」。耶穌在十字架上忍受了与永恆审判相当的刑罚。只有一位永恆者才能满足一位永恆上帝的怒气。正如安瑟伦所作的对我们很有帮助的解释:「所有的罪都是在抵挡一位永恆者,而即使抵挡一位永恆者的一桩罪也配得永恆的审判。」耶穌,身為完全神、完全人,将自己置身於罪、死亡、上帝的怒气的权势下,為了我们把堕落的咒诅担在自己身上。祂打破罪的权势,除去肉体死亡的毒鉤,并且满足了上帝的怒气,為将眾子带进到荣耀裡。But Jesus did not only gave up His life physically–He also endured the full wrath of God for us. This is what many have understood the Apostle’s creed to mean when we say, “He descended into Hell.” Jesus endured the equivalent of eternal punishment on the cross. Only an eternal being can satisfy the wrath of an eternal God. As Anselm explained so helpfully, “Every sin is sin against at eternal being, and even one sin against an eternal being deserves eternal punishment.” Jesus, being fully God and fully man put himself under the power of sin, death and wrath to take the curse of the fall upon Himself for us. He broke the power of sin, removed the sting from physical death and satisfied the wrath of God to bring many sons to glory.

人既是从土造成的,背叛了他的造物主,因此这位无限圣洁、造作万物的上帝,就咒诅人犯罪之所。人的罪影响了全宇宙(罗八19-22)。上帝在救赎歷史的不同时期裡,在对人所宣告的或倾倒在人和牲畜身上的审判中,甚至也提示了这个观念(例如:洪水,对埃及、尼尼微的审判,等等)。在福音裡,上帝应许要救赎的,不只是信祂的百姓,也包括整个宇宙。救赎的应许是给所有信靠耶穌、第二个亚当的人的应许,应许他们会永远与祂一起住在新天新地裡。Man, who was taken from the ground, rebelled against His Maker and so the infinitely holy God, who made all things, cursed the place from which man sinned. Man’s sin effected the whole of the cosmos (Rom. 8:19-22). There are even intimations of this idea in God’s judgments pronounced or poured out upon man and beast at different periods in redemptive history (e.g. the flood, the judgments on Egypt, Ninevah, etc). In the Gospel, God promised to redeem–not just His believing people, but also the whole of the cosmos. The promise of redemption is the promise to all those who have trusted in Jesus, the second Adam, that they will live forever with Him in the New Heavens and the New Earth.

当耶穌在花园裡滴下如大血点的汗珠时,第二个亚当的血就落在受咒诅的花园裡。当祂被掛在树上,头上扎著荆棘的冠冕,祂的血也流到地上。希伯来书的作者举出亚伯的血(从地裡向上帝哀告,哀求上帝审判该隐)和耶穌的血之间的平行对比:耶穌的血「所说的比亚伯的血所说的更美」(来十二24)。耶穌的血哀求怜悯。从一定的意义来说,我们也可以说耶穌的血——既然被倾倒在受咒诅的土地裡——也确保了新的创造。这裡所蕴含的一些深刻的真理,理当使我们跪倒在地,承认我们的罪,并敬拜那位差遣祂永恆爱子来到世上的上帝;祂来成為担当罪孽的,除去咒诅的第二个亚当!正如约翰•亨利•纽曼所写的:When He sweat great drop of blood in the Garden, the blood of the Second Adam fell into the cursed ground. When He hung on the tree, with a crown of thorns on his head, He shed His blood into the ground. The writer of Hebrews draws out this parallel between the blood of Abel (which cried out to God from the ground for judgment on Cain) and the blood of Jesus “speaking better things than that of Abel.” Jesus’ blood cries out for mercy. There is a sense in which we can say that Jesus’ blood–being poured out into the cursed ground–also secures the new creation. There are depths here–depths that ought to make us fall on our knees, confess our sin and worship the God who sent His eternal Son to become the sin-bearing, curse-removing Second Adam! As John Henry Newman put it:

讚美我神智慧之爱
眾皆犯罪羞辱。
第二亚当再战克敌
我主救恩得胜。
O loving wisdom of our God,
when all was sin and shame,
a second Adam to the fight
and to the rescue came!

 1. Stuart Robinson Discourses of Redemption (New York: D. Appelton and Co., 1866) pp. 65-66