【双语灵修】“欢乐下降临世间” Joy Has Dawned

“既然藉着他在十字架上所流的血，成就了和平，便藉着他叫万有，无论是地上的，天上的，都与自己和好了。” - 西 1:20

“欢乐下降临世间”是另一首关于圣诞故事的现代诗歌。而且，如同其他许多歌曲一样，它谈到了耶稣到来的原因。“亚当之子神之子，赎罪代价天赐；神人和好大功成，基督战胜仇敌！”

歌罗西书第1章呼应了这个主题。“爱子是那不能看见之神的像…他在万有之先，万有也靠他而立。”

正如使徒保罗在这段话中所论述的，神的丰盛尽在耶稣身上体现。藉着圣子耶稣，父神能够使万物与自己和好。由于我们堕落犯罪，我们与神的关系出现了裂痕。而恢复这种关系的唯一方法是我们被基督赎回。我们的罪债必须完全被清偿。

耶稣，神的独生爱子，来为我们付上代价。耶稣基督，亲自为我们的罪偿还了债务，“藉着他在十字架上所流的血，成就了和平。”正如歌中所唱，“基督战胜仇敌！”

“奇妙救主罪人友！荣耀无比奥秘！”耶稣曾经是伯利恒婴孩，“现今为万世的主宰！”这的确是一个奥秘。神在基督里亲自偿付我们的赎价，我们的罪债，好使我们能与祂和好。

谢谢你，耶稣！

祷告

耶稣，你是主和救主，却愿意成为和我们一样的人，把我们从罪恶中拯救出来，使我们与神和好，这真是一个奥秘。谢谢你的救恩。阿们。

歌罗西书 1:15-23

15爱子是那不能看见之神的像，是首生的，在一切被造的以先。
16因为万有都是靠他造的，无论是天上的、地上的，能看见的、不能看见的，或是有位的、主治的、执政的、掌权的，一概都是藉着他造的，又是为他造的。
17他在万有之先，万有也靠他而立。
18他也是教会全体之首。他是元始，是从死里首先复生的，使他可以在凡事上居首位，
19因为父喜欢叫一切的丰盛在他里面居住。
20既然藉着他在十字架上所流的血成就了和平，便藉着他叫万有，无论是地上的、天上的，都与自己和好了。
21你们从前与神隔绝，因着恶行，心里与他为敌；
22但如今他藉着基督的肉身受死，叫你们与自己和好，都成了圣洁，没有瑕疵，无可责备，把你们引到自己面前。
23只要你们在所信的道上恒心，根基稳固，坚定不移，不致被引动失去福音的盼望。这福音就是你们所听过的，也是传于普天下万人听的。我保罗也做了这福音的执事。

Joy Has Dawned

"God was pleased . . . through him to reconcile to himself all things . . . by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross." - Colossians 1:20

"Joy Has Dawned" is another contemporary song about the Christmas story. And, like many other songs, it speaks of the reason Jesus came: "Son of Adam, Son of Heaven, given as a ransom,/ reconciling God and man, Christ our mighty champion."

Colossians 1 echoes this theme. "The Son is the image of the invisible God. . . . He is before all things, and in him all things hold together."

As the apostle Paul shows in this passage, God’s fullness lives in Jesus. And through Jesus the Son, God the Father was able to reconcile all things to himself. Because of our fall into sin, there was brokenness in our relationship with God. And the only way to restore that was for us to be ransomed. Our debt had to be fully paid for.

Jesus, God’s own Son, came to pay our ransom. Jesus, the Christ, paid the debt for our sin, "making peace through his blood, shed on the cross." As the song sings, "Christ [is] our mighty champion"!

"What a Savior, what a friend, what a glorious mystery." It is indeed a mystery that Jesus, once a tiny baby in Bethlehem, is "now the Lord of history." God himself, in Christ, has come to pay our ransom, our debt of sin, so that we may be reconciled with God.

Thank you, Jesus!

Prayer

The fact that you, Lord and Savior, would come to be like us and save us from our sin so that we may be reconciled is indeed a mystery. Thank you, Jesus. Amen.