【双语灵修】充满希望的异象 A Hopeful Vision

这幅关于将来的图画是多么美丽,神现今已经邀请我们参与到其中了。

【双语灵修】充满希望的异象 A Hopeful Vision

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“坐宝座的说:‘看哪!我将一切都更新了。’” - 启 21:5

你有没有想过你的将来是什么样子的呢?我有想过。我曾思想过关于世界末日的预测是否真实、以及我们能否找到创造更美好未来的途径。但是,我若只看我自己和我现在所知道的一切,我实在不能时常都寄望于未来可期。有些问题似乎无法解决,因我有足够的理由为现实感到沮丧。

然而,神却给了我们很多持守希望的理由。第一,神爱衪的创造,包括我们在内。神差遣衪的儿子来救赎我们,启示我们更美好的生活方式,就是神的国。神赐我们赦免和新生命:衪不单赦免我们,衪更赐我们一个崭新的未来,这是藉着耶稣基督得以成就的。使徒保罗说,我们若“在基督里”,旧事已过,都变成新的了(哥林多后书 5:17)。在启示录21:5,我们看到神“将一切都更新了”。

以赛亚使用非常实际的例子来描绘神将要带来的更新。人类的寿数增加;婴孩不会夭亡;人能住在自己的家中;他们能享用自己努力的成果、而不单是为别人的益处劳碌;将来会有和平到来-甚至自然界中彼此敌对的生物也会彼此合睦。

这幅关于将来的图画是多么美丽,神现今已经邀请我们参与到其中了。

祷告

主啊,求你帮助我们行公义、好怜悯、信靠耶稣和跟从衪,又帮助我们参与你对未来美好的计划。当我们自己参与又邀请别人参与时,求你赐我们盼望。阿们。

以赛亚书 65:17-25

17“看哪,我造新天新地,从前的事不再被记念,也不再追想。
18你们当因我所造的永远欢喜快乐,因我造耶路撒冷为人所喜,造其中的居民为人所乐。
19我必因耶路撒冷欢喜,因我的百姓快乐,其中必不再听见哭泣的声音和哀号的声音。
20其中必没有数日夭亡的婴孩,也没有寿数不满的老者,因为百岁死的仍算孩童,有百岁死的罪人算被咒诅。
21他们要建造房屋,自己居住;栽种葡萄园,吃其中的果子。
22他们建造的,别人不得住;他们栽种的,别人不得吃。因为我民的日子必像树木的日子,我选民亲手劳碌得来的必长久享用。
23他们必不徒然劳碌,所生产的也不遭灾害,因为都是蒙耶和华赐福的后裔,他们的子孙也是如此。
24他们尚未求告,我就应允;正说话的时候,我就垂听。
25豺狼必与羊羔同食,狮子必吃草与牛一样,尘土必做蛇的食物。在我圣山的遍处,这一切都不伤人,不害物。”这是耶和华说的。

A Hopeful Vision

"He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!" - Revelation 21:5

Have you ever wondered what the future will be like? I do. I wonder if doomsday forecasts will come true or whether we will find pathways toward a better future. If I look only to myself and what I know now, I am not always especially hopeful. Some problems seem impossible to solve, and reasons to feel gloomy abound.

But God gives us many good reasons to be hopeful. First, God loves his creation, including us. God sent his Son to redeem us and to show us a better way of life, the kingdom way. God offers us forgiveness and new life: more than pardon, this is the gift of a new future made possible through Jesus Christ. The apostle Paul says that when we are “in Christ,” the old is gone and the new has come (2 Corinthians 5:17). And in Revelation 21:5 we read that God is “making everything new.”

Isaiah paints a picture of God’s new future in very practical terms. People will live long. Infant mortality will be gone. People will stay in their own homes. They will reap the rewards of their labor, not toiling merely for the benefit of others. There will be peace—so much so that even natural ­enemies will cooperate.

That’s a beautiful picture of the future into which God invites us already today.

Prayer

Lord, help us to do justice, love mercy, trust Jesus, and follow him. Help us to enter your good future. Give us hope as we participate and invite others. Amen.

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