19 Jan 2016, Isaiah 56 以赛亚书 56, Grace to the Disadvantaged 向被社会排除之人施恩

Posted on Jan 11, 2016 in Devotions, Isaiah |

Scripture Reading  : Isaiah 56

Theme                  : Grace to the Disadvantaged

God encourages those who are disadvantaged and outsiders, such as foreign converts and castrated people, to continue to live under His Lordship as demonstrated by observing the Sabbath. The Sabbath is only for the Jews and foreign converts under the OT dispensation/law, not for Christians (Col. 2:16-17), but in the Messianic Kingdom, Sabbath will be reinstituted (Eze. 44:24). Even though outsiders, like foreigners and eunuchs, were not supposed to be part of God’s people (Deut. 23), God will give them grace that is above their thinking (Rahab and Ruth are also foreshadows of God’s future grace in the Messianic Kingdom). For their love for God, Eunuchs will inherit a better name/identity as children of God in the Messianic kingdom, which is better than sons and daughters. They will be able to enter Jesus’ temple and fellowship with Jesus in the Messianic Kingdom.

 

Praying the Scripture

God’s grace is great and the pleasure of a relationship with Him is far better than any relationship on earth, including our relationship with our children. Children are gifts from God to serve as a hint of His goodness, just as marriage is a taste of His goodness. The pleasures of these gifts point us to the sweetness of the Giver and greater pleasures from a relationship with God. If we lack any of these gifts from God, be it marriage or children, we can still experience and taste the goodness of the Giver in other ways, the chief way being our imitation of the character of Christ as we obey His commandments in the context of relationships in a local church (Eph. 5:1-2). If you are lacking anything like the eunuchs, pray that you will taste the goodness of God by imitating God’s character by obeying Him in the context of relationships in a local church (Eph. 4-6).

经文：以赛亚书56

主题：向被社会排除之人施恩

 

神鼓励一向受到社会排挤或隔离的人，如外邦信徒与阉割之人，要继续尊祂为主，遵行祂的话，如守安息日。安息日本是为旧约时代的犹太人与外邦信徒设立的，基督徒无需遵守（西2:16-17），但在弥赛亚国度里，万人将再次守安息日（结44:24）。虽然被隔离的人，如外邦人和太监，原与神的子民无分（申23），但神会赐予超乎他们所能想象的恩典（喇合与路得亦是神将来在弥赛亚国度里施恩的预示）。凭着他们对神的爱，太监将承受更好的名分，作神弥赛亚国度中之子；这比有儿女来得好。在弥赛亚国度里，他们得以进入耶稣的殿中，与耶稣相交。

 

用经文祷告

神的恩典甚大，而与祂相交的甜美胜过世上人与人之间的任何关系，包括我们与自己儿女的关系。儿女为神所赐，隐示着祂的良善，犹如婚姻能让我们尝到神的良善一样。这些恩赐的甜蜜即指向施恩者的美，以及与神相交能获得的更大福分。若缺少这两者，我们仍能以其他方式经体验并尝到施恩者的良善，而首要的是遵行祂的话，在地方教会与弟兄姐妹建立关系时效法基督的性情（弗5:1-2）。你若像太监一样缺少什么，祷告你能藉着遵行神的话，在地方教会与弟兄姐妹建立关系时效法基督的性情（弗4-6），从而尝到神的甜蜜。