生死攸关

亚洲路德宗神学院“每週灵粮”

我实实在在的告诉你们，时候将到，现在就是了，死人要听见上帝儿子的声音，听见的人就要活了。约翰福音 5:25

这段经文很奇怪。耶稣说死人会听见祂的声音，但死人怎会听到声音呢？死者怎能从听觉中复活呢？耶稣是在开玩笑吗？

不，耶稣是认真的。祂甚至说：“我实实在在的告诉你们。”祂说的是实话。耶稣渴望死者听见，因为听从耶稣生死攸关。

要明白耶稣的话，就要先明白圣经对死亡的教导。圣经中有三种死亡：灵命的死、肉体的死和永恆的死亡。耶稣是在谈论属灵的死亡。

本质上来説，每个人进入这个世界时肉体活著，但灵命死去。你生来就死在罪中。你生来就是一个活生生的，会呼吸的婴儿。但在灵命上，你是一具对上帝没有信心的尸体。

要解决这种情况不单是要作出更好选择或更加努力。尸体无法做出选择或作任何事情来改进自己。

尸体必须通过自身之外的力量复活。这就是耶稣话语的果效。祂的话语能使听到的人生出信心。这就是耶稣说死人会听到上帝儿子的声音而活过来的意思。

因此，聆听耶稣的话语对我们来说是多麽重要！祂的话语满有能力，使人得属灵和永恆的生命。耶稣，感谢祢满有能力的话语！

祷告：
上帝的儿子，藉著祢的话语赐我生命。阿门。

A Matter of Life and Death

ALS Weekly Devotions

[Jesus said] “Very truly I tell you, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live.”

John 5:25

This is a strange Bible verse. Jesus said that the dead would hear his voice, but how could the dead hear? And how could the dead come to life from hearing? Was Jesus telling a joke?

No, Jesus was dead serious. He even said, “Very truly I tell you.” He was telling the truth. Jesus wanted to be heard by the dead. He still does because listening to Jesus is a matter of life and death.

To understand Jesus’ Words, you need to understand what the Bible teaches about death. According to the Bible, there are three kinds of death: spiritual death, physical death, and eternal death. Jesus was talking about spiritual death.

By nature, every human being enters this world alive physically but dead spiritually. You were, by nature, dead in sin. You were born a physically living, breathing baby. But spiritually, you were a corpse that had no faith in God.

Fixing this condition is not just a matter of making better choices or trying harder. A corpse cannot make a choice or do anything to improve itself.

A corpse must be raised to life by a power outside of itself. This is what the words of Jesus are able to do. His words are able to create faith in his listeners. This is what Jesus meant when he said that the dead would hear the voice of the Son of God and live.

How important it is, then, for us to hear Jesus’ words! They are powerful enough to give spiritual and eternal life. Thank you, Jesus, for your powerful voice!

Prayer:

Son of God, give me life through your Word. Amen.