823 英翻中 (523) IMITATING OUR FATHER IN HEAVEN. 效法我們的天父. 8/17/2024

823 英翻中 (523)   IMITATING OUR FATHER IN HEAVEN.     效法我們的天父.  8/17/2024

我們在天上的父, 謝謝祢醫治孩子的過敏症.  因為祢是全能的上帝, 祢知道孩子受這病痛的難過.  奉主耶穌基督的聖名禱告.  阿們.

CHAPTER TEN                    IMITATING OUR FATHER                       Ephesians 5:1–17               第十課                                    效法我們的父親                                          以弗所書 5:1-17

The word followers in Ephesians 5:1 is the word mimics, so that the verse can be translated “Be ye imitators of God as beloved children.” This sets the theme for the section. Paul was simply arguing that children are like their parents, a fact that can be both encouraging and embarrassing to those of us who have children. Have you ever seen a child sitting in the front seat of an automobile, trying to drive like his father! Or walking behind him, pretending to mow the lawn?   Or,  sad to say, imitating Dad smoking a cigarette or taking a drink of alcohol? Children probably learn more by watching and imitating than any other way.                                                  以弗所書 5章 1 節 中的 “跟隨者” 是模仿的意思，它可以譯成“你們要效法上帝，像祂所愛的孩子一樣”。這就該段的主題。保羅只是在爭辯說孩子就該像他們的父母，這對我們這些有孩子的人來說，既令人鼓舞又令人尷尬。你有沒有見過一個孩子坐在汽車的前座上，試圖像他父親一樣開車！還是走在他父親身後，假裝修剪草坪？或者，傷心地來說，模仿他爸爸抽著煙或飲酒？孩子們可能經過觀察和模仿，比用任何其他方式學到更多。

If we are the children of God, then we ought to imitate our Father. This is the basis for the three admonitions in this section. God is love (1 John 4:8); therefore, “walk in love” (Eph. 5:1–2). God is light (1 John 1:5); therefore, walk as children of light (Eph. 5:3–14). God is truth (1 John 5:6); therefore, walk in wisdom (Eph. 5:15–17). Of course, each of these “walks” is a part of Paul’s exhortation to “walk in purity.”                                                                                                                 如果我們是上帝的兒女，那麼我們就應該效法我們的天上的父親。它是本段所論的三個告誡的基礎。上帝就是愛（約壹  4:8）；因此，“在愛中行事為人”（弗  5:1-2）。上帝是光（約壹  1:5）；因此，要像光明之子一樣行事為人（弗  5:3-14）。上帝是真理（約壹  5:6）；因此，要憑智慧行事為人（弗  5:15-17）。當然，這些“行事為人”中的每一條都是保羅勸勉人“在純潔中行事為人”的一部分。

1.  Walk in Love (5:1–2)                                                                                                                              1.  在愛中行事為人（5:1-2）

This admonition ties in with the last two verses of the previous chapter where Paul has warned us against bit[1]terness and anger. It is tragic when these attitudes show up in the family of God. As a pastor, I have witnessed malice and bitterness in the lives of people as I have con[1]ducted funerals and even weddings. You would think that sharing the sorrow of losing a loved one, or sharing a joy of a marriage, would enable people to forgive past wrongs and try to get along with each other. But such is not the case. It takes a real love in the heart, for “charity [love] shall cover the multitude of sins” (1 Peter 4:8).                                                                                                          這個勸告與前一章的最後兩節經文有關，保羅警告我們要提防苦毒和憤怒。當這些態度出現在上帝的家中時，這是可悲的。作為牧師，我在主持葬禮甚至婚禮時親眼目睹了人們生活中的惡意和痛苦。你會認為，分享失去親人的悲傷，或分享婚姻的喜悅，會讓人們原諒過去的錯誤，並努力和對方相處。但事實並非如此。這需要內心真正的愛，因為“仁愛 [愛] 將遮蓋眾多的罪孽”（彼得前書 4:8）。

Paul gave several reasons why the Christian ought to walk in love.                                                    保羅列舉了基督徒應該行在愛中的幾個理由。

He is God’s child. Having been born again through faith in Christ, he is therefore one of the “partakers of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4), and since “God is love” it is logical that God’s children will walk in love. When Paul encouraged his readers to “walk in love,” he was not asking them to do something that was foreign to the Christian life; for we have received a new nature that wants to express itself in love. The old nature is basically selfish, and for this reason builds walls and declares war. But the new nature is loving, and therefore builds bridges and proclaims peace.                                                                                                                                                            上帝的孩子。由於他是因信基督而重生，因此他是“與上帝本性有份的人”之人（彼後  1：4），並且由於“上帝就是愛”，上帝的孩子在愛中行事為人，是合乎邏輯的。當保羅鼓勵他的讀者“在愛中行事為人”時，祂並不是要他們做與基督徒生活格格不入的一些事情；因為我們已經承受，想要在愛中表達自己的新人的天性。老我的本性基本上是自私的，為此築城宣戰。但是新人的本性是愛，因此藉由它會建立橋樑，並宣告和平。

He is God’s beloved child. “Be ye imitators of God as beloved children.” Imagine, God speaks of us the same way He spoke of Jesus Christ: “This is my beloved Son” (Matt. 3:17). In fact, the Father loves us as He loves His Son (John 17:23). We are born into a loving relationship with the Father that ought to result in our showing love to Him by the way we live. What more could the Father do to express His love to us? Is it asking too much for us to “walk in love” to please Him?  他是上帝所愛的孩子。 “你們要效法上帝，像心愛的孩子一樣。”想像一下，上帝以祂談論耶穌基督的方式來談論我們：“這是我的愛子”（太  3:17）。事實上，天父愛我們就像愛祂的兒子一樣（約  17:23）。我們生來就與天父建立愛的關係，這應該導致藉由我們的生活方式來表達對祂的愛。天父還能做些什麼來表達他對我們的愛？我們“在愛中行事為人”用以取悅祂，這要求是否過分？ 

He was purchased with a great price. “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). But He laid down His life for His enemies (Rom. 5:10). Our love for Him is our response to His love for us. Paul compared Christ’s sacrifice on the cross to the Old Testament “sweet savor” sacrifices that were presented at the altar of the temple (Lev. 1:9, 13, 17; 2:9). The idea behind “sweet savor” is simply that the sacrifice is well pleasing to God. This does not suggest that God is pleased that sin demands death, and that His Son had to die to save lost sinners. Rather, it indicates that the death of Christ satisfies the holy law of God and therefore is acceptable and pleasing to the Father. The sweet-savor offerings are described in Leviticus 1–3: the burnt offering, the meal offering, and the peace offering. The burnt offering pictures Christ’s complete devotion to God; the meal offering, His perfection of character; and the peace offering, His making peace between sinners and God. Since the sin offering and the trespass offering (Lev. 4–5) picture Christ taking the place of the sinner, they are not considered “sweet-savor” offerings. Certainly nothing is beautiful about sin!                                                        他被高價買下。 “人為朋友捨命，人的愛沒有比這更大的”（約  15:13）。但耶穌為祂的敵人捨命（羅  5:10）。我們對祂的愛是對祂的愛的回應。保羅將基督在十字架上的獻祭與舊約獻在聖殿祭壇上的“馨香”獻祭進行了比較（利  1:9, 13, 17; 2:9）。 “馨香”背後的含意很簡單，即祭品很討上帝的喜悅。這並不表示上帝喜悅罪要求死亡，而祂的兒子必須死來拯救失喪的罪人。相反，它表明基督的死滿足了上帝神聖的律法，因此是天父所悅納和喜愛的。利未記 1至3 章描述了香祭：燔祭，素祭和平安祭。燔祭描繪了基督對上帝的完全奉獻；素祭，祂完美的品格；和平安祭，祂使罪人與上帝和好。由於贖罪祭和贖愆祭（利  4-5）描繪了基督代替罪人的位置，因此它們不被視為“馨香”祭。 當然，罪沒有什麼是美好的！

Paul began with “walk in love” because love is the fundamental factor in the Christian life. If we walk in love, we will not disobey God or injure men because “he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law” (Rom. 13:8). The Holy Spirit puts this love in our hearts (Rom. 5:5).                                    保羅以“在愛中行事為人”開始，因為愛是基督徒生活中的基本要素。如果我們行在愛中，我們就不會違背上帝的旨意或傷害人，因為“愛別人的就完全了律法”（羅 13:8）。聖靈將這種愛放在我們心裡（羅  5:5）。