4月3日
上帝的美意
“耶和华却定意将他压伤， 使他受痛苦。 耶和华以他为赎罪祭 。 他必看见后裔，并且延长年日。 耶和华所喜悦的事必在他手中亨通。”
以赛亚书 53:10
圣经中最让人惊诧的一节经文就是以赛亚书53:10。经文说，耶和华却定意将他压伤， 使他受痛苦。 耶和华以他为赎罪祭。上帝使他的儿子背负人类的罪孽和藐视——这一切竟是上帝的美意。一个清白无辜的人，被出卖、诬告、折磨、钉死之后，怎么会是美意，美善的计划？在人看来，显然是很糟糕的计划，不是吗？
然而，“美善”的计划，正是关键所在。上帝创造的一切都是美好的。可是因为罪带来了死亡，耶稣把一切的罪都归到自己的身上，为了赦免我们，给我们新生命，他上了十字架。换句话说，为了重新恢复这个世界的美善，上帝的拯救蓝图里，必须有耶稣的受难。因着耶稣的顺服，他被钉十字架的那天，也被称为“美好的星期五”（也就是“耶稣受难日”）。耶稣的复活，证明他战胜了死亡。而耶稣的受难，却是神的美意。
今日祷告：
耶稣，你的美意远远超乎我的想象。谢谢你如此美善纯全。阿们。
April 3 – Good Plan
But it was the Lord’s good plan to crush him and cause him grief. Yet when his life is made an offering for sin, he will have many descendants. He will enjoy a long life, and the Lord’s good plan will prosper in his hands.
I S A I A H 5 3 : 1 0
One of the most startling lines in the Bible is found in Isaiah 53:10. It says that everything that happened to God’s “Suffering Servant”—all the crushing and grieving, the accusations and execution, the carrying of humanity’s sin and disdain—was all a part of the Lord’s “good plan” for his Son. How is someone—someone innocent, I might add—being betrayed, arrested, falsely accused, tortured, and executed a “good plan”? That certainly sounds like a very bad idea, right?
The “good” in the plan, however, is the key. God created everything “good,” but because death was brought to creation through sin, Jesus took it all upon himself through the cross so that he could offer forgiveness and new life. In other words, God’s rescue blueprint called for the terrible things that happened to Jesus in order to restore “good” to this earth. As a result of
what Jesus did, the day of crucifixion became known as “Good Friday,” and the day of resurrection would prove victory over death.
Pray for the Day:
Jesus, your idea of “good” is so much better than mine. Thank you for being so good. Amen.
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