“因为父怎样在自己有生命，就赐给祂儿子也照样在自己有生命”。
约翰福音5:26
为什么基督教与世界上其他宗教如此不同？因为基督教不是宗教，它是与一位永生神的关系。耶稣，父神的儿子，三位一体中的第二位，是我们福音信息的中心。
今天，许多人在提出其他的主张。无神论者说没有上帝。多神论者认为耶稣是众神之一。当我第一次去一些远东国家时，我意识到，在向听众发出接受基督的邀请时，必须表明：他们要转离所有其他的神，归向圣经所启示那又真又活的神。我们作“基督的使者”（林后5：20），要大胆回应使徒彼得明确的认信：“你是基督，是永生神的儿子”（马太福音 16：16）。“基督”这个称呼意思是“受膏者”。这是希腊文的一个术语，代表古希伯来文中的“弥赛亚”——上帝差来拯救祂子民的受膏者。
彼得和跟从他的犹太人，是早期基督教会的第一批信徒。他们承认耶稣基督是旧约圣经中应许的弥赛亚。在那段令人沮丧、绝望的历史时期，应许的弥赛亚就像黑暗中的灯塔一样闪耀着，他的光辉从未暗淡过。“生命在他里面；这生命就是人的光。……那光是真光，照亮一切生在世上的人”（约翰福音1:4，9）。
今日祷告：
父啊，在祢儿子里面我们有生命。我祈求祢让这生命为众人所知。用祢的光来照亮世界，拯救灵魂。奉耶稣基督的名祷告，阿们。
June 30
THE LORD OF LIFE
For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself, and has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of man. John 5:26-27, RSV
Why is Christianity so different from the religions of the world? It is because Christianity is not a religion. It is a relationship with a living God. Jesus, Son of God the Father and Second Person of the Trinity, is the central figure of our evangelistic message.
Today many voices are making other claims. The atheists say there is no God. Polytheism may allow that Jesus is one of many gods. When I first went to some Far Eastern countries, I had to learn that in giving the invitation to receive Christ I needed to make it clear to my listeners that they were turning away from all other gods and turning to the true and the living God as revealed in the Scriptures. We, as “ambassadors for Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:20), boldly echo the ringing conviction of the apostle Peter when he affirmed, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16). The title “Christ” means “anointed one.” It is the term in the Greek language, for the ancient Hebrew word “Messiah”-the anointed one whom God would send to save His people.
Peter and his fellow Jews, the first believers of the early Christian Church, recognized Jesus Christ as the Messiah promised in the Old Testament. Their period of world history was one of discouragement and despair. The promised Messiah shone as a beacon in the darkness, and His light has never dimmed. “In him was life; and the life was the light of men…That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world” (John 1:4, 9).
Pray for the Day:
Father, in Your Son we have life. I pray that You will make that life known. Shine Your light to the world for the salvation of souls, in Jesus’ Name.
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