God became one of us so that we might become one with Him.

上帝成为我们的一员，使我们能与祂合而为一。

If anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone; the new is here! 2 Corinthians 5:17

若有人在基督里，他就是新造的人，旧事已过，都变成新的了。-哥林多后书5章17节

Long before Joseph Mohr and Franz Gruber created the familiar carol “Silent Night,” Angelus Silesius had written:

早在约瑟夫·莫耳和弗兰兹·格鲁伯创作大家耳熟能详的圣诞颂歌《平安夜》之前，波兰修士安格勒斯·希莱修斯（Angelus Silesius）就写下了这首诗：

Lo! in the silent night a child to God is born,

And all is brought again that ere was lost or lorn.
Could but thy soul, O man, become a silent night
God would be born in thee and set all things aright.

看哪！在寂静之夜，上帝爱子降生，

失丧与被遗弃的人，如今皆被寻回。

人哪！唯愿你的心灵，沉静如这夜，

上帝方能降生于你心，使一切归正。

Silesius, a Polish monk, published the poem in 1657 in The Cherubic Pilgrim. During our church’s annual Christmas Eve service, the choir sang a beautiful rendition of the song titled “Could but Thy Soul Become a Silent Night.”

希莱修斯于1657年在《圣徒之旅》一书中发表了这首诗。我们教会的圣诞夜礼拜中，诗班优美地吟唱了这首名为《唯愿你灵沉静如这夜》的诗歌。

The twofold mystery of Christmas is that God became one of us so that we might become one with Him. Jesus suffered everything that was wrong so that we could be made right. That’s why the apostle Paul could write, “If anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone; the new is here! All this is from God who reconciled us to himself through Christ” (2 Cor. 5:17–18).

耶稣诞生的双重奥秘，乃是上帝成为我们的一员，使我们与祂合而为一。耶稣受尽一切苦难，为要使我们能因信称义。因此使徒保罗写道：“若有人在基督里，他就是新造的人，旧事已过，都变成新的了。一切都是出于上帝，祂藉着基督使我们与祂和好。”（哥林多后书5章17-18节）

Whether our Christmas is filled with family and friends or empty of all we long for, we know that Jesus came to be born in us.

无论我们的圣诞节是有亲朋好友围绕，或是一无所有。我们深知，耶稣降世是为要降生在我们心中。

Ah, would thy heart but be a manger for the birth,
God would once more become a child on earth.

啊，唯愿你心做马槽，迎接祂降生，上帝再次成为婴孩，降临在人间。

2 Corinthians 5:14-21New International Version (NIV)

14 For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. 15 And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.

16 So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer.17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

哥林多后书 5:14-21Chinese Union Version Modern Punctuation (Simplified) (CUVMPS)

14 原来基督的爱激励我们，因我们想：一人既替众人死，众人就都死了； 15 并且他替众人死，是叫那些活着的人不再为自己活，乃为替他们死而复活的主活。 16 所以，我们从今以后，不凭着外貌认人了。虽然凭着外貌认过基督，如今却不再这样认他了。 17 若有人在基督里，他就是新造的人，旧事已过，都变成新的了。 18 一切都是出于神，他借着基督使我们与他和好，又将劝人与他和好的职分赐给我们。19 这就是神在基督里叫世人与自己和好，不将他们的过犯归到他们身上，并且将这和好的道理托付了我们。

替基督劝人

20 所以，我们做基督的使者，就好像神借我们劝你们一般，我们替基督求你们与神和好。 21 神使那无罪的替我们成为罪，好叫我们在他里面成为神的义。

Lord Jesus, thank You for being born into this dark world so that we might be born again into Your life and light.

主耶稣，感谢祢降生于这黑暗的世界，
使我们能在祢的生命与光明中得以重生。

INSIGHT

At the heart of the concept of becoming one with Christ is His work of reconciliation in us. In today’s passage, Paul weaves several themes together—life, love, new creation, and the ministry of reconciliation—all framed by a call to act with urgency. It is because of Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection that we can be reconciled to God. Those who accept Christ’s gift of reconciliation must “no longer live for themselves” (2 Cor. 5:15). Instead, we are compelled to view everyone differently (v. 16), as people in dire need of Christ’s reconciliation. And what is this reconciliation? God will no longer “[count] people’s sins against them” (v. 19). With urgency, Paul tells us that we are now Christ’s ambassadors of reconciliation and says, “We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God” (v. 20, emphasis added).

With whom can you share this offer of reconciliation today?

Tim Gustaftson

灵粮透视

与基督合一这个观念，关键在于基督在我们心中所做的和好工作。在今天阅读的经文中，保罗把几个主题交织在一起，就是生命、爱、新创造，以及和好的职分，并迫切地呼吁信徒要付诸行动。因着耶稣的降生、受死和复活，我们可以与上帝和好。凡接受基督和好之恩的人，必须“不再为自己活”（哥林多后书5章15节），并要以不同的方式看待每一个人（16节），因为每个人都迫切需要基督的和好之恩。这种和好是什么呢？就是上帝“不将他们的过犯归到他们身上”（19节）。保罗切切地叮嘱我们，我们现在是基督成就和好的大使，并且说：“我们替基督求你们与上帝和好。”（20节）

今天，你会和谁分享这和好的信息呢？

整理：于姊妹