双语灵修（葛培理牧师）：5月27日 天父圣名（产业继承）

5月27日

天父圣名（产业继承）

“人子要在他父的荣耀里，同着众使者降临；那时候，他要照各人的行为报应各人。”马太福音16:27

圣天使们不称呼神为“天父”，因为他们没有犯罪也不需要救赎。堕落的天使不能称呼神为“天父”，因为他们得不到救赎。后一种情形是圣经的奥秘之一。神为堕落的人预备了救赎，但并没有为堕落的天使预备救赎。为什么呢？或许因为不像亚当和夏娃那样是被诱惑犯罪，堕落的天使是自己犯罪，无法改变，无法推诿，无法被赦免，所以也无法得到救赎。

邪恶的天使永远不会称呼神为天父，倒是可能会称呼路西弗为父，就像很多撒但的崇拜者那样。他们与神为敌，绝不会接受神的主权，直到审判那日，“神将他升为至高，又赐给他那超乎万名之上的名，叫一切在天上的、地上的，和地底下的，因耶稣的名无不屈膝”（腓立比书2:9-10）

其实圣天使不是不喜欢称呼神为天父。上帝作为造物主，当然是一切受造者的父。既然天使也是神所造，所以称神为天父也很自然。但是，按照圣经，天父这个称呼，是特别为被救赎的失丧之人保留的。因此，实际上，一个普通人，如果没有悔改，也不能称呼神为天父，除非他们得救重生。

基督徒得救之后，“和基督同做后嗣”（罗马书8:17），成为神的儿女。因信耶稣在十字架上的救赎，从而继承天父的产业。信徒可以得到那无限、永恒的丰盛，而天使却没有份，因为他们不能同为后嗣。相比之下，耶稣道成肉身，降世为人，虽然比天使小一点，“因为受死的苦，就得了尊贵荣耀为冠冕，叫他因着神的恩，为人人尝了死味。”（希伯来书2:9）圣天使没有犯过罪，所以也不会了解到我们得救赎的喜乐。

今日祷告：

天父，我们感谢你，让我们得到祢救赎的喜乐。荣耀归于祢的圣名；奉耶稣的名，阿门。

May 27

THEY CANNOT CALL HIM FATHER

For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels,and then shall be reward every man according to his works.Matthew 16:27

God is not called“Father”by the holy angels because,not having sinned,they need not be redeemed.And the fallen angels cannot call God“Father”because they cannot be redeemed.The latter case is one of the mysteries of Scripture:God made provision for the salvation of fallen men,but He made no provision for the salvation of fallen angels.Why?Perhaps because,unlike Adam and Eve,who were enticed toward sin by sinners,the angels fell when there were no sinners,so no one could entice them to sin.Thus,their sinful state cannot be altered;their sin cannot be forgiven;their salvation cannot be achieved.

The wicked angels would never want to call God“Father,”though they may call Lucifer“father,”as many Satan worshipers do.They are in revolt against God and will never voluntarily accept His sovereign lordship,except in that Day of Judgment when every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord(Philippians 2:9-10).Yet even holy angels who might like to call God“Father”could do so only in the looser sense of that word.As Creator,God is the Father of all created beings;since angels are created beings,they might think of Him this way.But the term is normally reserved in Scripture for lost men who have been redeemed.So in a real sense,even ordinary men cannot call God“Father”except as their Creator God-until they are born again.

Christians are joint heirs with Jesus Christ through redemption(Romans 8:17),which is made theirs by faith in Him based on His death at Calvary.Angels who are not joint heirs must stand aside when the believers are introduced to their boundless,eternal riches.By contrast,Jesus identified Himself with fallen men in the incarnation when He was“made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death”(Hebrews 2:9).That He chose to taste the death we deserve also shows that the holy angels do not share our sinfulness-nor can they know the joy of our redemption.

Pray for the Day:

Father,we thank You that we participate in the joy of Your redemption.Glorify Your Name through us;in Jesus’Name,Amen.