物質與心靈
作者：盧國禮
有人問我："基督徒有甚麼身份 (ID)？"
我會說： "我是 神恩典裏所揀選的兒子。"
他/她再問我："基督徒的生命與不信的人有何不同？"
我回答： "基督徒的生命，在 神裏，因為誠實痛悔認罪，接受了耶穌基督為自己的救主，因祂為人類的罪而被釘身十字架，作了挽回祭，使信耶穌基督的人，因信祂而稱義，重生得救，成為神的兒女。"
我們都知道，自然的 生命(人身體) 是物質，而生命寄居於身體裏面，才可表現其為生命。然而，甚麼是生命呢？就是一切人身體的表現，一切活動與行為。
但是，人類的活動與行為決非聽從身體所驅使，而是聽從心靈的指揮。那麼，"重生"又是甚麼意思？
重生的生命，在信耶穌後成為新造的人，因為成聖的緣故，漸漸邁向完善。
"耶和華 神從地上的塵土造人，將生氣吹在他鼻孔裏，他就成了有靈的活人，...... "(創世記，二：7，和合本)。
"神就照自己的形像造人，乃是照著祂的形像造男造女。" (創世記，一：27，和合本)。
據聖經說：生命是靈與魂與身子的合體。所以我們祈禱求 神使我們的靈與魂與身子得蒙保守，無可指責，等候主再來的日子。
當天地萬物被造時，神說有便有，神沒有把祂的氣吹進萬物裏，惟有人才有上帝的靈 (神將生氣吹在他鼻孔裏)。這是聖經說的，照著 神 (聖父、聖子、聖靈) 的形像 (Image)，按著祂們的樣式造男造女，創造了人類的始祖。可是始祖犯罪，被神驅逐出伊甸園。(參閱創世紀，第三章, 和合本)
我們的世界是一個心靈與物質交融的世界，有不同種族人類的文化—東方和西方的文化社會。
神愛世人，甚至將祂的獨生子賜及 [他門]，叫一切信祂的不至滅亡，反得永生。因為 神差祂的兒子降世，不是要定世人的罪，乃是要叫世人因祂得救。(約翰福音，三：16-17)。
所以，未得救的人也即是未信耶穌基督救贖之恩而得贖的人，他們未有重生，因此仍是舊人。
. . . 受洗歸入基督耶穌的人，是受洗歸入祂的死 . . . 和祂一同埋葬 . . . 原是叫我們一舉一動有新生的樣式，像基督藉著父的榮耀從死裏復活一樣。. . . 我們的舊人和祂同釘十字架，使罪身滅絕，叫我們不再作罪的奴僕. . . 我們若是與基督同死，就信必與祂同活；. . . 向 神在耶穌基督裏，卻當看自己是活的。將自己獻給 神，並將肢體作義的器具獻給 神。(羅馬書，六：3-11，13，和合本)。
錢穆先生著 "人生十論"，在 "心與物" 篇說到：
......人類生命是互相影響的，感情也是互相影響的，思想理智也仍是互相影響的...... 故人心能互通，生命能互融。這就表現出一個大生命。這個大生命，我們名之曰文化的生命，歷史生命。......" 又說： "我們要憑藉此個人生命來投入全人類的文化大生命，歷史大生命中，我們則該善自利用我們的個人生命來完成此任務。...... 人的心，人的生命，可以不受肉身的限制而影響文化大生命，和歷史大生命。(錢穆)
若我們明白了這生命的道理，我們更需要認罪悔改，回歸真神，信靠基督耶穌為生命之主，禱告：願祂的國度降臨，願祂的旨意行在地上，如同行在天上 (主禱文)。阿們。
耶穌叫祂的門徒作完全 (perfect) 人，以祂的心為心，要服侍人，活得合乎基督徒的身份，要去使世人因信耶穌基督而重生，進入豐盛、平安 神的國度，等候耶穌的再降臨。阿們。
Material and Spirit
Written by Francis Loo
Someone may ask me: "What is the Identity (ID) of a Christian?
I would say: "I am God chosen son in His grace."
He or she asks me again: "What is the difference in life between a Christian and a non-believer?"
I reply: "The life of a Christian is in God, because after he or she contritely repented to God by receiving Jesus Christ as he or her personal Savior. Because He was crucified for the sins of humankind in the sacrifice of atonement, all believers of Jesus Christ are justified, redeemed and re-birthed, having become children of God."
We all know, the natural self (human body) is material and life must be vested in it the human body—the expression of which is life. Then what is "the expression of life"? Or, we ought to say that it means all expressions, all activities, and all behaviors of human nature.
However, human activities and behaviors are not abiding the body, but following the human mentality.
Then, what is the meaning of "re-birth"?
The "born again" life, after believing into Jesus, has been transformed– growing into perfection gradually, and progressively.
The Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being (Genesis 2:7, NIV).
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them (Genesis 1:27. NIV).
Reference the Bible, life is spirit, soul and body in one. Therefore, we often pray to God for the protection of our "spirit, soul and body" all blameless while waiting for the date of our Lord's return.
When the heavens and the earth were created, God said, "Let there be . . . and there was . . . ." No breath was given to His creation but man. (The God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life.) This is according to the Bible. God (the Holy Father, Holy Son, Holy Spirit) in His image created male and female—the ancestors of humanity. Unfortunately, our ancestors fell and were driven out of the Garden of Eden (Genesis, Chapter 3, NIV).
Our world is a compound world of spirit and material, composed of different ethnic groups, and their cultures—the Oriental and Occidental cultural societies. (The world.)
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him (John, 3:16-17, NIV).
Therefore, peoples not redeemed that is those who have not believed on Jesus Christ in the grace of salvation they are not re-born. They still live their old lives.
. . . [All] of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death . . . buried with him . . . in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the father, we too may live a new life. . . . Our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin. . . If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection . . . . Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. . . . Count yourselves . . . alive to God. Offer yourselves to God and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteous (Romans, 6:3-11; 12, NIV).
Mr. 錢穆 in his book "人生十論" (Ten Dissertations on Life) and on the subject of "Heart and Material" said:
. . . Human life is togetherness; affection is togetherness; also, rational thoughts are togetherness . . . so that human hearts can mutually communicated; human life can be merged. So doing represents a super life. We name this super life as Life of Culture, Life of History . . . ."He also said: "Dependent on this super life we'll get involved in the super Life of Culture and super Life of History of all humankind. We ought to optimize the use of our individual life to fulfill the duties obligatory on all. . . Human hearts, human lives, can escape our bodies to involve in the super Life of Culture and the super Life of History.(錢穆)
If we are fully enlightened on these life principles, all the more we will need to admit our sins and repent, and, come home to the true God. Trust Christ Jesus as our Lord in life, then pray: His Kingdom come, His will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. (Lord's Prayer). Amen.
Jesus asks us to become perfect with heart like Him to serve. Live up to the name of a Christian. Reach out to the world to lead peoples to believe Jesus Christ and be born again, entering the Kingdom of God in abundant and peaceful life–waiting for the coming of Jesus. Amen.