2016年2月6日
美好的將來 What Will Be
读经: 啟示錄22章1-5節
Reading: Revelation 22:1-5
以後再沒有咒詛。-啟示錄22章3節
No longer will there be any curse. - Revelation 22:3
全年读经: 出埃及記39-40章;馬太福音23章23-39節
Bible in a Year: Exodus 39–40; Matthew 23: 23-39
你和我有些共同之處。我們都生活在混亂、晦暗的世界中，從未經歷與這世界完全不同的景況。但亞當和夏娃卻曾體會罪尚未進入世界之前的生活，那是按照上帝的心意所創造的世界，沒有死亡、苦難和痛苦（參閱創世記3章16-19節） 。在美好的伊甸園裡，沒有飢餓、失業和疾病，也沒有任何人會質疑上帝的創造大能，以及祂與人們建立關係的計畫。
現在我們所繼承的世界，和上帝完美的樂園僅有一小部分是相似的。正如魯益師曾說：「雖然這美好的世界被破壞了，但它仍保留些許的原貌。」還好，世界留下的些許原貌，也讓我們可以預先窺見天堂。在那裡，正如亞當和夏娃與上帝同行、相互交談，信徒們也將直接與上帝面對面、事奉祂，上帝和我們之間再也沒有任何隔閡。「以後再沒有咒詛」 （啟示錄22章3節） ，那裡沒有罪惡、沒有恐懼，也沒有羞恥。
現在我們活著的世界籠罩在罪的陰影之下，但基督徒卻有美好的未來，上帝應許我們將生活在如伊甸園一樣完美的地方。
親愛的上帝，請幫助我記得：
雖然這世界並不合乎祢原本的設計，
但仍有很多事情值得享受，並值得為祢、為他人去做。
謝謝祢讓我們有一天能在完美的地方永遠與祢同住。
那一天，上帝將使萬事歸正。
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You and I have something in common. We live in a mixed-up, tarnished world and we have never known anything different. Adam and Eve, however, could remember what life was like before the curse. They could recall the world as God intended it to be—free of death, hardship, and pain (Gen. 3:16-19). In pre-fall Eden, hunger, unemployment, and illness did not exist. No one questioned God's creative power or His plan for human relationships.
The world we have inherited resembles God's perfect garden only slightly. To quote C. S. Lewis, "This is a good world gone wrong, but [it] still retains the memory of what ought to have been." Fortunately, the cloudy memory of what the earth should have been is also a prophetic glimpse into eternity. There, just as Adam and Eve walked and talked with God, believers will see His face and serve Him directly. There will be nothing between God and us. "No longer will there be any curse" (Rev. 22:3). There will be no sin, no fear, and no shame.
God promises us eternal life in Heaven with Him.
The past and its consequences may cast a shadow on today, but a believer's destiny carries the promise of something better—life in a place as perfect as Eden.
Dear God, help me to remember that even though this world does not measure up to Your original design there is much to enjoy and much to do for You and others. Thank You for the promise of life with You in a perfect setting.
One day God will put everything right.