12月25日他的降生與我們的新生

必有童女懷孕生子，給他起名叫以馬內利。就是神與我們同在的意思。（賽七14）

他在歷史中誕生。“因此所要生的聖者，必稱為神的兒子。”（路一35）耶穌基督是降生到世界，不是從這世界而出。他不是從歷史演進而生，乃是從歷史以外而來。耶穌基督不是人類最好的一個；他是完全無法算在人類之內的一位。他不是人變作神，乃是神成了肉身，成了人的形狀，是從外而來的。他的生命最崇高最聖潔，卻從最卑微的門進來。主的誕生，是降臨人間。

他在我裡面誕生。“我為你們再受生產之苦，直等到基督成形在你們心裡。”(加四19) 主是從外面進到人類歷史，同樣也從外面進到我裡面。我有沒有讓自己的生命，成為神兒子的伯利恒？我必須從神而生，這與天然的生產完全不同，否則便不能進入神的國度裡。“你們必須重生”，這不是命令，而是一項基本的事實。新生的本質，就是我完全降服於神，以致基督成形在我裡面，他的本性開始透過我工作。

神在肉身顯現－－這是救恩為你我所成就的事實。

祈禱◆噢，主啊，當我們在今早思想以賽亞書第五十三章，願禰的榮耀將它顯明；願禰使我們變得柔和與溫順，被禰所激勵和振奮，並且將我們提升至這種榮耀的事奉，以致我們可以捕捉禰的形象。

December 25 His Birth And Our New Birth

“Behold, a virgin shall bring forth a son, and they shall call His name Emanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.” Isaiah 7:14 (R.V.)

His Birth in History. “Therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.” (Luke 1:35.) Jesus Christ was born into this world, not from it. He did not evolve out of history; He came into history from the outside. Jesus Christ is not the best human being, He is a Being Who cannot be accounted for by the human race at all. He is not man becoming God, but God Incarnate, God coming into human flesh, coming into it from outside. His life is the Highest and the Holiest entering in at the Lowliest door. Our Lord's birth was an advent.

His Birth in Me. “Of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you.” (Gal. 4:19.) Just as Our Lord came into human history from outside, so He must come into me from outside. Have I allowed my personal human life to become a “Bethlehem” for the Son of God? I cannot enter into the realm of the Kingdom of God unless I am born from above by a birth totally unlike natural birth. “Ye must be born again.” This is not a command, it is a foundation fact. The characteristic of the new birth is that I yield myself so completely to God that Christ is formed in me. Immediately Christ is formed in me, His nature begins to work through me.

God manifest in the flesh – that is what is made profoundly possible for you and me by the Redemption.