1217 救赎——创造需要也满足需要
然而属血气的人不领会神圣灵的事，反倒以为愚拙。并且不能知道，因为这些事惟有属灵的人才能看透。《哥林多前书2:14》
神的福音制造了人对福音的需要感。福音对那些己经是奴仆的人是隐藏的吗？不，保罗说：「如果我们的福音被遮蔽，就是遮蔽在那些灭亡的人身上。这世代的神弄瞎了他们的心眼，不信…」（哥林多后书 4:3-4）。大多数的人都认为自己是完全道德的，对福音没有需要感。是神在人身上创造了这种需要感，但那个人继续完全没有意识到自己的需要，直到神显明祂自己。耶稣说：「你们祈求，就给你们…」（马太福音 7:7）。但直到人祈求前，神不能给予；这不是说祂想对我们有所保留，那是祂为救赎之道制定了计划。通过我们的祈求，神启动了祂的计划，在我们里面创造了一些在我们祈求之前是不存在的东西；救赎的内在现实是它一直不断地创造。救赎在我们里面创造了神的生命，也创造了属于那生命的东西。唯一可能满足那需要的，就是那创造了需要的；这就是救赎的意义——它创造，它也满足。
耶稣说：「我若从地上被举起来，就要吸引万人来归我。」（约翰福音 12:32）。当我们传讲自己的经历时，人们可能会感兴趣，可是这并不会唤起真正的需要感。但是一旦耶稣基督被「举起来」，神的灵就会创造一种需要耶稣的意识。神救赎的创造大能只有通过传扬福音才能在人的灵魂中工作。从来都不是个人经历能拯救人，而是救赎的真理。「我对你们所说的话就是灵，就是生命。」（约翰福音 6:63）。
来自章伯斯的智慧
1217 Redemption— Creating the Need it Satisfies
The natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him… —1 Corinthians 2:14
The gospel of God creates the sense of need for the gospel. Is the gospel hidden to those who are servants already? No, Paul said, “But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe…” (2 Corinthians 4:3-4). The majority of people think of themselves as being completely moral, and have no sense of need for the gospel. It is God who creates this sense of need in a human being, but that person remains totally unaware of his need until God makes Himself evident. Jesus said, “Ask, and it will be given to you…” (Matthew 7:7). But God cannot give until a man asks. It is not that He wants to withhold something from us, but that is the plan He has established for the way of redemption. Through our asking, God puts His process in motion, creating something in us that was nonexistent until we asked. The inner reality of redemption is that it creates all the time. And as redemption creates the life of God in us, it also creates the things which belong to that life. The only thing that can possibly satisfy the need is what created the need. This is the meaning of redemption— it creates and it satisfies.
Jesus said, “And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself” (John 12:32). When we preach our own experiences, people may be interested, but it awakens no real sense of need. But once Jesus Christ is “lifted up,” the Spirit of God creates an awareness of the need for Him. The creative power of the redemption of God works in the souls of men only through the preaching of the gospel. It is never the sharing of personal experiences that saves people, but the truth of redemption. “The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63).
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Beware of bartering the Word of God for a more suitable conception of your own. —Disciples Indeed, 386 R