1225 祂的降生和我們的新生
必有童女，懷孕生子，人要稱他的名為以馬內利。（以馬內利翻出來，就是神與我們同在。）《馬太福音1:23》
祂在歷史中的誕生。「…所要生的聖者必稱為神的兒子。」（路加福音 1:35）。耶穌基督降生到這個世界，而非從這個世界而出並非源自這個世界。祂並非從歷史中自然出現；祂是從歷史之外進入歷史。耶穌基督並非人類可誇耀最優秀的人類——祂是人類無法為之感到自豪或歸功於自己的存在。祂不是人變成神，而是神成了肉身——神從歷史之外進入人類肉身。祂的生命是至高至聖的，從最卑微的門進入這個世界。我們主的誕生是降臨——神以人的形式出現。
祂在我裡面誕生。「我小子啊，我為你們再受生產之苦，直等到基督成形在你們心裡。」（加拉太書 4:19）。正如我們的主從外面進入人類歷史，祂也必須外面進入我裡面。我是否允許我個人的生命成為神兒子的「伯利恆」？除非我的重生而從上而生，是通過一種完全不同於身體的出生，否則我不能進入神的國。
「你們必須重生」（約翰福音 3:7）。這不是命令，而是基於神權柄的事實。新生的證據是，我如此完全降服於神，以至於「基督成形在我裡面」。一旦「基督成形在我裡面」，祂的本性就立刻開始在我身上發揮作用。
神在肉身中顯現。這正是通過耶穌基督對人類的救贖，神道成肉身對你和我來說才可能體驗如此深刻。
來自章伯斯的智慧
我們開始我們基督徒的生活是通過相信被告知要相信的事情，然後我們必須繼續如此同化我們的信仰，以至於它們以一種迴響神榮耀的方式產生結果。危險是在於我們越來越接受我們自己沒有活出的信念。《改變像祂的樣式》
1225 His Birth and Our New Birth
“Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.” —Matthew 1:23
His Birth in History. “…that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God (Luke 1:35). Jesus Christ was born into this world, not from it. He did not emerge out of history; He came into history from the outside. Jesus Christ is not the best human being the human race can boast of— He is a Being for whom the human race can take no credit at all. He is not man becoming God, but God Incarnate— God coming into human flesh from outside it. His life is the highest and the holiest entering through the most humble of doors. Our Lord’s birth was an advent— the appearance of God in human form.
His Birth in Me. “My little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you…” (Galatians 4:19). Just as our Lord came into human history from outside it, He must also come into me from outside. Have I allowed my personal human life to become a “Bethlehem” for the Son of God? I cannot enter the realm of the kingdom of God unless I am born again from above by a birth totally unlike physical birth. “You must be born again” (John 3:7). This is not a command, but a fact based on the authority of God. The evidence of the new birth is that I yield myself so completely to God that “Christ is formed” in me. And once “Christ is formed” in me, His nature immediately begins to work through me.
God Evident in the Flesh. This is what is made so profoundly possible for you and for me through the redemption of man by Jesus Christ.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
We begin our Christian life by believing what we are told to believe, then we have to go on to so assimilate our beliefs that they work out in a way that redounds to the glory of God. The danger is in multiplying the acceptation of beliefs we do not make our own. Conformed to His Image, 381 L