约在公元前4年，一位名叫马利亚的年轻童女从圣灵怀孕了。圣灵并没有与马利亚同房。这并不像古希腊神话中那样，宙斯与女子同房，使女子怀孕生子，而是圣灵奇迹般地使马丽亚受孕。圣子被放入马丽亚的子宫中。《圣经》只是简单地说：她受孕了（路加福音1:31）

耶稣的一生，甚至在祂婴儿和孩童时期，都不断地应验了指向祂的预言。马丽亚在以色列的小镇伯利恒生下了耶稣，应验了《圣经》弥迦书5:2中的一个预言。婴孩耶稣被带到埃及去躲避追杀祂的希律王。这次逃离应验了另一个预言（民数记24:8）。总而言之，基督应验了数以百计的旧约预言，这些预言都指明祂就是那位将要来拯救世界的弥赛亚（意为“受膏者”）。祂

救主诞生了

甚至许多不相信耶稣是弥赛亚的世俗历史学家也相信拿撒勒的耶稣确实是一位在历史上存在的人物。祂不仅被自称是祂门徒（追随者）的人所推崇，也被不相信祂是上帝之子的人所提及，犹太历史学家约瑟夫斯、罗马历史学家塔西佗和犹太巴比伦塔木德（编译于公元4世纪）都提到过耶稣。评论家们今天提出的问题并非耶稣是否真的存在过，而是祂是否真的是上帝；祂真的行了神迹吗；祂是否真的从坟墓里复活了；以及，祂最后真的升天了吗？

这些真理无法被确切地证明，但其证据是有力而令人信服的（希伯来书11:1）

历史上的耶稣

假设《圣经》是真实的，而并非精心编造的童话故事（彼得后书1:16）。那么，就会有更进一步的问题——为什么会发生这一切？为什么上帝会降生为一个婴孩，成长为一个儿童，经历青春期，长大成人，遭遇折磨，手带钉痕，肋旁被矛刺伤，死在罗马的十字架上，然后被安放在坟墓里？

答案是令人惊奇的，对我们来说又充满了希望。耶稣选择降世为人，体验人类所经历的一切，为要与每一个人共情。你曾经感到孤独吗？你有没有被误解过？你有没有感到沮丧、紧张或狂躁？那么，上帝也经历过（希伯来书2:10，11），道成肉身的耶稣也曾有过这些经历。

祂甚至经历得比你更深。耶稣非常爱你——男女老少，不论贫富，自主的，为奴的，残疾的，受伤的，每一个人——祂把你的罪和重担移到自己肩上。你在最艰难和最沮丧之时的感受，耶稣都感同身受（以赛亚书53:4，12）。

人们很容易会说能理解你现在所经历的，我们称之为“同情”。然而，“共情”把理解提升到更高的层次。那是别人跟你有了类似的经历。共情是指某人能认同你所经历的感受。耶稣能说祂知道你正在经历什么，因为祂也有过同样的经历，（以赛亚书53:4, 12）而且极其煎熬。甚至在钉十字架之前祂已痛苦难当，在客西马尼园中，祂开始经历世界上每一个人所有的罪恶、悲伤、疾病、痛苦。全人类的罪和痛苦太沉重以至于耶稣开始大滴流血。（路加福音22:44）从那个时刻直到耶稣舍弃生命，祂感受到了所有曾经在世界上生活之人的罪恶感和羞耻感。

祂感受到你我曾经及将会再做所有错事所带来的重担。殴打、虐待、指责、耳光、嘲弄、推搡、嘲笑和鞭打（以赛亚书53），祂承受了这一切，连一句粗鲁的话也没有回敬。祂忍受这一切，对那些向祂行这事的人依旧心怀爱意。祂本可以召唤天庭的众军下来拯救自己，杀死那些杀害祂的人。但是，祂却祷告说：“父啊！赦免他们；因为他们所做的，他们不晓得”（路加福音23:34）

然后祂舍弃了自己的生命（马太福音27:50）。祂并不是真的因为十架而死。不，祂，上帝的儿子，舍弃了祂的生命（约翰福音10:17, 18）。罪恶的代价就是和上帝分开而永远死亡。当上帝向一个不悔改的罪人完全显现时，结果就是上帝将罪和罪人一起消灭了（以赛亚书59:1, 2；希伯来书12:29）。所以，当耶稣放弃自己的生命时，是为罪人而死。星期五至星期日在坟墓期间，祂并没有进行属灵的争战，或去到天庭和地狱。祂的生命完全与圣父和圣灵隔绝了。

耶稣的死是为了我们所有人。耶稣是为了我们的罪恶和悲伤而死的。祂主动选择为我们而死，只是为了我们能有存活的机会。上帝为人献上了自己。祂降卑，以至于死。这就是最好、最完全的爱。

经验的智慧

在耶稣圆满地完成了祂的使命之后，罪恶和死亡的辖制被打破了，我们可以从其权势中得释放，上帝就召唤耶稣从坟墓里出来（使徒行传2:24）。三个位格的上帝为了全宇宙都能看到最荣耀的复活而聚集在了一起（歌罗西书1:16）。耶稣再一次掌握了生命的权柄。

三位一体的真神再次合一，向宇宙展示了爱本身。

有关上帝的律法，上帝的爱，以及谁应该统治宇宙的问题都得到了回答。撒旦在全宇宙前被证明是错误的。耶稣完美地度过了祂的一生；祂完美地遵守了上帝的律法。祂在生与死中都表现出对上帝的爱。祂配作众人的主，因为祂作了众人的仆人。（腓立比书2:8-11）

穿过死亡的阴影，爱得胜了。

你认为牺牲和交托是力量和爱的表现吗？为什么？

当你了解到上帝确切地知道你在高峰、低谷时的感受，你有何感想？

救主对你意味着什么？

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弟兄姐妹们，我们想通过本平台分享更多国外本会优质影像资料。因为人手有限，希望招募一些志同道合的主内同工，做英文视频字幕翻译，视频字幕合成制作，视频中文配音，配音对轨制作。有意者请留言输入“义工申请”。以马内利！



Around 4 BC, a young virgin woman named Mary was impregnated by a Person of the Godhead, the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit didn’t have sex with Mary. This is not a story of Greek mythology, such as when Zeus had sex with a woman, and then she had his baby. Rather, the Holy Spirit miraculously impregnated her. The Son was placed inside of Mary’s womb. The Bible simply says she conceived in her womb (Luke 1:31).

All of Jesus’ life, even when He was a baby and small child, was a continual fulfilling of the prophecies that had pointed to Him. Mary gave birth to Jesus in a small town in Israel, Bethlehem, fulfilling a prophecy in Micah 5:2. As a baby, Jesus was taken to Egypt to escape King Herod, who was trying to kill him. This flight fulfilled another prophecy (Numbers 24:8). All in all, Christ fulfilled hundreds of prophecies in the Old Testament, all pointing to Him as the coming Messiah (meaning “Anointed one”) who would save the world.

A Savior is Born

Even many secular historians who don’t believe in Jesus as the Messiah believe that Jesus of Nazareth really existed, that He was a historical person. He is referenced not only by those who claimed to be His disciples (followers), but also by sources which did not believe that He was the Son of God: Jewish historian Josephus, the Roman historian Tacitus, and the Jewish Babylonian Talmud (compiled in the 4th century AD). The question critics ask today is not if Jesus really lived, but was He really God; did He really perform miracles; and did He really rise from the grave and, finally, did He really ascend to heaven?

These truths cannot be proven beyond a shadow of a doubt, but the evidence for them is powerful, and compelling (Hebrews 11:1).

Jesus In History

Suppose, hypothetically, that the Bible is true, and not cleverly devised fairy tales (2 Peter 1:16). The question then is a much more poignant one—why would all this have happened? Why would God be born, be a baby, become a child, go through puberty, mature to an adult, suffer torture, die on a Roman cross with nails in his hand and a spear in his side, and then lay in a tomb dead?

The answer is surprising—and full of hope for us. Jesus chose to become human and experience everything that humanity experiences in order to identify with every person on earth. Have you ever felt lonely? Have you ever felt misunderstood? Have you ever felt depressed, or stressed, or manic? Well, God too (Hebrews 2:10, 11), in human flesh, in the Person of Jesus.

It even goes deeper. Jesus loved you so much—male, female, child, adult, poor, rich, slave, free, broken, hurt, and everything else—that he took your issues and sins on himself. He literally felt what you have felt in your toughest and most demoralizing moments (Isaiah 53:4, 12).

It is easy for someone to say they understand what you are going through. We call that “sympathy.” However, “empathy” takes understanding to a deeper level. That is when a person has been through a similar experience. Empathy is when someone can identify with the feelings you are experiencing. Jesus can say that He knows what you are going through, because He went through the same experience (Isaiah 53:4, 12), only infinitely worse.  Even before the cross, in the Garden of Gethsemane, He started experiencing all the sins, sorrows, diseases, and pains of everyone in the world. The weight and pain of all humanity’s sinfulness was so overwhelming that Jesus began to sweat great drops of blood (Luke 22:44). From that moment until Jesus gave up His life, He felt the accumulated guilt and shame of everyone who has ever lived.

He felt the burden of everything you and I have done and will ever do wrong. He was beaten, mistreated, accused, slapped, mocked, shoved, derided, and scourged (see Isaiah 53). He endured it all without so much as a rude comment in return. He endured all this with love in His heart toward those who were doing it to Him. He could have called down the armies of heaven to save Himself and kill those who were killing Him.  But, instead, He prayed: “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34).

Then He gave up His life (Matthew 27:50). He wasn’t actually killed by the cross. No, He, the Son of God, gave up His life (John 10:17, 18). The cost of sin and sinfulness is eternal death by separation from God. When God fully reveals Himself to an unrepentant sinner, the result is that God consumes the sin along with the sinner (Isaiah 59:1, 2; Hebrews 12:29). So, when Jesus gave up His life, He died the death of sinners. He didn’t fight spiritual battles or go to heaven and hell during His time in the grave between Friday and Sunday. His human life was completely separated from the Father and the Holy Spirit.

Jesus’ death was for all of us. It was for our sins and sorrows that Jesus died. He willfully chose to die for us, just so that we could have the choice to live. God sacrificed Himself for others. He humbled himself, even to death. That is Love in its finest and fullest form.

Experiential Wisdom

perfectly performed His mission, to destroy the dominion of Sin and Death so that we could be free from its power, God called Jesus to come back from the grave (Acts 2:24). All three of the Godhead joined together for the most glorious resurrection the universe will ever see (Colossians 1:16). Jesus took hold of life once more.

The Trinity was united again, and Love had displayed itself to the universe.

questions about the law of God, the love of God, and who should rule the universe were answered. Satan was proven wrong before the entire universe. Jesus had lived perfectly; He kept God’s law perfectly. He had demonstrated the love of God in His life and death. He was worthy to be Lord of all because He had become the servant of all (Philippians 2:8-11).

Through death, love won.

Why do you think sacrifice and surrender are or are not displays of power and of love?

How does it make you feel hearing that God knows exactly how you have felt in your best and worst times?

What does a Savior mean for you?

原文链接：https://www.apictureofgod.com/savior