8主的死是甚么时候开始的?祂的死在祂出生后立刻开始。祂的复活是甚么时候开始的?祂的复活开始于祂的死。人救主是藉死而活。主在地上三十三年半的生活,乃是藉死而活的生活。至终,祂的死在十字架上得完成,祂的复活也在祂钉死后第三天得完成。祂的死有开始,也有完成。同样的,祂的复活有开始,也有完成。我鼓励你们在祷告中,把这事带到主面前。赞美主,祂是藉死而活的人救主!当祂活的时候,祂就在死;当祂死的时候,祂也在活。祂在地上的三十三年半,是一段漫长的死与复活的过程。在祂身上,复活与死同时并行。按我们的意见,可能会认为主耶稣该对马大说,『难道你不知道我就是生命?有一天我会死,然后我就是复活。』然而,主却说祂是复活,祂是生命。祂是复活的事实,证明祂也是生命。祂若不是一直复活,就不会一直活著。人在出生以后是开始活,还是开始死?实际上,人一出生,就开始死。因此,死不是突然临到的。相反的,死乃是过程。这过程对一些人是短的,对一些人却很长。但无论长短,所有不信的人都是在死的过程中。我们信徒的光景如何?我们是在死还是在活?今天我们信徒乃是藉死而生,藉死而活。不信的人只有死的过程,但我们有死的过程,也有活的过程,有死也有复活。实际上,我们越死,就越复活。
8When did the Lord’s death begin? His death began immediately after He was born. When did His resurrection begin? His resurrection began with His dying. The Man - Savior was dying to live; He lived by dying. The Lord’s life on earth for thirty - three and a half years was a life of dying to live, a life of living by dying. Eventually, His death was completed on the cross, and His resurrection was completed on the third day after His crucifixion. There was a beginning of His death and also a completion of it. Likewise, there was a beginning of His resurrection and a completion of resurrection. I encourage you to bring this matter to the Lord in prayer. Praise the Lord that He was the dying-to-live Man-Savior and also the living-by-dying Man-Savior! While He was living, He was dying, and while He was dying, He was living. We may even say that while He was dying, He was resurrecting. His thirty-three and a half years on earth were a long process of death and also of resurrection. With Him resurrection and death went together. According to our opinion, we may think that the Lord Jesus should have said to Martha, “Do you not know that I am the life? One day I will die, and then I shall be the resurrection.” However, the Lord said that He was the resurrection and the life. The fact that He was resurrection proves that He was also life. If He had not been resurrecting, He would not have been able to live. After a person is born, does he begin to live, or does he begin to die? Actually, as soon as a human being is born, he begins to die. Death, therefore, does not come as an accident. On the contrary, death comes as a process. For some, this process is short; for others, it is very long. But whatever the case may be, all unbelievers are in the process of dying. What is our situation as believers? Are we dying or living? Today we believers are dying to live, and we are living by dying. The unbelievers only have the process of dying, but we have both dying and living, both death and resurrection. Actually, the more we die, the more we are resurrected.