15在召会中,神的长子向祂的弟兄宣告父的名。因为父是生命和性情的源头,所以宣告父的名,就是向众弟兄指明生命和性情的源头。古时的犹太人虽然认识神,却不认识父。他们只认识神是创造主,却不认识祂也是那生育的父。他们知道神创造的大能,却不认识父生育的能力。他们知道神的大能,却不认识父的生命。在耶稣复活以前,甚至祂的门徒也不认识父的生命和祂生育的能力。在复活那天以前,他们所认识的和犹太人所认识的一样。但在复活那天,主来到他们中间,向他们宣告父的名,使他们知道父乃是生命的源头。关于这一点,圣经说得非常简略,但这简略的题示如同小小的窗口,使我们藉此能看见许多事。按照约翰二十章所记,耶稣是在复活当天晚上来到祂的门徒中间。但是约翰并没有说到主耶稣向门徒宣告父的名。这事乃是以豫言的方式记在诗篇二十二篇二十二节。根据那里的豫言,基督复活之后,向门徒显现,主要的是叫他们认识父。父的生命和父的性情已经成为他们的,父的所是已经转到他们里面。这就是向门徒宣告父的名的意思。主作这事的时候,如果我们也在那里,我们就会明白,那个宣告不仅是题到父的名而已,乃是把父的一切所是─祂的生命、性情、所是─都分赐到门徒里面。彼得从这事上,就看见他有分于神的性情,他在彼得后书也题到这事。(一4。)我们这些神的众子,都有分于神圣的性情。神之于我们不再仅仅是创造的神,更是生身的父。祂生了我们,将祂的生命、性情,甚至祂的所是,分赐到我们里面。这就是宣告父的名的意义。
15In the church, the Firstborn Son of God declares the Father’s name to His brothers. Because the Father is the source of life and nature, to declare the name of the Father is to show the many brothers the source of life and nature. Although the Jewish people in ancient times knew God, they did not know the Father. They knew God as the Creator but not as the Father who begets. They knew God’s creating power, but they did not know the Father’s begetting ability. They knew God’s power, but they did not realize the Father’s life. Before the resurrection, not even the disciples of Jesus knew the Father’s life and begetting ability. Before the day of resurrection, they only knew as much as the Jewish people did. However, on the day of resurrection the Lord came to them to declare the Father to make them know the Father as the source of life. The Bible only mentions this very briefly, but this brief mention is like a little show window through which we can see a great deal. According to John 20, Jesus visited His disciples in the evening on the day of His resurrection. But John does not say that He declared the Father to the disciples. This is mentioned prophetically in Psalm 22:22. According to that prophecy, after His resurrection Christ came mainly to His disciples to make the Father known to them. The Father’s life and nature have become theirs. The Father’s being has been transferred into their being. This is what it means to declare the Father’s name to the disciples. If we had been there when the Lord did this, we would have realized that that declaration was not just a matter of mentioning the name. No, it was an impartation of all that the Father is—the Father’s life, nature, and being—into the disciples. It was from this that Peter came to realize that he was a partaker of the divine nature. He mentions this in his second Epistle (1:4). We, the sons of God, have all become partakers of the divine nature. To us, God is no longer merely the creating God but also the begetting Father. He has begotten us. He has imparted His life, His nature, and even His being into our being. This is what it means to declare the Father’s name.