Knowing Abba’s Heart 明了阿爸父的心
Author: Bro Ben Quek
“Then Jesus answered and said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.””
We become children of God when we receive Jesus as our Lord & Saviour (John 1:12). But that is only a newborn baby in the Kingdom. Do you know that the heart of our Abba Father is that we become mature sons & daughters of His? No longer children who whimper for milk for years or those who are spoilt and immature, never growing up, but mature sons and daughters who know and do the heart and will of their Father in Heaven. It is these sons and daughters whom the Father can trust to accomplish His purposes on Earth as it is in Heaven. Sons and daughters make the best servants because they are deeply connected with the heart of their Father and are determined to accomplish His desires to bring joy to His heart.
We only need to look at the example of the Perfect Son & Servant, Jesus Christ, to see this being manifested. Jesus constantly spoke of how He could do nothing of Himself, that He only did what saw the Father doing, and only said what He heard the Father saying. His was a life connected to the Father, yielded to the Father, in step with His Father.
My name is Benjamin and in Hebrew, the name ‘Benjamin’ literally means ‘son of (the) right hand or ‘favoured son’. Amazingly, the journey which I have experienced God bringing me into is one of sonship – discovering my identity as a son, learning to live as a son, and growing into a mature son who knows and does the heart of my Father. This relationship which I have with God is not one of head knowledge, but one where there is a deep knowing and experience of God being my Abba Father, Jesus being the Perfect Son Whose example I am following, and the Holy Spirit being the Spirit of Adoption by Whom I cry out “Abba Father!” This ‘being’ flows into my ‘doing’, where I serve from identity and not for identity.
In these few years of serving in the Worship & Youth Ministry, there has been much joy, but also many times of discouragement. There have been many times where I would feel like I have failed because I sang badly, taught badly, led badly, etc. However, over the years, as I continued to grow in my walk with Christ and identity as a son, the question now is not one of whether I have done well or done badly, but one of: “Father, are You pleased?”, “Father, what songs do You want me to lead Your people to sing to You?”, “Father, what do You want me to speak to Your sheep?”, “Father, what are You doing in this event?” It is a journey of learning to live as Jesus lived: in constant union with the Father and seeking to please His heart (John 8:29).
Our Father desires mature sons and daughters to partner with Him. Therefore, I exhort everyone: Let’s continue to strive for the goal of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus, maturing into His likeness and doing the will of our Father in Heaven, to bring delight to His heart! Let’s not stay as babies in Christ, but let’s go on to maturity for that is His desire for us!
文:郭哲愷弟兄
翻译:王佩瑾师母
“耶稣对他们说：我实实在在的告诉你们，子凭着自己不能做什么，
唯有看见父所做的，子才能做；父所做的事，子也照样做。” ”
当我们接受耶稣为我们的救主时，我们就成了神的儿女（约翰福音1:12）。但在神的国度里，那还只算是一个新生儿。你可知道，天父对我们的期望乃是我们成为祂成熟、能明了并且能听从祂旨意的儿女；而不是停留在慕奶的阶段，或像是被宠坏了，永远长不大的孩子。天父要在地上，如同在天上完成的事只有成熟的儿女才能胜任。而祂的儿女也将是最好的仆人，因为他们深深了解天父的心意，并会因为要让神喜悦，执意完成祂所托付的事。
这点在神完美的儿子和仆人– 耶稣基督的身上完美地展现出来。耶稣一直提到单凭他自己，什么也做不到，而他也只是依照天父所行的行、所说的说。耶稣的生命与天父是相连的、 是降伏于神的、是与神同行的。
我的名字叫便雅悯，在希伯来语里，便雅悯的意思是“右手的儿子“或是”受宠的儿子“。奇妙的是，神带我走进的旅途也是一个发掘自己是神的儿子的旅途 –从发现到学会如何当神的儿子，然后渐渐地成长，成为一个明白并遵从神旨意的儿子。我与神的关系不仅仅是一种理性的认知，而是深深地知道及体会神就是我的阿爸天父、耶稣是我效仿的完美儿子、圣灵即是允许我大声呐喊‘阿爸天父’的收养之灵。这样的认知促使了我接下来所做的事–因为是神的儿子所以服侍神，而不是为了要成为神的儿子才服侍神。
在敬拜团和青年组侍奉的这几年，我经历了许多快乐的事，但也有感到灰心的时候。 有好多次，我会因为觉得唱得不好，教的不好，或带领的不好等，而觉得自己失败了。 不过，当我在与耶稣同行的道路和自己是神的儿子的身份上逐渐成长，我所问的问题不再是我做得好不好，而是‘天父，您满意吗？’，‘天父，您想我用什么诗歌来带领您的子民敬拜赞美你？’，‘天父，您有什么话要我传达给您的羊群听？’，‘天父，您在这里要完成什么事？’这是一个效仿耶稣生命的旅途： 时时刻刻都与天父结合，讨祂喜悦 。（约翰福音8:29）
我们的天父希望成熟的儿女们与祂配合，所以我鼓励大家：继续向神在耶稣基督里所立的目标前进，变得更像耶稣，完成祂的旨意，使祂喜悦。我们不要再当长不大的基督徒了，让我们在耶稣基督里成长，成熟，因为那是祂对我们的期望！