INCARNATION ｜ 道成肉身

ENINCARNATION. Chief texts and their significance. The pre-existent Son of God assumed a true and complete human nature: John 1:1, 14. The Word was God. And the Word became (egeneto, began to be) flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the Only Begotten from the Father. "Began to be"—in contradistinction to that timeless mode of being in which He had previously subsisted. "Flesh"—humanity in its widest possible significance; human nature in its entirety (Luther, Godet, Meyer, Westcott). 1 John 1:1, 2. That which was from the beginning, that which we have heard, that which we have seen with our eyes, that which our hands handled, concerning the Word of Life (and the Life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare unto you the Life, the Eternal Life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us). 1 Tim. 3:16. Great is the mystery of godliness: He who was manifested in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached among the nations, believed on in the world, received up into glory. [Inadequate as are all human definitions of the method of God's love in the Incarnation, the fact of it is the key to the creation and to history. This is the mystery of God, in whose light other mysteries are made plain. The Incarnation, itself transcending reason, is the one sufficient, rational explanation of the universe. N. Smyth.]

BSBJohn 1:14 The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

中道成肉身。主要经文及其含义。先存的神子取了真实而完整的人性：约翰福音 1:1, 14 —— 道就是神。道成了（egeneto，开始成为）肉身，住在我们中间……我们也见过他的荣光，正是父独生子的荣光。『开始成为』——与他此前所存的那种超乎时间的存在方式相对而言。『肉身』——最广义的人性；人性之全部（路德、戈岱、迈尔、韦斯科特诸家）。约翰一书 1:1-2 —— 论到从起初原有的生命之道，就是我们所听见、所看见、亲眼看过、亲手摸过的（这生命已经显现出来，我们也看见过，现在又作见证，将原与父同在、且显现与我们那永远的生命传给你们）。提摩太前书 3:16 —— 大哉，敬虔的奥秘！就是神（有古卷作他）在肉身显现，被圣灵称义，被天使看见，被传于外邦，被世人信服，被接在荣耀里。〔人对神之爱在道成肉身里的方式所下的一切定义纵然不足，道成肉身这一事实却是解开创造与历史的钥匙。这是神的奥秘——其余的奥秘都在它的光中变得明白。道成肉身本身超越理性，却是对宇宙唯一充分而合理的解释。斯迈思（N. Smyth）〕

ENPhil. 2:6-8. Who, being originally in the form of God, counted it not a prize (a thing to be grasped) to be on an equality with God, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men; and being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, becoming obedient even unto death, yea, the death of the cross. [The birth of Jesus Christ inaugurated the history of our Redemption. It is the turning-point of the ages; it is the miracle of the universe; it was a stupendous act of Divine condescension. The Incarnation was a humiliation. For, in consenting to be born, the Son of God voluntarily accepted the limitations of human life. But the humiliation did not stop there: He not only became man, but He took upon Him the form of a servant; He accepted poverty and obscurity in a mechanic's home. Deeper still was His humiliation: He became obedient unto death. No such necessity grew out of His being man; for He was sinless and holy, and death is the wages of sin. He might have warded it off; but He would not. Saving others, Himself He would not save. And even death does not measure the depth of His humiliation: He was obedient to the death of the cross—a shameful, an infamous and accursed death in the estimation of Roman and Jew. Humiliation could go no farther: the Holiest drank the bitterest dregs. But in all this humiliation there was no degradation. His Incarnation did not degrade Him; His poverty did not degrade Him; His death did not degrade Him; His crucifixion did not degrade Him. His Cross has become His Throne, in which we glory. Behrends.]

BSBPhilippians 2:6, 7 6 Who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in human likeness.

中腓立比书 2:6-8 —— 他本有神的形象，不以自己与神同等为强夺的（当抓牢不放的），反倒虚己，取了奴仆的形象，成为人的样式；既有人的样子，就自己卑微，存心顺服，以至于死，且死在十字架上。〔耶稣基督的降生开启了我们救赎的历史。它是万代的转折点；是宇宙的神迹；是神圣俯就的惊天之举。道成肉身是一次降卑。因为，子既允诺降生，就甘愿接受了人类生命的种种限制。但降卑并未止步于此：他不但成为人，还取了奴仆的形象；他在一个匠人之家接受了贫穷与无闻。他的降卑更深一层：他顺服以至于死。这并非因他成为人就必然如此——他无罪而圣洁，死乃是罪的工价。他本可以挡开死；但他不肯。他救了别人，不肯救自己。而即便死亡也量不尽他降卑的深度：他顺服至于十字架的死——在罗马人与犹太人的估价里，这是一种可耻、可辱、受咒诅的死。降卑至此，无以复加：至圣者饮尽了至苦的渣滓。然而在这一切降卑之中，没有丝毫的贬损。道成肉身没有贬损他；贫穷没有贬损他；死没有贬损他；钉十字架没有贬损他。他的十字架已成为他的宝座——我们所夸口的宝座。贝伦兹（Behrends）〕

ENRom. 1:3, 4. Born of the seed of David according to the flesh; declared to be the Son of God with power, by the resurrection of the dead. Rom. 9:5. Of whom (the Israelites) is Christ as concerning the flesh. Rom. 8:3. God, sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, condemned sin in the flesh. Gal. 4:4. Born of a woman, born under the law. ("His assumed humanity was derived through the process of a human birth.") Heb. 2:14, 17. Since the children are sharers in flesh and blood, He also Himself in like manner partook of the same. Wherefore it behoved Him in all things to be made like unto His brethren, that He might make propitiation for the sins of the people. 1 Pet. 3:18. Christ suffered for sins once, the righteous for the unrighteous, that He might bring us to God; being put to death in the flesh. [The Incarnation brings to us the message of God's condescending love. It declares His eagerness to reconcile men unto Himself, and reveals His great, loving Father's heart. Apart from this, God may be to men the great First Cause, the unknown God; but in Christ He has laid aside His awfulness, and revealed His great best name of Love. The Incarnate Word becomes a source of blissful inspiration to our hopes, calls forth the deepest devotion of our hearts, satisfies our most fervent longings, and fills the measure of our needs. J. R. Ellis.]

BSBGalatians 4:4 But when the time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law,

中罗马书 1:3-4 —— 按肉体说，是从大卫后裔生的；按圣善的灵说，因从死里复活，以大能显明是神的儿子。9:5 —— 按肉体说，基督也是从他们（以色列人）出来的。8:3 —— 神就差遣自己的儿子成为罪身的形状，作了赎罪祭，在肉体中定了罪案。加拉太书 4:4 —— 为女子所生，且生在律法以下。（『他所取的人性，是经由人的出生过程而来的。』）希伯来书 2:14, 17 —— 儿女既同有血肉之体，他也照样亲自成了血肉之体。所以，他凡事该与他的弟兄相同，为百姓的罪……献上挽回祭。彼得前书 3:18 —— 因基督也曾一次为罪受苦（有古卷作受死），就是义的代替不义的，为要引我们到神面前。按着肉体说，他被治死。〔道成肉身给我们带来神俯就之爱的信息。它宣告神何等急切要人与自己和好，揭示他伟大慈爱的父亲心肠。若无此事，神对人或许只是伟大的第一因、未识之神；但在基督里，他放下了他的威严可畏，启示出他至大至美的名字——爱。成了肉身的道，成为我们盼望的福乐灵感之源，唤出我们心中最深的爱慕，满足我们最炽热的渴想，充满我们需要的量器。埃利斯（J. R. Ellis）〕

ENConceived by the Holy Ghost: Matt. 1:20-23. She was found with child of the Holy Ghost. An angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son; and thou shalt call His name Jesus: for it is He that shall save His people from their sins. Emmanuel—God with us. Luke 1:30-35. The angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favor with God. . . . The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee: wherefore also the Holy thing which is begotten shall be called the Son of God. Luke 2:10-12. There is born to you this day, in the city of David, a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. Fullness of Deity with humanity: Col. 2:9. In Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. Christ's own testimony: He asserts His humanity, calling Himself about eighty times The Son of Man; as emphatically He asserts His Deity, calling Himself The Son of God, who alone knows, reveals, and is one with the Father. See God the Son.

BSBLuke 1:35 The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the Holy One to be born will be called the Son of God.

中由圣灵感孕：马太福音 1:20-23 —— 马利亚就从圣灵怀了孕。有主的使者向他梦中显现，说：大卫的子孙约瑟，不要怕，只管娶过你的妻子马利亚来，因她所怀的孕是从圣灵来的。她将要生一个儿子，你要给他起名叫耶稣，因他要将自己的百姓从罪恶里救出来。以马内利——神与我们同在。路加福音 1:30-35 —— 天使对她说：马利亚，不要怕，你在神面前已经蒙恩了……圣灵要临到你身上，至高者的能力要荫庇你，因此所要生的圣者必称为神的儿子。2:10-12 —— 因今天在大卫的城里，为你们生了救主，就是主基督。神性的丰满与人性同在：歌罗西书 2:9 —— 神本性一切的丰盛，都有形有体地居住在基督里面。基督自己的见证：他宣认自己的人性——自称『人子』约八十次；同样着重地宣认自己的神性——自称『神的儿子』，惟独他认识父、启示父、与父原为一。参主题词条：神（074，子神一节）。

EN[In the Advent, with its mystery of Incarnation through the beautiful wonder of a virgin birth, is shown to us a personal life like our own coming to us out of the heavens—a life corresponding to ours in native faculty and in receptive, responsive sensibility, though marred by no evil inclinations, no hidden tendencies to wrong waiting development; a life subject, like ours, to laws of growth, and dependent, like ours, on conditions of culture, needing the ministry of human tuition and the silent discipline of the Divine training, while always answering to both with a purity and wisdom elsewhere unapproached; a life exemplary to the world, though and because celestial suggestions breathe upon it. It is a child-life which serenely and unobtrusively appears, indicating that life is honored in the heavens, and lifting our hearts to the sure expectation that infants beloved, going forth from our households, shall be instantaneously welcomed and at home in the supreme realms. A glory falls thus on the inn and the manger which belongs to no cradle of princes in palaces, to no purple chambers in which imperial life was begun; while, at the same time, the midnight song, and the glad and shining angelic companies, swift and worshipful, reveal the illustrious levels of life from which this child-life has come forth, and toward which evermore afterward it tends. Some men stumble, while others adore, before the miracle of the Advent. Except for that miracle, the birth of a common Jewish babe in a village of Judea would have been among the most insignificant events in the annals of mankind. With that, and through it, the heavens became proximate, luminous, alluring to the heart of the world. R. S. Storrs.]

BSBLuke 2:12 And this will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”

中〔在降临节里——伴着童女生子这桩美丽奇事所包藏的道成肉身之奥秘——向我们显出一个与我们相同的位格生命自诸天而来：这生命在天赋的官能上、在领受回应的感受力上与我们相应，却不被任何恶的倾向所玷污，没有任何潜伏待发的向恶趋势；这生命像我们的一样服在生长的规律之下，像我们的一样依赖养育的条件，需要人间教导的服事与神圣训练的无声操练，却始终以别处无可企及的纯洁与智慧回应二者；这生命是世界的表率——虽然、也正因为诸天的气息吹拂其上。这是一个安然而不事声张地出现的孩童生命：它表明生命在诸天受尊重，又把我们的心提举到一个确凿的期待——从我们家中离去的亲爱婴孩，必即刻在至高的国度受欢迎、得安家。于是有一种荣光落在客店与马槽之上，那是宫中王子的摇篮、帝王生涯发轫的紫殿所不曾有的；与此同时，那午夜的颂歌、那欢欣闪耀、迅捷虔敬的天使队伍，又显明这孩童生命所自来的、此后也永远趋向的生命之光辉层级。在降临节的神迹面前，有人绊倒，有人敬拜。若没有那神迹，犹太一个村庄里一个普通犹太婴孩的出生，会是人类史册上最微不足道的事件之一；有了它、借着它，诸天对世界的心变得切近、明亮、动人。斯托尔斯（R. S. Storrs）〕

ENOutline of helpful points, taken from "How is the Divinity of Jesus Depicted," by Thomas Whitelaw, D.D. Purposes of the Incarnation: 1. The furnishing of mankind with a revelation of the Father: Matt. 11:27. Luke 10:22. John 7:29; 8:19; 14:9. 2. The making of atonement, by dying as a sacrifice for sin: Matt. 17:22, 23; 20:18, 19, 28. Mark 8:31; 10:33-45. Luke 9:22; 18:31-33. Heb. 2:14, 17. 3. The exemplification of human holiness: to this Christ Himself bore unambiguous testimony, by direct and indirect statements proposing Himself as the pattern for His followers and for all mankind. 4. The institution, in the midst of men, of a new Kingdom of grace and truth, in which fallen souls should be restored to their lost fellowship with Heaven and allegiance to God: Matt. 6:33; 9:35; 13:24-52. Mark 1:15; 4:11. Luke 4:43; 10:9. Signs of the Incarnation: miraculous birth; miraculous works; miraculous experiences (at the Baptism, the Transfiguration); superhuman character—stainless purity, moral completeness, astonishing pretensions; superhuman wisdom—the simplicity, originality, authority, spirituality of His teaching; supernatural work—the atoning death, the spiritual Kingdom, the influence on the world. Additional points: the exalted God-Man as the Lord of glory; as the Head of the Church; as the Sovereign of the universe; as the Judge of men. Thomas Whitelaw.

BSBMatthew 11:27 All things have been entrusted to Me by My Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him.

中有益要点纲要——取自怀特洛博士（Thomas Whitelaw）《耶稣的神性如何被描绘》。道成肉身的目的：1. 给人类供应一部关于父的启示：马太福音 11:27。路加福音 10:22。约翰福音 7:29；8:19；14:9。2. 借着死作赎罪祭而成就赎罪：马太福音 17:22-23；20:18-19, 28。马可福音 8:31；10:33-45。路加福音 9:22；18:31-33。希伯来书 2:14, 17。3. 人性圣洁的示范：对此，基督自己作了毫不含糊的见证——以直接与间接的陈述，把自己立为门徒并全人类的榜样。4. 在人间设立一个恩典与真理的新国度，使堕落的灵魂在其中恢复所失去的与天的相交、对神的效忠：马太福音 6:33；9:35；13:24-52。马可福音 1:15；4:11。路加福音 4:43；10:9。道成肉身的记号：神迹性的降生；神迹性的作为；神迹性的经历（受洗时、登山变象时）；超人的品格——纤尘不染的纯洁、道德的完全、惊人的自我宣称；超人的智慧——其教训的单纯、原创、权柄与属灵性；超自然的工作——赎罪的死、属灵的国度、对世界的影响。补充要点：被高举的神而人者是荣耀的主；是教会的元首；是宇宙的主宰；是审判人类者。怀特洛（Thomas Whitelaw）

ENThe Incarnation a union of Divine and human elements of being. [Jesus Christ was not mere man, but the Eternal Son of God—a truly Divine Person—who in the fullness of time took upon Him our humanity; and who, on the ground that in Him as man there dwells the fullness of the Godhead bodily, is to be honored, worshiped, and trusted, even as God is. Prof. Orr. — Evangelists and Apostles, as well as Christ Himself, represent Him as having come forth from the Father, and as assuming into indissoluble union with Himself a perfect human nature; so that He who, antecedent to this stupendous act of condescension and self-abasement, subsisted in the form of God, and was God, was thenceforth found in fashion as a man. T. Whitelaw. — The union of the Divine and human nature in Christ is a permanent state, resulting from the Incarnation, and is a real, supernatural, personal, and inseparable union. The two natures constitute but one personal life, and yet remain distinct. "The same who is true God," says Pope Leo I, "is also true man; and in this unity the lowliness of man and the majesty of God perfectly pervade one another." The superhuman effect and infinite merit of the Redeemer's work must be ascribed to His Person, because of His Divinity; while it is His humanity alone that made Him capable of, and liable to, temptation, suffering, and death, and renders Him an example for our imitation. P. Schaff. — By taking only the nature of man, He still continueth one person, and changeth but the manner of His subsisting, which was before in the mere glory of the Son of God, and is now in the habit of our flesh. Hooker. — By the Incarnation God is revealed to us as "the Father," so as to give validity to our human conceptions of His perfection. By the Incarnation He enters through His Son into the world of nature, and delivers us from the tyranny of materialism. By the Incarnation He makes known to us the spiritual basis of life, in virtue of which man, in the fullness of his nature, is shown to be capable of fellowship with God. Bp. Westcott.]

BSBColossians 2:9 For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity dwells in bodily form.

中道成肉身是神性与人性两种存在元素的联合。〔耶稣基督不是单纯的人，而是永恒的神子——一位真正神性的位格——在时候满足时取了我们的人性；又因神本性一切的丰盛有形有体地居住在这位成为人的他里面，他理当受尊崇、受敬拜、被信靠，与神无异。奥尔教授——福音书作者与众使徒，同基督自己一样，都把他表现为从父而出、把一个完全的人性接入与自己不可解除的联合；于是那位在这俯就与自卑的惊天之举以先本有神的形象、本是神的，从此以人的样子显现。怀特洛——基督里神人二性的联合是道成肉身所结成的永久状态，是真实的、超自然的、位格性的、不可分离的联合。二性只构成一个位格生命，却又保持分明。教皇利奥一世说：『那同一位真神，也是真人；在这合一里，人的卑微与神的威严完全彼此贯通。』救赎主之工超人的功效与无限的功德，必须因他的神性而归于他的位格；而唯独他的人性使他能受（也不免于）试探、苦难与死亡，使他成为我们效法的榜样。沙夫（P. Schaff）——他只取人的本性，位格仍是一个，改变的只是他存在的方式：从前单在神子的荣耀里，如今在我们血肉的衣装里。胡克（Hooker）——借着道成肉身，神被启示为『父』，使我们对他完全的人性化理解得着效力；借着道成肉身，他借他的儿子进入自然界，救我们脱离唯物主义的暴政；借着道成肉身，他使我们认识生命的属灵根基——凭这根基，人在其本性的丰满中显明能与神相交。韦斯科特主教（Bp. Westcott）〕

EN[This brings us to the fundamental distinction between a true and a false or inadequate doctrine of Incarnation. Incarnation is not simply the endowing of human nature with the highest conceivable plenitude of gifts and graces; it is not a mere dynamical relation of God to the human spirit, acting on it or in it with exceptional energy; it is not simply the coming to consciousness of the metaphysical unity all along subsisting between humanity and God; it is not even such moral union, such spiritual indwelling and oneness of character and will, as subsists between God and the believer. The Scriptural idea of the Incarnation is as unique as is the Biblical conception as a whole. It is not, to state the matter in a word, the union simply of the Divine nature with the human—for that I acknowledge in the case of every believer through the indwelling Spirit—but the entrance of a Divine Person into the human. That there is an analogy between the believer's relation to God and Christ's relation to the Father is expressly declared in Christ's own words (John 17:21): "that they may all be one; even as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in Us." But the subject there is moral union—not union of essence, as in John 1:1—but the mutual ensphering of personalities in an atmosphere of love. There is this also in Christ. But the distinction remains: these personalities of ours are human, and continue so, no matter how entirely filled, penetrated, possessed with the light and love and knowledge of God they may be; but His was a Personality of a higher rank—a Divine Personality, which entered into the limitations and conditions of humanity from above; which was not originally human, as ours is, but became human. So much as this, I think, is assuredly implied in the Christian Incarnation. Prof. Orr.]

BSBJohn 17:21 that all of them may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I am in You. May they also be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me.

中〔这就把我们带到真教义与假（或不足的）道成肉身教义之间的根本分野。道成肉身不单是把可以设想的最高丰满的恩赐与美德加给人性；不是神对人灵的一种单纯动力学关系——以超常的能量作用于其上或其内；不单是人性与神性之间一直潜存的形上合一浮现为自觉；甚至也不是神与信徒之间那种道德的联合、那种属灵的内住与品格意志的合一。圣经的道成肉身观念，与圣经的整体观念一样独一无二。一言以蔽之：它不单是神性与人性的联合——那一点，我承认借着内住的圣灵在每个信徒身上都有——而是一位神性位格进入人性。信徒与神的关系同基督与父的关系之间确有类比，这是基督亲口明言的（约翰福音 17:21）：『使他们都合而为一。正如你父在我里面，我在你里面，使他们也在我们里面。』但那里说的是道德的联合——不是约翰福音 1:1 那样本质的联合——而是诸位格在爱的氛围里彼此环抱。这在基督身上也有。但分野仍在：我们这些位格是人的位格，无论被神的光、爱与知识充满、渗透、占有到何等地步，仍旧是人的；他的位格却属更高的等次——是一个神性的位格，从上头进入人性的限制与条件之中；不像我们的位格本来就是人的，他的位格乃是『成为』人的。我以为，基督教的道成肉身至少确凿地蕴含着这一点。奥尔教授〕

ENThe Incarnation a complete revelation of God: [The Incarnation sheds new light on the nature of God, and, in conjunction with the work of the Spirit, reveals Him as triune—Father, Son, and Spirit, one God. Prof. Orr. — The Incarnation was a necessity, to reveal God's thought, God's feeling, God's purpose, God's character to men—embodying, representing, expressing God to man: a revelation not from God, but of God. "No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him." God dwelt among men in the person of Jesus Christ. As Son of God He was able to know God perfectly; as Son of Man He was able perfectly to express, unfold, and reveal Him. To Philip's demand, "Show us the Father," He said, "He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father." Behold Him blessing little children; welcoming the lost and desolate; alleviating human pain, and weeping the tears of sympathy with sorrowing hearts; bearing our griefs and carrying our sorrows; at last dying for our sins—and in all these things you see the Divine character declared. "God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." Ellis.] The Incarnation discloses the dignity and greatness of the human soul: [The Incarnation sheds new light on the nature of man, alike as respects its capacity for union with the Divine, its possibilities of perfection, and the high destinies awaiting it. Christ, in His own person, is the demonstration of the truth of the Bible doctrine about man: He is not only the Revelation of God to humanity, but the Revelation of humanity to itself. In Him we see in perfect form what man, in the Divine idea of him, is. Prof. Orr. — Christ is the ideal man, gathering up into Himself the ideal virtues of humanity. The Incarnation is the prophecy, pledge, and pattern of what God intends for us. A Christ is God's ideal for every man. Ellis. — The entrance of the Son of God into our human life has sanctified all the conditions of that life. Only from the Incarnation comes respect and reverence for the babe as a soul immortal; and the just recognition of the dignity and rights of childhood and youth. Through the Incarnation alone does suffering find its adequate cause and compensation; and the moment of dying becomes the triumphant transition into an endless and blissful life with God. B. — The Incarnation hallows labor and our scene of labor. It claims the fullest offering of personal service. It embraces all men in the range of its greatest hope. It enables us to reverence, with a sublime faith which experience has amply justified, men as men. Bp. Westcott.]

BSB2 Corinthians 4:6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

中道成肉身是对神完全的启示：〔道成肉身给神的本性投下新光，并与圣灵的工作相配合，把他启示为三一——父、子、灵，独一的神。奥尔教授——道成肉身是一种必需：为把神的思想、神的情感、神的旨意、神的品格启示给人——把神向人具体化、代表出来、表达出来：这是一个不仅『来自』神、而且『关于』神的启示。『从来没有人看见神，只有在父怀里的独生子将他表明出来。』神在耶稣基督的位格里住在人间。作为神的儿子，他能完全地认识神；作为人子，他能完全地表达、展开、启示神。对腓力『求主将父显给我们看』的请求，他说：『人看见了我，就是看见了父。』看他为小孩子祝福；接纳失丧孤苦的人；减轻人的疼痛，与忧伤的心同洒同情之泪；担当我们的忧患，背负我们的痛苦；最终为我们的罪而死——在这一切里，你看见神的品格被宣明。『那吩咐光从黑暗里照出来的神，已经照在我们心里，叫我们得知神荣耀的光显在耶稣基督的面上。』埃利斯〕道成肉身揭示人之灵魂的尊贵与伟大：〔道成肉身给人的本性投下新光——无论就其与神联合的容量、其臻于完全的可能，还是等候着它的崇高归宿而论。基督以自己的位格证明了圣经关于人的教义之真：他不但是神向人类的启示，也是人类向自身的启示。在他里面，我们以完全的形态看见『人』在神的心意中是什么。奥尔教授——基督是理想的人，把人性的理想诸德收聚于一身。道成肉身是神为我们所定心意的预言、质押与范型。一个『基督』，是神为每一个人立的理想。埃利斯——神子进入我们人类生活，已使这生活的一切境况成圣。唯有从道成肉身，才生出对婴孩作为不朽灵魂的尊重与敬意，以及对童年与青年之尊严权利的公正承认。唯有借道成肉身，苦难才找到它充分的原因与补偿；临终的一刻也成为凯旋的过渡，进入与神同在的无尽福乐生命。B.（编者巴特勒）——道成肉身使劳动与我们劳动的场所成为圣洁。它索取个人服事最完全的献上。它把所有人都拥入它最大盼望的怀抱。它使我们能以一种经验充分证实了的崇高信念，尊重人——只因他是人。韦斯科特主教〕

ENIncarnation and creation—creation built on Redemption lines: [The Incarnation sheds new light on the purpose of God in the creation of man—that end being, in the words of Paul, "in the dispensation of the fullness of times, to gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth" (Eph. 1:10). In the infinite possibilities of things, God has chosen to create a universe into which it was foreseen that sin would enter; and the Incarnation is a part of the plan of such a creation. It may well be conceived that the Incarnation was the pivot on which everything else in this plan of creation was made to turn. To state my view in a sentence: God's plan is one; Christ was the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world; and even creation itself is built upon Redemption lines. Christ's relation to the universe cannot be thought of as something adventitious and contingent; it is vital and organic. The Scriptures know of only one undivided purpose of God—that eternal purpose which He purposed in Christ Jesus, and which embraces both creation and Redemption. They represent Christ not only as the Agent in creation, but as the final cause of creation: "All things have been created through Him, and unto Him" (Col. 1:16). "He is the First and the Last" (Rev. 1:17). Suggestive of the same idea are "the Kingdom prepared from the foundation of the world" (Matt. 25:34); "the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world" (Rev. 13:8); Christ "foreknown indeed before the foundation of the world" (1 Pet. 1:20). The conclusion I reach is: there is but one plan of God from the creation of the world; and it includes at once the permission of sin and the purpose of Redemption from it. The Incarnation has, indeed, immediate reference to Redemption; but it has at the same time a wider scope: it aims at carrying through the plan of creation, and conducts not the redeemed portion of humanity alone, but the universe at large, to its goal. As the inferior stages of existence are summed up in man, who stands at the head of the earthly creation and forms a first link between the natural and the spiritual, so are all stages of humanity summed up in Christ, who in His person as God-Man links the creation absolutely with God. Prof. Orr.]

BSBEphesians 1:10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to bring all things in heaven and on earth together in Christ.

中道成肉身与创造——创造本按救赎的蓝图建造：〔道成肉身给神创造人的旨意投下新光——那目的，用保罗的话说，是『要照所安排的，在日期满足的时候，使天上地上一切所有的，都在基督里面同归于一』（以弗所书 1:10）。在万事无穷的可能之中，神拣选去创造一个预先看明罪必进入的宇宙；而道成肉身正是这一创造计划的一部分。完全可以设想：道成肉身正是这创造计划中其余一切环节赖以旋转的枢轴。用一句话陈明我的观点：神的计划只有一个；基督是从创世以来被杀的羔羊；连创造本身也是按救赎的蓝图建造的。基督与宇宙的关系，绝不可想成某种外来偶然之物；它是攸关生命的、有机的。圣经只知道神一个不可分割的旨意——就是他在基督耶稣里所定的永恒旨意，兼括创造与救赎。圣经不但把基督表现为创造的施行者，也表现为创造的终极因：『万有都是靠他造的，又是为他造的』（歌罗西书 1:16）。『他是首先的，也是末后的』（启示录 1:17）。同一思想的旁证还有：『创世以来所预备的国』（马太福音 25:34）；『从创世以来被杀之羔羊』（启示录 13:8）；基督『在创世以前是预先被神知道的』（彼得前书 1:20）。我所达到的结论是：从创世起，神的计划只有一个；它同时包含罪的容许与从罪中救赎的旨意。道成肉身固然直接关乎救赎，却同时有更广的幅员：它要贯彻创造的计划，不单引领人类蒙赎的部分，而是引领整个宇宙抵达其目标。正如低级的存在阶段总归于人——人站在地上受造界之首，构成自然与属灵之间的第一环——照样，人性的一切阶段总归于基督：他以神而人者的位格，把受造界与神绝对地联结起来。奥尔教授〕

ENThe Incarnation in the light of its revealed ends: [We do not do justice to this stupendous fact if we neglect to look at it in the light of its revealed ends. The advantage of taking the doctrine in this way is that we see at a glance the inadequacy of all lower theories of the Person of Christ. If Christ came to do only the work of a prophet, or of a philanthropist, or of a teacher of ethical truth, I admit that the Incarnation would shrivel up into an absurdity: the means would be out of all proportion to the ends. But who will say this of the actual ends for which the Son of God came into the world? Who will affirm that, if a world was to be redeemed from sin and guilt and spiritual bondage—to be renewed, sanctified, and brought into the fellowship of life with God—any one less than Divine was adequate to the task? Here again the Christian view is in keeping with itself: there is a proportion between the Incarnation and the ends sought to be accomplished by it. The denial of the Incarnation of necessity carries with it a lowering of the work Christ came to do for man. He, on the other hand, who believes in that work—who feels the need of it—much more, who has experienced the redeeming power of it in his own heart—will not doubt that He who has brought this salvation to him is none other than the "Strong Son of God, Immortal Love." If Jesus Christ is what the creeds declare Him to be—an Incarnation of the Divine—His Person is necessarily central in His own religion, nay, in the universe. Christianity, on this assumption, is correctly described as the Religion of the Incarnation. Prof. James Orr, D.D., "Christian View of God and the World."]

中从其所启示的目的看道成肉身：〔我们若忽略在其所启示的目的之光中看这惊天的事实，就没有公正对待它。这样把握此教义的益处在于：我们一眼便看出关于基督位格的一切较低理论的不足。基督若来只作先知的工、慈善家的工、伦理真理教师的工，我承认道成肉身将萎缩成一个荒谬——手段与目的全不成比例。但对神子降世的实际目的，谁能这样说？若要把一个世界从罪、罪咎与灵性捆绑中赎出来——使之更新、成圣、被带入与神生命的相交——谁敢断言凡在神以下的任何一位足以胜任？在这里，基督教的观点再次自洽：道成肉身与它所要成就的目的之间自有相称的比例。否认道成肉身，必然连带着贬低基督为人所来做的工。反之，谁信那工——谁感到需要那工——更有甚者，谁在自己心里经历过那工的救赎大能——就必不怀疑：把这救恩带给他的那一位，正是『神刚强的儿子，不朽的爱』。耶稣基督若果真如诸信经所宣认——是神性的道成肉身——他的位格就必然居于他自己宗教的中心，不，居于宇宙的中心。在这一前提下，把基督教称为『道成肉身的宗教』，是恰如其分的。奥尔教授（James Orr, D.D.），《神与世界的基督教观》〕