上帝就是爱且乐意与人亲近，我们这些按祂形象所造的人也当如此。

You loved me before the creation of the world. John 17:24

创立世界以前，祢已经爱我了。-约翰福音17章24节

“But if God has no beginning and no end, and has always existed, what was He doing before He created us? How did He spend His time?” Some precocious Sunday school student always asks this question when we talk about God’s eternal nature. I used to respond that this was a bit of a mystery. But recently I learned that the Bible gives us an answer to this question.

每当我在儿童主日学谈到上帝永恒的本质时，总有几个特别喜欢思考的学生会问道：“如果上帝没有开始和结束，而且永远存在，那么祂在创造我们之前，都在做些什么呢？祂怎么运用时间呢？”我通常会回答说这是个奥秘。但最近我发现，其实圣经已经为这个问题提供了答案。

When Jesus prays to His Father in John 17, He says “Father, . . . you loved me before the creation of the world” (v. 24). This is God as revealed to us by Jesus: Before the world was ever created, God was a trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit)—all loving each other and being loved. When Jesus was baptized, God sent His Spirit in the form of a dove and said, “This is my Son, whom I love” (Matthew 3:17). The most foundational aspect of God’s identity is this outgoing, life-giving love.

在约翰福音17章，当耶稣向天父祷告时，祂说：“父啊，……创立世界以前，祢已经爱我了”（24节）。这是上帝藉着耶稣向我们显明：在上帝创造这个世界之前，上帝这位三一真神的三个位格已经存在了，圣父、圣子和圣灵彼此相爱。当耶稣接受洗礼时，上帝差派祂的灵如同鸽子，并且说：“这是我的爱子，我所喜悦的”（马太福音3章17节）。我们可以说上帝身份中最根本的层面，就是这显露的、赐生命的爱。

What a lovely and encouraging truth this is about our God! The mutual, outgoing love expressed by each member of the Trinity—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—is key to understanding the nature of God. What was God doing before the beginning of time? What He always does: He was loving because He is love (1 John 4:8).

这个关于上帝的真理，是多么奇妙又让人兴奋啊！透过三位一体圣父、圣子、圣灵彼此流露的爱，正是认识上帝本质的关键。上帝在创世之前做些什么呢？祂一直在爱，因为祂就是爱（约翰一书4章8节）。

主啊，感谢祢那满溢的、舍己无私的爱。我们在耶稣里经历了那样的爱，祢也永远不会向我们收回祢的爱。感谢主！

Matthew 3:13-17  NIV

3 Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. 14 But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” 15 Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented. 16 As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. 17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”

马太福音 3:13-17 

3 当下耶稣从加利利来到约旦河，见了约翰，要受他的洗。14 约翰想要拦住他，说：“我当受你的洗，你反倒上我这里来吗？”15 耶稣回答说：“你暂且许我，因为我们理当这样尽诸般的义。”于是约翰许了他。16 耶稣受了洗，随即从水里上来。天忽然为他开了，他就看见神的灵仿佛鸽子降下，落在他身上；17 从天上有声音说：“这是我的爱子，我所喜悦的。”

INSIGHT

灵粮透视

Love has always defined God; it is at the core of everything He does,now and in eternity. But today’s text urges us to think about an aspect of God’s love we might not typically consider.

爱就是上帝的本质，无论是现在还是在永恒中，爱是上帝行做万事的核心。但今天阅读的经文，却敦促我们跳脱原本的思考模式，并从另一个层面去思想上帝的爱。

The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit spend eternity in a perfect relationship—giving and receiving love. It’s important to remember that genuine love not only gives love but also receives it. It wouldn’t be loving of the Father not to accept the love of the Son and the Spirit. It’s easy to say we love someone and to show it with what we do for them, but part of loving them is receiving their expressions of love too. That takes humility and trust.

圣父、圣子和圣灵在永恒中享有完美的关系，就是彼此付出爱并接受爱。重要的是当谨记，真正的爱不仅是要付出，而且也要能接受爱。圣父若不接受圣子和圣灵的爱，那就是不爱圣子和圣灵。我们可以很容易地为别人做事来表达对他们的爱，但我们若真正地爱他们就要接受对方的爱，这就需要谦卑和信任了。

Do you need to receive the love of someone else today? Or do you need to receive the love of God again and remember the reason we love Him is because He first loved us.

今天你需要接受别人的爱吗？或者你需要再次接受上帝的爱，别忘了，我们爱上帝是因为祂先爱了我们。

整理：于姊妹