God’s love for us is as expansive as the open arms of Christ on the cross.

基督为我们死在十架，上帝的爱何其深广。

For God . . . made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ. 2 Corinthians 4:6

那吩咐光从黑暗里照出来的上帝，已经照在我们心里，叫我们得知上帝荣耀的光，显在耶稣基督的面上。-哥林多后书4章6节

Much of my career as a writer has revolved around the problem of pain. I return again and again to the same questions, as if fingering an old wound that never quite heals. I hear from readers of my books, and their anguished stories give human faces to my doubts. I remember a youth pastor calling me after he had learned that his wife and baby daughter were dying of AIDS because of a tainted blood transfusion. “How can I talk to my youth group about a loving God?” he asked.

在写作的生涯中，我经常探讨苦难的课题。我一再地思考同样的问题，犹如触碰一个从未愈合的伤口。我听过读者们的分享，他们痛苦的经历让我看到人生有苦难。一位青年牧师打电话告诉我，他的妻子和初生的女婴因输血而感染爱滋病，已经生命垂危，他问我：“我该怎么跟我教会的年轻人说，上帝是慈爱的呢？”

I have learned to not even attempt an answer to these “why” questions. Why did the youth pastor’s wife happen to get the one tainted bottle of blood? Why does a tornado hit one town and skip over another? Why do prayers for physical healing go unanswered?

我已经学会不再试图回答这些“为什么”的问题。为什么那位青年牧师的妻子正好用了受污染的血液？为什么龙捲风会袭击某个镇却绕过另一个镇？为什么祈求病得医治却未蒙应允？

One question, however, no longer gnaws at me as it once did: “Does God care?” I know of only one way to answer that question, and the answer is Jesus. In Jesus, God gave us a face. If you wonder how God feels about the suffering on this groaning planet, look at that face.

然而，有一个问题不再像以前那样困扰我，那就是：“上帝关心吗？”我知道只有一个方法可以解答这个问题，那就是耶稣。上帝藉着耶稣基督显明了祂的慈爱。十架上的基督，让我们看到上帝如何回应这世界的痛苦呻吟。

“Does God care?” His Son’s death on our behalf, which will ultimately destroy all pain, sorrow, suffering, and death for eternity, answers that question. “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 God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ” (2 Cor. 4:6).

“上帝关心吗？”想想看，祂的儿子为我们而死，最终将除去我们一切的疼痛、忧伤、痛苦及死亡，这就是答案了。“那吩咐光从黑暗里照出来的上帝，已经照在我们心里，叫我们得知上帝荣耀的光，显在耶稣基督的面上”（哥林多后书4章6节）。

2 Corinthians 4:4-15 New International Version (NIV)

4 The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5 For what we preach is not ourselves,but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. 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 God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.

7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 8 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair;9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.10 We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. 11 For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body. 12 So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.

13 It is written: “I believed; therefore I have spoken.” Since we have that same spirit of faith, we also believe and therefore speak,14 because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you to himself.15 All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.

哥林多后书 4:4-15Chinese Union Version Modern Punctuation (Simplified) (CUVMPS)

4 此等不信之人被这世界的神弄瞎了心眼，不叫基督荣耀福音的光照着他们；基督本是神的像。 5 我们原不是传自己，乃是传基督耶稣为主，并且自己因耶稣做你们的仆人。 6 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。

7 我们有这宝贝放在瓦器里，要显明这莫大的能力是出于神，不是出于我们。 8 我们四面受敌，却不被困住；心里作难，却不致失望； 9 遭逼迫，却不被丢弃；打倒了，却不致死亡； 10 身上常带着耶稣的死，使耶稣的生也显明在我们身上。 11 因为我们这活着的人是常为耶稣被交于死地，使耶稣的生在我们这必死的身上显明出来。 12 这样看来，死是在我们身上发动，生却在你们身上发动。 13 但我们既有信心，正如经上记着说：“我因信，所以如此说话”，我们也信，所以也说话。 14 自己知道那叫主耶稣复活的，也必叫我们与耶稣一同复活，并且叫我们与你们一同站在他面前。 15 凡事都是为你们，好叫恩惠因人多越发加增，感谢格外显多，以致荣耀归于神。