神的面孔

教会写手

神的面孔

“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。”（林后4：6）

作为一名作家，我写的东西大多涉及“何以痛苦？”这个问题。我一遍又一遍地问：“何以痛苦？”——仿佛一次又一次地抚摸一个永远无法彻底治愈的旧伤口。我从我的读者那里听到他们的悲剧故事。故事各异，问题相同——“为什么如此？”我记得，一个年轻的传道人在得知他的妻子和还是一个婴孩的女儿因为输入不干净的血液染上艾滋病后死亡后，打电话问我：“我该如何向我参与服侍的青年团契小组传讲神的爱？”

我已经学会了不去尝试回答这些“为什么”——为什么那个年轻传道人的妻子会“碰巧”输入被污染过的血液？为什么龙卷风袭击了一个城镇后，又“跳”过一个城镇？为什么为求疾病治愈的祷告得不到回应？

不过，有一个问题不像以前那样折磨我——“神在管吗？”因为我知道，要回答这个问题，只有一个答案，那就是：耶稣。藉着耶稣，神给我们一张“脸”。如果你想知道——神对发生在这个“呻吟着”的地球上的苦难，有何感受？——看看这张脸。

“神在管吗？”他的儿子为我们死，为了最终要消除所有的痛苦、悲伤、磨难、和永恒的死——这就是问题的答案。“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。”（林后4：6）

                                                                                                                                                                                教会写手 译

God’s Face

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

Much of my career as a writer has revolved around the problem of pain. Ireturn again and again to the same questions, as if fingering an old wound thatnever quite heals. I hear from readers of my books, and their anguished storiesgive human faces to my doubts. I remember a youth pastor calling me after hehad learned that his wife and baby daughter were dying of AIDS because of atainted blood transfusion. “How can I talk to my youth group about a lovingGod?” he asked.

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

One question, however, no longer gnaws at me as it once did: “Does Godcare?” 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 sufferingon this groaning planet, look at that face.

“Does God care?” His Son’s death on our behalf, which will ultimatelydestroy all pain, sorrow, suffering, and death for eternity, answers thatquestion. “For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made his lightshine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glorydisplayed in the face of Christ” (2 Cor. 4:6).

                                                                                                                                                   By:  Philip Yancey