Ch. 1 The First Sign—Changing Death into Life – សេ្នហ៍អស្ចារ្យ

CHANGING DEATH INTO LIFE

Chapter One
The First Sign—Changing Death into Life

Scripture Reading: John 2:1-11

……

MAN BEING SATISFIED AND GOD BEING GLORIFIED

After the Lord Jesus changed water into the best wine, the guests were satisfied. Furthermore, the Lord Jesus manifested the glory of God; that is, the Lord Jesus manifested God. When the Lord changes our death into life, He gives us satisfaction, and God is expressed through us. Many of those who have believed in the Lord Jesus bear such a testimony. On the one hand, they have the Lord’s life as their living water; hence, they no longer hunger or thirst, and their human life is satisfied. On the other hand, the Lord’s life enables them to live in God; therefore, the glory of God, that is, God, is expressed through them. When we meet someone who has believed in the Lord Jesus, we can sense that he is satisfied with his human life, and we can sense that he has God’s “flavor,” God’s image. Someone who has the life of the Lord Jesus has the life that is glorious, eternal, strong, and divine. As a result, he is satisfied, and God is expressed through him.

manifest 显大
express 彰显
On the one hand, … on the other hand, … 一面……另一面……
sense 【动】感觉；【同义】feel
flavor 味道

CHANGING DEATH INTO LIFE
BEING THE BEGINNING OF THE LORD’S SIGNS

John 2:11 says that changing death into life was the beginning of signs that the Lord performed. This sign was the first sign, and it signifies that the work the Lord does in us always begins by changing death into life. His giving Himself to us as our life is the beginning of all His work in us. Now He can do His miraculous work in us continually. However, His work is based on giving eternal life to us. Therefore, changing death into life is the beginning, the first sign, of His work in us.

sign 神迹，相当于miracle
perform 施行
perform a sign/miracle 行神迹
signify 象征
miraculous /mɪˈrækjələs/ 【形】神迹的，miracle的形容词
continually 【副】持续地，不断地
be based on 基于，以……为基础

Whatever work the Lord does in His believers is not an ordinary or common work but a miracle. A miracle is something that cannot be performed or accomplished by ordinary people; it can be performed and accomplished only by God. Only such work can be called a miracle. The work that the Lord Jesus is doing in us is miraculous in nature. Such work cannot be performed by man; it must be performed by God. The miracles that the Lord performs in us are all based on one thing: His changing of death into life. This is the first miracle that He performs in us, and it is the beginning of all the miracles that He will perform in us. It is the beginning of all His work in us.

accomplish 完成
ordinary people /ˈɔːrdneri/ 平常人
nature 性质

THE CHANGING OF DEATH INTO LIFE
BEING THE GREATEST MIRACLE

The Lord’s changing our death into life is not only the beginning of miracles; it is also the greatest miracle, the miracle of miracles. It is the greatest miracle that He performs in us. Dwight L. Moody, a great American evangelist, once said that the greatest miracle that the Lord performs in man is to enliven those who were dead in their sins. We often think that it would be a great miracle for a person who is gravely ill to be healed by the Lord. We think that it would be a great miracle for a dead person to be made alive. However, we seldom consider how great a miracle it is to receive the Lord’s life. Those who were dead in sins, filled with death, morally low, and weak are made alive in spirit; they experience a miraculous change. Such a miraculous change is expressed in many ways. It is expressed in our physiology, our psychology, our undertakings, and our morality. There is such a great change within us because the Lord’s life is in us. The changing of death into life is truly the greatest miracle that the Lord performs in us.

not only…; …also… 不仅……也……
once 【副】曾经
enliven /ɪnˈlaɪvn/ 点活
gravely 严重地；【同义】serious
be made alive / make…alive 使……活过来
seldom 【副】很少；【同义】rarely, not often
consider 考虑，认为；【同义】think
morally low /ˈmɔːrəli/ 道德低下
a miraculous change 神迹式的改变
physiology /ˌfɪziˈɑːlədʒi/ 生理
psychology /saɪˈkɑːlədʒi/ 心理
undertaking 事业
morality /məˈræləti/ 道德

From these ten great points we can understand the focus and purpose of the Lord Jesus’ salvation. The sign performed by the Lord at the wedding in Cana speaks forth His salvation. According to the weakness and fragility of our human life and according to the low and mean situation in which we dwell, we are the same as the people who lived in Cana of Galilee. You may be striving to pursue the pleasures of human life, but one day your wine will unexpectedly run out. Your life will end, and the pleasures of your human life will also end. Everything in your human life is weak and fragile because your natural man is death. But the Lord knows your condition and your needs. Therefore, He comes in resurrection as the Spirit to the low and mean place where you live and into your human life with its pleasures in order to change your death into life, your weakness and fragility into strength, and your dead end into a way out. As a result, you have the joy of satisfaction, and God can be expressed.

focus 焦点
sign 神迹
wedding 婚礼，婚筵
Cana /ˈkeɪnə/ 迦拿
weakness 【名】软弱
fragility /frəˈdʒɪləti/ 【名】脆弱
mean 【形】简陋的；【同义】poor, dirty
dwell 住
be the same as… 与……一样
Galilee /ˈɡælɪˌliː/ 加利利
be striving to do… /ˈstraɪvɪŋ/ 努力作……
pursue 追求
pleasures 快乐
unexpectedly /ˌʌnɪkˈspektɪdli/ 【副】意外地
run out 用完
end 【动】结束【同义】come to an end
condition 状况
a way out 出路
as a result, 【副】结果，
be expressed 得彰显

HOW TO HAVE YOUR DEATH CHANGED INTO LIFE

The salvation of the Lord Jesus is wonderful. What He does in man is a miracle. He has performed this miracle in many people, and He is also performing it in us. How can you have this miracle of the Lord’s salvation? How can your death be changed into life?

First, you need to confess that your condition matches the condition of the people who attended the wedding in Cana. You are living in a low and mean place, and you are exceedingly weak and fragile and full of death. Your human life and the pleasures of your human life are limited and transient.

confess 承认
match 与……相同，相似
exceedingly /ɪkˈsiːdɪŋli/ 极其；非常；【同义】extremely
limited 【形】有限的
transient /ˈtrænʃnt/ 【形】短暂的；【同义】temporary

Second, you need to believe that the Lord Jesus comes with the purpose of saving you in order to solve your problem of being low, mean, weak, fragile, and filled with death. His way of solving your problem was to become a man in the flesh, live on the earth, and be put to death on the cross. On the cross He bore your sins and removed the source of your weakness, fragility, and death. He was resurrected on the third day and became the life-giving Spirit in order to reach you and be the eternal life in you. This life replaces your low, mean, weak, fragile, and mortal human life.

Third, you need to receive Him into your spirit so that He becomes the center of your human life; He becomes the Lord of life in your spirit.

with the purpose of 带着……的目的
one’s way of doing… 某人作……的方式
bore: bear的过去式；担当；bear our sins 担当我们的罪
remove 除去
…be resurrected ……复活（注意被动语态）
replace 代替
mortal /ˈmɔːrtl/ 必死的；【反义】immortal 不死的

Fourth, you need to obey His word and listen to His command. When the Lord ordered the servants to fill the waterpots with water, they followed His command. When He said, “Draw some out now and take it to the master of the feast” (v. 8), they did according to His word. When they obeyed, a miracle took place. Likewise, you should obey the Lord’s word so that you may be saved. The Lord has given you His words in the Bible. His words include, “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that everyone who believes into Him would not perish, but would have eternal life” (3:16); “He who hears My word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life, and does not come into judgment but has passed out of death into life” (5:24); and “He who believes and is baptized shall be saved” (Mark 16:16).

obey /əˈbeɪ/ 顺服
command /kəˈmænd/【名】命令
order【动】吩咐，命令
servant【名】仆人
follow one’s command 遵循某人的命令
take place 发生
likewise 【副】同样地
His only begotten Son 祂的独生子
perish /ˈperɪʃ/ 灭亡

You should believe and obey the words of the Lord. The Lord said that he who believes into Him has eternal life and does not come into judgment but has passed out of death into life. Therefore, when you believe into Him, you have eternal life, and you will not come into judgment. You must believe this. The Lord also said that he who believes and is baptized shall be saved. Hence, you should believe and be baptized in order to be saved. When you believe and obey the Lord’s word in this way, the miracle of the Lord’s salvation will be realized in you. You will come out of death, and you will receive the best life so that you may live a human life that is noble, strong, and full of joy.

judgment 审判
realize 实现
noble /ˈnoʊbl/ 【形】高尚的