问题26：基督的死还救赎了什么？
答：基督的死是整个堕落的受造界救赎和更新的开始，祂要透过祂的大能，叫万物为祂自己的荣耀和受造界的益处效力。
儿童版：整个堕落的受造界。

Question 26: What Else Does Christ’s Death Redeem?
Answer: Christ’s death is the beginning of the redemption and renewal of every part of fallen creation, as he powerfully directs all things for his own glory and creation’s good.
For Kids: Every part of fallen creation.


歌谱 Lead Sheet

经文

《歌罗西书》1 章19 节至20 节：

　　因为父喜欢叫一切的丰盛在祂里面居住。既然藉着祂在十字架上所流的血成就了和平，便藉着祂叫万有，无论是地上的、天上的，都与自己和好了。

注解

约翰·班扬

　　耶稣是救赎主，那就是祂的名字。祂来到这个世界就是为了救赎祂的百姓，救他们脱离一切的罪恶（参见多2:14），脱离现今这个邪恶的世界和我们的空谈。祂流出宝血买赎了我们，我们是祂用重价买来的（参见林前6:20）。我们都不属于自己，而是属于祂，是祂的血所买来的；我们相信祂深爱我们，因为祂用重价买赎了我们；如果祂不是深爱我们，祂就不会为了我们将自己献上（参见加2:20）。这是祂爱我们的最好证明。祂爱我们，用祂的血洗净了我们的罪（参见启1:5）。祂要救我们脱离将来的忿怒。

默想

佛蒙·皮尔

　　科罗拉多大峡谷的照片虽然有很多，但却没有一张能真实反映出它的原貌。最好你能亲身去体验一下科罗拉多大峡谷。看到人们第一次俯瞰大峡谷时的表情你就会知道，他们不禁立即会被它的广袤和独特的美所打动。那种景象真是让人顿生敬畏。

　　即使你站在大峡谷的边缘俯瞰大峡谷，却仍无法得到完整的体验。只有当你真的下去进到峡谷里面，你才会开始意识到它比你起初看到的更大、更深，也更壮美。大峡谷边缘的一瞥只是一个开篇而已，你一旦进到峡谷里面，就会看见更美的景象。

　　福音也是如此。当我们第一次走近福音的时候，我们看到一幅极美的、令人敬畏的景象，那就是罪人得蒙救赎。更具体来说，就是神借着耶稣基督白白地拯救罪人，将他们归于自己。神将这些人从罪中拯救出来，使他们成为一个新造的人，并使他们成为自己名下的儿女。

　　这是一个美得令人难以置信的好消息。但这仅仅只是神救赎和更新工作的开始。当我们深入了解福音之后，一幅更完整，也更壮丽的画面出现了。我们看到，神拯救罪人是祂更深入、更广泛，全面拯救整个受造界的开始。

　　拯救罪人是福音的核心，它是一个源头。从这个源头流出一条大河，满有能力救赎和医治宇宙的每个角落。

　　这怎么可能？是借着「祂在十字架上所流的血」（西1:20）成就的。由于人的堕落，受造之物被捆锁在地狱的门后。但神随后向我们走来，用耶稣基督的十字架砸开了这些门！借着神白白的恩典，一群人，甚至一切受造之物都被释放了。他们如今在子的国里，那里有完全的救赎和全面的更新。
所有的这一切带给了我们两个方面的益处。

　　第一，它给我们对未来的盼望。在我们周围，不公正的社会制度，衰落的道德文化，以及可怕的痛苦和死亡都是这个世界堕落的证据。最完整的福音告诉我们不要绝望，而要持定一个盼望，就是有一天所有这些都会过去，并被和平、和睦所取代，伴随着神「医治万民」（参见启22:2）。
不过，盼望中也有危险。因为堕落的受造之物包括许多仍在抵挡神的人，他们拒绝接受祂和祂所差来的耶稣的治理。福音的救赎工作意味着，万物，包括那些抵挡主的人最终都要来到主的脚前。现在每个人面临的问题是：神的救赎工作给你带来的是欢喜敬畏还是哀哭切齿。

　　第二，它在今天给我们动力。受造之物并没有被神抛弃，反而借着耶稣被改变，并且最终将会被完全更新。将来的受造界将是和睦的、和平的，与神、与人都有着适当的关系。今天的教会是这个新世界的前哨，也是实现这个新世界的主要途径。

　　这就意味着，教会不是这个世界的消极旁观者。教会也不是在这个世界上处境危险的过客，只等着被救离这艘沉船。相反，教会是神所差派的一群人，他们在这个世界上忠实宣扬并展现出福音救赎与更新的力量，这种力量即使在今天也非常重要。

祷告

　　一切受造之物的救主，这个世界不会总是像现在这样，我们只能在败坏中呼求祢国度的丰盛。谢谢祢最终将会使一切都更新。我们为祢的救赎延伸到祢所造的这个世界而欢呼。阿们。

Scripture

COLOSSIANS 1:19–20

For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

Commentary

JOHN BUNYAN

Jesus is a Redeemer, that is his name; he came into the world on this very business, to redeem his people, to redeem them from all iniquity (Titus 2:14), from this present evil world, from our vain conversations. He hath shed his precious blood to purchase us, we are bought with a price (1 Cor. 6:20). We are none of our own, we are his, the purchase of his blood; and we may be confident that he dearly loves us, for he dearly bought us; and if he had not dearly loved us, he would never have given himself for us (Gal. 2:20). That was the highest testimony of his love; he loved us, and washed us from our sins in his blood (Rev. 1:5). He will redeem us from the wrath to come.

Devotional

VERMON PIERRE

Many pictures have been taken of the Grand Canyon. But none of them can really do it justice. The Grand Canyon is just one of those things best experienced in person. You can see it on people’s faces as they walk up to the rim and look out over the Canyon for the first time. They can’t help but be immediately struck by its immensity and unique beauty. It is a truly awe-inspiring sight.

Yet even there, standing at the rim, looking out over the Canyon, you won’t get a full experience of the place. It’s when you actually go down into the Canyon that you begin to see that it is bigger and deeper, more glorious in fact, than you initially saw. The view of the Grand Canyon at the rim is just the beginning of the even grander view that you will experience once you travel into the Canyon.

So it is with the gospel. As we first step up to the gospel, we see a most beautiful and awe-inspiring sight—the salvation of sinners. More specifically, that God through Jesus Christ has graciously acted to save a sinful people unto himself. These people are redeemed from sin and made a new creation and are adopted forever into the family of God.

It’s an amazing, beautiful, incredible message. And, at the same time, it is just the beginning of God’s saving, redeeming, and renewing work. As we head deeper into the gospel, a fuller and even more glorious picture emerges. We see that God’s saving of sinners was always intended to open up into a deeper, wider, all-encompassing saving of the whole creation.

The saving of sinners is at the heart of the gospel. It is the fountainhead. And from this fountainhead flows a mighty river, one full of redemptive, healing power for every square inch of the cosmos.

How is this possible? Through “his blood, shed on the cross” (Col. 1:20). Creation was in bondage due to the fall of man, locked behind the gates of hell. But then God moves toward us and, using the cross of Jesus Christ, smashes down those gates! Through God’s gracious efforts, a people and indeed a whole creation are freed. They are now in the kingdom of the Son, a place of complete redemption and total renewal.

All of this does two things for us.

1. It gives us hope about the future. All around us we see evidence of the fall in things like unjust social systems and moral cultural decline and terrible suffering and death. The gospel message in its fullest form tells us not to despair but to have a sure and certain hope that one day all such things will be wiped away and replaced with peace and harmony, with the “healing of the nations” (Rev. 22:2).

This hope, however, is mixed with a warning. For the fallen creation includes many who are still opposed to God, who continue to reject his rule and the One he sent to rule, Jesus. The redeeming work of the gospel means that all things, including those who oppose the Lord, will eventually be brought to heel. The question every person faces now is whether that redeeming work will be experienced with joyful awe or with the painful gnashing of teeth.

2. It gives us motivation in the present. The creation has not been abandoned by God. Instead, through Jesus, it has been reclaimed by him and will eventually be made brand new. It will be a creation characterized by harmony and peace, rightly related to God and humanity. The church today is an early outpost of this new creation and a primary means toward bringing about this new creation.

This means then that the church is not a passive bystander to the world. Nor is it an imperiled passenger in the world, only biding its time until it is rescued off of the sinking creation. Instead, the church is a divinely commissioned community of people whose faithful efforts in the world even now matter, insofar as they proclaim and embody the redeeming and renewing power of the gospel.

Prayer

Creation’s Redeemer, the world will not always be as it is now, fallen and groaning for the fullness of your kingdom. Thank you that, ultimately, you will make all things new. We rejoice that your redemption extends to the world you have made. Amen.