圣三一节（复活节后第八主日）

拣选•血洒•圣化

——彼得前书一章二节

上帝创造宇宙与万有之时，存在于永恒的生命之道是创造工程的工师；而一切生命的渊源，则可追溯到圣灵的运行、孕育与孵化。人的被造亦复如此，所不同于万物的，是他有上帝的形象。

人的墜落不能动摇或改变上帝造物之时的拣选与初衷，救赎之工乃是他创造之工的继续。人能背信弃义，上帝却永不能背乎自己。对人类的永爱，使上帝自己被束缚于不能废弃的“永约”之中。

他宁愿舍弃爱子，藉爱子的血洒洗净已被污染、扭曲的人的天良。圣灵则以他的叹息、代求与感动从心灵最深处使人被圣化，使之恢复人的尊严、崇高与伟大，有如造他之主。

Trinity Sunday

1 Peter 1:2

Chosen——Sprinkled with the blood

of Christ——Sanctified

   When God created the cosmos and all that is in it, the Holy Spirit, in the path of life eternal, also participated in the economy of creation. The source of all life can be traced to the brooding of the Holy Spirit, spawning and begetting all that exists. The creation of humanity follows the same movement. The difference is that humanity was created in the image of God.

  Humankind’s fall does not alter God’s choice and intention at the time of creation. The work of redemption in this sense a continuation of the work of creation. We may renounce our faith in God, but God will never abandon us. Out of eternal love for humankind, God has bound himself to an everlasting covenant which will never be broken.

  God chose to give up his beloved son Jesus Christ, that through the sprinkling of his blood the sullied and twisted consciences of humankind might be cleansed. With her sighs, the Holy Spirit intercedes and moves people in the deepest recesses of the spirit, causing them to be sanctified, restoring them to human dignity, and exalting them to the place of their Creator God.