祝福大家:
新春快乐，
新年蒙恩。
今天我想藉此机会跟华人朋友分享祝福的信息。
我们华人，喜欢在新年的时候说一些祝福的话语，有时候很简单，比如：“新年好！”
这是一个好的文化传统习俗，值得我们保留，但如果仔细深究，我们其实并不知道传统习俗为什么这样做，以及这样做到底能带来什么好处。
毕竟，说实在的，我们人都是很有限，我们吉祥的话语未必能够带来好运，新的一年过的如何，大家心里还是会觉得要看运气，没有谁可以掌控得了未来。归根结底，我们彼此的祝福顶多算得上一种愿望，甚至有点不那么靠谱的愿望和祝福。
然而有一点值得我们进一步思考，就是这种口头的祝福，虽然看起来不值钱，但我们却一直在按着传统去做。
或许，不妨按照另一种思路去分析：中国人的这种口头话语的祝福保留了远古的记忆碎片和痕迹。我想邀请大家回到圣经来思想这个问题。
圣经的创世纪开篇记载了上帝创造天地和其中万物的历史事件，祂如何创造呢？从无到有的创造，都是藉着祂的话语，口中的话。比如创世纪1:3“上帝说：‘要有光，’就有了光。”
他造了万物和人之后，创世纪1:27-28 “上帝就照着自己的形像造人，乃是照着他的形像造男造女。上帝就赐福给他们，又对他们说：‘要生养众多，遍满地面，治理这地；也要管理海里的鱼、空中的鸟，和地上各样行动的活物。’”
上帝第一次祝福人类是在哪里发生的呢？是在上帝给亚当和夏娃布置的伊甸园里面。
而奇妙的是，中国人的象形文字恰恰保留了这方面的模糊印记。
就“福”这个字来说，左边是“示”字旁，右边拆开来看是“一口田”。如果你看百度百科词条啊，就会读到这样的解释:
[“福”在甲骨文中来看，左边“示”字形像祭台，代指神主… 福的含义就是在神的保佑下，生活富足美满。]
事实上，我们的幸福生活本来就是从神的赐福来的。神站在伊甸园里，祝福人类的始祖亚当和夏娃，吩咐他们去工作，治理全地。
这里有两点我们需要留意：
1 上帝用话语创造和赐生命给我们就是祝福。
2上帝祝福是藉着祂的话语，祂藉着说话赐福我们。
我们一切的生产和经营活动可以说都是上帝所安排给我们的工作，而且祂祝福我们所做的，怎么祝福呢？是用祂口中的话语。
回到我们的彼此的祝福，可以说是对上帝祝福的模仿和遵从，去彼此祝福。但我们要记得，如果我们的祝福离开了祝福的源头——上帝祂自己话语的祝福，那么我们彼此的祝福就成了空话，成了不切实际的愿望。
因此，我邀请你和你的家人来教会，继续聆听上帝的话语，领受上帝的祝福，请记住，离开主神的话语，我们就没有真正切实的祝福。
在神的话语启示，就是圣经当中，我们认识那永生的道（话语）耶稣基督，祂是神的话语在血肉之躯中显现，为的是拯救我们脱离堕落，脱离罪恶，脱离败坏和死亡，带领我们走向不朽和永生。
也只有在这永生之道，祝福的源头耶稣基督里面，我们才重新得到彼此祝福的信心和力量，我们奉主耶稣的名彼此祝福，神自己就按照祂的应许、佑护和美善旨意去祝福。
我祈求主引领你们渴望、聆听、明白祂的话语，因为在其中有我们所需要的一切祝福。奉世人救主耶稣的名。阿们。
ChatGPT translation into English:
Blessings to everyone:
Happy Lunar New Year,
May the new year be filled with grace.
Today, I want to take this opportunity to share a message of blessing with my Chinese friends.
As Chinese people, we like to say words of blessing during the New Year. Sometimes they are simple, like “Happy New Year!”
This is a good cultural tradition worth preserving. However, if we think deeply, we may realize that we don’t really understand why we follow this tradition or what benefits it truly brings.
After all, to be honest, we humans are quite limited. Our well-wishing words may not necessarily bring good fortune. How the new year turns out often feels like a matter of luck, as no one can truly control the future. In the end, our blessings to each other are at best a form of hope—perhaps even a somewhat unreliable hope and blessing.
However, one point is worth considering further: although these verbal blessings seem trivial, we continue to follow this tradition.
Perhaps it is worth analyzing this from another perspective: the verbal blessings in Chinese culture may carry fragments of ancient memories and traces. I would like to invite everyone to reflect on this from a biblical perspective.
The Bible’s Book of Genesis records the historical event of God creating the heavens, the earth, and everything within. How did He create? He created from nothing by His words, the words from His mouth. For example, Genesis 1:3 says, “God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.”
After He created all things and humans, Genesis 1:27-28 states: “So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and every living thing that moves on the earth.’”
Where did God bless humanity for the first time? It happened in the Garden of Eden, which God had prepared for Adam and Eve.
Interestingly, the Chinese pictographic characters seem to retain some vague traces of this event.
Take the character “福” (blessing) as an example. On the left side is the radical “示,” which refers to divine signs or sacrifices. On the right side, broken down, you find “one mouth” and “field.” According to explanations on Baidu Baike (Encyclopedia), you will read the following:
[“In Oracle Bone Script, the character ‘福’ (blessing) shows that the left side resembles an altar, representing divine lord… The meaning of ‘福’ is to live in abundance and happiness under the protection of the gods.”]
In fact, our happiness and well-being originally come from God’s blessing. God stood in the Garden of Eden, blessing the ancestors of humanity, Adam and Eve, and commanded them to work and govern the whole earth.
There are two key points we need to note:
- God’s creation and giving of life through His words is itself a blessing.
- God’s blessing comes through His words—He blesses us by speaking.
All our productive and business activities can be seen as the work God has assigned to us, and He blesses what we do. How does He bless it? Through the words of His mouth.
When we bless each other, we could say that we are imitating and following God’s act of blessing. But we must remember that if our blessings are disconnected from the source of blessings—God’s words—then our blessings to one another become empty, turning into unrealistic wishes.
Therefore, I invite you and your family to come to church, to continue listening to God’s words and receiving His blessings. Please remember, without the Word of God, we have no real and tangible blessings.
In the revelation of God’s Word, which is found in the Bible, we come to know the eternal Word, Jesus Christ. He is God’s Word made flesh, sent to save us from sin, corruption, and death, and to lead us into immortality and eternal life.
Only in this eternal Word, Jesus Christ—the source of all blessings—can we regain the faith and strength to bless one another. When we bless in the name of the Lord Jesus, God Himself blesses according to His promise, protection, and good will.
I pray that the Lord leads you to desire, listen to, and understand His Word, for in it we find all the blessings we need. In the name of Jesus, the Savior of the world. Amen.