撒下七12~14　　…我必兴起你腹中所出的后裔接续你，我也必坚定他的国。他必为我的名建造殿宇；我必坚定他的国位，直到永远。我要作他的父，他要作我的子。…

　　约壹四13　　神已将祂的灵赐给我们，在此就知道我们住在祂里面，祂也住在我们里面。

　　在撒下七章，大卫想要建造神的殿，但在这一章神要大卫领悟，他需要神将基督建造到他里面。因此，撒下七章乃是借着预表揭示一个预言，给我们看见，我们无须为神建造什么；我们作不到。我们无法用自己，或用圣经和神学的知识为神建造什么。我们需要神将基督建造到我们内在的构成里，使我们全人被基督重新构成。结果，我们不仅得着改变，更从一种人变化成为另一种人。…撒下七章简单地指明，神不需要我们为祂建造什么。我们一无所是，一无所有，也一无所能。因此，我们需要基督作到我们里面。（撒母耳记生命读经，一九五页。）

　　2 Sam. 7:12-14 …I will raise up your seed after you, which will come forth from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. It is he who will build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his Father, and he will be My son…

　　1 John 4:13 In this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, that He has given to us of His Spirit.

　　In 2 Samuel 7 David wanted to build God’s house, but in this chapter God wanted David to realize that he needed God to build Christ into him. Thus, 2 Samuel 7 is the unveiling of a prophecy through typology showing us there is no need for us to build something for God. We simply are not able to do this. We cannot build something for God with ourselves or with our knowledge of the Bible and theology. We need God to build up Christ into our intrinsic constitution so that our entire being will be reconstituted with Christ. As a result, we are not only changed, but we are transformed from one kind of person into another…. Second Samuel 7 simply indicates that God does not need us to build anything for Him. We are nothing, we have nothing, and we can do nothing. Therefore, we need Christ to be wrought into our being. (Life-study of 1 & 2 Samuel, pp. 160-161)

　　一个人的照片如何没有那个人的生命和性情，照样，大卫是神心的一张照片，也没有神的生命和性情。虽然他是合乎神心的人，却与神没有任何生机的关系。大卫所需要的，就是今天我们所需要的。我们需要神将祂自己在基督里建造到我们的人性里。这意思是，我们需要神将祂自己在基督里作到我们里面，作我们的生命、性情和构成。结果，我们不是仅仅合乎神心的人—我们乃是在生命和性情上（但不在神格上）成为神。今天我们外表上可能不像大卫那样高大，但我们可以宣告，我们有神的生命、性情和构成。

　　为要成就这事，神就在基督里成为人，并且经过一些过程，使这人能被标出为神圣的。在复活里，祂被标出为神的长子。在复活里并借着复活，神的长子基督成了赐生命的灵，现今进到我们里面，将祂自己作为生命分赐到我们里面，成为我们内里的构成，使我们成为神人，就像祂自己一样。祂是神成为人，我们是人成为神—在生命和性情上，但不在神格上。

　　许多基督徒仍然只想要有一种合乎神心的行事、生活和为人，但他们没有这种观念：神渴望将祂自己在基督里建造到我们全人里面。祂所要建造到我们里面的，要成为祂的住处和我们的住处。因此，这成了一个相互的住处；新耶路撒冷就是这相互的住处。一面，新耶路撒冷是神的居所；另一面，新耶路撒冷也是我们永远的居所。（启二一3，22。）新耶路撒冷将应验主在约翰十五章四节所说“你们要住在我里面，我也住在你们里面”这简短的一句话，直到永远。

　　按照基督徒中间一般的领会和看法，神将基督赐给我们，是作我们的救赎主和拯救主。祂为我们的罪死了，成功了救赎；祂从死人中复活，且成为我们的生命。然而，这并没有告诉我们，神想要作什么。神乃是要在基督里将祂自己作到我们里面。救赎和拯救都是为着这个。基督的成为肉体、人性生活、死与复活，都是为着神的心愿，就是要在基督里将祂自己作到我们里面。凡基督之所是、所成就的，都是为着这件事。神在我们日常生活中所采取的一切大小步骤，都是要完成祂这目的，就是将祂自己在基督里建造到我们里面。（撒母耳记生命读经，二○五至二○六、二三三页。）

　　参读：撒母耳记生命读经，第二十四至二十六、二十八至二十九篇。

　　Just as the photograph of a person does not have the life and nature of that person, so David, a photograph of God’s heart, did not have the life and nature of God. Even though he was a man whose heart was according to God, he did not have anything related to God organically. What David needed is what we need today. We need God to build Himself in Christ into our humanity. This means that we need God to work Himself in Christ into us as our life, our nature, and our constitution. As a result, we are not simply a man according to God’s heart—we are God in life and in nature but not in the Godhead. We today are not outwardly as high as David was, but we can declare that we have God’s life, nature, and constitution.

　　In order to accomplish this, God in Christ became a man and went through some processes that this man could be designated something divine. In resurrection He was designated the firstborn Son of God. In and through resurrection Christ, the firstborn Son of God, became the life-giving Spirit, who now enters into us to impart, to dispense, Himself as life into our being to be our inner constitution, to make us a God-man just like Him. He was God becoming man, and we are man becoming God in life and in nature but not in the Godhead.

　　Many Christians are still trying merely to have a behaving, a living, and a being that are according to God’s heart, but they do not have the concept that God desires to build Himself in Christ into our being. What He is building into us will be His abode, which will be our abode also. Hence, it becomes a mutual abode. The New Jerusalem is this mutual abode. On the one hand, the New Jerusalem is the dwelling place of God; on the other hand, it is also our eternal dwelling place (Rev. 21:3, 22). For eternity the New Jerusalem will be the fulfillment of the Lord’s brief word in John 15:4: “Abide in Me and I in you.”

　　According to the common understanding and view among Christians, God gave Christ to be our Redeemer and our Savior. He died for our sins, accomplishing redemption; He rose up from among the dead; and He has become our life. However, this does not tell us what God wants to do. God wants to work Himself in Christ into us. Redemption and salvation are for this. Christ’s incarnation, Christ’s human living, Christ’s death and resurrection—they all are for God’s desire to work Himself in Christ into us. Everything that Christ is and everything that Christ has accomplished are for this one thing. All the steps, big and small, that God takes in our daily life are to fulfill His intention of building Himself in Christ into our being. (Life-study of 1 & 2 Samuel, pp. 168, 190)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of 1 & 2 Samuel, msgs. 24-26, 28-29