The Meaning of Life 人生意义
Dexu Xia
Death has been swallowed up in victory. 1 Corinthians 15:54
A short story by Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges tells of a Roman soldier, Marcus Rufus, who drinks from a “secret river that purifies men of death.” In time, though, Marcus realizes immortality wasn’t all it was cracked up to be: life without limits was life without significance. In fact, it is death itself that gives meaning to life. Marcus finds an antidote—a spring of clear water. After drinking from it, he scratches his hand on a thorn, and a drop of blood forms, signifying his restored mortality.
Like Marcus, we too sometimes despair over the decline of life and the prospect of death (Psalm 88:3). We agree that death gives significance to life. But this is where the stories diverge. Unlike Marcus, we know it’s in Christ’s death that we find the true meaning of our lives. With the shedding of His blood on the cross, Christ conquered death, swallowing it up in victory (1 Corinthians 15:54). For us, the antidote is in the “living water” of Jesus Christ (John 4:10). Because we drink that, all the rules of life, death, and life immortal have changed (1 Corinthians 15:52).
It’s true, we won’t escape physical death, but that isn’t the point. Jesus upends all our despair about life and death (Hebrews 2:11–15). In Christ, we’re reassured with the hope of heaven and of meaningful joy in eternal life with Him.
By: Kenneth Petersen
What are you worried about? What are your thoughts about the prospect of death? How does 1 Corinthians 15 encourage you?
God, help me to embrace Your promises about deliverance into eternal life with You.
死被得胜吞灭。—哥林多前书15章54节
阿根廷作家豪尔赫 · 路易斯 · 博尔赫斯（Jorge Luis Borges）写的短篇小说，讲到一位罗马士兵马库斯 · 鲁弗斯因害怕死亡而饮用了使人不死的水源。但随着时日流逝，马库斯意识到不死并非像人们所追捧的那样：万寿无疆其实毫无意义。事实上，正是死亡本身使生命有了意义。后来，马库斯找到解药，那是一股清澈的泉水。他喝完之后，用手在一根刺上抓挠，结果流出了一滴血，这也表明他恢复了必死之身。
像马库斯一样，我们有时也会对生命必会衰败和死亡感到绝望（诗篇88篇3节）。我们同意死亡让生命有了意义，但与马库斯不同的是，我们知道因着基督的死亡，使我们找到了生命的真正意义。基督在十架上流血舍命，战胜、吞灭了死亡（哥林多前书15章54节）。对我们来说，害怕死亡的解药就是耶稣基督的“活水”（约翰福音4章10节）。因为我们喝了这活水，所有关于生命、死亡和永生的规则都被改变了（哥林多前书15章52节）。
的确，无人能够免于一死，但这不是最重要的。最重要的是耶稣彻底颠覆了我们对生命和死亡的绝望（希伯来书2章11-15节）。在基督里，我们有天堂的盼望，并确定在永生里能喜乐地与祂一同活着。作者： 毕恺腾
你在担心什么？你对死亡有何看法？
哥林多前书15章如何使你得激励？
上帝啊，请帮助我坚信祢已应许，祢会拯救我，使我与祢同享永活的生命。