基督是耶和华的苗
按照四章二节，基督首先乃是耶和华的苗。“耶和华的苗”一辞，指基督的神性，指明生命的丰富与复苏。任何一棵植物的苗，都指明那棵植物的生命满有活力，正在长大并富有生产力。基督是耶和华的苗，原则也是一样的。祂是这样的苗，就把神圣生命的丰富、新鲜、活力、生长和生产力都具体化了。
基督是地的果子
“地的果子”一辞，指基督的人性，也指明祂是从地长出的；这指出这产品乃是基督人性里所出产、传输并彰显的。当然，为使这繁殖发生，必须有神圣的生命。然而，人性也是需要的。假定我们的主没有藉着成为肉体来作人，只单单留在祂的神性里，从祂这果子又能产生出甚么？答案是不可能有任何果子。我要强调，基督所出产一切不同的果子，都来自祂神圣的生命，就是耶和华的苗所表征的。但没有基督的人性，神圣的生命就不可能富有生产力，生出果子来。四福音给我们看见，基督所生出的一切果子，都来自神圣的生命，却是在基督的人性里产生的。所以，耶和华的苗指明神圣生命的丰富，地的果子指明这生命在人性里所出产的果子。
神与人一同生活
基督作耶和华的苗和地的果子，指明祂是神人。在祂身上，神与人一同生活，如同一个。新约就是启示这件事：新约给我们看见神人一同生活，以神为里面的生命，以人为外面的果子。今天我们这些在基督里的信徒，同时需要神圣的生命和人的生命。我们若没有神圣的生命，就没有生命。我们若没有正确人的生命与神圣的生命相配，就没有果子。新约启示，我们这些蒙神拣选并豫定的人，需要在我们的为人生活中彰显出神圣的生命。我们若这样作，在我们的经历中就会有基督作耶和华的苗和地的果子。
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The Jehovah’s Shoot and the Fruit of the Earth (2) — Isa. 4:2
Christ as the Shoot of Jehovah
According to 4:2, Christ is first the Shoot of Jehovah. The term the Shoot of Jehovah, which refers to Christ’s deity, denotes the riches and the refreshing of life. A shoot out of any plant indicates that the life of that plant is vigorous, growing and productive. The principle is the same with Christ as the Shoot of Jehovah. As such a Shoot, he embodies the riches, the refreshing, the vigor, the growth and the productive power of the divine life.
Christ as the Fruit of the Earth
The term the Fruit of the earth, which refers to Christ’s humanity and indicates that he grew up out of the earth, denotes the produce brought forth, carried out and expressed in Christ’s humanity. Of course, in order for this reproduction to take place, there must be the divine life. However, humanity is also needed. Suppose our Lord did not become a man through incarnation but remained simply in his divinity. What could have been produced out of him as a fruit? The answer is that there could not have been any fruit. I would emphasize the fact that all of Christ’s different kinds of fruits come out of the divine life, which is signified by the Shoot of Jehovah. But without Christ’s humanity, it would have been impossible for the divine life to be productive in bringing forth fruit. The four Gospels show us that all the fruit borne by Christ came out of the divine life, but it was produced in Christ’s humanity. Therefore, the Shoot of Jehovah denotes the divine life in its riches, and the Fruit of the earth denotes the fruit produced by this life in humanity.
God and Man Living Together
For Christ to be both the Shoot of Jehovah and the Fruit of the earth indicates that he is the God-man. In him God and man live together as one. The New Testament is a revelation of this very thing: it shows us God and man living together, with God as the life inwardly and man as the fruit outwardly. As believers in Christ today, we need both the divine life and the human life. If we do not have the divine life, we do not have life. But if we do not have the proper human life to match the divine life, we will have no fruit. The New Testament reveals that, as those chosen and predestinated by God, we need to have the divine life expressed in our human living. If we have this, then in our experience we will have Christ both as the Shoot of Jehovah and as the Fruit of the earth.