4我们读圣经若没有注意到这个重要的点，那么，就实际意义说，圣经对我们就是一本空洞的书。这意思是，圣经本身虽然是实际的，但在我们的领会里，它是空洞的。举例来说，假设有个盒子很吸引人，里面放着一颗大钻石。小孩可能对盒子有兴趣，但对钻石没有兴趣；然而，大人却会将注意力集中在盒子里面的钻石。今天，许多基督徒在意圣经这个“盒子”，但他们没有看见，也不珍赏这盒子里面的内容—“钻石”，甚至可能定罪那些对“盒子”里面的“钻石”有正确珍赏的人。圣经这“盒子”里的“钻石”乃是一个启示，就是神在基督里已成为人，为要使人在生命和性情上（但不在神格上）成为神。
4If we read the Bible without paying attention to this crucial point, then, in a very real sense, the Bible is to us an empty book. This means that although the Bible is real in itself, in our understanding of it, the Bible is empty. As an illustration, let us suppose that a certain box, which is quite attractive, contains a large diamond. A child may be interested in the box but not in the diamond. An adult, however, would focus his attention on the diamond contained in the box. Today many Christians care for the Bible as the “box,” but they have not seen and do not appreciate the “diamond,” which is the content of this box, and they may even condemn those who have a proper appreciation of the “diamond” in the “box.” The “diamond” in the “box” of the Bible is the revelation that in Christ God has become man in order that man might become God in life and in nature but not in the Godhead.