Sunday, August 6, 2017

Concerning the Lord’s return, it is clearly written in the Bible, “But of that day and that hour knows no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father” (Mark 13:32). You said the Lord Jesus has already come back. How did you know about this?


Concerning the Lord’s return, it is clearly written in the Bible, “But of that day and that hour knows no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father” (Mark 13:32). You said the Lord Jesus has already come back. How did you know about this?

Jesus
Jesus comes back.
The answer from Almighty God’s word:
     “At the break of dawn, unbeknownst to any, God came to earth and began His life in the flesh. People were unaware of this moment. Maybe they were all fast asleep, maybe many who were watchfully awake were waiting, and maybe many were praying silently to God in heaven. Yet among all these many people, not one knew that God had already arrived on earth.”
from “Work and Entry (4)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

The Lord Jesus said that He would come again. In which way will He come again?

The Lord Jesus said that He would come again. In which way will He come again?

Jesus
Jesus and Almighty God.
The answer from Almighty God’s word:
     “For several thousand years, man has longed to be able to witness the arrival of the Savior. Man has longed to behold Jesus the Savior on a white cloud as He descends, in person, among those who have pined and yearned for Him for thousands of years. Man has longed for the Savior to return and be reunited with the people, that is, for Jesus the Savior to come back to the people from whom He has been apart for thousands of years. And man hopes that He will once again carry out the work of redemption that He did among the Jews, will be compassionate and loving toward man, will forgive the sins of man, bear the sins of man, and even bear all of man’s transgressions and deliver man from sin. They long for Jesus the Savior to be the same as before—a Savior who is lovable, amiable and venerable, who is never wrathful toward man, and who never reproaches man. This Savior forgives and bears all of man’s sins, and even dies upon the cross for man once more. Since Jesus departed, the disciples who followed Him, and all of the saints who were saved thanks to His name, have been desperately pining for Him and awaiting Him. All those who were saved by the grace of Jesus Christ during the Age of Grace have been longing for that joyful day during the last days, when Jesus the Savior arrives on a white cloud and appears among man. Of course, this is also the collective wish of all those who accept the name of Jesus the Savior today. Throughout the universe, all those who know of the salvation of Jesus the Savior have been desperately yearning for the sudden arrival of Jesus Christ, to fulfill the words of Jesus when on earth: ‘I shall arrive just as I departed.’ Man believes that, following the crucifixion and resurrection, Jesus went back to heaven upon a white cloud, and took His place at the Most High’s right hand. Similarly, man conceives that Jesus shall descend, again upon a white cloud (this cloud refers to the cloud that Jesus rode upon when He returned to heaven), among those who have desperately yearned for Him for thousands of years, and that He shall bear the image and clothes of the Jews. After appearing to man, He shall bestow food upon them, and cause living water to gush forth for them, and shall live among man, full of grace and love, living and real. And so on.

Why does God appear to man by being incarnated to be a Son of man?


Why does God appear to man by being incarnated to be a Son of man?


Almighty
Almighty God and man.
The answer from Almighty God’s word:
     “God became flesh because the object of His work is not the spirit of Satan, or any incorporeal thing, but man, who is of the flesh and has been corrupted by Satan. It is precisely because the flesh of man has been corrupted that God has made fleshly man the object of His work; moreover, because man is the object of corruption, He has made man the only object of His work throughout all the stages of His salvation work. Man is a mortal being, is of flesh and blood, and God is the only One who can save man. In this way, God must become a flesh that possesses the same attributes as man in order to do His work, so that His work might achieve better effects. God must become flesh to do His work precisely because man is of the flesh, and incapable of overcoming sin or divesting himself of the flesh. …

Why does God come to China in a hidden way to do the work of the last days? What is its significance?

Why does God come to China in a hidden way to do the work of the last days? What is its significance?

Almighty
Almighty God.
The answer from Almighty God’s word:
    “God is incarnated in the Chinese mainland, what the compatriots in Hong Kong and Taiwan call the inland. When God came from above to the earth, no one in heaven and earth knew about it, for this is the true meaning of God returning in a concealed fashion. He has been in the flesh working and living for a long time, yet no one has known about it. Even to this day, no one recognizes it. Perhaps this will remain an eternal riddle. God’s coming into flesh this time is not something anyone is able to be aware of. No matter how large-scale and powerful the Spirit’s work, God always stays composed, never giving Himself away. One can say that it is as if this stage of His work is taking place in the heavenly realm. Even though it is perfectly obvious to everyone, no one recognizes it. When God finishes this stage of His work, everyone will awake from their long dream and reverse their past attitude. I remember God once saying, ‘Coming into flesh this time is like falling into the tiger’s den.’ What this means is that because this round of God’s work has God coming into flesh and being born in the dwelling place of the great red dragon, His coming to earth this time is accompanied even more so with extreme dangers. What He faces are knives and guns and clubs; what He faces is temptation; what He faces are crowds wearing murderous looks. He risks being killed at any moment. God did come with wrath. However, He came in order to do the work of perfection, meaning to do the second part of His work that continues after redemption work. For the sake of this stage of His work, God has devoted utmost thought and care and is using every conceivable means to avoid the assaults of temptation, concealing Himself humbly and never flaunting His identity. In rescuing man off the cross, Jesus was only completing redemption work; He was not doing perfection work. Thus only half of God’s work was being done, and finishing the redemption work was only half of His whole plan. As the new age was about to begin and the old one about to recede, God the Father began to deliberate the second part of His work and started preparing for it. In the past, this incarnation in the last days may not have been prophesied, and therefore that laid a foundation for the increased secrecy surrounding God’s coming into flesh this time. At the break of dawn, unbeknownst to any, God came to earth and began His life in the flesh. People were unaware of this moment. Maybe they were all fast asleep, maybe many who were watchfully awake were waiting, and maybe many were praying silently to God in heaven. Yet among all these many people, not one knew that God had already arrived on earth. God worked like this so as to more smoothly carry out His work and achieve better results, and it was also to avoid more temptations. As man’s spring slumber breaks, God’s work will have long been finished and He shall depart, bringing to a close His life of roaming and sojourning on earth. Because God’s work requires God to act and speak personally, and because there is no way for man to help, God has endured extreme pain to come to earth to do the work Himself. Man is unable to stand in for God’s work. Therefore God risked dangers several thousand times greater than those during the Age of Grace to come down to where the great red dragon dwells to do His own work, to put all His thinking and care into redeeming this group of impoverished people, redeeming this group of people mired in a heap of manure. Even though no one knows of God’s existence, God is not troubled because it greatly benefits God’s work. Everyone is atrociously evil, so how can anyone tolerate God’s existence? That is why on earth God is always silent. No matter how excessively cruel man is, God does not take any of it to heart, but just keeps doing the work He needs to do so as to fulfill the greater commission that the heavenly Father gave Him.”
from “Work and Entry (4)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

Saturday, August 5, 2017

Why doesn’t the Lord appear to man and work in a spiritual body when He comes back in the last day?

Why doesn’t the Lord appear to man and work in a spiritual body when He comes back in the last day?

Almighty
Almighty God and man.
The answer from Almighty God’s word:
    “God of the last days principally uses the word to make man perfect. He does not use signs and wonders to oppress man, or convince man; this cannot make plain the power of God. If God only showed signs and wonders, then it would be impossible to make plain the reality of God, and thus impossible to make man perfect. God does not make man perfect by signs and wonders, but uses the word to water and shepherd man, after which is achieved the complete obedience of man and man’s knowledge of God. This is the aim of the work He does and the words He speaks. God does not use the method of showing signs and wonders to make man perfect—He uses words, and uses many different methods of work to make man perfect. Whether it be the refinement, dealing, pruning, or provision of words, God speaks from many different perspectives to make man perfect, and to give man a greater knowledge of the work, wisdom and wondrousness of God. When man is made complete at the time that God concludes the age in the last days, he will be qualified to look upon signs and wonders. When you have a knowledge of God and are able to obey God no matter what He does, you will see signs and wonders, for you will have no conceptions about the reality of God. At the moment, you are corrupt and incapable of complete obedience to God—are you qualified to see signs and wonders? The time that God shows signs and wonders is when God punishes man, and also when the age changes, and, moreover, when the age concludes. When God’s work is being carried out normally, He does not show signs and wonders. Showing signs and wonders is supremely easy, but that is not the principle of God’s work, nor is it the aim of God’s management of man. If man saw signs and wonders, and if the spiritual body of God were to appear to man, would all people not ‘believe’ in God? I have previously said that a group of overcomers are gained from the East, overcomers who come from amid the great tribulation. What is the meaning of such words? They mean that these people who have been gained only truly obeyed after undergoing judgment and chastisement, and dealing and pruning, and all kinds of refinement. The belief of such people is not vague and abstract, but real. They have not seen any signs and wonders, or any miracles; they do not speak of abstruse letters and doctrines, or profound insights; instead they have reality, and the words of God, and a true knowledge of the reality of God. Is such a group not more capable of making plain the power of God?”
from “All Is Achieved by the Word of God” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

In the Age of Grace, the incarnate Jesus had the image of a Jew. Why does God incarnate in the last days have the image of an Asian?

In the Age of Grace, the incarnate Jesus had the image of a Jew. Why does God incarnate in the last days have the image of an Asian?

God
Image of Almighty God.
The answer from Almighty God’s word:
    “God is the greatest in the entire universe, so could He fully explain Himself using the image of a flesh? God puts on the flesh in order to do a stage of His work. There is no significance to the image of the flesh, and it bears no relation to the passing of ages, and has nothing to do with God’s disposition. Why did Jesus not allow the image of Him to remain? Why did He not let man paint His image, so that it could be passed on to later generations? Why did He not allow people to acknowledge that His image was the image of God? … He becomes flesh only so that the Spirit can have somewhere appropriate to reside when doing His work, so that He can achieve His work in the flesh—so that people can see His work, come into contact with His disposition, hear His words, and know the wonder of His work. His name represents His disposition, His work represents His identity, but He has never said that His appearance in the flesh represents His image; that is merely a notion of man. And so, the key points of the incarnation of God are His name, His work, His disposition, and His gender. He uses these to represent His management in this age. His appearance in the flesh has no bearing on His management, and is merely for the sake of His work at the time. Yet it is impossible for God incarnate to have no particular appearance, and so He chooses the appropriate family to determine His appearance. If the appearance of God has representative significance, then all those who possess similar facial features to Him also represent God. Is that not an egregious error? … God is Spirit, and man will never be capable of summing up exactly what His image is. His image can only be represented by His disposition. … You cannot use the language of man to fully epitomize the image of God, for God is too exalted, too great, too wondrous and unfathomable!”
from “The Vision of God’s Work (3)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

Why does God not do the work of the last days in the form of the Spirit but through incarnation?


Why does God not do the work of the last days in the form of the Spirit but through incarnation?

God
incarnation of Almighty God.
The answer from Almighty God’s word:
    “God’s saving of man is not done directly through the means of the Spirit or as the Spirit, for His Spirit can neither be touched nor seen by man, and cannot be approached by man. If He tried to save man directly in the manner of the Spirit, man would be unable to receive His salvation. And if not for God putting on the outward form of a created man, they would be unable to receive this salvation. For man can in no way approach Him, much like how none could go near the cloud of Jehovah. Only by becoming a man of creation, that is, putting His word into the flesh He will become, can He personally work the word into all who follow Him. Only then can man hear for himself His word, see His word, and receive His word, then through this be fully saved. If God did not become flesh, no fleshly man would receive such great salvation, nor would a single man be saved. If the Spirit of God worked directly among man, man would be smitten or completely carried away captive by Satan because man is unable to associate with God. …

VIII Questions and Answers About the Inside Story of the Bible—–Question 4

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