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| gods-incarnation-7 The church of Almighty God |
Bible Verses for Reference:
“So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and to them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin to salvation” (Heb 9:28).
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (Jhn 1:1).
Relevant Words of God:
The first incarnation was to redeem man from sin through the flesh of Jesus, that is, He saved man from the cross, but the corrupt satanic disposition still remained within man. The second incarnation is no longer to serve as a sin offering but to fully save those who were redeemed from sin. This is done so that those forgiven can be delivered from their sins and be fully made clean, and attain a change in disposition, thereby breaking free of Satan’s influence of darkness and returning before the throne of God. Only in this way can man be fully sanctified.
God began the work of salvation in the Age of Grace after the Age of Law had come to an end. It is not until the last days, when God has fully purified mankind by doing the work of judgment and chastisement of man for rebelliousness, will God conclude His work of salvation and enter into rest. Therefore, in the three stages of work, only twice did God become flesh to carry out His work among man Himself. That is because only one in the three stages of work is to lead man in their lives, while the other two are the work of salvation. Only if God becomes flesh can He live alongside man, experience the suffering of the world, and live in an ordinary flesh. Only in this way can He supply man of His creation with the practical word that they need. Man receives full salvation from God because of God incarnate, not directly from their prayers to heaven. For man is fleshly; man is unable to see the Spirit of God and much less able to approach Him. All that man can associate with is God’s incarnate flesh; only through Him can man understand all the words and all the truths, and receive full salvation. The second incarnation is sufficient to get rid of the sins of man and fully purify man. Hence, the second incarnation will bring to a close all the work of God in the flesh and complete the significance of God’s incarnation.
from “The Mystery of the Incarnation (4)”
in The Word Appears in the Flesh
in The Word Appears in the Flesh
When Jesus was doing His work, man’s knowledge of Him was still vague and unclear. Man always believed that He was the son of David and proclaimed Him to be a great prophet and the benevolent Lord who redeemed man’s sins. Some, based on faith, became healed just by touching the edge of His garment; the blind could see and even the dead could be restored to life. However, man could not discover the corrupt satanic disposition deeply rooted within him and neither did man know how to cast it away. Man received much grace, such as the peace and happiness of the flesh, the blessing of the entire family upon the faith of one, and the healing of sicknesses, and so on. The rest were the good deeds of man and their godly appearance; if man could live based on such, he was considered a good believer. Only such believers could enter heaven after death, which means that they were saved. But, in their lifetime, they did not understand at all the way of life. They merely committed sins, then made confession in a constant cycle without any path toward a changed disposition; such was the condition of man in the Age of Grace. Has man received complete salvation? No! Therefore, after that stage was complete, there is still the work of judgment and chastisement. This stage makes man pure through the word so as to give man a path to follow. This stage would not be fruitful or meaningful if it continued with the casting out of demons, for the sinful nature of man would not be cast away and man would only stop upon the forgiveness of sins. Through the sin offering, man has been forgiven his sins, for the work of the crucifixion has already come to an end and God has prevailed over Satan. But the corrupt disposition of man still remains within them and man can still sin and resist God; God has not gained mankind. That is why in this stage of work God uses the word to reveal the corrupt disposition of man and asks man to practice in accordance with the right path. This stage is more meaningful than the previous one and more fruitful as well, for now it is the word that directly supplies man’s life and enables the disposition of man to be completely renewed; it is a stage of work more thorough. Therefore, the incarnation in the last days has completed the significance of God’s incarnation and completely finished God’s management plan for the salvation of man.
from “The Mystery of the Incarnation (4)”
in The Word Appears in the Flesh
in The Word Appears in the Flesh
The first incarnate God did not complete the work of incarnation; He only completed the first step of the work that it was necessary for God to do in the flesh. So, in order to finish the work of incarnation, God has returned into the flesh once again, living out all the normality and reality of the flesh, that is, making God’s Word manifest in an entirely normal and ordinary flesh, thereby concluding the work that He left undone in the flesh. The second incarnate flesh is in essence similar to the first, but is even more real, even more normal than the first. As a consequence, the suffering the second incarnate flesh endures is greater than that of the first, but this suffering is a result of His ministry in the flesh, which is different from the suffering of corrupted man. It also stems from the normality and reality of His flesh. Because He performs His ministry in utterly normal and real flesh, the flesh must endure a great deal of hardship. The more normal and real this flesh is, the more He will suffer in the performance of His ministry. God works in a very common flesh, one that is not supernatural at all. Because His flesh is normal and must also shoulder the work of saving man, He suffers in even greater measure than a supernatural flesh would—all this suffering stems from the reality and normality of His flesh. From the suffering that the two incarnate fleshes have undergone while performing Their ministries, one can see the essence of the incarnate flesh. The more normal the flesh, the greater hardship He must endure while undertaking the work; the more real the flesh is that undertakes the work, the harsher are the notions that people get, and the more dangers are likely to befall Him. And yet, the more real the flesh is, and the more the flesh possesses the needs and complete sense of a normal human being, the more capable He is of taking on God’s work in the flesh. It was Jesus’ flesh that was nailed to the cross, His flesh that He gave up as a sin offering; it was by means of a flesh with normal humanity that He defeated Satan and completely saved man from the cross. And it is as a complete flesh that the second incarnate God performs the conquering work and defeats Satan. Only a flesh that is completely normal and real can perform the conquering work in its entirety and make a forceful testimony. That is to say, the work of[a]conquering man is made effective through the reality and normality of God in the flesh, not through supernatural miracles and revelations. The ministry of this incarnate God is to speak, and thereby to conquer and perfect man; in other words, the work of the Spirit realized in the flesh, the flesh’s duty, is to speak and thereby conquer, reveal, perfect, and eliminate man completely. And so, it is in the conquering work that God’s work in the flesh will be accomplished in full. The initial redemptive work was only the beginning of the work of incarnation; the flesh who does the conquering work will complete the entire work of incarnation. In gender, one is male and the other female; in this the meaning of God’s incarnation has been completed. It dispels man’s misconceptions of God: God can become both male and female, and the incarnate God is in essence genderless. God made both man and woman, and He does not differentiate between the genders. In this stage of the work God does not perform signs and wonders, so that the work will achieve its results by means of words. Moreover, this time the work of God incarnate is not to heal the sick and cast out demons, but to conquer man by speaking, which is to say that the native ability possessed by this incarnate flesh of God is to speak words and to conquer man, not to heal the sick and cast out demons. His work in normal humanity is not to perform miracles, not to heal the sick and cast out demons, but to speak, and so the second incarnate flesh seems to people much more normal than the first. People see that God’s incarnation is no lie; but this incarnate God is different from Jesus incarnate, and though They are both God incarnate, They are not completely the same. Jesus possessed normal humanity, ordinary humanity, but He was accompanied by many signs and wonders. In this incarnate God, human eyes will see no signs or wonders, neither healing the sick nor driving out demons, nor walking on the sea, nor fasting for forty days…. He does not do the same work that Jesus did, not because His flesh is in essence any different from Jesus’, but because it is not His ministry to heal the sick and cast out demons. He does not tear down His own work, does not disturb His own work. Since He conquers man through His real words, there is no need to subdue him with miracles, and so this stage is to complete the work of incarnation. The incarnate God you see today is completely a flesh, and there is nothing supernatural about Him. He gets sick as others do, needs food and clothing just as others do, being completely a flesh. If this time around, God incarnate performed supernatural signs and wonders, if He healed the sick, cast out demons, or could kill with one word, how could the conquering work be carried out? How could the work be spread among the Gentile nations? Healing the sick and casting out demons was the work of the Age of Grace, the first step in the redemptive work, and now that God has saved man from the cross, He no longer performs that work. If in the last days a “God” the same as Jesus appeared, one who healed the sick, cast out demons, and was crucified for man, that “God,” though identical to the description of God in the Bible and easy for man to accept, would not, in its essence, be the flesh worn by the Spirit of God, but by an evil spirit. For it is the principle of God’s work never to repeat what He has already completed. And so the work of God’s second incarnation is different from the work of the first. In the last days, God realizes the conquering work in an ordinary, normal flesh; He does not heal the sick, will not be crucified for man, but simply speaks words in the flesh, conquers man in the flesh. Only such flesh is God’s incarnate flesh; only such flesh can complete God’s work in the flesh.
from “The Essence of the Flesh Inhabited by God”
in The Word Appears in the Flesh
Why do I say that the meaning of incarnation was not completed in Jesus’ work? Because the Word did not entirely become flesh. What Jesus did was only one part of God’s work in the flesh; He only did the redemptive work and did not do the work of completely gaining man. For this reason God has become flesh once again in the last days. This stage of the work is also done in an ordinary flesh, done by an utterly normal human being, one whose humanity is not in the least bit transcendent. In other words, God has become a complete human being, and it is a person whose identity is that of God, a complete human being, a complete flesh, who is performing the work. To the human eye, He is just a flesh who is not transcendent at all, a very ordinary person who can speak the language of heaven, who shows no miraculous signs, works no miracles, much less exposes the inside truth about religion in great meeting halls. The work of the second incarnate flesh seems to people utterly unlike that of the first, so much so that the two seem to have nothing in common, and nothing of the first’s work can be seen this time. Though the work of the second incarnate flesh is different from that of the first, that does not prove that Their source is not one and the same. Whether Their source is the same depends on the nature of the work done by the fleshes and not on Their outer shells. During the three stages of His work, God has been incarnated twice, and both times the work of God incarnate inaugurates a new age, ushers in a new work; the incarnations complement each other. It is impossible for human eyes to tell that the two fleshes actually come from the same source. Needless to say, it is beyond the capacity of the human eye or of the human mind. But in Their essence They are the same, for Their work originates from the same Spirit. Whether the two incarnate fleshes arise from the same source cannot be judged by the era and the place in which They were born, or other such factors, but by the divine work expressed by Them. The second incarnate flesh does not perform any of the work that Jesus did, for God’s work does not adhere to convention, but each time it opens up a new path. The second incarnate flesh does not aim to deepen or solidify the impression of the first flesh in people’s minds, but to complement it and to perfect it, to deepen man’s knowledge of God, to break all the rules that exist in people’s hearts, and to wipe out the fallacious images of God in their hearts. It can be said that no individual stage of God’s own work can give man a complete knowledge of Him; each gives only a part, not the whole. Though God has expressed His disposition in full, because of man’s limited faculties of understanding, his knowledge of God still remains incomplete. It is impossible, using human language, to convey the entirety of God’s disposition; how much less can a single stage of His work fully express God? He works in the flesh under the cover of His normal humanity, and one can only know Him by the expressions of His divinity, not by His bodily shell. God comes into the flesh to allow man to know Him by means of His various work, and no two stages of His work are alike. Only in this way can man have a full knowledge of God’s work in the flesh, not confined to one single facet.
from “The Essence of the Flesh Inhabited by God”
in The Word Appears in the Flesh
Jesus did a stage of work which only fulfilled the substance of “the Word was with God”: The truth of God was with God, and the Spirit of God was with the flesh and was inseparable from Him, that is, the flesh of God incarnate was with the Spirit of God, which is greater proof that Jesus incarnate was the first incarnation of God. This stage of work fulfilled the inner meaning of “the Word becomes flesh,” lent deeper meaning to “the Word was with God, and the Word was God,” and allows you to firmly believe the words that “In the beginning was the Word.” Which is to say, at the time of creation God was possessed of words, His words were with Him and inseparable from Him, and the final age makes even clearer the power and authority of His words, and allows man to see all of His words—to hear all of His words. Such is the work of the final age. … Because this is the work of the second incarnation—and the last time that God becomes flesh—it fully completes the significance of the incarnation, thoroughly carries out and issues forth all of God’s work in the flesh, and brings to an end the era of God’s being in the flesh.
from “Practice (4)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh
In the Age of Grace, God did not do the work of the word, but simply described the crucifixion in order to redeem all mankind. The Bible only describes why Jesus was to be crucified, and the sufferings He was subjected to on the cross, and how man should be crucified for God. During that age, all the work done by God was centered around the crucifixion. During the Age of Kingdom, God incarnate speaks words to conquer all those who believe in Him. This is “the Word appearing in the flesh”; God has come during the last days to do this work, which is to say, He has come to accomplish the actual significance of the Word appearing in the flesh. He only speaks words, and rarely is there the advent of facts. This is the very substance of the Word appearing in the flesh, and when God incarnate speaks His words, this is the appearance of the Word in the flesh, and is the Word coming into the flesh. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, and the Word became flesh.” This (the work of the appearance of the Word in the flesh) is the work that God will accomplish in the last days, and is the final chapter of His entire management plan, and so God has to come to earth and manifest His words in the flesh. That which is done today, that which will be done in the future, that which will be accomplished by God, man’s final destination, those who will be saved, those who will be destroyed, and so on—this work that should be achieved in the end has all been clearly stated, and is all in order to accomplish the actual significance of the Word appearing in the flesh. The administrative decrees and constitution that were previously issued forth, those who will be destroyed, those who will enter into rest—these words must all be fulfilled. This is the work principally accomplished by God incarnate during the last days. He makes people understand where those predestined by God belong and where those not predestined by God belong, how His people and sons will be classified, what will happen to Israel, what will happen to Egypt—in the future, every one of these words will be accomplished. The steps of God’s work are accelerating. God uses the word as the means to reveal to man what is to be done in every age, what is to be done by God incarnate of the last days, and His ministry that is to be performed, and these words are all in order to accomplish the actual significance of the Word appearing in the flesh.
from “All Is Achieved by the Word of God”
in The Word Appears in the Flesh
in The Word Appears in the Flesh
God has come to earth primarily to accomplish the fact of “the Word become flesh,” which is to say, He has come so that His words may be issued from the flesh (not like the time of Moses in the Old Testament, when God spoke directly from the sky). After that, each of His words will be fulfilled during the Age of Millennial Kingdom, they will become facts visible before people’s eyes, and people will behold them using their own eyes without the slightest disparity. This is the supreme meaning of God’s incarnation. Which is to say, the work of the Spirit is accomplished through the flesh, and through words. This is the true meaning of “the Word become flesh” and “the Word’s appearance in the flesh.” Only God can speak the will of the Spirit, and only God in the flesh can speak on behalf of the Spirit; the words of God are made plain in God incarnate, and everyone else is guided by them. No one is exempt, they all exist within this scope. Only from these utterances can people come to know; those who do not gain in this way are daydreaming if they think they can gain the utterances from heaven. Such is the authority demonstrated in God’s incarnate flesh: making all believe. Even the most venerable experts and religious pastors cannot speak these words. They must all submit beneath them, and none will be able to make another start. God will use words to conquer the universe. He will do this not by His incarnate flesh, but through using the utterances from the mouth of God become flesh to conquer all people in the entire universe; only this is the Word become flesh, and only this is the appearance of the Word in the flesh. Perhaps, to people, it appears as if God hasn’t done much work—but God has but to utter His words for people to be thoroughly convinced, and for them to be overawed. Without facts, people shout and scream; with the words of God, they fall silent. God will surely accomplish this fact, for this is God’s long-established plan: accomplishing the fact of the Word’s arrival on earth.
from “The Millennial Kingdom Has Arrived”
in The Word Appears in the Flesh
God is not only the Holy Spirit, that Spirit, the sevenfold intensified Spirit, the all-encompassing Spirit, but also a person, an ordinary person, an exceptionally common person. He is not only male, but also female. They are similar in that They are both born to humans, and dissimilar in that one is conceived by the Holy Spirit and the other is born to a human but derived directly from the Spirit. They are similar in that both incarnate fleshes of God carry out God the Father’s work, and dissimilar in that one does the work of redemption and the other does the work of conquering. Both represent God the Father, but one is the Lord of redemption filled with lovingkindness and mercy, and the other is the God of righteousness filled with wrath and judgment. One is the Supreme Commander to launch the redemption work, and the other is the righteous God to accomplish the work of conquering. One is the Beginning, the other the End. One is sinless flesh, the other is flesh that completes the redemption, continues the work, and is never of sin. Both are the same Spirit, but They dwell in different fleshes and are born in different places. And They are separated by several thousand years. Yet all Their work is mutually complementary, never conflictual, and can be spoken of in the same breath. Both are people, but one is a baby boy and the other is an infant girl.
from “When It Comes to God, What Is Your Understanding”
in The Word Appears in the Flesh
Whether in this stage God incarnate is enduring hardship or performing His ministry, He does so to complete the meaning of incarnation, for this is God’s last incarnation. God can only be incarnated twice. There cannot be a third time. The first incarnation was male, the second female, and so the image of God’s flesh is completed in man’s mind; moreover, the two incarnations have already finished God’s work in the flesh. The first time God incarnate possessed normal humanity, in order to complete the meaning of incarnation. This time He also possesses normal humanity, but the meaning of this incarnation is different: It is deeper, and His work is of more profound significance. The reason God has become flesh again is to complete the meaning of incarnation. When God has completely ended this stage of His work, the entire meaning of incarnation, that is, God’s work in the flesh, will be complete, and there will be no more work to be done in the flesh. That is, from now on God will never again come into the flesh to do His work.
from “The Essence of the Flesh Inhabited by God”
in The Word Appears in the Flesh
(Selected Passage of God’s Word)
The Two Incarnations Complete the Significance of the Incarnation
Each stage of work done by God has a real significance. When Jesus arrived, He was male, and this time He is female. From this, you can see that God created both male and female for His work and with Him there is no distinction of gender. When His Spirit arrives, He can take on any flesh at will and the flesh represents Him. Be it male or female, both represent God as long as it is His incarnate flesh. If Jesus arrived and appeared as a female, in other words, if an infant girl, not a boy, was to be conceived by the Holy Spirit, that stage of work would have been completed all the same. If so, this stage of work would have to be completed instead by a male and the work would then be completed all the same. The work done in both stages is significant; no work is repeated or conflicts with each other. At the time of His work, Jesus was called the only Son, which indicates the male gender. Then why is the only Son not mentioned in this stage? This is because the needs of the work have necessitated a change to the gender different from that of Jesus. With God there is no distinction of gender. His work is done as He wishes and is not subject to any restrictions, particularly free, but every stage has a real significance. God became flesh twice, and it goes without saying that His incarnation in the last days is the last time. He has come to reveal all His deeds. If in this stage He did not become flesh to personally do work for man to witness, man would forever hold on to the notion that God is only male, not female. Before this, all believed that God could only be male and that a female could not be called God, for all regarded man as having authority over woman. They believed that no woman could take on authority, but only man. They even said that man was the head of woman and that woman must obey man and could not surpass him. When it was spoken in the past that man was the head of woman, it was said in regard to Adam and Eve who had been beguiled by the serpent, and not to the man and woman created by Jehovah in the beginning. Of course, a woman must obey and love her husband, much as a man must learn to support his family. These are the laws and decrees set forth by Jehovah by which mankind must abide in their lives on earth. Jehovah said to woman, “your desire shall be to your husband, and he shall rule over you.” This was said only so that mankind (that is, both man and woman) could live normal lives under the dominion of Jehovah, so that the lives of mankind would have structure and not lose order. Therefore, Jehovah made appropriate rules for how man and woman should act, but these only referred to all the creation living on the earth and not to God’s incarnate flesh. How could God be the same as His creation? His words were directed only toward the mankind of His creation; they were rules set forth for man and woman so that such mankind could live normal lives. In the beginning, when Jehovah created mankind, He made both male and female; therefore, His incarnate flesh was also differentiated into either male or female. He did not decide His work based on the words He spoke to Adam and Eve. The two times He became flesh were determined entirely in line with His thinking when He first created mankind. That is, He completed the work of His two incarnations based on the male and female that had not been corrupted. If man applies the words spoken by Jehovah to Adam and Eve who had been beguiled by the serpent to the work of God’s incarnation, should not Jesus also have to love His wife as He ought? Is God still God then? If so, can He complete His work? If it is wrong for God’s incarnate flesh to be female, would it not also have been a great error when God created woman? If man still believes that for God to be incarnated as female is wrong, would not the incarnation of Jesus, who did not get married and therefore could not love His wife, be as much an error as the present incarnation? Since you use the words spoken to Eve by Jehovah to measure the truth of God’s incarnation this day, you must use Jehovah’s words to Adam to judge the Lord Jesus who became flesh in the Age of Grace. Are these two not the same? Since you judge the Lord Jesus by the male who had not been beguiled by the serpent, you cannot judge the truth of the incarnation this day by the female who had been beguiled by the serpent. That is unfair! If you make such a judgment, then this proves your lack of rationality. When Jehovah twice became flesh, the gender of His flesh was related to the male and female that had not been beguiled by the serpent. Twice did He become flesh in accordance with such male and female not beguiled by the serpent. Do not think that the maleness of Jesus was the same as that of Adam who was beguiled by the serpent. He is completely unrelated to him, and they are two males of different natures. Surely it cannot be that the maleness of Jesus proves He is only the head of all women but not that of all men? Is He not the King of all the Jews (including both men and women)? He is God Himself, not just the head of woman but the head of man as well. He is the Lord of all creatures and the head of all creatures. How could you determine the maleness of Jesus to be the symbol of the head of woman? Is this not blasphemy? Jesus is a male that has not been corrupted. He is God; He is Christ; He is the Lord. How could He be a male like Adam who had been corrupted? Jesus is the flesh worn by the most holy Spirit of God. How could you say He is a God possessing the maleness of Adam? Then would not all of God’s work have been wrong? Could Jehovah incorporate within Jesus the maleness of Adam who had been beguiled? Is not the incarnation at present another work of God incarnate different in gender from Jesus but alike in nature? Do you still dare say that God incarnate could not be female since it was woman who was first beguiled by the serpent? Do you still dare say that as woman is the most unclean and the origin of the corruption of mankind, God could not possibly become flesh as a female? Do you still dare say that “woman shall always obey man and may never manifest or directly represent God”? You did not understand in the past; can you now still blaspheme the work of God, especially the incarnate flesh of God? If you cannot see this clearly, best mind your tongue, lest your foolishness and ignorance be revealed and your ugliness exposed. Do not think that you understand everything. I tell you that all you have seen and experienced is insufficient to understand even one thousandth of My management plan. So why then are you so haughty? The mere bit of talent and the minimal knowledge you have are insufficient to be used in even one second of the work of Jesus! How much experience do you actually have? What you have seen and all that you have heard in your lifetime and what you have imagined are less than the work I do in a moment! You best not nitpick and find fault. No matter how haughty you may be, you are still a creature less than an ant! All that within your belly is less than that within the belly of an ant! Do not think that because you have experienced much and become senior, you can speak and act with unbridled arrogance. Are not your experiences and your seniority a result of the words I have uttered? Do you believe that they are earned through your labor and toil? This day, you see My incarnation, and as a result you have such rich conceptions, from which come innumerable notions. If not for My incarnation, no matter how extraordinary your talents, you would not have as many conceptions. Is it not from this that your notions arose? If not for the first time Jesus became flesh, what would you know of the incarnation? Is it not because of your knowledge of the first incarnation that you dare to brazenly judge the second incarnation? Why should you scrutinize it instead of being an obedient follower? You have entered into this stream and come before the incarnate God. How could you be allowed to study? It is fine for you to study your own family history, but if you study the “family history” of God, how could the God of today allow you to do so? Are you not blind? Do you not bring contempt upon yourself?
If only the work of Jesus was done without the complement of this stage in the last days, then man would forever hold onto the notion that Jesus alone is the only Son of God, that is, God only has one son, and that any who comes afterward with another name would not be the only Son of God, much less God Himself. Man has the notion that He who serves as a sin offering or who assumes power for God and redeems all mankind is the only Son of God. There are some who believe that as long as He is a male who comes, He can be deemed the only Son of God and a representative of God. And there are even those who say that Jesus is the Son of Jehovah, His only Son. Is this not a serious notion of man? If this stage of work was not done in the final age, then all mankind would be shrouded in a shadow when it comes to God. If so, man would think himself to be of a higher status than woman, and women would never be able to hold their heads high. At such time, no female would receive salvation. People always believe that God is a male, and He always loathes woman and would not give woman salvation. If so, then is it not true that all women created by Jehovah and also corrupted would never have the opportunity to be saved? Then would it not have been pointless for Jehovah to have created woman, that is, to have created Eve? And would not woman perish for eternity? Therefore, this stage of work in the last days is to save all mankind, not just woman but all mankind. This work is for the sake of all mankind, not just for woman. If any think otherwise, then they are fools all the more!
The work done at present has pushed forward the work of the Age of Grace; that is, the work in the entire six-thousand-year management plan has moved forward. Though the Age of Grace has ended, the work of God has progressed further. Why do I say time and again that this stage of work builds upon the Age of Grace and the Age of Law? This means that the work of this day is a continuation of the work done in the Age of Grace and an uplifting of that done in the Age of Law. The three stages are closely interconnected and linked one to the next. Why do I also say that this stage of work builds on that done by Jesus? If this stage did not build on the work done by Jesus, then in this stage the crucifixion, the work of redemption done previously, would still need to be carried out. This would be meaningless. Therefore, it is not that the work has completely finished, but that the age has moved forward, and the work has become even higher than before. It could be said that this stage of work is built on the foundation of the Age of Law and the rock of the work of Jesus. The work is built stage by stage, and this stage is not a new beginning. Only the combination of the three stages of work can be deemed the six-thousand-year management plan. This stage is done on the foundation of the work of the Age of Grace. If these two stages of work are unrelated, why is there no crucifixion in this stage? Why do I not bear the sins of man? I do not come through the conception by the Holy Spirit nor will I be crucified to bear the sins of man. Rather, I am here to directly chastise man. If I did not chastise man following the crucifixion, and now I do not come through the conception by the Holy Spirit, then I would not be qualified to chastise man. It is precisely because I am one with Jesus that I come directly to chastise and judge man. This stage of work builds entirely on the previous stage. This is why only such work can bring man to salvation stage by stage. Jesus and I come from the same Spirit. Though Our fleshes have no relationship, Our Spirits are one; though what We do and the work We bear are not the same, We are alike in essence; Our fleshes take different forms, and this is because of the change in era and the need of Our work; Our ministries are not alike, so the work We bring forth and the disposition We reveal to man are also different. That is why what man sees and receives this day is unlike that of the past; this is so because of the change in era. Though the gender and form of Their fleshes are different, and though They were not born of the same family, much less in the same time period, Their Spirits are one. Though Their fleshes share no blood or physical relationship in any way, this does not deny that They are the incarnate fleshes of God in two different time periods. It is an undeniable truth that They are the incarnate fleshes of God, though They do not share the same bloodline or a common human language (one was a male who spoke the language of the Jews and the other is a female who speaks only Chinese). It is for these reasons that They do the work They ought in different countries, and in different time periods as well. Despite the fact that They are the same Spirit, possessed of the same essence, there are no absolute similarities at all between the outward shells of Their fleshes. They merely share the same humanity, but the appearance and birth of Their fleshes are not alike. These have no impact on Their respective work or the knowledge that man has of Them, for, after all, They are the same Spirit and none can separate Them. Though They are not related by blood, Their entire beings are directed by Their Spirits, so that They undertake different work in different time periods, with Their fleshes not sharing a bloodline. Similarly, the Spirit of Jehovah is not the father of the Spirit of Jesus, much as the Spirit of Jesus is not the son of the Spirit of Jehovah. They are the same Spirit. Just like the incarnate God of this day and Jesus. Though They are not related by blood, They are one; this is because Their Spirits are one. He can do the work of mercy and lovingkindness, as well as that of righteous judgment and of chastisement of man, and that of bringing curses on man. In the end, He can do the work of destroying the world and punishing the wicked. Does He not do all this Himself? Is this not the almightiness of God? He could both set forth laws for man and issue commandments, and could also lead the early Israelites to live their lives on earth and guide them to build the temple and altars, reigning over all the Israelites. Because of His authority, He lived with them on earth for two thousand years. The Israelites dared not rebel; all revered Jehovah and observed the commandments. This work was all done because of His authority and His almightiness. In the Age of Grace, Jesus came to redeem the whole fallen mankind (not only the Israelites). He showed mercy and lovingkindness to man. The Jesus that man saw in the Age of Grace was filled with lovingkindness and was always loving, for He had come to deliver man from sin. He could forgive man their sins until His crucifixion truly delivered mankind from sin. During that time, God appeared before man in mercy and lovingkindness; that is, He became a sin offering for man and was crucified for the sins of man so that they may forever be forgiven. He was merciful, compassionate, enduring and loving. And all those who followed Jesus in the Age of Grace also sought to be enduring and loving in all things. They endured all suffering, and never fought back even if beaten, cursed or stoned. But that is not so in this final stage, much like how the work of Jesus and Jehovah was not alike though Their Spirits were one. The work of Jehovah was not to bring the age to an end but to lead it and usher in mankind’s life on earth. However, the work now is to conquer those deeply corrupted men in the Gentile nations and to lead not only the family of China but the entire universe. You see this work being done now only in China, but in fact it has already begun to expand abroad. Why is it that foreigners time and again seek the true way? That is because the Spirit has already begun His work, and the words now are directed toward people of the entire universe. This is already half of the work. The Spirit of God has done such great work since the world was created; He has done different work across the different ages, and in different nations. The people of each age see His different disposition, which is naturally revealed through the different work that He does. He is God, filled with mercy and lovingkindness; He is the sin offering for man and man’s shepherd, yet He is also judgment, chastisement, and curse on man. He could lead man to live on earth for two thousand years and also redeem the corrupt mankind from sin. And this day, He is also able to conquer mankind who does not know Him and make them subject under His dominion, so that all submit to Him fully. In the end, He will burn away all that is unclean and unrighteous within men in the entire universe, to show them that not only is He a God of mercy, lovingkindness, wisdom, wonder and holiness, but even more, He is a God who judges man. To the evil among all mankind, He is burning, judgment and punishment; to those who are to be perfected, He is tribulation, refinement, and trial, as well as comfort, sustenance, supply of words, dealing, and pruning. And to those who are eliminated, He is punishment, as well as retribution. Tell Me, is God not almighty? He can do all work, not just the crucifixion as you imagined. You think too lowly of God! Do you believe that everything would come to an end after the redemption of all mankind through His crucifixion? And that, following this, you would follow Him to heaven then eat of the fruit from the tree of life and drink from the river of life? … Could it be that simple? Tell Me, what have you accomplished? Do you have the life of Jesus? You were indeed redeemed by Him, but the crucifixion was the work of Jesus Himself. What duty have you fulfilled as a man? You only have the outward godliness but do not understand His way. Is that how you manifest Him? If you have not received the life of God or seen the entirety of His righteous disposition, then you cannot claim to be one that has life, and you are not worthy to pass through the gate of the kingdom of heaven.
Not only is God a Spirit but He can also become flesh; moreover, He is a body of glory. Jesus, though you have not seen Him, was witnessed by the Israelites, that is, the Jews at the time. He was at first a flesh, but after He was crucified, He became the body of glory. He is the all-encompassing Spirit and can do work in all places. He could be Jehovah, Jesus and the Messiah; in the end, He can become Almighty God. He is righteousness, judgment, and chastisement, is curse and wrath, but also mercy and lovingkindness. All the work done by Him can represent Him. What manner of God do you say He is? You simply won’t be able to explain and can only say, “I cannot explain what manner of God He is.” Do not draw the conclusion that God is forever a God of mercy and lovingkindness, just because God did the work of redemption in one stage. Can you be certain that He is only such a God? If He is a merciful and loving God, why will He bring the age to an end in the last days? Why will He send down so many disasters? If it is as you think, that He is merciful and loving toward man to the end, even to the final age, why then will He send down disasters from the heavens? If He loves man as Himself and as His only Son, why will He send down plagues and hailstones from the heavens? Why does He allow man to suffer from famine and pestilence? Why does He allow man to suffer these disasters? None of you dare say what manner of God He is, and none can explain. Can you be certain that He is the Spirit? Do you dare say that He is the flesh of Jesus? And do you dare say that He is a God who will forever be crucified for man?
from The Word Appears in the Flesh
Footnotes:
a. The original text omits “the work of.”
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