Eastern Lightning | Through seeking and investigating the words of Almighty God, we are certain that Almighty God is the appearance of the Lord. But after we decided to follow Almighty God, some unfortunate things and mishaps happened in our lives. We have read so little of God’s words and we still don’t understand the truth, so it is possible for our states to be disturbed which leads us to doubt God. How then should we experience these things when we encounter them?

  Bible Verses for Reference:

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about, seeking whom he may devour (1Pe 5:8).

And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God (Zec 13:9).

Blessed is the man that endures temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord has promised to them that love him (Jas 1:12).

Relevant Words of God:

God works, God cares for a person, looks upon a person, and Satan dogs His every step. Whoever God favors, Satan also watches, trailing along behind. If God wants this person, Satan would do everything in its power to obstruct God, using various evil ways to tempt, harass and wreck the work God does in order to achieve its hidden objective. What is its objective? It does not want God to have anyone; it wants all those that God wants, to possess them, control them, to take charge of them so they worship it, so they commit evil acts alongside it. Is this not Satan’s sinister motive? Normally, you often say that Satan is so evil, so bad, but have you seen it? You can only see how bad man is and has not seen in reality how bad Satan actually is. But have you seen it in this issue concerning Job? (Yes.) This issue has made Satan’s hideous countenance and its essence very clear. Satan is at war with God, trailing along behind Him. Its objective is to demolish all the work God wants to do, to possess and control those whom God wants, to completely extinguish those whom God wants. If they are not extinguished, then they come to Satan’s possession to be used by it—this is its objective.

from “God Himself, the Unique IV” in Continuation of 

The Word Appears in the Flesh

In every step of work that God does within people, externally it appears to be interactions between people, as if born of human arrangements, or from human interference. But behind the scenes, every step of work, and everything that happens, is a wager made by Satan before God, and requires people to stand firm in their testimony to God. Take when Job was tried, for example: Behind the scenes, Satan was making a bet with God, and what happened to Job was the deeds of men, and the interference of men. Behind every step that God does in you is Satan’s wager with God—behind it all is a battle. … When God and Satan do battle in the spiritual realm, how should you satisfy God, and how should you stand firm in your testimony to Him? You should know that everything that happens to you is a great trial and the time when God needs you to bear testimony. Externally, they might not seem like a big deal, but when these things happen they show whether or not you love God. If you do, you will be able to stand firm in your testimony to Him, and if you have not put the love of Him into practice, this shows you are not someone who puts the truth into practice, that you are without the truth, and without life, that you are chaff! Everything that happens to people is when God needs them to stand firm in their testimony to Him. Nothing major has happened to you at the moment, and you do not bear great testimony, but every detail of your daily life relates to the testimony to God. If you can win the admiration of your brothers and sisters, your family members, and everyone around you; if, one day, the unbelievers come, and admire all that you do, and see that all that God does is wonderful, then you will have borne testimony.

from “Only Loving God Is Truly Believing in God” in
 The Word Appears in the Flesh

If many things come upon you that are not in line with your notions but you are able to put them aside and know God’s actions from these things, and in the midst of refinements you reveal your heart of love for God, this is standing witness. If your home is peaceful, you enjoy comforts of the flesh, no one is persecuting you, and your brothers and sisters in the church obey you, can you display your heart of love for God? Can this refine you? It is only through refinement that your love for God can be shown, and it is only through things occurring that are not in line with your conceptions that you can be perfected. It is through many negative things, many adversities that God perfects you. It is through many of Satan’s actions, accusations, and its expression in many people that God allows you to acquire knowledge, thus perfecting you.

from “Those Who Are to Be Made Perfect Must Undergo Refinement”
in The Word Appears in the Flesh

As creatures, people should fulfill the duties that they ought to, and stand witness for God in the midst of refinement. In every trial they should uphold the witness that they should bear, and bear a resounding witness for God. This is an overcomer. No matter how God refines you, you remain full of confidence and never lose confidence in God. You do what man should do. This is what God requires of man, and man’s heart should be able to fully return to Him and turn toward Him at every single moment. This is an overcomer. Those who God refers to as overcomers are those who are still able to stand witness, maintain their confidence, and their devotion to God when under the influence of Satan and under siege by Satan, that is, when within the forces of darkness. If you are still able to maintain a heart of purity and your genuine love for God no matter what, you stand witness in front of God, and this is what God refers to as being an overcomer. If your pursuit is excellent when God blesses you, but you retreat without His blessings, is this purity? Since you are certain that this way is true, you must follow it until the end; you must maintain your devotion to God. Since you have seen that God Himself has come to the earth to perfect you, you should give your heart entirely to Him. No matter what He does, even if He determines an unfavorable outcome for you at the very end, you can still follow Him. This is maintaining your purity in front of God. Offering a holy spiritual body and a pure virgin to God means keeping a heart of sincerity in front of God. For mankind, sincerity is purity, and being able to be sincere toward God is maintaining purity. This is what you should put into practice. When you ought to pray, you pray; when you ought to gather together in fellowship, you do so; when you ought to sing hymns, you sing hymns; and when you ought to forsake the flesh, you forsake the flesh. When you perform your duty you do not muddle through it; when you are faced with trials you stand firm. This is devotion to God.

from “You Ought to Maintain Your Devotion to God” in
The Word Appears in the Flesh

The Man’s Fellowship:

For all the people who belong to the first group to have accepted the work of Almighty God in the last days, in all walks of life in all countries, you need to pursue the truth; God has given you a great commission. Those who have first accepted, and who first obtain the truth, certainly will be used by God, to water, to shepherd their own people, the chosen of God in their country. You first accept the work of Almighty God in the last days and if you in fact are pursuers of the truth, God will entrust you with a task, He will train you, and you will face trials; God will test your faith, to see how truly you believe, to see if you can be certain about God’s word, be certain about the appearance of God. For example, with some people, as soon as they believe, someone in their family falls ill; with others, when they believe, unbelievers rise up to persecute them and oppress them; with yet others, as soon as they believe, their family suffers a serious problem. “What is this? The true God comes, but as soon as I believe something bad happens, bad luck, a disaster? Is this really the true God?” Some people doubt, and don’t pray. Think about it, you believe in the true God, won’t the devils and Satan hate this? Will they just let it go? They will want to snatch you! They will create this or that sort of situation to create difficulties for you, to make you back off and leave Almighty God. … Because demons and Satan prowl everywhere seeking victims to devour, if you believe in Jesus they don’t respond to you, but if you believe in Almighty God this is critical in the spiritual world. This is an ideological war between the truth and falsehood! So when you face a trial do not doubt God; stand by your testimony. Everything is in the hands of God; all you have to do is stand by your faith.

from Sermons and Fellowship on Entry Into Life, B7 Volume 131

During God’s work in the last days, even more trials befall man. Why does man have to encounter trials? It is because Satan has corrupted mankind. It wants to bear mankind away from God’s hands in order to destroy God’s management plan—this is Satan’s goal; God wants to save mankind, to take mankind back from Satan’s grasp, to make man complete, and to bring them back to God once again. In this way, the battle of the spiritual world seems unusually fierce. The focus of the battle is on man, so it appears normal for man to undergo trials as part of God’s work. God wants to save man, and Satan wants desperately to corrupt man and is unwilling to lose. So what can God do to save man? God must allow the temptations of Satan to befall man and, through the temptations of Satan, God exposes Satan’s deceptions and allows man to see through them, making them able to accept God’s words and to stand on the side of God so that they turn to God and obey God. Only in this way can corrupt mankind be truly saved; this is the way in which God saves mankind. Because God saves mankind in this way, as corrupt mankind accepts God’s work, they come across all manner of Satan’s temptations (that is, all manner of temptations that God permits to befall man), and this is normal, this is the natural order. Some people say: ‘Would it be okay if we didn’t have to encounter these temptations?’ Maybe some people cannot see through this matter and, for this, they need to thoroughly understand the facts about the battle of the spiritual world.

from “Sermons and Fellowship About God’s Word ‘God’s Work, God’s Disposition, and God Himself II’ (II)” in Sermons and
Fellowship on Entry Into Life (X)

You will encounter all kinds of trials. If you have not encountered any today, you shall encounter them tomorrow; if you shall not encounter any tomorrow, eventually you shall encounter them one day. In short, God requires that you encounter them. Why? There is no bearing of witness without trials. Your loyalty will not reveal itself if you have not been placed in tribulations, your true heart will not be revealed. Your true heart has to be revealed, your loyalty has to be revealed, your obedience also has to be revealed, and then this shall be the end. God demands such things from everyone. We are examined thus during the Age of Kingdom, we are examined thus when appearing before the seat of Christ, every one of us must pass this examination. If you do not pass this examination, if you should be captured by Satan at any stage and be imprinted with the “mark of the beast,” you will never be qualified to enter the kingdom of God. Because to accept Christ of the last days, to be taken up in front of God, this shall be the key moment to enter the kingdom, therefore we must encounter major battles and great tribulation. There will be many difficulties on this path to enter the kingdom, and it requires the offering of one’s life to reach the destination. In Revelation, look at those who believe in Almighty God, “These are they which follow the Lamb wherever he goes” (Revelation 14:4), “of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues” (Revelation 7:9), “These are they which came out of great tribulation” (Revelation 7:14). Look upon these words, they are all referring to those who believe in Almighty God. These people follow Christ without deviating one single step, they are loyal until their death; these are the overcomers.

from Sermons and Fellowship on Entry Into Life, A6 Volume 132

Recommendation:  Gospel Movies

Gospel Movie clip "The Mystery of Godliness: The Sequel" (2) - How to Understand God Incarnate | Eastern Lightning

In the last days, God has become flesh to work to save man. But because we don't understand the truth of the incarnation, we regard God incarnate as the same as an ordinary person, we cannot recognize God's voice and we know even less how to welcome the Lord—to the point where we are even able to follow the religious world and ruling powers to defy and condemn God—the situation becomes no different from when God incarnated as the Lord Jesus to do His work of the Age of Grace. It appears, therefore, that understanding the truth of the incarnation is key to our knowing God. So what exactly is the incarnation? What is the essence of the incarnation?

Introduction:

Eastern Lightning, the Church of Almighty God was created because of the appearance and work of Almighty God, the second coming of the Lord Jesus, Christ of the last days. It is made up of all those who accept Almighty God's work in the last days and are conquered and saved by His words. It was entirely founded by Almighty God personally and is led by Him as the Shepherd. It was definitely not created by a person. Christ is the truth, the way, and the life. God's sheep hear God's voice. As long as you read the words of Almighty God, you will see God has appeared.

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    About the Church of Almighty God

The Lord Jesus Is My Savior | God's Word "The True Story Behind Work in the Age of Redemption" | Eastern Lightning

Almighty God says, "Jesus represents all the work of the Age of Grace; He was incarnated and crucified, and inaugurated the Age of Grace. He was crucified in order to complete the redemptive work, to end the Age of Law and begin the Age of Grace … The work of Jesus represents only the Age of Grace; it does not represent the Age of Law and is no substitute for the work of the last days. This is the essence of Jesus’ work in the Age of Grace, the second age of mankind—the Age of Redemption."

    Introduction：

Eastern Lightning, The Church of Almighty God was created because of the appearance and work of Almighty God, the second coming of the Lord Jesus, Christ of the last days. It is made up of all those who accept Almighty God's work in the last days and are conquered and saved by His words. It was entirely founded by Almighty God personally and is led by Him as the Shepherd. It was definitely not created by a person. Christ is the truth, the way, and the life. God's sheep hear God's voice. As long as you read the words of Almighty God, you will see God has appeared.

Recommended:

   The brief introduction of the Church of Almighty God

Only by Entering Into the Truth Myself May I Truly Help Others | Eastern Lightning

Du Fan    Jiangsu Province

Recently, a church was holding a vote to select a new leader, but the presiding leader went against the principles of the church, using her own way to carry out the vote. When some other brothers and sisters voiced their opinions, not only did she not acknowledge them, but insisted on upholding her own way. The church was subsequently thrown into confusion by the leader’s actions.

7. Why is it said that God’s two incarnations complete the significance of the incarnation? | Eastern Lightning

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.

6. Why is it said that corrupt mankind is more in need of the salvation of God become flesh? | Eastern Lightning

gods-incarnation-6  The church of Almighty God
     

Corrupt Mankind Is More in Need of the Salvation of

God Become Flesh

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.

5. What are the essential differences between the incarnate God and those people who are used by God? | Eastern Lightning

    Bible Verses for Reference:

   “I indeed baptize you with water to repentance. but he that comes after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire” (Mat 3:11).

   Relevant Words of God:

  Christ is the flesh donned by the Spirit of God. This flesh is unlike any man that is of the flesh. This difference is because Christ is not of flesh and blood but is the incarnation of the Spirit. He has both a normal humanity and a complete divinity. His divinity is not possessed by any man. His normal humanity sustains all His normal activities in the flesh, while His divinity carries out the work of God Himself. Be it His humanity or divinity, both submit to the will of the heavenly Father. The substance of Christ is the Spirit, that is, the divinity. Therefore, His substance is that of God Himself; this substance will not interrupt His own work, and He could not possibly do anything that destroys His own work, nor would He ever utter any words that go against His own will. …
   … All that disobeys God comes from Satan; Satan is the source of all ugliness and wickedness. The reason that man has qualities alike those of Satan is because man has been corrupted and worked on by Satan. Christ has not been corrupted by Satan, hence He has only the characteristics of God and none of those of Satan.

from “The Substance of Christ Is Obedience to the Will of the Heavenly 

Father” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

  Because He is a man with the essence of God, He is above any of created humans, above any man who can perform God’s work. And so, among all those with a human shell like His, among all those who possess humanity, only He is the incarnate God Himself—all others are created humans. Though they all have humanity, created humans are nothing but human, while God incarnate is different: In His flesh He not only has humanity but more importantly has divinity.

from “The Essence of the Flesh Inhabited by God” 

in The Word Appears in the Flesh

   The divinity of Christ is above all men, therefore He is the highest authority of all created beings. This authority is His divinity, that is, the disposition and being of God Himself, which determines His identity.

from “The Substance of Christ Is Obedience to the Will of the Heavenly 

Father” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

   Because God is holy and pure, and real and actual, His flesh comes from the Spirit. This is definite, and beyond doubt. Not only being able to bear testimony to God Himself, but also being able to completely carry out God’s will: this is one side of God’s substance. That the flesh comes from the Spirit with an image means that the flesh with which the Spirit clothes Himself is essentially different to the flesh of man, and this difference primarily lies in their spirit.

from “Interpretation of the Ninth Utterance” 

in The Word Appears in the Flesh

   The flesh worn by the Spirit of God is God’s own flesh. The Spirit of God is supreme; He is almighty, holy, and righteous. So likewise, His flesh is also supreme, almighty, holy, and righteous. Flesh such as that is only able to do that which is righteous and beneficial to mankind, that which is holy, glorious, and mighty, and is incapable of doing anything that violates the truth or morality and justice, much less anything that betrays God’s Spirit. The Spirit of God is holy, and thus His flesh is incorruptible by Satan; His flesh is of a different essence than the flesh of man. For it is man, not God, who is corrupted by Satan; Satan could not possibly corrupt the flesh of God. Thus, despite the fact that man and Christ dwell within the same space, it is only man who is dominated, used, and entrapped by Satan. By contrast, Christ is eternally impervious to Satan’s corruption, because Satan will never be capable of ascending to the place of the most high, and will never be able to draw near to God. Today, you should all understand that it is only mankind, which has been corrupted by Satan, who betrays Me, and that this problem will always be irrelevant for Christ.

from “A Very Serious Problem: Betrayal (2)” 

in The Word Appears in the Flesh

   Because humans are, after all, humans, and they can only look at everything from the perspective and from the height of a person. However, God incarnate is entirely different from a corrupt person. No matter how ordinary, how normal, how lowly God’s incarnate flesh is, or even how much people look down on Him, His thoughts and His attitude toward mankind are things that no man could possess, and no man could imitate. He will always observe mankind from the perspective of divinity, from the height of His position as the Creator. He will always see mankind through the essence and the mindset of God. He absolutely cannot see mankind from the height of an average person, and from the perspective of a corrupt person. When people look at mankind, they look with human vision, and they use things such as human knowledge and human rules and theories as a measure. This is within the scope of what people can see with their eyes; it’s within the scope that corrupt people can achieve. When God looks at mankind, He looks with divine vision, and He uses His essence and what He has and is as a measure. This scope includes things that people cannot see, and this is where God incarnate and corrupt humans are entirely different. This difference is determined by humans’ and God’s different essences, and it is these different essences that determine their identities and positions as well as the perspective and height from which they see things.

from “God’s Work, God’s Disposition, and God Himself III” 

in Continuation of The Word Appears in the Flesh

   He who works in divinity represents God, while those who work in humanity are people used by God. That is, the incarnate God is substantively different from the people used by God. The incarnate God can do the work of divinity, but the people used by God cannot. At the beginning of each age, God’s Spirit speaks personally to launch the new era and bring man to a new beginning. When He finishes His speaking, it signifies that God’s work in divinity is done. Thereafter, people all follow the lead of those used by God to enter life experience.

from “The Essential Difference Between the Incarnate God and 

People Used by God” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

   Though the incarnate God possesses a normal human mind, His work is not adulterated by human thought; He undertakes the work in the humanity with a normal mind, under the precondition that He possesses the humanity with a mind, not by the exercise of normal human thought. No matter how lofty the thoughts of His flesh are, His work does not bear the stamp of logic or thinking. In other words, His work is not conceived by the mind of His flesh, but is a direct expression of the divine work in His humanity. All of His work is the ministry He needs to fulfill, and none of it is conceived by His brain. For example, healing the sick, casting out demons, and the crucifixion were not products of His human mind, could not have been achieved by any man with a human mind. Likewise, the conquering work of today is a ministry that must be performed by the incarnate God, but it is not the work of a human will, it is the work His divinity should do, work of which no fleshly human is capable.

from “The Essence of the Flesh Inhabited by God” 

in The Word Appears in the Flesh

 Throughout time, the people whom God has used all have normal thought and reason. They all know how to conduct themselves and handle life’s affairs. They hold normal human ideology and have all the things normal people should have. Most of them have exceptional talent and innate intelligence. In working through these people, God’s Spirit harnesses their talents, which are their God-given gifts. It is God’s Spirit that brings their talents into play, using their strengths to serve God. However, God’s essence is ideology-free and thought-free. It does not incorporate human ideas and even lacks what humans normally have. That is, God does not even comprehend the principles of human conduct. This is how it is when today’s God comes to the earth. He works and speaks without incorporating human ideas or human thought, but directly reveals the original intentions of the Spirit and directly works on behalf of God. This means the Spirit comes forth to work, which brings in not even a bit of man’s ideas. That is, the incarnate God embodies divinity directly, is without human thought or ideology, and has no understanding of the principles of human conduct. If there were only divine work (meaning if it were only God Himself doing the work), God’s work could not be carried out on earth. So when God comes to earth, He has to have a few people He uses to work in humanity in conjunction with His work in divinity. In other words, He uses human work to support His divine work. Otherwise, man would be unable to come into direct contact with the divine work.

from “The Essential Difference Between the Incarnate God and

People Used by God” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

   The work of men who are used is also the work of the Holy Spirit. It is only that the work of God is the complete expression of the Holy Spirit, and there is no difference, whereas the work of men being used is mixed with many human things, and it is not the direct expression of the Holy Spirit, let alone the complete expression. … When the Holy Spirit works on men being used, both their gifts and actual caliber are brought into play and are not reserved. Their actual caliber is all exerted to serve the work. It can be said that He works by using the available parts of men in order to achieve the working results. By contrast, work done in the incarnate flesh is to directly express the work of the Spirit and is not mixed with the human mind and thoughts, unreachable by man’s gifts, man’s experience or man’s innate condition.

from “God’s Work and Man’s Work” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

   No one who lives in the flesh can directly represent God unless he is a man used by the Holy Spirit. However, even such a person’s disposition and what he lives out cannot be said to completely represent God; it can only be said that what he lives out is governed by the Holy Spirit. The disposition of such a man cannot represent God.
    …………
   … Man is the embodiment of Satan, and the disposition of man does not represent the disposition of God. Some men are of a good character; God may do some work through it and their work is governed by the Holy Spirit, yet their disposition cannot represent God. The work God does in them is just working with and expanding on what already exists within. Be it prophets from ages past or men used by God, none can directly represent Him. … any man with a sinful nature cannot represent God, and the sin of man represents Satan. That is to say, sin does not represent God and God is sinless. Even the work done in man by the Holy Spirit can only be considered to have been governed by the Holy Spirit and cannot be said to be done by man on behalf of God. As far as man is concerned, neither his sin nor his disposition represents God.

  from “Corrupt Man Cannot Represent God” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

  Introduction：
       Eastern Lightning, The Church of Almighty God was created because of the appearance and work of Almighty God, the second coming of the Lord Jesus, Christ of the last days. It is made up of all those who accept Almighty God's work in the last days and are conquered and saved by His words. It was entirely founded by Almighty God personally and is led by Him as the Shepherd. It was definitely not created by a person. Christ is the truth, the way, and the life. God's sheep hear God's voice. As long as you read the words of Almighty God, you will see God has appeared.

Recommended:

 About the Church of Almighty God

5. Why does God not use man to do His work of judgment in the last days but instead He must incarnate and do it Himself? Eastern Lightning

gods-incarnation-4  The church of Almighty God

Bible Verses for Reference:

“For the Father judges no man, but has committed all judgment to the Son” (Jhn 5:22).

“And has given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man” (Jhn 5:27).

Relevant Words of God:

The work of God’s entire management plan is personally done by God Himself. The first stage—the creation of the world—was personally done by God Himself, and if it had not been, then no one would have been capable of creating mankind; the second stage was the redemption of all mankind, and it was also personally done by God Himself; the third stage goes without saying: There is an even greater need for the end of all God’s work to be done by God Himself. The work of redeeming, conquering, gaining, and perfecting the whole of mankind is all personally carried out by God Himself. If He did not personally do this work, then His identity could not be represented by man, or His work done by man. In order to defeat Satan, in order to gain mankind, and in order to give man a normal life on earth, He personally leads man and personally works among man; for the sake of His entire management plan, and for all of His work, He must personally do this work. If man only believes that God came to be seen by him and make him happy, then such beliefs hold no value, they have no significance. Man’s knowledge is too superficial! Only by carrying it out Himself can God do this work thoroughly and completely. Man is incapable of doing it on behalf of God. As he does not have God’s identity or His substance, he is incapable of doing His work, and even if man did, it would not have any effect. The first time God became flesh was for the sake of redemption, to redeem all mankind from sin, to make man capable of being cleansed and of being forgiven for his sins. The work of conquest is also personally done by God among man. If, during this stage, God were only to speak prophecy, then a prophet or someone gifted could be found to take His place; if only prophecy were spoken, man could stand in for God. Yet if man were to personally do the work of God Himself and were to work the life of man, it would be impossible for him to do this work. It must be personally done by God Himself: God must personally become flesh to do this work. In the Age of Word, if only prophecy were spoken, then Isaiah or Elijah the prophet could be found to do this work, and there would be no need for God Himself to do it personally. Because the work done in this stage is not merely the speaking of prophecy, and because it is of greater importance that the work of words is used to conquer man and defeat Satan, this work cannot be done by man, and must be personally done by God Himself. In the Age of Law Jehovah did part of God’s work, after which He spoke some words and did some work through the prophets. That is because man could stand in for the work of Jehovah, and the seers could foretell things and interpret some dreams on His behalf. The work done in the beginning was not the work of directly changing man’s disposition, and was unrelated to the sin of man, and man was required only to abide by the law. So Jehovah did not become flesh and reveal Himself to man; instead He spoke directly to Moses and others, made them speak and work on His behalf, and caused them to work directly among mankind. The first stage of God’s work was the leadership of man. It was the start of the battle with Satan, but this battle had yet to officially begin. The official war with Satan began with the first incarnation of God, and it has continued right up until today. The first instance of this war was when God incarnate was nailed to the cross. The crucifixion of God incarnate defeated Satan, and it was the first successful stage in the war. When God incarnate begins to directly work the life of man, this is the official start of the work of regaining man, and because this is the work of changing man’s old disposition, it is the work of doing battle with Satan. The stage of work done by Jehovah in the beginning was merely the leadership of man’s life on earth. It was the beginning of God’s work, and although it had yet to involve any battle, or any major work, it laid the foundation for the work of the battle to come. Later, the second stage of work during the Age of Grace involved changing man’s old disposition, which means that God Himself wrought the life of man. This had to be personally done by God: It required that God personally become flesh, and if He had not become flesh, no one else could have replaced Him in this stage of work, for it represented the work of fighting directly against Satan. If man had done this work on God’s behalf, when man stood before Satan, Satan would not have submitted and it would have been impossible to defeat it. It had to be God incarnate who came to defeat it, for the substance of God incarnate is still God, He is still the life of man, and He is still the Creator; whatever happens, His identity and substance will not change. And so, He put on the flesh and did the work to cause the complete submission of Satan. During the stage of work of the last days, if man were to do this work and were made to speak the words directly, then he would be unable to speak them, and if prophecy were spoken, then it would be incapable of conquering man. By assuming the flesh, God comes to defeat Satan and cause its complete submission. He utterly defeats Satan, fully conquers man, and completely gains man, after which this stage of work is completed, and success achieved. In God’s management, man cannot stand in for God. In particular, the work of leading the age and launching new work is in even greater need of being personally done by God Himself. Giving man revelation and providing him with prophecy can be done by man, but if it is work that must be personally done by God, work of the battle between God Himself and Satan, then this work cannot be done by man. During the first stage of work, when there was no battle with Satan, Jehovah personally led the people of Israel using the prophecy spoken by the prophets. Afterward, the second stage of work was the battle with Satan, and God Himself personally became flesh, coming into the flesh, to do this work. Anything that involves the battle with Satan also involves the incarnation of God, which means that this battle cannot be waged by man. If man were to do battle, he would be incapable of defeating Satan. How could he have the strength to fight against it whilst still under its domain? Man is in the middle: If you lean toward Satan you belong to Satan, but if you satisfy God you belong to God. Were man to stand in for God in the work of this battle, would he be able to? If he did, would he not have perished long ago? Would he not have entered into the netherworld long ago? And so, man is unable to replace God in His work, which is to say that man does not have the substance of God, and if you did battle with Satan you would be incapable of defeating it. Man can only do some work; he can win some people over, but he cannot stand in for God in the work of God Himself. How could man do battle with Satan? Satan would take you captive before you’d even started. Only God Himself can do battle with Satan, and upon this basis man can follow God and obey Him. Only in this way can man be gained by God and escape from the bonds of Satan. What man can achieve with his own wisdom, authority and abilities is too limited; he is incapable of making man complete, of leading him, and, moreover, of defeating Satan. Man’s intelligence and wisdom are unable to thwart the schemes of Satan, so how could man do battle with it?

from “Restoring the Normal Life of Man and Taking Him to a Wonderful Destination” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

It is precisely because Satan has corrupted the flesh of man, and man is the one who God intends to save, that God must assume the flesh to do battle with Satan and to personally shepherd man. Only this is beneficial to His work. The two incarnate fleshes of God have existed in order to defeat Satan, and have also existed in order to better save man. That is because the one doing the battle with Satan can only be God, whether it be the Spirit of God or the incarnate flesh of God. In short, the one doing the battle with Satan cannot be the angels, much less can it be man, who has been corrupted by Satan. The angels are powerless to do it, and man is even more impotent. As such, if God wishes to work the life of man, if He wishes to personally come to earth to work man, then He must personally become flesh, that is, He must personally put on the flesh, and with His inherent identity and the work that He must do, come among man and personally save man. If not, if it were the Spirit of God or man that did this work, then this battle would forever fail to achieve its effect, and would never end. Only when God becomes flesh to personally go to war against Satan among man does man have a chance of salvation. Furthermore, only then is Satan shamed, and left without any opportunities to exploit or any plans to execute. The work done by God incarnate is unachievable by the Spirit of God, and even more incapable of being done on God’s behalf by any fleshly man, for the work that He does is for the sake of the life of man, and in order to change the corrupt disposition of man. Were man to participate in this battle, he would only flee in woeful disarray, and would simply be incapable of changing the corrupt disposition of man. He would be incapable of saving man from the cross, or of conquering all of rebellious mankind, but only be able to do a little old work according to principle, or else work that is unrelated to the defeat of Satan. So why bother? What is the significance of work that cannot gain mankind, much less defeat Satan? And so, the battle with Satan can only be carried out by God Himself, and is simply incapable of being done by man. Man’s duty is to obey and to follow, for man is unable to do the work of opening up a new epoch, nor, moreover, can he carry out the work of battling Satan. Man can only satisfy the Creator under the leadership of God Himself, through which Satan is defeated; this is the only thing that man can do. And so, every time a new battle commences, which is to say, every time the work of the new age begins, this work is personally done by God Himself, through which He leads the entire age, and opens up a new path for the whole of mankind.

from “Restoring the Normal Life of Man and Taking Him to a Wonderful Destination” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

Because the one who is judged is man, man who is of the flesh and has been corrupted, and it is not the spirit of Satan that is judged directly, the work of judgment is not carried out in the spiritual world, but among man. No one is more suitable, and qualified, than God in the flesh for the work of judging the corruption of man’s flesh. … Satan can only be fully defeated if God in the flesh judges the corruption of mankind. Being the same as man possessed of normal humanity, God in the flesh can directly judge the unrighteousness of man; this is the mark of His innate holiness, and of His extraordinariness. Only God is qualified to, and in the position to judge man, for He is possessed of the truth, and righteousness, and so He is able to judge man. Those who are without the truth and righteousness are not fit to judge others.

from “Corrupt Mankind Is More in Need of the Salvation of God Become Flesh” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

These two stages of God’s work are carried out by God in His incarnate identity because they are so important to the entire management work. It could almost be said that, without the work of the two incarnations of God, the entire management work would have ground to a halt, and the work of saving mankind would be nothing but empty talk. Whether or not this work is important is based on the needs of mankind, and the reality of mankind’s depravity, and the severity of Satan’s disobedience and its disturbance of the work. The right one who is up to the task is predicated upon the nature of his work, and the importance of the work. When it comes to the importance of this work, in terms of what method of work to adopt—work done directly by the Spirit, or work done by God incarnate, or work done through man—the first to be eliminated is work done through man, and, based on the nature of the work, and the nature of the Spirit’s work versus that of the flesh, it is ultimately decided that work done by the flesh is more beneficial for man than work done directly by the Spirit, and offers more advantages. This is God’s thought at the time to decide whether the work was done by the Spirit or by the flesh. There is a significance and basis to each stage of work. They are not groundless imaginings, nor are they carried out arbitrarily; there is a certain wisdom in them. Such is the truth behind all of God’s work.

from “Corrupt Mankind Is More in Need of the Salvation of God Become Flesh” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

The work of judgment is God’s own work, so it should naturally be done by God Himself; it cannot be done by man in His stead. Because judgment is the conquering of the human race through the truth, it is unquestionable that God still appears as the incarnate image to do this work among men. That is to say, in the last days, Christ shall use the truth to teach men around the earth and make all truths known to them. This is God’s work of judgment.

from “Christ Does the Work of Judgment With the Truth” 

in The Word Appears in the Flesh

In the last days, Christ uses a variety of truths to teach man, expose the essence of man, and dissect his words and deeds. These words comprise various truths, such as man’s duty, how man should obey God, how man should be loyal to God, how man ought to live out the normal humanity, as well as the wisdom and the disposition of God, and so on. These words are all directed at the essence of man and his corrupt disposition. In particular, those words that expose how man spurns God are spoken in regard to how man is an embodiment of Satan and an enemy force against God. In undertaking His work of judgment, God does not simply make clear the nature of man with just a few words; He exposes, deals with, and prunes it over the long term. These methods of exposure, dealing, and pruning cannot be substituted with ordinary words, but with the truth that man does not possess at all. Only methods of this kind are deemed judgment; only through judgment of this kind can man be subdued and thoroughly convinced into submission to God, and moreover gain true knowledge of God. What the work of judgment brings about is man’s understanding of the true face of God and the truth about his own rebelliousness. The work of judgment allows man to gain much understanding of the will of God, of the purpose of God’s work, and of the mysteries that are incomprehensible to him. It also allows man to recognize and know his corrupt substance and the roots of his corruption, as well as to discover the ugliness of man. These effects are all brought about by the work of judgment, for the substance of this work is actually the work of opening up the truth, the way, and the life of God to all those who have faith in Him. This work is the work of judgment done by God.

from “Christ Does the Work of Judgment With the Truth” 

in The Word Appears in the Flesh

It is because of these judgments that you have been able to see that God is the righteous God, that God is the holy God. It is because of His holiness and righteousness that He has judged you and visited His wrath upon you. Because He can reveal His righteous disposition when seeing mankind’s rebelliousness, and because He can reveal His holiness when seeing mankind’s filth, this is enough to show that He is God Himself who is holy and without taint, but also lives in a land of filth. If He were a man who sullies himself along with others and if He did not have any elements of holiness or a righteous disposition, He would not be qualified to judge mankind’s unrighteousness or to be the judge of mankind. If man were to judge man, wouldn’t it be like slapping their own face? How could someone have the right to judge the same kind of person, who is just as filthy as they are? The only One who can judge all of filthy mankind is the holy God Himself, and how could man judge man’s sins? How could man be capable of seeing man’s sins, and how could they be qualified to condemn man? If God didn’t have the right to judge man’s sins, then how could He be the righteous God Himself? When people’s corrupt dispositions are revealed, He speaks out to judge them, and only then can they see that He is holy.

from “How the Second Step of the Work of Conquering Bears Fruit”

 in The Word Appears in the Flesh

For all of those who live in the flesh, changing their disposition requires goals to pursue, and knowing God requires witnessing the real deeds and the real face of God. Both can only be achieved by God’s incarnate flesh, and both can only be accomplished by the normal and real flesh. This is why the incarnation is necessary, and why it is needed by all corrupt mankind. Since people are required to know God, the images of the vague and supernatural Gods must be dispelled from their hearts, and since they are required to cast off their corrupt disposition, they must first know their corrupt disposition. If only man does the work so as to dispel the images of the vague Gods from people’s hearts, then he will fail to achieve the proper effect. The images of the vague Gods in people’s hearts cannot be exposed, cast off, or completely expelled by words alone. In doing so, ultimately it would still not be possible to dispel these deep-rooted things from people. Only the practical God and the true image of God can replace these vague and supernatural things to allow people to gradually know them, and only in this way can the due effect be achieved. Man recognizes that the God whom he sought in times past is vague and supernatural. That which can achieve this effect is not the direct leadership of the Spirit, much less the teachings of a certain individual, but the incarnate God. The conceptions of man are laid bare when the incarnate God officially does His work, because the normality and reality of the incarnate God is the antithesis of the vague and supernatural God in man’s imagination. The original conceptions of man can only be revealed through their contrast to the incarnate God. Without the comparison to the incarnate God, the conceptions of man could not be revealed; in other words, without the contrast of reality the vague things could not be revealed. No one is capable of using words to do this work, and no one is capable of articulating this work using words. Only God Himself can do His own work, and no one else can do this work on His behalf. No matter how rich the language of man is, he is incapable of articulating the reality and normality of God. Man can only know God more practically, and can only see Him more clearly, if God personally works among man and completely shows forth His image and His being. This effect cannot be achieved by any fleshly man. … The work of God’s flesh in the Age of Grace and the Age of Kingdom, however, involves man’s corrupt disposition and his knowledge of God, and is an important and crucial part of the work of salvation. Therefore, corrupt mankind is more in need of the salvation of the incarnate God, and is more in need of the direct work of the incarnate God. Mankind needs the incarnate God to shepherd him, support him, water him, feed him, judge and chastise him, and he needs more grace and greater redemption from the incarnate God. Only God in the flesh can be the confidant of man, the shepherd of man, the very present help of man, and all of this is the necessity of incarnation today and in times past.

from “Corrupt Mankind Is More in Need of the Salvation of God 

Become Flesh” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

The best thing about His work in the flesh is that He can leave accurate words and exhortations, and His accurate will for mankind to those who follow Him, so that afterward His followers can more accurately and more concretely pass on all of His work in the flesh and His will for the whole of mankind to those who accept this way. Only the work of God in the flesh among man truly accomplishes the fact of God’s being and living together with man. Only this work fulfills man’s desire to behold the face of God, witness the work of God, and hear the personal word of God. The incarnate God brings to an end the age when only the back of Jehovah appeared to mankind, and also concludes the age of mankind’s belief in the vague God. In particular, the work of the last incarnate God brings all mankind into an age that is more realistic, more practical, and more pleasant. He not only concludes the age of law and doctrine; more importantly, He reveals to mankind a God who is real and normal, who is righteous and holy, who unlocks the work of the management plan and demonstrates the mysteries and destination of mankind, who created mankind and brings to an end the management work, and who has remained hidden for thousands of years. He brings the age of vagueness to a complete end, He concludes the age in which the whole of mankind wished to seek God’s face but was unable to, He ends the age in which the whole of mankind served Satan, and leads the whole of mankind all the way into a completely new era. All this is the outcome of the work of God in the flesh instead of God’s Spirit. … Man’s imaginings are, after all, empty, and cannot replace the true face of God; the inherent disposition of God, and the work of God Himself cannot be impersonated by man. The invisible God in heaven and His work can only be brought to earth by God incarnate who personally does His work among man. This is the most ideal way in which God appears to man, in which man sees God and comes to know the true face of God, and it cannot be achieved by a non-incarnate God.

from “Corrupt Mankind Is More in Need of the Salvation of 

God Become Flesh” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

Introduction：

Eastern Lightning, The Church of Almighty God was created because of the appearance and work of Almighty God, the second coming of the Lord Jesus, Christ of the last days. It is made up of all those who accept Almighty God's work in the last days and are conquered and saved by His words. It was entirely founded by Almighty God personally and is led by Him as the Shepherd. It was definitely not created by a person. Christ is the truth, the way, and the life. God's sheep hear God's voice. As long as you read the words of Almighty God, you will see God has appeared.

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gods-incarnation-3  The church of Almighty God

  Bible Verses for Reference:

  “And he said, I beseech you, show me your glory. And he said, … You can not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live” (Exo 33:18-20).

  “And the LORD came down on mount Sinai, on the top of the mount: and the LORD called Moses up to the top of the mount; and Moses went up. And the LORD said to Moses, Go down, charge the people, lest they break through to the LORD to gaze, and many of them perish” (Exo 19:20-21).