The Significance of God’s Previous Two Appearances and Work in Israel, and of God’s Appearance and Work in China in the Last Days
I said, “Sister, I understand now from your fellowship that God’s plan is always behind where He chooses to appear and work and, even more so, God’s wisdom and His good will are to be found therein as well. We are unfit to form opinions on God’s work, much less delimit His work. But there is still something I don’t understand: China is an atheist nation where most people don’t believe in God or worship God. Since God appeared and worked in Israel before, couldn’t He also work in nations like the US or the UK, where Christianity is the state religion? Why did He deliberately choose to perform His work in China? What is God’s will here? Are you able to give us fellowship on this?”
“Yes, God’s appearance and work are meaningful and we human beings would never be able to work it out. So do please fellowship with us again!” said Sister Zhao.
Sister Li smiled and said, “Thanks be to God, for the words of Almighty God explain this issue very clearly. Let’s read a couple more passages of God’s words. Almighty God says, ‘Nothing was more symbolic than the first stage being carried out in Israel: The Israelites were the most holy and least corrupt of all peoples, and so the dawn of the new epoch in this land held the utmost significance. It can be said that mankind’s forefathers came from Israel, and that Israel was the birthplace of God’s work. In the beginning, these people were the most holy, and they all worshiped Jehovah, and God’s work in them was able to yield the greatest results. The entire Bible records the work of two ages: One was the work of the Age of Law, and one was the work of the Age of Grace. The Old Testament records Jehovah’s words to the Israelites and His work in Israel; the New Testament records Jesus’ work in Judea. But why does the Bible not contain any Chinese names? Because the first two parts of God’s work were carried out in Israel, because the people of Israel were the chosen ones—which is to say that they were the first to accept the work of Jehovah. They were the least corrupt of all mankind, and in the beginning, they were of a mind to look up to God and revere Him. They obeyed the words of Jehovah, and always served in the temple, and wore priestly robes or crowns. They were the earliest people to worship God, and the earliest object of His work. These people were the specimens and models for the whole of mankind. They were specimens and models of holiness and righteousness. People such as Job, Abraham, Lot, or Peter and Timothy—they were all Israelites, and the most holy of specimens and models. Israel was the earliest country to worship God among mankind, and more righteous people came from here than anywhere else. God worked in them in order that He could better manage mankind throughout the land in the future. Their achievements and the righteousness of their worship of Jehovah were recorded, so that they could serve as specimens and models to the people beyond Israel during the Age of Grace; and their actions have upheld several thousand years of work, right up until today’ (“The Vision of God’s Work (2)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh).
“‘The work of Jehovah was the creation of the world, it was the beginning; this stage of work is the end of work, and it is the conclusion. At the start, God’s work was carried out among the chosen ones of Israel, and it was the dawn of a new epoch in the most holy of all places. The last stage of work is carried out in the most impure of all countries, to judge the world and bring the age to an end. In the first stage, God’s work was done in the brightest of all places, and the last stage is carried out in the darkest of all places, and this darkness will be driven out, the light brought forth, and all the people conquered. When the people of this most impure and darkest of all places have been conquered, and the entire population has acknowledged that there is a God, who is the true God, and every person has been utterly convinced, then this fact will be used to carry out the work of conquest throughout the entire universe. This stage of work is symbolic: Once the work of this age has been finished, the work of six thousand years of management will come to a complete end. Once those in the darkest of all places have been conquered, it goes without saying that it will also be so everywhere else. As such, only the work of conquest in China carries meaningful symbolism. China embodies all forces of darkness, and the people of China represent all those who are of the flesh, of Satan, and of flesh and blood. It is the Chinese people who have been most corrupted by the great red dragon, who have the strongest opposition to God, whose humanity is most base and impure, and so they are the archetype of all corrupt humanity. … It is in the people of China that corruption, impurity, unrighteousness, opposition, and rebelliousness are manifested most completely and revealed in all their varied forms. On the one hand, they are of poor caliber, and on the other, their lives and mindset are backward, and their habits, social environment, family of birth—all are poor and the most backward. Their status, too, is low. The work in this place is symbolic, and after this test work has been carried out in its entirety, God’s subsequent work will go much better. If this step of work can be completed, then the subsequent work goes without saying. Once this step of work has been accomplished, great success will have been fully achieved, and the work of conquest throughout the entire universe will have come to a complete end. In fact, once the work among you has been successful, this will be equivalent to the success throughout the entire universe. This is the significance of why I have you act as a model and a specimen. Rebelliousness, opposition, impurity, unrighteousness—all are found in these people, and in them is represented all the rebelliousness of mankind. They are really something. Thus, they are held up as the epitome of conquest, and once they have been conquered they will naturally become specimens and models for others’ (“The Vision of God’s Work (2)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh).”
After she’d finished reading these passages, Sister Li gave us fellowship, saying, “We can understand from Almighty God’s words that God decides the place where He will work and the objects of His work in every age based on the needs of His work, and God’s decision about where to perform His work is principled, meaningful and representative. Take Jehovah’s work in Israel in the Age of Law, for example. His work allowed people to know what sin was, how to tell the difference between good and evil, and His work allowed people to live normal, orderly lives on earth. Jehovah God chose to work in Israel, as Israel was the place where God made our ancestors, Adam and Eve. The Israelites were the people least corrupted by Satan, and they were also the people who first began to worship God. By performing His work on the Israelites, they were able to accept and obey it easily, and working in Israel was advantageous to spreading God’s work to other places more easily. In the Age of Grace, the incarnated Lord Jesus performed the work of redemption upon a tribe of the Israelites—the Jews—in order to save mankind from the fetters and bonds of the law and to enable people to come before God to confess and repent their sins. Because the Jews worshiped Jehovah God already and were kept within bounds by the law, they were least corrupted by Satan. If those who were the least corrupted needed the salvation of God, just think how much more the rest of mankind, who were even more corrupted, needed it! Wouldn’t they have needed God’s salvation even more? That is why God’s previous two stages of work were performed in Israel; it was what was required by God’s work. Because the work performed in the Age of Law and the Age of Grace was just to make people aware of sin and to confess their sins, and it did not involve changing people’s corrupt dispositions, God therefore chose to come and perform His work in the land of Israel, where the people were least corrupted, and where they believed in God and worshiped God. He did this so as to better launch on earth His work to save mankind and to better spread His gospel.
“Similarly, there is also a tremendous significance to God appearing and working in China in the last days. The work God performs in the last days is the work of conquering and perfecting mankind. It is to express His words to expose and judge our rebelliousness and corruption, to make us recognize the truth of our own corruption by Satan and our God-defying satanic nature. It is to enable us to pursue the truth, to be rid of our satanic corrupt dispositions once and for all, for us to be changed and purified by God, and to become people who truly obey and worship God. Therefore, the objects of God’s work in the last days must necessarily be the epitomes of the people most deeply corrupted by Satan amongst all of corrupted mankind. If God can conquer the people who are the most deeply corrupted amongst all mankind, then that would be tantamount to conquering all of mankind. Only in that way will Satan be thoroughly shamed and defeated, and only then will God truly gain glory. In all the universe, the people of China are the ones who have been most deeply corrupted by Satan, and who resist God the most. As everybody knows, China is under the rule of an atheist government which believes in Marxism-Leninism, and which promotes atheism, materialism and evolutionism; China is the nation that is the darkest and the most unwilling to acknowledge the existence of God in all the world. The Chinese Communist Party uses school education, media broadcasts, the opinions of the great and famous, as well as all manner of social trends to perpetually indoctrinate people with such satanic poisons, philosophies and axioms as ‘There has never been any Savior,’ ‘Religion is the opiate of the masses,’ ‘One’s destiny is in his own hand,’ ‘Man can conquer nature,’ ‘Every man for himself and the devil take the hindmost,’ ‘Man will do anything to get rich,’ ‘Money is first,’ ‘Life is just about eating and dressing,’ and ‘Seize the day for pleasure, for life is short.’ After the Chinese people have accepted all these poisons and axioms of Satan, they all resist and deny God, and they don’t believe that it is God who provides for and nurtures mankind, much less do they believe that God is currently performing His work to save mankind. The people of China have been deeply corrupted by Satan and they live by the philosophies and axioms of Satan; they are all incredibly covetous of physical pleasures, and they advocate the acquisition of money, fame, fortune and status. From the high officials of the CCP to the ordinary street peddlers, they strive, scheme and fight against each other in order to obtain fame, fortune and status. What’s more, the people of China are the descendants of Moab who have descended from licentiousness and wickedness, who are cursed by God, who have the poorest caliber and the lowliest status of any among the whole of mankind. In China, eating, drinking, whoring, gambling, smoking, swindling, and thieving are all becoming more and more prevalent, and people are becoming more and more promiscuous, corrupt and wicked. In other words, the people of China are the epitomes of corruption and wickedness. In the last days, God has become flesh and has appeared to perform His work in China, He expresses His words and performs the work of judgment to conquer the people of China—those who are the most filthy and corrupt—and in doing so, He makes it easier to conquer the peoples of other nations. Therefore, performing His work of conquest and judgment on the people of China is the best way for God to show His almightiness and wisdom, and it is the best way to shame Satan and achieve the outcome of conquering and perfecting mankind. If God performed His work in the last days in Israel again, then this outcome would be impossible, and Satan would remain unconvinced. It would accuse God, saying that the Israelites have always revered and obeyed God, that they are not the most deeply corrupted of mankind, and that to make people like this complete does not demonstrate that God can make complete all the people throughout the universe. Now that we have read Almighty God’s words, we have seen that, whether it be God’s previous two stages of work in Israel, or God appearing and working in China in the last days, His work is always profoundly meaningful, and it always allows us to see God’s power, wisdom and wondrousness!”
I was much moved by Almighty God’s words and by the fellowship given by Sister Li, and I said, “Yes, Israel is a God-worshiping nation and, relatively speaking, the Israelites are the least corrupted amongst mankind. If the Lord returned to work in Israel, many would accept it and would very quickly be made complete by God. In that way, God’s work of conquest would not achieve a good outcome and people would be unable to witness God’s almightiness and wisdom. China, on the other hand, is the most degenerate and the least God-worshiping nation in the world, and if God can conquer the people of China, then this would show His power even more. I now understand that the significance of God working in China in the last days is truly great indeed, and yet I hadn’t known the significance of God’s work, but had instead made decisions about God’s work using my own notions and imaginings—how arrogant I was!”
I Relinquish My Notions and Joyfully Welcome the Lord’s Return
Sister Li said happily, “Thanks be to God! That we are able to relinquish our notions and imaginings and seek to accept the truth is all down to the leadership and guidance of God! God’s wisdom is higher than the heavens, and there are mysteries to God’s work and truths to seek no matter what work He does. And so, in relation to the matter of the Lord’s coming to perform His work, we must relinquish our own notions, as no matter where God works, His disposition and essence do not change, and all of God’s work is done to save mankind. What we need to do is listen carefully to the voice of God, relinquish our notions and imaginings, seek the truth, keep pace with God’s footsteps, and avoid missing our chance to be saved by God because we are delimiting God. Just as Almighty God’s words say, ‘Let go of your opinions about the “impossible”! The more that people believe something is impossible, the more likely it is to occur, because the wisdom of God soars higher than the heavens, God’s thoughts are higher than man’s thoughts, and the work of God transcends the limits of man’s thinking and notions. The more that something is impossible, the more it has truth that can be sought; the more something lies beyond man’s notions and imagination, the more it contains the will of God. This is because, no matter where He reveals Himself, God is still God, and His substance will never change on account of the location or manner of His appearance. The disposition of God remains the same regardless of where His footprints are, and no matter where the footprints of God are, He is the God of all mankind, just as the Lord Jesus is not only the God of the Israelites, but is also the God of all the people of Asia, Europe, and America, and even more than that, He is the one and only God in the entire universe. So let us seek God’s will and discover His appearance in His utterances, and keep pace with His footsteps! God is the truth, the way, and the life. His words and His appearance exist concurrently, and His disposition and footprints are open to mankind at all times’ (“The Appearance of God Has Ushered in a New Age” in The Word Appears in the Flesh).”
Just then, I felt overjoyed that I had been able to know God’s work, and I also felt remorse and a sense of indebtedness for having previously delimited God—my heart was filled with all kinds of emotions. I had longed to welcome the Lord’s return for years, but I’d never realized that I was delimiting where God could appear and work within my imagination, or that I was believing in God and yet resisting Him at the same time. It was the words of Almighty God that had revealed the mysteries of God’s appearance and work, and I had finally come to have the correct understanding about the significance of God coming to perform His work in China in the last days. That I was fortunate enough on this day to hear Almighty God’s words was truly God raising me up; my heart was much moved, and I was filled with gratitude toward Him. After the meeting was over, Sister Zhao and I both said that we wanted to look further into Almighty God’s work of the last days, and we took the initiative to ask Sister Li for a copy of The Word Appears in the Flesh, the book of words expressed by Almighty God.
After I got home, I held the book of Almighty God’s words
in my hands and loved it so much that I couldn’t put it down, and I read it avidly every day. After some time had passed, I came to understand many truths I had not understood before when
I had merely believed in the Lord, such as the mystery of God’s six-thousand-year management plan, the truth and the backstory to the Bible, the mystery of God’s name, the inside story on
God’s three stages of work, as well as what true faith in
God is, and how God determines the ends and
destinations for various kinds of people. The truths expressed by Almighty God possess authority, power and majesty, and they contain God’s mercy for mankind. Besides God, no one could
uncover these mysteries or express these truths. I became absolutely certain that Almighty God is the Lord Jesus returned, and I gladly accepted the work of Almighty God. It is the grace
of Almighty God that has enabled me to keep pace with the footsteps of the Lamb. Thanks be to God!
Source From: The Church of Almighty God