Almighty God says: From the moment you come crying into this world, you begin to perform your duty. Assuming your role in God’s plan and in His ordination, you begin your journey in life. Whatever your background and whatever the journey ahead of you, none can escape the orchestration and arrangement that Heaven has made, and none are in control of their own destiny, for only He who rules over all things is capable of such work. Since the day man came into existence, God has been doing His work in this way, managing this universe and directing the rhythms of change in all things and the paths along which they move. Together with the rest of all things, man is quietly and unknowingly nourished by the sweetness and rain and dew from God. Like the rest of all things, man unknowingly lives under the orchestration of God’s hand. Man’s heart and spirit are held in the hand of God, and his whole life is beheld in the eyes of God. Regardless of whether or not you believe this, any and all things, whether living or dead, will shift, change, renew, and disappear in accordance with God’s thoughts. This is the way in which God presides over all things.
As night quietly draws on, man remains unaware, for the heart of man cannot perceive how the darkness approaches or whence it comes. As the night quietly slips away, man welcomes the light of day, but as for whence the light has come and how it has driven away the darkness of the night, man knows even less and is even less aware. These recurrent alternations of day and night take man from one period into another, from one historical background to the next, while also ensuring that the work of God in every period and His plan for every age are carried out. Man has walked through these different periods together with God, yet he knows not that God rules the fate of all things and living beings or how God orchestrates and directs all things. This is something that has eluded man since time immemorial to the present day. As for the reason why, it is not because the ways of God are too elusive, or because the plan of God has yet to be realized, but because the heart and spirit of man are too distant from God, to the point where, man remains in the service of Satan at the same time that he is following God — and is not even aware of it. No one actively seeks out God’s footsteps or the appearance He manifests, and no one is willing to exist in the care and keeping of God. Rather, they are willing to rely on the corrosion of Satan, the evil one, in order to adapt to this world and to the rules of existence that wicked mankind follows. At this point, the heart and spirit of man are offered up as a tribute to Satan and become Satan’s sustenance. Even more, the human heart and spirit have become a place in which Satan can reside and its fitting playground. In this way, man unknowingly loses his understanding of the principles of being human, and of the value and meaning of human existence. The laws of God and the covenant between God and man gradually fade away in man’s heart, and he ceases to seek or pay heed to God. With the passage of time, man no longer understands why God created him, nor does he understand the words that come from the mouth of God and all that comes from God. Man then begins to resist the laws and decrees of God, and his heart and spirit become deadened…. God loses the man that He originally created, and man loses the root of his beginning: This is the sorrow of this human race. In point of fact, from the very beginning until now, God has staged a tragedy for mankind, in which man is both the protagonist and the victim; as for who is the director of this tragedy, no one can answer.
In the vast expanse of the world, countless changes have occurred, oceans silting into fields, fields flooding into oceans, over and over. Except for He who rules over all things in the universe, no one is able to lead and guide this human race. There is no mighty one to labor or make preparations for this human race, and still less is there anyone who can lead this human race toward the destination of light and liberate it from earthly injustices. God laments the future of mankind, grieves at the fall of mankind, and is pained that mankind is marching, step by step, toward decay and the path of no return. A mankind that has broken the heart of God and renounced Him to seek the evil one: has anyone ever given any thought to the direction in which such a mankind might be headed? It is precisely for this reason that no one senses the wrath of God, no one seeks a way to please God or tries to come closer to God, and what is more, no one seeks to comprehend God’s grief and pain. Even after hearing the voice of God, man continues on his own path, persists in going away from God, evading God’s grace and care, and shunning His truth, preferring to sell himself to Satan, the enemy of God. And who has given any thought — should man persist in being obdurate — to how God will act toward this humanity that has dismissed Him without a backward glance? No one knows that the reason for God’s repeated reminders and exhortations is because He holds in His hands an unprecedented calamity that He has prepared, one that will be unbearable to the flesh and soul of man. This calamity is not merely a punishment of the flesh but of the soul as well. You need to know this: When God’s plan falls through and when His reminders and exhortations beget no response, what kind of rage will He unleash? This will be like nothing that has heretofore been experienced or heard by any created being. And so I say, this calamity is without precedent and will never be repeated. This is because it is God’s plan to create mankind only this once and to save mankind only this once. This is the first time and it is also the last. Therefore, no one can comprehend the painstaking intentions and fervent anticipation with which God saves mankind this time.
God created this world and brought man, a living being unto which He bestowed life, into it. Next, man came to have parents and kin and was no longer alone. Ever since man first laid eyes on this material world, he was destined to exist within the ordination of God. It is the breath of life from God that supports each and every living being throughout his growth into adulthood. During this process, no one feels that man is growing up under the care of God, but rather they believe that man is doing so under the loving care of his parents, and that it is his own instinct of life which governs this process of his growing up. This is because man knows not who bestowed life or whence it came, much less the way in which the instinct of life creates miracles. He knows only that food is the basis on which his life continues, that perseverance is the source of his existence, and that the beliefs in his mind are the capital on which his survival depends. Of the grace and provision coming from God, man is completely oblivious, and in this way he fritters away the life bestowed upon him by God to no purpose…. Not a single one of this humanity that God looks upon day and night takes the initiative to worship Him. God only continues to work on man, for whom He holds out no expectations, as He has planned. He does so in the hope that one day, man will awaken from his dream and suddenly understand the value and meaning of life, the price God paid for all that He has given him, and the eager solicitude with which God waits for man to turn back to Him. No one has ever looked into the secrets governing the origin and continuation of man’s life. Only God, who understands all of this, silently endures the hurt and the blows that man, who has received everything from God but is not thankful, gives Him. Man takes for granted all that life brings, and, likewise, it is “a matter of course” that God is betrayed by man, forgotten by man, and extorted by man. Could it be that God’s plan is truly of such importance? Could it be that man, this living being that came from the hand of God, is truly of such importance? The plan of God is assuredly of importance; however, the living being created by the hand of God exists for the sake of His plan. Therefore, God cannot lay waste to His plan out of hatred for this human race. It is for the sake of His plan and for the breath He exhaled that God endures all torments, not for the flesh of man but for the life of man. He does so in order to take back not the flesh of man but the life He breathed out. This is His plan.
All who come into this world must pass through life and death, and the majority of them passed through the cycle of death and rebirth. Those who are living will soon die and the dead will soon return. All of this is the course of life arranged by God for each living being. However, this course and this cycle are precisely the truth that God wishes for man to see: that the life bestowed upon man by God is limitless, unfettered by physicality, time, or space. This is the mystery of life bestowed upon man by God, and proof that life came from Him. Though many may not believe that life came from God, man inevitably enjoys all that comes from God, whether they believe in or deny His existence. Should God one day have a sudden change of heart and wish to reclaim all that exists in the world and to take back the life He has given, then all shall be no more. God uses His life to supply all things both living and lifeless, bringing all to good order by virtue of His might and authority. This is a truth that can be conceived or comprehended by none, and these incomprehensible truths are the very manifestation of and testament to the life force of God. Now let Me tell you a secret: The greatness of the life of God and the power of His life are unfathomable to any creature. It is thus now, as it was in the past, and it will be thus in the time to come. The second secret I shall impart is this: The source of life comes from God, for all created beings, however different they may be in form or structure. Whatever kind of living being you are, you cannot move counter to the path of life that God has set. In any case, all I wish is for man to understand this: Without the care, keeping, and provision of God, man cannot receive all that he was meant to receive, no matter how diligently he tries or how arduously he struggles. Without the supply of life from God, man loses the sense of value in living and the sense of the meaning of life. How could God allow man, who frivolously wastes the value of His life, to be so carefree? As I have said before: Do not forget that God is the source of your life. If man fails to cherish all that God has bestowed, not only will God take back what He gave in the beginning, but He will exact, as recompense from man, doubly the price of all that He has given.
May 26, 2003
from Continuation of The Word Appears in the Flesh
The tenets of The Church of Almighty God originate from all of the truths expressed by God in His three stages of work.
