“God does the work of the word in the last days, and such words are that of the Holy Spirit, for God is the Holy Spirit and can also become flesh; therefore, the words of the Holy Spirit, as spoken of in the past, are the words of the incarnate God today. … For God to speak utterances to carry out work, He must become flesh, else His work cannot accomplish His goal” (from “How Can Man Who Has Defined God in His Conceptions Receive the Revelations of God?” in The Word Appears in the Flesh).
The Lord has returned in the last days, uttering many truths and doing the work of judgment. It should stand to reason that since pastors and elders serve the Lord, are so well-versed in the Bible, and frequently interpret it for others, they should be able to recognize the coming of the Lord and be able to lead believers to welcome Him. But how do these pastors and elders actually treat the return of the Lord?
One stage of the work of the two previous ages took place in Israel; another took place in Judea. Generally speaking, neither stage of this work left Israel; they were the stages of work carried out among the initial chosen people. Thus, in the view of the Israelites, Jehovah God is only the God of the Israelites. Because of Jesus’ work in Judea, and because of His completion of the work of the crucifixion, from the perspective of the Jews, Jesus is the Redeemer of the Jewish people. He is solely the King of the Jews, not of any other people; He is not the Lord who redeems the English, nor the Lord who redeems the Americans, but He is the Lord who redeems the Israelites, and in Israel it is the Jews that He redeems. Actually, God is the Master of all things. He is the God of all creation. He is not only the God of the Israelites, and He is not only the God of the Jews; He is the God of all creation. The previous two stages of His work took place in Israel, and in this way, some conceptions have taken shape within people. People think that Jehovah was at work in Israel and Jesus Himself carried out His work in Judea—additionally, it was through incarnation that He was at work in Judea—and whatever the case, this work did not extend beyond Israel. He was not at work with the Egyptians; He was not at work with the Indians; He was only at work with the Israelites. People thus form various conceptions; additionally, they plan out God’s work within a certain scope. They say that when God is at work, it must be carried out among the chosen people and in Israel; save for the Israelites, God has no other recipient for His work, nor does He have any other scope for His work; they are particularly strict in “disciplining” the God incarnate, not permitting Him to move beyond the scope of Israel. Are these not all human conceptions? God made all of the heavens and earth and all things, and made all of creation; how could He restrict His work to only Israel? In that case, what use would there be for Him to make the entirety of His creation? He created the whole world; He has carried out His six-thousand-year management plan not only in Israel but also with every person in the universe. Regardless of whether they live in China, the United States, the United Kingdom or Russia, every person is a descendant of Adam; they have all been made by God. Not a single person can break away from the scope of God’s creation, and not a single person can escape the label of “descendant of Adam.” They are all God’s creation, and they are all Adam’s descendants; they are also the descendants of the corrupted Adam and Eve. It is not only the Israelites who are God’s creation, but all people; nevertheless, some among creation have been cursed, and some have been blessed. There are many desirable things about the Israelites; God was initially at work with them because they were the least corrupt people. The Chinese pale in comparison to them, and cannot even hope to match them; thus, God initially worked among the people of Israel, and the second stage of His work was only carried out in Judea. As a result of this, people form many conceptions and many rules. Actually, if He were to act according to human conceptions, God would only be the God of the Israelites; in this manner He would be unable to expand His work into Gentile nations, because He would only be the God of the Israelites rather than the God of all creation. The prophecies said that Jehovah’s name would be great in the Gentile nations and that Jehovah’s name would be spread to the Gentile nations—why would they say this? If God were only the God of the Israelites, then He would only be at work in Israel. Furthermore, He would not expand this work, and He would not make this prophecy. Since He made this prophecy, He would need to expand His work into Gentile nations and into every nation and place. Since He stated this, He would thus do so. This is His plan, for He is the Lord who created the heavens and earth and all things, and the God of all creation. Regardless of whether He is at work with the Israelites or in all Judea, the work He does is the work of the entire universe and the work of all humanity. The work He does today in the nation of the great red dragon—in a Gentile nation—is still the work of all humanity. Israel can be the base for His work on earth; likewise, China can also become the base for His work among the Gentile nations. Has He not now fulfilled the prophecy that “the name of Jehovah will be great in the Gentile nations”? The first step of His work among the Gentile nations refers to this work He is doing in the nation of the great red dragon. For the God incarnate to be at work in this land and to be at work among these cursed people runs particularly contrary to human conceptions; these people are the most lowly and without any worth. These are all people whom Jehovah initially abandoned. People can be abandoned by other people, but if they are abandoned by God, these people will have no status, and they will have the lowest amount of worth. As a part of creation, being occupied by Satan or abandoned by other people are both painful things, but if a part of creation is abandoned by the Lord of creation, this signifies that his or her status is at an absolute low. The descendants of Moab were cursed, and they were born within this underdeveloped country; without a doubt, the descendants of Moab are the people with the lowest status under the influence of darkness. Because these people possessed the lowest status in the past, the work done among them is most capable of shattering human conceptions, and it is also the work most beneficial to His entire six-thousand-year management plan. For Him to work among these people is the action most capable of shattering human conceptions; with this He launches an era; with this He shatters all human conceptions; with this He ends the work of the entire Age of Grace. His initial work was carried out in Judea, within the scope of Israel; in Gentile nations He did not do any era-launching work whatsoever. The final stage of His work is not only carried out among the people of Gentile nations; even more so, it is carried out among those cursed people. This one point is the evidence most capable of humiliating Satan; thus, God “becomes” the God of all creation in the universe and becomes the Lord of all things, the object of worship for everything with life.
