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Eastern Lightning | X. Questions and Answers on the Truth of Incarnation
Question 4: I read Almighty God’s words, “Corrupt Mankind Is More in Need of the Salvation of God Become Flesh.” I think this is a fantastic passage of God’s word, very practical, and very important. With regard to why corrupt mankind must receive the salvation of God’s incarnation, this is an aspect of the truth that most people urgently need to understand. Please commune with us a little more on this.
Answer: “Corrupt Mankind Is More in Need of the Salvation of God Become Flesh,” this passage of God’s word completely explains the meaning of the salvation of corrupt mankind by God’s incarnation. Let’s read from Almighty God’s word.
Almighty God says, “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” (“Restoring the Normal Life of Man and Taking Him to a Wonderful Destination” in The Word Appears in the Flesh）.
“The flesh of man has been corrupted by Satan, and most deeply blinded, and profoundly harmed. The most fundamental reason why God works personally in the flesh is because the object of His salvation is man, who is of the flesh, and because Satan also uses the flesh of man to disturb the work of God. The battle with Satan is actually the work of conquering man, and at the same time, man is also the object of God's salvation. In this way, the work of God incarnate is essential. Satan corrupted the flesh of man, and man became the embodiment of Satan, and became the object to be defeated by God. In this way, the work of doing battle with Satan and saving mankind occurs on earth, and God must become human in order to do battle with Satan. This is work of the utmost practicality” (“Corrupt Mankind Is More in Need of the Salvation of God Become Flesh” in The Word Appears in the Flesh).
“The flesh of man has been most profoundly corrupted, and it has become something which opposes God, which even openly opposes and denies the existence of God. This corrupt flesh is simply too intractable, and nothing is more difficult to deal with or change than the corrupt disposition of the flesh. Satan comes into the flesh of man to stir up disturbance, and uses the flesh of man to disturb the work of God, and impair the plan of God, and thus man has become Satan, and the enemy of God. For man to be saved, he must first be conquered. It is because of this that God rises to the challenge and comes into the flesh to do the work He intends to do, and do battle with Satan. His aim is the salvation of mankind, who has been corrupted, and the defeat and annihilation of Satan, which rebels against Him. He defeats Satan through His work of conquering man, and simultaneously saves corrupt mankind. Thus, God solves two problems at once” (“Corrupt Mankind Is More in Need of the Salvation of God Become Flesh” in The Word Appears in the Flesh).
“When God is working in the flesh, He is actually doing battle with Satan in the flesh. When He works in the flesh, He is doing His work in the spiritual realm, and makes the whole of His work in the spiritual realm real on earth. The one who is conquered is man, who is disobedient to Him, the one who is defeated is the embodiment of Satan (of course, this is also man), who is in enmity of Him, and the one who is ultimately saved is also man. In this way, it is even more necessary for Him to become a man who has the outer shell of a creature, so that He is able to do real battle with Satan, conquering man, who is disobedient to Him and possessed of the same outer shell as Him, and saving man, who is of the same outer shell as Him and has been harmed by Satan. His enemy is man, the object of His conquest is man, and the object of His salvation is man, who was created by Him. So He must become man, and in this way, His work becomes much easier. He is able to defeat Satan and conquer mankind, and, moreover, is able to save mankind” (“Corrupt Mankind Is More in Need of the Salvation of God Become Flesh” in The Word Appears in the Flesh).
From Almighty God’s word we recognize that the reason corrupt mankind must be saved by God’s incarnation is that man’s flesh has been thoroughly deceived and corrupted by Satan. All of mankind lives under Satan’s domain, they can’t distinguish between good and evil, beauty and ugliness. They can’t tell the difference between the positive and negative. They live according to Satan’s philosophy, law and nature, they are arrogant, self-righteous, reckless, and lawless. They are all embodiments of Satan and have become degenerates conspiring with Satan to resist God, yet they don’t realize that. God is the Creator, only God thoroughly knows humanity’s true nature, to what degree they’ve been corrupted. And only God can expose and dissect man’s satanic nature and corrupt disposition, can tell man how to live and act as men, and can thoroughly conquer, purify, and save mankind. Other than God, no created man can see through to the essence of man’s corruption and certainly cannot give man the truth of how to act as men. So, if God wishes to wrest the deeply corrupt mankind from the clutches of Satan and save them, then only if God’s incarnation personally expresses the truth and God’s disposition and tells man of all the truths which He must possess, allowing man to understand the truth, know God, and see through Satan’s evil plots and various fallacies, only then may man forsake and reject Satan and return before God. Also, the work of God’s incarnation exposes all kinds of men. because men are all arrogant and refuse to give in. When God is incarnated to express the truth, men invariably respond with their conceptions, resistance and even war. As such, the truth of corrupt mankind’s resistance to and betrayal of God is fully exposed and God conducts His judgment of man based upon the corruption they reveal and their true nature. Only in this way, can God’s conquest, purification, and perfection of mankind be carried out smoothly. Through the judgment by God’s words, man is gradually conquered and purified. When man is thoroughly conquered, he begins to obey the incarnate God, he begins to accept and obey God’s judgment and chastisement and experience God’s work, he resolves to seek the truth and never again live by Satan’s philosophy and rules. When man lives entirely according to God’s word, then God has thoroughly defeated Satan and corrupt man serves as the spoils of His victory against Satan. In essence, God wrests the corrupt mankind from the grips of Satan. Only the work of God incarnate can have such an effect. This is the absolute necessity of God’s being incarnated to save mankind, and only the incarnate God can thoroughly conquer and save mankind. The people that God uses are incapable of doing the work of redeeming and saving mankind.
Only if God is incarnated and comes personally to work among men, expressing truth to address man’s corruption, nature and substance, can man be purified and saved. God’s incarnation is what we corrupt humans most need. If we only believe in the God of the high heavens and only understand and talk about the empty theories of the religious world, we will never know God and will never be saved by God. Corrupt man truly needs God to become flesh to judge and purify him personally if he wants to be saved. In the course of the incarnate God’s interaction with man, He allows man to understand and know God face-to-face. Because the real seekers of the truth accept the judgment and purification of Christ of the last days, they naturally are able to obey God and feel love in their heart for God and be thoroughly rescued from the domain of Satan. Is this not the best way for God to save and perfect mankind? Because God is incarnated in the flesh, we have had the opportunity to come face to face with God and experience His real work, and have had the opportunity to receive the supply of God’s accurate word and be shepherded and watered by Him directly so that we begin to rely upon God, obey God, and truly love Him. If God didn’t become flesh to do the work of mankind’s salvation, this practical effect could not be achieved. Almighty God says, “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” (“Corrupt Mankind Is More in Need of the Salvation of God Become Flesh” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). “The work that is of greatest value to corrupt man is that which provides accurate words, clear goals to pursue, and which can be seen and touched. Only realistic work and timely guidance are suited to man's tastes, and only real work can save man from his corrupt and depraved disposition. This can only be achieved by the incarnate God; only the incarnate God can save man from his formerly corrupt and depraved disposition” (“Corrupt Mankind Is More in Need of the Salvation of God Become Flesh” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). “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” (“Corrupt Mankind Is More in Need of the Salvation of God Become Flesh” in The Word Appears in the Flesh).
When God becomes flesh to save corrupt mankind, He can use the language of men to clearly tell mankind of God’s demands, His will, His disposition and all that He has and is. In this way, without having to cast about and search, man can understand God’s will clearly, know God’s demands and the way in which they ought to practice. They can also, as such, have a practical understanding and knowledge of God. Just as in the Age of Grace, Peter asked the Lord Jesus, “Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?” (Mat 18:21). Jesus told Peter directly: “I say not to you, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven” (Mat 18:22). From this we can see that the incarnate Lord Jesus fed and supported men whenever and wherever He went, giving man the most practical and clear supply. In the last days, Almighty God has been incarnated amongst men, expressing the truth to address man’s actual situation, expressing God’s disposition and all that God has and is to support and supply mankind, pointing out all of the inaccuracies and fallacies within man’s belief in God, informing man of God’s will and His demands, giving men the most practical and accurate life supply and sustenance. For instance, when we live in rebellion and resistance of God without knowing it, God’s word directly exposes and judges us, allowing us to see, in God’s word, how our very satanic nature is against God. When we follow God for our own personal gain and are self-righteous in so doing, God exposes our inadequacies and tells us what beliefs we must hold as followers of God. When we misunderstand God in our experience of His judgment, God’s word reminds us of the earnest intentions with which God saves and judges mankind, resolving our misunderstandings of God, etc. All of God’s chosen have deeply experienced how the incarnate God is constantly helping and supplying us so that we needn’t cast about and search. All we need to do is read more of Almighty God’s word to gain God’s most practical feeding and watering. Through the word God expresses, we gain some true understanding of God’s will, His disposition and all that He has and is and through this understanding, we come to know how to pursue in such a way as to live out a true life and learn how to see through Satan’s dastardly plots, clearly seeing how we ourselves have been corrupted to the core by Satan, and in so doing, slowly casting off our sin and Satan’s dark influence. As a result, our life disposition changes and we set foot on the right way, living out the reality of truth. God’s incarnation has made all of this possible.
God has been incarnated to do work and express His word, allowing man to attain the most practical life supply and sustenance. Despite the fact that man has many conceptions regarding God incarnate’s work of judgment, God has brought man the way of life and the everlasting salvation, and man has come to depend upon Him! Let’s read Almighty God’s word,
“There is no way to imagine or measure the work He does in the flesh, for His flesh is unlike that of any fleshly man; although the outer shell is identical, the substance is not the same. His flesh produces many conceptions among man about God, yet His flesh can also allow man to acquire much knowledge, and can even conquer any man possessed of a similar outer shell. For He is not merely a man, but is God with the outer shell of a man, and none can completely fathom or understand Him” (“Corrupt Mankind Is More in Need of the Salvation of God Become Flesh” in The Word Appears in the Flesh).
“It is because of the work of God incarnate that God becomes a flesh who has a tangible form, and who can be seen and touched by man. He is not a formless Spirit, but a flesh that can be contacted and seen by man. However, most of the Gods people believe in are fleshless deities that are formless, which are also of a free form. In this way, the incarnate God has become the enemy of most of those who believe in God, and those who cannot accept the fact of God’s incarnation have, similarly, become the adversaries of God. … Though most people have become the enemies of God because of this flesh, when He concludes His work, those who are against Him will not only cease to be His enemies, but on the contrary will become His witnesses. They will become the witnesses that have been conquered by Him, witnesses that are compatible with Him and inseparable from Him. He shall cause man to know the importance of His work in the flesh to man, and man shall know the importance of this flesh to the meaning of man’s existence, shall know His real value to the growth of man’s life, and, moreover, shall know that this flesh will become a living fountain of life from which man cannot bear to part” (“Corrupt Mankind Is More in Need of the Salvation of God Become Flesh” in The Word Appears in the Flesh).
Despite the fact that God has taken the form of an ordinary Son of man in His incarnation in the last days to save and perfect mankind, despite His not performing signs and wonders, and not possessing superhuman qualities or a large stature and His being the target of man’s conceptions, their denial, resistance, and rejection, the truth that Christ expresses and the work of judgment which He carries out have given man a supply of God’s word, and allowed them to attain the truth and see the appearance of God. Though we have not seen God’s real person, we have seen His inherent disposition, and His holy substance, which is just the same as if we had seen His real person. We have seen God living amongst us really and actually. We really feel that we have been raptured before the throne, experiencing God’s work face to face with God, and enjoying the supply of living water of life which flows from the throne, and begin to truly love and obey God. Having experienced God’s work up until now, we’ve all realized that Christ of the last days is corrupt mankind’s greatest salvation. He is the only path toward knowledge of God and receiving God’s commendation! Let’s read Almighty God’s word.
Almighty God says, “This time, God comes to do work not in a spiritual body but in a very ordinary one. Not only is it the body of God's second incarnation, but also the body in which God returns. It is a very ordinary flesh. In Him, you cannot see anything that is different from others, but you can receive from Him the truths you have never heard before. This insignificant flesh is the embodiment of all the words of truth from God, that which undertakes God's work in the last days, and an expression of the whole of God's disposition for man to come to know. Did you not desire greatly to see the God in heaven? Did you not desire greatly to understand the God in heaven? Did you not desire greatly to see the destination of mankind? He will tell you all these untold secrets, and He will even tell you of the truths that you do not understand. He is your gate into the kingdom, and your guide into the new age. … The work of God in the last days is to allow man to see the God in heaven live among men on earth, and to enable man to come to know, obey, revere, and love God. This is why He has returned to flesh for a second time. Though what man sees this day is a God that is the same as man, a God with a nose and two eyes, and an unremarkable God, in the end God will show you that without the existence of this man, the heaven and earth will undergo a tremendous change; without the existence of this man, the heaven will grow dim, the earth will become chaos, and all mankind will live in famine and plagues. He will show you that without the salvation of God incarnate in the last days, then God would have long ago destroyed all mankind in hell; without the existence of this flesh, then you would forever be chief of sinners and corpses evermore. You should know that without the existence of this flesh, all mankind would face an inevitable calamity and find it difficult to escape God's more severe punishment of mankind in the last days. Without the birth of this ordinary flesh, you would all be in a state where neither life nor death will come no matter how you seek it; without the existence of this flesh, then this day you would not be able to receive the truth and come before the throne of God. Rather, you would be punished by God because of your grievous sins. Do you know? If not for the return of God to the flesh, none would have a chance at salvation; and if not for the coming of this flesh, God would have long ago ended the age of old. As such, can you still reject the second incarnation of God? Since you can so greatly profit from this ordinary man, then why would you not accept Him readily?” (“Do You Know? God Has Done a Great Thing Among Men” in The Word Appears in the Flesh).
“All you have this day is because of this flesh. It is because God lives in the flesh that you have the chance to live. All this good fortune has been gained because of this ordinary man. Not only this, but in the end every nation shall worship this ordinary man, as well as give thanks to and obey this insignificant man. Because it is He who has brought the truth, the life, and the way to save all mankind, ease the conflict between God and man, bring God and man closer together, and communicate thoughts between God and man. It is also He who has brought even greater glory to God. Is not an ordinary man such as this worthy of your trust and adoration? Is such an ordinary flesh not fit to be called Christ? Can such an ordinary man not be the expression of God among men? Is not such a man who helps mankind be spared disaster worthy of your love and for you to hold? If you reject the truths uttered from His mouth and also detest His existence among you, then what will be your fate?” (“Do You Know? God Has Done a Great Thing Among Men” in The Word Appears in the Flesh).
“Without the work of Jesus, mankind could not have come down from the cross, but without the incarnation this day, those who come down from the cross could never be commended by God or enter into the new age. Without the coming of this ordinary man, then you would never have the opportunity or be eligible to see the true countenance of God, for you are all ones that should have long ago been destroyed. Because of the coming of the second incarnation of God, God has forgiven you and shown you mercy. Regardless, the words I must leave you with in the end are still these: This ordinary man, who is God incarnate, is of vital importance to you. This is the great thing that God has already done among men” (“Do You Know? God Has Done a Great Thing Among Men” in The Word Appears in the Flesh).
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