Relevant Words of God:

People must understand where the pains they suffer throughout their lives—birth, old age, illness and death—came from and why man suffers these things. When God first created man, was man not free from these pains? So where did these pains that man began to suffer later come from? They came from Satan. These pains arose after man was tempted and corrupted by Satan and subsequently degenerated. The pains, worries, and emptiness of man’s flesh, and all of the wretched things in the world of man—they all appeared after Satan corrupted man. After being corrupted by Satan, man has come to have satanic dispositions, and so he becomes ever more degenerate, his sickness becomes ever more profound, his pain becomes ever greater, and he has an increasing sense that the world is empty and miserable, that it is impossible to survive in this world, and that living in this world is increasingly hopeless. So these pains were all brought upon man by Satan, and came after man was corrupted by Satan and degenerated.

—The Word, Vol. 3. The Discourses of Christ of the Last Days. The Significance of God’s Tasting of Worldly Suffering

Since the advent of the social sciences, the heart of man has become occupied by science and knowledge. Science and knowledge then have become tools for the ruling of mankind, leaving man without sufficient room to worship God, and without as many favorable conditions for the worship of God. The position of God has sunk ever lower in the heart of man. Without a place for God in his heart, the inner world of man is dark, hopeless and empty. Subsequently many social scientists, historians, and politicians have come to the fore to express theories of social science, the theory of human evolution, and other theories that contradict the truth that God created man, to fill the hearts and minds of mankind. And in this way, those who believe that God created everything have become ever fewer, and those who believe in the theory of evolution have become ever greater in number. More and more people treat the records of the work of God and His words during the age of the Old Testament as myths and legends. In their hearts, people become indifferent to the dignity and greatness of God, and they become indifferent to God’s existence and to the tenet that God holds sovereignty over all things. The survival of mankind and the fate of countries and nations are no longer important to them, and man lives in a hollow world concerned only with eating, drinking, and the pursuit of pleasure. … Few people take it upon themselves to seek out where God does His work today, or to look for how He holds sovereignty over and arranges the destination of man. And in this way, unbeknownst to man, human civilization becomes less and less able to hew to man’s wishes, and there are even many people who feel that, living in such a world, they are less happy than those who have already passed away. Even people of countries that used to be highly civilized air such grievances. For without the guidance of God, even if rulers and sociologists rack their brains to preserve human civilization, it is to no avail. No person can fill the emptiness in the heart of man, for no person can be the life of man, and no social theory can free man from the troubles of emptiness. Science, knowledge, freedom, democracy, pleasure, and comfort bring man only temporary consolation. Even with these things, man still inevitably sins and complains about the unfairness of society. Having these things cannot hinder man’s longing and desire to explore. This is because man was made by God and his senseless sacrifices and explorations can only increasingly bring distress upon him, and cause man to be in a constant state of anxiety, not knowing how to face the future of mankind or how to face the path that lies ahead, to the extent that man even becomes frightened of science and knowledge, and even more so frightened of the feeling of emptiness. In this world, regardless of whether you live in a free country or one without human rights, you are utterly incapable of escaping the fate of mankind. Whether you are the ruler or the ruled, you are utterly incapable of escaping the desire to explore the fate, mysteries, and destination of mankind, much less are you capable of escaping the inexplicable feeling of emptiness. Such phenomena, which are common to all of mankind, are called social phenomena by sociologists, yet no great man can come forth to solve such problems. Man, after all, is man, and the status and life of God cannot be replaced by any man. What mankind needs is not just a fair society in which everyone is well-fed, equal, and free; what mankind needs is the salvation of God and His provision of life to man. Only when man receives God’s provision of life and His salvation can his needs, his desire to explore, and the emptiness of his heart be resolved. If the people of a country or a nation are unable to receive the salvation and watching over of God, then such a country or nation will move toward decline, toward darkness, and as a result it shall be annihilated by God.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Appendix 2: God Holds Sovereignty Over the Fate of All Mankind

People go through this life in poverty and wealth and live lives long and short. Some are common folk, while others are high-ranking officials and elites. There are people from every level of society, but they all basically live in the same way: They vie for fame and gain according to their desires, ambitions, and satanic dispositions, and they won’t rest in peace without achieving these goals. Seeing these circumstances, people may consider, “Why do people live like this? Is there no other path to take? Do people really live only to eat and drink well all the way until they die? Where do they go then? Why have so many generations of people all lived in this same way? What’s the root of all this?” Humans don’t know where they come from, what their mission in life is, or who is in charge and who holds sovereignty over all of this. Generations come and go one after the other, and each lives and then dies in the same way. They all come and go in the same way, and no one finds a true means or path for living. No one seeks the truth in this. From ancient times until now, people have all lived in the same way. They are all searching and waiting, wishing to see what humanity will be like without anyone knowing or getting to see it. When all is said and done, people simply don’t know who is the One that governs and holds sovereignty over all of this or whether He even exists. They don’t know the answer to this, and all they can do is to live on helplessly, yearning year after year, and enduring day by day until now. If people knew why all of this was, would this give them a path to follow for how they should live? Would they then be able to escape from this suffering and no longer have to live according to human wishes and hopes? When people understand why they live, why they die, and who is in charge of this world; when they come to understand the answer that the One who holds sovereignty over everything is the Creator, then they’ll have a path to follow. They’ll know that they should seek the truth in God’s words to find a way forward and they don’t need to live in such misery relying on wishes and hopes. If people discover the answer to why they live and die, won’t there be a resolution to all human misery and difficulties? Won’t this offer people deliverance? People will have truly found deliverance, and they will be completely set free.

—The Word, Vol. 3. The Discourses of Christ of the Last Days. Part Three

What should you ponder in your heart after hearing the song, “The One Who Holds Sovereignty Over Everything”? If mankind were to know why they live and why they die, and who, in fact, is the Sovereign of this world and all things and the One who rules over everything, and where He is, exactly, and what He requires of man—if mankind could understand these things, they would know how to treat the Creator, and how to worship and submit to Him, they would gain support in their heart, they would be at peace and happy, and they would no longer live in such torment and pain. In the final analysis, people must understand the truth. The path they choose for their lives is crucial, and how they live is also important. How one lives and the path one walks decide whether one’s life is joyful or sorrowful. This is something people should understand. When people hear this hymn, they may have such a deep feeling in their hearts: “The lives of all mankind follow this sort of pattern; ancient people were no exception, and modern people are the same as they were of old. Modern people haven’t changed these ways. So, is there a Sovereign among mankind, a legendary God who is in charge of everything? If mankind can find God, the One who is in charge of everything, won’t mankind be capable of feeling happiness? The key now is to find the root of mankind. Where is this root? Upon finding this root, mankind can live in another sort of realm. If mankind is unable to find it, and continues living the same sort of lives as ever, will they be capable of achieving happiness?” If people do not believe in God, even if they see that mankind is deeply corrupt and very wicked, what are they to do? Can they resolve the problem of corrupt dispositions? Do they have a path to salvation? Though you may wish to change for the better and live out a human likeness, can you? You have no way forward! For example, you see some people living for their children—you know this way of living is not right, but can you avoid living for your children? Or you see some people rushing about and busying themselves in pursuit of money, fame, and gain—you know in your heart this path is wrong, but can you avoid rushing about and busying yourself for the same things? If the path you’re walking is precisely that of pursuing fame and gain, and you know it is the wrong path, yet even though you want to, you cannot walk the path of pursuing the truth, this means that you’re not in control of how you live in this world! What is the root of this? It is that people have not accepted God’s work or gained the truth. What’s people’s spiritual support? Where do they look for spiritual support? For spiritual support, people look to the togetherness of family; to the bliss of marriage; to the enjoyment of material things; to wealth, fame, gain, status, relationships, and careers; and to the next generation’s happiness. Does anyone not look to these things for spiritual support? Those with children find it in their children; those without children find it in their careers, in marriage, in their social status, and in fame and gain. The ways of life thus produced are therefore all the same; subject to Satan’s control and power, and in spite of themselves, all people rush about and busy themselves for the sake of status, fame, gain, their careers and prospects, for the sake of their marriages, their families, and their children’s prospects, and for the sake of fleshly pleasures. Is this the right path? However busily people bustle about in this world, however successful they are in their careers, however happy their families are, however large their family is, however prestigious their status is—are they capable of embarking on the right path in life? By chasing after fame and gain, the world, or by pursuing their careers, are they capable of seeing the fact that God created all things and holds sovereignty over the destiny of mankind? It is not possible. Regardless of what people pursue or what kind of path they are on, if they do not acknowledge the fact that God holds sovereignty over the destiny of mankind, then the path they walk is wrong. It is not the right path, but the crooked path, the path of evil. Whether your source of spiritual support has been satisfied or not, and no matter where you look for it, it is not true faith, and it is not the right path in life. What is true faith? It’s accepting God’s appearance and work and accepting all of the truth that God has expressed. This truth is the right path in life and the truth and the life that people should pursue. Walking the right path in life is following God and being able, under the leadership of His words, to understand the truth, tell good from evil, know what are positive things and what are negative things, and understand His sovereignty and almightiness. When people truly understand in their hearts that God not only created the heavens and earth and all things but is also the Sovereign over the universe and everything, they will be able to submit to all of His orchestrations and arrangements, live according to His words, and fear God and shun evil. This will mean that people have embarked on the right path in life. When people take the right path in life, they can understand why people live and how they should live in order to live in the light and receive God’s blessing and approval.

—The Word, Vol. 3. The Discourses of Christ of the Last Days. Part Three

Some people have a deep sense and appreciation of the phrase, “That’s fate,” yet they do not believe in God’s sovereignty whatsoever; they do not believe that human fate is arranged and orchestrated by God, and are unwilling to submit to God’s sovereignty. They’re as helpless as if they were stranded in the ocean, left to the mercy of the waves, only able to wait passively and negatively and resign themselves to fate. Yet they do not acknowledge that human fate is subject to God’s sovereignty; they cannot take the initiative to try to know God’s sovereignty and thereby gain knowledge of God’s authority, submit to God’s orchestrations and arrangements, no longer fight against fate, but live under God’s care, protection, and guidance. In other words, being resigned to one’s fate is not the same as submitting to the Creator’s sovereignty; believing in fate does not mean that one accepts, acknowledges, and knows the Creator’s sovereignty; believing in fate is mere acknowledgment of this fact and its outward manifestations, and is not the same as knowing how the Creator holds sovereignty over mankind’s fate, nor acknowledging that the Creator is the source of sovereignty over the fates of all things, much less is it the same as being able to submit to the Creator’s orchestrations and arrangements for people’s fates. Suppose that a person only believes in fate, and even has a deep sense of it, but is not thereby able to know, acknowledge, submit to, or accept the Creator’s sovereignty over the fates of mankind. In that case, their life will be a tragedy; they will still live this life in vain—it will all come to nothing. They will remain unable to surrender under the Creator’s dominion, to become a created human being in the true sense of the term, and to earn the Creator’s recognition. A person who truly knows and experiences the Creator’s sovereignty should be in a positive state, not a state that is negative or resigned. Rather, as they acknowledge that all things are fated, they also possess in their heart an accurate definition of life and fate: Man’s entire life is subject to the Creator’s sovereignty. When they look back on the road they have walked, when they recall every phase of their life, they see that at every step—whether their journey was arduous or smooth—God was guiding and making arrangements for them, that it was God’s meticulous planning, as well as His careful arrangements, that led them, unknowingly, to today, where they are able to accept the Creator’s sovereignty and His salvation. This is the greatest blessing in a person’s life! If a person has a negative attitude toward fate, it proves that they are resisting everything that God has arranged for them, that they do not have a submissive attitude. If someone has a positive attitude toward God’s sovereignty over human fate, then when they look back upon the path they’ve walked, when they truly experience God’s sovereignty, they will more genuinely desire to submit to everything that God has arranged, and will have more determination and faith to let God orchestrate their fate, no longer rebelling against God. This is because they see that when people do not know what fate is all about or understand God’s sovereignty, they are just willfully struggling and stumbling through the fog, and that journey is too arduous, and it causes too much heartache. So when people realize that God is sovereign over human fate, the clever ones choose to know and accept God’s sovereignty, and bid farewell to the painful days of “trying to build a good life with their own two hands,” rather than continuing to struggle against fate and pursue their so-called life goals in their own way. When a person is without God, when they cannot see Him, when they cannot truly and clearly know God’s sovereignty, every day is meaningless, worthless, and indescribably painful. No matter where a person is, and what their job is, their means of survival and the goals that they pursue bring them nothing but endless heartache, and pain that is difficult to get over, which are experiences that they cannot bear to look back on. Only by accepting the Creator’s sovereignty, submitting to His orchestrations and arrangements, and pursuing the attainment of true human life, can a person gradually break free from all heartache and pain, and gradually rid themselves of all the emptiness of human life.

—The Word, Vol. 2. On Knowing God. God Himself, the Unique III

Because man does not know God’s orchestrations and God’s sovereignty, he always faces fate with a defiant mood and a rebellious attitude, and he always wants to break free from God’s authority and sovereignty and the things fate has in store, hoping in vain to change his current circumstances and alter his fate. But he can never succeed and is thwarted at every turn. This struggle, which takes place deep in his soul, causes him pain, and this pain carves itself into his bones, and it simultaneously makes him fritter his life away. What is the cause of this pain? Is it because of God’s sovereignty, or due to having a bad fate? Obviously, neither is true. In the final analysis, it is caused by the path man takes and the way he chooses to live his life. Some people may not have experienced these things. But when you truly know and acknowledge that God has sovereignty over human fate, when you truly understand that everything which God holds sovereignty over and arranges for you is of great benefit and protection to you, then you will feel your pain gradually lighten, and your whole being will gradually become relaxed, free, and liberated. Judging from the states of the majority of people, though on a subjective level they don’t want to keep on living as they did before, and want to free themselves from their pain, objectively speaking, they cannot truly apprehend the practical value and significance of the Creator’s sovereignty over human fate, nor can they truly acknowledge and submit to the Creator’s sovereignty, much less do they know how to seek and accept the Creator’s orchestrations and arrangements. So, if man cannot truly come to know the fact that the Creator has sovereignty over his fate and over his everything, and he cannot truly submit under the Creator’s dominion, then it will be very difficult for him to not be driven and fettered by the idea that man’s fate is in his own hands, and very difficult for him to break free from the pain brought on by his intense struggle against fate and the Creator’s authority—of course, it will also be very hard for him to become truly liberated and free, to become one who worships God. The simplest way to free oneself from this state is to bid farewell to one’s former way of living; to say goodbye to one’s previous goals in life; to summarize and dissect one’s previous way of living, view of life, pursuits, desires, and aspirations; and then to compare them with God’s intentions and requirements for man, and see whether any of them are compatible with God’s intentions, whether any of them are in accordance with God’s requirements, whether any of them deliver the right values of life, and whether any of them allow one to live with more and more understanding of the truth, and with humanity and the likeness of a human being. When you repeatedly investigate and carefully dissect the various goals that people pursue in life and their various ways of living, you will find not one of them conforms to the Creator’s original intention with which He created humanity. All of them draw people away from the Creator’s sovereignty and care; they are all traps which cause people to become depraved, and which lead them to hell. After you recognize this, what you should do is let go of your old view of life, stay far from various traps, let God take charge of your life and make arrangements for it, seek only to submit to God’s orchestrations and guidance without making any of your own choices, and become a person who worships God. This sounds easy, but it’s hard to do. Some people can endure this hardship, while others cannot. Some are willing to cooperate, while others are unwilling. Those who are unwilling don’t have the desire or the resolve to do so. They are clearly aware of God’s sovereignty, and know fully well that it is God who orchestrates and arranges people’s fates, yet they still want to break away, and are unwilling to place their fates in God’s hands and submit to God’s sovereignty—even more so, they’re discontent with God’s orchestrations and arrangements. So, there will always be some people who want to try and see just how far their abilities go; they want to change their fates with their own two hands, or create happiness for themselves through their own abilities, to see whether they can transcend the bounds of God’s authority and break free from His sovereignty. The tragedy of man is not that he pursues a happy life, not that he pursues fame and gain, or that he struggles against his own fate through a haze, but that, after he has seen the Creator’s existence, and has learned the fact that the Creator has sovereignty over human fate, he still cannot turn back from the wrong path, cannot pull his feet out of the mire, but hardens his heart and persists stubbornly in his errant ways. He would rather keep thrashing in the mud, obstinately contending against the Creator’s sovereignty, resisting it until the end, all without the slightest attitude of contrition. It is only when he lies broken and bleeding that he at last decides to give up and turn back. This is the true tragedy of man. So I say, those who choose to submit are wise, while those who choose to break away are foolish and stubborn.

—The Word, Vol. 2. On Knowing God. God Himself, the Unique III