Chapter 9
In people’s imagination, God is God and humans are humans. God does not speak the language of humans, nor can they speak the language of God. To God, meeting humanity’s demands of Him is a piece of cake—one easy slice at a time—whereas God’s requirements of humanity are unattainable and unthinkable to humans. However, the truth is precisely the opposite: God only asks “0.1 percent” of humans. This is not only astonishing to people, but also makes them feel very much bewildered, as if they are all at sea. It is only thanks to God’s enlightenment and grace that people have gained a little knowledge of God’s intentions. On March 1, however, all people were once again left bewildered and scratching their heads; God asked that His people be as gleaming snow, not as drifting clouds. So, what does this “snow” refer to? And what do “drifting clouds” indicate? At this point, God is deliberately revealing nothing of the deeper meaning of these words. This plunges people into confusion, and thus increases their faith as they seek knowledge—for this is a specific demand made of God’s people, and nothing else; people all therefore find themselves unwittingly spending more time pondering these unfathomable words. As a result, various ideas sprout in their brains, drifting snowflakes flash before their eyes, and drifting clouds in the sky immediately appear in their minds. Why does God ask that His people be as snow, and not as drifting clouds? What is the true meaning here? To what do these words refer, specifically? “Snow” not only makes nature look pretty, but is also good for farmland; it is good for killing bacteria. After a heavy snowfall, all the bacteria are covered by gleaming snow, and the entire area immediately brims with life. Likewise, the people of God must not only know God incarnate, but also discipline themselves upon the fact of God’s incarnation; in so doing, they will live out normal humanity. This is how snow makes nature look pretty; ultimately, the maturity of God’s people shall bring an end to the great red dragon, establishing God’s kingdom on earth, and spreading and glorifying God’s holy name so that the whole of the kingdom on earth is filled with God’s righteousness, shines forth with His radiance, and sparkles with His glory. Everywhere there will be scenes of peace and contentment, happiness and fulfillment, and continuously renewed beauty. The various plagues that currently exist—corrupt satanic dispositions such as unrighteousness, crookedness and deceitfulness, evil desires, and so on—will all be eradicated, and thus heaven and earth will both be renewed. This is the true meaning of “after a heavy snowfall.” Those who are as drifting clouds are akin to the sort of people who follow the herd that God mentions; if there are any temptations from Satan or trials from God, they will immediately drift away, no longer to exist. Not even any substance of theirs will survive, having vanished long ago. If people are as drifting clouds, then they are not only incapable of living out God’s image, but also bring shame upon His name, for such people are in danger of being snatched away at any time or place; they are the food that Satan consumes—and when Satan takes them captive, they will betray God and serve Satan. This clearly brings shame upon God’s name, and is what God resents most of all; such people are God’s enemies. Thus, they are both without the essence of normal people and without any practical value. It is because of this that God makes such requirements of His people. After understanding something of these words, however, people feel at a loss as to what to do next, for the topic of God’s words has turned to God Himself, which puts them in a difficult position: “Because I come from the holy land, I am not like the lotus, which has only a name and no essence, for it comes from the mud and not the holy land.” Why, after speaking of His requirements of His people, does God describe His own birth? Could it be that there is a connection between the two? Indeed, there is an inherent connection between them; if not, God would not tell people that. Amongst green leaves, the lotus sways back and forth in the gentle breeze. It is pleasing to the eye, and greatly cherished. People simply cannot get enough of it, and are itching to swim in the water to pick a lotus blossom and get a closer look at it. However, God says the lotus comes from the mud, and has only a name and no essence; it appears that God attaches no importance to lotuses, and His words make it evident that He has a certain loathing toward them. Throughout the ages, many have lavished praise upon lotuses because they emerge unstained from the mud, and even seem to imply that lotuses are beyond compare and indescribably wonderful. In God’s eyes, though, lotuses are worthless—which is precisely the difference between God and humans. Thus it can be seen that the difference between God and humans is as vast as the distance between the vault of heaven and the very foundation of the earth. Because a lotus comes from the mud, the nutrients it requires all come from there, too. It is simply that the lotus is able to disguise itself, and thus provide a feast for the eyes. Many people see only the lotus’ beautiful exterior, but no one sees that the life concealed within is filthy and impure. Thus, God says that it has only a name and no essence—which is totally correct and true. Is this not precisely what God’s people are like today? Their submission to and faith in God is only superficial. Before God, they curry favor and parade themselves in order to make Him satisfied with them; inside, however, they are stuffed full of a corrupt, satanic disposition, and their bellies are filled with impurities. This is why God poses questions to humans, asking whether their loyalty to God is tainted with impurities or whether it is pure and wholehearted. When they were service-doers, many people praised God vocally but cursed Him in their hearts. With their words, they submitted to God, but in their hearts, they rebelled against Him. Their mouths uttered negative words, and in their hearts, they harbored opposition to God. There were even those whose actions were coordinated: They released obscenities with their mouths and gesticulated with their hands, utterly dissolute, and gave a vivid and lifelike expression of the true visage of the great red dragon. Such people are genuinely worthy of being called the spawn of the great red dragon. Today, however, they stand in the place of loyal service-doers and act as though they are God’s loyal people—how shameless! This is no wonder, though; they come from the mud, so cannot help but show their true colors. Because God is holy and pure, and real and actual, His flesh comes from the Spirit. This is definite and incontrovertible. Not only being able to bear testimony for God Himself, but also being able to completely devote Himself to following God’s will: these represent one side of God’s essence. That the flesh comes from the Spirit with an image means that the flesh with which the Spirit clothes Himself is substantively different to the flesh of humans, and this difference primarily lies in their spirit. What the “Spirit with an image” refers to is how, as a result of being covered by normal humanity, the divinity is able to work normally from within. This is not the least bit supernatural, and is not limited by humanity. The “image of the Spirit” refers to complete divinity, and is not limited by humanity. As such, God’s inherent disposition and true image can be completely lived out in the incarnate flesh, which is not only normal and stable, but possesses majesty and wrath. The first incarnate flesh could only present the God that people could conceive of; that is, He was only able to perform signs and wonders and speak prophecies. Thus, He did not completely live out the practicality of God, and so was not the embodiment of the Spirit with an image; He was but the direct appearance of divinity. Moreover, because He transcended normal humanity, He was not called the complete practical God Himself, but had a little of the vague God in heaven about Him; He was the God of people’s notions. This is the substantive difference between the two fleshes incarnate.
From the highest point in the universe, God watches over humanity’s every move and over all that people say and do. He even observes all of their innermost thoughts with absolute clarity, never overlooking them; as such, His words cut right into people’s hearts, striking at their every thought, and God’s words are astute and without error. “Although people ‘know’ My Spirit, they still offend My Spirit. My words lay bare the ugly faces of all people, as well as their innermost thoughts, and cause all upon earth to fall down in the midst of My scrutiny.” From this it is evident that although God’s requirements of humanity are not very demanding, people are still unable to endure the scrutiny of God’s Spirit. “However, despite falling down, their hearts do not dare to stray far from Me. Among created beings, who does not come to love Me as a result of My deeds?” This is even more indicative of God’s full wisdom and omnipotence, and thus reveals everything God’s people thought when they were in the position of service-doers: After a “trade” that ended in failure, the “hundreds of thousands” or “millions” in their heads came to nothing. However, because of God’s administrative decrees and because of God’s majesty and wrath—even though they hung their heads in sorrow—they still served God with a negative mindset, and all of their practices of the past became but empty talk and totally forgotten. Instead, to keep themselves entertained, to pass or idle away the time, they did things at will that made them and everybody else happy. … This was what was really going on among humans. Thus, God opens up to humanity and says, “Who does not yearn for Me as a result of My words? In whom are not born feelings of attachment as a result of My love?” To be honest, humans are all willing to accept God’s words, and there is not one among them who does not like to read the words of God; it is just that they are unable to put God’s words into practice, for they are hindered by their natures. After reading God’s words, many people cannot bear to be apart from them, and their love for God wells up within them. Thus, God once again curses Satan, once more exposing its ugly face. “This era in which Satan runs riot and is madly despotic” is also the very age that God begins His official great work on earth. Next, He begins the work of annihilating the world. In other words, the more Satan runs amok, the sooner God’s day will arrive. Thus, the more God speaks of Satan’s wantonness, the closer the day draws on which God will annihilate the world. Such is God’s proclamation to Satan.
Why did God repeatedly say, “… furthermore, behind My back, they engage in those ‘laudable’ dirty dealings. Do you think the flesh, with which I clothe Myself, knows nothing of your actions, your behavior, and your words?” He did not just say such words one or two times. Why is that? Once people have been comforted by God, and are aware of God’s sorrow for humanity, it becomes easy for them to forget the past as they struggle forward. Nevertheless, God is not the least bit lenient toward humans: He continues to target their thoughts. Thus, He tells people over and over to know themselves, to cease their debauchery, to no longer engage in such laudable dirty dealings, and to never again deceive God in the flesh. Although people’s natures do not change, there is benefit in reminding them a few times. After this, God speaks from a human perspective to reveal the mysteries in their hearts: “Many years have I endured the wind and rain, and so too have I experienced the bitterness of the human world; however, upon closer reflection, no amount of suffering can make fleshly humanity lose hope in Me, much less can any sweetness cause humans of flesh to grow cold, downhearted, or dismissive toward Me. Is their love for Me really limited to either a lack of suffering or a lack of sweetness?” “Everything beneath the sun is empty”—these words indeed have inner meaning. Thus, God is saying that nothing can make humans lose hope in Him or grow cold toward Him. If people do not love God, then they may as well be dead; if they do not love God, then their suffering is in vain and the happiness they enjoy is empty, and is added to their sins. Because not a single person truly loves God, He says, “Is their love for Me really limited to either a lack of suffering or a lack of sweetness?” In the world of humanity, how could anyone exist without suffering or sweetness? Time and time again, God says, “Not a single human has ever truly seen My face or ever truly heard My voice, for humans do not truly know Me.” God says that humans do not truly know Him, but why does He ask humans to know Him? Is this not a contradiction? Every one of God’s words has a certain purpose. Because humans have grown numb, God employs the principle of doing 100% of His work through humans in order to ultimately possess 0.1 percent of each of their hearts. Such is the method by which God works, and God must act thusly in order to achieve His goals. This is also precisely the wisdom in God’s words. Have you grasped this?
God says: “When I reveal My mysteries directly and make plain My intentions in the flesh, you take no notice; you listen to the sounds, but do not understand their meaning. I am overcome with sadness. Although I am in the flesh, I am unable to do the work of the ministry of the flesh.” In one regard, these words make people, because of their numbness, take the initiative to cooperate with God; in another regard, God reveals the true face of His divinity in flesh incarnate. Because humans are too small of stature, the revelation of divinity during the period that God is in the flesh only comes in accordance with their ability to accept it. During this step of work, most people remain incapable of fully accepting it, which sufficiently shows how unreceptive they are. Thus, during this work, the divinity does not perform all of its original function; it only performs a small part of it. This shows that in future work, the divinity will gradually be revealed according to the state of humanity’s recovery. However, the divinity does not grow gradually; rather, it is what the incarnate God possesses in essence, and is unlike the stature of humans.
There was a purpose and meaning to God’s creation of humans, which is why He said, “If humanity were all destroyed by My wrath, what would be the significance of My creation of the heavens and earth?” After humans were corrupted, God planned to gain a portion of them for His enjoyment; He did not plan for all humans to be destroyed, nor for them to be eradicated at the slightest violation of God’s administrative decrees. Such is not the intention of God; as God said, that would be meaningless. It is precisely because of this “meaninglessness” that God’s wisdom is made plain. Is there not even greater significance in God speaking and working through many means in order to chastise, judge, and strike at all people, ultimately selecting only those who truly love Him? It is precisely in this manner that God’s deeds are revealed, and so the creation of humans becomes even more significant. Thus, the majority of God’s words are said to simply float past them; this is in order to achieve a goal, and this exactly is the reality of a portion of His words.