The content of our last fellowship concerned the topic of “letting go of the barriers between oneself and God and one’s hostility toward God,” specifically addressing aspects concerning God’s incarnate flesh. We fellowshipped on how people should know and treat God’s incarnate flesh. The first principle is to not compare the incarnate God with the God in heaven. What is the second one? (The second one is to not put the incarnate God on a par with corrupt humankind.) Now that we have finished fellowshipping on the topic of not comparing the incarnate God with the God in heaven, do you have any new understanding regarding how to treat the incarnate God? Have you let go of some of your previous notions and imaginings about God incarnate, and been able to know the God on earth more practically? Have you realized that some of your previous thoughts, understandings, or attitudes concerning God were a result of human notions and imaginings? Now, through fellowshipping in this way, first of all, in terms of knowledge, you have righted many of your notions and imaginings regarding the incarnation, and going forward, the attitude and approach with which you treat God can also become a bit more practical and accurate. Do you all have some experiential knowledge in this regard? (Yes. Previously, I had some fanciful notions and imaginings about God’s incarnate flesh, feeling that God understood everything and was omniscient. Through God’s past two fellowships, I came to understand that God incarnate is particularly normal and practical. For example, when He goes to a country, He also looks up the local laws, and takes it as an article of faith to conduct Himself in a rule-abiding manner and do things dutifully. This part got to me a bit, because I do not conduct myself in a rule-abiding manner or do things dutifully; sometimes I am undisciplined, and I even want to exploit loopholes. After listening to God’s fellowship, I felt that the image of God in my heart suddenly became practical and concrete.) Now, through fellowshipping on this content, people have gained some more objective and practical knowledge and feelings about God. Do these feelings make you feel the practical existence of God even more, or does seeing God incarnate speak and act so normally and practically make you feel that God is so ordinary—even inconceivable—that you instead develop doubts and drift further away from God? These manifestations of God’s normality and practicality are completely inconsistent with the notions and imaginings about God that most people hold within; they are vastly different, and are also something people have never thought of. So, after hearing this content, do you feel very disappointed in God’s incarnate flesh? (No. After listening, I feel that the image of Christ has become more concrete in my heart, and He feels very approachable. Originally, I thought that Christ was the God in heaven come to earth, and that He should be very imposing and great. But now I see that Christ is very ordinary and practical; He likewise abides by the laws of the human world, and at the same time practically expresses the truth to provide for us. This makes Him feel extremely practical and concrete to me. I feel that my relationship with God is no longer so distant, and that I have instead grown closer to God.) Do you all feel this way? Have you all made similar gains? (Yes.) In that case, it is still necessary to fellowship on this content. This is an aspect of the truth that people need and should possess; it is indispensable. In the process of pursuing the truth, this aspect of the truth is something people must understand. Once people understand this aspect of the truth, the relationship between people and God will become more normal. Right? (Yes.) This content mainly involves fellowshipping on some manifestations of the normality and practicality of God’s incarnate flesh, allowing people to know the essence of God’s incarnate flesh, as well as some of His starting points and principles for conducting Himself and doing things. By knowing these starting points, principles, and specific viewpoints on doing things, people can more objectively and practically understand God and understand His normality and practicality.

Through understanding the normality and practicality of the incarnate God, shouldn’t you be able to recognize some of your notions and imaginings about the God in heaven? When God incarnate comes among people, in conducting Himself and doing things, He abides by the principle of conducting Himself in a rule-abiding manner and doing things dutifully. What about the God in heaven, then? Although He does not have concrete behaviors of self-conduct, and He is not involved in the various aspects of self-conduct, looking at how God does things—whether based on biblical records, or based on what people understand, perceive, and experience of God’s actions—is there any conflict with the essence and principles of how God incarnate conducts Himself and does things? (No.) Theoretically, we should be able to be certain that there is no conflict. Although the God in heaven cannot be seen or touched by people, He also does things dutifully and practically. God’s incarnate flesh has a normal and practical side that people can see and know, and the God in heaven likewise has a normal and practical side. We won’t go into God’s power, authority, wisdom, almightiness, and so on—that is one aspect of knowing God, knowing God’s essence, and knowing God’s identity, which might be beyond your reach. But in terms of some of the things God does that people can see and experience, the God in heaven still manifests this normal and practical side. For example, the Bible records that God created Adam and Eve, breathed His breath into them so that they became living people with spirits, and then placed them in the Garden of Eden. Before God created mankind’s ancestors, Adam and Eve, God did a series of things, all of which were prepared for these two people created by God. For man, God created the heavens and earth, rivers and lakes, various living things on earth, the four seasons, and everything else man needs. Before creating these two people, God had already completed this work step by step. With every step He took, all these things created by God practically emerged bit by bit in this material world, and these are all things that can be seen by the human eye. When these two people came into being, all of this was ready. As for what God did for them after creating these two people, this is also recorded in the Bible. First, God placed them in the Garden of Eden, and then He said something to them in a very practical way. What did He say? (“Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat of it: for in the day that you eat thereof you shall surely die” (Genesis 2:16–17).) God gave mankind this instruction, and then a series of things happened. After that, what did God do for Adam and Eve? (He made coats of skins for them.) God made coats of skins to clothe them; you should be very familiar with this story. Does this series of things that God said, did, and instructed not paint a vivid picture? (It does.) Through these scenes, people are able to deeply or truly appreciate that what is revealed or contained in God’s each and every movement is not hollow, and moreover, the scenes presented to people by every single thing God does are not hollow either. Right? (Yes.) Not a single thing God does is hollow, and not a single thing is a mere theory or slogan; He does everything practically. Some people say, “Sometimes God accomplishes things with a thought, and sometimes He accomplishes things with just a word.” No matter how God accomplishes this matter, in any case, He is doing it practically; He is doing things in a down-to-earth and dutiful manner. He does not shout slogans or throw doctrines around, nor does He deceive people. What does doing things practically entail? God plans and thinks, and when He does something, He may use His thoughts, or use His words, or personally set His hands to doing it. How do we express “personally doing something” in human language? It means personally going to handle the matter, personally busying Himself with it, and personally setting His hands to doing it. Looking at all these instances of “personally,” is God not particularly down-to-earth and dutiful in how He does things? (Yes.) Of course, it is not very appropriate to use these words that describe how humans do things to describe how the God in heaven does things, but human language is limited. As long as people can understand that God does things in such a down-to-earth and practical way, that He is methodical, never goes through the motions, and never shouts slogans, that is enough. Of all the things done by God which human hands have recorded, which one was not personally planned by God Himself, implemented step by step, and personally followed up on, inspected, and verified? Although these things are recorded by human hands and presented in written form, they have left humankind with the best concrete evidence for knowing and understanding God.

After God created Adam and Eve, He did another thing: He told them how to live their lives, what responsibilities the man should bear, and which things the woman should do. Look at how detailed and specific God’s words are! Human beings would not go about their work this way, right? (Yes.) Every step of work God does is this specific, down-to-earth, and practical; He aims for results. And what does this show? Let’s set aside such a big matter as the creation of the heavens and earth and all things; just speaking of what God has said to humankind and His exhortations to humankind, as well as His concerns, including His specific exhortations, instructions, and admonitions for every single thing, what do these show? In one respect, you see that God is very rigorous and earnest in how He does things. In another respect—and this is also something humankind should know—God created humankind, and besides His concern for them, He has always been fulfilling His responsibility toward them. This fulfillment of responsibility is not empty talk; God has always been following through on it. From the time God created humankind until now, God has always been providing for and leading humankind by centering around people’s lives. God’s actions toward humankind have been nothing but Him fulfilling His responsibility. The phrase “fulfilling His responsibility” is easy to write and easy to say, but the number of things God has done is beyond human imagination. Broadly speaking, this means things like God arranging for every soul’s reincarnation—what kind of family they will live in, what they will look like, when they will come to believe in God, what kind of fate they will have in this life, and a string of other such things. These are the arrangements God makes for people at the macro level. As for the smaller details, God provides for your daily needs, ensuring you are free from worries about food and clothing, and that your material life is secure. As for even smaller details, every day God arranges different people, events, and things to accompany you as you grow, and to be with you as you go through each day, every different period, and even every special period, allowing you to constantly gain new understanding and new feelings about the Creator, humankind, yourself, and life. God has expressed so many truths and done so many things—which of His words is a mere slogan or a doctrine? Which of the things He does is hollow and impractical? Not a single thing He does is hollow, and not a single word He speaks is a mere slogan or a doctrine. On the contrary, God had always been doing these things, even before making them known to humankind. Although humankind does not know, understand, believe, or acknowledge these facts, God has resolutely continued doing them. Let’s set aside how many things God has done for humankind, how much effort He has expended on humankind, and how much grace He has bestowed upon humankind. Just speaking of God’s deeds in themselves, which of them is not done in a down-to-earth and step-by-step manner? (God does every single thing in a down-to-earth manner.) Look at how humans raise their children: They are perfunctory and try to muddle through; sometimes they are emotional, sometimes they are extreme, and sometimes they even bring in their personal preferences, not valuing their daughters much, but doting on, spoiling, and pampering their sons, acting irresponsibly and not considering the consequences. It’s people’s responsibility to raise and educate children, but have people fulfilled this responsibility? (No.) Look at how every single thing God does is perfectly executed, enabling humankind to walk the right path under God’s sovereignty and arrangements, and to live under God’s guidance. Not a single step of God’s work or a single thing He does is hollow; it is all practical. From the creation of the world until now, no matter how much work God has done, and regardless of whether humankind is aware of or acknowledges all of this, God’s actions toward people and the responsibility He fulfills for them are, in any case, comprehensive and complete, not lacking in the slightest. He is never perfunctory and is absolutely never careless. What does “never careless” mean? It means He treats everyone in a serious manner, with particular earnestness and rigor, always in a rule-abiding manner and never according to personal preference, and with absolutely none of man’s willfulness or perfunctoriness. Let’s set everything else aside; just take the matter of protecting people’s safety—how well does God do this? Everyone’s life, death, and personal safety are held in God’s hands. To God, this is the greatest matter. Even if you sometimes encounter some danger and come face-to-face with death, if it’s not the day you’re meant to die, God will not let you die. If you are not ordained by God to die, God will guarantee your safety. This is without fail, and God handles it in a particularly thorough and accurate way. In short, what I have said is all true, and it can be seen by people. People cannot see how the God in heaven does things, but sooner or later, they will be able to see the facts of what God has done and the results He achieves. Throughout humankind’s several thousand years of living on earth, who has been able to do without God’s sovereignty and arrangements? Who has been able to do without God’s provision and guidance? (No one can do without them.) God’s sovereignty and arrangements, His provision and guidance, are all done by God Himself personally, and done practically. Without God doing things in such a down-to-earth and dutiful manner, humankind would have long been in chaos; at the very least, no one would be able to maintain order for humankind. So, whether in big or small things, people who have followed God up to now should be able to appreciate that God not only speaks, does things, and works in His incarnate flesh, providing humankind with the truth, the way, and the life, God’s Spirit is also ceaselessly holding sovereignty over, leading, and providing for humankind, and all of this is done practically. It’s just that people can see, hear, and practically appreciate God’s incarnate flesh speaking and working, whereas the scope of what the God in heaven does is much larger and a bit further removed from people, so people cannot feel and appreciate it up close in the way they do when the incarnate God speaks and works. Therefore, when it comes to knowing either the God in heaven or the God on earth, people should get rid of human notions and imaginings, break free from hollow theories and slogans, and practically appreciate God’s normality and practicality, as well as His wisdom and almightiness, through the work He does and the words He speaks. In this way, in one respect, you can correctly treat God’s incarnate flesh; in another respect, you can better rid yourself of your notions and imaginings about the God in heaven; and in yet another respect, you can better know that the God on earth and the God in heaven are one, rather than forcing your fanciful notions and imaginings about the God in heaven onto God’s incarnate flesh—doing so would be a huge mistake. That is, in one respect, you would be evaluating the God in heaven using fanciful notions and imaginings, while at the same time, you would not be able to accept and receive the God on earth any better. Doing these two things would not only fail to bring you closer to God, but would instead cause you to drift further away from Him, making you live in your own hollow notions and imaginings, unable to understand all the things God does.

Through fellowshipping on “not comparing the incarnate God with the God in heaven,” are people able to practice accurately in this regard? (Yes.) In short, in treating the incarnate God, if you can manage to accept Him, and then come to know His normality and practicality, and accept and submit to His words and work and His requirements for people, that is enough. As for the instincts and intrinsic conditions of the flesh within the normality and practicality of the incarnate God, people just need to have a correct apprehension of them and be able to treat them correctly. God incarnate is an ordinary Son of man; He certainly possesses the intrinsic conditions and the normal instincts and functions of the flesh that a person should possess. For example, an ordinary person will feel the heat when their hand touches fire, and God incarnate is no exception. A normal person will sneeze after catching a chill, and if it’s serious, they will catch a cold. Is the incarnate God also like this? (Yes.) Human beings will feel thirsty if their food is too salty, and they will get an upset stomach if they eat indigestible food. Does God’s incarnate flesh have these feelings? (Yes.) In hot weather, human beings will feel hot and want to find a cool place; the incarnate God is like this too. What did you think before? Did you think to yourselves, “This mortal flesh of us humans cannot stand the heat when the temperature reaches thirty or forty degrees Celsius, but God’s incarnate flesh is not afraid of the heat; He transcends the flesh and does not have these sensations”? What is the implication here? Do people think that God incarnate is like a robot or a wooden figure, who does not eat, sleep, or get sick? That is wrong. God incarnate has a life of the flesh, which is the same as that of a normal person. He is not extraordinary or unconventional. This flesh has a normal and practical side, which is that the functions and instincts of His flesh are the same as those of humankind. We fellowshipped before about how the functions and instincts of the flesh are all things that God bestowed upon humankind when He created them; they are innately possessed by humankind, not negative things. So why do you always avoid the fact that God incarnate possesses the normal functions and instincts of the flesh? Is the reason people avoid this that they think these things are abnormal, harbor prejudice in their hearts against these manifestations of the normal functions of the flesh, and are opposed to God incarnate possessing these manifestations? (I do indeed look down on these practical things in my heart.) Although people may look down on these things, or on the conscious level remain uncertain as to whether they are right or wrong, they will subconsciously condemn them. This proves that people lack a thorough understanding of the human flesh’s instincts, functions, and some of its intrinsic conditions, which were all created by God, and this is why they may have many distorted thoughts, or may have many impractical notions and imaginings. Tell Me, does God incarnate need to sleep? (Yes.) When He sleeps, is He still thinking about work? (No, He is asleep.) That’s an honest answer; He is really asleep. Otherwise, how could He get any rest? His brain needs rest too; this is a normal function of the flesh, and also an instinct of the flesh. When it’s cold, He wears thicker clothes, and when it’s hot, He wears thinner clothes. He can feel cold, heat, rain, and snow. This is normal humanity; it is not hollow at all. If you cannot feel anything, aren’t you a bit stupid? Aren’t you half-witted? (Yes.) All the senses and bodily functions of God’s incarnate flesh are real, they truly exist, and they function normally; they are not hollow at all. Yet you imagine them to be hollow and supernatural. I once met a Chinese person whose faith was a bit bizarre. He believed that faith should involve some bizarre and eerie things, and that only this is faith. For example, when it rained, he would chant some kind of incantation and the rain would not fall on him, and when he chanted another incantation, the rain would stop. He even showed this off, thinking he had real abilities. He believed that this was what faith is, and that it was higher than ordinary faith. Would you say this person is quite absurd? (Yes.) This is an evil spirit. But the thoughts and views of this kind of person represent those of a portion of people. Many people are always full of notions and imaginings about God incarnate, saying in their hearts: “God’s incarnate flesh must be an extraordinary person or someone who has attained the ‘way.’ He can do things ordinary people cannot do, speak words ordinary people cannot speak, see things ordinary people cannot see, and hear sounds ordinary people cannot hear. He knows what people say and do behind His back. He can feel and know whether there are any paranormal phenomena or unknown entities around Him, and He even knows what the God in heaven is doing. Only this is the incarnate God!” This kind of thought is the same as the notions and imaginings that nonbelievers have about God. People all hope to encounter such a God, and if one day they could see and come into contact with this God, it would be the blessing of a lifetime. However, God incarnate coming among people and living together with them has greatly disappointed people. No one can see any supernatural manifestations in God incarnate, nor can anyone sense these supernatural things from Him. Yet people’s imaginations are still very rich; people still have many notions and imaginings about God incarnate, and they still live in their imaginings. Since people have so many notions and imaginings about God incarnate, won’t they have even more notions and imaginings about the God in heaven? (Yes.) Those notions and imaginings are even more bizarre, even more inconsistent with the facts, and even less objective, and people even have lots of very eerie, inconceivable thoughts. In any case, through the content we have fellowshipped on, people will basically be able to correctly understand, correctly know, and correctly treat the normal humanity of God incarnate, or the normality, objectivity, and practicality of the flesh. In addition, through the flesh—which people can see and come into contact with—practically fellowshipping and speaking with people, interacting with people, and doing various aspects of work upon people, people can come to know how God does things and how God works in a better, more practical, and more objective way. By knowing the incarnate God, people can better understand the God in heaven too.

Regarding this content on the normality and practicality of God’s incarnate flesh, we first fellowshipped on how God incarnate conducts Himself and does things, what things He does, and what His principles for doing things are. We have fellowshipped on these aspects quite thoroughly. Is there anything you still do not understand? Do I need to add anything else? Do you understand a bit more about the normality and practicality of God incarnate? (Yes.) What can you see from these practical manifestations? (I see that God incarnate is normal and practical.) God incarnate is normal and practical; He also has to think before He speaks, and His speech and behavior are all normal, without the slightest supernatural manifestation. This is something you did not expect, isn’t it? (Yes.) God incarnate does not have a third eye, nor does He have superhuman hearing, much less any extraordinary supernatural abilities that transcend the instincts of the flesh. If there is exposed electrical wiring somewhere, I wouldn’t touch it either. Why wouldn’t I touch it? (You would get shocked and injured.) According to your imagination, even if I touched it directly, I would not get shocked and injured. But I really do not have that capability, and I would not touch it either. In one respect, I know that getting an electric shock causes injury; I have common sense in this regard, and I have normal rationality. In another respect, I would absolutely never say, “It’s fine. I am a special figure with a special identity and special status. Electricity won’t hurt Me. I’ll just touch it and see if I die.” I would not do such an irrational thing. According to your notions, anything dangerous that people dare not touch, I would dare to touch; you would be afraid of such things, but I would not be, because My identity is special, I am different from you, I came from heaven, and I am God incarnate, so I am not afraid and can act that way. Tell Me, would I act like that? (No.) I would not act like that. What is this based on? The rationality of normal humanity. The conscience and rationality pertaining to the humanity of God incarnate are also normal. If God incarnate had no awareness of conscience, and if His rationality were not normal, how could He do work in normal humanity? If He had no awareness of conscience and His rationality were not normal, what kind of human is this? Is this not non-human? (Yes.) Therefore, the notions and imaginings people have about the thinking and lifestyle of the normal humanity of God incarnate are all impractical; they are all extraordinary, freakish, eerie, and bizarre, and they are all disconnected from the conscience and rationality pertaining to the humanity of God incarnate. Tell Me, if we are sitting together and there are mosquitoes around, will I get bitten? (Yes.) Did you previously think, “No matter who else mosquitoes bite, they won’t bite Christ. Mosquitoes were created by God; they can’t bite the Creator”? Is it wrong to think this way? Is this divorced from reality? (Yes.) Mosquitoes don’t show Me any courtesy either. They have no feelings; as long as someone is of mortal flesh and has blood in their body, they will bite, and after they bite, a bump appears. What should you do when you get a bump? I quickly cut a slice of garlic and apply it. Garlic can reduce inflammation, kill bacteria, and stop the itching. After it’s been applied for a while, the bite stops itching, and the bump gradually disappears. This is common sense. You might think it is unremarkable, but it is very practical. You see, when you encounter issues in life, you look for some home remedies and clever little hacks, and I am the same. What do I mean by this? I mean to tell you that the conscience and reason possessed by the humanity of God incarnate, His thinking and thoughts, as well as the thoughts, views, and attitudes He forms and the solutions He comes up with in viewing people and things and when facing various problems in real life, are all normal and practical; they are not bizarre, weird, supernatural, distorted, or extreme. Understood? (Understood.) I give these examples so that you can have a more practical understanding of the life and manifestations of the normal humanity of God incarnate. These manifestations are not hollow at all, nor are they freakish, much less extraordinary; rather, they are very normal and practical. This normality and practicality is true normality and practicality. Besides the viewpoints and principles He possesses for conducting Himself and acting, the instincts and functions of His flesh are also normal. For example, when you catch a cold, you sneeze and cough, and it takes a week or two to get better. If I catch a cold, I will also have these symptoms, and it will also take Me a week or two to get better. You are like this, and God incarnate is exactly the same. These aspects are not divorced from reality at all, nor do they affect Him doing specific work, or affect His carrying out the work He intends to do among people. That is, this normal and practical side of God incarnate will not in any way affect the ministry performed by God incarnate, nor will it hold things back or affect the results of God’s work, let alone affect the progress of God’s work. The ministry performed by God incarnate is precisely to express words, do work, and walk among people through a normal and practical flesh.