Words on Other Topics (Excerpt 79)
What are your impressions after singing the hymn “The One Who Holds Sovereignty Over Everything”? Do you have any insights? Everyone who has lived has gone through many hardships, but they don’t actually know why this is, and no one thoroughly contemplates what the root of these hardships is, whether it’s worth it, or whether it’s right for people to live like this. When they’re young, people always want to have nice clothes to wear and good things to eat, and they feel that this is the way to be happy. When they grow up, people begin to contemplate on how they need to work hard in their studies in order to stand out from the crowd and enjoy a good life. When they come of age, people start to want to make a lot of money, to achieve fame and gain, and to achieve power and influence. They want to be a cut above the rest. They always look to hold a position in the government and gain people’s respect and admiration. When they have children, they hope for their descendants to thrive on and on for generations and continue to prosper and progress. What’s the purpose behind all of these steps people take? Why do people think like this? Why do they all live like this? People are living without a path. Why do I say there’s no path? It’s because people don’t know where they come from or where they’re going, and they don’t know what they’re supposed to do in this life, how they should live, or how to walk the path of their life. People don’t know these things. Then why is it that people can still tirelessly chase after fame, gain, and a happy life until death without looking back? It’s because people are corrupted by Satan, and they’ve developed a mistaken mindset and outlook on life. They see this way of living as something right, and they see chasing after fame and gain as right and proper. They think that gaining fame and gain is happiness, and they live according to these beliefs. This is how people race on down a path of pursuing fame and gain, and the result is that they never find happiness even until death. Everyone lives like this. There’s no other path to take in this world. Everyone wants to make money and enjoy a good life. Life is hard without money, and there’s a lot you can get done with it, so everyone wants to earn more. When life becomes prosperous, they want to hold onto their wealth and have their children carry on their legacy, and no one understands that living like this is empty. Everyone departs from this world with regrets, unanswered questions, and a sense of reluctance. 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.
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 know that mankind is deeply corrupt, what are they to do then? Can they resolve the actual problem of corruption? 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 path by which to go about doing so! Some people, for example, live for their children; you may say you do not wish to do so, but can you achieve this? Some people rush around and busy themselves for wealth, and for fame and gain. You may say that you don’t wish to rush around for these things, but can you actually achieve this? Unknowingly, you have already embarked on this path, and though you wish to change to a different way of living, you cannot. How you live in this world is out of your hands! What is the root of this? It is that people do not believe in the true God and have not gained the truth. What sustains man’s spirit? Where do they look for spiritual support? For spiritual support, people look to the reunion of family; to the bliss of marriage; to the enjoyment of material things; to wealth, fame, and gain; to their status, their feelings, and their 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 status in society, and in fame and gain. The ways of life thus produced are therefore all the same; subject to Satan’s mastery and power, and in spite of themselves, all people rush about and busy themselves for the sake of fame, gain, their prospects, their careers, their marriages, their families, or for the sake of the next generation, or for physical pleasures. Is this the right path? However busily people bustle about in this world, however professionally accomplished they are, however happy their families are, however big their family is, however prestigious their status is—are they capable of embarking on the right path of human 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. If people do not acknowledge the fact that God holds sovereignty over the destiny of mankind, then, regardless of their particular pursuit or path, the path they walk is wrong. It is not the right path, but the crooked path, the path of evil. It does not matter if you have derived satisfaction from your spiritual support, or if you have not, and it does not matter where you find that support: It is not genuine faith, and it is not the right path for human life. What is it to have genuine 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 for human 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 is positive and what is negative, and understand His sovereignty and almightiness. When people truly understand in their hearts that God did not only create the heavens and earth and all things but is also the Sovereign over the universe and everything, they can obey all of His orchestrations and arrangements, live according to His words, and fear God and shun evil. This is walking the right path for human 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.
What do you live for now? Do you understand? (We live to complete the missions and entrustments God gives to us and fulfill the duty of created beings.) If you want to fulfill the duty of a created being and complete God’s entrustment, this is a subjective wish of yours and the path of life you’ve chosen, and this is right. But there is one fact you must know: People live in this world, and this is arranged by God. Every person enters the world with a mission. They don’t just arrive at random; it’s all governed, arranged, and orchestrated by God without the slightest error. As everyone enters the world, whatever they learn or do is all to perform a role within it. What is this role? It’s that they must complete a task in this world; there are things that they must do. For example, two people get married and have a child, and the three of them make a complete family. Within this family, the wife lives to fulfill her mission, which is to care for her child and husband, taking care of the family. What does the child live for then? What role do they play? As an heir of the family, they carry on the family line. They’re the next generation of this family. This family is complete because this child has come, and this is the first role that they play. Whether they’re a son or a daughter, they have their own mission. As for their future destiny, what academic credentials, skills, or profession they have after they grow up, or when they believe in God and what duty they perform afterward, aren’t each of these steps all planned and arranged by God? (They are.) Do they themselves have a choice? (They don’t.) Ever since someone is born into a family, not one step of their destiny is of their choosing, and it’s all arranged by God. All of it is arranged by God, and there is truth in this. This pertains to what people live for. For instance, if you study music and you have the conditions and the family environment for it, then is studying music something you’ve chosen? (It’s not.) You were born in this environment, you learned a professional skill through this environment’s nurturing, and accomplished this mission. What enabled you to accomplish it? It was because God ordained it, not because you chose it. Wasn’t this accomplished by the orchestration of the Creator? With you doing your duty now and putting what you know and have learned toward it, who decided this? (God.) It was decided by God, not you. Speaking objectively, who do you live for now? (We live for God.) It’s the same for every person in reality. They all live for the sake of God’s sovereignty and arrangement, whether or not they’re aware of it and whether or not they’re conscious of it. People are like pieces in a game. Wherever God places you, whatever He has you do, and however long He has you stay somewhere, it’s all under His orchestration. In terms of God’s orchestration, people in reality all live for the purpose of His sovereignty and arrangement and for His management, and they’re not in control. No matter how capable or gifted you are, you can’t go beyond the destiny that God has ordained for you. No one can live beyond these limits or go outside the destiny and the life that is set and arranged for them by the Creator. These are all things that people in reality have no idea about, and they’ve been going unknowingly and involuntarily under God’s orchestration and sovereignty up to now. Seeing this objectively, what is it that people have understood? (Their life and death aren’t up to them but under God’s sovereignty and orchestration.) (They shouldn’t try to be in charge of their own destiny, and they should submit to God’s sovereignty and arrangement.) You’ll make progress if you can see it like this. What truths should you understand to be able to submit to God? Whatever kind of family you live in and whatever these things like your caliber, your intellect, and your thoughts are like, your destiny and everything about you is under God’s orchestration. You have no say in it. This is the path that people should choose: understanding how God has arranged all this of yours, how He guides it, how He’ll guide it in the future, seeking to understand God’s will and intent, and then living on the course of destiny that is governed and orchestrated by the Creator. It isn’t vying for, snatching for, or grabbing at things. It isn’t about scrutinizing or resisting the will of the Creator; it isn’t about scrutinizing or opposing all of this that God has arranged for you. Doesn’t this make your living right and proper? This puts an end to doubts like “why do people live, and why do they die” or the pain of “those who are living repeating the same tragic history of those who have perished.” People feel that there isn’t really any difficulty to living this life, and they’ve found the source of life. They understand what destiny is all about, they know how people should submit to the Creator’s arrangement, and they don’t resist. This is a meaningful way to live. People no longer rely on the imaginings of their minds or their own strength to struggle and vie for happiness. They know that all of that is foolish and stubborn, and they don’t do it anymore. They’ve learned to submit to the sovereignty and arrangement of the Creator, and how much suffering this has avoided! Are you living like this now then? Do you feel that you’re living unfairly and underappreciated? You know that your talents and your duty are arranged and given to you by God, but you still feel you’ve been wronged and this duty you have doesn’t allow you to realize your aspirations. You actually have goals of a grander nature, but this particular field that you’re doing your duty in doesn’t really allow you to realize them. Are you thinking like this? (No.) You have no ambitions or desires, you have no extravagant requirements, you’ve cast aside everything you should, and the only thing you’re missing is understanding the truth to resolve your corrupt dispositions. This makes the path that people should walk and the direction they should go in clearer and clearer. They no longer need to ask questions like, “Why do people live? And why do they die? Who is the One that rules all things?” No matter what it is that you pursue or what your wishes are, only by returning to the presence of the Creator, dutifully accomplishing what you should do, and fulfilling and completing the duty that is yours can you live in a way that brings a clear conscience and is right and proper. There is no suffering involved. This is the meaning and the value of living.
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