The substance of most people’s belief in God is religious conviction: They are incapable of loving God, and can only follow God like a robot, unable to truly yearn for God or adore Him. They merely follow Him silently. Many people believe in God, but there are very few who love God; they only revere God because they fear catastrophe, or else they admire God because He is high and mighty—but in their reverence and admiration there is no love or true yearning. In their experiences they seek the minutiae of the truth, or else some insignificant mysteries. Most people merely follow, they fish in murky waters only to receive blessings; they do not seek the truth, nor do they truly obey God in order to receive God’s blessings. The life of all people’s belief in God is meaningless, it is without value, and in it are their personal considerations and pursuits; they do not believe in God in order to love God, but for the sake of being blessed. Many people act as they please, they do whatever they want, and never consider the interests of God, or whether what they do is in accordance with the will of God. Such people can’t even achieve true belief, let alone the love of God. God’s substance is not just for man to believe in; it is, moreover, for man to love. But many of those who believe in God are incapable of discovering this “secret,” and they don’t dare to love God, nor do they try to love Him. People have never discovered that there is so much that is lovable about God, they have never discovered that God is the God who loves man, and that He is the God who is for man to love. The loveliness of God is expressed in His work: Only when they experience His work can people discover His loveliness, only in their actual experiences can they appreciate the loveliness of God, and without observing it in real life, no one can discover God’s loveliness. There is so much to love about God, but without actually engaging with Him people are incapable of discovering it. Which is to say, if God did not become flesh, people would be incapable of actually engaging with Him, and if they were unable to engage with Him, they also wouldn’t be able to experience His work—and so their love of God would be tainted with much falsehood and imagination. The love of the God in heaven is not as real as the love of the God on earth, for people’s knowledge of God in heaven is built upon their imaginings, rather than upon what they have seen with their own eyes, and what they have personally experienced. When God comes to earth, people are able to behold His actual deeds and His loveliness, and they can see everything of His practical and normal disposition, all of which is thousands of times more real than the knowledge of the God in heaven. Regardless of how much people love the God in heaven, there is nothing real about this love, and it is full of human ideas. No matter how little their love for the God on earth, this love is real; even if there is only a little of it, it is still real. God causes people to know Him through real work, and through this knowledge He gains their love. It’s like Peter: If he hadn’t lived with Jesus, it would have been impossible for him to adore Jesus. So, too, was his loyalty toward Jesus built upon his engagement with Jesus. To make man love Him, God has come among man and lives together with man, and all that He makes man see and experience is the reality of God.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Those Who Love God Will Forever Live Within His Light

Undergo God’s Work to Discover His Loveliness

I

God’s essence is not just for man to believe in; but really, it’s for man to love. But to many people who believe in God, this is still unknown. God’s loveliness is expressed in His work. And people can only discover it when they witness it from personal experience. God’s loveliness is felt in actual experience. Without truly seeing it in reality no one can find it. People don’t dare to love God, nor do they try to love Him. They’ve never discovered so much of God is lovely or discovered He loves man, He’s the God for man to love. There’s so much to love about God. Without engagement with Him, it’s not seen. When God comes to earth, man can see His real deeds, His loveliness, and His real and normal disposition. All of this is much more real than the idea of God in heaven. There’s so much to love about God. There’s so much to love about God.

II

No matter how much man loves God in heaven, it’s full of human ideas and it’s not real. Even if their love for God on earth is small, it’s still real. Through His real work, God makes people know Him. Through this knowledge, He gains their love. To make man love Him, God comes among man, lets them experience His reality. If Peter had never lived with Jesus, he couldn’t love Jesus at all. So his loyalty towards Jesus was also built upon engagement with Him. People don’t dare to love God, nor do they try to love Him. They’ve never discovered so much of God is lovely or discovered He loves man, He’s the God for man to love. There’s so much to love about God. Without engagement with Him, it’s not seen. When God comes to earth, man can see His real deeds, His loveliness, and His real and normal disposition. All of this is much more real than the idea of God in heaven. There’s so much to love about God. There’s so much to love about God. If God did not become flesh, His work couldn’t be experienced, so man’s love of God would be tainted with imagination, falsehood. The love of God in heaven is not as real as love for God on earth, for knowledge of God in heaven is built upon imaginings, not on what is physically seen or what man has experienced.

Adapted from The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Those Who Love God Will Forever Live Within His Light