God and Man Will Enter Into Rest Together (Excerpt I)
God created humanity, placed them upon earth, whom He has led to the present day. He then saved humanity and served as a sin offering for humanity. At the end He still must conquer humanity, save humanity entirely and restore them to their original likeness. This is the work that He has been engaged in from the beginning to the end—restoring man to his original image and to his original likeness. He will establish His kingdom and restore man’s original likeness, meaning that He will restore His authority upon earth and restore His authority among all creation. Man lost his God-fearing heart after being corrupted by Satan and lost the function that one of God’s creatures should have, becoming an enemy disobedient to God. Man lived under Satan’s domain and followed Satan’s orders; thus, God had no way to work among His creatures, and was all the more unable to win fear from His creatures. Man was created by God, and ought to worship God, but man actually turned his back to God and worshiped Satan. Satan became the idol in man’s heart. Thus God lost His standing in man’s heart, which is to say that He lost the meaning of His creation of man, and so to restore the meaning of His creation of man He must restore man’s original likeness and rid man of his corrupt disposition. To reclaim man from Satan, He must save man from sin. Only in this way can He gradually restore man’s original likeness and restore man’s original function, and in the end restore His kingdom. The ultimate destruction of those sons of disobedience will also be carried out in order to allow man to better worship God and better live upon the earth. Since God created man, He shall make man worship Him; since He wishes to restore man’s original function, He shall restore it completely, and without any adulteration. Restoring His authority means making man worship Him and making man obey Him; it means that He shall make man live because of Him and make His enemies perish because of His authority; it means that He will make every last part of Him persist among humanity and without any resistance by man. The kingdom He wishes to establish is His own kingdom. The humanity He wishes for is one that worships Him, one that completely obeys Him and has His glory. If He does not save corrupt humanity, the meaning of His creation of man will come to nothing; He will have no more authority among man, and His kingdom will no longer be able to exist upon the earth. If He does not destroy those enemies who are disobedient to Him, He will be unable to obtain His complete glory, nor will He be able to establish His kingdom upon the earth. These are the symbols of the completion of His work and the symbols of the completion of His great accomplishment: to utterly destroy those among humanity who are disobedient to Him, and to bring those who have been made complete into rest. When humanity has been restored to their original likeness, when humanity can fulfill their respective duties, keep their own place and obey all of God’s arrangements, God will have obtained a group of people upon the earth who worship Him, and He will also have established a kingdom upon the earth that worships Him. He will have eternal victory upon the earth, and those who are opposed to Him will perish for all eternity. This will restore His original intention in creating man; it will restore His intention in creating all things, and it will also restore His authority upon earth, His authority among all things and His authority among His enemies. These are the symbols of His total victory. Henceforth humanity will enter into rest and enter into a life that follows the right track. God will also enter into eternal rest with man and enter into an eternal life shared by God and man. The filth and disobedience upon the earth shall disappear, as shall the wailing upon the earth. All upon the earth that opposes God will not exist. Only God and those people that He has saved shall remain; only His creation shall remain.
Excerpted from The Word Appears in the Flesh