138 God Requires Man to Testify for Him in Each Stage of His Work
I
The entire management of God is divided into three stages,
and in each stage,
fitting requirements are made of man,
fitting requirements are made of man.
Furthermore, as the ages pass and progress,
God’s requirements of mankind become ever higher.
Thus, step-by-step, God’s management work reaches its climax,
until man sees the fact that the Word appears in the flesh.
In this way the requirements of man become even higher,
as does the testimony that man is required to bear.
The more man can truly cooperate with God,
the more God gains glory.
Man’s cooperation is the testimony that he is required to bear,
and the testimony that he bears is the practice of man.
II
In the past, man was required
to comply with the law and the commandments,
and he was required to be patient and humble,
was required to be patient and humble.
Today, man is required to submit to all of God’s arrangements
and possess a supreme love of God,
and he is ultimately required to still love God amid tribulation.
These three stages are requirements that God makes of man, step-by-step,
throughout His entire management.
Each stage of God’s work goes deeper than the last,
and in each stage the requirements of man
are higher than the last.
This way, God’s entire management gradually takes shape.
It is precisely because the requirements of man are ever higher
that man’s disposition comes ever closer
to the standards required by God.
Only then does the whole of mankind begin
to gradually depart from Satan’s influence
until, when God’s work comes to a complete end,
all mankind will have been saved from Satan’s influence.
from The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. God’s Work and Man’s Practice