1. Why does God do the work of saving mankind?
Relevant Words of God:
In the beginning, God was in rest. There were no humans or anything else upon the earth at that time, and God had not yet done any work. He only began His work of management once humanity existed and after humanity had been corrupted; from that point on, He no longer rested, but instead began to busy Himself among humanity. It was because of humanity’s corruption that God lost His rest, and also because of the archangel’s rebellion. If God does not defeat Satan and save corrupted humanity, He will never again be able to enter into rest. As man lacks rest, so does God, and when He rests once more, humans will, too. Living in rest means a life without war, without filth, and without any persisting unrighteousness. This is to say, it is a life devoid of Satan’s disruptions (here “Satan” refers to enemy forces) and Satan’s corruption, and nor is it prone to the invasion of any force in opposition to God; it is a life in which everything follows its own kind and can worship the Lord of creation, and in which heaven and earth are entirely tranquil—this is what is meant by the words “restful life of humans.” When God rests, unrighteousness will no longer persist upon the earth, nor will there be any further invasion from enemy forces, and humankind will enter a new realm—no longer be a humanity corrupted by Satan, but rather a humanity that has been saved after having been corrupted by Satan. Humanity’s day of rest will also be God’s day of rest. God lost His rest due to humanity’s inability to enter into rest, not because He had originally been unable to rest.
—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. God and Man Will Enter Into Rest Together
These are the facts: Before the earth existed, the archangel was the greatest of heaven’s angels. It had jurisdiction over all the angels in heaven; this was the authority God had granted it. With the exception of God, it was the greatest of heaven’s angels. Later, after God had created humanity, down on earth the archangel carried out an even greater treachery against God. I say it betrayed God because it wanted to manage humanity and to surpass God’s authority. It was the archangel that tempted Eve into sin, and it did so because it wished to establish its kingdom upon earth and to get humans to turn their backs on God and obey the archangel instead. The archangel saw that so many things could obey it—the angels could, as could the people upon the earth. The birds and beasts, trees, forests, mountains, rivers, and all things upon the earth were under the care of humans—that is, Adam and Eve—while Adam and Eve obeyed the archangel. The archangel therefore desired to surpass God’s authority and to betray God. After that, it led many angels in rebellion against God, which later became various sorts of unclean spirits. Has not humanity’s development to this day been caused by the archangel’s corruption? Humans are only the way they are today because the archangel betrayed God and corrupted humanity. … Humanity and everything on earth are now under Satan’s domain and lie under the domain of the wicked. God wants to reveal His acts to all things so that people may know Him, and thereby defeat Satan and thoroughly vanquish His enemies. The entirety of this work is accomplished through revealing His acts. All of His creation is under Satan’s domain, so God wishes to reveal His almightiness to them, thereby defeating Satan. If there were no Satan, He would not need to reveal His deeds. If not for Satan’s harassment, God would have created humanity and led them to live in the Garden of Eden. Why, prior to Satan’s betrayal, did God never reveal all His deeds to the angels or to the archangel? If, in the beginning, all the angels and the archangel had known God and had submitted to Him, then God would not have carried out those meaningless acts of work. Because of the existence of Satan and demons, humans, too, have resisted God, and are filled to the brim with rebellious disposition. God therefore wishes to reveal His acts. Because He wishes to do war with Satan, He must use His own authority and all His acts to defeat it; in this way, the work of salvation that He performs among humans will allow them to see His wisdom and almightiness.
—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. You Should Know How the Whole of Humanity Has Developed to the Present Day
For the sky above all mankind is turbid and dark, without the slightest impression of clarity, and the human world is plunged into pitchy darkness, so that one living in it cannot even see his outstretched hand before his face or the sun when he lifts up his head. The road beneath his feet, muddy and rife with potholes, meanders tortuously; the whole land is littered with corpses. The dark corners are filled with the remains of the dead, and in the cool and shady corners crowds of demons have taken up residence. And everywhere in the world of men demons come and go in hordes. The progeny of all manner of beasts, covered in filth, are locked in pitched battle, the sound of which strikes terror to the heart. At such times, in such a world, such an “earthly paradise,” where does one go to seek out life’s felicities? Where could one go to find his life’s destination? Mankind, long since trampled under Satan’s feet, has from the first been an actor taking on Satan’s image—more than that, mankind is the embodiment of Satan, and serves as the evidence that bears witness to Satan, loud and clear. How can such a human race, such a bunch of degenerate scum, such offspring of this corrupt human family, bear witness to God? Whence comes My glory? Where can one begin to speak of My testimony? For the enemy that, having corrupted mankind, stands against Me, has already taken mankind—the mankind that I created long ago and that was filled with My glory and My living out—and soiled them. It has snatched away My glory, and all it has imbued man with is poison heavily laced with the ugliness of Satan, and juice from the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. In the beginning, I created mankind; that is, I created mankind’s ancestor, Adam. He was endowed with form and image, brimming with vigor, brimming with vitality, and was, furthermore, in the company of My glory. That was the glorious day when I created man. After that, Eve was produced from the body of Adam, and she too was the ancestor of man, and so the people that I created were filled with My breath and brimming with My glory. Adam was originally born from My hand and was the representation of My image. Thus the original meaning of “Adam” was a being created by Me, imbued with My vital energy, imbued with My glory, having form and image, having spirit and breath. He was the only created being, possessed of a spirit, who was capable of representing Me, of bearing My image, and receiving My breath. In the beginning, Eve was the second human endowed with breath whose creation I had ordained, so the original meaning of “Eve” was a created being who would continue My glory, filled with My vitality and furthermore endowed with My glory. Eve came from Adam, so she also bore My image, for she was the second human to be created in My image. The original meaning of “Eve” was a living human, with spirit, flesh, and bone, My second testimony as well as My second image among mankind. They were mankind’s ancestors, man’s pure and precious treasure, and, from the first, living beings endowed with spirit. However, the evil one trampled and took captive the progeny of mankind’s ancestors, plunging the human world into complete darkness, and making it so that the progeny no longer believe in My existence. Even more abominable is that, even as the evil one corrupts people and tramples all over them, it is cruelly wresting away My glory, My testimony, the vitality I bestowed on them, the breath and the life I blew into them, all My glory in the human world, and all the heart’s blood I have expended on mankind. Mankind is no longer in the light, people have lost everything I bestowed upon them, and they have cast away the glory I gave. How can they acknowledge that I am the Lord of all created beings? How can they continue to believe in My existence in heaven? How can they discover the manifestations of My glory upon the earth? How can these grandsons and granddaughters take the God their own ancestors revered as the Lord who created them? These pitiful grandsons and granddaughters have generously “presented” to the evil one the glory, the image, and the testimony that I bestowed upon Adam and Eve, as well as the life I bestowed upon mankind and on which they depend to exist; and they are utterly unmindful of the evil one’s presence, and give all My glory to it. Is this not the very source of the term “scum”? How can such a mankind, such evil demons, such walking corpses, such figures of Satan, such enemies of Mine be possessed of My glory? I will repossess My glory, repossess My testimony that exists among men, and all that once belonged to Me and that I gave to mankind long ago—I will completely conquer mankind. However, you should know that the humans I created were holy men who bore My image and My glory. They did not belong to Satan, nor were they subject to its trampling, but were purely a manifestation of Mine, free of the slightest trace of Satan’s poison. And so, I inform humanity that I want only that which is created by My hand, the holy ones that I love and that belong to no other entity. Furthermore, I will take pleasure in them and consider them as My glory. However, what I want is not the mankind that has been corrupted by Satan, that belongs to Satan today, and that is no longer My original creation. Because I intend to repossess My glory that exists in the human world, I shall completely conquer the survivors among mankind, as proof of My glory in defeating Satan. I take only My testimony as a crystallization of My self, as the object of My enjoyment. This is My will.
—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. What It Means to Be a Real Person