The Cycle of Life and Death of the People Who Follow God

Next, let us speak of the cycle of life and death of those who follow God. This concerns you, so pay attention. First, think about what categories the people who believe in God can be divided into. There are two: God’s chosen people and service-doers. First we’ll talk about God’s chosen people, of which there are but a few. What does “God’s chosen people” refer to? After God created all things and there was mankind, God selected a group of people who followed Him, and simply called them “God’s chosen people.” There is a special scope and significance to God’s selection of these people. The scope is that each time God does important work they must come—which is the first of the things that make them special. And what is their significance? Their selection by God means that they hold great significance. Which is to say, God wishes to make these people complete, and make them perfect, and after His work of management has finished, He will gain these people. Is this significance not great? Thus, these chosen people are of great importance to God, for they are those whom God intends to gain. Whereas the service-doers—well, let’s depart from God’s predestination, and first talk of their origins. The literal meaning of “service-doer” is one who serves. Those who serve are transient; they do not do so long-term, or forever, but are hired or recruited temporarily. Most of them are chosen from among the unbelievers. When they come to earth is when it is decreed that they will assume the role of service-doers in God’s work. They may have been an animal in their previous life, but they may also have been one of the unbelievers. Such are the origins of the service-doers.

Let us return to God’s chosen people. When they die, God’s chosen people go somewhere completely different from the unbelievers and the various people of faith. It is a place where they are accompanied by angels and God’s messengers, and one which is personally administered by God. Although, in this place, God’s chosen people are not able to behold God with their own eyes, it is unlike anywhere else in the spiritual realm; it is a place where this portion of people go after they die. When they die, they too are subject to a stringent investigation by God’s messengers. And what is investigated? God’s messengers investigate the paths taken by these people throughout their lives in their belief in God, whether or not, during that time, they ever opposed God, or cursed Him, and whether or not they committed grievous sins or evil. This investigation settles the question of whether the person leaves or stays. What does “leave” refer to? And what does “stay” refer to? “Leave” refers to whether, based on their behavior, they remain among the ranks of God’s chosen ones. “Stay” refers that they can remain among the people who are made complete by God during the last days. For those who stay, God has special arrangements. During each period of His work, God will send such people to act as apostles or to do the work of reviving the churches, or tending to them. But the people who are capable of such work are not reincarnated as frequently as the unbelievers, who are reborn time and time again; instead, they are returned to earth according to the needs and steps of God’s work, and are not those who are reincarnated often. So are there any rules to when they are reincarnated? Do they come once every few years? Do they come with such frequency? They do not. What is this based on? It is based on God’s work, on the steps of His work, and His needs, and there are no rules. What is the only one rule? It is that when God does the final stage of His work during the last days, these chosen people will all come among man. When they all come, this will be the last time that they are reincarnated. And why is that? This is based on the outcome to be achieved during God’s last stage of work—for during this last stage of work, God will make these chosen people entirely complete. What does this mean? If, during this final phase, these people are made complete, and made perfect, then they will not be reincarnated as before; the process of being human will come to a complete finish, as will the process of reincarnation. This relates to those who will stay. So where do those who can’t stay go? Those who can’t stay have somewhere appropriate to go. Firstly—as with the others—as a result of their evildoing, the mistakes they have made, and the sins they have committed, they too are punished. After they have been punished, God sends them out among the unbelievers; as befits the circumstances, He will arrange for them to be among the unbelievers, or else among the various people of faith. Which is to say, they have two choices: One is to perhaps live among the people of a certain religion following punishment, and the other is to perhaps become an unbeliever. If they become an unbeliever, then they will lose all opportunity. Whereas if they become a person of faith—if, for example, they become a Christian—they still have the chance to return among the ranks of God’s chosen people; there are very complex relationships to this. In short, if one of God’s chosen people does something that offends God, they will be punished just like everybody else. Take Paul, for example, whom we previously talked about. Paul is an example of those who are punished. Are you getting an idea of what I’m talking about? Is the scope of God’s chosen people fixed? (Mostly it is.) Most of it is fixed, but a small part of it is not fixed. Why is that? Because they have committed evil. Here, I have referred to the most obvious example: committing evil. When they commit evil, God does not want them, and when God doesn’t want them, He throws them among various races and types of people, which leaves them without hope, and makes it difficult for them to return. This all relates to the cycle of life and death of God’s chosen people.

—The Word, Vol. 2. On Knowing God. God Himself, the Unique X