Today, people’s knowledge of the practical God remains too one-sided, and their understanding of the significance of the incarnation is still too paltry. When it comes to God’s flesh, through His work and words people see that God’s Spirit includes so much, that He is so rich. But, regardless, God’s testimony ultimately comes from the Spirit of God: what God does in the flesh, which principles He works by, what He does in humanity, and what He does in divinity. Today you are able to worship this person, but in actuality you are worshiping the Spirit. This is the very least that should be achieved in people’s knowledge of God incarnate: knowing the substance of the Spirit through the flesh, knowing the Spirit’s divine work in the flesh and human work in the flesh, accepting all of the Spirit’s words and utterances in the flesh, and seeing how the Spirit of God directs the flesh and demonstrates His power in the flesh. Which is to say, man comes to know the Spirit in heaven through the flesh; the appearance of the practical God Himself among man has dispelled the vague God himself in people’s conceptions; people’s worship of the practical God Himself has increased their obedience to God; and through the Spirit of God’s divine work in the flesh, and human work in the flesh, man is enlightened, and shepherded, and changes are achieved in his life disposition. Only this is the actual meaning of the Spirit’s arrival in the flesh, and it is primarily so that people may engage with God, rely on God, and attain the knowledge of God.

In the main, what attitude should people have toward the practical God? What do you know of the incarnation, of the Word’s appearance in the flesh, of God’s appearance in the flesh, of the deeds of the practical God? And what are we mainly speaking of today? The incarnation, the Word’s arrival in the flesh, and God’s appearance in the flesh—these must all be understood. Based on your stature, and the era, you must gradually come to understand these issues; during your life experiences, you must gradually come to understand these issues, and must have a clear knowledge. The process by which people experience God’s words is the same as the process by which they know the appearance of God’s words in the flesh. The more people experience God’s words, the more they know the Spirit of God; through experiencing God’s words, people grasp the principles of the Spirit’s work and come to know the practical God Himself. In fact, when God makes people perfect and gains them, He is making them know the deeds of the practical God; He is using the work of the practical God to show people the actual significance of the incarnation, and to show them that the Spirit of God has actually appeared before man. When people are gained by God and made perfect by God, the expressions of the practical God have conquered them, the words of the practical God have changed them, and given His life to them inside, filling them with what He is (whether it be what He humanly is, or what He divinely is), filling them with the substance of His words, and making people live out His words. When God gains people, He does so primarily by using the words and utterances of the practical God in order to deal with people’s deficiencies, and to judge and reveal their rebellious disposition, causing them to gain what they need, and showing them that God has come among man. Most important, the work done by the practical God is saving every person from the influence of Satan, taking them away from the land of filth, and dispelling their corrupt disposition. The most profound significance of being gained by the practical God is being able to take the practical God as an exemplar, as a model, and living out normal humanity, being able to practice according to the words and requirements of the practical God, without the slightest deviation or departure, practicing however He says, and being able to achieve whatever He asks. In this way, you will have been gained by God. When you are gained by God you don’t just possess the work of the Holy Spirit; principally, you are able to live out the requirements of the practical God. Merely having the work of the Spirit does not mean you have life. What’s key is whether you are able to act according to the practical God’s requirements of you, which relates to whether you are able to be gained by God. These things are the greatest meaning of the practical God’s work in the flesh. Which is to say, God gains a group of people by really and actually appearing in the flesh and being vivid and lifelike, being seen by people, actually doing the work of the Spirit in the flesh, and by acting as an exemplar for people in the flesh. God’s arrival in the flesh is primarily to enable people to see the real deeds of God, to materialize the formless Spirit in the flesh, and allow people to see and touch Him. In this way, those who are made complete by Him will live Him out, they will be gained by Him, and after His heart. If God only spoke in heaven, and did not actually come on earth, then people would still be incapable of knowing God, they would only be able to preach God’s deeds using empty theory, and would not have God’s words as reality. God has come on earth primarily to act as an exemplar and a model for those who are to be gained by God; only in this way can people actually know God, and touch God, and see Him, and only then can they truly be gained by God.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. You Should Know That the Practical God Is God Himself