Answer: This question is so important and only very few in the whole of mankind can understand it thoroughly! Why mankind defies God so wildly has become headline news, and the historical tragedy of the incarnate Christ being nailed to the cross is being played out again; this is a fact. The Lord Jesus said, “And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that does evil hates the light, neither comes to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved” (Jhn 3:19–20). “If the world hate you, you know that it hated me before it hated you” (Jhn 15:18). “This is an evil generation” (Luk 11:29). And in 1 John 5:19 it says “the whole world lies in wickedness.” Mankind’s doings and the attitude they take in their approach to Christ are enough to prove that the entire world is completely under Satan’s control and in its power. Nowadays, most of us can see clearly that most pastors and elders of the world of religion are people who defy, condemn and deny Christ, and that the world of religion long ago came under the control of these hypocritical Pharisees and antichrists. Therefore, when God incarnate appears and works, the pastors and elders in the world of religion are the first to rise up and condemn and defy Him—this is inevitable. The CCP government is a satanic regime that most hates the truth and defies God, and it has always been arresting and persecuting Christians. When Christ of the last days came to appear and do His work in China, the CCP government unscrupulously and savagely tried to hunt, round up and exterminate Christ, causing ripples throughout the entire world. This fact completely fulfilled the prophecy of the Lord Jesus: “For as the lightning, that lightens out of the one part under heaven, shines to the other part under heaven; so shall also the Son of man be in his day. But first must he suffer many things, and be rejected of this generation” (Luk 17:24–25). God has been incarnated twice amongst man to speak and work, to redeem mankind and save mankind, both times suffering the united condemnation, blasphemy, hunting, and suppression carried out by religious leaders and the ruling party; this fact is enough to prove that this world is so dark and evil and that mankind has been corrupted so deeply! Mankind has been corrupted and degenerated to a stage where they have become sick of the truth, they hate the truth, they hold evil in high esteem and they set themselves against God, becoming of a kind with Satan and becoming Satan’s progeny, simply unable to tolerate the existence of God. The manifestation and work of God incarnate must therefore inevitably suffer persecution and abandonment. As to why mankind defies God, Almighty God has revealed this aspect of the truth, and we will be clear about this once we have read several passages of the words of Almighty God.

Almighty God says: “It has taken tens of thousands of years of history for mankind to get where it is today, yet the mankind I created in the beginning has long since sunk into degeneracy. Humanity is no longer the humanity I desire, and thus, in My eyes, people no longer deserve the name of mankind. They are, rather, the scum of mankind that Satan has taken captive, the rotten walking corpses that are inhabited by Satan and with which Satan clothes itself. People have no trust in My existence, nor do they welcome My coming” (The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. What It Means to Be a Real Person).

“The source of man’s opposition and rebelliousness against God is his corruption by Satan. Because of Satan’s corruption, man’s conscience has grown numb; he is immoral, his thoughts are degenerate, and he has a backward mental outlook. Before he was corrupted by Satan, man naturally followed God and obeyed His words after hearing them. He was naturally of sound sense and conscience, and of normal humanity. After being corrupted by Satan, man’s original sense, conscience, and humanity grew dull and were impaired by Satan. Thus, he has lost his obedience and love toward God. Man’s sense has become aberrant, his disposition has become the same as that of an animal, and his rebelliousness toward God is ever more frequent and grievous. Yet man still neither knows nor recognizes this, and merely opposes and rebels blindly” (The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. To Have an Unchanged Disposition Is to Be in Enmity to God).

“Mankind is none other than My enemy. Mankind is the evil one that opposes and disobeys Me. Mankind is none other than the progeny of the evil one accursed by Me. Mankind is none other than the descendant of the archangel that betrayed Me. Mankind is none other than the legacy of the devil who, spurned by Me long ago, has been My irreconcilable enemy ever since” (The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. What It Means to Be a Real Person).

“Satan corrupts people through the education and influence of national governments and of the famous and great. Their devilish words have become man’s life nature. ‘Everyone for himself and the devil take the hindmost’ is a well-known satanic saying that has been instilled into everyone, and that has become man’s life. There are other words of philosophies for living that are also like this. Satan uses each nation’s fine traditional culture to educate people, causing mankind to fall into and be engulfed by a boundless abyss of destruction, and in the end people are destroyed by God because they serve Satan and resist God” (The Word, Vol. 3. The Discourses of Christ of the Last Days. How to Know Man’s Nature).

“Born into such a filthy land, man has been severely blighted by society, he has been influenced by feudal ethics, and he has been taught at ‘institutes of higher learning.’ The backward thinking, corrupt morality, mean view on life, despicable philosophy for living, utterly worthless existence, and depraved lifestyle and customs—all of these things have severely intruded upon man’s heart, and severely undermined and attacked his conscience. As a result, man is ever more distant from God, and ever more opposed to Him” (The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. To Have an Unchanged Disposition Is to Be in Enmity to God).

“Since mankind’s contrivance of the social sciences, the mind of man has become occupied by science and knowledge. Science and knowledge then have become tools for the ruling of mankind, and there is no longer sufficient room for man to worship God, and no more favorable conditions for the worship of God. The position of God has sunk ever lower in the heart of man. Without God in his heart, man’s inner world is dark, hopeless and empty. Subsequently many social scientists, historians, and politicians have come to the fore to express theories of social science, the theory of human evolution, and other theories that contradict the truth that God created man, to fill the hearts and minds of mankind. And in this way, those who believe that God created everything have become ever fewer, and those who believe in the theory of evolution have become ever greater in number. More and more people treat the records of the work of God and His words during the age of the Old Testament as myths and legends. In their hearts, people become indifferent to the dignity and greatness of God, to the tenet that God exists and holds dominion over all things. The survival of mankind and the fate of countries and nations are no longer important to them, and man lives in a hollow world concerned only with eating, drinking, and the pursuit of pleasure” (The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. God Presides Over the Fate of All Mankind).

“No one actively seeks out God’s footsteps and the appearance of God, and no one is willing to exist in the care and keeping of God. Instead, they wish to rely on the corrosion of Satan, the evil one, in order to adapt to this world, and to the rules of existence that wicked mankind follows. At this point, the heart and spirit of man have become man’s tribute to Satan and become Satan’s foodstuff. Even more, the human heart and spirit have become a place in which Satan can reside and its fitting playground. Thus does man unknowingly lose his understanding of the principles of being human, and of the value and meaning of human existence. The laws of God and the covenant between God and man gradually fade away in man’s heart, and he ceases to seek or pay heed to God. With the passage of time, man no longer understands why God created him, nor does he understand the words from the mouth of God and all that comes from God. Man then begins to resist the laws and decrees of God, and his heart and spirit become deadened…. God loses the man that He originally created, and man loses the root of his beginning: This is the sorrow of this human race” (The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. God Is the Source of Man’s Life).

“For thousands of years this has been the land of filth. It is unbearably dirty, misery abounds, ghosts run rampant everywhere, tricking and deceiving, making groundless accusations,^[1] being ruthless and vicious, trampling this ghost town and leaving it littered with dead bodies; the stench of decay covers the land and pervades the air, and it is heavily guarded.^[2] Who can see the world beyond the skies? The devil tightly trusses all of man’s body, it puts out both his eyes, and seals his lips firmly shut. The king of devils has rampaged for several thousand years, right up until today, when it still keeps a close watch on the ghost town, as if it were an impenetrable palace of demons; this pack of watchdogs, meanwhile, stare with glaring eyes, deeply fearful that God will catch them unawares and wipe them all out, leaving them without a place of peace and happiness. How could the people of a ghost town such as this ever have seen God? Have they ever enjoyed the dearness and loveliness of God? What appreciation have they of the matters of the human world? Who of them can understand God’s eager will? Small wonder, then, that God incarnate remains completely hidden: In a dark society such as this, where the demons are merciless and inhumane, how could the king of devils, who kills people without batting an eye, tolerate the existence of a God who is lovely, kind, and also holy? How could it applaud and cheer the arrival of God? These lackeys! They repay kindness with hate, they have long since disdained God, they abuse God, they are savage in the extreme, they have not the slightest regard for God, they plunder and pillage, they have lost all conscience, they go against all conscience, and they tempt the innocent into senselessness. Forefathers of the ancient? Beloved leaders? They all oppose God! Their meddling has left all beneath heaven in a state of darkness and chaos! Religious freedom? The legitimate rights and interests of citizens? They are all tricks for covering up sin! … Why put up such an impenetrable obstacle to the work of God? Why employ various tricks to deceive God’s folk? Where is the true freedom and the legitimate rights and interests? Where is the fairness? Where is the comfort? Where is the warmth? Why use deceitful schemes to trick God’s people? Why use force to suppress the coming of God? Why not allow God to freely roam upon the earth that He created? Why hound God until He has nowhere to rest His head? Where is the warmth among men? Where is the welcome among people? Why cause such desperate yearning in God? Why make God call out again and again? Why force God to worry for His beloved Son? In this dark society, why do its sorry guard dogs not allow God to freely come and go among the world which He created?” (The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Work and Entry (8)).

Almighty God has spoken extensively on the sources and current situation of mankind’s corruption. When we read the words of Almighty God, we gain some understanding on issues such as why there is so much darkness and evil in the world, why mankind so fanatically resists God, and what is the truth and substance of mankind’s corruption by Satan, right? The evil and darkness of these times serves to prove that mankind’s corruption at the hands of Satan is very thorough, so how many people among mankind are there who thirst for God’s appearance and welcome His coming? How many are there who love to hear God’s word and accept the truth? How many are there who study and seek God’s work of the last days? The majority of people not only ignore these things; on the contrary, they listen to the rumors and lies of the satanic CCP government and they work together with Satan’s forces to resist and condemn Almighty God. These are facts that everyone clearly understands. Even though there are many people with faith in God, how many are there who can accept the truth, seek out the truth, and truly submit to God? If we recall the time when the Lord Jesus appeared to do His work, all of the Jewish people followed the chief priests, scribes, and Pharisees to resist and condemn the Lord Jesus. In the last days as Almighty God has appeared to do His work, the majority of pastors and elders in the religious world are now resisting and condemning Almighty God; they are even going so far as sealing off their churches and not allowing believers to study the true way. This is sufficient to show that this world at this time is so full of darkness and evil. Mankind are bored of the truth, they hate the truth, and they have forsaken God and chosen to stand against Him. The root of this darkness and evil of the world is Satan’s control of mankind and that the entire world is under the domain of the evil one. Amen! In the last several thousand years, Satan has used atheism, the theory of evolution, and materialism as well as other harmful teachings and fallacies to deceive and corrupt mankind. This has caused mankind to worship and put blind faith in various lies and fallacies of the kings of devils and “great men,” who have said things like: “There is no God or Savior”; “Man can fight against heaven and earth and conquer nature”; “One’s destiny is in his own hand”; “Everyone for himself and the devil take the hindmost”; “Those with brains rule over those with brawn”; “Money makes the world go round”; “As a small mind makes no gentleman, a real man is not without venom,” and so on. Mankind has been deceived and corrupted by these evil teachings and fallacies, which has made them arrogant, deceitful, selfish, greedy and wicked; there is no man who speaks of humanity and morality, no man who speaks of conscience and reason, and no man who can speak of being honest. In the search for fame and status, men fight each other like dogs and they scheme and cheat one another; they even kill one another. For different interests, nations fight nations in unceasing conflict. Is this not the result of Satan’s corruption of mankind? These facts show that mankind has been thoroughly corrupted by Satan and that mankind has become the ilk of Satan, the descendants of Satan. Mankind has become an evil force that stands in enmity against God. For this reason, when God twice became flesh to speak and do His work among men, corrupt mankind resisted, condemned, and abandoned God on both occasions, even going so far as to crucify Him. These are some of the facts behind why mankind resists God.

As everyone knows, the Chinese Communist Party has ruled over China for more than sixty years, madly suppressing and persecuting religious beliefs all the while, designating Christianity and Catholicism as cults, labeling the Bible as a cultist book for incineration and destruction, demolishing churches and crosses everywhere, and wantonly arresting, detaining and imprisoning Christians, causing countless Christians to be displaced and homeless. An untold number of people are restricted in religious beliefs and even deprived of the right to life. Family members of innumerable Christians were dismissed from public service, their children barred from studying in universities, getting employed and even leaving the country. China is virtually an infernal prison where religious freedom is non-existent, even the right to life is restricted. The Chinese Communist Party simply does not allow believers of God to live; it would rather have all of them killed. The CCP’s demented suppression and attacks against Eastern Lightning have created a stir world-wide. Many people have no insight as to why they are so frenziedly resisting and opposing God. It is precisely because the incarnate Almighty God has uttered many truths in The Word Appears in the Flesh and it is this book that has shaken every religious denomination. Many who believe in the Lord have heard Almighty God’s utterances and affirmed them as the voice of God and as His work have turned toward Him. The constant increase of those who proclaim and bear witness for Almighty God has caused the CCP to panic. The CCP has arrested countless numbers of those who have borne witness to God in their evangelizing, and has confiscated many a copy of The Word Appears in the Flesh. They research this book day after day, and increasingly feel how very formidable it is. It has the capability to conquer all. No matter how the CCP tries to slander, to judge and discredit Almighty God, they dare not make The Word Appears in the Flesh known to the public. They make not the slightest mention of what Almighty God has uttered. Why are they staying so cool in response to The Word Appears in the Flesh? They fear the whole world will see that God has manifested Himself doing His work in the East, that the Savior of mankind has appeared in the East, and that there lies the hope of mankind. Why does the CCP fear mankind reading The Word Appears in the Flesh? Because this book is the voice of God, it is the utterance of the truth, and it is true light that has appeared in the East! The CCP is the regime of Satan who is the most evil of all and most hateful of the truth. It fears most of all that the truth will come into man’s world, that mankind will accept the truth, that God will take power as King to rule man’s world, and that the kingdom of Christ will appear on earth. Thus, the CCP so dementedly pursues and hounds Christ, and uses the media networks for propaganda to wantonly frame, falsely charge and discredit The Church of Almighty God. They do not even spare mobilizing the nation’s armed police force to overwhelmingly suppress, arrest and persecute God’s chosen ones. With nowhere to hide, His chosen ones have been forced into exile because of the CCP’s persecution, and the Chinese government under the CCP has stretched out its evil hand into every country abroad and utilizing political, economic and diplomatic means puts pressure on some of them to have those Christians who have escaped abroad extradited back to China in order to torture and persecute them. Even more detestable is that the CCP also arrests and persecutes the relatives of those Christians who have gone abroad and treats them as hostages with which to threaten The Church of Almighty God. It forces them to get their passports to go abroad and disrupt The Church of Almighty God in every country, and attempts through diplomatic channels to frame and slander The Church of Almighty God, to mislead by rumor, to manipulate public opinion and discredit it. The CCP incites both the governments and people of other countries to oppose and reject The Church of Almighty God, and to extradite the Church’s overseas members; its evil aim is to succeed in obstructing, restricting and suppressing the spread of The Church of Almighty God and its gospel work abroad. The CCP is the devil Satan who hates the truth and hates God. The CCP is expert in the cruel abuse of people and the devouring of souls; it is a demon that eats men without spitting out their bones.

—The movie script of Perilous Is the Road to the Heavenly Kingdom

Footnotes:

1. “Making groundless accusations” refers to the methods by which the devil harms people.

2. “Heavily guarded” indicates that the methods by which the devil afflicts people are especially vicious, and control people so much that they have no room to move.