What is the relationship between every stage of God’s work and His name?
What is the relationship between every stage of God’s work and His name?
Bible
Verses for Reference:
“And
God said moreover to Moses, Thus
shall you say to the children of Israel, the LORD God of your
fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob,
has sent me to you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial
to all generations”
(Exo
3:15).
Relevant
Words of God:
“Jehovah”
is the name that I took during My work in Israel, and it means the
God of the Israelites (God’s chosen people) who can take pity on
man, curse man, and guide the life of man. It means the God who
possesses great power and is full of wisdom. … That is to say, only
Jehovah is the God of the chosen people of Israel, the God of
Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, the God of Moses, and
the God of all the people of Israel. And so in the current age, all
the Israelites apart from the tribe of Judah worship Jehovah. They
make sacrifices to Him on the altar, and serve Him wearing priests’
robes in the temple. What they hope for is the reappearance of
Jehovah. … The name Jehovah is a particular name for the people of
Israel who lived under the law. In each age and each stage of work,
My name is not baseless, but holds representative significance: Each
name represents one age. “Jehovah” represents the Age of Law, and
is the honorific for the God worshiped by the people of Israel.
from
“The Savior Has Already Returned Upon a ‘White Cloud’” in The
Word Appears in the Flesh
During
the Age of Law, the work of guiding mankind was done under the name
of Jehovah, and the first stage of work was carried out on earth. The
work of this stage was to build the temple and the altar, and to use
the law to guide the people of Israel and work among them. By guiding
the people of Israel, He established a base for His work on earth.
From this base, He expanded His work beyond Israel, which is to say
that, starting from Israel, He extended His work outward, so that
later generations gradually came to know that Jehovah was God, and
that Jehovah had created the heavens and earth and all things, had
made all creatures. He spread His work through the people of Israel.
The land of Israel was the first holy place of Jehovah’s work on
earth, and God’s earliest work on earth was throughout the land of
Israel. That was the work of the Age of Law.
from
“The Vision of God’s Work (3)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh
During
the Age of Law, Jehovah laid down many commandments for Moses to pass
on to the Israelites who followed him out of Egypt. Jehovah gave
these commandments to the Israelites, which were unrelated to the
Egyptians, and they were meant to restrain the Israelites, and were
His requirements for them. Whether one observed the Sabbath, whether
one respected one’s parents, whether one worshiped idols, and so
forth, these were the principles by which one was judged sinful or
righteous. Whether one was struck by Jehovah’s fire, or stoned to
death, or received Jehovah’s blessing, was determined according to
whether one obeyed these commandments. Those who did not observe the
Sabbath were stoned to death. Those priests who did not observe the
Sabbath were smitten by Jehovah’s fire. Those who did not respect
their parents were also stoned to death. This was all commended by
Jehovah. Jehovah established His commandments and laws so that as He
led their lives, the people would listen to and obey His word and not
rebel against Him. He used these laws to control the newborn human
race, to lay the foundation for His work to come. And so, because of
the work that Jehovah did, the first age was called the Age of Law.
from
“The Work in the Age of Law” in The Word Appears in the Flesh
The
people in Israel all called Jehovah their Lord. At the time, they
considered Him the head of their family, and the whole of Israel
became a great family in which everyone worshiped their Lord Jehovah.
The Spirit of Jehovah often appeared to them, and He spoke and
uttered His voice to them, and used a pillar of cloud and sound to
guide their lives. At that time, the Spirit provided His guidance in
Israel directly, speaking and uttering His voice to the people, and
they beheld the clouds and heard the peals of thunder, and in this
way He guided their lives for several thousands of years. Thus, only
the people of Israel have always worshiped Jehovah.
from
“The Vision of God’s Work (2)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh
His
work and words in Israel guided the lives of all the people across
the land, showing them that Jehovah was not only able to blow breath
into man, so that he had His life, and was resurrected from the dust
and made a creature of God, but could also scorch mankind with
flames, and curse mankind, using His rod to govern mankind. So, too,
did they see that Jehovah could guide man’s life on earth, and
speak and work among them by day and by night. He did the work only
so that His creatures might know that man came from dust picked up by
Him, that man was made by Him. Furthermore, the work He began in
Israel was meant so that other peoples and nations (who in fact were
not separate from Israel, but had branched off from the Israelites,
yet were still descended from Adam and Eve) might receive the gospel
of Jehovah from Israel, so that all creatures in the universe would
revere Him and hold Him to be great.
from
“The Work in the Age of Law” in The Word Appears in the Flesh
The
name Jehovah cannot represent all of the disposition of God. The fact
that He carried out work in the Age of Law does not prove that God
can only be God under the law. Jehovah set forth laws for man and
handed down commandments, asking man to build the temple and altars;
the work He did represents only the Age of Law. The work He did does
not prove that God is the God who asks man to keep the law, the God
in the temple, or the God before the altar. This cannot be said. The
work under the law can only represent one age.
from
“The Mystery of the Incarnation (4)” in The Word Appears in the
Flesh
(2)
The significance of God taking the name Jesus in
the Age of Grace
Bible
Verses for Reference:
“The
angel of the LORD appeared to him in a dream, saying, Joseph, you son
of David, fear not to take to you Mary your wife: for that which is
conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a
son, and you shall call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people
from their sins” (Mat 1:20-21).
“And
the angel said to her, Fear not, Mary: for you have found favor with
God. And, behold, you shall conceive in your womb, and bring forth a
son, and shall call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be
called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give to him the
throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of
Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end” (Luk
1:30-33).
Relevant
Words of God:
Jesus’
name marked the start of the Age of Grace. When Jesus began to
perform His ministry, the Holy Spirit began to testify to the name of
Jesus, and the name of Jehovah was no longer spoken of, and instead
the Holy Spirit began the new work principally under the name of
Jesus. The testimony of those who believed in Him was borne for Jesus
Christ, and the work they did was also for Jesus Christ. The
conclusion of the Old Testament Age of Law meant that the work
principally conducted under the name of Jehovah had come to an end.
After this, the name of God was no longer Jehovah; instead He was
called Jesus, and from here on the Holy Spirit began the work
principally under the name of Jesus.
from
“The Vision of God’s Work (3)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh
“Jesus”
is Emmanuel, and it means the sin offering that is full of love, full
of compassion, and redeems man. He did the work of the Age of Grace,
and represents the Age of Grace, and can only represent one part of
the management plan. … Only Jesus is the Redeemer of mankind. He is
the sin offering that redeemed mankind from sin. Which is to say, the
name of Jesus came from the Age of Grace, and existed because of the
work of redemption in the Age of Grace. The name of Jesus existed to
allow the people of the Age of Grace to be reborn and saved, and is a
particular name for the redemption of the whole of mankind. And so
the name Jesus represents the work of redemption, and denotes the Age
of Grace. … “Jesus” represents the Age of Grace, and is the
name of the God of all those who were redeemed during the Age of
Grace.
from
“The Savior Has Already Returned Upon a ‘White Cloud’” in The
Word Appears in the Flesh
During
the Age of Grace, the name of God was Jesus, which means that God was
a God who saved man, and that He was a compassionate and loving God.
God was with man. His love, His compassion, and His salvation
accompanied each and every person. Man could only gain peace and joy,
receive His blessing, receive His vast and numerous graces, and
receive His salvation if man accepted the name of Jesus and accepted
His presence. Through the crucifixion of Jesus, all those who
followed Him received salvation and were forgiven their sins.
from
“The Vision of God’s Work (3)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh
When
Jesus came, He also did part of God’s work, and spoke some
words—but what was the main work He accomplished? What He mainly
accomplished was the work of crucifixion. He became the likeness of
sinful flesh to complete the work of crucifixion and redeem all
mankind, and it was for the sake of all mankind’s sin that He
served as a sin offering. This is the main work He accomplished.
Ultimately, He provided the path of the cross to guide those who came
later. When Jesus came, it was primarily to complete the work of
redemption. He redeemed all mankind, and brought the gospel of the
kingdom of heaven to man, and, furthermore, He brought the kingdom of
heaven. As a result, those who came after all said, “We should walk
the path of the cross, and sacrifice ourselves for the cross.” Of
course, in the beginning Jesus also did some other work and spoke
some words to make man repent and confess his sins. But His ministry
was still the crucifixion, and the three and a half years He spent
preaching the way were in preparation for the crucifixion that came
after. The several times that Jesus prayed were also for the sake of
the crucifixion. The life of a normal man that He led and the
thirty-three and a half years that He lived on earth were primarily
for the sake of completing the work of crucifixion, they were to give
Him strength, and make Him able to undertake this work, as a result
of which God entrusted the work of crucifixion to Him.
from
“All Is Achieved by the Word of God” in The Word Appears in the
Flesh
In
the work of the Age of Grace, Jesus was the God who saved man. What
He had and was was grace, love, compassion, forbearance, patience,
humility, care, and tolerance, and so much of the work that He did
was the redemption of man. And as for His disposition, it was one of
compassion and love, and because He was compassionate and loving, He
had to be nailed to the cross for man, in order to show that God
loved man as Himself, to the extent that He sacrificed Himself in His
entirety. Satan said, “Since You love man, You must love him to the
ultimate extreme: You must be nailed to the cross, to deliver man
from the cross, from sin, and You shall offer up Yourself in exchange
for all of mankind.” Satan made the following wager: “Since You
are a loving and compassionate God, You must love man to the ultimate
extreme: You must offer Yourself up to the cross.” Jesus said, “As
long as it is for mankind, then I am willing to lay down My all.”
Afterward, He went up onto the cross without hesitation and redeemed
all of mankind.
from
“The Vision of God’s Work (3)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh
In
the Age of Grace, Jesus came to redeem the whole fallen mankind (not
only the Israelites). He showed mercy and lovingkindness to man. The
Jesus that man saw in the Age of Grace was filled with lovingkindness
and was always loving, for He had come to deliver man from sin. He
could forgive man their sins until His crucifixion truly delivered
mankind from sin. During that time, God appeared before man in mercy
and lovingkindness; that is, He became a sin offering for man and was
crucified for the sins of man so that they may forever be forgiven.
He was merciful, compassionate, enduring and loving. And all those
who followed Jesus in the Age of Grace also sought to be enduring and
loving in all things. They endured all suffering, and never fought
back even if beaten, cursed or stoned.
from
“The Two Incarnations Complete the Significance of the Incarnation”
in The Word Appears in the Flesh
During
the Age of Grace, the name of God was Jesus. In other words, the work
of the Age of Grace was done principally under the name of Jesus.
During the Age of Grace, God was called Jesus. He did new work beyond
the Old Testament, and His work ended with the crucifixion, and that
was the entirety of His work.
from
“The Vision of God’s Work (3)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh
(3)
The significance of God taking the name Almighty
God in the Age of Kingdom
Bible
Verses for Reference:
“You
shall be called by a new name, which the mouth of the LORD shall
name”
(Isa
62:2).
“Him
that overcomes will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he
shall go no more out: and I will write on him the name of my God, and
the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which comes
down out of heaven from my God: and I will write on him my new name”
(Rev
3:12).
“I
am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, said the Lord,
which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty”
(Rev
1:8).
“Saying,
We give you thanks, O LORD God Almighty, which are, and were, and are
to come; because you have taken to you your great power, and have
reigned”
(Rev
11:17).
“Great
and marvelous are your works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are
your ways, you King of saints”
(Rev
15:3).
Relevant
Words of God:
During
the last days, His name is Almighty God—the Almighty, and He uses
His power to guide man, conquer man, and gain man, and in the end,
conclude the age. In every age, in every stage of His work, God’s
disposition is evident.
from
“The Vision of God’s Work (3)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh
Since
Almighty God—the King of the kingdom—has been witnessed, the
scope of God’s management has unfolded entirely throughout the
whole universe. Not only has God’s appearance been witnessed in
China, but the name of Almighty God has been witnessed in all nations
and all lands. They are all calling out this holy name, seeking to
fellowship with God by any means possible, grasping the will of
Almighty God and serving in coordination in the church. The Holy
Spirit works in this wondrous way.
from
Utterances and Testimonies of Christ in the Beginning
And
so, when the final age—the age of the last days—arrives, My name
shall change again. I shall not be called Jehovah, or Jesus, much
less the Messiah, but shall be called the powerful Almighty God
Himself, and under this name I shall bring the entire age to an end.
I was once known as Jehovah. I was also called the Messiah, and
people once called Me Jesus the Savior because they loved and
respected Me. But today I am not the Jehovah or Jesus that people
knew in times past—I am the God who has returned in the last days,
the God who shall bring the age to an end. I am the God Himself that
rises up at the ends of the earth, replete with My entire
disposition, and full of authority, honor and glory. People have
never engaged with Me, have never known Me, and have always been
ignorant of My disposition. From the creation of the world until
today, not one person has seen Me. This is the God who appears to man
during the last days but is hidden among man. He resides among man,
true and real, like the burning sun and the flaming fire, filled with
power and brimming with authority. There is not a single person or
thing that shall not be judged by My words, and not a single person
or thing that shall not be purified through the burning of fire.
Eventually, all nations shall be blessed because of My words, and
also smashed to pieces because of My words. In this way, all people
during the last days shall see that I am the Savior returned, I am
the Almighty God that conquers all of mankind, and I was once the sin
offering for man, but in the last days I also become the flames of
the sun that burn all things, as well as the Sun of righteousness
that reveals all things. Such is My work of the last days. I took
this name and am possessed of this disposition so that all people may
see that I am a righteous God, and am the burning sun, and the
flaming fire. It is so that all may worship Me, the only true God,
and so that they may see My true face: I am not only the God of the
Israelites, and am not just the Redeemer—I am the God of all
creatures throughout heavens and earth and seas.
from
“The Savior Has Already Returned Upon a ‘White Cloud’” in The
Word Appears in the Flesh
In
His final work of concluding the age, God’s disposition is one of
chastisement and judgment, which reveals all that is unrighteous,
publicly judges all peoples, and perfects those who truly love Him.
Only a disposition such as this can bring the age to an end. The last
days have already arrived. All things will be classed according to
their kind, and will be divided into different categories based on
their nature. This is the time when God reveals people’s outcome
and their destination. If people do not undergo chastisement and
judgment, then there will be no way of revealing their disobedience
and unrighteousness. Only through chastisement and judgment can the
end of all things be revealed. Man only shows his true colors when he
is chastised and judged. Evil shall return to evil, good shall return
to good, and people shall be classified according to their kind.
Through chastisement and judgment, the end of all things will be
revealed, so that the evil will be punished and the good will be
rewarded, and all people will become subject under the dominion of
God. All the work must be achieved through righteous chastisement and
judgment. Because man’s corruption has reached its peak and his
disobedience has been too serious, only God’s righteous
disposition, which is principally one of chastisement and judgment
and is revealed during the last days, can fully transform and
complete man. Only this disposition can expose evil and thus severely
punish all the unrighteous. Therefore, a disposition such as this
possesses the significance of the age, and the revelation and
exhibition of His disposition is for the sake of the work of each new
age. God does not reveal His disposition arbitrarily and without
significance. If, when the end of man is revealed during the last
days, God still bestows upon man inexhaustible compassion and love,
if He is still loving toward man, and He does not subject man to
righteous judgment, but shows him tolerance, patience, and
forgiveness, if He still pardons man no matter what serious sins he
commits, without any righteous judgment, then would there ever be an
end to all of God’s management? When would a disposition such as
this be able to lead mankind into the right destination? Take, for
example, a judge who is always loving, kindhearted, and gentle. He
loves people irrespective of the crimes they have committed, and he
is loving and tolerant of people whoever they are. Then when will he
be able to reach a just verdict? During the last days, only righteous
judgment can classify man and bring man into a new realm. In this
way, the entire age is brought to an end through God’s righteous
disposition of judgment and chastisement.
from
“The Vision of God’s Work (3)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh
When
God becomes flesh this time, His work is to express His disposition,
primarily through chastisement and judgment. Using this as the
foundation, He brings more truth to man, shows more ways of practice,
and so achieves His objective of conquering man and saving man from
his corrupt disposition. This is what lies behind the work of God in
the Age of Kingdom.
from
Preface to The Word Appears in the Flesh
In
the last days, Christ uses a variety of truths to teach man, reveal
the essence of man, and dissect his words and deeds. These words
comprise various truths, such as man’s duty, how man should obey
God, how man should be loyal to God, how man ought to live out the
normal humanity, as well as the wisdom and disposition of God, and so
on. These words are all focused on the essence of man and his corrupt
disposition. In particular, those words that reveal how man spurns
God are spoken in regard to how man is an embodiment of Satan and an
enemy force against God. When God does the work of judgment, He does
not simply make clear the nature of man with just a few words, but
carries out revelation, dealing, and pruning over the long term. Such
manner of revelation, dealing, and pruning cannot be substituted with
ordinary words but with the truth that man does not possess at all.
Only such manner of work is deemed judgment; only through such
judgment can man be persuaded, be thoroughly convinced into
submission to God, and gain true knowledge of God. What the work of
judgment brings about is man’s understanding of the true face of
God and the truth about his rebelliousness. The work of judgment
allows man to gain much understanding of the will of God, of the
purpose of God’s work, and of the mysteries that could not be
understood by man. It also allows man to recognize and know his
corrupt substance and the roots of his corruption, as well as to
discover the ugliness of man. These effects are all brought about by
the work of judgment, for the substance of such work is actually the
work of opening up the truth, way, and life of God to all those who
have faith in Him. This work is the work of judgment done by God.
from
“Christ Does the Work of Judgment With the Truth” in The Word
Appears in the Flesh
During
the Age of Kingdom, God incarnate speaks words to conquer all those
who believe in Him. This is “the Word appearing in the flesh”;
God has come during the last days to do this work, which is to say,
He has come to accomplish the actual significance of the Word
appearing in the flesh. He only speaks words, and rarely is there the
advent of facts. This is the very substance of the Word appearing in
the flesh, and when God incarnate speaks His words, this is the
appearance of the Word in the flesh, and is the Word coming into the
flesh. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God, and the Word became flesh.” This (the work of
the appearance of the Word in the flesh) is the work that God will
accomplish in the last days, and is the final chapter of His entire
management plan, and so God has to come to earth and manifest His
words in the flesh.
from
“All Is Achieved by the Word of God” in The Word Appears in the
Flesh
In
the Age of Kingdom, God uses the word to usher in a new age, to
change the means of His work, and to do the work for the entire age.
This is the principle by which God works in the Age of Word. He
became flesh to speak from different perspectives, enabling man to
truly see God, who is the Word appearing in the flesh, and His wisdom
and wonder. Such work is done to better achieve the goals of
conquering man, perfecting man, and eliminating man. This is the true
meaning of using the word to work in the Age of Word.
from
“The Age of Kingdom Is the Age of Word” in The Word Appears in
the Flesh
His
initial work was carried out in Judea, within the scope of Israel; in
Gentile nations He did not do any era-launching work whatsoever. The
final stage of His work is not only carried out among the people of
Gentile nations; even more so, it is carried out among those cursed
people. This one point is the evidence most capable of humiliating
Satan; thus, God “becomes” the God of all creation in the
universe and becomes the Lord of all things, the object of worship
for everything with life.
from
“God Is the Lord of All Creation” in The Word Appears in the
Flesh
In
the final era, I will have My name magnified among the Gentile
nations, make My deeds seen by the Gentiles so they will call Me the
Almighty, and cause My words to soon come to pass. I will make all
people know that I am not only the God of the Israelites, but the God
of all Gentile nations, even of the nations I have cursed. I will let
all people see that I am the God of all creation. This is My greatest
work, the purpose of My work plan for the last days, and the only
work to be fulfilled in the last days.
from
“The Work of Spreading the Gospel Is
Also the Work of Saving Man” in The Word Appears in the Flesh
Introduction: Eastern
Lightning
The
origin of the
Church of Almighty God
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