I Welcome the Lord Jesus Who Has Come to the Mount of Olives in the East(Part2)

By Wen Jin, United States

There Is Actually Tremendous Meaning Behind God Choosing to Appear and Work in China

Two days later, a brother and two sisters came to my home. After we’d introduced ourselves, I told them all about the confusion I was feeling. “God has always worked in Israel, so why in the last days would He choose to work in China? It is common knowledge that China is an atheist nation which constantly opposes God’s work, so what is the meaning behind God choosing to perform His work in China?”

Smiling, the brother said, “There are mysteries to the fact that God chooses different locations to perform His work in different ages, and even more so there are truths for us to seek! God’s words have already revealed everything about this matter, so let’s first read two passages of God’s words.”

The brother then opened his book of Almighty God’s words and asked me to read, and this is what I read: “Nothing was more symbolic than the first stage being carried out in Israel: The Israelites were the most holy and least corrupt of all peoples, and so the dawn of the new epoch in this land held the utmost significance. It can be said that mankind’s forefathers came from Israel, and that Israel was the birthplace of God’s work. In the beginning, these people were the most holy, and they all worshiped Jehovah, and God’s work in them was able to yield the greatest results. The entire Bible records the work of two ages: One was the work of the Age of Law, and one was the work of the Age of Grace. The Old Testament records Jehovah’s words to the Israelites and His work in Israel; the New Testament records Jesus’ work in Judea. But why does the Bible not contain any Chinese names? Because the first two parts of God’s work were carried out in Israel, because the people of Israel were the chosen ones—which is to say that they were the first to accept the work of Jehovah. They were the least corrupt of all mankind, and in the beginning, they were of a mind to look up to God and revere Him. They obeyed the words of Jehovah, and always served in the temple, and wore priestly robes or crowns. They were the earliest people to worship God, and the earliest object of His work. These people were a specimen and model for the whole of mankind. They were specimens and models of holiness and righteousness. People such as Job, Abraham, Lot, or Peter and Timothy—they were all Israelites, and the most holy of specimens and models. Israel was the earliest country to worship God among mankind, and more righteous people came from here than anywhere else. God worked in them in order that He could better manage mankind throughout the land in the future. Their achievements and the righteousness of their worship of Jehovah were recorded, so that they could serve as specimens and models to the people beyond Israel during the Age of Grace; and their actions have upheld several thousand years of work, right up until today” (“The Vision of God’s Work (2)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh).

“The work of Jehovah was the creation of the world, it was the beginning; this stage of work is the end of work, and it is the conclusion. At the start, God’s work was carried out among the chosen ones of Israel, and it was the dawn of a new epoch in the most holy of all places. The last stage of work is carried out in the most impure of all countries, to judge the world and bring the age to an end. In the first stage, God’s work was done in the brightest of all places, and the last stage is carried out in the darkest of all places, and this darkness will be driven out, the light brought forth, and all the people conquered. When the people of this most impure and darkest of all places have been conquered, and the entire population has acknowledged that there is a God, who is the true God, and every person has been utterly convinced, then this fact will be used to carry out the work of conquest throughout the entire universe. This stage of work is symbolic: Once the work of this age has been finished, the work of 6,000 years of management will come to a complete end. Once those in the darkest of all places have been conquered, it goes without saying that it will also be so everywhere else. As such, only the work of conquest in China carries meaningful symbolism. China embodies all forces of darkness, and the people of China represent all those who are of the flesh, of Satan, and of flesh and blood. It is the Chinese people who have been most corrupted by the great red dragon, who have the strongest opposition to God, whose humanity is most base and impure, and so they are the archetype of all corrupt humanity. … It is in the people of China that corruption, impurity, unrighteousness, opposition, and rebelliousness are manifested most completely and revealed in all their varied forms. On the one hand, they are of poor caliber, and on the other, their lives and mindset are backward, and their habits, social environment, family of birth—all are poor and the most backward. Their status, too, is low. The work in this place is symbolic, and after this test work has been carried out in its entirety, His subsequent work will go much better. If this step of work can be completed, then the subsequent work goes without saying. Once this step of work has been accomplished, great success will have been fully achieved, and the work of conquest throughout the entire universe will have come to a complete end. In fact, once the work among you has been successful, this will be equivalent to the success throughout the entire universe. This is the significance of why I have you act as a model and specimen” (“The Vision of God’s Work (2)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh).

After I’d read God’s words, the brother gave fellowship. “We can understand from God’s words that, each time God performs a stage of work, the location and the targets of His work are chosen according to the needs of His work, and it is all profoundly meaningful. In the Age of Law, Jehovah God worked in Israel; He used Moses to proclaim His laws and decrees so that mankind would know what sin was, so that we would know how to offer sacrifices and how to worship God, and so that we would understand how to live on the earth. In the Age of Grace, God incarnated into the form of the Lord Jesus and appeared and worked in Judea. His sinless flesh was nailed upon the cross, thus redeeming mankind from the conviction and fetters of the Law and qualifying them to come before God to confess and repent their sins. The reason why God chose to work in Israel in both the Age of Law and the Age of Grace was because Israel is the place where God created our earliest ancestors, Adam and Eve. It was because the people of Israel had been the least corrupted and they were the ones who worshiped God the most. By working in their midst, it was the least difficult for God to make a group of people to serve as models and examples for later generations to follow. People such as Abraham, Job, David and Peter all revered God and were devoted to God. They followed God’s way all their lives and, from the records of their righteous deeds, later generations were able to understand what kind of people God loves, what God’s will and requirements are of man, how man should worship God and carry out His word, and thereby they were able to emulate those early models of righteousness. Only in this way could God’s work to save man achieve even better results and enable even more people to attain God’s salvation. Moreover, these two stages of work were to guide the lives of mankind and to redeem us from the fetters of the Law. These two stages of work did not involve changing man’s corrupt dispositions, and so God chose to work in Israel where the people were the least corrupted and where they both believed in and worshiped God; this was done also so as to better spread the gospel. It was therefore most appropriate and meaningful for God to carry out these two stages of work—that of the Age of Law and that of the Age of Grace—in Israel.

“However, the work God performs in the last days is the work of conquest and perfecting, and it is also the work of removing sin—it is the very last stage of work in God’s six-thousand-year management plan. In this stage of work, God primarily uses words to expose and judge our sins and unrighteousness, thus enabling us to know our satanic nature, to thoroughly cast off the bonds and constraints of sin, to have our satanic dispositions purified and changed, and to become people who obey and worship God. The targets of God’s work must therefore be the classic examples of people who have been deeply corrupted by Satan. By conquering those of mankind who have been most deeply corrupted, this is the equivalent to God conquering the whole of mankind, and only in this way can Satan be utterly shamed, and God can gain His glory. In all the world, Chinese people are the ones who have been most deeply corrupted by Satan and we are the ones who most resist God. Those of us who were born in China all know that, ever since the founding of the nation, it has always advocated atheism, materialism and evolutionism, and it has used both education in schools and messages conveyed through the media, as well as the discourses of famous and great people, to indoctrinate us with such heretical fallacies as ‘There has never been any Savior,’ ‘Religion is the opiate of the masses,’ ‘Man can create a pleasant homeland with his own hands,’ ‘Man can conquer nature,’ ‘Men should always strive to be better than their contemporaries,’ ‘Every man for himself and the devil take the hindmost,’ ‘Man will do anything to get rich,’ and ‘Seize the day for pleasure, for life is short.’ By doing so, it has corroded our minds and made us deny and resist God from a young age, always wanting to change our own destiny with our own two hands and create a beautiful future for ourselves. Once we have accepted these wrong ideas, each and every person then takes the pursuit of wealth, fame, fortune and status, as well as the coveting of physical pleasures, as our goals in life. We vie with each other, cheat each other, strive against each other, so much so that some people even turn against their families and siblings murder each other for the sake of personal profit. People become more and more arrogant and conceited, insidious and malicious, wicked and greedy, they lose their conscience and reason, and they live as things that are neither man nor ghost. Moreover, Chinese people are the descendants of Moab and were originally born of promiscuity and were cursed by God. Chinese people possess the lowest status in all the world, our thoughts are rotten, our integrity is non-existent, and we are wicked and depraved. China is the abode of Satan, where the number of people who worship false gods, evil spirits and idols is at its greatest, and where there are the most people who practice witchcraft and sorcery. Chinese people are therefore the classic examples of corrupt mankind, and by incarnating to appear and work in China in the last days, and by conquering these people who are the most corrupted and who most resist God, God is bearing the most powerful testimony to the defeat of Satan. It may be said that God’s work in China in the last days is just testing the waters and is just the beginning, and that when His work in China is complete, then this will be tantamount to God’s management work to save all of mankind reaching its glorious conclusion, and thus God’s omnipotence and wisdom shall be revealed. The appearance and work of God in China in the last days, therefore, is so profoundly meaningful!”

The words of Almighty God and the fellowship given by the brother convinced me totally, and I nodded and said, “So God chooses where to perform His work according to the needs of His work! All I knew before now was that God’s previous two stages of work were performed in Israel, and I had no idea that there was such profound meaning behind His work. In the last days, God will perform the work of judging and purifying man, and Chinese people are the ones amongst all of mankind who are the most corrupt and the most resistant to God. When God makes these people, who are the most rebellious and resistant to Him, into people who truly obey Him and worship Him, then it will be easier for Him to do this with people of other nations. This really is a mystery!”

Just then, one of the sisters said cheerfully, “Thanks be to God! That we can come to have this understanding is all down to His guidance! Actually, there is another meaning to God incarnating in the last days and working in China. Let’s read another passage of God’s words, and then we’ll understand. Almighty God says, ‘If His current work were carried out among the Israelites, by the time His six-thousand-year management plan comes to a close, everyone would believe that God is only the God of the Israelites, that only the Israelites are God’s chosen people, that only the Israelites deserve to inherit God’s blessing and promise. During the last days, God is incarnate in the Gentile nation of the great red dragon; He has accomplished the work of God as the God of all creation; He has completed the whole of His management work, and He will end the central part of His work in the nation of the great red dragon. The core of these three stages of work is the salvation of man—namely, making all of creation worship the Lord of creation. Therefore, every stage of this work is very meaningful; God absolutely will not do something without meaning or value. … God has shattered any knowledge contained within human conceptions and has not permitted any of it to continue to exist. In His work of conquering He has shattered human conceptions, those old, earlier human ways of knowledge. He lets people see that with God there are no rules, that there is nothing old about God, that the work He does is entirely liberated, entirely free, that He is right in anything that He does. You must fully submit to any work that He does among creation. Any work He does is meaningful and is done according to His own will and wisdom and not according to human choices and conceptions. He does those things that are beneficial to His work; if something is not beneficial to His work He will not do it, no matter how good it is! He works and selects the recipient and location for His work according to the meaning and purpose of His work. He does not adhere to past rules, nor does He follow old formulas; instead, He plans His work according to the work’s significance; in the end He wants to attain its true effect and its anticipated purpose’” (“God Is the Lord of All Creation” in The Word Appears in the Flesh).

After she’d read God’s words, she then gave fellowship. “The two previous stages of God’s work were performed in Israel, and so our conceptions dictate to us that when God returns in the last days, He will surely come into Israel, that God is the God of the Israelites, that only the Israelites are God’s chosen people, and that they are the ones whom God loves and saves. By incarnating and performing His work in China in the last days, God has destroyed our notions and imaginings and has made us see that His work follows no rule whatsoever; God is not the God of any one nation or people, but is the God of all mankind and the God of all created beings! According to the needs of His work, God may choose a suitable location to work and targets to work on and He may work in any nation. But no matter in what nation God performs His work or on whom He works, His identity, position and essence are unchanging. Whether Israelite or Gentile, western or eastern, all people were created by God, and all should believe in and worship God. By working in China, God perfectly embodies the fairness and righteousness of the Creator, and He treats all of mankind whom He created equally. God’s work brims with wisdom, it is wondrous and unfathomable, and no matter what God does, it is always done out of love for us and to save us, and we all ought to accept and submit to His work.”

After listening to God’s words and the sister’s fellowship, I nodded and said, “I now understand that God has incarnated to perform His work in China in order to counter our conceptions and imaginings, to enable us to know that God is the God of all mankind, and so that we never again delimit the appearance and work of God. I never knew God’s work, and when I saw that God’s previous two stages of work had both been performed in Israel, I believed that the return of God in the last days should also happen in Israel, and so I ended up delimiting the appearance and work of God. What a fool I was! By going by my conceptions and believing that God was only the God of the Israelites and not of all mankind, I was surely denying that God rules the fate of all mankind! God is the God of all mankind, not just the God of any one nation or people. By appearing and performing His work in China, He embodies His love for all mankind!” Hearing me say this, the brother and the two sisters all said joyfully, “Thanks be to God!”

I Recognize God’s Omnipotence and Wisdom and Joyfully Welcome the Lord’s Return

They then played for me a music video called “God Has Brought His Glory to the East,” and a documentary, The One Who Holds Sovereignty Over Everything, both of which were produced by The Church of Almighty God. I was deeply drawn in by the magnificent imagery and the harmonious music in the documentary, and the imposing scenery and the narrator’s commentary enabled me to see that God rules all things, that He manages the vast star-filled universe and that He also rules the fates of mankind—it was so deeply stirring. The brother and the two sisters then played for me a recital video of God’s words, and I saw God’s words that say: “This is because, no matter where He reveals Himself, God is still God, and His substance will never change on account of the location or manner of His appearance. The disposition of God remains the same regardless of where His footprints are, and no matter where the footprints of God are, He is the God of all mankind, just as the Lord Jesus is not only the God of the Israelites, but is also the God of all the people of Asia, Europe, and America, and even more the one and only God in the entire universe. So let us seek God’s will and discover His appearance in His utterances, and keep pace with His footsteps! God is the truth, the way, and the life. His words and His appearance exist concurrently, and His disposition and footprints are open to mankind at all times” (“The Appearance of God Has Ushered in a New Age” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). I couldn’t help but feel all kinds of emotions surge through me as I thought, “Yes! God is the Creator, and whether He works in Israel or in China, He is always the unique God Himself. His essence, His disposition and what He has and is can never change, and God will always be the truth, the way and the life. I must read Almighty God’s words in earnest and investigate it diligently; I must not lose my chance to witness the appearance of God.”

Over the next two days, the brother and the two sisters once again fellowshiped with me about many truths concerning God’s work in the last days. The more I heard, the more light filled my heart, and I became much clearer about how God judges, purifies and perfects man. From the bottom of my heart, I became sure that the words of Almighty God are the utterances of God’s own mouth, and I began to yearn to hear even more of Almighty God’s words. The only thing was that it was time for me to return to the US, so I left my address and telephone number with the brother and sisters, and I asked them to help me get in touch with The Church of Almighty God in the US.

Once I was back in the US, I followed the advice given to me by one of the sisters and searched for “kingdom gospel” online. Wow! The page that appeared showed a heart-moving image that said, “Christ of the Last Days Has Appeared in China,” and the page’s content was so rich and varied. There were books of God’s words, hymns, all manner of videos, experiences and testimonies of brothers and sisters, and so on. I clicked on the link for “Gospel Videos” and saw movies, music videos, sketches, stage plays, and so on. Afterward, I cried as I watched a documentary called Tragic Youth about the CCP’s persecution of Christians. That brothers and sisters could live in such an abominable environment in China and yet still unshakably believe in God and follow God was the result achieved by God’s work and it was a testimony to God’s glory—God truly has gained a group of overcomers in China! I hadn’t been back for 10 days before brothers and sisters from the US branch of The Church of Almighty God got in touch with me.

I now live the church life, and the more I read of Almighty God’s words, the more I come to appreciate God’s love and His painstaking efforts to save people. God fervently hopes that all who yearn for His appearance can come before Him, accept His provision of the living water of life, rid ourselves of the harm of Satan and live in the light as soon as may be. I am so fortunate to have been able to come before God and to accept the salvation of His words. I cherish even more the chance God has given me to attain true salvation and I actively engage with the ranks of people who preach the gospel so that, together with my brothers and sisters, I can preach God’s work of the last days to even more people. Thanks be to God!