Almighty God's Word - Knowing God Is the Path to Fearing God and Shunning Evil

Knowing God Is the Path to Fearing God and Shunning Evil

Everyone should examine anew his life of believing in God to see whether, in the pursuit of God, he has truly understood, truly comprehended, and truly come to know God, whether he truly knows what attitude God bears to the various types of human beings, and whether he truly understands what God is working upon him and how God defines his every act. This God, who is by your side, guiding the direction of your progress, ordaining your destiny, and supplying your needs—how much do you, in the final analysis, understand and how much do you really know about Him? Do you know what He works on you every single day? Do you know the principles and purposes on which He bases His every action? Do you know how He guides you? Do you know the means by which He supplies you? Do you know the methods with which He leads you? Do you know what He wishes to obtain from you and what He wishes to achieve in you? Do you know the attitude He takes to the multifarious ways in which you behave? Do you know whether you are a person beloved of Him? Do you know the origin of His joy, anger, sorrow, and delight, the thoughts and ideas behind them, and His essence? Do you know, ultimately, what kind of God is this God that you believe in? Are these and other questions of the sort something that you have never understood or thought about? In pursuing your belief in God, have you, through real appreciation and experience of God’s words, cleared up your misunderstandings about Him? Have you, after receiving God’s discipline and chastening, arrived at genuine submission and caring? Have you, in the midst of God’s chastisement and judgment, come to know the rebelliousness and satanic nature of man and gained a modicum of understanding about God’s holiness? Have you, under the guidance and enlightenment of God’s words, begun to have a new outlook of life? Have you, in the midst of the trial sent by God, felt His intolerance for man’s offenses as well as what He requires of you and how He is saving you? If you do not know what it is to misunderstand God, or how to clear up this misunderstanding, then one can say that you have never entered into true communion with God and have never understood God, or at least one can say you have never wished to understand Him. If you do not know what is God’s discipline and chastening, then you surely do not know what are submission and caring, or at least you have never truly submitted to or cared for God. If you have never experienced God’s chastisement and judgment, then you will surely not know what is His holiness, and you will be even less clear as to what man’s rebellion is. If you have never truly had a correct outlook on life, or a correct aim in life, but are still in a state of perplexity and indecision over your future path in life, even to the point of being hesitant to go forward, then it is certain that you have never truly received God’s enlightenment and guidance, and one can also say that you have never truly been supplied or replenished by God’s words. If you have not yet undergone God’s trial, then it goes without saying that you will certainly not know what is God’s intolerance for man’s offenses, nor would you understand what God ultimately requires of you, and even less what, ultimately, is His work of managing and saving man. No matter how many years a person has believed in God, if he has never experienced or perceived anything in God’s words, then assuredly he is not walking the path toward salvation, his faith in God is assuredly without actual content, his knowledge of God too is assuredly zero, and it goes without saying that he has no idea at all what it is to revere God.

God’s possessions and being, God’s essence, God’s disposition—all has been made known in His words to humankind. When he experiences God’s words, man will in the process of carrying them out come to understand the purpose behind the words God speaks, and to understand the wellspring and background of God’s words, and to understand and appreciate the intended effect of God’s words. For humanity, these are all things that man must experience, realize, and access in order to access truth and life, realize God’s intentions, become transformed in his disposition, and become able to submit to God’s sovereignty and arrangements. At the same time that man experiences, realizes, and accesses these things, he will gradually have gained an understanding of God, and at this time he will also have gained different degrees of knowledge about Him. This understanding and knowledge does not come out of something man has imagined or composed, but rather from what he appreciates, experiences, feels, and corroborates within himself. Only after appreciating, experiencing, feeling, and corroborating these things does man’s knowledge of God acquire content, only the knowledge that he obtains at this time is actual, real, and accurate, and this process—of attaining genuine understanding and knowledge of God through appreciating, experiencing, feeling, and corroborating His words—is no other than true communion between man and God. In the midst of this kind of communion, man comes truly to understand and comprehend God’s intentions, comes truly to understand and know God’s possessions and being, comes truly to understand and know God’s essence, comes gradually to understand and know God’s disposition, arrives at real certainty about, and a correct definition of, the fact of God’s dominion over all creation, and gains a substantive bearing on and knowledge of God’s identity and position. In the midst of this kind of communion, man changes, step by step, his ideas about God, no longer imagining Him out of thin air, or giving rein to his own suspicions about Him, or misunderstanding Him, or condemning Him, or passing judgment on Him, or doubting Him. In consequence, man will have fewer debates with God, he will have fewer conflicts with God, and there will be fewer occasions on which he rebels against God. Conversely, man’s caring for and submission to God will grow greater, and his reverence for God will become more real as well as more profound. In the midst of this kind of communion, man will not only attain the provision of truth and the baptism of life, but he will at the same time also attain true knowledge of God. In the midst of this kind of communion, man will not only be transformed in his disposition and receive salvation, but he will at the same time also garner the true reverence and worship of a created being toward God. Having had this kind of communion, man’s faith in God will no longer be a blank sheet of paper, or a promise offered up in lip service, or a form of blind pursuit and idolization; only with this kind of communion will man’s life grow toward maturity day by day, and only now will his disposition gradually become transformed, and his faith in God will, step by step, pass from a vague and uncertain belief into genuine submission and caring, into real reverence; man will also, in his pursuit of God, gradually progress from a passive to an active stance, from one who is acted upon into one who takes positive action; only with this kind of communion will man arrive at true understanding and comprehension of God, at true knowledge of God. Because the great majority of people have never entered into true communion with God, their knowledge of God stops at the level of theory, at the level of letters and doctrines. That is to say, the great majority of people, no matter how many years they have believed in God, are as far as knowing God is concerned still in the same place where they started, stuck at the foundation of traditional forms of homage, with their trappings of legendary color and feudal superstition. That man’s knowledge of God should be stalled at its starting point means that it is practically non-existent. Apart from man’s affirmation of God’s position and identity, man’s faith in God is still in a state of vague uncertainty. This being so, how much can man have of true reverence for God?

No matter how firmly you believe in His existence, this cannot take the place of your knowledge of God, nor of your reverence for God. No matter how much you have enjoyed of His blessings and His grace, this cannot take the place of your knowledge of God. No matter how willing and eager you are to consecrate your all and expend your all for His sake, this cannot take the place of your knowledge of God. Or perhaps you have grown so familiar with the words He has spoken that you know them by heart and can rattle them off backward; even so, this cannot take the place of your knowledge of God. However intent man may be on following God, if he has never had genuine communion with God, or had a genuine experience of God’s words, then his knowledge of God would be no more than a sheer blank or an endless reverie; for all that you may have “brushed shoulders” with God in passing, or met Him face to face, your knowledge of God would still be zero, and your reverence for God no more than an empty catchword or an ideal.

Many people hold up God’s words to read day by day, even to the point of carefully committing to memory all the classic passages therein as their most prized possession, and moreover preach God’s words everywhere, supplying and aiding others by means of His words. They think that to do this is to bear witness to God, to bear witness to His words, that to do this is to follow God’s way; they think that to do this is to live by God’s words, that to do this is to bring His words into their actual lives, that doing this will enable them to receive God’s commendation, and to be saved and perfected. But, even as they preach the words of God, they never comply with God’s words in practice, or try to bring themselves in line with what is revealed in God’s words. Rather, they use God’s words to gain the adoration and trust of others by trickery, to enter into management on their own, and to embezzle and steal God’s glory. They hope, vainly, to use the opportunity afforded by spreading God’s words to be awarded God’s working and His commendation. How many years have gone by, but not only have these people been incapable of earning God’s commendation in the process of preaching God’s words, and not only have they been incapable of discovering the way that they should follow in the process of bearing witness to God’s words, and not only have they not aided or supplied themselves in the process of supplying and aiding others by means of God’s words, and not only have they been incapable of knowing God, or awakening in themselves genuine reverence for God, in the process of doing all these things; but, on the contrary, their misunderstandings about God grow ever deeper, their mistrust of Him ever graver, and their imaginings about Him ever more hyperbolic. Supplied and guided by their theories about God’s words, they appear as if completely in their element, as if plying their skills with effortless ease, as if they have found their purpose in life, their mission, and as if they have won new life and been saved, as if, with God’s words rolling crisply off the tongue in recital, they have gained access to the truth, grasped God’s intentions, and discovered the path to knowing God, as if, in the process of preaching God’s words, they often come face to face with God. Also, they are often “moved” to bouts of weeping, and, often led by the “God” in God’s words, they appear to be ceaselessly grasping at His earnest solicitude and kind intention, and at the same time to have grasped God’s salvation of man and His management, to have come to know His essence, and to have understood His righteous disposition. Based on this foundation, they seem to believe even more firmly in God’s existence, to be more cognizant of His exalted state, and to feel even more deeply His grandeur and transcendence. Steeped in the superficial knowledge of God’s words, it would appear that their faith has grown, their resolve to endure suffering has strengthened, and their knowledge of God has deepened. Little do they know that, until they actually experience God’s words, all their knowledge of God and their ideas about Him come out of their own wishful imagination and conjecture. Their faith would not hold up under any kind of test from God, their so-called spirituality and stature would simply not hold up under God’s trial or inspection, their resolution is but a castle built upon the sand, and their so-called knowledge of God too no more than a figment of their imagination. In fact, these people, who have, as it were, put a lot of effort into God’s words, have never ever realized what is real faith, what is real submission, what is real caring, or what is real knowledge of God. They take theory, imagination, knowledge, gift, tradition, superstition, and even the moral values of humanity, and make them into “investment capital” and “military arms” for believing in God and pursuing Him, even making them into the foundations of their belief in God and their pursuit of Him. At the same time, they also take this capital and weaponry and make them into a magic talisman for knowing God, for meeting and contending with God’s inspection, trial, chastisement, and judgment. In the end, what they garner still consists of nothing more than conclusions about God that are steeped in religious connotation, in feudal superstition, and in all that is romantic, grotesque, and enigmatic, and their way of knowing and defining God is stamped in the same mold as that of people who believe only in Heaven Above, or the Old Man in the Sky, while God’s realness, His essence, His disposition, His possessions and being, and so forth, all that has to do with the real God Himself, are things that their knowing has failed to grasp, is completely irrelevant to and even poles apart from. In this way, although they live under the provision and nourishment of God’s words, they are nevertheless unable truly to tread the path of fearing God and shunning evil. The true reason for this is that they have never become acquainted with God, neither have they ever had genuine contact or communion with Him, and so it is impossible for them to arrive at mutual understanding with God, or to awaken in themselves genuine belief in, pursuit of, or worship for God. That they should thus regard God’s words, that they should thus regard God—this perspective and attitude has doomed them to return empty-handed from their endeavors, has doomed them never in all eternity to be able to tread the path of fearing God and shunning evil. The goal for which they are aiming, and the direction in which they are going, signifies that they are God’s enemies through eternity, and that through eternity they will never be able to receive salvation.

If, in the case of a man who has followed God for many years and enjoyed the provision of His words for many years, his definition of God be, in its essence, the same as that of someone who prostrates himself in homage before idols, then this would signify that this man has not attained to the reality of God’s words. Looking into the cause of this, one sees that he has simply not entered into the reality of God’s words, and for this reason the reality, the truth, the intentions, and the demands upon humanity, all of which inhere in God’s words, have nothing whatsoever to do with him. That is to say, no matter how hard such a man may work on the surface meaning of God’s words, all is futile: Because what he pursues is mere words, therefore what he gets will also of necessity be mere words. Whether the words spoken by God are, in outward appearance, plain or abstruse, they are all truths indispensable to man as he enters into life; they are the fount of living waters that enables him to survive in both spirit and flesh. They provide what man needs to stay alive; the dogma and creed for conducting his daily life; the path, goal, and direction through which he must pass in order to receive salvation; every truth that he should possess as a created being before God; and every truth about how man obeys and worships God. They are the guarantee that ensures man’s survival, they are man’s daily bread, and they are also the sturdy support that enables man to be strong and stand up. They are rich in the reality of the truth of normal humanity as it is lived out by created mankind, rich in the truth by which mankind breaks free from corruption and eludes Satan’s snares, rich in the tireless teaching, exhortation, encouragement, and solace that the Creator gives to created humanity. They are the beacon that guides and enlightens men to understand all that is positive, the guarantee which ensures that men will live out and come into possession of all that is righteous and good, the criterion by which people, events, and objects are all measured, and also the navigation marker that leads men toward salvation and the path of light. Only in the real experience of God’s words is man supplied with the truth and with life; only herein does he come to understand what is normal humanity, what is a meaningful life, what is a genuine created being, what is real obedience to God; only herein does he come to understand how he should care for God, how to fulfill the duty of a created being, and how to possess the likeness of a real man; only herein does he come to understand what is meant by genuine faith and genuine worship; only herein does he understand who is the Ruler of the heavens and earth and all things; only herein does he come to understand the means by which the One who is the Master of all creation rules over, leads, and provides for creation; and only herein does he come to understand and grasp the means by which the One who is the Master of all creation exists, becomes manifest, and works…. Separated from the real experience of God’s words, man has no real knowledge of or insight into God’s words and the truth. Such a man is a downright living corpse, a consummate shell, and all knowledge relating to the Creator has nothing whatsoever to do with him. In God’s eyes, such a man has never believed in Him, nor has he ever followed Him, and so God recognizes him neither as His believer nor as His follower, even less as a genuine created being.

In order to be a genuine created being, one must know who the Creator is, what man’s creation is for, how to carry out the responsibilities of a created being, and how to worship the Lord of all creation, must understand, grasp, know, and care for the Creator’s intentions, wishes, and demands, and must act in accordance with the way of the Creator—fear God and shun evil.

What is to fear God? And how to shun evil?

“To fear God” does not mean nameless fright and horror, nor to evade, nor to put at a distance, nor is it idolization or superstition. Rather, it is admiration, esteem, trust, understanding, caring, obedience, consecration, love, as well as unconditional and uncomplaining worship, requital, and surrender. Without genuine knowledge of God, humanity will not have genuine admiration, genuine trust, genuine understanding, genuine caring or obedience, but only dread and unease, only doubt, misunderstanding, evasion, and avoidance; without genuine knowledge of God, humanity will not have genuine consecration and requital; without genuine knowledge of God, humanity will not have genuine worship and surrender, only blind idolization and superstition; without genuine knowledge of God, humanity cannot possibly act in accordance with the way of God, or fear God, or shun evil. Conversely, every activity and behavior in which man engages will be filled with rebellion and defiance, with slanderous imputations and calumnious judgments about Him, and with evil conduct running contrary to the truth and to the true meaning of God’s words.

Having real trust in God, humanity will really know how to follow God and depend on Him; only with real trust in and dependence on God can humanity have genuine understanding and comprehension; along with real comprehension of God comes real caring for Him; only with genuine caring for God can humanity have genuine obedience; only with genuine obedience to God can humanity have genuine consecration; only with genuine consecration to God can humanity have requital that is unconditional and without complaint; only with genuine trust and dependence, genuine understanding and caring, genuine obedience, genuine consecration and requital, can humanity truly come to know God’s disposition and essence, and to know the identity of the Creator; only when they have truly come to know the Creator can humanity awaken in themselves genuine worship and surrender; only when they have real worship for and surrender to the Creator will humanity be able truly to put aside their evil ways, that is to say, to shun evil.

This constitutes the whole process of “fearing God and shunning evil,” and is also the content in its entirety of fearing God and shunning evil, as well as the path that must be traversed in order to arrive at fearing God and shunning evil.

Fearing God and shunning evil and knowing God are indivisibly connected by a myriad threads, and the connection between them is self-evident. If one wishes to attain to shunning evil, one must first have real fear of God; if one wishes to attain to real fear of God, one must first have real knowledge of God; if one wishes to attain to knowledge of God, one must first experience God’s words, enter into the reality of God’s words, experience God’s chastening and discipline, His chastisement and judgment; if one wishes to experience God’s words, one must first come face to face with God’s words, come face to face with God, and beg God to furnish opportunities to experience God’s words in the form of all sorts of environments involving people, events, and objects; if one wishes to come face to face with God and with God’s words, one must first possess a simple and honest heart, readiness to accept the truth, the will to endure suffering, the resolution and the courage to shun evil, and the aspiration to become a genuine created being…. In this way, going forward step by step, you will draw ever closer to God, your heart will grow ever more pure, and your life and the value of being alive will, along with your knowledge of God, become ever more meaningful and wax ever more radiant. Until, one day, you will feel that the Creator is no longer a riddle, that the Creator has never been hidden from you, that the Creator has never concealed His face from you, that the Creator is not at all far from you, that the Creator is no longer the One that you constantly long for in your thoughts but that you cannot reach with your feelings, that He is really and truly standing guard to your left and right, supplying your life, and controlling your destiny. He is not on the remote horizon, nor has He secreted Himself high up in the clouds. He is right by your side, presiding over your all, He is everything that you have, and He is the only thing you have. Such a God allows you to love Him from the heart, cling to Him, hold Him close, admire Him, fear to lose Him, and be unwilling to renounce Him any longer, disobey Him any longer, or any longer to evade Him or put Him at a distance. All you want is to care for Him, obey Him, requite all that He gives you, and surrender to His dominion. You no longer refuse to be guided, supplied, watched over, and kept by Him, no longer refuse what He dictates and ordains for you. All you want is to follow Him, walk alongside Him to His left or right, all you want is to accept Him as your one and only life, to accept Him as your one and only Lord, your one and only God.

from Continuation of The Word Appears in the Flesh

August 18, 2014

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Eastern Lightning

The Church of Almighty God was founded by Almighty God personally

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Worship God in Spirit and in Truth | A Cappella "The Result Achieved by Knowing God" (Music Video)

The Result Achieved by Knowing God

One day, 

you will feel that the Creator 

is no longer a riddle, 

that the Creator has never been hidden from you,

that the Creator 

has never concealed His face from you,

that the Creator is not at all far from you,

that the Creator is no longer the One that you constantly long for in your thoughts but that you cannot reach with your feelings,

that He is really and truly standing guard to your left and right, 

supplying your life, and controlling your destiny, controlling your destiny. 

He is not on the remote horizon, nor has He secreted Himself high up in the clouds. 

He is right by your side, presiding over your all, 

He is everything that you have, and He is the only thing you have. 

Such a God 

allows you to love Him from the heart, 

cling to Him, hold Him close, admire Him, 

fear to lose Him, 

and be unwilling to renounce Him any longer, disobey Him any longer, 

or any longer to evade Him or put Him at a distance. 

All you want is to care for Him, obey Him, 

requite all that He gives you, and surrender to His dominion. 

You no longer refuse to be guided, 

supplied, watched over, and kept by Him, 

no longer refuse what He dictates and ordains for you,

what He dictates and ordains for you.

All you want is to follow Him, walk alongside Him to His left or right, to follow Him, walk alongside Him to His left or right,

all you want is to accept Him as your one and only Lord,

all you want is to accept Him as your one and only Lord, your one and only God.

You no longer 

You no longer 

You no longer 

You no longer 

refuse to be guided, supplied, watched over, and kept by Him, 

no longer refuse 

no longer refuse 

no longer refuse 

no longer refuse 

what He dictates and ordains for you, what He dictates and ordains for you. 

All you want is to follow Him, walk alongside Him to His left or right, to follow Him, walk alongside Him to His left or right, 

all you want is to accept Him as your one and only Lord,

all you want is to accept Him as your one and only Lord, your one and only God.

All you want is to follow Him, walk alongside Him to His left or right, to follow Him, walk alongside Him to His left or right, 

all you want is to accept Him as your one and only Lord, as your one and only Lord, your one and only God,

your one and only God.

from Continuation of The Word Appears in the Flesh

Eastern Lightning, The Church of Almighty God was created because of the appearance and work of Almighty God, the second coming of the Lord Jesus, Christ of the last days. It is made up of all those who accept Almighty God's work in the last days and are conquered and saved by His words. It was entirely founded by Almighty God personally and is led by Him as the Shepherd. It was definitely not created by a person. Christ is the truth, the way, and the life. God's sheep hear God's voice. As long as you read the words of Almighty God, you will see God has appeared.

Special statement: This video production was produced as a not-for-profit piece by the Church of Almighty God. The actors that appear in this production are performing on a not-for-profit basis, and have not been paid in any way. This video may not be distributed for profit to any third party, and we hope that everyone will share it and distribute it openly. When you distribute it, please note the source. Without the consent of the Church of Almighty God, no organization, social group, or individual may tamper with or misrepresent the contents of this video.

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Worship God in Spirit and in Truth | A Cappella "The Result Achieved by Knowing God" (Music Video)

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Praise Song "The Heart's Voice of a Created Being" | The Church of Almighty God

I

I wanted to cry but no place felt right. I wanted to sing but no song was found. I wanted to express the love of a created being. Searching high and low, but no words could say, could say just how I feel. Practical and true God, the love inside my heart. I lift my hands in praise, I rejoice that You came into this world.

II

Man came from dust, and God gave him life. Satan came down to corrupt mankind. Lost are their humanity and reason. Generation after generation, fallen since that day. But You are … the practical and true God, the love inside my heart. I am dust but I can see Your face. How can I not worship? The practical and true God, the love inside my heart. I am dust but I can see Your face. How can I not worship You?

III

God created man and loves him so, that He became flesh again, bore good and bad, adversity and sorrow, saving us and bringing us to a beautiful place. We will always thank You. The practical and true God, the love inside my heart. Corrupt, but You have saved me! How can I not worship? The practical and true God, the love inside my heart. Corrupt, but You have saved me! How can I not worship You? How can I not worship You? How can I not worship You?

from Follow the Lamb and Sing New Songs

Eastern Lightning, The Church of Almighty God was created because of the appearance and work of Almighty God, the second coming of the Lord Jesus, Christ of the last days. It is made up of all those who accept Almighty God's work in the last days and are conquered and saved by His words. The Church of Almighty God was founded by Almighty God personally. It was definitely not created by a person. Christ is the truth, the way, and the life. God's sheep hear God's voice. As long as you read the words of Almighty God, you will see God has appeared.

Special statement: This video production was produced as a not-for-profit piece by the Church of Almighty God. This video may not be distributed for profit to any third party, and we hope that everyone will share it and distribute it openly. When you distribute it, please note the source. Without the consent of the Church of Almighty God, no organization, social group, or individual may tamper with or misrepresent the contents of this video.

The Pictures of The Church of Almighty God | Praise Song "The Heart's Voice of a Created Being"

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Almighty God's Utterance "God Himself, the Unique I God's Authority (I)" (Part Four)

God’s Authority (I)   Part Four

The Creator’s Authority Is Not Constrained by Time, Space, or Geography, and the Creator’s Authority Is Inestimable

Let us look at Genesis 22:17-18. This is another passage spoken by Jehovah God, in which He said to Abraham, “That in blessing I will bless you, and in multiplying I will multiply your seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is on the sea shore; and your seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; And in your seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because you have obeyed my voice.” Jehovah God blessed Abraham many times that his offspring would multiply—and multiply to what extent? To the extent spoken of in Scripture: “as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is on the sea shore.” Which is to say that God wished to bestow upon Abraham a progeny as numerous as the stars of heaven, and as plentiful as the sand on the sea shore. God spoke using imagery, and from this imagery it is not hard to see that God would not merely bestow one, two, or even thousands of descendants upon Abraham, but an uncountable number, enough that they would become a multitude of nations, for God promised Abraham that he would be the father of many nations. And was that number decided by man, or was it decided by God? Can man control how many descendants he has? Is it up to him? It is not even up to man whether or not he has several, let alone as many as “the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is on the sea shore.” Who doesn’t wish for their offspring to be as numerous as the stars? Unfortunately, things don’t always turn out the way you want. Regardless of how skillful or capable man is, it is not up to him; none can stand outside of that which is ordained by God. However much He allows you, that is how much you shall have: If God gives you a little, then you shall never have a lot, and if God gives you a lot, it is no use you resent how much you have. Is this not the case? All of this is up to God, not man! Man is ruled by God, and no one is exempt!

When God said “I will multiply your seed,” this was a covenant that God established with Abraham, and like the rainbow covenant, it would be accomplished for eternity, and was also a promise made by God to Abraham. Only God is qualified and capable to make this promise come true. Regardless of whether or not man believes it, regardless of whether or not man accepts it, and regardless of how man views it, and how he regards it, all of this shall be fulfilled, to the letter, according to the words spoken by God. The words of God will not be altered because of changes in the will or conceptions of man, and will not be altered by changes in any person, thing or object. All things may disappear, but the words of God will remain forever. On the contrary, the day that all things disappear is exactly the day upon which the words of God are completely fulfilled, for He is the Creator, and He possesses the authority of the Creator, and the power of the Creator, and He controls all things and all life force; He is able to cause something to come from nothing, or something to become nothing, and He controls the transformation of all things from living to dead, and so for God, nothing could be simpler than multiplying someone’s seed. This sounds fantastical to man, like a fairytale, but to God, that which He decides to do, and promises to do, is not fantastical, nor a fairytale. Instead it is a fact that God has already seen, and which shall surely be accomplished. Do you appreciate this? Do the facts prove that the descendants of Abraham were numerous? And just how numerous? As numerous as “the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is on the sea shore” spoken of by God? Did they spread across all nations and regions, to every place in the world? And what accomplished this fact? Was it accomplished by the authority of God’s words? For several hundreds or thousands of years after the words of God were spoken, God’s words continued to be fulfilled, and were constantly becoming facts; this is the might of God’s words, and proof of the authority of God. When God created all things in the beginning, God said let there be light, and there was light. This happened very quickly, was fulfilled in a very short time, and there was no delay for its accomplishment and fulfillment; the effects of God’s words were immediate. Both were a display of God’s authority, but when God blessed Abraham, He allowed man to see another side of the substance of God’s authority, and allowed man to see the inestimability of the Creator’s authority, and moreover, allowed man to see a more real, more exquisite side of the Creator’s authority.

Once the words of God are uttered, the authority of God takes command of this work, and the fact promised by the mouth of God gradually begins to become a reality. Amongst all things, changes begin to occur in everything as a result, much like how, at the arrival of spring, the grass turns green, the flowers bloom, buds sprout from the trees, the birds begin to sing, the geese return, and the fields teem with people…. With the arrival of spring all things are rejuvenated, and this is the miraculous deed of the Creator. When God accomplishes His promises, all things in heaven and on earth renew and change in accordance with the thoughts of God—and none is exempt. When a commitment or promise is uttered from the mouth of God, all things serve its fulfillment, and are maneuvered for the sake of its fulfillment, and all creatures are orchestrated and arranged under the dominion of the Creator, and play their respective role, and serve their respective function. This is the manifestation of the Creator’s authority. What do you see in this? How do you know the authority of God? Is there a range to God’s authority? Is there a time limit? Can it be said to be a certain height, or a certain length? Can it be said to be a certain size or strength? Can it be measured by the dimensions of man? The authority of God does not flicker on and off, does not come and go, and there is no one who can measure just how great His authority is. Regardless of how much time passes, when God blesses a person, this blessing will continue forth, and its continuation will bear testament to the inestimable authority of God, and will allow mankind to behold the reappearance of the inextinguishable life force of the Creator, time and time again. Each display of His authority is the perfect demonstration of the words from His mouth, and it is demonstrated to all things, and to mankind. What’s more, everything accomplished by His authority is exquisite beyond compare, and utterly flawless. It can be said that His thoughts, His words, His authority, and all the work that He accomplishes are all an incomparably beautiful picture, and for the creatures, the language of mankind is incapable of articulating its significance and value. When God makes a promise to a person, whether it be where they live, or what they do, their background before or after they receive the promise, or how great have been the upheavals in their living environment—all this is as familiar to God as the back of His hand. No matter how much time elapses after God’s words have been spoken, for Him, it is as if they have just been uttered. Which is to say that God has the power, and has such authority, that He can keep track of, control, and realize every promise He makes to mankind, and regardless of what the promise is, regardless of how long it takes to be completely fulfilled, and, moreover, regardless of how broad the scope that its accomplishment touches upon—for example, time, geography, race, and so on—this promise will be accomplished, and realized, and, furthermore, its accomplishment and realization will not require Him the slightest effort. And what does this prove? That the breadth of God’s authority and power is enough to control the whole of the universe, and the whole of mankind. God made light, but that does not mean God only manages light, or that He only manages water because He created water, and that everything else is unrelated to God. Is this not a misunderstanding? Although God’s blessing of Abraham had gradually faded from the memory of man after several hundred years, for God, this promise still remained the same. It was still in the process of accomplishment, and had never stopped. Man never knew or heard how God exerted His authority, how all things were orchestrated and arranged, and how many wonderful stories occurred among all things of God’s creation during this time, but every wonderful piece of the display of God’s authority and the revelation of His deeds were passed on and exalted among all things, all things showed forth and spoke of the miraculous deeds of the Creator, and each much-told story of the Creator’s sovereignty over all things shall be proclaimed by all things forever more. The authority by which God rules all things, and the power of God, show all things that God is present everywhere and at all times. When you have witnessed the ubiquity of the authority and power of God, you will see that God is present everywhere and at all times. The authority and power of God are unconstrained by time, geography, space, or any person, matter or thing. The breadth of God’s authority and power surpasses the imagination of man; it is unfathomable to man, unimaginable to man, and shall never be completely known by man.

       Some people like to infer and imagine, but how far can man’s imagination reach? Can it go beyond this world? Is man capable of inferring and imagining the authenticity and accuracy of God’s authority? Are the inference and imagination of man capable of allowing him to achieve a knowledge of God’s authority? Can they make man truly appreciate and submit to the authority of God? Facts prove that the inference and imagination of man are only a product of man’s intellect, and provide not the slightest help or benefit to man’s knowledge of God’s authority. After reading science fictions, some are able to imagine the moon, and what the stars are like. Yet this does not mean that man has any understanding of the authority of God. Man’s imagination is just that: imagination. Of the facts of these things, which is to say, of their connection to God’s authority, he has absolutely no grasp. So what if you have been to the moon? Does this show that you have a multidimensional understanding of God’s authority? Does it show that you are able to imagine the breadth of God’s authority and power? Since the inference and imagination of man are incapable of allowing him to know the authority of God, what should man do? The wisest option would be to not infer or imagine, which is to say that man must never rely on imagination and depend on inference when it comes to knowing the authority of God. What is it I wish to say to you here? Knowledge of God’s authority, God’s power, God’s own identity, and God’s substance cannot be achieved by relying on your imagination. Since you cannot rely on imagination to know the authority of God, then in what way can you achieve a true knowledge of God’s authority? Through eating and drinking the words of God, through fellowship, and through experiencing the words of God, you will have a gradual experience and verification of God’s authority and thus you will gain a gradual understanding and incremental knowledge of it. This is the only way to achieve the knowledge of God’s authority; there are no shortcuts. Asking you not to imagine is not the same as making you sit passively to await destruction, or stopping you from doing anything. Not using your brain to think and imagine means not using logic to infer, not using knowledge to analyze, not using science as the basis, but instead appreciating, verifying, and confirming that the God you believe in has authority, confirming that He holds sovereignty over your fate, and that His power at all times proves Him to be the true God Himself, through the words of God, through the truth, through everything that you encounter in life. This is the only way that anyone can achieve an understanding of God. Some say that they wish to find a simple way of achieving this aim, but can you think of such a way? I tell you, there’s no need to think: There are no other ways! The only way is to conscientiously and steadfastly know and verify what God has and is through every word that He expresses and everything that He does. This is the only way to know God. For what God has and is, and everything of God, is not hollow and empty—but real.

Almighty God's Utterance "God Himself, the Unique I God's Authority (I)" (Part Four)

The Fact of the Creator’s Control and Dominion Over All Things and Living Beings Speaks of the True Existence of the Creator’s Authority

Similarly, Jehovah’s blessing of Job is recorded in the Book of Job. What did God bestow upon Job? “So the LORD blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning: for he had fourteen thousand sheep, and six thousand camels, and a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she asses” (Job 42:12). From man’s perspective, what were these things given to Job? Were they man’s assets? With these assets, would Job have been very wealthy during that age? And how did he acquire such assets? What caused his wealth? It goes without saying that it was thanks to the blessing of God that Job came to possess them. How Job viewed these assets, and how he regarded the blessings of God, is not something we’ll go into here. When it comes to the blessings of God, all people yearn, day and night, to be blessed by God, yet man has no control over how many assets he can gain during his lifetime, or whether he can receive blessings from God—and this is an indisputable fact! God has authority, and has power to bestow any assets upon man, to allow man to obtain any benediction, yet there is a principle to God’s blessings. What kind of people does God bless? The people that He likes, of course! Abraham and Job were both blessed by God, yet the blessings which they received were not the same. God blessed Abraham with descendants as numerous as the sand and the stars. When God blessed Abraham, He caused one man’s descendants, one nation, to become powerful and prosperous. In this, the authority of God ruled mankind, who breathed the breath of God among all things and living beings. Under the sovereignty of God’s authority, this mankind proliferated and existed at the speed, and within the scope, decided by God. Specifically, this nation’s viability, rate of expansion, and life expectancy were all part of God’s arrangements, and the principle of all of this was wholly based on the promise that God made to Abraham. Which is to say that, regardless of the circumstances, God’s promises would proceed without hindrance and be realized under the providence of God’s authority. In the promise that God made to Abraham, regardless of the world’s upheavals, regardless of the age, regardless of the catastrophes endured by mankind, the descendants of Abraham would not face the risk of annihilation, and their nation would not die out. God’s blessing of Job, however, made him extremely wealthy. What God gave him was an array of living, breathing creatures, the particulars of which—their number, their speed of propagation, survival rates, the amount of fat on them, and so on—were also controlled by God. Though these living beings did not possess the ability to speak, they too were part of the Creator’s arrangements, and the principle of God’s arrangements was according to the blessing that God promised to Job. In the blessings that God gave to Abraham and Job, though what was promised was different, the authority with which the Creator ruled all things and living beings was the same. Every detail of God’s authority and power is expressed in His different promises and blessings to Abraham and Job, and once again shows mankind that the authority of God is far beyond man’s imagination. These details tell mankind once more that if he wishes to know God’s authority, then this can only be achieved through God’s words and through experiencing God’s work.

God’s authority of sovereignty over all things allows man to see a fact: God’s authority is not only embodied in the words “And God said, Let there be light, and there was light, and, Let there be firmament, and there was firmament, and, Let there be land, and there was land,” but, moreover, in how He made the light continue, prevented the firmament from disappearing, and kept the land forever separate from the water, as well as in the details of how He ruled over and managed the creatures: light, firmament, and land. What else do you see in God’s blessing of mankind? Clearly, after God blessed Abraham and Job, God’s footsteps did not cease, for He had only just begun to exert His authority, and He intended to make every one of His words a reality, and to make every one of the details of which He spoke come true, and so, in the years to come, He continued doing everything that He intended. Because God has authority, perhaps it seems to man that God only speaks, and does not need to lift a finger for all matters and things to be accomplished. To imagine thus is somewhat ridiculous! If you only take the one-sided view of God’s establishment of the covenant with man using words, and of God’s accomplishment of everything using words, and you are incapable of seeing the various signs and facts that the authority of God holds dominion over the existence of all things, then your understanding of God’s authority is too hollow and ridiculous! If man imagines God to be thus, then, it must be said, man’s knowledge of God has been driven to the last ditch, and has reached a dead end, for the God that man imagines is but a machine that issues orders, and not the God who is possessed of authority. What have you seen through the examples of Abraham and Job? Have you seen the real side of God’s authority and power? After God blessed Abraham and Job, God did not stay where He was, nor did He put His messengers to work while waiting to see what the outcome would be. On the contrary, as soon as God uttered His words, under the guidance of God’s authority, all things began to comply with the work that God intended to do, and there were prepared the people, things, and objects that God required. Which is to say that, as soon as the words were uttered from the mouth of God, God’s authority began to be exerted across the whole land, and He set a course in order to accomplish and fulfill the promises that He made to Abraham and Job, while also making all the proper plans and preparations for all that was required for every step and each key stage He planned to carry out. During this time, God not only maneuvered His messengers, but also all things that had been created by Him. Which is to say that the scope within which God’s authority was exerted not only included the messengers, but, moreover, all things, which were maneuvered in order to comply with the work that He intended to accomplish; these were the specific manners in which the authority of God was exerted. In your imaginings, some may have the following understanding of God’s authority: God has authority, and God has power, and so God need only remain in the third heaven, or need only remain in a fixed place, and need not do any particular work, and the entirety of God’s work is completed within His thoughts. Some may also believe that, although God blessed Abraham, God did not need to do anything, and it was enough for Him to merely speak His words. Is this what really happened? Clearly not! Although God is possessed of authority and power, His authority is true and real, not empty. The authenticity and reality of God’s authority and power are gradually revealed and embodied in His creation of all things, and control over all things, and in the process by which He leads and manages mankind. Every method, every perspective, and every detail of God’s sovereignty over mankind and all things, and all the work that He has accomplished, as well as His understanding of all things—they all literally prove that the authority and power of God are not empty words. His authority and power are shown forth and revealed constantly, and in all things. These manifestations and revelations speak of the real existence of God’s authority, for He is using His authority and power to continue His work, and to command all things, and to rule all things at every moment, and His power and authority cannot be replaced by the angels, or the messengers of God. God decided what blessings He would bestow upon Abraham and Job—it was up to God. Even though the messengers of God personally visited Abraham and Job, their actions were according to the commandments of God, and under the authority of God, and they were also under the sovereignty of God. Although man sees the messengers of God visit Abraham, and does not witness Jehovah God personally do anything in the records of the Bible, in fact, the only One who truly exerts power and authority is God Himself, and this brooks no doubt from any man! Although you have seen that the angels and the messengers possess great power, and have performed miracles, or they have done some things commissioned by God, their actions are merely for the sake of completing God’s commission, and are by no means a display of the authority of God—for no man or object has, or possesses, the authority of the Creator to create all things and rule all things. And so no man or object can exert or show forth the authority of the Creator.

The Authority of the Creator Is Immutable and Unoffendable

What have you seen in these three parts of scripture? Have you seen that there is a principle by which God exerts His authority? For example, God used a rainbow to establish a covenant with man, in which He placed a rainbow in the clouds in order to tell man that He would never again use a flood to destroy the world. Is the rainbow people see today still the same one that was spoken from the mouth of God? Has its nature and meaning changed? Without a doubt, it has not. God used His authority to carry out this action, and the covenant that He established with man has continued until today, and the time at which this covenant is altered is, of course, up to God. After God said “set my bow in the cloud,” God always abided by this covenant, right up until today. What do you see in this? Although God is possessed of authority and power, He is very rigorous and principled in His actions, and stays true to His word. His rigorousness, and the principles of His actions, show the unoffendableness of the Creator and the insuperability of the Creator’s authority. Though He is possessed of supreme authority, and all things are under His dominion, and although He has the power to rule all things, God has never damaged or disrupted His own plan, and each time He exerts His authority, it is in strict accordance with His own principles, and precisely follows that which was spoken from His mouth, and follows the steps and objectives of His plan. Needless to say, all things ruled by God also obey the principles by which God’s authority is exerted, and no man or thing is exempt from the arrangements of His authority, nor can they alter the principles by which His authority is exerted. In God’s eyes, those who are blessed receive the good fortune brought about by His authority, and those who are cursed receive their punishment because of God’s authority. Under the sovereignty of God’s authority, no man or thing is exempt from the exertion of His authority, nor can they alter the principles by which His authority is exerted. The authority of the Creator is not altered by changes in any factor, and, similarly, the principles by which His authority is exerted do not alter for any reason. Heaven and earth may undergo great upheavals, but the authority of the Creator will not change; all things may vanish, but the authority of the Creator will never disappear. This is the substance of the Creator’s immutable and unoffendable authority, and this is the very uniqueness of the Creator!

Eastern Lightning, The Church of Almighty God was created because of the appearance and work of Almighty God, the second coming of the Lord Jesus, Christ of the last days. It is made up of all those who accept Almighty God's work in the last days and are conquered and saved by His words. The Church of Almighty God was founded by Almighty God personally. It was definitely not created by a person. Christ is the truth, the way, and the life. God's sheep hear God's voice. As long as you read the words of Almighty God, you will see God has appeared.

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Holocaust Memorial Museum https://www.ushmm.org/

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The Church of Almighty God - Why does God do a new work in each age? And for what is a new age brought about?

The answer from God’s word:

“My entire management plan, which spans six thousand years, consists of three phases, or three ages: first, the Age of Law; second, the Age of Grace (which is also the Age of Redemption); and finally, the Age of Kingdom. My work in these three ages differs according to the nature of each age, but at each stage it accords with man’s needs—or rather, it varies according to the tricks that Satan employs in My war against it. The purpose of My work is to defeat Satan, to make manifest My wisdom and omnipotence, to expose all Satan’s tricks and thereby to save all of humanity, which lives under its domain. It is to show My wisdom and omnipotence while at the same time revealing the hideousness of Satan. Moreover, it is to teach My creations to discriminate between good and evil, to recognize that I am the Ruler of all things, to see clearly that Satan is humanity’s foe, the lowest of the low, the evil one, and to make the difference between good and evil, truth and falsehood, holiness and filth, greatness and baseness, as clear as day. This way, ignorant humanity may bear witness to Me that it is not I who corrupt humanity, and only I—the Creator—can save humanity, can bestow upon them things for enjoyment; and they may come to know that I am the Ruler of all things and Satan is merely one of My creations, which later turned against Me. My six-thousand-year management plan is divided into three stages in order to achieve the following effect: to allow My creations to be My witnesses, to know My will, to see that I am the truth.”

             from “The Truth Concerning the Work in the Age of Redemption” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

The Church of Almighty God Cards of Gospel - “ The Appearance and The Work of God ”

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