Relevant Words of God:

Everything of this world swiftly changes with the Almighty’s thoughts and beneath His eyes. Things mankind has never heard of suddenly arrive, whereas things that mankind has long possessed unknowingly slip away. No one can fathom the Almighty’s whereabouts, much less can anyone sense the transcendence and greatness of the Almighty’s life force. He is transcendent in that He can perceive what humans cannot. He is great in that He is the One who is forsaken by mankind and yet saves mankind. He knows the meaning of life and death, and more than that, He knows the laws of existence that mankind, who are created, should follow. He is the foundation of human existence, and He is the Redeemer who resurrects mankind again. He weighs down happy hearts with sorrow and lifts up sorrowful hearts with happiness, all for the sake of His work, and for the sake of His plan.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. The Sighing of the Almighty

In the vastness of the cosmos and the firmament, countless creatures live and reproduce, follow the cyclical law of life, and adhere to one constant rule. Those who die take with them the stories of the living, and those who are living repeat the same tragic history of those who have perished. And so, mankind cannot help but ask himself: Why do we live? And why do we have to die? Who commands this world? And who created this mankind? Was mankind really created by Mother Nature? Is mankind really in control of his own fate? … Mankind simply does not know who the Sovereign of the universe and all things is, much less the beginning and future of mankind. Mankind merely lives, perforce, amidst this law. None can escape it and none can change it, for among all things and in the heavens there is but One from everlasting to everlasting who holds sovereignty over everything. He is the One who has never been beheld by man, the One whom mankind has never known, in whose existence mankind has never believed—yet He is the One who blew the breath into mankind’s ancestors and gave life to mankind. He is the One who provides and nourishes mankind, allowing him to exist; and He is the One who has guided mankind up to the present day. Moreover, He and He alone is the One mankind depends on for survival. He holds sovereignty over all things and rules all living beings in the universe. He commands the four seasons, and it is He who calls forth wind, frost, snow, and rain. He brings mankind sunshine and ushers in the night. It was He who laid out the heavens and earth, providing man with the mountains, lakes, and rivers and all of the living things within them. His deeds are omnipresent, His power is omnipresent, His wisdom is omnipresent, and His authority is omnipresent. Each of these laws and rules is the embodiment of His deeds, and each one reveals His wisdom and authority. Who can exempt themselves from His sovereignty? And who can discharge themselves from His designs? All things exist beneath His gaze, and moreover, all things live under His sovereignty. His deeds and His power leave mankind with no choice but to acknowledge the fact that He really does exist and holds sovereignty over all things. Nothing apart from Him can command the universe, much less endlessly provide for this mankind. Regardless of whether you are able to recognize God’s deeds, and regardless of whether you believe in the existence of God, there is no doubt that your fate is determined by God, and there is no doubt that God will always hold sovereignty over all things. His existence and authority are not predicated upon whether or not they are recognized and comprehended by man. Only He knows man’s past, present, and future, and only He can determine the fate of mankind. Regardless of whether you are able to accept this fact, it will not be long before mankind witnesses all of this with his own eyes, and this is the fact that God will soon bring to bear. Mankind lives and dies under the eyes of God. Man lives for the management of God, and when his eyes close for the final time, it is for this management that they close as well. Man comes and goes over and over again, back and forth. Without exception, it is all part of God’s sovereignty and His design. God’s management has never ceased; it is perpetually advancing. He will make mankind aware of His existence, trust in His sovereignty, behold His deeds, and return to His kingdom. This is His plan, and the work that He has been managing for thousands of years.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Appendix 3: Man Can Only Be Saved Amidst God’s Management

The way of life is not something that anyone can possess, nor is it something anyone can attain easily. This is because life can only come from God, which is to say, only God Himself possesses the essence of life, and only God Himself has the way of life. And so only God is the source of life, and the ever-flowing wellspring of living water of life. Ever since He created the world, God has done much work involving the vitality of life, has done much work that brings life to man, and has paid a great price so that man might gain life. This is because God Himself is eternal life, and God Himself is the way by which man is resurrected. God is never absent from the heart of man, and He lives among man at all times. He has been the driving force of man’s living, the root of man’s existence, and a rich deposit for man’s existence after birth. He causes man to be reborn, and enables him to tenaciously live in his every role. Thanks to His power and His inextinguishable life force, man has lived for generation after generation, throughout which the power of God’s life has been the mainstay of man’s existence, and God has paid a price that no ordinary man has ever paid. God’s life force can prevail over any power; moreover, it exceeds any power. His life is eternal, His power extraordinary, and His life force cannot be overwhelmed by any created being or enemy force. The life force of God exists and shines its brilliant radiance regardless of time or place. Heaven and earth may undergo great changes, but God’s life is forever the same. All things may pass away, but God’s life will still remain, for God is the source of the existence of all things and the root of their existence. Man’s life originates from God, the existence of heaven is because of God, and the existence of earth stems from the power of God’s life. No object possessed of vitality can transcend the sovereignty of God, and no thing with vigor can elude the domain of God’s authority. In this way, regardless of who they are, everyone must submit under the dominion of God, everyone must live under God’s command, and no one can escape from His hands.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Only Christ of the Last Days Can Give Man the Way of Eternal Life

Before this humanity came into being, the cosmos—all the planets and all the stars in the heavens—already existed. On the macro level, these heavenly bodies have been orbiting regularly, under God’s control, for their entire existence, however many years that has been. What planet goes where at what particular time; what planet performs what task, and when; what planet revolves along what orbit, and when it disappears or is replaced—all these things proceed without the slightest error. The positions of the planets and the distances between them all follow strict patterns, all of which can be described by precise data; the paths along which they travel, the speed and patterns of their orbits, the times when they are in various positions—all of these can be quantified precisely and described by special laws. For eons the planets have followed these laws, without the slightest deviation. No power can change or disrupt their orbits or the patterns they follow. Because the special laws that govern their motion and the precise data that describe them are predestined by the Creator’s authority, they obey these laws of their own accord, under the Creator’s sovereignty and control. On the macro level, it is not hard for man to discover some patterns, some data, and some strange and unexplainable laws or phenomena. Though humanity does not admit that God exists nor accept the fact that the Creator made and has dominion over everything, and moreover does not recognize the existence of the Creator’s authority, human scientists, astronomers, and physicists are nonetheless finding more and more that the existence of all things in the universe, and the principles and patterns that dictate their movements, are all governed and controlled by a vast and invisible dark energy. This fact compels man to confront and acknowledge that there is a Mighty One in the midst of these patterns of movement, orchestrating everything. His power is extraordinary, and though no one can see His true face, He governs and controls everything at every moment. No man or force can reach beyond His sovereignty. Faced with this fact, man must recognize that the laws governing the existence of all things cannot be controlled by humans, cannot be changed by anyone; he must also admit that human beings cannot fully understand these laws, and they are not naturally occurring, but are dictated by a Sovereign. These are all expressions of the authority of God that mankind can perceive on a macro level.

On the micro level, all the mountains, rivers, lakes, seas, and landmasses that man may behold on earth, all the seasons that he experiences, all the things that inhabit the earth, including plants, animals, microorganisms, and humans, are subject to God’s sovereignty and control. Under God’s sovereignty and control, all things come into being or disappear in accordance with His thoughts; laws arise that govern their existence, and they grow and multiply in keeping with them. No human being or thing is above these laws.

—The Word, Vol. 2. On Knowing God. God Himself, the Unique III

When God created all things, He drew boundaries for mountains, plains, deserts, hills, rivers, and lakes. On the earth there are mountains, plains, deserts and hills, as well as various bodies of water. These constitute different types of terrain, do they not? Between them, God drew boundaries. When we speak of drawing boundaries, it means that mountains have their delineations, plains have their own delineations, deserts have certain limits, and hills have a fixed area. There is also a fixed quantity of bodies of water such as rivers and lakes. That is, when God created all things, He divided everything very clearly. … Within all of these different terrains and geographical environments created by God, He is managing everything in a planned and orderly way. So all of these geographical environments still exist and are still performing their functions thousands and even tens of thousands of years after they were created by God. Although there are certain periods when volcanoes erupt, and periods when earthquakes occur, and there are major shifts of the land, God absolutely will not allow any type of terrain to lose its original function. It is only because of this management by God, His rule and control over these laws, that all of this—all of this which is seen and enjoyed by mankind—can survive on the earth in an orderly way. …

…………

… aside from establishing boundaries for the various geographical environments, God also drew boundaries and established laws for the various birds and beasts, fish, insects, and all the plants. Because of the differences between various geographical environments and because of the existence of different geographical environments, different types of birds and beasts, fish, insects, and plants have different environments for survival. The birds and the beasts and the insects live amongst the various plants, the fish live in the water, and the plants grow on the land. … all things created by God—no matter if they are fixed in one place or whether they can breathe through their nostrils—have their own laws for survival. Long before God created these living beings, He had already prepared for them their own homes and their own environments for survival. These living beings had their own fixed environments for survival, their own food and their own fixed homes, and they had their own fixed places suitable for their survival, places with temperatures suitable for their survival. Thus, they would not wander around any which way or undermine mankind’s survival or impact people’s lives. This is how God manages all things, providing for mankind the best environment for survival. The living beings within all things each have their own life-sustaining food within their own environments for survival. With that food, they are attached to their native environment for survival. In that kind of environment, they continue to survive, multiply, and move forward in accordance with the laws God has established for them. Because of these types of laws, because of God’s predestination, all things live in harmony with mankind, and mankind coexists together in interdependence with all things.

—The Word, Vol. 2. On Knowing God. God Himself, the Unique IX

From the moment you come crying into this world, you begin to fulfill your duty. For God’s plan and for His ordination, you perform your role and start your life’s journey. Whatever your background, and whatever the journey ahead of you, no one can escape the orchestrations and arrangements of the Heaven, and no one is in control of their own destiny, for only He who rules over all things is capable of such work. Since the day man came into existence, God has ever worked thus, managing the universe, directing the rules of change for all things and the trajectory of their movement. Like all things, man is quietly and unknowingly nourished by the sweetness and rain and dew from God; like all things, man unknowingly lives beneath the orchestration of God’s hand. Man’s heart and spirit are held in the hand of God, everything of his life is beheld in the eyes of God. Regardless of whether or not you believe this, any and all things, whether living or dead, will shift, change, renew, and disappear in accordance with God’s thoughts. Such is the way in which God presides over all things.

As the night quietly approaches, man is unaware, for the heart of man cannot perceive how the night approaches, nor whence it comes. As the night quietly slips away, man welcomes the light of day, but as for whence the light has come, and how it has driven away the darkness of the night, man knows even less, and is even less aware. These recurrent alternations of day and night take man from one period into another, from one historical context to the next, while also ensuring that the work of God in every period and His plan for every age are carried out.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. God Is the Source of Man’s Life

Since the creation of the world, I have begun to predestine and select this group of people—namely, you of today. Your temperament, caliber, appearance, and stature, your family into which you were born, your job, and your marriage—you in your entirety, even including the color of your hair and your skin, and your time of birth—were all arranged by My hands. I arranged by hand even the things you do and the people you meet every single day, not to mention the fact that bringing you into My presence today was actually done by My arrangement. Do not throw yourself into disorder; you should proceed calmly.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Utterances of Christ in the Beginning, Chapter 74

The fates of humanity and of the universe are intimately entwined with the Creator’s sovereignty, inseparably tied to the Creator’s orchestrations; in the end, they are inseparable from the Creator’s authority. In the laws of all things, man comes to understand the Creator’s orchestrations and His sovereignty; in the rules of survival of all things, he comes to perceive the Creator’s governance; in the fates of all things, he comes to infer the ways the Creator exercises His sovereignty and control over them; and in the life cycles of human beings and all things, man truly comes to experience the Creator’s orchestrations and arrangements for all things and living beings, to witness how those orchestrations and arrangements supersede all earthly laws, rules, and institutions, all other powers and forces. This being so, humanity is compelled to recognize that the Creator’s sovereignty cannot be violated by any created being, that no force can usurp upon or alter the events and things predestined by the Creator. It is under these divine laws and rules that humans and all things live and propagate, generation after generation. Is this not the true embodiment of the Creator’s authority?

—The Word, Vol. 2. On Knowing God. God Himself, the Unique III

God Presides Over the Fate of All Mankind

(A Selected Chapter of God’s Word)

As members of the human race and devout Christians, it is the responsibility and obligation of us all to offer up our minds and bodies for the fulfillment of God’s commission, for our entire being came from God, and it exists thanks to the sovereignty of God. If our minds and bodies are not for God’s commission and not for the just cause of mankind, then our souls will feel unworthy of those who were martyred for God’s commission, and much more unworthy of God, who has provided us with everything.

God created this world, He created this mankind and, moreover, He was the architect of ancient Greek culture and human civilization. Only God consoles this mankind, and only God cares for this mankind night and day. Human development and progress are inseparable from the sovereignty of God, and the history and future of mankind are inextricable from the designs of God. If you are a true Christian, then you will surely believe that the rise and fall of any country or nation occurs according to the designs of God. God alone knows the fate of a country or nation, and God alone controls the course of this mankind. If mankind wishes to have a good fate, if a country wishes to have a good fate, then man must bow down to God in worship, repent and confess before God, or else the fate and destination of man will be an unavoidable catastrophe.

Look back to the time when Noah built the ark: Mankind was deeply corrupt, people had strayed from the blessing of God, were no longer cared for by God, and had lost the promises of God. They lived in darkness, without the light of God. Then they became licentious by nature and abandoned themselves to hideous depravity. Such people could no longer receive the promise of God; they were unfit to witness the face of God or to hear the voice of God, for they had abandoned God, had cast aside all that He had bestowed upon them, and had forgotten the teachings of God. Their heart strayed farther and farther from God and, as it did, they became depraved beyond all reason and humanity and became increasingly evil. Then they walked ever closer to death and fell under the wrath and punishment of God. Only Noah worshiped God and shunned evil, and so he was able to hear the voice of God and hear His instructions. He built the ark according to the instructions of God’s word, and there assembled all manner of living creatures. And in this way, once everything had been prepared, God unleashed His destruction upon the world. Only Noah and the seven other members of his family survived the destruction, for Noah worshiped Jehovah and shunned evil.

Now look upon the present age: Such righteous men as Noah, who could worship God and shun evil, have ceased to exist. Yet God is still gracious toward this mankind and still absolves them during this final era. God seeks those who long for Him to appear. He seeks those who are able to hear His words, those who have not forgotten His commission and offer up their hearts and bodies to Him. He seeks those who are as submissive as babes before Him and do not resist Him. If you devote yourself to God, unimpeded by any power or force, then God shall look upon you with favor and shall bestow His blessings upon you. If you are of high station, of honorable reputation, possessed of abundant knowledge, the owner of plentiful assets, and supported by many people, yet these things do not prevent you from coming before God to accept His calling and His commission and to do what God asks of you, then all that you do shall be the most meaningful cause on earth and the most just undertaking of mankind. If you reject the call of God for the sake of status and your own goals, all that you do shall be cursed and even despised by God. Perhaps you are a president, a scientist, a pastor, or an elder, but no matter how high your office, if you rely on your knowledge and ability in your undertakings, then you shall always be a failure and shall always be bereft of the blessings of God, because God accepts nothing that you do, and He does not grant that your undertaking is a just one, or accept that you are working for the benefit of mankind. He will say that everything you do is done to use the knowledge and strength of mankind to thrust the protection of God away from man, and that it is done to deny the blessings of God. He will say that you are leading mankind toward darkness, toward death, and toward the start of a limitless existence in which man has lost God and His blessing.

Since mankind’s contrivance of the social sciences, the mind of man has become occupied by science and knowledge. Science and knowledge then have become tools for the ruling of mankind, and there is no longer sufficient room for man to worship God, and no more favorable conditions for the worship of God. The position of God has sunk ever lower in the heart of man. Without God in his heart, man’s inner world is dark, hopeless and empty. Subsequently many social scientists, historians, and politicians have come to the fore to express theories of social science, the theory of human evolution, and other theories that contradict the truth that God created man, to fill the hearts and minds of mankind. And in this way, those who believe that God created everything have become ever fewer, and those who believe in the theory of evolution have become ever greater in number. More and more people treat the records of the work of God and His words during the age of the Old Testament as myths and legends. In their hearts, people become indifferent to the dignity and greatness of God, to the tenet that God exists and holds dominion over all things. The survival of mankind and the fate of countries and nations are no longer important to them, and man lives in a hollow world concerned only with eating, drinking, and the pursuit of pleasure. … Few people take it upon themselves to seek out where God does His work today, or to look for how He presides over and arranges the destination of man. And in this way, unbeknownst to man, human civilization becomes less and less able to hew to man’s wishes, and there are even many people who feel that, living in such a world, they are less happy than those who have already passed away. Even people of countries that used to be highly civilized air such grievances. For without the guidance of God, no matter how much rulers and sociologists wrack their brains to preserve human civilization, it is to no avail. No one can fill the emptiness in man’s heart, for no one can be the life of man, and no social theory can free man from the emptiness with which he is afflicted. Science, knowledge, freedom, democracy, leisure, comfort: these bring man only a temporary consolation. Even with these things, man still inevitably sins and bemoans the injustices of society. These things cannot restrain man’s craving and desire to explore. This is because man was made by God and the senseless sacrifices and explorations of man can only lead to more distress and can only cause man to exist in a constant state of fear, not knowing how to face the future of mankind or how to face the path that lies ahead. Man even comes to fear science and knowledge, and fear even more the feeling of emptiness. In this world, regardless of whether you live in a free country or one without human rights, you are utterly incapable of escaping the fate of mankind. Whether you are the ruler or the ruled, you are utterly incapable of escaping the desire to explore the fate, mysteries, and destination of mankind, much less are you capable of escaping the bewildering sense of emptiness. Such phenomena, which are common to all of mankind, are called social phenomena by sociologists, yet no great man can come forth to solve such problems. Man, after all, is man, and the position and life of God cannot be replaced by any man. Mankind does not just require a fair society in which everyone is well-fed and is equal and free; what mankind needs is the salvation of God and His provision of life to them. Only when man receives God’s provision of life and His salvation can the needs, the yearning to explore, and the spiritual emptiness of man be resolved. If the people of a country or a nation are unable to receive the salvation and care of God, then such a country or nation will tread the road of decline, toward darkness, and shall be annihilated by God.

Perhaps your country currently prospers, but if you allow your people to stray from God, then it shall find itself increasingly bereft of the blessings of God. The civilization of your country shall be increasingly trampled underfoot and, before long, the people shall rise up against God and curse Heaven. And so, unbeknownst to man, the fate of a country shall be ruined. God shall raise up powerful countries to counter those countries that have been cursed by God, and may even wipe them from the face of the earth. The rise and fall of a country or nation is predicated upon whether its rulers worship God, and whether they lead their people to become closer to God and to worship Him. And yet, in this final era, because those who truly seek and worship God are increasingly scarce, God bestows special favor upon countries in which Christianity is the state religion. He gathers those countries together to form the world’s relatively just camp, while the atheistic countries and those that do not worship the true God become the opponents of the just camp. In this way, God not only has a place among mankind in which to conduct His work, but also gains countries that can exercise just authority, allowing sanctions and restrictions to be imposed on those countries that resist Him. Yet despite this, still no more people come forward to worship God, because man has strayed too far from Him, and man has forgotten God for too long. There remain on earth only countries that exercise justice and resist injustice. But this is far from the wishes of God, for no country’s rulers will allow God to preside over their people, and no political party will gather together its people to worship God; God has lost His rightful place in the heart of every country, nation, ruling party, and even in the heart of every person. Although just forces do exist in this world, rule in which God holds no place in the heart of man is fragile. Without the blessing of God, the political arena shall fall into disarray and become unable to withstand a single blow. For mankind, being without the blessing of God is like being without the sun. Regardless of how assiduously rulers make contributions to their people, regardless of how many just conferences mankind holds together, none of this shall reverse the tide or alter the fate of mankind. Man believes that a country in which people are fed and clothed, in which they live together peacefully, is a good country, and one with good leadership. But God does not think so. He believes that a country in which no one worships Him is one that He shall annihilate. Man’s way of thinking is too much at odds with that of God. So, if the head of a country does not worship God, then the fate of this country shall be a tragic one, and the country shall have no destination.

God does not partake in the politics of man, yet the fate of a country or nation is controlled by God. God controls this world and the entire universe. The fate of man and the plan of God are intimately connected, and no man, country or nation is exempt from the sovereignty of God. If man wishes to know his fate, then he must come before God. God shall cause those who follow and worship Him to prosper and shall bring decline and extinction upon those who resist and reject Him.

Recall the scene in the Bible when God wrought destruction upon Sodom and think also of how Lot’s wife became a pillar of salt. Think back to how the people of Nineveh repented their sins in sackcloth and ashes and recall what followed after the Jews nailed Jesus to the cross 2,000 years ago. The Jews were expelled from Israel and fled to countries around the world. Many were killed, and the entire Jewish nation was subjected to the unprecedented pain of their country’s annihilation. They had nailed God to the cross—committed a heinous sin—and provoked the disposition of God. They were made to pay for what they did and were made to bear all the consequences of their actions. They condemned God, rejected God, and so they had but one fate: to be punished by God. This was the bitter consequence and disaster that their rulers brought upon their country and nation.

Today, God has returned to the world to do His work. His first stop is the exemplar of dictatorial rulership: China, the staunch bastion of atheism. God has gained a group of people by His wisdom and power. During this period, He has been hunted by China’s ruling party by every means and subjected to great suffering, with no place to rest His head, unable to find shelter. Despite this, God still continues the work He intends to do: He utters His voice and spreads the gospel. None can fathom the almightiness of God. In China, a country that regards God as an enemy, God has never ceased His work. Instead, more people have accepted His work and word, for God saves each and every member of mankind to the greatest extent possible. We trust that no country or power can stand in the way of what God wishes to achieve. Those who obstruct God’s work, resist the word of God and disturb and impair the plan of God shall ultimately be punished by God. He who defies the work of God shall be sent to hell; any country that defies the work of God shall be destroyed; any nation that rises up to oppose the work of God shall be wiped from this earth and shall cease to exist. I urge the people of all nations, of all countries, and even of all industries to listen to the voice of God, to behold the work of God and to pay attention to the fate of mankind, in order to make God the most holy, the most honorable, the highest, and the only object of worship among mankind, and to allow the whole of mankind to live under the blessing of God, just as the descendants of Abraham lived under the promise of Jehovah, and just as Adam and Eve, whom God created first, lived in the Garden of Eden.

The work of God surges onward like a mighty wave. No one can detain Him, and no one can halt His march. Only those who listen carefully to His words, and who seek and thirst for Him, can follow His footsteps and receive His promise. Those who do not shall be subjected to overwhelming disaster and well-deserved punishment.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God