I

God can save corrupt man from the influence of Satan,

but this work cannot be directly accomplished by the Spirit of God;

rather, it can only be done by the flesh God’s Spirit wears,

by the incarnate flesh of God, by the incarnate flesh of God.

This flesh is man and is also God, is a man possessed of normal humanity

and also God possessed of full divinity.

And so, even though this flesh is not God’s Spirit,

and differs greatly from the Spirit,

it is still the incarnate God Himself who saves man,

who is the Spirit and also the flesh.

II

In the three stages of God’s work,

only one stage was carried out directly by the Spirit,

and the remaining two stages are carried out by the incarnate God,

and not directly by the Spirit, not directly by the Spirit.

The work of the Age of Law done by the Spirit

didn’t involve changing man’s corrupt disposition,

and neither did it bear any relation to man’s knowledge of God.

The work of God’s flesh in the Age of Grace and the Age of Kingdom,

however, involves man’s corrupt disposition and his knowledge of God,

and the work of the flesh of God is an important and crucial part

of the work of salvation.

III

Therefore, corrupt mankind

is more in need of the salvation of the incarnate God,

and is more in need of the direct work of the incarnate God.

Mankind needs the incarnate God to shepherd him, support him,

water him, feed him, judge and chastise him,

and he needs more grace and greater redemption from the incarnate God.

Only God in the flesh can be the confidant of man,

the shepherd of man, the very present help of man.

Only God in the flesh can be the confidant of man,

the shepherd of man, the very present help of man;

all of this is the necessity of the incarnation both today and in times past.

from The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Corrupt Mankind Is More in Need of the Salvation of the Incarnate God