Fallacy (14): Someone said, “You preach that the Lord Jesus has returned in the flesh, and that He is called Almighty God and in China among you. Have you seen Him? If you haven’t, what basis do you have to say God has returned?”

Fallacy (14): Someone said, “You preach that the Lord Jesus has returned in the flesh, and that He is called Almighty God and in China among you. Have you seen Him? If you haven’t, what basis do you have to say God has returned?”

Picture of the Church of Almighty God

Response: Our preaching that the Lord Jesus has returned is not based on seeing God in the flesh. The Bible says: “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Rom 10:17). We preach that God in the flesh has come to China and is among us because we have seen God’s words and heard God’s voice. We recognized through the utterances of Almighty God that Almighty God is the reincarnated Jesus. This is sufficient. Presumably, no brother or sister who believes in Jesus only started believing after they saw Him in the flesh. There are countless people in the world today who believe in Jesus, but surely none only started believing after seeing Him in the flesh. Don’t people believe in Jesus all because of His work and words recorded in the Bible? Isn’t it all because, during the process of experiencing Jesus’ work and words, they gained the work of the Holy Spirit and Jesus’ grace, and only then were they certain that Jesus is the true God and began resolutely following Him? In fact, it is not important whether or not one has seen God in the flesh, and it does not affect our study of the true way and following God’s footsteps. Every time God becomes flesh it is to complete a stage of His work, to make people better gain His work and words, and gain His redemption and salvation, not to reveal the form of His flesh to mankind. Jesus worked on earth for three-and-a-half years, and the scope of His work was also rather restricted and limited only to Judea and Galilee. He only revealed Himself to a small portion of people and commenced His work in the flesh among this small group of people. He did not publicly reveal Himself to all people and allow them to see the form of His flesh. The gospels of the Lord Jesus people have been spreading for 2000 years are also testimonies of the Lord Jesus’ redemption work and His words. No one has been spreading testimonies of form of the Lord Jesus’ flesh. Evidently, there is not much to say about the form of His flesh. If there was and it could make people know God and gain His salvation, then why didn’t the Lord Jesus travel around the world so that everyone can see His flesh? It is obvious that God came to earth in the flesh not to reveal to mankind the form of His flesh, but only to leave them His work and words, and through them allow mankind to know His disposition and all that He has and is, understand His intentions and requirements, and be able to believe in Him, follow Him, and gain His salvation. This was the intention and purpose of God working in the flesh. Whether or not one has seen Him in the flesh does not determine whether they can gain His salvation. For example, back then there were many Jews and Pharisees who all saw Jesus in the flesh, but they did not believe in Him and even condemned and blasphemed the Lord Jesus. They nailed the Lord Jesus to the cross and offended God’s disposition, and were thus cursed and punished by God. None of the gentiles outside of Judea had seen Jesus in the flesh, but those truth-loving people, upon hearing disciples preach about Jesus’ work and words, believed in and followed the Lord Jesus, thus gaining His salvation. Now when we look at all those who believe in the Lord Jesus today, who among them believe because they see the Lord Jesus in the flesh? Don’t they all believe because of the preaching of other people and the work and words of the Lord Jesus recorded in the Bible? Do you only believe in the Lord Jesus because you have seen Him in the flesh? Since you believe even though you haven’t seen Jesus in the flesh, then why can’t you believe and accept the fact that God has become flesh in the last days? Is this not mankind’s disobedience? Is what you’re longing and hoping for not the work that can save you brought by the reincarnation of Jesus and God’s salvation, but merely that you can see the form of Jesus reincarnated in the flesh so you can regale your eyes? If that is indeed so, then you will never see God because God only appears to those who long for His salvation and those who long to know His work and words, not to people who only want to see His flesh to satisfy their curiosity, and moreover not to those who deliberately test God because their hearts are filled with doubt.

Actually, we also had such suspicions when we first heard people preaching that God has returned in the flesh, but through seeking and studying the work and words of Almighty God and reading many of the words expressed by Almighty God, we had some knowledge of God’s appearance and work in the flesh and our notions were cleared up. Let’s have a read of Almighty God’s words. Almighty God says: “God becomes flesh only to complete the work of the flesh, not simply to allow all men to see Him. Rather, He lets His work affirm His identity, and allows what He reveals to attest to His substance. His substance is not baseless; His identity was not seized by His hand; it is determined by His work and His substance” (“The Substance of Christ Is Obedience to the Will of the Heavenly Father” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). “In determining[a] whether it is the flesh of God incarnate, the key is to pay attention to His substance (His work, His words, His disposition, and many more), rather than external appearance. If man sees only His external appearance, and overlooks His substance, then that shows the ignorance and naivety of man. External appearance does not determine substance; what’s more, the work of God has never conformed with the conceptions of man. Did not the outward appearance of Jesus conflict with the conceptions of man? Were not His appearance and dress unable to provide any clues as to His true identity? Was not the reason why the earliest Pharisees opposed Jesus because they merely looked at His external appearance, and did not take to heart the words that He spoke? It is My hope that the brothers and sisters who seek the appearance of God will not repeat the tragedy of history. You must not become the Pharisees of modern times and nail God to the cross again. You should carefully consider how to welcome the return of God, and should have a clear mind of how to be someone who submits to the truth. This is the responsibility of everyone who is waiting for Jesus to return with the clouds” (Preface to The Word Appears in the Flesh). “God comes to earth, meaning the Word becomes flesh; He is simply allowing man to understand His word and to see His word, that is, allowing man to see the work carried out by the flesh. His intention is not for people to treat His flesh in a certain way, but only for man to be obedient to the end, that is, to obey all words that issue forth from His mouth, and to submit to all the work that He does. He is merely working in the flesh, not intentionally asking for man to exalt the greatness and holiness of His flesh. He is simply showing man the wisdom of His work and all the authority He wields” (“The Mystery of the Incarnation (2)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). “He becomes flesh only so that the Spirit can have somewhere appropriate to reside when doing His work, so that He can achieve His work in the flesh—so that people can see His work, come into contact with His disposition, hear His words, and know the wonder of His work. … His appearance in the flesh has no bearing on His management, and is merely for the sake of His work at the time. Yet it is impossible for God incarnate to have no particular appearance, and so He chooses the appropriate family to determine His appearance. If the appearance of God has representative significance, then all those who possess similar facial features to Him also represent God. Is that not an egregious error?” (“The Vision of God’s Work (3)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh).

Later, through experiencing Almighty God’s words and work, we became even more certain that Almighty God is the one true God and that He has already come to earth in the flesh and lives among us. Although His flesh is not revealed to all people, His work and words are open to all those who long for and pursue the truth. His work verifies His identity, and His words represent His essence. In Almighty God’s work and words, we can completely see God’s appearance and His true face because God’s omnipotence, wisdom, righteousness, holiness, faithfulness, goodness, supremacy, greatness, honor, authority, all that He has and is, and His inherent disposition have all been expressed through God’s work and words. This is the testimony of the Holy Spirit, the ironclad truth, and also the true testimony of all people who follow Almighty God and have experienced His work. Dear brothers and sisters, if you can put aside your notions and open-mindedly seek and study Almighty God’s work and words, we trust that you will also have the fortune of seeing God’s appearance and gain His salvation.

Footnotes:

a. The original text reads “as for.”

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