(1)
The significance of God taking the name Jehovah in the Age of Law
Bible
Verses for Reference:
“And
God said moreover to Moses, Thus
shall you say to the children of Israel, Jehovah, the God of your
fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob,
has sent me to you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial
to all generations”
(Exo 3:15).
Relevant Words
of God:
“Jehovah”
is the name that I took during My work in Israel, and it means the
God of the Israelites (God’s chosen people) who can take pity on
man, curse man, and guide the life of man. It means the God who
possesses great power and is full of wisdom. … That is to say, only
Jehovah is the God of the chosen people of Israel, the God of
Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, the God of Moses, and
the God of all the people of Israel. And so in the current age, all
the Israelites apart from the tribe of Judah worship Jehovah. They
make sacrifices to Him on the altar, and serve Him wearing priests’
robes in the temple. What they hope for is the reappearance of
Jehovah. … The name Jehovah is a particular name for the people of
Israel who lived under the law. In each age and each stage of work,
My name is not baseless, but holds representative significance: Each
name represents one age. “Jehovah” represents the Age of Law, and
is the honorific for the God worshiped by the people of Israel.
from
“The Savior Has Already Returned Upon a ‘White Cloud’” in The
Word Appears in the Flesh
During
the Age of Law, the work of guiding mankind was done under the name
of Jehovah, and the first stage of work was initiated on earth. At
this stage, the work consisted of building the temple and the altar,
and using the law to guide the people of Israel and to work in their
midst. By guiding the people of Israel, He launched a base for His
work on earth. From this base, He expanded His work beyond Israel,
which is to say that, starting from Israel, He extended His work
outward, so that later generations gradually came to know that
Jehovah was God, and that it was Jehovah who created the heavens and
earth and all things, and that it was Jehovah who made all creatures.
He spread His work through the people of Israel outward beyond them.
The land of Israel was the first holy place of Jehovah’s work on
earth, and it was in the land of Israel that God first went to work
on earth. That was the work of the Age of Law.
from
“The Vision of God’s Work (3)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh
During
the Age of Law, Jehovah laid down many commandments for Moses to pass
on to the Israelites who followed him out of Egypt. These
commandments were given by Jehovah to the Israelites, and bore no
relation to the Egyptians; they were meant to restrain the
Israelites. God used the commandments to demand of them. Whether they
observed the Sabbath, whether they respected their parents, whether
they worshiped idols, and so forth: these were the principles by
which they were judged sinful or righteous. Among them, there were
some who were stricken by Jehovah’s fire, some who were stoned to
death, and some who received Jehovah’s blessing, and this was
determined according to whether or not they obeyed these
commandments. Those who did not observe the Sabbath would be stoned
to death. Those priests who did not observe the Sabbath would be
stricken by Jehovah’s fire. Those who did not show respect to their
parents would also be stoned to death. This was all commended by
Jehovah. Jehovah established His commandments and laws so that, as He
led them in their lives, the people would listen to and obey His word
and not rebel against Him. He used these laws to keep the newborn
human race under control, the better to lay the foundation for His
future work. And so, based on the work that Jehovah did, the first
age was called the Age of Law.
from
“The Work in the Age of Law” in The Word Appears in the Flesh
The
people in Israel all called Jehovah their Lord. At the time, they
considered Him the head of their family, and the whole of Israel
became a great family in which everyone worshiped their Lord Jehovah.
The Spirit of Jehovah often appeared to them, and He spoke and
uttered His voice to them, and used a pillar of cloud and sound to
guide their lives. At that time, the Spirit provided His guidance in
Israel directly, speaking and uttering His voice to the people, and
they beheld the clouds and heard the peals of thunder, and in this
way He guided their lives for several thousands of years. Thus, only
the people of Israel have always worshiped Jehovah.
from
“The Vision of God’s
Work (2)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh
His
work and utterances in Israel gave guidance to all the people of
Israel as they lived their lives throughout the land of Israel, and
in this way showed humanity that Jehovah was not only able to blow
breath into man, that he might have life from Him and rise up from
the dust into a created human being, but that He could also
incinerate mankind, and curse mankind, and use His rod to govern
mankind. So, too, did they see that Jehovah could guide man’s life
on earth, and speak and work among humanity according to the hours of
the day and of the night. He did the work only so that His creatures
might know that man came from dust picked up by Him, and moreover
that man had been made by Him. Not only this, but the work He began
in Israel was meant so that other peoples and nations (who in fact
were not separate from Israel, but rather had branched off from the
Israelites, yet were still descended from Adam and Eve) might receive
the gospel of Jehovah from Israel, so that all created beings in the
universe might be able to revere Jehovah and hold Him to be great.
from
“The Work in the Age of Law” in The Word Appears in the Flesh
The
name Jehovah cannot represent the whole of God’s disposition. The
fact that He carried out His work in the Age of Law does not prove
that God can only be God under the law. Jehovah set forth laws for
man and handed down commandments to him, asking man to build the
temple and the altars; the work He did represents only the Age of
Law. This work that He did does not prove that God is only a God who
asks man to keep the law, or that He is the God in the temple, or
that He is the God before the altar. To say this would be untrue. The
work done under the law can only represent one age.
from
“The Mystery of the Incarnation (4)” in The Word Appears in the
Flesh
(2)
The significance of God taking the name Jesus in the Age of Grace
Bible
Verses for Reference:
“The
angel of the LORD appeared to him in a dream, saying, Joseph, you son
of David, fear not to take to you Mary your wife: for that which is
conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a
son, and you shall call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people
from their sins” (Mat 1:20-21).
“And
the angel said to her, Fear not, Mary: for you have found favor with
God. And, behold, you shall conceive in your womb, and bring forth a
son, and shall call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be
called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give to him the throne of his father David: And he
shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom
there shall be no end” (Luk 1:30-33).
Relevant
Words of God:
The
Age of Grace began with Jesus’ name. When Jesus began to perform
His ministry, the
Holy Spirit began to testify to the name of Jesus, and the
name of Jehovah was no longer spoken of; instead, the Holy Spirit
undertook the new work principally under the name of Jesus. The
testimony of those who believed in Him was borne for Jesus Christ,
and the work they did was also for Jesus Christ. The conclusion of
the Old Testament Age of Law meant that the work principally
conducted under the name of Jehovah had come to an end. Henceforth,
the name of God was no longer Jehovah; instead He was called Jesus,
and from here on the Holy Spirit began the work principally under the
name of Jesus.
from
“The Vision of God’s Work (3)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh
“Jesus”
is Emmanuel, and it means the sin offering that is full of love, full
of compassion, and redeems man. He did the work of the Age of Grace,
and represents the Age of Grace, and can only represent one part of
the management plan. … Only Jesus is the Redeemer of mankind. He is
the sin offering that redeemed mankind from sin. Which is to say, the
name of Jesus came from the Age of Grace, and existed because of the
work of redemption in the Age of Grace. The name of Jesus existed to
allow the people of the Age of Grace to be reborn and saved, and is a
particular name for the redemption of the whole of mankind. And so
the name Jesus represents the work of redemption, and denotes the Age
of Grace. … “Jesus” represents the Age of Grace, and is the
name of the God of all those who were redeemed during the Age of
Grace.
from
“The Savior Has Already Returned Upon a ‘White Cloud’” in The
Word Appears in the Flesh
During
the Age of Grace, the name of God was Jesus, that is to say, God was
a God who saved man, and He was a compassionate and loving God. God
was with man. His love, His compassion, and His salvation accompanied
each and every person. Only by accepting the name of Jesus and His
presence was man able to gain peace and joy, to receive His blessing,
His vast and numerous graces, and His salvation. Through the
crucifixion of Jesus, all those who followed Him received salvation
and were forgiven their sins.
from
“The Vision of God’s Work (3)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh
When
Jesus came, He also did part of God’s work, and spoke some
words—but what was the main work He accomplished? What He mainly
accomplished was the work of crucifixion. He became the likeness of
sinful flesh to complete the work of crucifixion and redeem all
mankind, and it was for the sake of all mankind’s sin that He
served as a sin offering. This is the main work He accomplished.
Ultimately, He provided the path of the cross to guide those who came
later. When Jesus came, it was primarily to complete the work of
redemption. He redeemed all mankind, and brought the gospel of the
kingdom of heaven to man, and, furthermore, He brought the kingdom of
heaven. As a result, those who came after all said, “We should walk
the path of the cross, and sacrifice ourselves for the cross.” Of
course, in the beginning Jesus also did some other work and spoke
some words to make man repent and confess his sins. But His ministry
was still the crucifixion, and the three and a half years He spent
preaching the way were in preparation for the crucifixion that came
after. The several times that Jesus prayed were also for the sake of
the crucifixion. The life of a normal man that He led and the
thirty-three and a half years that He lived on earth were primarily
for the sake of completing the work of crucifixion, they were to give
Him strength, and make Him able to undertake this work, as a result
of which God entrusted the work of crucifixion to Him.
from
“All Is Achieved by the Word of God” in The Word Appears in the
Flesh
As
for the work of the Age of Grace, Jesus was the God who saved man.
What He had and was was grace, love, compassion, forbearance,
patience, humility, care, and tolerance, and so much of the work that
He did was the redemption of man. As for His disposition, it was one
of compassion and love, and because He was compassionate and loving,
He had to be nailed to the cross for man, in order to show that God
loved man as Himself, so much so that He offered up Himself in His
entirety. Satan said, “Since You love man, You must then love him
to the ultimate extreme: You must be nailed to the cross, to deliver
man from the cross, from sin, and You shall offer up Yourself in
exchange for all of mankind.” Satan made the following wager:
“Since You are a loving and compassionate God, You must love man to
the ultimate extreme: You should then offer Yourself up to the
cross.” Jesus replied, “As long as it is for mankind, I am
willing to lay down My all.” And then He went up onto the cross
without the slightest self-regard, and redeemed the whole of mankind.
from
“The Vision of God’s Work (3)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh
Then,
during the Age of Grace, Jesus came to redeem the whole of fallen
mankind (and not only the Israelites). He showed mercy and
lovingkindness to man. The Jesus that man saw in the Age of Grace was
filled with lovingkindness and was always loving toward man, for He
had come to save humanity from sin. He was able to forgive men their
sins until His crucifixion completely redeemed mankind from sin.
During this period, God appeared before man with mercy and
lovingkindness; that is, He became a sin offering for man and was
crucified for the sins of man so that they might forever be forgiven.
He was merciful, compassionate, enduring, and loving. And all those
who followed Jesus in the Age of Grace likewise sought to be enduring
and loving in all things. They were long-suffering, and never fought
back even when beaten, cursed, or stoned.
from
“The Two Incarnations Complete the Significance of the Incarnation”
in The Word Appears in the Flesh
During
the Age of Grace, Jesus was the name of God. In other words, the work
of the Age of Grace was done principally under the name of Jesus.
During the Age of Grace, God was called Jesus. He undertook a stage
of new work beyond the Old Testament, and His work ended with the
crucifixion. This was the entirety of His work.
from
“The Vision of God’s Work (3)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh
(3)
The significance of God taking the name Almighty God in the Age of Kingdom
Bible
Verses for Reference:
“You
shall be called by a new name, which the mouth of Jehovah shall name”
(Isa 62:2).
“Him
that overcomes will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he
shall go no more out: and I will write on him the name of my God, and
the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which comes
down out of heaven from my God: and I will write on him my new name”
(Rev 3:12).
“I
am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, said the Lord,
which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty”
(Rev 1:8).
“Saying,
We give you thanks, O LORD God Almighty, which are, and were, and are
to come; because you have taken to you your great power, and have
reigned”
(Rev 11:17).
“Great
and marvelous are your works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are
your ways, you King of saints”
(Rev 15:3).
Relevant
Words of God:
During
the last days, His name is Almighty God—the Almighty, who uses His
power to guide man, conquer man, and gain man, and in the end, bring
the age to its close. In every age, at every stage of His work, God’s
disposition is evident.
from
“The Vision of God’s Work (3)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh
Since
Almighty God—the King of the kingdom—has been witnessed, the
scope of God’s management has unfolded entirely throughout the
whole universe. Not only has God’s appearance been witnessed in
China, but the name of Almighty God has been witnessed in all nations
and all lands. They are all calling out this holy name, seeking to
fellowship with God by any means possible, grasping the will of
Almighty God and serving in coordination in the church. The Holy
Spirit works in this wondrous way.
from
“The Eighth Utterance” in The Word Appears in the Flesh
And
so, when the final age—the age of the last days—arrives, My name
shall change again. I shall not be called Jehovah, or Jesus, much
less the Messiah, but shall be called the powerful Almighty God
Himself, and under this name I shall bring the entire age to an
end. I was once known as Jehovah. I was also called the Messiah, and
people once called Me Jesus the Savior because they loved and
respected Me. But today I am not the Jehovah or Jesus that people
knew in times past—I am the God who has returned in the last days,
the God who shall bring the age to an end. I am the God Himself that
rises up at the ends of the earth, replete with My entire
disposition, and full of authority, honor and glory. People have
never engaged with Me, have never known Me, and have always been
ignorant of My disposition. From the creation of the world until
today, not one person has seen Me. This is the God who appears to man
during the last days but is hidden among man. He resides among man,
true and real, like the burning sun and the flaming fire, filled with
power and brimming with authority. There is not a single person or
thing that shall not be judged by My words, and not a single person
or thing that shall not be purified through the burning of fire.
Eventually, all nations shall be blessed because of My words, and
also smashed to pieces because of My words. In this way, all people
during the last days shall see that I am the Savior returned, I am
the Almighty God that conquers all of mankind, and I was once the sin
offering for man, but in the last days I also become the flames of
the sun that burn all things, as well as the Sun of righteousness
that reveals all things. Such is My work of the last days. I took
this name and am possessed of this disposition so that all people may
see that I am a righteous God, and am the burning sun, and the
flaming fire. It is so that all may worship Me, the only true God,
and so that they may see My true face: I am not only the God of the
Israelites, and am not just the Redeemer—I am the God of all
creatures throughout heavens and earth and seas.
from
“The Savior Has Already Returned Upon a ‘White Cloud’” in The
Word Appears in the Flesh
In
His final work of concluding the age, God’s disposition is one of
chastisement and judgment, in which He reveals all that is
unrighteous, in order to publicly judge all peoples, and to perfect
those who love Him with a sincere heart. Only a disposition such as
this can bring the age to an end. The last days have already arrived.
All things in creation will be classed according to their kind, and
divided into different categories based on their nature. This is the
moment when God reveals humanity’s outcome and their destination.
If people do not undergo chastisement and judgment, then there will
be no way of exposing their disobedience and unrighteousness. Only
through chastisement and judgment can the outcome of all creation be
revealed. Man only shows his true colors when he is chastised and
judged. Evil shall be put with evil, good with good, and all humanity
shall be classified according to their kind. Through chastisement and
judgment, the outcome of all creation will be revealed, so that the
evil may be punished and the good rewarded, and all people become
subject to the dominion of God. All this work must be achieved
through righteous chastisement and judgment. Because man’s
corruption has reached its peak and his disobedience become
exceedingly severe, only God’s righteous disposition, one that is
principally compounded of chastisement and judgment and is revealed
during the last days, can fully transform and complete man. Only this
disposition can expose evil and thus severely punish all the
unrighteous. Therefore, a disposition such as this is imbued with
temporal significance, and the revelation and exhibition of His
disposition is made manifest for the sake of the work of each new
age. It is not that God reveals His disposition arbitrarily and
without significance. Supposing that, in revealing the outcome of man
during the last days, God were still to bestow upon man infinite
compassion and love and continue to be loving toward him, not
subjecting man to righteous judgment but rather showing him
tolerance, patience, and forgiveness, and pardoning man no matter how
grave his sins, without any jot of righteous judgment: then when
would all of God’s management ever be brought to a close? When
would a disposition such as this be able to lead people into
mankind’s appropriate destination? Take, for example, a judge who
is always loving, a judge with a kindly face and a gentle heart. He
loves people irrespective of the crimes they may have committed, and
he is loving to and forbearing with them whoever they may be. In that
case, when will he ever be able to reach a just verdict? During the
last days, only righteous judgment can classify man according to
their kind and bring man into a new realm. In this way, the entire
age is brought to an end through God’s righteous disposition of
judgment and chastisement.
from
“The Vision of God’s Work (3)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh
When
God becomes flesh this time, His work is to express His disposition,
primarily through chastisement and judgment. Using this as the
foundation, He brings more truth to man, shows more ways of practice,
and so achieves His objective of conquering man and saving man from
his corrupt disposition. This is what lies behind the work of God in
the Age of Kingdom.
from
Preface to The Word Appears in the Flesh
In
the last days, Christ uses a variety of truths to teach man, expose
the essence of man, and dissect his words and deeds. These words
comprise various truths, such as man’s duty, how man should obey
God, how man should be loyal to God, how man ought to live out
the normal humanity, as well as the wisdom and the disposition of
God, and so on. These words are all directed at the essence of man
and his corrupt disposition. In particular, those words that expose
how man spurns God are spoken in regard to how man is an embodiment
of Satan and an enemy force against God. In undertaking His work of
judgment, God does not simply make clear the nature of man with just
a few words; He exposes, deals with, and prunes it over the long
term. These methods of exposure, dealing, and pruning cannot be
substituted with ordinary words, but with the truth that man does not
possess at all. Only methods of this kind are deemed judgment; only
through judgment of this kind can man be subdued and thoroughly
convinced into submission to God, and moreover gain true knowledge of
God. What the work of judgment brings about is man’s understanding
of the true face of God and the truth about his own rebelliousness.
The work of judgment allows man to gain much understanding of the
will of God, of the purpose of God’s work, and of the mysteries
that are incomprehensible to him. It also allows man to recognize and
know his corrupt substance and the roots of his corruption, as well
as to discover the ugliness of man. These effects are all brought
about by the work of judgment, for the substance of this work is
actually the work of opening up the truth, the way, and the life of
God to all those who have faith in Him. This work is the work of
judgment done by God.
from
“Christ Does the Work of Judgment With the Truth” in The Word
Appears in the Flesh
During
the Age of Kingdom, God incarnate speaks words to conquer all those
who believe in Him. This is “the Word appearing in the flesh”;
God has come during the last days to do this work, which is to say,
He has come to accomplish the actual significance of the Word
appearing in the flesh. He only speaks words, and rarely is there the
advent of facts. This is the very substance of the Word appearing in
the flesh, and when God incarnate speaks His words, this is the
appearance of the Word in the flesh, and is the Word coming into the
flesh. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God, and the Word became flesh.” This (the work of
the appearance of the Word in the flesh) is the work that God will
accomplish in the last days, and is the final chapter of His entire
management plan, and so God has to come to earth and manifest His
words in the flesh.
from
“All Is Achieved by the Word of God” in The Word Appears in the
Flesh
In
the Age of Kingdom, God uses the word to usher in a new age, to
change the method of His work, and to do the work for the entire age.
This is the principle by which God works in the Age of Word. He
became flesh to speak from different perspectives, enabling man to
truly see God, who is the Word appearing in the flesh, and His wisdom
and wondrousness. Such work is done in order better to achieve the
goals of conquering man, perfecting man, and eliminating man. This is
the true meaning of using the word to work in the Age of Word.
from
“The Age of Kingdom Is the Age of Word” in The Word Appears in
the Flesh
His
initial work was carried out in Judea, within the scope of Israel; in
Gentile nations He did not do any era-launching work whatsoever. The
final stage of His work is not only carried out among the people of
Gentile nations; even more so, it is carried out among those cursed
people. This one point is the evidence most capable of humiliating
Satan; thus, God “becomes” the God of all creation in the
universe and becomes the Lord of all things, the object of worship
for everything with life.
from
“God Is the Lord of All Creation” in The Word Appears in the
Flesh
In
this final era, I will have My name magnified among the Gentile
nations, cause My deeds to be seen by the Gentiles, that they may
call Me the Almighty on account of My deeds, and make it so that My
words may soon come to pass. I will make all people know that I am
not only the God of the Israelites, but also the God of all the
nations of the Gentiles, even those that I have cursed. I will let
all people see that I am the God of all creation. This is My greatest
work, the purpose of My work plan for the last days, and the only
work to be fulfilled in the last days.
from
“The Work of Spreading the Gospel Is Also the Work of Saving Man”
in The Word Appears in the Flesh
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