Reunion With God | I Relinquish My Conceptions and Welcome the Second Coming of Jesus (Part 2)

By Seeking, I Understand the True Meaning of Jesus’ Words, “It Is Finished”

Sister Qin said, “If we want to understand this issue, we must first comprehend the background to the Lord Jesus performing the work of redemption. We can see from what is recorded in the Bible that, before Jesus began the work of redemption of the Age of Grace, people lived on earth in the Age of Law according to the law and the commandments proclaimed by Jehovah God. If someone sinned, then they had to offer up a sacrifice to God in accordance with the requirements of the law, and then their sin would be forgiven. Toward the end of the Age of Law, people became less and less able to keep to the law and they were committing more and more sins. They were all in danger of being condemned and put to death by the law and so, against this backdrop and according to the needs of mankind, God became flesh as the Lord Jesus and was crucified for mankind’s sake, thus redeeming the whole of mankind. So long as we come before God and pray in the name of the Lord Jesus, and we confess and repent our sins, then our sins will be forgiven. We are no longer subject to the condemnation or punishment of the law, and we can enjoy the grace and blessings which God bestows on us. This is the result of Jesus performing the work of redemption, and it is the true meaning of the oft-spoken word ‘saved.’ Therefore, when the Lord Jesus said ‘It is finished’ upon the cross, He meant that God’s work to redeem mankind was over, and not that God’s work to save mankind was completely finished. Let’s read a couple of passages of Almighty God’s words, and then we’ll understand this better.”

Sister Qin then turned on her tablet computer and read out: “To man, God’s crucifixion concluded the work of God’s incarnation, redeemed all of mankind, and allowed Him to seize the key to Hades. Everyone thinks God’s work has been fully accomplished. In actuality, to God, only a small part of His work has been accomplished. He has only redeemed mankind; He has not conquered mankind, let alone changed the ugliness of Satan in man. That is why God says, ‘Although My incarnate flesh went through the pain of death, that was not the whole goal of My incarnation. Jesus is My beloved Son and was nailed to the cross for Me, but He did not fully conclude My work. He only did a portion of it’” (“Work and Entry (6)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). “At the time Jesus’ work was the redemption of all mankind. The sins of all who believed in Him were forgiven; as long as you believed in Him, He would redeem you; if you believed in Him, you were no longer a sinner, you were relieved of your sins. This is what it meant to be saved, and to be justified by faith. Yet in those who believed, there remained that which was rebellious and opposed God, and which still had to be slowly removed. Salvation did not mean man had been completely gained by Jesus, but that man was no longer of sin, that he had been forgiven his sins: Provided you believed, you would never more be of sin” (“The Vision of God’s Work (2)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh).

Sister Qin continued, saying, “We know from God’s words that, when He was crucified upon the cross, the Lord Jesus finished His work of redemption, and as long as we believe in the Lord and pray to Him, then our sins can be forgiven. But this does not mean that God’s work to save mankind is completely over. Because our sinful nature has not yet been resolved and there remain deeply rooted within us such satanic dispositions as being arrogant and conceited, selfish and contemptible, crooked and deceitful, and wicked and greedy, we are therefore still capable of frequently committing sins and defying God. To give a few examples, when our dispositions are arrogant, then no matter who we associate with, we always want to have the final say. The moment someone else says or does anything at odds with our own ideas, at best we can form preconceived ideas about them, and at worst we can slander them and judge them behind their backs, and even lecture them condescendingly and cause them to feel constrained. So as to protect our own interests, we can often tell lies and engage in deception, and all we reveal is our satanic disposition of being crafty and deceitful. When sickness, pain, trials and tribulations come upon us, because we have a God-betraying disposition, we can complain about God and blame God anywhere, anytime, and we can even go so far as to betray God. These satanic dispositions are the root cause that leads us to commit sin, to defy God, to betray God, and to be the enemies of God. The Bible says, ‘Holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord’ (Hebrews 12:14). The people who are wanted in the kingdom of God are those who are without filth and corruption, and who genuinely worship and obey God. How are we, who are so filled with satanic corrupt dispositions, qualified to be raised up into heaven? Therefore, God’s work of salvation will continue for as long as our sinful nature remains unresolved.”

As I listened to the sister speak, my heart filled with light, and I hurriedly said, “I understand! So, when the Lord Jesus said ‘It is finished’ upon the cross, He meant that the work of redemption was finished, and not that God’s entire work to save mankind was finished. Although our sins are forgiven through our faith in the Lord Jesus, because our sinful nature has not yet been resolved, we are still capable of frequently telling lies and engaging in deception. We can also be jealous of others and hate others, we can be intolerant and impatient with others, and we cannot help but live in sin and defy God. God is holy, and such filthy people as us can certainly not get into the kingdom of God!”

Sister Qin looked at me and said excitedly, “Thanks be to God! Sister, that you can understand this issue the way you have is truly due to the guidance of God! Because our satanic nature has not been resolved, we still need God to perform a stage of work to change our corrupt dispositions. Almighty God has come in the last days, and on the foundation of Jesus’ work of redemption, He performs the work of judgment beginning in God’s house and He expresses all the truths we need to attain true salvation. He does all this so that we may eliminate from within us our satanic dispositions once and for all, be free from sin and be purified, attain God’s salvation and enter into the kingdom of God.”

How God Performs the Work of Judgment in the Last Days

Sister Qin went on with her fellowship, saying, “Let’s read another passage of God’s words, and then this issue will become clearer. Almighty God says, ‘In the last days, Christ uses a variety of truths to teach man, to expose the essence of man, and to dissect the words and deeds of man. 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 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, the 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 a few words; He exposes, deals with, and prunes over the long term. These methods of exposure, dealing, and pruning cannot be substituted with ordinary words, but with the truth of which man is utterly bereft. Only methods such as these can be called 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’ (“Christ Does the Work of Judgment With the Truth” in The Word Appears in the Flesh).

“We can see from God’s words that God is the truth, the way, and the life, and that only God can save us from the shackles of our satanic dispositions so that we may attain His salvation. So as to utterly change and purify us, in the last days, God expresses many truths, and He reveals the truth of our defiance to God and betrayal of God, as well as our sinful nature. He also tells us all the truths concerning what dispositional change is, the path to dispositional change, what attaining salvation and being perfected mean, the criteria for attaining salvation and being perfected, what kind of people God loves, what kind of people God hates, how we should serve God’s will, and how we should fear God, shun evil and become compatible with God. When we accept the judgment and chastisement of God’s words, and when we have experienced God’s work, we see how deeply corrupted by Satan we are, and how our nature is filled with the various satanic corrupt dispositions, such as arrogance, selfishness and greed. We see that, no matter what we do, every action contains our own motives and goals, and the lives we live out bear no semblance to a genuine human being whatsoever. At the same time, we recognize in God’s words that God’s disposition is so righteous and holy, we begin to hate and despise ourselves from the bottom of our hearts, and we become willing to repent and change, and not to act on our satanic nature any longer. In this way, we begin to consciously forsake Satan and practice in accordance with God’s words, and our corrupt dispositions begin gradually to change, our conscience and sense of reason are restored, and we begin to truly obey and revere God. There is something which every single brother and sister who has experienced the judgment and chastisement of God’s words for many years can verify: God’s judgment and chastisement in the last days truly can change and purify people. As long as someone loves the truth, focuses on pursuing the truth and practices in accordance with God’s words, then they are sure to attain dispositional change and be gained by God. In the end, God will lead into His kingdom all who have experienced His judgment and chastisement, who have been purified, and who have gained both truth and life. There, they will obtain the provision of the water of life that flows from God, and they will enjoy a happy life of being with God, just as it says in Revelation: ‘And He that sat on the throne said, Behold, I make all things new’ (Revelation 21:5). ‘I am Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give to him that is thirsty of the fountain of the water of life freely’ (Revelation 21:6).”

Sister Qin’s fellowship really opened my eyes, and I said with joy, “Thank the Lord! I now understand that, although we have been redeemed by the Lord Jesus, yet our sinful nature hasn’t been resolved, and that’s why Jesus prophesied that He would return to perform the work of judgment and cleanse us of our corrupt dispositions. Only by accepting God’s work of judgment in the last days can our inner satanic dispositions be utterly eliminated, and only then will we be able to enter into God’s kingdom. Sister Qin, by reading Almighty God’s words and listening to your fellowship, I now understand how necessary it is for our attainment of salvation to accept God’s work of the last days, and I wish to investigate in earnest Almighty God’s work of the last days.”

I Become Certain of the True Way, and I Repent and Start Over With a Clean Slate

Afterward, I often attended meetings with the brothers and sisters, and I avidly read Almighty God’s words. Through reading many chapters of Almighty God’s words, such as “Knowing the Three Stages of God’s Work Is the Path to Knowing God,” “Christ Does the Work of Judgment With the Truth,” “Only Christ of the Last Days Can Give Man the Way of Eternal Life,” and “Do You Know? God Has Done a Great Thing Among Men,” I came to have a better understanding of such truths and mysteries as God’s work of the last days and God’s six-thousand-year management plan. My spirit felt satiated, my relationship with God became much closer, and more and more light entered my heart. The more I read the words of Almighty God, the more certain I became that Almighty God is indeed the Lord Jesus returned, and that He is the manifestation of Christ of the last days.

I thought about how blind I had been. My mother and Sister Qin had testified to me several times about Almighty God’s work of the last days, but I had consistently clung to the view instilled in me by the pastor, and I had neither sought nor investigated God’s new work, and thus did I narrowly miss the salvation brought by the Lord’s return. And yet God did not give up trying to save me, but instead He used my illness to make me reconsider. When I became willing to seek His work, God gave me another chance, and through listening to Almighty God’s words and Sister Qin’s fellowship, God finally allowed me to understand what Jesus truly meant when He said “It is finished,” and I then relinquished my conceptions about God’s work and accepted Almighty God’s work of the last days. If God hadn’t done this, I really would have missed my chance to attain God’s salvation. Thanks be to God for loving me and saving me!

Later, I actively participated in spreading God’s kingdom gospel alongside my brothers and sisters and, what came as a surprise to me was that, once I had accepted God’s work of the last days, my eyes got better without me even realizing it. I have no way to repay God’s great kindness, and I wish now only to spend the rest of my life performing my duty to repay God’s love!

from "I Relinquish My Conceptions and Welcome the Second Coming of Jesus"

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