The Bible says, “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.” (1 Corinthians 15:52-53) Many brothers and sisters understand these verses as meaning that when the Lord comes again, he will use his “mighty power” to transfigure our fleshly bodies into holy bodies in the twinkling of an eye. Then, how are these verses actually fulfilled? Is it really, as we have imagined, that when the Lord comes we will be holy and be transformed into holy bodies in a moment, and it is not necessary for God to be incarnated again to do the work of purifying and transforming men? Let’s have a fellowship about this.
First, let’s read a passage of God’s word. Almighty God says, “God created men; later they were corrupted by satan, and they were all corrupted into dead ones. Therefore, after you have been transformed, you will be different from the ‘dead ones.’ It is God’s word that enlivens men’s spirits and thus revives men. When men’s spirits are revived, they will be made alive. The dead ones spoken of refer to corpses without a spirit, men whose spirits are dead.” (from The Word Appears in the Flesh)
From Almighty God’s words, we see that Adam and Eve created by God in the beginning were living men with a spirit. After they were corrupted by satan, they looked outwardly the same as before in men’s eyes, but in God’s eyes, they had become corpses, dead men without a spirit. From this we can know that “this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality” means that God will do the work of transforming men, restoring them to the likeness of the holy ones who had not sinned in the beginning. As we know, “death” came through sin; because men had sins, death came to them. (cf. Romans 5:12) So, when men’s sinful nature is taken away and they become holy, death will not come to them, and they will become “holy bodies,” and become living men with a spirit. This work of transforming and purifying men is exactly the work of judging and purifying that Almighty God does in the end time with the word. Therefore, if we want to “be transfigured into holy bodies,” we must accept the work of chastisement and judgment that Almighty God does. Of course, this work is not as simple and supernatural as we have imagined: In the twinkling of an eye men’s sinful nature will be taken away and they will become holy. Rather, it takes a complicated process, that is, it is attained step by step through their experiencing God’s work and word. This embodies both God’s practicalness and almightiness.
However, many people have been sticking to this view: God is almighty, and when he comes he can transform men in the twinkling of an eye and can change them into holy bodies in a moment, so there is no need for him to do another stage of work at all. Is this really the fact? Just consider this: If it were really the fact, why didn’t God do it right after Adam and Eve fell? Why did he spend such a long time to do the work of the Age of the Law and the work of the Age of the Grace? Is God not almighty? Of course, he is almighty! God has his own principle of working: In doing each stage of work, he pays the price for men practically and does his work among them practically, so that they can see his salvation and satan will also be utterly convinced. For example, at the time of Noah, if God didn’t tell Noah to build the ark, could God not take Noah up into the air with one word to escape the flood? Yet God didn’t do so. Instead, he told Noah to build the ark and saved him and his family by the ark, so that people practically saw Jehovah’s salvation and those destroyed were also utterly convinced. Again, when God burned Sodom, he didn’t take Lot and his family out of the city in the twinkling of an eye but sent the angels to inform Lot, telling them to go out of the city by themselves. While Lot and his family were hesitated, the angels pulled them out of the city. Thus, Lot and his daughters escaped danger. Another example. When Jehovah led the Israelites out of Egypt and into Canaan through Moses, they went through even more setbacks. They got out of Egypt, crossed the Red Sea, wandered in the wilderness for forty years, crossed the Jordan, attacked Jericho, and finally entered into the good land of Canaan. Why didn’t Jehovah God bring them into the land of Canaan in the twinkling of an eye? Is it that Jehovah God didn’t have such power? Of course not! Whatever way God takes is the best and embodies God’s wisdom and intention. Then, let’s look at how God worked to save man in the Age of the Grace. In the Age of the Grace, God didn’t forgive man’s sins or accomplish the work of redeeming all mankind in a moment with one word. Rather, he was incarnated, lived and worked and preached practically among people, was betrayed by Judas and handed over to the Roman government, and was finally nailed onto the cross, so that the work of redeeming mankind was accomplished. Nothing is too difficult for God, but why didn’t God redeem man in the twinkling of an eye? Couldn’t God forgive man’s sins with one word? Why is it that he was incarnated and personally suffered so much? It involves knowing God’s almightiness and practicalness. From God’s works in the past ages and generations, we can see that it is true that God is almighty, but he is also practical, and these two aspects complement each other and are inseparable. Just as Almighty God says, “God’s substance is almighty and practical, and these two aspects complement each other. Everything he does expresses his disposition and manifests his being. This being includes almightiness, righteousness, and majesty. For example, in the Age of the Law, God told Jonah to go to Nineveh, which proves that God has the practical aspect. But Jonah didn’t listen; in the end he was swallowed by a fish and was inside it three days, yet he didn’t die. This is God’s almightiness. The thing God did on Jonah shows that God is almighty. When God works, he is always manifesting his substance and expressing his being. His substance includes these two aspects: one is the almighty aspect, and the other is the practical aspect. You can see that there are these two aspects in each stage of work and that there are these two aspects in everything God does. This is a way to know God.” (from Christ’s Talks with Church Leaders and Workers) From God’s words we see that God’s almightiness is not so supernatural as we have imagined. God does each stage of his work practically, and through his practical work, God reveals his almightiness and wisdom, reveals his will and disposition, and at the same time lets people see the great price he has paid for mankind. Besides, through his practical work, God also reveals who believes in him and obeys him sincerely and who disobeys him and resists him, and thereby grasps the facts and punishes the evil and rewards the good, so that all people will be sincerely convinced and satan will have no handle against God. From this we can see that God’s saving man is not as simple and supernatural as we have imagined. Rather, he does it practically and pays the price for man practically. He does his work of saving mankind according to his plans, by ages, and by steps rather than saving them in the twinkling of an eye. Similarly, God will also accomplish the end-time work according to his plans and by steps and will not transform people into holy bodies in the twinkling of an eye. If that were the case, satan would not be convinced, the false believers could not be revealed, and people would have no way to know God’s disposition, God’s righteousness, God’s wisdom, and what God has and is.
Then, what are “in a flash” and “in the twinkling of an eye” mentioned in the Bible all about? Actually, these two phrases are only used to describe the shortness of the time. It’s just as someone may sigh with emotion, “Instantly, I have turned 30.” The word “instantly” here only describes how fast the time passes, but it doesn’t mean that thirty years are really as short as “an instant.” Likewise, the phrases “in a moment” and “in the twinkling of an eye” mentioned in the Bible both mean that the time of God’s work in the last days is very short and it will not last for two thousand years as the work of Jesus did. God will transform man thoroughly in a short period of time and restore him to his original holiness and original image, and then bring mankind into the pleasant eternal destination. This period of time, when compared to God’s entire six-thousand-year management plan, is no more than “a moment” or “the twinkling of an eye.” But this “twinkling of an eye” is not so quick as we have imagined. Because the work of transforming man’s disposition that God does in the last days is not merely to change man’s outward behavior but is to transform man’s inward life disposition completely, changing one who has been corrupted and occupied by satan into one who is completely occupied by God and belongs to God, so that man will live out the image of a holy one God requires. Only then will it mean that he has truly been transformed and transfigured. As the Bible records, “If so be that you have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus: That you put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that you put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.” (Ephesians 4:21-24) This shows us that being transfigured doesn’t mean that one’s outward image is changed, but means that one can live out the righteousness and holiness that God requires, which is the substantive and fundamental transformation. But if one wants to live out the righteousness and holiness, he can’t accomplish it overnight; rather, it takes a process. He needs God’s personal salvation and needs to experience God’s work practically, so that he can attain it. Almighty God says, “It is true that Jesus has saved you, who are an old man now. You are not of sin, and this is because of God’s salvation, but it does not prove that you have no sin or filthiness. You have not been transformed, so how could you be holy? You are still filled with filthiness within, selfish and contemptible, and yet you want to descend with Jesus. Could there be such a good thing? You lack a process in your believing in God. You have only been redeemed but have not been transformed. To be after God’s heart, you need God to personally work to transform and purify you. …” “The power of the word in the end-time work is greater than the power of performing signs and wonders, and the authority of the word surpasses the authority of signs and wonders. The word exposes all the corrupt dispositions in man’s innermost being. You cannot discover them yourself. When they are disclosed by the word, you will naturally discover them. You will have to admit them and will be sincerely convinced. Isn’t all this the authority of the word? All this is the result produced by the work of the word today. So, it is not healing the sick and driving out demons that can completely save men from sins, nor is it performing signs and wonders that can fully make men complete. The authority of healing the sick and driving out demons only gives men grace, but their flesh is still of satan, and they still have corrupt satanic disposition within. In other words, that which has not been purified is still of sin and of filthiness. Only after they have been purified through the word can men be gained by God and become holy ones. … Having been corrupted by satan for thousands of years, they have already had the nature of resisting God within. So after they have been redeemed, they have only been ransomed, that is, have been bought back at a high price, but the poisonous nature in them has not been removed. Such filthy ones have to be transformed before they are qualified to serve God. Through this stage of work of judgment and chastisement, men will fully know their filthy and corrupt substance within and be completely transformed and become purified ones. Only then will they be qualified to return before God’s throne. All the works God does today are for the purpose that people can be purified and transformed, and that they can be rid of their corruptions and purified through the judgment and chastisement of the word and through refining.” (from The Word Appears in the Flesh) From Almighty God’s words, we see that signs and wonders cannot purify men. “Being transfigured in a moment” as we have imagined cannot purify men either. Only through the chastisement and judgment of Almighty God’s word can men get rid of their corrupt satanic disposition, thoroughly cast off their sinful nature, and eventually become holy. And only then can it be fulfilled that when the Lord comes again, “this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.”
Through the above fellowship, we should understand that God is almighty and practical, and that God’s work has its almighty aspect and its practical aspect. In the end time, through his practical work and word and his chastisement and judgment, Almighty God rids us of our disobedience and removes our sinful nature, so that we can thoroughly break away from our corrupt satanic disposition and become holy. This is the practical aspect of God’s work. God doesn’t perform signs, and just by speaking words, he can transform the mankind who has been deeply corrupted by satan into a mankind holy as in the beginning, and can accomplish the work that “this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.” As a result, satan has no way to intervene and is utterly convinced. Isn’t this God’s almightiness? Dear brothers and sisters, let’s drop our imaginations and experience God’s end-time work practically. Only thus can our wish “to be transfigured” come true.
The
Church of Almighty God came into being because of the work of the
returned Lord Jesus—the end-time Christ, “Almighty
God”—in China, and it isn't established by any person. Christ
is the truth, the way, and the life. After reading God’s
expression, you will see that God has appeared.
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