Do Not Rely on Imagination to Delimit God’s Appearance

I
God is the God of the entire human race.
He does not consider Himself
the private property of any nation or people,
but does His work as He has planned it,
without being confined
to any form, nation, or people.
Perhaps you’ve never imagined this form,
or perhaps your attitude to this form
is one of denial,
or perhaps the nation where God appears
and the people among whom He appears
just happen to be discriminated against
by everyone
and just happen to be
the most backward on earth.
Yet God has His wisdom.
With His great power,
and by means of His truth and His disposition,
He has truly gained a group of people
who are of one mind with Him,
and a group of people
that He wished to make complete—
a group, conquered by Him,
who, having endured all manner
of trials and suffering
and all manner of persecution,
can follow Him to the very end.
II
The aim of the appearance of God,
which is not limited to any form or nation,
is to enable Him to complete His work
as He has planned it.
This is just as when God became flesh in Judea:
His aim was to complete
the work of the crucifixion
in redeeming the entire human race,
in redeeming the entire human race.
Yet the Jews believed
that it was impossible for God to do this,
and they thought it was impossible
that God could become flesh
and assume the form of the Lord Jesus.
Their “impossible” became the basis on which
they condemned and opposed God,
and ultimately led to the destruction of Israel.
III
Today, many people
have committed a similar error.
They proclaim with all their might
God’s imminent appearance,
yet at the same time condemn His appearance;
their “impossible” once more
confines God’s appearance
within the limits of their imagination.
Many people break into
wild and raucous laughter
after coming upon the words of God.
But is this laughter any different
from the condemnation and blasphemy of the Jews?
You are not reverent
in the presence of the truth,
still less do you possess an attitude of yearning.
All you do is doggedly study,
and wait with blithe unconcern.
What can you gain
from studying and waiting like this?
Do you think you’ll receive
personal guidance from God?
If you cannot discern God’s utterances,
in what way are you qualified
to witness God’s appearance?
Wherever God appears,
there the truth will be expressed,
and there the voice of God will be.
Only those who can accept the truth
can hear God’s voice,
and only such people are qualified
to witness God’s appearance.

from The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Appendix 1: The Appearance of God Has Ushered in a New Age