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God was incarnated the first time through the conception of the Holy Spirit. That had to do with the work he had to do. The Age of the Grace began with the name of Jesus. 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 used, but the Holy Spirit began to do the new work with the name of Jesus. The testimony his believers bore was a testimony to Jesus Christ, and the work they did was for Jesus Christ. The end of the Old Testament Age of the Law meant that the work God did with the name of Jehovah came to an end. From then on, God was no longer called Jehovah but Jesus. Thereafter, the Holy Spirit began to do the work with the name of Jesus. So if now you still eat and drink Jehovah’s word and measure the work of today according to the work of the Age of the Law, aren’t you measuring it according to regulations? Aren’t you sticking to the old? As you know, the end time has come. Would Jesus still be called Jesus when he comes? Jehovah told the people of Israel at that time that Messiah would come in the future, but the One who came was not called Messiah but Jesus. Jesus said that he would come again and as he went, so would he come. That was what Jesus said. But did you see how he went? He went on a white cloud. Would he still come among men personally on the white cloud? Then wouldn’t he still be called Jesus? When Jesus comes again, the age has already changed. Would he still be called Jesus? Could God only be called Jesus? Couldn’t he take a new name in the new age? Could the image of a “man” and a particular name be everything of God? In each age, God does a new work and takes a new name. How could he do the same work in different ages? How could he stick to the old? The name “Jesus” was taken for the sake of the redemptive work. When Jesus comes again in the end time, would he still be called by that name? Would he still do the redemptive work? Why are Jehovah and Jesus one but they are called by different names in different ages? Isn’t it because the ages they did the work in are different? Could God’s one name fully represent him? So, God has to take different names in different ages, changing the age with his new name and using the name to represent the age, because no name can fully represent God Godself but one name can only represent his nature of one age and he will take a name as long as it can represent his work. So, God chooses any name which can match his nature to represent the whole age. Both in the age of Jehovah and the age of Jesus, God used the name to represent the age. The Age of the Grace has ended and the final age has come, and Jesus has already come. So how could he still be called Jesus? How could he come among men still in the image of Jesus? Have you forgotten that Jesus was only a man in the image of a Nazarene? Have you forgotten that “Jesus” was only the Redeemer of mankind? How could he undertake the end-time work of conquering and perfecting people? It was true that Jesus went away on a white cloud. But how could he still come among men on the white cloud and be called Jesus? If he really came on the white cloud, would people not recognize him? Who in the world would not recognize him? In that case, wouldn’t only “Jesus” be God? Then God’s image would be an appearance of a Jew and would forever be an appearance of a Jew. Jesus said that as he went, so would he come. Do you know the real meaning of his word? Did he only tell you? You only know that as he went on a white cloud, so will he come. But do you know how God Godself does his work? If you could really see how he would come, how would you explain this word of Jesus? He said, “The Son of Man does not know when he will come in the end time, nor the angels, nor the messengers in heaven. No one knows it, but only the Father, that is, the Spirit, knows it.” If you could know and see that, wouldn’t this word fail? Even the Son of Man himself did not know it, so could you see and know it? If you could see that with your own eyes, wouldn’t this word fail? What did Jesus say at that time? “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. … So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.” Even the Son of Man himself did not know when that day would come. When the Son of Man is mentioned, it speaks of the incarnated flesh of God, a normal and ordinary man. Even the man himself did not know that, so could you know it? Jesus said that as he went, so would he come. He himself did not know when he would come, so could he let you know that in advance? Could you see his coming? Isn’t that ridiculous? Every time God comes to earth, he has to take a new name. Every time he comes, he has to take a different gender. Every time he comes, he has to take a new image. Every time he comes, he has to do a new work. He never repeats his work, and he is an ever-new and never-old God. When he came previously, he was called Jesus. Would he still be called Jesus when he comes this time? When he came previously, he was a male. Would he still be a male when he comes this time? When he came previously, he did the work of the crucifixion of the Age of the Grace. Would he still redeem people from their sins when he comes this time? Would he be crucified again? Wouldn’t he be repeating his work if he did that? Don’t you know that God is ever new and never old? Some people may say that God never changes. That is also true, but it means that God’s nature and God’s substance never change. When his name and work change, it does not mean that his substance changes. In other words, God is forever God and this will never change. If God’s work never changes, as you say, could his six-thousand-year management plan end? You only know that God never changes, but do you know that God is also ever new and never old? If his work had never changed, could he have led mankind until today? If he had never changed, why would he have done the different works in the two ages? When his work continuously advances, he progressively reveals his nature to men, all of which is his inherent nature. Because at the beginning God’s nature was hidden from men, he never publicly revealed it to them, and they did not know him at all, he progressively reveals his nature to them through his work. His working in this way does not mean that he changes his nature in each age. It is not that God’s nature continuously changes with his intention. Rather, because the ages he does the works in are different, he progressively reveals all his inherent nature to men, causing them to know him. But this does not mean that God did not have his own nature and his nature progressively changes with the different ages. That is an erroneous understanding. He reveals to men his inherent nature, that is, what he is, and he reveals different aspects of it to them in different ages. God’s work in one age cannot fully express his entire nature. Therefore, the word “God is ever new and never old” is only true with his work, and the word “God never changes” is only true with what he has and is. No matter what, you cannot confine God’s six-thousand-year work to one work or measure it according to one dead word. That is man’s foolishness. God is not as simple as men have imagined. His work can never stop in one age, just as the name of Jehovah cannot be God’s name forever and he can do his work with the name of Jesus. That is the mark that God’s work continuously progresses forward.
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