Question 1: It’s written right there in the Bible: “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). So the name of the Lord doesn’t change! But you say that the name of Jesus will change in the last days. How do you explain it?
Answer: Brothers and sisters, the Bible says, “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). This means that God’s disposition and God’s substance are immutable. It doesn’t mean that God’s name will never change. Look with us at the words of God.
God says, “There are those who say that God is immutable. That is correct, but it refers to the immutability of God’s disposition and substance. Changes in His name and work do not prove that His substance has altered; in other words, God will always be God, and this will never change. If you say that the work of God always stays the same, then would He be able to finish His six-thousand-year management plan? You merely know that God is forever unchanging, but do you know that God is always new and never old? If the work of God never changed, then could He have brought mankind to today? If God is immutable, then why is it that He has already done the work of two ages? … the words ‘God is always new and never old’ are in reference to His work, and the words ‘God is immutable’ are in regard to what God inherently has and is. Regardless, you cannot define the six-thousand-year work in one point, or portray it with mere static words. Such is the stupidity of man. God is not as simple as man imagines, and His work will not stop in one age. Jehovah, for example, will not always stand for the name of God; God also does His work under the name of Jesus, which is a symbol of how God’s work is always progressing forward.
God will always be God, and will never become Satan; Satan will always be Satan, and will never become God. God’s wisdom, God’s wondrousness, God’s righteousness, and God’s majesty shall never change. His substance and what He has and is shall never change. His work, however, is always progressing forward, always going deeper, for God is always new and never old. In every age God assumes a new name, in every age He does new work, and in every age He allows the creatures to see His new will and His new disposition” (“The Vision of God’s Work (3)”).
From the words of God, we can see that God is eternally unchanging. That refers to God’s disposition and His substance, but not God’s name. In the course of God’s work to save mankind, He does different works and takes different names in different ages. But God’s substance never changes. God will always be God. That is to say, no matter what God’s name is, be it “Jehovah” or “Jesus,” God’s substance never changes. There is always the same God working. But at that time, the Jewish Pharisees did not know that the name of God would change as His work changed from one age to the next. They thought that their God was just called Jehovah, and He was their Savior. For generations they clung to the belief that “Only Jehovah is God; and there is no savior but Jehovah.” So when God changed His name, and began His work of redemption in the name of “Jesus,” they did everything they could to condemn and resist Jesus. Finally, they nailed Jesus to the cross. They had committed a heinous crime, and they were punished by God. Similarly, in the last days, if we deny the substance of God or the work being done by one God because God has changed His work and name, then we are absurd and ignorant! Because the name which God takes in each age is meaningful. It is a great salvation for man.
God is always new and never old. He is an all-inclusive God. No single name of God can represent all of God. So as the ages pass, God changes His name. God says, “The name of Jesus was taken for the work of redemption, so would He still be called by the same name when He returns in the last days? Would He still do the work of redemption? Why is it that Jehovah and Jesus are one, yet They are called by different names in different ages? Is it not because Their work in these ages is different? Could a single name represent God in His entirety? In this way, God must be called by a different name in a different age, must use the name to change the age and represent the age, for no one name can fully represent God Himself. And each name can only represent God’s disposition during a certain age and needs only to represent His work. Therefore, God can choose whatever name befits His disposition to represent the entire age” (“The Vision of God’s Work (3)” ). “Could the name of Jesus, ‘God with us,’ represent God’s disposition in its entirety? Could it fully articulate God? If man says that God can only be called Jesus, and may not have any other name because God cannot change His disposition, then such words are blasphemy! Do you believe that the name Jesus, God with us, can represent God in His entirety? God can be called many names, but among these many names, there is not one which can encapsulate all that God has, there is not one which can fully represent God. And so God has many names, but these many names cannot fully articulate God’s disposition, for God’s disposition is too rich, and extends beyond the knowledge of man. The language of man is incapable of fully encapsulating God. … One particular word or name is powerless to represent God in His entirety. So can God take one fixed name? God is so great and holy, so why do you not permit Him to change His name in each new age? As such, in each age that God personally does His own work, He uses a name that befits the age to encapsulate the work that He does. He uses this particular name, one that possesses the significance of the age, to represent His disposition in that age. God uses the language of man to express His own disposition” (“The Vision of God’s Work (3)” ). God is a wise and almighty Ruler. He’s so great, bountiful and infinite. No single name could possibly represent God in His entirety. And God only does a part of His work in any one age. He only expresses part of His disposition. God has not expressed all that He has and is. So, for each stage of God’s work, He must use a specific name with age significance, which represents the work of that age, and the disposition He expresses. This is the principle of God’s work and the primary reason God changes His name.
Everyone will come across some unexpected and unacceptable matters or disasters in our life of believing in the Lord. At this time, people often don’t know what they should do to conform to the Lord’s will. It is easy for them to act as they like. In reality, no matter what happens, what each of us should do is to wait, seek and obey God’s will, which is a manifestation of having true faith in God as well as one of His requirements of us. Just as God says, “All things under God’s arrangements and sovereignty obey natural laws, and if you resolve to let God arrange and dictate everything for you, you should learn to wait, you should learn to seek, you should learn to submit. This is the attitude that every person who wants to submit to God’s authority must take, the basic quality that every person who wants to accept God’s sovereignty and arrangements must possess. To hold such an attitude, to possess such a quality, you must work harder; and only thus can you enter into the true reality.” “Those who seek to know God are able to set aside their desires, are willing to submit to God’s sovereignty and God’s arrangements; they try to be the kind of people who are submissive to God’s authority and satisfy God’s desire. Such people live in light, live in the midst of God’s blessings; they will surely be commended by God.” “If one’s attitude toward God’s sovereignty over human fate is active, then when one looks back upon one’s journey, when one truly comes to grips with God’s sovereignty, one will more earnestly desire to submit to everything that God has arranged, will have more of the determination and confidence to let God orchestrate one’s fate, to stop rebelling against God. For one sees that when one does not comprehend fate, when one does not understand God’s sovereignty, when one gropes forward willfully, staggering and tottering, through the fog, the journey is too difficult, too heartbreaking. So when people recognize God’s sovereignty over human fate, the smart ones choose to know it and accept it, to bid farewell to the painful days when they tried to build a good life with their own two hands, instead of continuing to struggle against fate and pursue their so-called life goals in their own manner. When one has no God, when one cannot see Him, when one cannot clearly recognize God’s sovereignty, every day is meaningless, worthless, miserable. Wherever one is, whatever one’s job is, one’s means of living and the pursuit of one’s goals bring one nothing but endless heartbreak and irrelievable suffering, such that one cannot bear to look back. Only when one accepts the Creator’s sovereignty, submits to His orchestrations and arrangements, and seeks true human life, will one gradually break free from all heartbreak and suffering, shake off all the emptiness of life.”
From God’s words we can see that God is the Ruler of all things and He controls all things. When we entrust the matters to Him and let nature take its course, we will see the deeds of God. In fact, He has made the best arrangements for everyone. So in the face of difficulties, we need to truly believe the authority of God’s sovereignty over all things, patiently wait for His enlightenment and guidance and submit to His orchestrations and arrangements. This way we will be liberated and released, free of bondage. Just as Job went through trials, he truly believed all that he had was bestowed by God, and that rewarding and taking away came from God, so he didn’t make any demands or struggle. He stood witness for God. In the end, he completely lived before God free and released, gained His blessings, free from Satan’s disturbance and affliction. Only then did he live out a valuable and meaningful life.
We should take Job as a role model. From now on, we are willing to enter into the truth together and seek God’s will in the environments God sets for us in daily life. Praise God!
We will encounter many things every single day. Regardless of whether they are good or bad, the most critical thing is that we need to quiet before God to pray and seek, believing God’s authority of ruling over all things, putting aside complaints and negativities and understanding God’s will. In this way, we can grasp the way of life entry. Just as God’s words say, "If you believe in the dominion of God, then you must believe that the things that happen every day, be they good or bad, don’t happen accidentally. It is not that someone doesn’t get on with you or opposes you on purpose; it is actually all arranged by God and He orchestrates everything. What does God orchestrate everything for? It is not to reveal your shortcomings for everyone to see or to expose you; exposing you is not the final aim. The aim is to perfect you and save you. How does God perfect you and save you? Firstly, He makes you aware of your own corrupt disposition, your own nature and essence, your own shortcomings and what you lack. Only by knowing these things and understanding them in your heart can you cast them off—this is a God-given opportunity. You must learn to seize this opportunity and know how to seize it; don’t lock horns and don’t resist. If you are always competing with the people, events, and things that God has arranged around you, if you are always trying to extricate yourself from them, always feeling dissatisfied, always harboring a disagreeable mentality and always misunderstanding, then you will find it very difficult to enter into the truth. Through obeying, seeking, praying more, retreating to your spirit and coming before God then, unbeknownst to you, a change will happen in your inner condition. When you are having a change, the reality of the truth is being wrought in you, and you will then progress and will see a change in the conditions of your life."
"If you wish to enter into the reality of the truth, then you must first start from the drips and drops of life and from the people, events, and things around you. If you can learn lessons from everything that happens around you, from the way you are treated by the people and things around you, and from the issues and environments you encounter every day, then you will mature and will enter onto the right track."
Let’s exercise and practice entry every day.
If we don’t know God’s sovereignty or submit to it, attempt to surpass the fate predestined by God, then the only result for us is failure. My precious time was wasted and lost, and I regretted it. This kind of struggle deep in the soul was unbearable and distressful. Why not try my best to change myself and give all my life to God before it’s too late? Only by doing this can I begin my first step on the road to a free and happy life.("Life Could Be So Beautiful”)
One day, I read a passage of God's words, "God can perfect man in both positive and negative aspects. It depends on whether you are able to experience, and on whether you pursue being perfected by God. If you truly seek being perfected by God, then the negative cannot make you suffer loss, but can bring you things that are more real …” (“Only Those Who Focus on Practice Can Be Perfected”). God’s words are very true. Whatever God does, be it good or bad in our eyes, contains God’s good intention, and it is to change us. When we have experienced some pain, we will truly recognize that pain is a unique gift and the truest love God bestows upon us."("There Is a Love That Is Called Pain")
"On this road, many men can speak of much knowledge, but at their time of death, their eyes brim with tears, and they hate themselves for having wasted a lifetime and lived for naught to old age. They had only understanding but never the opportunity to glorify God. They spent their entire lives fighting and journeying to and fro, yet upon their hour of death, there is regret in their hearts. Only in their dying hour do many come to their senses and realize the meaning of life. Is this then not too late? Why do you not seize the day and seek the truth that you love? Why wait until tomorrow? If in life you do not suffer for the truth or seek to gain it, could it be that you wish to feel regret in your dying hour? If so, then why believe in God? In truth, there are many matters in which man, if he devotes just the slightest effort, can put the truth into practice and thereby satisfy God. The heart of man is constantly possessed by demons and so he cannot act for the sake of God. Rather, he constantly journeys to and fro for the flesh, and profits nothing in the end. It is for these reasons that man has constant troubles and afflictions. Are these not the torments of Satan? Is this not corruption of the flesh? You should not fool God by only paying lip service. Rather, you must take tangible action. Do not fool yourself; what is the meaning in that? What can you gain by living for the sake of your flesh and toiling for fame and fortune?("You Ought to Live for the Truth Since You Believe in God")
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