On Christmas days, do we still remember the Lord Jesus’ love for man while having a good time? John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” From this verse we can see that God’s love for man is selfless. To save mankind that had been corrupted by Satan, God became flesh and came among man personally, and was nailed to the cross, so that those who believed in Him could be forgiven of their sins because of His love. After His resurrection and ascent to heaven, the Lord Jesus promised man that “Surely He come quickly.”

Over two thousand years, man has longed for the Savior Jesus to descend upon a white cloud among those who have pined and yearned for Him. And I was no exception. While waiting for the second coming of the Lord Jesus, I always imagined the scene of His arrival: On a joyful day, the Lord Jesus shall descend upon a white cloud, and He shall bear the image of the Jews and be clothed with a holy white garment….

While I was waiting for the return of the Lord Jesus with dreams, I came into contact with Almighty God’s gospel in the last days on one occasion. I read Almighty God’s words, “Throughout the universe, all those who know of the salvation of Jesus the Savior have been ‘desperately yearning for’ the sudden arrival of Jesus Christ, to ‘fulfill’ the words of Jesus when on earth: ‘I shall arrive just as I departed.’ Man believes that, following the crucifixion and resurrection, Jesus went back to heaven upon a white cloud, and took His place at the Most High’s right hand. Similarly, man conceives that Jesus shall descend, again upon a white cloud (this cloud refers to the cloud that Jesus rode upon when He returned to heaven), among the mankind who has desperately yearned for Him for thousands of years, and that He shall bear the image and clothes of the Jews. After appearing to man, He shall bestow food upon them, and cause living water to gush forth for them, and shall live among man, full of grace and love, living and real. And so on. Yet Jesus the Savior did not do this; He did the opposite of what man conceived. He did not arrive among those who had yearned for His return, and did not appear to all men while riding upon the ‘white cloud.’ He has already arrived, but man does not know Him, and remains ignorant of His arrival. Man is only aimlessly awaiting Him, unaware that He has already descended upon a white cloud (the cloud which is His Spirit, His words, and His entire disposition and all that He is), and is now among a group of overcomers that He will make during the last days.” (from The Word Appears in the Flesh) From Almighty God’s words, I understood that the cloud refers to God’s disposition and what He has and is, not to the cloud man can see with their own eyes. God’s word countered to my conceptions and imagination that “the Lord Jesus shall descend upon a white cloud among all men.” God really and truly becomes flesh, speaks utterances to carry out work among man, and saves man in obscurity. However, no one is aware of His arrival. From this, we can see that God’s thoughts are higher than man’s thoughts, and that the wisdom of God soars higher than the heavens and is unfathomable to man. All of man waits for the Lord Jesus’s return upon a white cloud and defines the work of God according to their conceptions and imaginations, but forgets what the Lord Jesus said, “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you:” (Matthew 7:7) When I investigated with a heart to seek the truth, I saw Almighty God’s words, “As such, since we are searching for the footprints of God, we must search for God’s will, for the words of God, for the utterances of God—for where there are the new words of God, there is the voice of God, and where there are the footsteps of God, there are the deeds of God. Where there is the expression of God, there is the appearance of God, and where there is the appearance of God, there exists the truth, the way, and the life. …If you desire to witness the appearance of God, if you wish to follow the footprints of God, then you must first transcend your own conceptions. You must not demand that God do this or that, much less should you place Him within your own confines and limit Him to your own conceptions. Instead, you should ask how you should seek the footprints of God, how you should accept the appearance of God, and how you should submit to the new work of God; that is what should be done by man. Since man is not the truth, and is not possessed of the truth, man should seek, accept, and obey.” (from The Word Appears in the Flesh)

Thank God for His enlightenment and guidance, I understood if we, as created beings, desire to welcome the Lord’s return and witness the appearance of God, we should have a heart to seek God, rather than limit the supreme God to our own imaginations. As a person who seeks the truth, one should accept the word of God and follow the footsteps of God with a heart of obeying His words and submitting to Him. The word of God is the truth, the way, and the life. His word possesses authority and carries life power. So, the only path to knowing God is to know from God’s word God’s substance, what God has and is, and His intention of saving man.

Source: Find the Shepherd