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I Understand the Mystery of God’s Gender and I Welcome the Return of the Lord

I began to believe in the Lord Jesus in 1992, and I read this in the Bible: “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(John 3:16). In order to redeem mankind from our sins, the Lord Jesus was crucified upon the cross as a sin offering. Whenever I thought of that, my heart would feel much stirred. After I began to believe in the Lord, I enthusiastically attended church gatherings, and would read the Bible and pray whenever I had the time.

One day, my little sister brought two sisters I’d never met before to my home. As we talked, they said that God had returned in the flesh, and had appeared and was working in the form of a woman. When I heard this, I immediately refuted it, saying, “How can that be? It states clearly in the Bible, ‘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(John 3:16). This only begotten Son mentioned in the Bible was surely male. So surely the Lord must return as a man as well? How can you say that God has returned as a woman?” Although they saw that I had adopted such an oppositional attitude, they were still full of compassion toward me and they said, “Sister, although God incarnating as a woman does not tally with our notions, we must know that God’s work does not change by our own will and we must not judge God’s actions by our own thoughts. When the Lord Jesus came to perform His work, for example, this surpassed man’s notions and imaginings; He was not born in a palace, but was instead born in a manger. Nor did He lead the Jews to overthrow the Roman authorities, but instead taught people to love their enemies and show tolerance and patience. Did not the Pharisees of that time resist and condemn the Lord Jesus because His work did not tally with their notions?” At that point, the door to my heart was closed, and no matter what they said, I would not listen to any of it. Instead, I just got up and went to do something else …

Brothers and sisters fellowship

Afterward, my mom accepted Almighty God’s work of the last days, and she then preached to me, saying, “God has incarnated and returned. Almighty God is the returned Lord Jesus and He expresses His words and performs the work of purifying man. We’ve believed in the Lord for so many years, looking forward to the day when we could welcome His return. If you don’t accept that He has returned, then all your faith will be for nothing. When your little sister comes back, you have to really listen to her. Otherwise, you’ll miss your chance to welcome the coming of the Lord and will regret it for as long as you live.” But in my heart, I still believed that, because the Lord Jesus was male, therefore the returned Lord should come in male form as well, and that He couldn’t possibly come in female form. I even tried to advise my mom not to accept it, but my mom would not listen to me; she had made up her mind.

Later, some brothers and sisters came to preach to me the gospel of the Lord’s return, but I didn’t want to hear it and I resisted them. But then I thought of how we were all believers in God and that the Bible said we had to receive guests with love. Regardless of whether or not what they preached tallied with my own notions, I still had to live out normal humanity, and so I received them into my home. While they gave me fellowship, I sat to one side with a blank expression on my face. But I discovered that, whatever attitude I took toward them, they were still full of compassion for me and would still take the trouble to preach to me. Seeing the way in which they lived out their lives, I began to let my guard down.

And so, I said to them, “You preach that the Lord Jesus has returned as a woman, but I can’t quite get my head round this. As we all know, when the Lord Jesus came before, He came as a man, so wouldn’t the Lord return in the last days as a man as well? How could He possibly return as a woman?”

After listening to my questions, a sister said patiently, “In Genesis 1:26–27, it is recorded, ‘And God said, Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them.’ It clearly states in Genesis that God created both male and female in His own image. If God is male, as we say, then how can these words in the Bible be explained? Actually, God’s essence is Spirit and there is no distinction between male and female. Only because God incarnated to save mankind did there arise a distinction between male and female, but this does not mean that God is either male or female. We must not delimit God because the Lord Jesus incarnated as a man. Whether God incarnates as a man or a woman, as long as it is the work of God then we should investigate it and accept it. We should not rely on our own notions and imaginings in our approach to it….”

Yes, I thought. It clearly states in Genesis that God created male and female in His own image. God created Adam as a man and Eve as a woman, and were they not both made in God’s image? This was a fact! After they’d left, I thought that they’d spoken reasonably, and what they’d said had chimed very well with the Bible. If they came again, I decided I would listen in earnest and try to get to the bottom of it all.

But a few days later, my elder sister brought five brothers and sisters from our big church, and they said gravely, “Has anyone preaching Eastern Lightning been to your home? You must not believe in it! How could the Lord possibly come to perform His work in the form of a woman? You must not believe it….” They took it in turns to say their piece and, though I had been wavering before, because of what they said, the door to my heart that had just begun to open once again slammed shut. After that, I became afraid that the people from my church would find out, and so when brothers and sisters came again to preach God’s work of the last days to me, I refused to let them in.

But my mom continued to believe in Almighty God just as she had before, and she attended gatherings every time one was held, never missing even one no matter how bad the weather. Also, I saw that, ever since my mom had begun believing in Almighty God, she seemed to brim with smiles and her faith in God had waxed positive and strong. She treated our family kindly and amiably, was tolerant and patient with people, and this was such a great change from when she had simply believed in the Lord. As for me, however, I went to church to listen to sermons, but they were just the same old things, and my spirit was not being provided for. At home, I would read the Bible and pray, but I couldn’t feel the work of the Holy Spirit, I paid only cursory attention to reading the Bible and sometimes I would fall asleep whilst reading it. No matter how much I read, I just couldn’t understand the Lord’s will within the Scriptures, and my heart wasn’t in it when I prayed—I was just going through the motions. My faith grew colder, and I felt as though my spirit was parched and withered. My heart began to be swayed: Could it be that Almighty God truly was the Lord Jesus returned? Was I shutting out the work of the true God?

One day, a sister from my original church came to my home, and she said to me in earnest, “Sister, every brother and sister who believes in the Lord is longing for Him to return. Now that He has returned, if we do not seek or investigate it merely because God’s gender does not conform with our notions, then wouldn’t we be shutting God out? Would this tally with the Lord’s will? 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). If you don’t seek or investigate, how then will the Lord open the door to you? And how will you be able to welcome the appearance of God? Thinking back to the time of Jesus, the Pharisees were well-versed in the Bible, but because the coming of the Lord Jesus did not tally with their own notions, they nailed Him still living to the cross and Israel suffered the pain of national subjugation. Are we to tread the same path as the Pharisees? God is inherently Spirit, formless, invisible and intangible, and there is simply no distinction of gender. It was only after God became flesh that there arose the distinction between male and female. No matter whether God incarnates as male or female, the purpose of His work does not change, which is to completely save all who love God from the influence of Satan and lead them into His kingdom.”

The sister’s few words served as a gentle reminder to me, and I thought: Yes! When the Lord Jesus came to perform His work, the Jewish chief priests, scribes and Pharisees were well-versed in the Bible and had served God in the temple for generations. But because the Lord Jesus looked ordinary and normal, because He did not have the countenance of a king and was not called Messiah, they condemned Him and blasphemed against Him, they refused to accept the truth He spoke and finally they had Him crucified upon the cross. Now, I had heard that the Lord had returned, and I had not sought or investigated it, but instead had refused to accept it and had refused entry time and time again to brothers and sisters who had come to preach His coming to me. Was I not treading the same path as the Pharisees? The sister saw that I remained silent, and said, “I have a book of God’s words here. I hope you will read it in earnest.” Her sincere words and expectant look thawed my heart. For so long, brothers and sisters had come time and time again to my home to preach the gospel, and no one could have this much faith and love unless it came directly from God. I therefore accepted the book and told the sister that I had decided to investigate this way.

After she’d left, I could hardly wait to open the book. The more I read, the more I felt that the words in the book carried such authority and power. The book spoke so clearly and transparently about the three stages of God’s work, from His creation of the world to the last days, from the Old Testament to the New Testament, and from the New Testament to the Book of Revelation. It also exposed the situation of our current reality and our views about belief in God and, as I read, I became utterly convinced. I felt that these words were the voice of God for, apart from God, who would have such a thorough understanding of mankind, and no celebrity or great person could ever speak such authoritative words as these. I felt like a seedling that had been struck by drought for so long that had then been watered by the water of life. I hungrily read the book, and my spirit felt better and better …

One day, I read these words from God: “Each stage of work done by God has its own practical significance. Back then, when Jesus came, He was male, and when God comes this time, He is female. From this, you can see that God created both male and female for the sake of His work, and with Him there is no distinction of gender. When His Spirit comes, He can take on any flesh He pleases, and that flesh can represent Him; whether male or female, it can represent God as long as it is His incarnate flesh. If Jesus had appeared as a female when He came, in other words, if an infant girl, and not a boy, had been conceived by the Holy Spirit, that stage of work would have been completed all the same. If that had been the case, then the present stage of work would have to be completed by a male instead, but the work would be completed all the same. The work done in either stage is equally significant; neither stage of work is repeated, nor does it conflict with the other. At the time, Jesus, in doing His work, was called the only Son, and ‘Son’ implies the male gender. Why is the only Son not mentioned in this current stage? Because the requirements of the work have necessitated a change in gender from that of Jesus. With God there is no distinction of gender. He does His work as He wishes, and in doing His work He is not subject to any restrictions, but is especially free. Yet every stage of work has its own practical significance.

Woman in purple blouse is reading

After I’d read this passage, my heart was suddenly filled with light. Yes, I thought. God is inherently Spirit with no distinction of gender. Whether the gender of God’s incarnation is male or female, as long as it is a body that clothes the Spirit of God, then it is Christ and it is God Himself. Although the gender into which God has twice incarnated has been different each time, it is still God in essence and the One who works is still God Himself. For example, when the Lord Jesus appeared and worked as a man before, this body was a representation of God; now in the last days, the Lord has returned in the flesh as a woman to work, and this body is a representation of God in just the same way. It is just because God’s work is different that He incarnates into different genders, and although the flesh looks different from the outside, the essence is the same—that of God Himself. I then thought of myself and about how confused I’d been. Over the last few years, no matter how brothers and sisters gave fellowship to me, I always refused to accept what they said. I’d been so rebellious and had been just like the Pharisees, delimiting God’s work by relying on my notions and imaginings and almost missing God’s salvation of the last days.

I then read these words of God: “If only the work of Jesus was done, and was not complemented by work in this stage of the last days, man would forever cling to the notion that Jesus alone is the only Son of God, that is, that God has only one son, and that anyone who comes thereafter by another name would not be the only Son of God, much less God Himself. Man has the notion that anyone who serves as a sin offering or who assumes power on God’s behalf and redeems all humankind, is the only Son of God. There are some who believe that as long as the One who comes is a male, He may be deemed the only Son of God and God’s representative. There are even those who say that Jesus is the Son of Jehovah, His only Son. Are such notions not overblown? If this stage of work were not done in the final age, then toward God the whole of humankind would be veiled under a dark shadow. If this were the case, man would think himself higher than woman, and women would never be able to hold their heads up, and then not even a single woman could be saved. People always believe that God is male, and moreover that He has always despised woman and would not grant her salvation. If this were the case, would it not be true that all women, who were created by Jehovah and who have also been corrupted, would never have the opportunity to be saved? Then would it not have been pointless for Jehovah to have created woman, that is, to have created Eve? And would not woman perish for eternity? For this reason, the stage of work in the last days is to be undertaken in order to save the whole of humankind, not just woman. If anyone should think that were God to be incarnated as female, it would solely be for the sake of saving woman, then that person would indeed be a fool!

What God’s words exposed was precisely the notion I had held! I had believed that the only begotten Son was male and that only men could assume power, and therefore the Lord should return as a man. From God’s words, I came to understand that God had incarnated this time as a woman in order to uproot our deeply-held notions, to dispel our fallacious understanding and misconceptions about God and to make us aware that God is Spirit without any distinction of gender. If God had once again incarnated as a man, then we would be even more prone to define God as male and as the God of men and not the God of women. In actual fact, God is the God of all mankind, and He saves both men and women. I also came to have a deeper understanding of the verse in the Bible that 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(John 3:16). The only begotten Son is mentioned in reference to the body God incarnated into back then, and does not mean that God is male. I used to cling to my notions and imaginings, believing that the only begotten Son was male, and that the Lord Jesus couldn’t come in female form. And so, I ended up shutting out the returned Lord Jesus. I had been so foolish and rebellious! I felt deeply from the bottom of my heart that if God had not incarnated in the last days to speak His words, then no one would have been able to uncover these mysteries.

I continued to read God’s words, and the more I read, the more I felt I had been blind and ignorant for having delimited God’s work to my own notions and imaginings and for believing that if God did not incarnate as a man then it was not the return of the Lord. I had also tried to stop my little sister and mother from accepting God’s new work and had almost lost God’s salvation of the last days because of my own misconceptions. Thanks be to God for sending brothers and sisters to my home time and time again to preach the gospel to me, otherwise I would be just the same as the Pharisees had been when they resisted the Lord Jesus, living in my notions and imaginings, refusing to accept God’s new work and ultimately losing forever God’s salvation.

Thanks be to God! By investigating this way, my husband and I both accepted the kingdom gospel of Almighty God, we have returned to God’s family and we now live the true church life. Brothers and sisters sing and dance in praise of God, and we fellowship God’s words. If we have any corruptions, we are able to be completely open about them and seek the truth to resolve them, and there is much enjoyment at our gatherings. Also, I’m no longer unhappy like I used to be, when I had such a parched and withered spirit. Instead, I read God’s words and learn hymns every day, and my spirit has obtained full and genuine liberation and freedom. I give my sincere thanks to Almighty God for bringing me back into God’s family, and for helping me cast off my old life and leading me onto the path of light. Thank God!

Read more on our Bible Study Topics page on The Incarnation, or click on the related articles below.

Is the Gender of God Incarnate Surely a Male? I Got the Answer

The One Who Seeks the Truth With Humility Is the Blessed One

After Listening with My Heart, I Have Welcomed the Lord’s Return

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