By Lin Jing, China

It used to be that when I saw such words recorded in Genesis: “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” (Gen 1:26–27), I thought that God creating man is to make man manage well all things on the earth, which was why God created man. But it was not until later I saw the words of God in one book that I understood the meaning of God’s creation of mankind is profound and long-lasting.

God said: “When God arose from His bed, the first thought that He had was this: to create a living person—a real, living human—someone to live with and be His constant companion; this person could listen to Him, and He could confide in and speak with him. Then, for the first time, God scooped up a handful of dirt and used it to create the very first living person according to the image that He had imagined in His mind, and then He gave this living creature a name—Adam. Once God had this living and breathing person, how did He feel? For the first time, He felt the joy of having a loved one, a companion. He also felt for the first time the responsibility of being a father and the concern that comes along with it. This living and breathing person brought God happiness and joy; He felt comforted for the first time. This was the first thing God had ever done that was not accomplished with His thoughts or even words, but was done with His own hands. When this kind of being—a living and breathing person—stood in front of God, made of flesh and blood, with body and form, and able to speak with God, He experienced a kind of joy He had never felt before. God truly felt His responsibility, and this living being not only tugged at His heart but warmed and moved His heart with every little move he made. When this living being stood in front of God, it was the first time He had the thought to gain more of such people. … Although He had done these things for man, man was not aware of it and did not understand. Aside from happiness, the joy and comfort man brought to Him quickly brought with it His first feelings of sorrow and loneliness. These were God’s thoughts and feelings at that time. While God was doing all these things, in His heart He went from joy to sorrow and from sorrow to pain, and these feelings were mixed with anxiety. All He wanted to do was to make haste to let this person, this mankind know what was in His heart and understand His intentions sooner. Then, they could become His followers and share His thoughts and align with His will. They would no longer merely listen to God speak and remain speechless; they would no longer be unaware of how to join God in His work; above all, they would no longer be people indifferent to God’s requirements. These first things that God did are very meaningful and hold great value for His management plan and for human beings today.”

Having read these words, I felt quite shocked. It turned out that God’s intention in creating man is not to simply let mankind live on the earth and manage all things, but to hope that we mankind can be His companion, listen to His word and listen to Him confide in, talk with Him, share the words in our heart with Him and stay with Him forever. It can clearly be seen that God takes us mankind as His closest person and His heart is affected by our every movement and every action. In the beginning, when God created our ancestors—Adam and Eve, His heart was joyful. Meanwhile, God had a responsibility to and showed concern for mankind, so He gave man such a command: “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat of it: for in the day that you eat thereof you shall surely die” (Gen 2:16–17). Although God loved man, man understood neither His will nor His substance and disposition, so man could still be tempted by Satan, listen to the words of Satan and eat the fruit on the tree of the knowledge of the good and evil. At last, because of the righteousness and holiness of God, He drove them out of the Garden of Eden. At that time, God had a feeling of distress and loneliness. Because God clearly knew that from that day on man would become depraved and live under the dark influence of Satan, suffering from the torments of Satan. Though man betrayed God, God’s love for man never changed. Thus, He began His management work for the salvation of mankind. In the Age of Law, He established laws to lead people to worship God so that they learnt to live; in the Age of Grace, He became flesh and was nailed on the cross to redeem mankind, bestowing upon mankind abundant grace and blessings. God has expended all possible effort for the salvation of mankind. All He has done is to achieve His original intention in creating mankind soon. He has been expecting that one day we will be able to revive, free from the corruption of Satan and return before Him, being His intimate companion.

Deeply moved by God’s love, I couldn’t help being lost in thought: While we live just to pursue worldly wealth, fame and the pleasures of the flesh, which of us has ever been aware of how grieved God feels? While we are blindly asking God for blessings and grace just for the sake of seeking bread to satisfy hunger, have we ever thought of God’s feeling of pain and loneliness? While we are toiling only for gaining the crown and entering the kingdom of heaven, have we ever realized whether our pursuits are in line with the will and demands of the Lord and whether they are despicable and filthy? Every day as we hold the words of the Lord in our hands to read and preach them to others, but we ourselves do not put them into practice, have we ever thought whether we are deceiving God and are hypocritical? Thinking of our various types of pursuits and manifestations, I couldn’t help remembering the words of God, “No matter how sincere or how fervent their heart is, no matter how great a burden they think they can already carry, no matter how much truth they think they understand, or what they think they can do for God, God stands lonely beside them; He is lonely! Why do I say He is lonely? Because from the beginning to the end, irrespective of what God bestows on man, what He does on man, what form He takes to appear to man or what method He employs to work on man, God is isolated by man. Isn’t this the case?” It’s true that although we have believed in the Lord for many years and served Him by toiling, we are only blindly asking God for blessings and destinations, leaving God alone. Furthermore, we do not care about at all what the will and the demand of God are, much less pursue the knowledge of God, understanding of God and solicitude for His intentions. Our corrupted man’s means of living and the pursuit of goal fall short of God’s intention in creating man. How lonely, distressed and painful God feels because of our deeds and thoughts!

Then how should we do to comfort the heart of God? The words of God say: “So when will the time come when this situation will change, when God no longer needs to wait, when He will no longer feel lonely? That is, what do people need to do and what level do their statures need to reach before this situation can change, before these circumstances can change? Who decides this? (It’s decided by the seeking people do.) In the end, this matter is really decided by people, not by God. Still those words: When the time comes when man can have a heart-to-heart face-to-face with God, when they have no estrangement in their hearts, when they can talk face-to-face with God, have a dialog with God, understand God’s heart, know what God is thinking, know what God wants to do, know what God likes, what He detests, what He grieves for and what makes Him happy, when this time comes, God will no longer be lonely. If people can do this, then they are truly obtained by God. This is the genuine relationship between God and man that God wants to see. You understand this, don’t you? Is God’s heart easy to know? When you read God’s word in earnest, when you use your heart to figure out and experience every sentence and every piece of truth that comes from God, you can gradually enter God’s heart, and can gradually understand God’s heart. As you come to understand God’s heart, you will know how to satisfy God’s heart. If you don’t understand it, then you can never satisfy it. It’s just not possible.” These words are so practical. And the reason why God feels lonely is that we are incapable of understanding His heart, nor do we have true knowledge of God and His disposition. If we are able to spend effort on the words of God, ponder, experience and appreciate every word of God with our hearts to truly understand His will and know why He worries, why He is joyous, why He becomes sad and why He feels happy, then we will be able to practice based on God’s requirements, and try our utmost to seek the truth so that we are of one mind with God. At that time, He will feel comforted in His heart and we will not only be qualified to face to face with Him, and talk with Him, but also accompany Him forever, being His intimate companion, living together with Him in the Kingdom. In this way, God’s intention in creating man can be achieved, and He will be actually comforted in His heart!