God is a treasure to us who believe in Him, but to those who do not believe He is a stone that causes them to stumble and a rock that makes them fall and He is also a trap and a snare to them. At Jesus’ first coming, there were the people like Thomas who blindly doubted what they did not see with their own eyes, and some people kept doubting even until just before Jesus ascended to heaven from the Mount of Olives; they were present there with a doubtful mind. However, we can also see the disciples like Peter, John and James in the Bible who recognized the light of the glory of Christ and followed Him till the end.

The Bible says, “The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them,” and, “. . . in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ.” When we take these words into consideration, we can see that the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven is given to those who recognize Christ who is the mystery of God and receive Him. As members of the heavenly family, let us press on to know God so that we can discover all the secrets of the kingdom of heaven and always live in the protection of God and abide in God’s promises.

The secrets of the kingdom of heaven hidden in Christ

Mt 13:10-13 The disciples came to him and asked, “Why do you speak to the people in parables?” He replied, “The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. This is why I speak to them in parables: Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand.”

Jesus says that there are the people to whom the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven is given, and that there are those to whom it is not given. Why does God, who is just and fair, give the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven only to some special people?

There are not only God’s children but also the forces of evil—the followers of the devil—on this earth (Rev 12:9). If a snake drinks water, it makes poison, and if a cow drinks water, it produces milk. As for the same thing, it brings forth something good or bad according to who uses it. Likewise, there are those to whom the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven must be given, and there are also those to whom it must not be given. That is why God has told everything in parables. Since humans cannot solve the parables by themselves, God has personally come to this earth to teach what He means by the parables. So the Bible prophesies that many peoples will stream to Zion to learn the way of life from God and follow that way (Isa 2:2-3; Mic 4:1-2).

Christ, who teaches us the secrets of the kingdom of God, is indeed the mystery of mysteries.

Col 2:2-3 My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

Christ is the mystery of God—the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations (Col 1:26-27). Ultimately, only those who recognize Christ can discover all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge and know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven. We are truly blessed to be able to know the secrets of the kingdom of God and to recognize Christ, the mystery of God.

Christ is a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall

The Bible is a book that testifies about God who is to come in the flesh, that is, Christ (Jn 5:39). Through the prophets, God has already taught us about Christ who is to come to this earth. The prophet Isaiah prophesied that God would be a stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall, and that He would be a trap and a snare to them.

Isa 8:13-15 “The LORD Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy, he is the one you are to fear, he is the one you are to dread, and he will be a sanctuary; but for both houses of Israel he will be a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall. And for the people of Jerusalem he will be a trap and a snare. Many of them will stumble; they will fall and be broken, they will be snared and captured.”

If people try to judge God by their own standards, they cannot help but fall into sin. Most people believe that there must be something different about God. They think that God has to show apparent magical powers to do everything, even the supernatural things that humans cannot do.

However, God came in an ordinary way; He came in the likeness of a human just like one of us, and His life was no different than the lives of ordinary people. So the people in the world did not recognize Him.

Jn 6:41-45 At this the Jews began to grumble about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” They said, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I came down from heaven’?” “Stop grumbling among yourselves,” Jesus answered. “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me.”

To those who did not believe, Jesus only appeared to be the son of Joseph. So they rejected Him, saying, “Is it not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I came down from heaven’?” They thought, ‘If He was God, how could He be born into such a poor family, even in a stable where animals were kept?’ This kind of physical thought became a factor that spoiled their faith. So, they concluded that Jesus was not God and confidently justified themselves in crucifying Him.

In order not to commit such a horrible sin, we must know God. So, we should be taught by the Father. Since the Bible says, “Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes,” we need to be taught by Christ who has come to this earth according to the prophecies, so that we can receive Christ (1 Co 4:5).

“Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me”

As for those to whom Christ has already become a stone that causes them to stumble and a rock that makes them fall, they cannot know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven no matter how hard they try. When people recognize Christ, God opens their spiritual eyes to see the secrets of the kingdom of heaven. Now, let us examine more in detail the situation of Jesus’ first coming, so that we can all have a correct understanding of Christ, the mystery of God, and receive Him.

Mt 11:2-6 When John heard in prison what Christ was doing, he sent his disciples to ask him, “Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?” Jesus replied, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor. Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me.”

When John the Baptist, who was sent by God to prepare the way for Christ, was kept in prison, he sent his disciples to ask Jesus to plainly tell them if He was the Christ who was to come. Then Jesus testified about Himself through the prophecies of the Bible and added these words, “Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me.”

The life of Jesus Christ was so ordinary enough to hide His glory from people. In the eyes of people in those days, Jesus seemed to be a very ordinary man rather than God.

Jn 7:14-15 Not until halfway through the Feast did Jesus go up to the temple courts and begin to teach. The Jews were amazed and asked, “How did this man get such learning without having studied?”

To put it simply, they slandered Jesus by saying how He could read and discuss the Scriptures in spite of being an uneducated man. When Jesus ate and drank, they labeled Him a “glutton” (Mt 11:19). They made people fall away from the faith by slandering Jesus, saying that He was uneducated and a glutton. So Jesus rebuked them, “You shut the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.”

Jn 8:40-47 . . . Jesus said to them, “. . . Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me! Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don’t you believe me? He who belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.”

Jesus spoke these words to those who did not acknowledge Him as God and opposed Him. He clearly revealed their identity by saying that they did not believe Him and His word because they belonged to the devil, not God.

Those who tried to find fault in Jesus’ life and surroundings

To those who believed in and followed Him, Jesus showed the miracle of feeding the five thousand people with five barley loaves and two fish. When Jesus was confronted with the need to pay the Roman tax, He simply told Peter to catch a fish and pay it with a coin he found in the fish’s mouth. He even showed them His transfigured glory on the Mount of Transfiguration.

Those who had such a great chance to experience the spiritual world grew stronger in faith, but the religious leaders in those days—the chief priests, the Pharisees and the teachers of the law—were never able to see the true nature of Christ. They tried to call into question every aspect of Jesus’ life and surroundings and to find fault with Him so that they would oppose Him. So, the secrets of the kingdom of heaven were completely hidden from their eyes. How could the spiritually blind people see God?

Jn 7:40-52 On hearing his words, some of the people said, “Surely this man is the Prophet.” Others said, “He is the Christ.” Still others asked, “How can the Christ come from Galilee? Does not the Scripture say that the Christ will come from David’s family and from Bethlehem, the town where David lived?” Thus the people were divided because of Jesus. Finally the temple guards went back to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, “Why didn’t you bring him in?” “No one ever spoke the way this man does,” the guards declared. “You mean he has deceived you also?” the Pharisees retorted. “Has any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed in him? No! But this mob that knows nothing of the law—there is a curse on them.” Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus earlier and who was one of their own number, asked, “Does our law condemn anyone without first hearing him to find out what he is doing?” They replied, “Are you from Galilee, too? Look into it, and you will find that a prophet does not come out of Galilee.”

It was mostly poor and humble people such as fishermen, tax collectors and prostitutes who believed in Jesus. The influential and powerful people did not believe in Him. This fact also became an excuse for the opponents to slander Jesus. When Jesus was with tax collectors and sinners, they even treated Him as less than a prophet, saying, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known that they are sinners” (Mt 9:9-13; Lk 7:39).

There were also some people who misunderstood Jesus with wrong information about Him, saying, “How can the Christ come from Galilee?” They did not know that Jesus was born in Bethlehem. In Isaiah 9 there was a prophecy showing that a great light would shine on Galilee of the Gentiles, but they even despised the prophecy, and they did not pay any attention to what was contrary to their views. When people listened to the words of Christ, they excommunicated them, saying, “You mean he has deceived you also?”

It is the same now. Even today, there are the religious leaders with vested rights who blaspheme God the Father and God the Mother and slander the Church of God, as they did 2,000 years ago. Even though we give them clear evidence that Heavenly Mother exists from the Bible, they just insist that it does not mean that but has a different, hidden meaning. Is there any hidden meaning in it except God’s will hidden from them?

Some of us may think that Jesus was adored and respected by many people who believed in God and gained a great deal of popularity among them in those days. However, nowhere in the Bible does it say that there were many who believed in Jesus completely and followed Him fully; He was surrounded by those who doubted and persecuted Him. Yet, our God did not care about the reproaches and insults of the people, but He only put forth His energy to save His children.

“Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me.” These words of Jesus leave a deep and lingering impression on our hearts today. God is a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall even in this age, as He was at His first coming.

The mission of those entrusted with the secret things of God

By examining the life of Christ and everything that He went through 2,000 years ago, we need to think about why the world is divided into two groups of people today—those who believe in God the Father and God the Mother and those who do not believe in Them. Their eyes are covered so they cannot see, but God has opened our spiritual eyes to see Elohim. We have met Christ Ahnsahnghong the new name and our Heavenly Mother the new Jerusalem—the mystery of God that even theologians and religious leaders in the world do not know, and we have received Them as our Saviors and are following Their guidance. It is such a tremendous blessing for us.

Hos 6:3 “Let us acknowledge the LORD; let us press on to acknowledge him. As surely as the sun rises, he will appear; he will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth.”

Since the Bible says that Christ is the mystery of God—the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, we must press on to know God. Let us not think lightly of the blessings God has given us in this age, but do our best as those entrusted with the secret things of God. The fact that God has taught us the secret things of God is proof that God loves and values us so much. I would like to ask you again to give glory, thanks and praise to God all the more and to proclaim this mystery to the people who do not know it yet—to let them know that Heavenly Father and Mother are our true Gods. Until now we have only given our testimony to people, but as the Bible says, “You believed our testimony to you,” the time of victory will surely come for us to see all the testimonies with our own eyes when we are all changed in a flash.

Our Heavenly Father and Mother have come to this earth as the Spirit and the Bride, and They have opened the way to eternal life and have allowed us to know and see the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, which They have hidden from them, so that we can receive Christ, the mystery of God. I would like to give thanks to Elohim once again for such a great blessing. Let us never lose this blessing but keep it till the end, so that we can all enter the eternal kingdom of heaven as the “offspring of the woman”—the children of God the Mother.