Review of God’s Name Has Changed: A Fault Confessed Is Half Redressed
By Lin Fan, Czech Republic
Today I recommend you a movie God’s Name Has Changed. From its title we can learn that this movie is about God’s name. It exerts crucial effects on how mankind knows God and it is a far-reaching Christian movie.
In the opening of the movie, what the protagonist, Wang Hua says comes to the point. The whole tread of this movie centers around the truth of God’s name to probe and get into debates, full of dramatic tension and further deepening man’s knowledge of God.
One time, while Wang Hua is giving her sermon, a brother asks: “The heavenly Father is called ‘Jehovah,’ and His beloved Son is called ‘Jesus.’ But you said they’re one God. If they are one God, how can they all have different names? I have no idea who I am supposed to pray to! I just pray all the names, that way at least one of them will be right.” As he says it, there arises a discussion among people since they all don’t know what it is about, and even some of them begin to discuss who has greater authority between Jehovah and Jesus. At that time, Wang Hua also realizes that although she has been reading the Bible for years and has always explored the truths and mysteries about God’s name, she still cannot solve this puzzle within most people’s hearts. In the end, she says a single word in embarrassment, “God’s name is very profound. One or two days’ worth of sermons aren’t enough to explain it completely.”
When I watched this scene, I was infected by this believer’s humorous lines and his vacant look. You may think: As a Christian, he is ignorant of whom he should pray to. Isn’t it ridiculous? Then again, his words led us to deep self-reflect: Pastors and elders often say Jehovah and Jesus are one God, but why do They have different names? If we only pray in the name of the Lord Jesus, will God listen to our prayers? And if we only pray in the name of Jehovah, will God heed them? In particular, now it is the last days, churches become more and more desolate, and the believers are unable to feel the presence of the Holy Spirit in their prayers. So how should we pray to God to be listened by Him? I believe this is most people’s inner dynamics. That believer’s behavior seemed to be a little ridiculous but also reasonable. So what mysteries lie within God’s name? Let’s discover them little by little as the plot unfolds.
When Wang Hua heard The Church of Almighty God bear witness that the Lord has returned, and that God’s name has been changed with different God’s work and different age, no longer being called Jesus but Almighty God, she did her utmost to hold on to the name of the Lord Jesus and hindered the brothers and sisters from investigating. She thought it was faithful to the Lord and defending the Lord’s way. In the movie, there are several scenes touching me deeply. When Sister Tingting’s brother and sister-in-law come to preach the gospel to her, she doesn’t have her own idea and thus calls Wang Hua. When Wang Hua hurries to the spot, she chases away Tingting’s brother and sister-in-law without letting them say anything, and speaks with long face: “Don’t you dare try to steal our sheep again!” This word exposes a transparent reality in a sharp and powerful way: Wang Hua has controlled the believers firmly in her hands. Despite the entreaties of Tingting’s brother and sister-in-law, she can hardly listen to any of them. She drags Tingting and turns away without another word. This abnormal attitude made me astonished, and I thought: Do not Christians keep on saying that they yearn for the Lord’s return? Why could they take such attitude when hearing the news of the Lord’s coming back? In their hearts, do they really look forward to the Lord’s return sincerely?
It reminded me of the Pharisees at that time. Their nature was so arrogant and obstinate that they constrained Messiah in their own imaginations and conceptions, and in the regulations and letters of the Bible as well. In treating Messiah’s coming, their attitude is: Regardless of how profound Your preaching is, regardless of how beneficial it is for man, as long as the preaching hasn’t been fulfilled according to the letters of prophecies, or He is not called Messiah, then He is not Christ. For this reason, they tried to find fault with the Lord Jesus and did their most to resist Him. At last, the Pharisees crazily condemned the Lord Jesus for His name was not Messiah, and nailed the Lord Jesus who is innocent and holy to the cross. They were eventually cursed by God and suffered the loss of their nation. It really is hateful and pitiable! The tragedy of the Pharisees gives a heavy slap to those who desperately expect the Lord to return yet resist Him. Wang Hua almost walked on the same path. It was gratifying that finally, she chose to seek and investigate the work of Almighty God in the last days. Under the guidance of God’s words, she finally had an awakening.
During that time, Wang Hua was first hit and injured by an electric motor and then had sores all over her body. Not only that, her co-worker was jealous of her and said awful things about her in the presence of a pastor, which caused her to be dismissed by the pastor. This sequence of events made Wang Hua extremely miserable and not know what the Lord’s will was.
In our life, each of us will encounter some frustrations and sufferings in different degrees. However, when faced with them, everyone’s attitude and reaction differ greatly. Some may complain against God or misunderstand God; some may come before God to seek God’s will, pray to and rely on God to see through Satan’s schemes. In this matter, Wang Hua chose the latter. She believed what had happened to her was more than coincidence and God’s purpose must lie therein.
Sunshine always appears after storm. The next day, it is sunny and brilliant. A blooming flower is extremely bright in the sun. So is Wang Hua’s mood. Through praying and seeking, she opens up her heart little by little. In the following days, she and the witnesses of The Church of the Almighty God probe together some truths and mysteries: Why does God take names? God originally has no name, so can a single name of God represent all of Him? What’s the representative meaning of God’s name in each age? When God’s name changes, will His substance change? If man accepts God’s new name, do they belong to those who betray God and apostatize? Wang Hua has read many words expressed by Almighty God, and begins to awaken bit by bit. Finally, she accepts the name of Almighty God and God’s work of the last days.
This movie is ended off with Wang Hua’s preaching to everyone. She holds The Word Appears in the Flesh and fellowships all her past about how she resisted God. She is thankful to God for loving and saving her, shedding tears of remorse. Wang Hua says, “This is not only God’s salvation of me, but also God’s will to all those who truly believe in Him and who are willing to come back to Him. Today, I hope my brothers and sisters will forgive me. And I hope you all will come to seek and investigate God’s work of the last days.” Also, Wang Hua reads a passage of God’s words: “During the time of God’s work of salvation, all those who can be saved will be saved to the utmost limit, none of them being discarded, as the purpose of God’s work is to save man. … During the time of the work of words, many people will expose their rebelliousness and defiance, and they will expose their disobedience toward the incarnate God. But He will not punish all these people because of this…. Each and every person who has accepted the conquering of words will have ample opportunity for salvation. God’s salvation of each one of these people shows them His utmost leniency, meaning that they are showed the utmost tolerance. So long as people turn back from the wrong path, so long as they can repent, then God will give them the opportunity to obtain His salvation. When people first rebel against God, God has no desire to put them to death, but instead does all He can to save them. If someone really has no room for salvation, then God will cast them aside.” Everyone is moved by these words and can’t help shedding tears, fully feeling God’s mercy and love. It is really like the proverb going “A fault confessed is half redressed.”
The entire movie takes Wang Hua as a representative character, playing how Wang Hua transfers from rebellion against God and resistance to God to being conquered, and to eventually accepting and obeying God. From it we can feel that God’s disciplines and trails of man are a greater love, just like parents disciplining their children is to make them walk on the right path and be good persons. Parents show mercy on their children; this is even more so the case for God’s heart. So, no matter what tribulations or refinements we face, there is God’s will hidden behind them. God is majestic and wrathful and allows no offense, and moreover He is loving and merciful, abundant in His selfless love and sacrifices toward man. If Wang Hua didn’t go through those sufferings and disciplines, her rigid heart would be hard to be revived, and she might not have the heart of seeking God, nor might she have the opportunity to welcome the Lord’s return. Apparently, with regard to the coming of the Lord, it is crucially important to have a heart of seeking and obeying. The movie God’s Name Has Changed is of extraordinary significance and its value is too great.
Source: Walk in the Light
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