ORDER NUMBER
77-04-18
REVEREND SUN MYUNG MOON
SPEAKS ON
TRUE PARENTS DAY
FROM THE HISTORICAL
POINT OF VIEW
April 18, 1977
Manhattan Center
Translator - Bo Hi Pak
Today we commemorate the 18th anniversary of Parents Day. No other
group on earth celebrates True Parents Day. We have four major
celebrations during the year, Parents Day. Children's Day, World Day,
and God's Day, and by celebrating these holidays we are truly
celebrating the rebirth of heaven and earth.
If there had been no fall of man, we would never have seen such
holidays as God's Day, Parents Day, Children's Day and World Day. Adam
and Eve would probably have been the only two people who would have
celebrated these days, while their descendants would have celebrated
only the victory of their established foundation. All of mankind was
supposed to have been born on the foundation of these days. Through
the fall of man, however, there was no fulfillment here on earth, and
all joy was lost. Consequently there was no day of joy for God, no day
of the True Parents, no day of the true children, and no day of all
things. All mankind is born in sorrow and suffers in sorrow, and
struggles to recapture the original world; because of the fall,
however, that perfection has always eluded man.
There are many celebrations in our world, but all of them are for the
joy of the satanic world, not for God. There has never been one day in
which God could declare His joy. For example, each one of you
celebrates your birthday and those who are married have your wedding
anniversaries, but are they above the realm of fallen mankind? No,
they are still outside the dwelling place of God.
When is the day going to come that mankind will establish a new kind
of holiday? It will be the day that all men and God can be joyful
together. That day will not be your own birthday or wedding
anniversary or day of national independence. Throughout history all
mankind has been looking forward to the day of fulfillment when God
could declare His joy and personally commemorate God's Day and Parents
Day. Once God's joy is declared, and God's Day and True Parents Day
are established, then automatically the true children will come into
being, and all the things of creation will declare their joy too.
Throughout history, however, no one has seen God's Day or True Parents
Day, and all the things of creation are in agony in this fallen world.
Out of 365 days in a year the most important day would be the day to
honor God, the day on which God could declare His joy-God's Day. The
day we can declare God's Day to the earth will be the king of all
days, and that year will be the king of all years. I do not know
whether you have ever heard of such expressions as "king of all days,"
or "king of all years." Do they make sense?
Today you are all here to celebrate Parents Day, but actually you are
not entitled to celebrate on this day. Since meeting the True Parents
you may rejoice over this Parents Day, but this joyful day is also sad
because only this small group of people has recognized Parents Day and
come together to celebrate. We also feel sorrow that we are still
surrounded by the fallen world.
There were several consequences of the fall of man. One, the dignity
and authority of God was damaged; in addition, mankind was separated
from his intended state and fell into the dungeons of hell; at the
same time a portion of the angelic world also fell; finally, all the
things of creation were brought down. Thus it happened that everything
suffered when man fell, including the dignity of God, and since then
the entire creation has been trapped in a place of sorrow and despair.
The world has become sick, but in the same way that patients cannot
cure themselves, the world is helpless to restore itself. Who will
come to restore the world? There is only one superior person who has
the ability, power and will to bring man back to his original
place-God.
The fallen process has been like a healthy person becoming ill, and in
order for that sick person to regain his original health he must
complete a reverse process; man must be restored to his original place
by reversing the process of the fall. The world of salvation is
equivalent to the work of restoration and involves bringing a person
from an abnormal state back to his original state, just like bringing
a sick person back to health. Salvation and restoration are the same,
but the point of observation is different: From God's point of view
the process is salvation, while from the point of view of man who is
to be saved, the process is restoration.
The principle that is vital to this process indicates that for man to
be restored, indemnity must be paid. To liquidate sin man must pay the
debt of sin. In the same manner, a patient must often endure suffering
when being treated by a doctor. Sometimes the doctor must prescribe a
very bitter medicine, and even though the patient is reluctant, he
must take it to be restored. True medicine is often bitter. Fallen man
is like the patient and must assimilate indemnity, pain and suffering
in order to be restored into his original wholeness.
What can cure the disease of fallen love?
What kind of disease have you caught? The diagnosis is that fallen man
has the disease of fallen love. It is the disease of love centered on
Satan and controlled by Satan, and through it mankind has become
prisoners of Satan by inheriting his lineage. All men are born on this
earth as direct heirs of Satan. How did this disease of love start?
The motive that initiated this love disease was self-centeredness. The
fall was initiated when one person claimed self-centered love. That
person denied the value of all other relationships in his desire to
make himself the center of the universe. He only sought to bring
benefit to himself, and when his desire entered the realm of love the
disease was begun.
We must find a cure for this love disease. What medicine should be
prescribed? Because self-centered love brought the fall, we must find
a God-centered or unselfish love in order to be cured or restored. If
Adam and Eve and the archangel had forgotten themselves in the garden
of Eden, only thinking of God and their desire to place themselves in
a God-centered love, then there could have been no fall or any of its
consequences here on earth.
What is heaven? Heaven is created by those people who live here on
earth with unselfishness and an absolute, God-centered love. This is
the most basic principle, and all other principles you learn are the
expansion of this basic truth. What I have spoken to you thus far is
the very heart of the truth of God.
Do you love yourself most of all? Are you the center of your love? Is
God the center? Twenty-four hours a day and 365 days a year have you
been loving yourself in a God-centered way? If you cannot say yes then
you are not destined for the Kingdom of God in heaven, and need
liberation from your bondage. This is the most severe battle which you
are waging every day, and each of you must become victors in this
battle for your liberation. Without becoming victorious you will not
deserve the Kingdom of God.
Suppose someone suddenly attacked you without any reason. The usual
human reaction would be to yell, "Why did you hit me?" and try to hit
back. But you must be patient, not because you are weak, but because
in the name of God you are becoming different. Jesus Christ waged this
different battle when he blessed his enemies. Jesus was thinking about
his mission for God 24 hours a day, looking at everything from God's
point of view. Before seeking revenge against the world, he remembered
how God had persevered and been patent while waiting. Knowing that
God's will was ultimately the restoration of mankind, Jesus did not
wage his battle as Satan does.
Because Jesus prayed for his own enemies, especially at the moment he
was being destroyed, he transcended all satanic realms, and totally
liberated himself from accusation by Satan. From then on he was free
to go to the throne of God and exercise the grace and power of
salvation. Satan is always looking for some loophole or hook of fallen
nature, and since most people have a thousand hooks Satan does not
have to make much effort to snag them. But Jesus' life was absolutely
pure, and no matter how much Satan tried to find some weakness in him,
Jesus was not vulnerable.
Jesus Christ was completely free from satanic accusation, and by
rising above the satanic realm he could become one with God in heaven.
Since Jesus could enter that realm, God could use him as His
instrument without any reservation. After Satan killed Jesus on the
cross God was free to resurrect him. God did not have to pay attention
to Satan, but could exercise His power to the ultimate degree. Because
of Jesus, therefore, a new world could come into being which was
completely free of the satanic world.
By knowing this principle we must clearly realize that when the
Messiah comes for the salvation of mankind he will not come in glory.
He will come in misery and assimilate all the pain and suffering of
the world. He will be attacked by the entire satanic world, yet
persevere without seeking revenge, being patient as God has been, and
finally winning out in the end. Any religion or any work of religion
which teaches the need for such patience while going the road of
indemnity will be the religion which ultimately meets the Messiah.
Our motive for unification must be clear
Who are we, the Unification Church? The word unification is a big
word, indicating that we want to embrace all religions so that we can
unite all of them into one. Do we desire that for our own satanic
purpose? No, we want to bring them back to the throne of God. That is
the meaning of the word unification. The Unification Church must walk
the messianic road, the road of suffering and beatings. It is the road
that commences at the very bottom of mankind's misery and rises all
the way up to the very throne of God. That is the road that we in the
Unification Church are undertaking.
We are assuming the responsibility of becoming that world religion.
However, we must make our motives very clear. Are we here for the sake
of the Unification Church, or for the sake of heaven and earth? The
Unification Church exists solely to serve God and mankind because that
is the way God thinks, and that is the way we must think. For that
reason we receive the pain of suffering and difficulty, but we cannot
be liberated from the satanic realm unless we think, "This is for God
and humanity." The satanic world is totally self-centered and in order
to liberate ourselves from it we must live an absolutely different way
of life. As we live this life absolutely, we will liberate ourselves
from satanic influence. Is this clear?
When you go out witnessing and fundraising you might sometimes think,
"I am not good for this. I am so tired I just cannot go on." That
excuse is acceptable if you are thinking only of yourself, but when
you put God in the picture and claim you are universe-centered and
mankind-centered then you cannot complain or say you are tired. You
may think that many members of the Unification Church are working very
hard, but from God's standpoint this is not true. You have not yet met
the standard that God has established. You may persevere for a time,
but then come to the point where you give up, "No more. I want to rest
now and do things my own way." Then your attitude becomes a big hook.
Satan is always watching and will say, "Look, you said you are working
for God and mankind 100%, but your actions have given you away."
Harder times are coming
Of course sometimes you get tired and weak, and sometimes you get
sick, but at those times you must think, "God, You have suffered more
than I have. True Parents, you have suffered more than I have.
Heavenly Father, there are many brothers and sisters in this world who
are suffering more than I am. I am so grateful that I can do this, and
as long my life remains, I will continue."
When you speak your gratitude and live it, Satan has no way to hook
you. Then you are totally free to go beyond the satanic realm and to
be like Jesus, completely one with God. I do not say this to bribe you
to work. This is the basic principle of God. I want you to know that
the logical conclusion of this principle is that even tougher days
will come to the Unification Church.
You may think that every day our way of life gets tougher, with more
persecution and pressure, but I want you to realize that this is the
sign that we are near our total liberation from satanic influences.
That final segment of our journey of freeing ourselves from the
satanic realm is the year of 1976 through June, 1977.
A Congressional source informed me a few days ago that ever since our
involvement in the issues of Watergate, the U. S. government has
received many letters of both protest and approval about the
Unification Church, and disputes over our church have developed within
high levels of government. That person said that there has not been
such a heated battle over one particular issue since Watergate. We are
creating a world event, aren't we? We will see the entire world come
against us, and even now we can feel the pressure of the world upon
our shoulders.
Our enemies will not only create national and worldwide protest
against me, but will use dirty tactics to undermine us. For example,
communists will infiltrate our ranks and behave like dedicated
members. Once they are trusted they will begin to make all kinds of
trouble, and ultimately their actions will reflect back on me. That is
their goal, and I am clearly aware of this tactic. How pitiful my
situation is. Already I am receiving all kinds of accusation and
persecution from outside, but even worse, there are people who are
calculating how to shame me from within the Unification Church. There
is no place where I can escape the heated battle.
How do you see me? Am I a tough man of conviction and iron will, with
the drive to go to the end, or am I the type of person who is so timid
and afraid that I cannot even speak? I am a very hot-tempered man of
extremes, and no one has a more determined will than I do. On the one
hand I am hot-tempered and blazing like a fire, but I am also like a
person with no bones who can take beating after beating and remain
patient, never desiring revenge and never cursing anybody. I think
that being hot-tempered and iron-willed as well as patient and
enduring is what God wants me to be, and I am trying to fulfill that.
At the moment of his death, Jesus forgave those who killed him. My
determination is that in my own life I will bless my enemies by
persevering and absorbing all the beatings and pain the world may
give. I want to establish that condition while I am yet on earth.
Jesus Christ liberated himself from the satanic world by his
crucifixion, but I intend to go past that realm while I am here on
earth.
Why do I have this determination? God wants to see that victorious
pattern sealed here on earth, not just in the spiritual realm. We need
a victorious foundation here on earth, the complete liberation from
satanic influence. This is my mission. I came to liberate mankind from
all satanic influence, and to do that I have to be victorious by going
beyond the satanic realm here on earth. Do you realize that the
pinnacle of this providence was reached at the Washington Monument
Rally? Then on February 23, the True Parents birthday, I offered an
extraordinary prayer, forgiving heaven and earth and declaring a new
day and a new history. Can you grasp the significance of the new day
and new history? This is the work we are undertaking right now.
Today is the 18th anniversary of Parents Day. Your 18th year marks the
beginning of your maturity, and I understand that in America some
states allow 18-year olds to vote, recognizing them as adults. The
truth of the matter is that women mature before men do. Women become
adults at the age of 18, but men generally take three more years,
maturing at the age of 21. The three years remaining until the 21st
anniversary of Parents Day will be a buffer zone in which we can fully
consummate our work. This is the period where we will restore the
dignity and authority of the Unification Church. The Unification
Church will then be able to stand before the world as mature.
Soon God will ask us to
claim His true love and authority
It is not God's mandate that I continually remain silent and humble
while receiving persecution. When all the conditions are set God will
ask me to declare my dignity and authority as an individual, a family,
a heavenly society, heavenly nation, and world. The time will come
when we will claim God's true love and authority.
The 6,000 Biblical years of God's history actually equal many
thousands of physical years. God has been waiting that long for the
day when one man would come to the earth who would truly grasp His
concept, and possess His own will and conviction to fight and declare
victory over the entire satanic world. That is happening now. Only
with that viewpoint can you see how truly momentous this day is. Even
if I were to die now I would not be a failure. I will go to the spirit
world with dignity and power and authority and stand before Heavenly
Father to receive His welcome. In the meantime my work on earth will
continue. Do you believe this? We are already outside the satanic
realm; I have already gone beyond it.
The work of restoration has been proceeding by the application of
God's Principle and that formula of restoration will endure. It was
there in the beginning, it is now, and it shall remain until we
totally liquidate all satanic influence, when we will no longer need
the application of this formula.
When I declare that I have won over and transcended the satanic world,
I do not mean that I have gone alone, but that the entire spirit world
has also moved with me. As you know, the spirit world is equivalent to
the angelic world. Angels by nature were supposed to follow Adam's
path as his servants in the original creation. Yet not only the angels
were to follow Adam in his growth, even God would follow Adam. It is
the Principle.
I am leaving the satanic world behind, and as I move further and
further way from it God is establishing a new sovereignty here on
earth. When that sovereignty is finally declared by God, anyone or any
power which opposes it will be shattered. The Christian nation of
America is a great giant among the sovereign nations of the world, but
if America stands against the dignity of heaven, America will be
shattered. That is the judgment of heaven.
Christianity prospered for 2,000 years, but in the two decades since
1960 it began a steep decline. I want to clearly declare that the
reason for that decline is the Christian opposition of the new
sovereignty, the new power and truth of God. If the Christian cultural
sphere continues such a trend then it will be caught in an unavoidable
decline. On the other hand, if Christianity will accept me and repent,
and if America will accept me and repent, then there is a ray of hope.
There is no other way for either America or Christianity to find hope.
Many people may think this declaration is boastful and blasphemous,
but I have declared this with the authority of the entire spirit
world, which already supports it. I merely bear testimony to the
truth.
Satan must acknowledge that you have walked my path
Once we can create our own society outside of satanic influence,
should we not worry about the rest of the world, and say, "Let them
just go to hell"? If we leave the world alone it will certainly
decline and die. Do you think that is God's will? I know that is not
God's will. Though we are now living in the same world our kingdom is
different, and just as God sent His son Jesus from His throne to this
fallen world, God is now sending you to save it.
I am now ordering you to go into the satanic world to save it, even
risking your life. I want you to set the condition that you walked the
same path the True Parents walked. I walked this suffering road for 33
years and by your setting the necessary conditions in the next 3%
years I would like to give you all the blessing of having walked the
same path I walked. I am sure that by now you desire to forget about
your missions of selling and witnessing and just desire to unite with
me now that my way is easier. That is not what I want. If anyone
follows me to go the easy way I will turn you around and send you back
into the satanic world. You have not yet set the condition of
indemnity that you might be completely free, and only after working to
pay your indemnity can you come with me.
Who is going to testify that you have paid your indemnity? Satan must
be your witness, and you must go out to Satan's world and get his
signature to bring to God. Many people do not understand that they
must go this course to overcome the satanic world, and they think that
God is just weak and vulnerable, and even say that there is no God.
But God is waiting for man to go out to the fallen world to suffer and
win over Satan. Satan must say, "God, I have no accusation to make
about this person." God has been waiting for His children to win that
kind of recognition so that He might be free to exercise His power. Do
you want to take the easy way and merely follow me, or do you want to
go into the satanic world and fight? Would you want to challenge any
difficulty you might encounter, even at the cost of your life?
You must love those in the satanic world as much as you love God and
as much as you love me. It is only upon that condition that you will
be given approval by God and myself. That is God's way. God and I will
not complain at all if you love the satanic world most. You need two
elements before you can come to God's throne ' First you need your
spiritual children, for by having spiritual children you can liberate
the spiritual world. Secondly, you need physical children, for through
them you can liberate the physical world. God and I want you to go to
the satanic world and fight to win these two conditions.
In the usual pattern of your life in the Unification Church, your
first three years are devoted to winning your spiritual children. In
the three years after receiving the blessing you can receive the
blessing of having physical children. Altogether seven years are
involved. You each must go this seven-year course in order to win all
of heaven and earth. Creation took six days, with God resting on the
seventh day. In the same way we must set the condition of working for
seven years in the course of re-creation. If you cannot do this you
are only following me externally, even if you are a leader in our
church or one of the 36 blessed couples. As long as a person does not
work for his own fulfillment in this Principle he is not worthy of me
and cannot truly follow me.
Even now I am going the path of more suffering and pain, but not out
of stupidity. I came to America to stir up this nation, expecting it
to come against me. I did not come to elevate my own honor or dignity,
but only for the purpose of God. For God's sake I stirred up
controversy and let America come against me. The turmoil of the
hurricane lies in our path, but we are going to be victorious. I am
the captain who is steering the ship through the stormy weather.
America has entered a new age, the age of the deprogrammers, and
Americans are closely scrutinizing me, trying to find fault. They will
not find fault because I have done nothing wrong.
Who among the pilgrim fathers on the Mayflower had a visa to come to
America? They came with religious conviction in the name of God. They
came to this land to unselfishly fulfill God's will. For the same
reason, but on the universal level, the Unification Church young
people have gathered in America in the name of God, to establish the
Kingdom of God here on earth.
When the pilgrim fathers came from Europe in the name of God they were
actually illegal aliens, but God's dispensation lay with them. We are
the New Age pilgrim fathers of the universe, and even though this
nation may think we are illegal aliens, God is on our side. Ultimately
God will overcome this negativity and opposition. The Unification
Church is the first movement of liberation. No religious leaders today
are even thinking on such a scale. Only I am taking a stand without
fear, speaking out directly for God so seriously that I am willing to
give up my life to declare my message.
There may be some communist spy or government agent listening here,
anxious to find out what I have to say. Let them listen. Regardless of
who is listening, there are certain things which I must declare. If I
do not declare these things then I am not obeying God's order. Who is
going to bring the resurrection of mankind? Not Christianity, Judaism
or communism, but members of the Unification Church. We have the
power, we have the knowledge, and we have the conviction to resurrect
this nation and all the nations of the world. Do you have the
confidence to do it? Raise your hands, those who have such confidence.
This is our responsibility.
Your beachhead in the fallen world
This 18th Parents Day is a very meaningful day. You must fully realize
where you are standing and what your mission is. I have explained to
you what kind of attitude brought the fall, and by wholeheartedly
undertaking your mission you can liberate man from the conditions that
led to the fall; in the future nobody will accuse you of being a
self-centered person or of indulging in self-centered love. You now
have the opportunity to be liberated from the satanic lineage and
influence.
Even though you are leaving the satanic realm, Satan still has a claim
to your body because you were born in his lineage. However, if your
loyalty is with God 100%, then even though you still have that suing
attached, Satan has no power to pull it. You must remember that a
string is still attached, for Satan recognizes that your blood is his,
but must also realize that you have been restored to a position
outside of the satanic realm, the position of angels who have not
fallen.
How can you create your beachhead in the satanic world? When God
created man in the garden of Eden, He was assisted by the angels. In
your recreation as well, you need the help of God and the angels. An
angel is good and pure, but until the appearance of perfected Adam and
Eve, the angel is not free to perfect himself. Without the perfection
of Adam and Eve the angelic world cannot be perfected. For you to
elevate yourself to the position of physical Adam, you must be
surrounded by spiritual children in the position of the three
archangels.
Now that you are in an area isolated from the satanic world you can
create your own spiritual defense by winning spiritual children from
the satanic world. With the help of God and those in the angelic
position you can bring yourself into Adam's position. Then you are
ready to have your own children.
To establish your physical resurrection you must give birth to
physical children of God who can be restored in the satanic world.
Those children will serve in the role of your body.
In bearing and raising your pure physical children you are linking the
spirit world to the physical world through yourselves. Because the
fall of man came in the growth stage you must first restore yourself
to the growth level, the position of Adam and Eve before the fall. The
perfection realm was left unfulfilled by Adam and Eve, and shall be
filled when you make yourself perfect Adam and Eve and win the right
to give birth to your own sons and daughters.
You can go through this entire process in seven years' time, just as
the total creation was accomplished in a seven-day period. In this
seven-year period you will go through three stages. First, you have
already separated yourselves from the satanic world and are being
elevated to the position of unfallen angels. Second, you will elevate
yourselves into the growth level, the position of restored Adam and
Eve. Because the fall occurred between husband and wife, you must
fulfill the level of Adam and Eve as couples.
The third stage of perfection is the parents' level. No matter how
great you become as you are restored, you are still the product of the
satanic world; you were born into the satanic lineage, and you still
have ties with the satanic world which you cannot completely sever.
Your children, however, will be born in the name of God, having
nothing to do with the satanic world, and they will be the stepping
stone by which you will elevate yourselves to the level of parents.
The birth of your children is but the first step for you to elevate
yourselves to the position of perfected Adam and then parent. There is
always a chance for something to go wrong while your sons and
daughters grow toward perfection and the blessing; you must take
constant care in raising your children until they are mature and you
can bless them in heavenly matrimony.
At what point can you be totally grafted into the lineage of heaven?
The moment that you receive the blessing from the True Parents is the
great moment when your bonds to your satanic lineage are severed and
you become part of the heavenly lineage. Most marriages in the world
are not God-centered, but in the Unification Church our greatest pride
is that in the name of the True Parents couples can enter into the
heavenly, God-centered lineage. At that moment they become direct
heirs of God. Through the blessing the process of the fall can be
totally reversed. But that reversal must be complete, for if some tiny
hole remains then Satan will dash in to claim it.
My goal is to make all of you true parents
I know Satan's secret, and no matter what the satanic world will try
to do, it is destined to crumble. We stand on the side of God's
Principle; however, a pioneer or harbinger is needed to open all
stages of restoration. Until one man can pave the way no one else will
be able to find it. This is the most important key. The road of
restoration follows a precise formula, but someone must pioneer that
formula. As soon as you understand the formula, all you have to do is
apply it in order to gain the same result. You can be restored as
individual men and women as far as the growth level, but to enter
perfection you need to receive the blessing and bear children. After a
seven-year period of raising your children, you can reach the
perfection of perfection.
You must also be protected and escorted by your spiritual children in
the angelic position. You need angels around you, and that is why
having spiritual children is a most essential requirement for
receiving the blessing. They are in the position of angels to escort
you, and with them you can attain the level of Adam and Eve before the
fall and qualify to receive the blessing.
You must be able to come to the throne of God having completed each of
these three levels in your life on earth: the level of restored angel,
the level of perfected son and daughter, and the level of having
raised your perfected children. These three elements must all be won
from the satanic world. Your lineage behind you, beginning with your
children, with each of them in one of these three different levels of
maturity. Among your descendants you will see every level of
accomplishment. From generation to generation your lineage will expand
onto an ever larger scale, from the family level to the tribal level,
national, worldwide, and universal levels. Even though I will be gone,
this expansion will continue. Progressing further and further through
the years, the realm of your own lineage will get bigger and bigger.
Your destination is the eternal dwelling place of the True Parents.
Mother and I are not going to be the only True Parents. My goal is to
make all of you true parents. It is the greatest honor that I can give
to you. In your own area and lineage each of you is to become the true
parents.
I am not just theorizing now, but speaking of the Principle which I
have lived and walked. I have done this on the individual level,
family, tribal, national, worldwide, and cosmic levels. I have gained
invincible victory at each level of accomplishment, and thus I have
declared the liberation of the individual, family, tribe, world, and
cosmos. Now I am declaring the liberation of God Himself. Can you
grasp the significance of this formidable statement? Some people
exclaim that I am a heretic for saying such things, but let us wait
and see who God believes is the heretic.
Every mission we undertake must be accomplished on both the physical
and spiritual planes. Anything we establish in the spiritual realm
must be duplicated in the physical world, and those physical
accomplishments must then be united with our spiritual
accomplishments. The entire spiritual world is in the angelic
position; therefore, to find the physical element they must work on
the level of the physical world. Even though it is not God-centered,
this world is invaluable because it is only here that you can find
what you need. When you can bring your physical children together with
your spiritual children, you are truly in the Kingdom of God. In the
garden of Eden children and parents can rejoice together in God's
glory, freed from any acquaintance with the fall.
I am declaring the absolute standard for you Unification Church
members: unless you find three spiritual children in three years you
are not entitled to the blessing. Jesus' ministry was focused on
precisely that. He wanted to find his three major apostles and raise
them in faith 11 they could establish the foundation for their
physical families here on earth. It was God's wish and also Jesus'
desire that Jesus claim his throne and elevate himself to the position
of True Parents. Instead Jesus met with such opposition that finally
he was crucified without attaining it.
We witness in order to restore
the relatives of our Church
Jesus must indeed come again; however, if God were to send Jesus the
way the Christians predict, on the clouds of heaven, not only would
Christianity crumble, but the entire world would crumble. The fall of
man did not occur in the spirit world but in the physical world.
Salvation must also take place in the physical world. No one can even
talk about their kingdom of heaven until they establish their kingdom
here on earth, for without establishing the kingdom here on earth
there will be no kingdom in heaven. Jesus did not take the keys to the
Kingdom of God with him to heaven, but left them here on earth.
Matthew 16 says, "Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven,
and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." Without
understanding the significance of the physical world, there is no way
to understand the Scriptures and the true meaning of the Bible.
We members of the Unification Church are proud people, hand-picked for
God's mission. We have undertaken the liberation of the satanic world
and the declaration of the glory and victory of God before heaven and
earth. By now I am sure you understand that the restoration must go
through that process. No one can enter heaven without walking this
path and fulfilling this Principle. Christians are very naive to think
that believing in Jesus is all that is required for them to end up in
heaven while they 'leave this world behind. Their idea of a guaranteed
place in heaven is a crazy concept that could never enable man to
fulfill God's will. From God's standpoint that is heretical thinking,
not the principles of the Unification Church.
In the Last Days, the truth will seem to be a lie and lies will seem
to be the truth. That is precisely what is happening today, isn't it?
Though I represent the genuine goodness of God, the world thinks I am
some kind of monster; some people even think my organization is worse
than the Maria. I studied science and mathematics and unless
everything we do is scientifically possible, I will not even go
myself. I am not a foolish man with blind ideals.
Why does the world come against us? The reason is very simple. They
are afraid of us. Jews and Catholics and Protestants have been
fighting and killing each other for 2,000 years, but when I appear
they hastily get together as allies to make a statement against me.
Without even knowing me some people now say, "Reverend Moon must be
some kind of giant because the denominations were enemies before, but
now they have come together as allies against this one man!"
This occurrence is prophetic. In uniting to come against me, the Jews,
Catholics, and Protestants have shown that there is room for unity
among the three faiths. Yet, without me there is no way that they can
become one in the sight of God. We must become the catalyst, for it is
with our blessing alone that they have the possibility of truly
becoming one.
Our diligent witnessing is for a dual purpose. We are restoring our
spiritual children of course, but we are also restoring our relatives;
our closest relative is Protestantism, and our cousin is Catholicism,
while our distant cousin, yet still very much our relative, is
Judaism. The non-religious people of the world are extremely distant
cousins. Their restoration is the job the Unification Church has
undertaken.
I have fully expounded the external meaning of Parents Day in its
historical context, but I have not yet spoken of its internal aspect.
Would you like to hear it? Only a few people are saying yes; perhaps
most would like to wait until next Parents Day! I see a lot of mouths
still closed, and my voice is getting hoarse now. Shall we go on or
not? Could someone come forward to speak so I can sit down? No, only I
can speak this morning.
Is your flesh, blood and bone related to God or not? No matter how
much you may say yes, even if your 'yes' brings the roof down, at best
we could say that they are conditionally related to God; in actuality
there is no relation. Now you call me your True Parent, but do you
truly have any connection with me? Does my flesh have something to do
with your flesh? Does my bone have something to do with your bone?
Does my blood have a relation to your blood? Restoration itself is
only conditional. You will never be able to pay your whole debt, but
by the conditions of restoration you can accomplish what would
otherwise take a million years. That is a beautiful secret.
Only a trade of love makes restoration possible
What condition will make this possible? Money?Power? Knowledge? Faith?
Even faith can change from morning to evening. What is the unchanging
condition by which you can relate with God and the True Parents? You
are correct; true love alone will make the connection. When Jesus
Christ came to this world as the Messiah, he had an external and
internal mission. His external mission was to rule the world as the
Messiah, the king of kings, establishing God's sovereignty. His
internal mission was very tender, for he came as the parent of
mankind.
How could Jesus internally elevate himself? He could not elevate
himself to the position of True Parent by power or kingship. Those
would have been to no avail. It was only by a love that was higher,
deeper and wider than all the love the satanic world could offer that
Jesus could fulfill his mission. As the Messiah, Jesus could declare
that whoever would follow him must love him more than anyone or
anything else, more than their country, parents, spouse, or children.
Jesus could not qualify as the Messiah unless he were capable of
declaring such a thing. From his desire to declare to the world the
supreme love of God, Jesus said, "He who loves father or mother more
than me is not worthy of me; and he who loves son or daughter more
than me is not worthy of me." He was indeed the Messiah, and he knew
that he was capable of giving that supreme love to anyone who could
love him above all else.
By giving their greatest love to Jesus, Christians are entitled to
inherit God's kingdom and the True Parents love. Jesus actually came
to make a trade of love. He brings heavenly love, and we bring worldly
love. God's love is so superior that His love will not come to you
unless you can offer Him the best love you can give. In this trade of
love you can restore your eternal kingship; you will inherit the
visible kingdom that God possesses externally, but more importantly,
in loving Jesus the most, you can even possess him and you can
actually possess God. When you approach Jesus in that love he will
respond, and even God will have no choice but to respond to you. This
is a beautiful exchange, isn't it?
Jesus declared to his disciples and to the world that unless they
could love him more than anyone else they were not worthy of him. That
is a most extraordinary statement! There was no way that he could
avoid being accused of blaspheming. "We stone you for blasphemy;
because you, being a man, make yourself God." Finally he was
crucified. In a way Jesus actually stimulated his own crucifixion by
making statements that angered people enough that they wanted to kill
him. His statements were certainly ambitious and bold; how could
people accept such statements in those days? Imagine a husband and
wife with a very deep relationship listening to one of Jesus' sermons
while he was saying that unless they loved him more than their own
spouse they were not worthy of him. Do you think that husband would
turn to his wife and say, "Yes, go love him more than me"? Any husband
would say, "Forget it! You love me most; you are my wife."
The Messiah's course is truly a stony path. Over and over God asks him
to do impossible things. Raise your hand if you want to volunteer to
become the Messiah. Anybody who would volunteer must have something
wrong with his head. The Messiah must be able to eat his own stool and
say, "This is as sweet as honey." God is continually asking the
Messiah to do absolutely insane things. Does this discourage you?
God's efforts to restore true love
Why can love set such a significant condition? It is only with the
condition of love that you can leap the many millenniums to
restoration. God made love so supreme that with true love there is
nothing that cannot be surmounted. Love alone transcends time, and
does not know history. Among the congregation I see some elderly
women. Think about that time years ago when you first fell in love;
even though you are now 60 and 70 years old; it is as vivid as
yesterday, isn't it? The love that they tasted many decades ago is
still fresh and sweet, and they want to dwell there even now.
Love knows no distance. If your beloved is trembling on a chunk of ice
at the North Pole, do you think that your love will be frozen and
weak? Distance makes no difference. Love can never be confined by time
and space. Even God cannot revolutionize true love. From the beginning
to the end, from alpha to omega, love remains the same, forever
unchanging. If this little handkerchief were love, it would have
greater value to lovers than the entire continent of the United
States. Isn't that right? Only that timeless, spaceless, eternal love
can set the condition for you to be restored into heaven in no time.
How has God been working to restore this true love? Not just mankind
and the angels but the entire creation was affected by the fall of
man. Even the dignity of God was lost. The work of restoration means
bringing everything that became fallen back into unity with God. God
divided the restoration period into different segments. In the Old
Testament era all the things of creation became the mediator between
man and God. Why? Everything became upside down because of the fail of
man. Originally man was supposed to be closest to God, but after the
fall the things of creation were purer than man, and thus closer to
God. For this reason man could only reach God by symbolically
sacrificing himself through the things of creation. In addition, God
created all things in the world before he created man. For these
reasons the Old Testament era was the time in which God was restoring
all things. God restored all things first, even before man could be
re-created, and then turned to restore His children.
Israel was the nation in the position of servant; through Judaism men
were lifted from the state of fallen sinner up to the position of
servant. Then in the New Testament era Jesus Christ came as the son of
God to bring an era of great transformation. During Jesus' lifetime
men were to be lifted from the position of servant to the position of
sons of God. As God's servant, the nation of Israel was to support
Jesus as the son of God, elevating him to the position of sovereign
and then to the position of True Parent. The Bible referred to Jesus
as a great teacher, but did not reveal the mission of Jesus as the
parent. While Jesus was on earth the entire dispensation of
restoration could have been shortened; the son of God came to restore
true sonship, and to elevate himself into parenthood, raising the
chosen people into direct sons and daughters, the true heirs of God.
Then the entire nation could have been elevated to parenthood. That
was God's scheduled program.
Because of the faithlessness of the people, however, Israel could not
advance that far, and instead of becoming a living sacrifice, Jesus
was killed as a sacrifice on the altar of God. Thus Jesus actually
died to lay the foundation for the future Messiah. By his own death he
paid the indemnity and paved the way for the second coming of the
Messiah; thus began the Christian era of the New Testament.
When the new Messiah comes, he will bring those in the adopted son's
position into the position of direct sons and daughters of God, and
then elevate mankind into true parenthood under God. The second coming
of the Messiah will be highlighted by the work of the True Parents. It
will be the most brilliant new age, the final consummation of the work
of God. The True Parents will be the mediators between God and man and
all men shall be saved, becoming the direct children of God and true
parents of mankind.
We must build our own foundation
Judaism was the national, external foundation for Jesus, but
Christianity bears that responsibility for the second coming of the
Messiah. Furthermore, the Messiah is coming on the worldwide level;
therefore, the free world is in the position of the nation of Israel.
When this situation is ripe, you will know that the day of the Lord is
near. When the messianic work is fulfilled by the free world then God
will take direct responsibility for the communist world. The
restoration process can never be completed without this worldwide
unity between Cain and Abel.
Presently a Cain-Abel struggle is taking place between the Unification
Church and other Christian churches, and between the Unification
Church and America. World restoration can be speeded up after the
Unification Church, Christianity, and America find the way to unify.
However, because the free world opposes us we ourselves must rebuild
and stand upon our own foundation for the Old Testament and New
Testament eras, and the era of this new age. History records the
vertical process of restoration: the Old Testament era was for the
restoration of all things; the New Testament era was for the
restoration of the children, and the Completed Testament era will see
the restoration of the parents.
Here in the Unification Church we are horizontally restoring the 6,000
Biblical years of God's work in our lifetime. Within our own movement
these three ages are unfolding horizontally. We are establishing an
economic sphere; in addition we have children, and in the center we
have the True Parents. We are restoring all of these things ourselves,
and together we are bringing all of them to God as an offering. This
work does not yet represent the Kingdom, however; only when God
returns our offering to us as a blessing will the Kingdom begin. I am
unfolding this dispensation in my own lifetime. After offering to God
the spheres of economy, children and parents, the next phase to unfold
will be that of the tribe and then nation, world and universe. I came
to America in 1972, and my 3½ year campaign here was my offering to
God of all the necessary conditions on the worldwide scale. My
offering on the worldwide scale was completed by 1976.
New York is the symbolic heart of the world, and in this city we are
working to firmly establish our economic strength. All the buildings
we own in New York are part of this economic dispensation: Belvedere,
Headquarters Building, East Sun, the World Mission Center, Tiffany
Building, and the Manhattan Center, as well as all the land we own in
Tarrytown. Compared to the wealth of the world all this is still
small, but we must offer it all to God as our worldwide offering. Our
effort is a worldwide effort and the energy of the world must be
mobilized; for this reason every bit of money used to make this
possible came from the blood and sweat of all our members around the
world.
On September 18, I fulfilled my covenant with God
The final climax of this offering was the Washington Monument Rally.
That was the altar upon which we offered to God everything that we had
received. I want you to know that September 18, 1976, was the day of
offering for the sake of the world; centering on the worldwide
dispensation for America, that offering was made in Washington, D.C.,
the nation's capital. The five races of the world gathered together
there, symbolically proclaiming, "God, we have made this altar of
ourselves; please accept all of us." That day of offering was the most
serious, most divine and sacred day of the history of the world.
Because a pure offering was made that day, the salvation of the world
is destined to be consummated. On that day the entire spirit world
declared victory. All the men of God united to declare victory.
America should have declared victory together with us, but America
failed to do that. Many well-meaning people even advised me that for
the sake of the Church we should be a little more quiet, "Why do you
want to make all the commotion of a Washington rally?" Even some of
our leaders came to me saying, "Father, this will be a blunder. We
just did Yankee Stadium and we need more money, more men; it is really
impossible to do it this year." But I remained determined. "This is
the showdown of my lifetime. I will give my sweat, my heart and life
to do it." I decided to give everything-myself, my family, our
members, whatever economic strength our movement could
mobilize--everything that I could possibly give to successfully make
that offering to God in Washington.
This was not actually my showdown; it was God's showdown. I knew that
God could not afford to fail in Washington, and I knew that God was
the most nervous. Therefore, I was confident that God would come to
our aid and I had only one conviction, "We shall succeed. We shall
win."
I want you to know that September 18, 1976, was lie my day of
execution. I deeply felt like a criminal who had been sentenced to
death and was going out to be executed. That is how serious I felt
that day, utterly, dead serious. Until September 18, 1 completely lost
track of time. I mistook my breakfast for dinner and my dinner for
breakfast. Time swam in my mind. Even on my way to the bathroom I
would suddenly find myself in a completely strange area because my
mind had gone blank. You cannot imagine how serious I was during that
campaign; only God knows.
How can I express to you the seriousness of September 18? The showdown
of God was at hand. The showdown of the entire struggle of good and
evil was at hand. The entire destiny of the Unification Church was
before me that day. Unless all the conditions could be established for
God's power and the entire spirit world to be connected to the earth
on that day I knew that I would not succeed. I was utterly serious,
and I did it.
The victory of that day was a miracle. It was the work of God, not of
Reverend Moon or the Unification Church, that we succeeded in
Washington. Extraordinary numbers of people came. The whole event was
totally beautiful! Without rain or accident, all was beautiful from
beginning to end, Do you think that could be the work of men? No, it
was God's work. That victory established a new tradition. No matter
what may happen to America in the future, nobody can remove the
footprint which I so strongly imprinted in Washington on September 18,
1976.
One child got lost that day, and announcements were made all over
Washington. There was deep suspense as people wondered what happened
to the child who had come to Reverend Moon's rally. But he was found
within three days, happy and well. I felt that he symbolized the lost,
wandering world which shall be restored. It was a beautiful symbol of
resurrection.
When I came to America I was a lonely man. As I crossed the Pacific
Ocean I prayed to God, pledging that the mission would be fulfilled.
Three and a half years later, through the victory at Washington
Monument, my prayer was answered; I was able to fulfill my pledge and
covenant with God. Thereafter I could declare liberation. On October
4, 1976, I declared the Day of the Victory of Heaven as one step of
liberation. On the True Parents' birthday, February 23, 1977, 1
declared that all heaven and earth, spirit world and physical world
together, shall be forgiven. Forgiveness and liberation have now been
declared. The New Age has dawned; the new calendar has started. The
Year One has been pronounced.
This particular 18th Parents Day is a very meaningful and
extraordinary day for these reasons. Now centering upon my mission you
can begin to see how the Unification Church has evolved, what mission
we are pursuing, and where we are going. You know now why we need
funds. Economy represents all the things of creation that have been
groaning in the satanic realm. By winning the economy to the heavenly
side by our own hands and our own sweat, we are establishing the
condition to restore all the things of creation.
Your love alone can bring all things to the altar of God
I am laboring harder than any company president in the world. I will
strive harder and be more dramatically victorious than anyone in
history. It is the love of God and love of mankind that makes this
possible. In the name of God I want to break every record ever set.
That is the way I seek revenge.
Even more than I love my own children I love every one of you as
direct sons and daughters. I watch you more closely than you realize
and seek to nurture you so that you can grow into giants in the sight
of God. Why do I care about you so deeply? I know so well that not
only Christianity but the entire religious world is crumbling. You are
the people who will replace them, inheriting their foundation and
their mission. You are very precious in the sight of God and I want to
pour out my heart to you. I am from a poor country, but even when I
came to work in America, the richest nation in the world, I did not
spend American money to advance this movement to its present level.
Instead, people poorer than Americans gave the money with which I have
been raising up the American people and establishing the American
church.
Because America is vitally important to God, I determined to love
America more than my own children, more than my own country, more than
my own Asia. God deeply loves this nation and has done more and
sacrificed more for this country than for any other country of the
world. What is America's role? I will never say, "You must pay me
back." Instead America must go out to the world, the six continents
and five races of the earth, and give of itself and its wealth. Four
billion people are waiting for the touch of America's hand. You must
go out and serve them.
If America succeeds in this mission then the glory of this nation
shall be astonishing and have no end. America will then remain the
most prosperous country on earth. Love is the key. It is love alone
that will connect all things together and bring them to the altar of
God. When that happens God will turn around and give the whole thing
back to you as His blessing. That will mark the beginning of the
Kingdom of God on earth.
That is the purpose for which I came. No matter what the people
outside of our church may have said, no matter what persecution or
hardship the world may have given to me, I have never minded; instead
I have been too busy giving everything to construct this mission.
While Americans enjoy bread and meat, many of our members do not even
enjoy a glass of milk, but only water. While American young people are
idle and pursuing pleasures and relaxation, you and I have been giving
totally of ourselves.
The great leaders of America have been applauded, respected and given
glory, but instead of receiving glory and respect I have received
persecution, misunderstanding and ridicule. Even under those
circumstances I have survived. I came to America for the liberation of
this nation and I was ready to go to jail if necessary; I am ready and
willing to give my life for the sake of this nation.
Presently I am a miserable man in the eyes of the people. I walk the
humble way, but I do it solely for the sake of God. Do you think God
will always remain silent while America ridicules and persecutes His
prophet? No, God will seek revenge for him. However, I pray to God,
"Do not unloose Your revenge. Here are the Unification Church members.
Look at these beautiful shining faces. They are the hope of America,
they are the true America. Because of them won't You forgive this
nation?" That has been my prayer. America has become indebted to God,
indebted to me, and indebted to you, the Unification Church. Some day
America must pay everything back.
I want you to understand what I am asking of you
Please understand me. I love you, but I cannot be soft with you. Under
the circumstances that would not be the expression of love. I have
become a cruel person in a way, chasing you out to the battlefield. I
want you to understand what I am doing and why, and I want you to
support me.
If America had supported me with its mammoth wealth, even to the
slightest degree, you would not have to go out and fundraise with such
struggle. If America had supported me by freely giving of its young
people, in such a way that negativity was not nurtured and spread,
good people would have joined us freely and you would not have to go
out to witness with such effort. However, America failed to respond in
both ways.
I cried out in prayer to God, pledging and swearing that every dollar
our members made represented every penny of America's great wealth,
and that every member that our Unification Church members brought
represented the entire population of this nation. "God, honor their
effort, honor their success, honor their sacrifice. God, each one of
our members is taking up America's role." Each dollar you earn must be
glistening with your tears; such money is more precious than any
amount of money earned in business. Each member you bring must be the
fruit of your sweat and blood and hard work.
Do not worry, the American government will not have to chase me out;
the time will come when I will go, voluntarily. We will voluntarily
send home our foreign members; the Immigration Department does not
have to be concerned. But the time is not now. If I were to leave I
know that every one of you would feel no more attraction to America,
but would want to follow me. How could I leave this country at this
moment? If right now I removed all of the Japanese and European
members it is clear that this nation would decline, like a ship
without a captain. Do you want to watch this nation die or not? Do you
clearly understand why we have walked this path, the purpose for which
we are here, and the meaning of the work we have accomplished thus
far?
As soon as you were born you came under satanic lineage. Had there
been no fall all of you would have been born of God; whether first,
second, or third-born, you would each be the child of God. Instead,
you are all destined to be born again. By the love of God you shall be
re-born into the level of servant, adopted child, true child, and
finally born again as God-centered, sinless parents. Then you will
inherit all things.
We must give rebirth to all things, to the angelic world, to children
of God, and to God-centered parents. From there we must expand our
territory to the worldwide level, going beyond the satanic realm on
the worldwide level and giving rebirth to all things on the universal
scale.
For the Messiah to come, Cain and Abel must unite
Since the fall of man everything has been upside down, but we are
reversing this process to make everything straight. God and Satan are
intently fighting a tug of-war over the children of Adam and Eve. Adam
and Eve were directly claimed by Satan, and long ago God put aside His
hope for them. The angel was supposed to come under the dominion of
Adam, but this became reversed through the fail, and Satan, the
servant, controlled Adam instead. Cain as the elder brother was born
in the position of Satan, while Abel was born in Adam's position,
representing the side of God. The original channel of command can only
be restored by a reversal of dominion in which the younger brother
takes the position of elder brother, thus putting the archangel
position back on the servant level.
The children of God will then be born within that lineage. After the
restoration through Cain and Abel is done, the fallen, stained parents
will be restored through the restored Abel. Upon that foundation the
unstained, perfected Adam will come as the Messiah. In the garden of
Eden there was only Adam's family; therefore, when the family is
restored all things are done. That family will come to restore the
nation and world, and all things.
God intended to complete this providence within three generations and
then send the Messiah. At that time he would have established the True
Parents and the rest of the family members would have been grafted
into his lineage, restoring the entire family at one time. This was
the dispensation of Adam's family. However, Cain slew Abel, creating a
repetition of the fallen act in which the archangel killed Adam
instead of obeying him. Cain's act multiplied the consequences of the
fall.
The division and struggle between the Cain side and Abel side has been
perpetuated from family level to the tribal level, national level and
worldwide level, and man's history has been the history of struggle.
Man's struggle has only brought greater division, and because Satan's
dominion expanded to cover the entire world, restoration had to
encompass the far ends of the earth.
The tug of war that started with Cain and Abel has today expanded to
the worldwide level. God is pulling His world and Satan is pulling his
world; God is pulling Abel and Satan is pulling Cain. However, if
Abel's will to pull becomes strong enough, God can pull Cain all the
way to His side, leaving nothing more to be restored. The dispensation
of Cain and Abel is for the younger to achieve the position of the
elder, and the elder to take the position of the younger. This process
of restoring the birthright must be fulfilled up to the worldwide
scale. God has been winning through heavenly struggle, slowly fitting
things back into their original order. Through the process of reversal
God started His work at the far end, bringing everything back to its
consummation at the center.
The religious world of today is in the position of Abel, the younger
brother, while the non-religious world is in Cain's position. Cain
will always seek to persecute Abel, and throughout history the
religious world has always been persecuted. Cain always claims that
Abel must submit to him, but the religious world responds, "No, we
represent Adam and you represent the angel. You must obey us." Always
the satanic world takes the initiative to suppress the religious
world, and always there is struggle.
If the conditions had been fulfilled in Adam's family through the
unity of Cain and Abel, all would have been completely fulfilled
horizontally in one family. But that failed and the entire restoration
became vertical, descending through history and expanding onto ever
broader levels as the family expanded into a tribe, the tube into a
nation, and the nation into the world.
Cain and Abel must become one. In the sight of God there was no
difference between Cain and Abel when they were born, but because of
the fallen act there was a vast difference in the meaning of their
positions as elder son and younger son. The ultimate dominion in the
world should begin with the positions of Cain and Abel united into
oneness. You know from Old Testament history that the Cain and Abel
providence which failed in Adam's family continued through Esau and
Jacob, and also through Tamar's children, Perez and Zerah. The
continuing providence for the younger brother to win the birthright of
his elder brother was consummated on all levels, even in the mother's
womb. From this lineage Jesus was born.
Jacob and Rebecca
Cain and Abel were born separately, while Esau and Jacob were twins.
As twins they were much closer in their relationship than Cain and
Abel. Why was Jacob blessed? According to the Bible's description he
was a cunning man who lied to his elder brother and father, conniving
with his mother to get Esau's birthright. Why could God continually
bless him in that case? Rebecca, his mother, also deceived her husband
and son. In the garden of Eden Eve deceived both her husband and God,
and this double deception brought the fall. Eve did not listen to God
but listened to Satan, and lied to her own husband; she lied to two
generations, father and son,
In the restoration Rebecca took the position of Eve, doing so by lying
to her husband and her son for the heavenly purpose of assisting Jacob
to restore the birthright. Through her fervent desire to fulfill the
work of God, Rebecca was able to restore herself to the position of
heavenly mother, and help restore Jacob as a heavenly son. Step by
step, Rebecca cooperated with her heavenly son to restore everything.
Biblical scholars are confronted with an unsolvable question of
morality in Jacob's course; he was a cunning man and a swindler, yet
the Bible indicates that God continuously blessed him. Why? Without
knowing the deep significance of God's dispensation, there is no way
to understand.
When Isaac was close to death, he blessed Jacob, believing that Jacob
was actually Esau. When Esau later went to receive his father's
blessing he discovered Jacob's deception, and he demanded, "Have you
but one blessing, my father? Bless me, even me also, my father." But
Isaac insisted, "Behold, I have made him your lord. What then can I do
for you, my son?" Jacob was a man of wisdom, and in order to avoid the
accusation of his elder brother, he had already conditionally traded
his elder brother's birthright for a bowl of lentils. Strictly
speaking, Esau had no right to be angry, for he himself had already
sold his birthright. Even so, Esau was consumed with anger and
determined to kill Jacob, just as Cain had killed Abel. However,
Rebecca again assisted Jacob and he fled from danger.
If Isaac had actually given Esau the blessing he gave Jacob then God
would not have had a condition to side with Jacob, and a confusion
would have emerged in the dispensation. However, God was always with
Jacob, and through him God's dispensation was successfully fulfilled
for the first time. All the conditions of physical restoration were
met and fulfilled.
After a 21-year sojourn in a foreign land, Jacob returned to Canaan.
On his way Jacob was confronted at the ford of Jabbok by the angel,
who represented Satan. The fall of man came when an angel subjugated a
man; therefore, in restoration man must subjugate the angel. For this
reason God sent the angel to confront Jacob, wanting Jacob to win not
only physically over Esau, but also spiritually over the angel. By
doing so Jacob could restore man to his proper position and bring the
angel down to his proper position as servant.
When Jacob confronted the angel at the ford of Jabbok, he had to give
his entire heart and soul, even more than he had during his 21 years'
of servitude in Haran. Indeed, Jacob was determined even to die, and
though his thigh was knocked out of joint he did not hesitate, but
continued in his struggle. The angel finally acknowledged that he
could not prevail against Jacob and blessed him, saying, "Your name
shall no more be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with
God and with men, and have prevailed." What was Jacob's victory? Jacob
won a spiritual victory over all the angelic world. From that time on
Jacob was assisted not only by God but by the angelic world in
whatever he chose to do. Spiritually Satan could not assist Esau when
he confronted Jacob after 21 years of separation, and Esau had to
embrace his brother.
You recall that Esau received a great many gifts when Jacob freely
gave of his earnings of 21 years. What is the significance of this
act? In doing so, Jacob set the condition by which we also can
purchase our birthright through giving out our fortune. Thereafter all
religious people have given up their material wealth to the satanic
world, and in doing so could not only win the satanic world but win
their birthright. Jesus also gave up everything, possessing nothing
throughout his entire mission. Once you know the Divine Principle the
Bible suddenly becomes very logical.
The restoration of Cain and Abel was completed for the first time
through the lives of Jacob and Esau. God won His first victory on
earth at the moment the two brothers became one and Esau embraced
Jacob. Through his unity with Jacob, Esau and his descendants also
received the blessing of God. Esau was born into Satan's position, but
during the process of restoration Esau cooperated with Jacob, however
unwillingly, and when Esau welcomed Jacob, the two positions were
restored, and God could extend an equal blessing to Esau.
Further preparation of Jesus' lineage
Jacob and Esau were about the age of forty when they finally fulfilled
the will of God; however, their success could only affect those people
of that age or older. No one below the age of forty could benefit by
this progress in the restoration. God prepared another step in His
dispensation that would protect His children from the period of their
life in their mother's womb until the age of forty. This providence
had to be sealed within the next three generations of Jacob's
descendants.
Judah was the fourth son of Jacob, and Judah's son married a woman
whose name was Tamar. According to Jewish tradition, if a son died
without leaving sons, his brother must act as a husband to the dead
brother's wife so that the dead brother's lineage would be continued.
Tamar did not have children when her husband died, and when the next
brother refused to fulfill his responsibility, he died. However, the
third brother was not given to Tamar when he became old enough, and
Tamar saw that she had no hope to bear children.
She knew that her mission was to continue the family of her husband
and Judah, his father, and she finally decided to sacrifice even her
honor and prestige in order to fulfill. Disguising herself as a
prostitute, Tamar enticed her father-in-law to have a relationship
with her. Without knowing she was his daughter-in-law Judah consented.
At that time adultery was punished by death. In order to save her life
for the sake of her child, Tamar asked Judah for his signet and staff
as a pledge for payment, and then confiscated them.
Three months later when it became obvious that the widow Tamar was
pregnant, she was brought before Judah to be judged. You can imagine
Judah's horror, "Bring her out, and let her be burned!" But she
answered, "By the man to whom these belong, I am with child," and she
brought out the things that Judah had given her in his pledge.
Man fell through fornication, and Tamar was one example of how God
frequently used women of most unusual character in restoration. Why
would God use adulterous women in the dispensation? They are in a
satanic position, but if they completely deny their satanic nature
when summoned by God, then they can be restored from one extreme to
the opposite extreme.
God selected His champions from the most miserable situations. Tamar
was a righteous woman, and though she was originally in a sinful
position, she completely dedicated herself to God's mission, risking
her life, honor, and prestige. Paralleling the way Eve lied to God and
her husband to bring the fall, Tamar deceived her father-in-law and
her husband to-be, the third brother of her original husband. She was
in a position to reverse the position of Eve by reversing Eve's
actions, but the significant thing is that she risked her life to do
God's will.
Tamar had conceived twins and in this case, the struggle of Cain and
Abel began within her very womb. The Bible records how Rebecca's twins
also struggled within their mother's womb. She had prayed to God to
understand what was happening, and God answered her, saying, "Two
nations are in your womb, and two peoples, born to you, shall be
divided; the one shall be stronger than the other, and the elder shall
serve the younger." Ultimately Jacob did gain the birthright from his
elder brother, Esau.
When the time came for Tamar's children to be delivered, the struggle
ensued directly within her womb. The first child started to come out
and the midwife tied a red thread around his wrist. That sign
foreshadowed the emergence of communism in the Last Days. However,
before the first child could be born there was a struggle, and the
younger brother pulled the other back inside and was himself born
first. That son was named Perez, and the other named Zerah. The result
of this struggle is that for the first time the restoration of Cain
and Abel took place inside the mother's womb, the younger brother
having subjugated his elder brother even prior to birth. Tamar's
extraordinary action cleansed Judah's lineage and rendered it intact
from satanic invasion from the time of conception.
Mary
Through this victory at the time of Tamar and also Jacob's earlier
victory, God could claim a foundation that spanned man's entire life.
Jesus was born in the lineage of Judah and Satan had no way to invade
his life because the cleansing process was already completed. Jesus
came years after the dispensation of Jacob and Tamar because God had
to wait for the national foundation to be established. Conditions were
all fulfilled on the family level at the time of Jacob, Tamar and
Judah, but God needed to create a foundation to receive the Messiah
within a nation, that he might gain victory among the satanic nations.
Finally after 2,000 years, God chose one more woman whose name was
Mary. Mary was a revolutionary woman in faith who could follow God's
revolutionary tactics. Because the fall of man came through the
archangel, an angel was needed to assist Mary by bringing her God's
revelation. Mary completely believed what the angel told her of her
mission; the angel told her that she would conceive, and the child
would be great and holy, and that his name should be called Jesus.
Mary's situation paralleled Eve's in the garden of Eden before her
blessing. Mary and Joseph were engaged but not yet married; Adam and
Eve were also in an engagement period as they were growing up. An
angel brought Eve to the fallen act, but an angel brought Mary to the
fulfillment of the heavenly dispensation. Mary was also in a position
to deceive her husband and her father. Do you think Mary could discuss
with her father or Joseph about how she had conceived her baby? She
was asking her life because in those times an adulterous woman was to
be stoned to death.
Mary was the third woman to be picked by God. Through the previous
victories of Rebecca and Tamar all satanic conditions had been cleared
from Jesus' lineage, and even though Mary conceived Jesus outside of
marriage, Satan could not accuse her. Even inside his mother's womb
Jesus was already the only begotten son of God, and after his birth
everything he did was with the authority of the son of God.
The events recorded in the Bible have always puzzled the world. For
instance, in the genealogy of Jesus the names of four adulterous women
are recorded: Tamar, Ruth, Bathsheba, and Mary. Another puzzling
question was why the elder son was often in the position to be cursed
by God. Without understanding the depths of the Principle there are no
logical explanations for these things.
Jesus was in the position of Adam without sin in the garden of Eden.
Did God intend for Adam to live his entire life alone in the garden of
Eden? No, and in the same way Jesus was destined to create his own
family through restoring his bride. Jesus' family was to become the
cornerstone of the Kingdom of God by creating the new lineage of
heaven and earth as the center of the universe.
The son of God came alone, but in restoring his bride and his children
from Israel, and establishing Israel as his own nation, Jesus could
have restored the world. But Jesus was crucified, and could not leave
the foundation of the Father and Mother of mankind established here on
earth. With no True Parents here on earth, how could anyone be re-born
here on earth? Without parents how can you be born in the first place?
How can mankind receive physical salvation?
Forty days after Jesus' resurrection the Holy Spirit descended from
heaven. What is the Holy Spirit? After Adam and Eve failed their
mission as the True Parents of mankind, God's concept of the True
Parents was confined to the spiritual realm. Jesus came as the
manifestation of God's concept of true Adam, but no one was raised up
to manifest God's concept of Eve. For this reason the Holy Spirit
comes in the role of spiritual Mother. The Bible describes the Holy
Spirit as being like fire or water or like a dove, because it was
without form, but the role of the Holy Spirit is that of mother
spirit.
The Holy Spirit has served as the womb of a spiritual mother,
completely embracing and covering Christians and internally giving
spiritual rebirth. Jesus' spirit as the Father, together with the Holy
Spirit, can bring the power of rebirth to Christians. No spiritual
resurrection can come about until one truly receives both Jesus and
the Holy Spirit.
God never intended that physical birth and spiritual birth come
separately, but Jesus could not establish full salvation 2,000 years
ago, and left only the power of spiritual salvation here on earth. He
must come again to the earth to complete the portion of his mission
left undone at that time.
An unusual phenomenon is taking place within the Unification Church;
you are seeking to be recognized and loved by the True Parents. In
your deepest heart you want to become one with them; without doing
this you cannot be given complete restoration or rebirth. Physically
it is impossible to become a part of the True Parents, but through
your love, your total unity with them will be acknowledged by Heaven.
Did you ever dream of such a Principle?
I want you to deeply realize that the emergence of the True Parents
did not happen all of a sudden by decree one morning. Thousands and
thousands of years passed in which God shed sweat and blood and tears
to lay the necessary foundation in accordance with His principle and
schedule, yet this work was continually being hampered by man's
failures. I unlocked the deep secrets of heaven and earth and
determined to pioneer the path beyond the level on which all the
dispensational figures previously suffered or accomplished, figures
like Noah, Abraham, Jacob, and Jesus. I learned precisely what they
accomplished and what they left undone.
I knew from the very beginning that unless I set my standard higher
than all of those dispensational figures I could not fulfill the role
of the True Parents in heart and love. I have now succeeded beyond the
level they established in terms of heart and love. From the beginning
I knew what to look for, what to ask for, and what to strive for.
All the confusion and chaos of history had to be resolved. I came like
a doctor to operate, to straighten out the problems of mankind within
the shortest possible time of 30 years, and to complete the foundation
upon which God's history could begin and all mankind could be brought
to life. It is a miracle of miracles. What would you have done if I
had not come?
Right now I look miserable in the eyes of the world. I have unlocked
the most important secrets of life and have freely given them as a
gift to the world, yet instead of being grateful the world has come
back to ridicule me. You are God's only hope; you are my only hope.
However, since your previous life was so sinful you can never deserve
the blessing of God in the Unification Church without totally changing
from your previous philosophy and way of life.
Who will inherit my mission?
Your lives must be different from yesterday; each day you need to be
re-created. Will you change yourselves today? On this Parents Day,
let's forget what you have done in the past because what counts is
today and tomorrow. Boldly take the responsibility that God has
bestowed upon you; courageously undertake what God has bestowed upon
you and fulfill this mission. I want you to know that through you God
will change the history of mankind.
I am not delivering this message today solely for your benefit. My
audience is the world, history, and the spirit world. I am speaking to
the world and every person here on earth shall listen to this word in
due course. The entire spirit world is listening right now. The entire
world will be without the excuse that they did not hear me.
Did my explanation of the Bible sound like a lie, or is it clear and
effective truth? If the 240 million people of America and if
Christians the world over could really humble themselves to listen to
the truth, there is no way that they could say, "Reverend Moon, you
are seeking to deceive and I do not trust you." The power of the truth
will unite men.
I am very anxious at this time. God wanted me to have fulfilled this
level of accomplishment by the age of 40, yet now I am almost 60. 1 am
anxious to recover those 20 years of time by declaring God's truth to
the world so that the world which has been destined to death shall see
some sign of hope for restoration.
It is not yet too late, but America and the world must repent. God
still wants to bless America. No one ever even imagined that the
emergence of the True Parents could be this difficult and precarious.
To come this far I had to persevere through and overcome impossible
opposition and headwinds; I want you to inherit these experiences from
me. Unless you inherit this heart of mine, you will have nothing to do
with the place where I dwell and where God dwells.
When I die, I shall ask God, "Is there anyone who loved You more? Is
there anyone who loved the world more? Is there anyone who really gave
himself more totally for the sake of the world? Heavenly Father, can
You name one?" There is no other such person. Therefore, I want to
live longer because no one has yet come who can succeed me in my
mission. I pray that among you someone can come forward to say,
"Father, I can inherit your mission. I feel precisely as you do; I am
another Reverend Moon. Leave it to me." My prayer is to see even one
person like that come from among you. The greatest blessing, the
greatest gift that God could give me, would be to see such a man. That
person will say, "Father, I shall not only equal your own record, I
shall exceed your record so there can be glory and Sabbath for you and
for God." If many of you feel like that, then this is truly the glory
and victory of Parents Day.
Can you pledge in this sacred, holy room, "God, I give You my
covenant, my pledge, that I will never let You down, that I shall
persevere even more than Father himself persevered, and with my hands
Your mission shall be done. This world shall see resurrection and
health because of me." If that is the pledge you can give, then this
is the place where God will look down and take great joy. Those who
can solemnly pledge this severe and most difficult yet down-to-earth
commitment, raise your hands. Thank you.
In this concept and in this conviction let us rejoice on this Parents
Day. God bless you. Thank you all.
|