Blessing and Ideal Family
by Reverend Sun Myung Moon

Chapter Two
Part 2

THE FEAST OF THE LAMB AND THE FIRST RESURRECTION

1. THE REALIZATION OF GOD'S IDEAL THROUGH THE FEAST OF THE LAMB

However, the first Adam and Eve failed, leaving the ideal of God unfulfilled. God had planned to realize the original heaven and tried to complete a world of joy. Therefore, 4,000 years later, God tried to restore His nation on earth through another perfected Adam. Jesus Christ was this perfected Adam.

In 1 Corinthians 15 there is a verse which mentions Jesus as the later Adam or the second Adam. Jesus came two thousand years ago as the perfected Adam to fulfill the mission of the first Adam, who failed.

The restoration of Adam alone does not bring about the Kingdom of Heaven. A bride -- in other words, a woman -- is necessary. Therefore, another Eve was selected. God sent Jesus Christ, who came as the perfected Adam to restore his own bride, the perfected Eve. Their family would have restored the family of the first Adam, lost in the Garden of Eden.

Because of the betrayal of the chosen Israelites, the perfection of the second Adam and Eve was not realized. However, since the will of God does not change, God promised the second coming of the Christ.

Since the death of Jesus Christ, approximately 2,000 years have passed. Already, God is preparing to send His son as the third Adam.

In the course of history, God fulfilled His goal by guiding humankind through three stages. Three is the number of completion. Finally this time, God will hold the festival of the marriage in order to bless the perfected Adam and Eve. Then God will form the foundation for the Kingdom of Heaven on earth, fulfilling the goal which He kept over the long historical period.

The Book of Revelation prophesies this culmination point. This is the "Marriage Feast of the Lamb." The Lord of the Second Advent is indeed the Lamb and the perfected Adam. The Lord will come as the perfected Adam and will restore the perfected Eve. Then Adam and Eve become the first parents of humankind and God's joy will be completely fulfilled.

"The Feast of the Lamb" means that God blesses one person who is perfected as the subject of love, life and ideal, in the position of the original ancestor created 6,000 years ago, a sinless parent. This is to place that person in the position of the ancestor of goodness before all humankind.

When the invisible and visible God, who becomes the parent of humankind, unites and gives birth to His sons and daughters, then a substantial human being with eternal spirit appears. When the spiritual and substantial being comes together, then, for the first time, the son and the daughter born from there have an eternal spirit.

Then we become sons and daughters who can call to the Father both spiritually and substantially.

In the Last Days, we must unify that which God, Adam and Eve could not, horizontally and vertically centering on the eternal life, love and ideal. Therefore, when the spiritual God and the substantial true parents become one, not only the spiritual and the physical body of an individual, but also the position of children will be restored within the harmony of heaven and earth. Then we will be restored to the position of sons and daughters who can receive God's love.

Jesus tried to unify this world as sinless sons and daughters, sinless clans, sinless tribes and a sinless world coming from sinless parents. However, because Jesus died on the cross through the unfaithfulness of the Israelites, the Lord has to come again. Therefore, when this world perfects God's love, God's life and God's ideal on the individual, family, clan, tribal and world levels, then this world becomes the heavenly Kingdom of God.

God's greatest hope for humankind was that we in the object position and God in the subject position completely unite with the will of God in the relationship of father and children and, together with the holy true parent, become true children, a true clan, and a true tribe and finally realize the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. Therefore, men and women were to realize a Heavenly Kingdom on earth in which God's eternal love, life and ideal could be connected in every direction.

What is the "Feast of the Lamb" mentioned in Christianity? It is to substantialize, in the Last Days, the true parents whom God tried to send 6,000 years ago and to substantialize the position of brother and sister and the position of children. This was the hope of Jesus in whom we believe, and it was the hope of God who has been suffering throughout the 6,000 year history in order to guide us.

You must clearly understand that the "Feast of the Lamb" refers providence of salvation which has its hope fixed upon the original world in which Adam, Eve and God can rejoice after this miserable history.

Where is the son and daughter who can call God "My Father" longing for Him in the midst of their desperate search? The day God can find such sons and daughters is the day of His hope and the day of His liberation from resentment. In religious terms, this day is called the "Feast of the Lamb."

In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve could not unite with God and instead betrayed Him; therefore, they became servants. However, if they can unite with Him now, restoration can begin. This, in other words, is the Feast of the Lamb. The Bible mentions the day of the Feast of the Lamb. This could be called a day when two are united into one. All humankind has been waiting for this day, for this day is a day to be celebrated eternally. Therefore, the goal of the providence, the ideal of human history, and the purpose of religion come to a harmonized conclusion at this point.

Unification is only possible when a true man and true woman can stand in a position to be publicly recognized by God. This is the "Feast of the Lamb."

2. THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE FEAST OF THE LAMB

Six thousand years ago, there was a person whom God tried to set up as the perfected substantial being of love, as the subject of life and ideal, and as a sinless parent. The Feast of the Lamb welcomes such a person and recognizes him as the ancestor of goodness before all humankind.

The Bible contains the Word of God. God mentions, "I am the Alpha and Omega." This means that at the time prophesied in the Revelation of John, God will fulfill the will which He could not realize in Genesis. If Adam and Eve had not fallen, they would have realized a family which could give birth to a son and daughter who could go to heaven. Such parents are indeed the true parents, whose family is the true family united with God. The sons and daughters are the offspring of God's family. God is trying to reunite everything by proclaiming the names of the bride and the bridegroom in the Book of Revelation. Who would be that groom? This is the one who comes with the qualification of a perfected true father. Who would be the bride? She is the person who appears as the true mother whom God can love. If Adam and Eve had not fallen, they would have held their wedding ceremony centering on God. However, through the fall, they held their wedding with Satan. You must clearly understand that the Feast of the Lamb written of in the Book of Revelation is the holy wedding ceremony centering on God.

The meaning of the providence on this earth is that we are waiting for a man and woman better than the fallen Adam and Eve to appear and to unite centering on the messianic thought. This indeed is the Marriage of the Lamb written of in the Book of Revelation. The hope of Jesus was to become the true parent. And by becoming the true parent, he was to become the King of kings.

God is the spiritual true parent and the true parent of heart to humankind. God is the true parent of both spirit and heart and He prophesied to us that He would find the internal true parent. This indeed refers to the day of the Feast of the Lamb mentioned in Christianity.

How do you understand the Feast of the Lamb? we lost the true parent through the fall. In order to restore this, the Marriage of the Lamb is held to set up the true parent, which could not be realized on the earth six thousand years ago. This is God's providence.

God prepared the Feast of the Lamb for the first human ancestors. The Feast of the Lamb, however, cannot be held by just anyone. It can only be held by the sons and daughters of direct lineage to God. However, Christians are saying in their prayers that they will greet the groom who will hold the Feast of the Lamb. It is the opposite. The Christians cannot understand that because of the fall, humankind lost the true parents and could not become the children of direct lineage.

The Feast of the Lamb means that man and woman, for the first time in history, receive the Blessing and realize the standard of hope on the family level. This is object of longing for the six thousand years of history. The bride and the bridegroom at the Feast of the Lamb will appear with the mission of the true parents.

What is the center of Christianity? It is Jesus. The center of Christianity is for Jesus as the bridegroom to greet his bride. What does this mean? It indeed is the Feast of the Lamb, the substantial marriage of Jesus and a woman who is the Holy Spirit.

Jesus died leaving behind the topic of the second coming. This is why for two thousand years Christians have been waiting for the time of the second coming of Jesus according to the ideal of the second advent. What will be the center of that time? We can say that it will be the Feast of the Lamb, of which Christians are well aware. Then, what is the Feast of the Lamb? It is abstract. The unified love between God and man and woman is the starting point. From the human standpoint, a man and a woman unite. Unless the two become united, and unless they prepare the foundation to go in the direction of the ideal world in search for God's love, the world-level purpose centering on God cannot be realized.

An individual-level Messiah will not be able to restore the world. In order to restore the world, the Messiah has to be a family-level Messiah. Therefore, the Messiah needs to have the Holy Spirit and construct the concept of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Messiah has to form a family in the name of bride and bridegroom. We have been forming the spiritual foundation for this family until now, but that day must come now in reality. That day is the day of the Feast of the Lamb. In other words, the day Jesus gets married is the day of the Feast of the Lamb. The believers in the established churches need to understand this clearly

The day of the Feast of the Lamb is necessary for black people, for white people, for Koreans, for the young as well as the old and for all humankind. Even the people in the spirit world need it. The people in the spirit world cannot enter Heaven without serving the True Parents; therefore, they too need the day of the Feast of the Lamb. Heaven is a place where the father enters together with his wife and children. This is the heavenly law.

3. THE FEAST OF THE LAMB IS HELD ON EARTH

Through the fall, humankind has been transmitting the blood lineage of the false parent. Even the noblest person, the president of a university, to whom students bow down saying, "He is our teacher," or a person who boasts of his qualifications, saying, "This position should be enough" -- if we look at their origin, they all have false stickers made in fraudulent factories. If they hear me say these things, they will feel bad. However, they cannot do anything about it. These words should have national-level public recognition.

Therefore, the Messiah is needed. Jesus could not become a complete Messiah, so a new Messiah is necessary. What do you think is the nature of the Messiah who should appear? Jesus was a spiritual Messiah. However, a spiritual Messiah cannot completely accomplish salvation. In order to become the Son of God, this person must have another person in a reciprocal position. Therefore, a Messiah as a parent is necessary. Humankind was born with the blood lineage of a false parent through the fall; therefore, true parents must come. If Christians hear this, they will say again that I am a heretic.

This parent should come as the true olive tree and cut the wild olive tree which is fallen man and woman, and engraft the branch of the true olive tree onto it. Through this, the wild olive trees in this world can be made into true olive trees, completing the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. Doesn't this fulfill Gods purpose of creation? However, if the Messiah appears on the clouds, what sort of millennial celebration could they enjoy? When the Lord appears as the literal bridegroom, Christians who then try to hold the wedding ceremony without any preparation, not even thinking of what food to serve or clothes to offer, will be very miserable.

Should the first prince of God, after the Feast of the Lamb with his bride, ascend to heaven on the clouds? Or are the couple to live on earth? If you have found the person for whom you are looking, you should dance or watch others dancing. Why would the Messiah come and take the faithful Christians up into the sky to hold the wedding ceremony? A marriage ceremony in the air requires what kind of air? When they rise, to where do they rise? These days we can rise into the sky in rockets, but we must always come down again. The purpose of rockets is to put satellites in orbit around the earth, not just to rise up in the air.

The purpose of Jesus, consequently, was to take a bride and have a family. People who do not understand this may say, "I went to the Unification Church, and there a person called Reverend Moon told me that Jesus had to have a family. I felt sick listening." Those people must be thinking that they will be the first bride or the special bride and rise up into the air. However, the Principle teaches differently, and I cannot change it.

Today, the Christians are waiting for the Feast of the Lamb. However, this Feast of the Lamb is not a marriage held in the air. Because Adam and Eve fell and lost their family foundation, another representing perfected Adam meets the perfected Eve and has a family. This is the Feast of the Lamb. By going through the suffering of giving birth, the way to salvation is opened. Since fallen humankind was born through the flesh and blood of fallen parents, the wild olive trees must be cut, engrafted with the true olive tree and bear true fruit which God can dominate.

4. WHY HAS RELIGION EMPHASIZED SINGLE LIFE?

If a perfected man and perfected woman appeared but still the law of love were not established. would God permit loose men and women to get married? We haven't been able to hold the original wedding . . . That men and women held fallen marriage ceremonies is the occasion of God's biggest resentment and greatest sorrow. Will you still try to go against God? This is why higher religions emphasize being single.

Until when are we to stay single? It is until a perfected true man who can become completely united before the love of God appears and meets a true woman. These are the True Parents. This is why Christian thought focuses on the Second Coming. The Lord of the Second Advent is the person who comes as the True Father of all humanity.

What have religions been doing? Many religious founders tried to imagine the substantial object consistent with God's ideal model, which was the basis for the search for an ideal man. However, none were successful. This is why there is messianic thought. Until now, we could not find even one man. If we cannot find a man, then we cannot find parents. This is why we are told to stay single. The nation is not necessary. Nations should be formed based upon the model of a true individual. The family is also not needed. A family formed from a true man and a true woman is needed. What we need first of all is the true man and woman. Throughout history, we could not find a model of a true man and a true woman.

Jesus, two thousand years ago, said, "He who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me," and that the one who does not take his cross and follow him is not worthy of him.

What sort of person was Jesus? Jesus was a King of love. He was the King of love in Heaven; therefore, we cannot go to meet him or serve him with the body which is stained with the dirty love of the satanic world. So, in order to go to Jesus, we must love more than we used to. The only way to find the path to heaven is through love that surpasses the love practiced in this world. Because of this, we need to live a single life in order to go the Principled way. However, you should not be unhappy about being single. You should live a life overcoming that, whispering with God and not feeling unhappy. However, if you live a single life feeling unhappy and complaining, you will go to the worst place in hell after death.

There are many among you who have started family life, but under whose protection was that family formed? Some people might say, "The place I'm living now is the standard; I'm all right and I will not be defeated by anyone even from the social perspective. Therefore, I never feel pangs of conscience no matter where I go and I have confidence that I am not unrighteous." However, look at their origin. The human ancestors are caught in the enemy's trap. Can God publicly recognize a family formed in this realm? This is why religion emphasizes single life. Those who are here have many children, but you also must live a single life.

This is not the word of Reverend Moon of the Unification Church. All religion teaches this. As you know, Buddhism teaches this. Aren't Catholics the same ? Do you know the purpose of such teaching? It is in order to bring us close to God. The true ancestors of humankind are not yet able to marry. Then how can people who were not meant to have been born yet get married? The sons and daughters born from the fallen ancestors have to be saved and go the course of restoration.

Heaven, with the ideal of love, had no way but to form religions historically and emphasize single life. A husband and wife are meant to follow true love and meet the heavenly standard, but because there is the possibility of making a mistake and betraying heavenly love, the principle of single life was set up so that at least one person receiving love from God can remain.

How can Catholic priests and nuns and Buddhist monks live? Honestly, that way of life should be a problem. Then did the purpose which those religions pursue become wrong at some point in time? If it did, then the foundation of those believers' suffering, as well as of God who worked behind them, would all be denied. This phenomenon emerges in order to prepare for the future appearance of the true family.

Then why did Catholicism and Buddhism emphasize being single? Can you say that celibacy is the basis of human happiness? No. Not even one religion anywhere on earth has demonstrated what the basis of happiness is. No religion has plans to place the family at the center. No family worthy of this position could even appear. However, they sensed the fact that one day such a family will appear; therefore, they emphasized single life. This was the foundation for people to form a pure and correct family.

A long time ago, marriage was not permitted when pursuing "the way." Why was that? If the parents have not yet held their wedding ceremony, can the servants hold their wedding ceremony? This is why human beings were not permitted to marry.

What sort of existence is the archangel? Archangels were not allowed to get married. In the Bible, the Sadducees asked Jesus, "If a woman lived with seven men as her husbands, after her death, if she were to be resurrected in the other world, among the seven husbands, whose wife would she become? Jesus answered, You do not marry m the spirit world." (lit., . . . in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.") This was the only answer Jesus could give, because it was still the age of restoring the archangelic realm. The archangelic realm is one in which we cannot have a marriage partner. Then, what has religion been seeking? Because religion has been in the archangelic realm, it could not exalt marriage. You should understand that this is the reason higher religions emphasized single life.

In the Principled point of view, men and women in this world are offspring of the archangel. Therefore, they are not qualified to marry. This is why they are told to stay single. If the original parents have not been able to marry, can impure people who jumped into a puddle of sewage be allowed to love by their own will? That love is unprincipled. This is why higher religions emphasized single life.

What kind of a reciprocal partner do angels have? This is why religions tell people to be single. Originally, being a nun is the Principled standard. A man with a wife is not qualified to be a monk. In fact, all the married ministers in the Protestant churches are unqualified.

Since there are many sisters here, I have to say something. Are women seductive or not? To this day, have women been punished or have they been blessed? ("They have been punished.") Because they are seductive, they have been punished. The reason that women had to suffer was that their husbands were not their true husbands. Do you understand? Fallen men are archangels and are not supposed to have a bride. This is why higher religions have encouraged people to remain single.

Men are archangels. Originally, the archangel was not allowed to have a reciprocal partner. However, the archangel loved in an unprincipled way. An archangel is not a true husband. Therefore, for a woman a fallen man is not her husband. The archangel mistreated a woman who was not even his wife. For this reason, women are mistreated by archangels who are not their true husbands.

Until now, religion did not pursue aggressively the realm of reciprocal partner. Therefore, all religions emphasized remaining single. The Reverend Moon is the first to proclaim the blessing of the family-level ideal reciprocal relationship.

5. THOSE WHO WILL BE INCLUDED IN THE FIRST RESURRECTION

Then, who can be included in the one hundred and forty-four thousand? It's no use just having the seal of Jesus. Even if Jesus who is the bridegroom calls you as his bride, you must have the Father bless you. Therefore, if you can become a person whose hand God can take, giving His blessing, one whom God can number among those who did not fall in the Garden of Eden, then you can be included in the one hundred and forty-four thousand.

Approximately how many Christians are there among the three billion people of the satanic world? These Christians are prepared to be included in the first resurrection at the time of the Lord's second coming. But is the first resurrection that easy? Without even understanding it, how can they resurrect? What percentage of them will resurrect? All people other than those who are resurrected will be swept away. Is that so? You should never have such abstract faith. You are to save the earth. To do that, you first must completely save an individual from the satanic world. The family also has to be completely saved. The heavenly clan, tribe and nation have to be saved on earth, not in the air. They have to be saved on earth. The fall did not happen in the air. It happened on the ground. To restore means to recreate what was lost. What was lost must be found in the place where it was lost, right? It was lost on earth, so it must be restored on earth.

Human beings fell as substantial beings with mind and body. Therefore, centering on human beings, you should completely deny Satan and stand on God's side. You must stand representing Adam and Eve capable of receiving God's love as His son and daughter. Satan cannot dominate such a person. You should dominate Satan. Satan was originally an archangel. Archangels were created to be dominated by human beings. We gradually should restore that base.

You should not interpret the Bible as the Christians do today. If you believe as they do, God cannot be a God of hope for humankind. To believe that all humanity will receive judgment and only one hundred and forty four thousand Christians will be saved is an unusually self- centered way of thinking.

The Christian talk about the one hundred and forty-four thousand and the sons and daughters with a seal of God sounds very nice. But are they talking about sons and daughters who can carry out the heavenly providence and establish a condition for restoration and for ending historical resentment? The sons and daughters whom God can seal should have the heart to shed tears for this earth and for God.

Jesus longed and hoped for the ideal of one bride and one bridegroom who could live in the realm of God's Blessing. Then, centering on the Feast of the Lamb which would fulfill God's blessing, Jesus hoped to embrace the one hundred and forty-four thousand, who would dedicate a song of joy and glory to the Father with him, the only Son. This was the desperate hope of Jesus.

Today, if Christians are to come to the Feast of the Lamb and are to be included in the first resurrection, they must prepare a holy garment. To prepare the holy garment, sincerity and perseverance are needed. You must be as sincere as possible. The glance of your eye must be sincere; your sense of smell must be sincere; you must be sincere in listening. The feeling you get through your entire body must be sincere. It is the Principle that you cannot serve God until you go through the gateway of sincerity and become a person whose heart is grateful to the body which expressed sincerity.

What is the sincerity which true sons and daughters should show from now? It is not centered on the practical stage of everyday life, but it is the sincerity of hope, of glory, of filial piety and of subordination. If you go through all these forms of sincerity, then heaven will become your heaven and Heavenly Father will become your Heavenly Father. Until now your sincerity was a sincerity for indemnity. From now on it must be a sincerity to serve God and sincerity which places you in the position to serve God. Those participating in that way will be in the first resurrection.

What are the qualifications for inclusion in the first resurrection? One is to go through the Blessing gate. This is why people eighty years old must turn young again. It might sound strange, but grandmothers and grandfathers must get married again. This is because in order to form the third Israel and to become the people of that nation, we must go through the Blessing gate.

Can you understand Jesus' hope? He was trying to follow this path, but had to die. Is this the hope of Jesus alone? No, it is not; it is the hope of us all. It is also the hope of God. This is the marriage of the Lamb. When we are born and grow as God's son and daughter and when we become a man and woman of perfected individuality, then God will marry us, saying, "Live eternally and limitlessly within my bosom." This is the Feast of the Lamb. You all should understand this clearly.