God's Will and the World
Rev. Sun Myung Moon
The Standard Bearer of Tradition
May 10,1974
Tokyo, Japan
n a family, the one who inherits the tradition of the family is not
an old man but a young man. Those who inherit the tradition of the
country are also young people. This was true in the past, and it is
true today as well, that those who inherit tradition are young people.
For example, in the country of Japan, if no one inherits the Japanese
tradition correctly, then Japan's prosperity will be undermined in the
future, and Japan will naturally head in a more difficult direction.
Who should assume responsibility for the world and for the
establishment of the ideal world? From the viewpoint of God's
dispensation, it is God's earnest desire that young people should take
responsibility to establish the tradition of God for the new world.
When we look back to the Old Testament Age, such old men as Noah,
Abraham or Moses were setting the tradition. Jacob was an exception.
When the era changed to the New Testament Age, we find the central
figures were young people, like Jesus and John the Baptist. They were
the ones who desired to inherit the tradition of heaven. They tried to
substantiate this tradition in the world during their 20s and 30s. If
the ideal tradition of God's nation centering upon John the Baptist
had been established, then the tradition centering upon Jesus could
have become the standard tradition for the coming world.
Young people are not influenced that much by society once they choose
their own direction. If they decide something in their minds and
hearts, they do it without hesitation. They tend to put my teachings
into practice immediately. Young students especially have a strong
desire to establish themselves as God centered people.
Certainly, God's hope must rest with young people rather than old
people. Therefore, it is the principled point of view that the
Completed Testament Age begins centered upon young people.
The purpose of tradition
e must understand clearly the purpose toward which the tradition is
aiming. Before we save our country, we must save our own relatives.
Before we save our own family, we must save ourselves. So, first of
all, our goal must be individual perfection. If God's hope is with
young people in the Completed Testament Age of Unificationism, it is
no mistake to say that you were chosen as the center of God's hope to
fulfill His main mission for today, and set the central standard of
tradition. This is true not only in Japan. Most of the overseas
members of the Unification movement are young people. In America, the
average age is between 23 and 25. If these young people offer their
lives for this purpose, and if they live their daily lives with total
commitment, the new tradition will certainly be built by following
this kind of life.
Japan can have a new hope for the future if she has this kind of young
people. At this time, of course, Japan desires prosperity for herself.
But if she has a burning resolution to create a better world tomorrow;
and if she goes beyond the nation, hand in hand with young people of
Asia, with one international heart; and if her policy remains
internationally oriented over a long period of time; then she will not
decline but prosper among the Asian nations and will naturally emerge
as a central nation on the worldwide level. You have a mission to
inherit such a tradition, and you must also build up the tradition
when you inherit it.
From this point of view, we of the Unification Church need to have an
educational system that can direct the education and ideals of young
people toward an international outlook.
Those of you gathered here are all young people. You are still pure
and have hearts that have not been corrupted by this world. You should
have a new resolution in your heart. If your minds and bodies are
united with new resolution and confidence, and if you become perfect
men and women who are loved perfectly by God, how greatly can God
rejoice! The highest and greatest desire of God, who created Adam and
Eve in the Garden of Eden, is to find a perfected man and woman, a son
and daughter who can realize God's purpose of creation, and who are
qualified to be loved by God eternally. God must have centered all of
His hope in His son and daughter in the garden, and dreamed about the
future development of their world. But all of His hopes and dreams
were destroyed by the fall. After that, in the course of the
dispensation of salvation, God lived through the history of the old
generation age, through the adult generation age, and came to welcome
today's age of the generation of youth. How much hope did God have for
Adam and Eve before their fall? When we think about this point, we can
realize that today's generation of youth is precisely what we would
expect for the Completed Testament Age.
The tradition of loving and being loved
t is natural and principled for you to love God in the same way that
He loves you. So when you long for God as the vertical center of your
life, and when you are loved as His son or daughter, then a tradition
of love can begin. You cannot make a start toward individual
perfection unless you establish this tradition. The family is composed
of individuals, so first of all you must be loved by God as an
individual. But not only that, you should welcome God as your Parent,
and return with filial piety the love that you received from Him. You
have not even reached the starting point of individual perfection
until the reciprocal love of parent and child is established on the
vertical position.
You speak about it often, but what is individual perfection? It is to
establish the absolute vertical parent and child relationship through
faith. You as a child will also come to love God in the same way as
God loves you. God and child are inseparable since love is established
in such a reciprocal relationship.
You should not cry for yourself. Cry for God. You should do things in
order to establish the harmonious subject-object relationship and a
unified sphere. You enlarge the sphere of your activities in order to
strengthen this subject-object relationship. By doing so, God's
dominion is expanded into a larger sphere of His dominion.
When you come face to face with your husband or your wife, you enlarge
your sphere of dominion to the level of the family. A man for a woman,
a woman for a man — this relationship of a man and a woman is not
simply a relationship for their own selves. The family is the central
sphere of heart where the members are horizontally strongly connected,
centered upon God. In the relationship of husband and wife, a wife can
love her husband, whom God loves, the same as God loves him. A husband
can love his wife, whom God loves, the same as God loves her. When
they can fully embrace this relationship of loving and being loved
centered upon God, they become one.
God is not lonely when Adam and Eve love each other. He feels the
power of His own love. The relationship of absolute love and oneness
of Adam and Eve is the substantial realization of elements within
God's inner mind. Therefore, when He looks at them, they do not repel
Him, but together they form the attraction of positive and negative
elements.
Absence of the tradition of true love
he tradition of genuine happiness centered upon this kind of family
was never established on earth because of the fall of the first human
ancestors. We know this very well. It is an undeniable fact that we
are born as the descendants of the fall. So, when we think in this
way, we cannot say that our parents are parents of goodness. If this
concept is enlarged, the race also has not inherited the standard of
goodness. Being descendants of the fall, we are in a realm whose
origins were not from God, but from Satan. It must be the desire of
all fallen people to change from this realm of death.
We cannot easily solve this problem by our own efforts. Even if we
wish for liberation, we, who are dominated by Satan, do not have
wisdom superior to that of the archangel. It is absolutely impossible
for us, who have less power than Satan, to overcome this situation.
The natural conclusion would be that the human race must remain in the
eternal realm of death. So, if there is anyone who can change this
situation, it must be none other than the good God who is the enemy of
Satan. The numerous saints were God's hands of salvation reaching down
to this miserable human race. When this foundation of saints sent by
God is enlarged, the families, societies and nations of this satanic
world will be displaced. Therefore, it is natural for Satan to give
his utmost effort to try to destroy God's saints, sages and prophets.
We are very familiar with the history of the prophets, saints and
righteous people who came to this world were persecuted, and in some
cases killed. From that foundation of death and sacrifice, God has
been carrying out His providence, enlarging His sphere from the
individual to the spheres of the new family, clan, tribe and world.
For that purpose, God established religion.
Christianity as God's foothold
n modern times, religious spheres have created cultural spheres on
the world level, and God's desire is to unite them together into one.
It is God's dispensation to mobilize a movement that unites this world
of religious and cultural spheres into one, and brings them back to
God's ideal world of goodness. The one who is sent to complete this
plan is the Messiah. Conversely, this plan is messianic thought. But
when the Messiah comes, he cannot accomplish these things alone. Since
the Messiah is coming, the interracial foundation corresponding to
this messianic ideal must be created. Christianity is a unique
religion in that it developed its cultural sphere throughout the
world. Why could Christianity become a world religion? Why not other
religions? Theoretically speaking, it is because Christianity is the
religion that best represents God's will and internal heart.
Christianity has penetrated to the core of God's will and heart, and
preserved this until the present time. God loves Christianity, and
since God is a world level God, it is natural for Christianity to
develop throughout the world. God desires love. According to Jesus,
God is not the Lord of Judgment of the people in heaven and earth, but
the Father of Love. There is no religion other than Christianity which
understands God in this way.
"Oh God! I am the only son of God, who is omnipotent, omniscient,
eternal, unique, absolute and infinite." By these words, "only son,"
you would be qualified to become a messiah for all humanity. What kind
of' position would you have if you said you were the only son of God?
Because God has a heart of love, you would be the only son of God when
you gain that love first. Isn't that so? Suppose there is someone who
can touch the core of love which is deep within the Father's mind, and
can move God. Who would be that person? [The only son!] From this
point of view, Jesus was the one person who was qualified to occupy
God's heart completely. Because all people desire God's heart, one
cannot teach them the world of God's love unless he has the experience
of occupying God's internal heart. Therefore, this is the
qualification of the Messiah.
Experience God's love first
esus is God's only son. Furthermore, when we are saved, even though
the circumstances are different, we also can become God's children.
When a branch is grafted onto a sweet persimmon tree, that branch can
become the sweet persimmon tree. After you are saved by Jesus, he does
not remain as your Savior, but becomes your brother. Jesus becomes the
bridegroom, and you become the bride. This tradition of Jesus started
from brotherly love. This is a cosmic declaration. This is not the
tradition of brotherhood we have seen in the fallen realm so far, but
a new tradition. You are the very people who are doing this. So at
this point, we need to implant the new heavenly tradition of
brotherhood. This is not merely a theory, we are advancing this
historically. You must build the new tradition of brotherhood and also
the new tradition of husband and wife. By doing so, the tradition of
brotherhood is born, and the tradition of bride and bridegroom is
born. Then when a couple is able to inherit the tradition of love from
God, their children will be entirely loved by God. Since these
children are not born within the realm of the fall, but are born
within the unfallen realm of God's love, they are not in the position
to be claimed by Satan. Therefore, they are sinless. Through this
birth of sinless children, Christianity was to have determined the
tradition of the parent-child relationship.
The time during which this promise was made was the time of the New
Testament. The promise of the Old Testament was not fulfilled,
therefore, a new promise was given in the New Testament. This was a
promise that we shall become true children of God by becoming true
brothers and sisters and inheriting true love. And that promise will
absolutely be accomplished at the time of the Second Coming. What does
Unification theology call this age? It is called the Completed
Testament Age.
God does not just make promises. He has advanced the Completed
Testament Age in order to fulfill this wonderful promise. So, many
children like Jesus should be born, and many brides and grooms who are
like Jesus should be born. Many families must emerge with ideal
spouses such as Jesus would have been — who can raise perfect children.
God's ideal world begins here. But from what point does all of this
start? It begins from the individual.
Adam and Eve fell before they reached perfection, being motivated by
their hearts to sin. They took a step away from God's direction and
His commandment by following the dictates of their hearts while their
hearts were still immature. Young people of the Complete Testament Age
are not influenced by their surroundings no matter how much it is
corrupted by Satan. If they are influenced, then Satan, who is the
final master of the corrupted love, will corrupt the heart of all
humanity in the world to come. For that purpose, Satan uses his final
wisdom.
The communists say, "Sing, dance and enjoy love!" Then, what happens?
Destruction. Satan is trying to destroy man by creating this kind of
environment.
Therefore, the organization that the communists hate the most is the
Unification Church. They tempt people through their propaganda — "sing
songs, dance and make love!" But those who do not give in, no matter
what they say, are the young people of the Unification Church.
To see God directly with your eyes
ou must first of all stand face to face with God and inherit His
vertical love. Since God is the God of dual characteristics, He
created man because He cannot receive stimulation by being alone. Joy
is produced only through reciprocal relationships; therefore,
stimulation from outside of God's being is necessary. He needs the
stimulating sphere of His objects. And one can receive love from God,
who is the highest being, only when he stands in the position to
reciprocate. If he does so, he can become a substantiation of God's
internal character. When God feels sorrow, man must also feel sorrow.
In this way, man and God will be inseparable. These are unchangeable
facts, no matter how much you may doubt them. You have been created to
be inseparable from God. Therefore, the perfection of the individual
means the establishment of the absolute vertical relationship between
you and God.
God is invisible. This invisible God created Adam and Eve in order to
bring about His substantial image. God exists within the minds of Adam
and Eve, and when Adam and Eve become perfect and fully receive God's
love, God becomes the internal father and Adam becomes the external
father. The external form reflects the internal form. God sees His own
form in man. Then God, as the father of humanity, takes the form of
Adam. And Eve becomes the mother of humanity. Adam and Eve are God's
substantial forms in the universe, and they become parents of humanity
and of the created world, which resembles them. Thus, through the form
of Adam and Eve, God let people know His existence throughout history.
Then there can be no doubt about the existence of God. He is always
visible. If the fall had not taken place, God would immediately appear
if man called him. If man reaches this level, who could say that God
doesn't exist? [No one!] If you show your utmost sincerity, the same
sincerity is returned. This is a universal principle. So, who has to
prove that your parents are your parents?
Then what God is desiring to do is to substantiate His form in this
last stage of the Last Days. He is trying to show Himself again as a
perfect man who is completely restored heartistically and vertically.
This man we know as the Messiah. In the Completed Testament Age, God
manifests Himself to all people in the form of the True Parents, who
come in the place of the perfected Adam and perfected Eve.
Therefore, the Unification Church has a power that is greater than any
secular power. Through the Unification Church, our members can see the
living God directly with their eyes, and experience Him with their
senses. Do you understand? How many of you believed in and saw Jesus
in the past? A very small percentage. Unless you had faith for 20 or
40 years, you could not see the crucified Jesus. In the Unification
Church, however, you can see him if you listen to the Principle with
sincerity for one week. What a great difference this is! A cosmic
revolution has begun. We could not find a way to see Christ throughout
thousands of years of history. But through the Principle, we have
discovered a way to experience him within a week. This is truly the
great miracle of the Unification movement.
Behind this miracle, there is a 6,000 year period in which God has
been advancing human culture. All of the indemnity and sacrifice of
6,000 years is concentrated on this point in time. This fruit of this
victorious course is the relationship of the love between parents and
child.
Look at the world with the same sorrow as God
f you are anxious to see God or to see True Parents in a dream, the
only way is to work for God with your whole heart. You must have the
type of God-like heart that is willing to shed blood for the sake of
all people. You must have such a heart that you would even forget
sleeping, and cry with me. This is the closest path to reach God. The
teaching of the Unification Church is that we should sacrifice smaller
things for God, for humanity and for the greater purpose. God wants to
restore the cosmos to His dominion. This is done by the principle of
always serving the greatest purpose. Accordingly, the individual lives
for the sake of the family, the family for the clan, the clan for the
race, the race for the nation, the nation for the world, the world for
the cosmos and the cosmos for God. You cannot become a child of God
unless you fight for God with the goal of victory for God on the
cosmic level by achieving all these standards. You cannot become a
child of God unless you have the confidence and desire to work for the
sake of God and for the sake of the cosmos. You understand this, don't
you? [Yes!] It is not a trivial matter.
Each of you can become a person who has such vertical experiences. In
the present situation, when God has not yet established His nation, if
you can call upon God and feel the same sorrow He has, and if you can
look at Japan and the world with such Godly sorrow, keeping your
mission and your commitment to Him, then you are truly a son or
daughter of God, even if you are alone.
You should keep your mind occupied with the absolute desire and
determination to fulfill God's will. If the providence is prolonged
for years, decades, centuries, we cannot imagine how great God's agony
would be. We must maintain a course toward victory. If you remain a
joyous child, doing your best while sacrificing for God, you can save
Japan and dominate this country's spiritual future. You may not get
much attention in this world, but when you go to the spiritual world,
you will be the one revered by all people as the representative of
God. God is expecting you to become this kind of young person. You
must set the tradition for the future. God desires that we become such
people who can substantiate His ideal in this world. Such people must
be the young people of the Unification Church.
Jesus walked the way of the cross with dignity
n the tradition of the Old Testament Age and the New Testament Age,
we must become children who can shed blood, and even die, to console
God's heart. In the history of God's providence, who set the tradition
to open this path in the world? It was Jesus. At Gethsemane, the
reason why he prayed with such agony as to shed blood was to leave
God's true tradition on earth. Jesus was the very person who pioneered
this path and set this tradition for the first time. Religion is the
way by which we inherit the tradition of Jesus correctly and expand it
to the public world. Christianity was formed by inheriting the
tradition of goodness and by passing on this tradition to future
followers.
Christianity teaches a realm of heart, which is also a realm of hope
heading toward one goal. In order to enter this one realm, we must go
back to God. So we as Unification Church members must just go back to
God. We can never understand the realm of Jesus' heart unless we go
back to the realm of God's heart. That is also the only way we can
ever understand the tradition of Jesus or Christianity, or inherit the
tradition of hope for the future. The path that the Unification Church
has been walking until now has been to go back to God and to rekindle
the spirit of the churches with a new understanding of the reality of
God and His providence. Do you understand? [Yes!] First of all, we
must establish this vertical relationship and become an ideal man
through receiving guidance from God.
Mankind lost three things at the fall. Adam was to be God's son and
Eve to be God's daughter. But they lost their childlike heart toward
God. And they lost the love they had as brother and sister centered
upon God. Eve killed Adam spiritually. Despite the fact that he was
her elder brother, Adam was attracted to Eve and could not resist her.
They became people of evil, not a brother and sister of goodness. The
husband and wife of goodness became the husband and wife of evil
through the fall. They lost the realm of God's heart and love in one
instant. How can they restore this lost heart? For a man to take
responsibility to restore this, he must have the heart of an elder
brother. Thus, he must enter into the world of the heart.
In the realm of heart, then, you are children to me. It is through the
fall that man lost the three hearts, namely, the heart of brother and
sister, the heart of parents, and the heart of children. Accordingly,
perfect restoration is impossible unless we heartistically experience
these three things and resurrect them.
Saints should shed tears for God
he horizontal restoration of God's heart begins through indemnity.
The Unification Church, which was founded for that purpose, can never
be understood by merely studying it. People cannot understand why the
Unification Church was founded, why we go in crazy directions, and why
you members work with one heart. Do you work in accordance with my
heart? [Yes!]
Men are in the position of archangels. Therefore, the courageous men
of the Unification Church must be able to miss me with tears.
Otherwise, they are not the saints of the Unification Church. You must
be like a child with tears in your eyes. I ask this not for my sake,
but for the sake of God.
I love you, centered upon God's love. You love God, you love me, and
you love each other. With this foundation of love, you can love all
people of the world.
You should love other members as you love me. My desire is that you
love others more than I do. If you do so, you can love each other as
brothers and sisters more than your parents love you as their
children. If this tradition is spread throughout Japan, this country
will never perish, even if God wanted it. Don't be a person whose
achievements are on the theoretical level, but rather a person who
puts his heart into his work. As a group, you should love each other
like brothers, like sisters, like parents. If you are that type of
person, even if you tell your friends not to come see you, they will
be so eager to see you that they would come anyway. I am like that. My
close friends and classmates were all drawn to me. Why did they come?
They had no one else from whom they could seek advice. You must
inherit the realm of God's heart. You have the theory, and when you
practice it, you can become one with God. You must establish such a
tradition.
Those brave Unification soldiers who wish to work toward this purpose
once again with resolution and who wish to revive this tradition of
God among all people, please raise your hands. I believe you.
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