Chapter III

The Advent of Christ

1) The Consummation of Human History

While many Christians believe that preceding Christ's reign at his Second Advent there will be supernatural calamities resulting in the destruction of the earth, sun, and moon, we cannot imagine that God would permit such a tragedy. Rather, we will see the annihilation of the evil satanic sovereignty and the eradication of immoral behavior which has plagued mankind since the fall of our first parents. As stated by Brigham Young:

But the earth will not be utterly destroyed; the elements of which it is composed will not be annihilated, but they will be changed. Neither shall those be consumed who can abide the day of the Lord Almighty, and stand in his presence. The earth in that great day will be renovated--cleansed from wickedness--purified from dross, sanctified, and prepared for the habitation of the Saints of the Most High.1

This is not to say that evil will disappear miraculously without any trace of destruction. We have already witnessed many natural disasters, famines and wars, all of which have been foretold in the Bible: "For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. (Matt. 24:7) Mormons teach that:

You will hear of magnificent cities, now idolized by the people, sinking in the earth , entombing the inhabitants. The sea will heave itself beyond its bounds, engulfing mighty cities. Famine will spread over the nation and nation will rise up against nation, kingdom against kingdom and states against states, in our own country and in foreign lands; and they will destroy each other, caring not for the blood and lives of their neighbors, of their families, or for their own lives.2

Recognizing that the Last Days are great and terrible times, let us recall other times in human history when we could say it was the end of times.

The Bible records for us other times in human history that were times of the Last Days including Noah's day and Jesus' day. At the time of Noah, we know that God destroyed the corrupt world of satanic sovereignty with the flood judgement, leaving only Noah's family, who believed in God. Genesis 6:13 states, "I have determined to make an end of all flesh; for the earth is filled with violence through them; behold, I will destroy them with the earth." After the flood judgement, Noah's family stood in the position of the new ancestors of all mankind and would have been recognized as such had it not been for the sinful act of Ham as recorded in Gen. 9:22.

Abraham followed Noah as the new Father of Faith, preparing a foundation for Jesus as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Jesus proclaimed himself to be the master of judgement. In John 5:22 Jesus says, "The Father judges no one, but has given all judgement to the Son." Also, Malachi had prophesied in Mal. 4:1:

Behold, the day comes, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble; the day that comes shall burn them up. . .so that it will leave them neither root nor branch.

Similarly, we find reference to judgement from Jesus by fire in Luke 12:49 where Jesus states: "I came to cast fire upon the earth; and would that it were already kindled!" By these citations, we know that had Jesus not been crucified, his mission would have culminated in his own day with the subjugation of all evildoers by the power and authority of the Word which God had given him as the Lord of judgement and the Prince of Peace.

The stages for the consummation of human history in the Last Days follow the three Blessings which were given by God in the beginning: "be fruitful, (individual perfection), multiply (family perfection), and subdue the earth (dominion over the creation)." As we will see in the following chapters, with the worldwide providence centering on the Gospel of Jesus Christ during the last 2,000 years, these "three Blessings" must be reclaimed by mankind through Christ on the world-wide level so that Christ can fulfill his mission as Messiah to all people of all nations. Therefore, in these Last Days, we find miraculous events the world over which are preparing the way for all mankind to fulfill their potential as perfected men and women, for all families to become God-centered ideal families, and for all the creation to rejoice in the revealing of the sons and daughters of God. With this development on the worldwide level in mind, let us consider the mission of the Messiah from the Principle point of view.

2) The Mission of the Messiah

Mankind have forfeited the right they once possessed to the friendship of their Heavenly Father, and through sin have exposed themselves to misery and wretchedness. Who is to bring back to the sin-stained millions of earth that which they have lost through disobedience? Who is to plant smiling peace and plenty where war and desolation reign? Who is to remove the curse and its consequences from earth--the homestead of mankind? Who shall say to the raging and contending elements, "Peace, be still," and extract the poison from the reptile's tooth, and the savage and destructive nature from beast and creeping thing?4

Mormons and Unificationists share the view that Christ must come again to substantially establish the Kingdom of Heaven on this earth as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. The second part of this thesis will be devoted to the Principle and Mormon views of the Second Coming of Christ. This chapter, however, is devoted to looking into God's original intention for the Advent of Christ at his first coming. In particular, this section raises the issue: "Did Christ come solely for the purpose of dying on the cross or was there a means for him to bring Salvation without being crucified? To properly probe this question for new insight under the guiding light of the Principle, we shall investigate three topics, including the preparation of the Jewish people, two kinds of prophecies concerning the Advent of Christ, and the condemnation brought by Jesus concerning his crucifixion.

First, let us very briefly consider God's work for two thousand years to prepare the chosen nation for the coming of Christ at the first advent. (This issue will be presented in detail in Chapter 5). Beginning with Abraham as the father of faith for his people, God raised up a prepared nation to receive Jesus as the prophesied Messiah. From Brigham Young we find:

. . .they were once the blessed of the Lord, the chosen of the Lord, the promised seed. They were the people from among whom should spring the Messiah; and salvation could be found only through that people. The Messiah came through them, and they killed him. . .5

Besides the presence of the Israelite nation at the advent of Jesus, we find two kinds of prophecy concerning the fate of Jesus Christ which address this concern of whether or not God originally intended for Jesus Christ to crucified as a ransom for the salvation of all mankind or to reign as the Lord of Glory on the earth.

In the Old Testament, we find a dual prophecy with regard to how Jesus would carry out his mission when he came to bring salvation to all mankind. On the one hand there is one kind of prophecy which speaks of Jesus experiencing great suffering and death (Isaiah 53) while another (Isaiah 9) which tells of Jesus coming in great glory and honor to rule over all the nations of the world:

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given and the government will be upon his shoulder, and his name will be called "Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David, and over his kingdom , to establish it, and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and for evermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this. (Isa. 9:6-7)

Many Christians believed that the prophecies concerning the coming of Jesus only prophesied his death by crucifixion. Let us inquire into the reason why contradictory prophecies are found in the Book of Isaiah. Knowing that God gave mankind both free will and human responsibility, we know that God, according to His own universal law of love, cannot compel mankind to act righteously nor predict with absolute precision whether we will do good or pursue evil. Therefore even concerning the advent of Jesus as the Messiah for all mankind, God cannot foreordain that mankind will accept, follow and attend him unconditionally. Therefore, if the chosen people could not recognize the time of their visitation by God's only Begotten son, He would want to at least make a new foundation so that he would be accepted at a later time.

While Mormon doctrine holds that it was necessary for Jesus to become the sacrificial lamb slain before the foundation of the world, the Principle teaches that this was not in accordance with God's desire see His son reign supreme on the earth as the Prince of Peace establishing the Kingdom of God and ruling over it in true love. Rather, the crucifixion of Jesus Christ was an alternate course determined by God upon seeing the stubbornness of the "stiff-necked" Israelites to recognize, receive, and unite with Christ Jesus. Let us now consider Jesus' own words on this matter.

When asked by the people what they should do to be doing the will of God, Jesus replied: "This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom He has sent." Let's review New Testament passages concerning the chosen people's failure to accept their Savior.

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, killing the prophets and stoning those who are sent to you! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not! (Matt. 23:37)

You did not know the time of your visitation. (Luke 19:44)

You search the scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness to me; yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life. (John 5:39-40)

I have come in my Father's name, and you do not receive me. . .If you believed Moses, you would believe me. (John 5: 43 & 46)

None of the rulers of this age understood this; for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. (I Corinthians 2:8)

If Jesus had been received by the chosen people, he could have established the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. As the true olive tree, Jesus could have engrafted all of fallen mankind into his sinless blood lineage, thereby giving spiritual salvation and physical redemption. Brigham Young once said:

. . .to us there is but one God, and one Lord Jesus Christ--one Savior who came in the meridian of time to redeem the earth and the children of men from original sin that was committed by our first parents. . .6

This atonement process should have been made manifest in the Marriage Supper of Lamb in which all humanity could have partaken in order to be redeemed from the satanic bondage of Satan.

As we will investigate in Chapter 6, John the Baptist's mission to proclaim Jesus as the Lord was central in order for the Jewish people to accept and follow Jesus as their Savior. As with the Fall of humankind, God suffered a broken heart over the failure of humankind to fulfill their God-given portion of responsibility to do the will of God. The necessity of Jesus being led as a lamb to the slaughter, a miserable substitution for the glorious redemptive work which would have been facilitated had Jesus been properly received and attended by the chosen people, was a secondary course of action so that God could salvage a new foundation to send Christ at a later time to a new chosen nation centering on Christianity. Brigham Young maintains:

When the Savior visits Jerusalem, and the Jews look upon him, and see the wounds in his hands and in his side and in his feet, they will then know that they have persecuted and put to death the true Messiah, and then they will acknowledge him, but not till then. They have confounded his first and second coming, expecting his first coming to be as a mighty prince instead of as a servant.7

By delivering Jesus to his crucifixion, Jesus' earthly mission was postponed. As a result, the salvation which was ransomed at Calvary is fundamentally spiritual in nature. This is why, from the Principle view, we understand that only with the Second Advent of Christ can we expect to see the redemption of our bodies from the wages of sin. That is why Paul, the center of faith for the disciples, said in despair, "So then, I of myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin." (Rom. 7:22-25) Also, John confessed in I John 1:8-10 saying,

If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. . .If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

While we should never underestimate the precious value of the spiritual salvation gained through Jesus' crucifixion, we would be putting ourselves at a great disadvantage if we believe it was God's original intention for His only Begotten Son to be murdered when in fact his crucifixion was a terrible consequence of the ignorance and stubbornness of fallen humanity. As we ponder this matter with deep prayerfulness and humility, let's investigate another realm of the Advent of Christ known as the principles of resurrection.

3) Principles of Resurrection

Understanding the Biblical concept of life and death allows us to know the true reason why we must come back to life through resurrection. In Luke 9:60 Jesus tells a disciple who wants to bury his father, "Leave the dead to bury their own dead." Here we find two distinct concepts of life and death. The first concept deals with literal physical death of the disciple's father, while the second concept deals with the spiritual state of those people who are cut off from the love of God: "the dead." The opposite of spiritual death is the joy of actively living in the presence of God's precious unconditional true love. Another example from the Bible is when Jesus said, ". . .he who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die." (John 11:25-26) This refers to the fact that even after our physical life expires, it is possible to live in the love of God if a person believes in Jesus. Finally, in Luke 17:33 we find, "Whoever seeks to gain his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will preserve it." Here Jesus meant that those who betray the will of God in order to preserve their physical life, while physically active, are in fact, dead. Those who willingly sacrifice their lives for God's will, however, though they are dead and buried, will live eternally in the love of God. With this understanding in mind, let's consider the death brought about by the Fall of Adam and Eve and the need for resurrection.

With two distinct concepts of death in mind, which kind of death came about due to the Fall of Adam and Eve? God created humankind to fulfill our earthly purpose, grow old, and turn to dust even as our spirit ascends into the spiritual world. Brigham Young himself refers to this inevitability:

The Lord has pleased to organize tabernacles here, and put spirits into them, and they then become intelligent beings. By and by, sooner or later, the body, this that is tangible to you, that you can feel, see, handle, etc., returns to its mother dust. Is the spirit dead? No. You believe the spirit still exists, when this body has crumbled into the earth again, and the spirit that God puts into the tabernacle goes into the world of spirits. What is their situation? Is there any opportunity for them whatever? Yes there is.8

Our flesh is like clothes for our spirit. When our clothing wears out, it is natural for us to discard it; likewise when our body becomes old, it must be laid to rest. According to the Divine Principle:
If men were to live eternally on the earth, there would have been no need to create, in the beginning, the invisible world where spirit men are supposed to go after physical death. The invisible world was not created after the human fall, so that the spirits of fallen men might go there to live; rather it had been created before the creation of men, so that their spirits, after having accomplished the purpose of creation, might go and live there forever. . .Fallen men are strongly attached to their physical life on earth because, due to the fall, they became ignorant of the fact that they had been created to go to live eternally in the beautiful invisible world after discarding their flesh.9 The Divine Principle goes on to give the analogy of the transformation of a caterpillar to a butterfly, likening it to the transformation of our life on the earth to our life in the spirit world. If a caterpillar living in the soil had consciousness, he would also be reluctant to die, from attachment to his life under the earth, just as man is attached to his physical life on earth. This is because the caterpillar does not know that there is another new world after his death where he can enjoy fragrant flowers and sweet honey.10

Brigham Young makes a similar case:
It is a great cause of joy and rejoicing and comfort to his friends to know that a person has passed away in peace from this life, and has secured to himself a glorious resurrection. The earth and the fullness of the earth and all that pertains to this earth in an earthly capacity is no comparison with the glory, joy and peace and happiness of the soul that departs in peace.11

If physical death is not a result of the fall, then the real death caused by the fall can be none other than spiritual death. We know that even after Adam and Eve fell they did not physically die, but rather they were cast out of the Garden of Eden, which signified the place on the earth were man could live constantly in the presence of God's true love. This fact can be seen throughout the New Testament in such places as I John 3:14 "He who does not love remains in death" and Romans 8:6 "To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the spirit is life and peace." Now lets look specifically into the providence of resurrection for spirit men.

According to the principle of creation, the spirit man can grow and resurrect only through the physical body. In the case of all the spirit men who have passed into the spirit world, the only way they can be resurrected is through the physical bodies of those living on the earth. Every person is born with the purpose and responsibility to fulfill the three great blessings and live in the Kingdom of Heaven in Heaven. Through resurrection, spirit men may fulfill any responsibility left unaccomplished during their physical life on earth by cooperating with the earthly saints and helping them fulfill the same mission. Jude 1:14 describes that in the Last Days, the Lord will come "with his holy myriads." Perhaps the most notable example of such resurrection is found in the example of John the Baptist whom Jesus called "Elijah." Jesus said John was Elijah because the spirit of Elijah descended upon John so that he could work to fulfill his mission to make the way straight for the Lord. Let us consider how both good and evil spirits can assist Christ through resurrection at the time of the Second Advent.

Both good and evil spirit men may participate in God's providence of restoration. Good spirits, including Christians, adherents of other religions and those who led conscientious lives while on earth seek to cooperate with earthly men and women of the same beliefs and spiritual standard living on the earth. In this way, the spirits cooperate in establishing the Kingdom of Heaven on earth and in so doing receive the same benefits in the realm of the spirit that their earthly saints receive. According to the Principle, only certain works performed by evil spirits qualify for the benefits of resurrection. Specifically, when an evil spirit punishes an earthly person who is carrying a debt of sin or exercises judgement on behalf of God, that spirit can be elevated in the spiritual world. The earthly person who endures such torment in gratitude will pay penance for their sins and be entitled to a higher station of responsibility. Through their works, the evil spirit man has helped the providence of God on earth and will therefore be resurrected to a higher realm in the spirit world. Jesus himself has worked to liberate spirits from prison as indicated by Brigham Young:

Jesus was the first man that ever went to preach to the spirits in prison, holding the keys of the Gospel of salvation to them. Those keys were delivered to him in the day and hour that he went into the spirit world, and with them he opened the door of salvation to the spirits in prison.12

In the Last Days, certain earthly men are in charge of worldwide missions succeeding spirit men who once held the same mission. In this way, the earthly man is the second coming of their predecessor spirit man. This is the basis for the Principle explanation of the providence of resurrection. Another significant aspect of the Advent of Christ are the concepts of "trinity" and "rebirth."

4) Trinity and Rebirth

"I and my Father are one," says Jesus; what one body? No, it never entered the Savior's mind that such a rendering of this saying would ever enter into the minds of persons holding the least claim to good sense. They are no more one person than I and one of my sons are one person. If my son receives my teaching, will walk in the path I mark out for him to walk in, if his faith is the same as mine, his purpose is the same, and he does the work of his father as Jesus did the work of his Father, then is my son one with me in the scriptural sense.13

With this point of agreement as a foundation, I will present the Principle explanation pertaining to the distinctiveness of God, Jesus, and the Holy spirit in view of the Latter-day Saint belief that Jesus is God and introduce new insight into the process of spiritual rebirth and physical rebirth. While Latter-day Saints believe that Jesus is God, that Jesus was chosen by God to be the Savior of mankind before the creation of the world, and that the earth was created through Jesus, the Principle offers a clearly different explanation for the personhood, messianic calling, and creatorship of Jesus Christ. First, let's investigate the idea that Jesus is God. When we consider the value of a person who has attained the purpose of creation, we cannot help but say that such a person resembles God. In fact, the value of the entire cosmos is not complete without such a perfect man, because he is the lord of all creation. The Divine Principle states:

Jesus is truly a man of this value. However great his value may be, he cannot assume a value greater than that of a man who has attained the purpose of creation. Therefore, we cannot deny that Jesus was a man who had attained the purpose of creation. The Principle does not deny the attitude of faith held by many Christians that Jesus is God, since it is true that a perfected man is one body with God. Furthermore, when the Principle asserts that Jesus is a man having attained the purpose of creation, this does not in the least diminish his value.14

While the Principle affirms that it is true that he who has seen Jesus has seen God, it clearly distinguishes God the Father from Jesus the son. Brigham Young shows the selflessness and filial heart of Jesus toward his Father in Heaven:
He did nothing of himself. He wrought miracles and performed a good work on the earth; but of himself he did nothing. He said, "As I have seen my Father do, so do I." "I came not to do my will, but the will of him that sent me." We must come to the conclusion that the Son of God did not suggest, dictate, act, or produce any manifestation of his power, of his glory, or of his errand upon the earth, only as it came from the mind and will of his Father.15

There are examples in the Bible of Jesus calling on his Father for help, demonstrating that they are two distinct beings. (Matt. 27:46, John 17:1) Could we ever, for example, imagine that God himself could be crucified by Satan? Also, on the cross, Jesus exclaimed "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" indicating once again that Jesus is not literally Heavenly God. Therefore, from the view of the Principle, Jesus can by no means be God Himself.

Second, let's consider the notion that the earth was literally created through Jesus, a significant doctrine of the Mormon Church. In John 1:10 it says, "He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world knew him not." Divine Principle elucidates this very perplexing Scripture:

According to the principle of creation, the world of creation is the substantial development of the character and form of a man of perfected individuality. So, a man who has fulfilled the purpose of creation is the substantial encapsulation of the entire cosmos, and the center of harmony in the whole creation. In that sense, it may also be said that the world was created by a man of perfection. God intended to have man, after his perfection through the fulfillment of his own portion of responsibility, stand in the position of the creator over all things, by giving him even His own creative nature. Seen from this perspective, we can understand that the Bible (John 1:10) only clarifies the fact that Jesus was a man who had perfected the purpose of creation, and does not signify that he was the Creator Himself.16

Clearly, the Principle affirms that the world of creation was created in the substantial likeness of Christ as the perfected Adam who is the perfect incarnation of God's dual essentialities of character and form. On the other hand, the earth and the world of creation were created by none other than God the Father.

Finally, based on the discussion presented in the "Fall of Humankind," the Principle doesn't support the doctrine that Jesus Christ was appointed by God to be the Messiah before the creation of the earth. To begin with, as discussed in Chapter two, Mormon Doctrine teaches that Jesus volunteered to be the savior of mankind knowing that the "happy fall" was inevitable. As mentioned, the Principle rejects the "happy fall" on the basis that mankind was created with a physical body and therefore did not need to fall in order to procreate. Instead, the fall was the most sorrowful event in Heavenly Father's life. As pointed out in the section "predestination," Heavenly Father could not predict with certainty that Adam and Eve would ever fall and that there would ever need to be a savior at all. Therefore, the concept messiah, from the Principle viewpoint, did not come into being until after the human fall. Let's now look at the new revelation presented by the Principle to explain the role of the trinity in the process of rebirth.

As the original human parents, Adam and Eve gave birth to fallen humankind. The Principle teaches that just as all of us were born through the love relationship of our parents, we can only be reborn through parents as well. In this regard, Jesus is seen by the Principle as the True Parent of all humankind. In fact, according to the Principle, if Jesus had not been rejected and crucified, he would have married, and his God-given wife would have been the True Mother of humankind, sharing the responsibility with Jesus as the True Parents. Furthermore, due to the rejection of Jesus by the Israelites, he was forced to abandon his earthly (physical) mission and substitute it with the crucifixion and resurrection (spiritual) mission. So that Jesus could fulfill his new mission as the spiritual True Father of mankind, the Principle teaches that the Holy Spirit works together with Jesus as the spiritual True Mother. While Christianity typically identifies the Holy Spirit as masculine, the warm and embracing qualities and characteristics of the Holy Spirit as a comforter, healer, and teacher are actually mostly feminine in nature. Therefore, the trinity of God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit is a spiritual trinity patterned after the ideal trinity of God, sinless Adam, and sinless Eve. In other words, the trinity is the representation of the ideal of the perfected family centered on God.

Likewise, we expect that when Christ returns, he will come not as a single parent but together with his God-given bride. Thus the sinless union of the True Parents will produce the first True Family. The Marriage Feast of the Lamb prophesied in the book of Revelation is much more than the symbolic unity of Christ and the Church. Upon the foundation of the Wedding Feast of True Parents, all humankind will eventually become engrafted into the sinless lineage of True Parents by partaking of the Wedding Blessing of True Parents. In this way, through the substantial physical trinity established and multiplied all over the earth, God will be able to dwell at the center of the family, tribe, society, nation, world and cosmos. This will result in the establishment of the Kingdom of Heaven on earth and in Heaven. With this view of the future, let us now consider how God has been working throughout human history to bring about the necessary conditions to establish His ideal for the creation through the providence of restoration.

1 Young, Brigham. Journal of Discourses. Vol. 2 p. 124.
2 Ibid. vol. 8 p. 123.
3 Moon, Sun Myung. "View of the Principle of the Providential History of Salvation." Founder's address presented at the Inaugural Banquet of The Washington Times Foundation. April 16, 1996, Washington D.C., p. 8.
4 Young, Op. Cit. Vol. 10 p. 301.
5 Young, Op. Cit. Vol. 2 p. 142.
6 Ibid. Vol. 11 p. 122.
7 Ibid., Vol. 11, p. 279.
8 Ibid., Vol. 2 p. 138.
9 Divine Principle. Op. Cit. p. 168.
10 Ibid. p. 168.
11 Young, Brigham. Op. Cit. Vol. 12 p. 186.
12 Ibid. Vol. 3 p. 370.
13 Ibid., vol. 10 p. 192.
14 Divine Principle, Op. Cit. p. 209.
15 Young, Brigham. Op. Cit. Vol. 6 p. 96.
16 Divine Principle. Op. Cit., p. 211.

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