Ep 409 - God's Providence and Our Portion of Responsibility Part 2
The Lord of the Second Advent and True Father's Indemnity Course #44
We are already in the middle of December, but the weather is still not so cold here. I want to see beautiful snow.
Today I’d like to talk about “God's providence and our portion of responsibility” from True Mother Hak Ja Han Moon: An Anthology, Book 1.
Though Jesus died on the cross before he could completely fulfill the purpose for his coming to this earth, he achieved spiritual salvation during the 40 days of his resurrection, and thus the history of Christianity was begun. Christianity, how-ever, was divided into many denominations, because it did not know God's Will or the true purpose of Jesus' coming. In spite of this, God nurtured Christianity and paved the foundation to send the Lord of the Second Advent. At the time, the Second World War had just ended. Until the time before the Second World War, the victorious nations were in control of the defeated nations, but after this war, the victorious nations helped the defeated nations. Such a providence came to pass because all the nations in the world had become brother nations, for the time had come for the Lord of the Second Advent to appear. (July 20, 2006, Nairobi, Kenya)
After Jesus' ascension, God prepared the environment where He could keep His promise to send the Lord of the Second Advent through the Christian cultural realm, right after the Second World War. God allowed western culture to rule over the world because it was His great Will to send the Lord of the Second Advent through the Christian culture at a certain time, and unite this world as one. Though the history of Christianity in Korea is a short one, it sums up the essence of Christianity. At the time of the Second World War, Christian history was 2,000 years old, but the only people who believed at that time that the Lord would come again in the flesh were the Christians in Korea. (May 30, 2006, Jakarta, Indonesia)
You must have learned from True Parents' words that the time when Heaven was able to seek out humanity and achieve His Will was the year 1945. In 1945, after the Second World War, the foundation of Christianity was ready in an environment where the Lord of the Second Advent could be received, but that Will was not realized. Historically, Korea is a nation where all the religions introduced have come to fruition. At that time, when Christian history was almost 2,000 years old, the history of Christianity in Korea was less than a century long. At a time when all Christians in the world were looking up at the sky, believing that the Lord of the Second Advent would appear from there, the Christians in Korea were waiting for the Lord who was directly connected to Heaven and who was to come substantially in the flesh. There were even spiritual groups who received revelations on what the coming Lord would look like and what size clothes he would wear, and they made clothes for him in advance.
Even in the world, when a king is to be enthroned, he needs a foundation to stand on and subjects to rule. If there is no foundation and nothing is prepared in terms of ceremonial procedures or clothes, it will not be enough for somebody to just appear and say “I am king.” All the Christians in the world are meant to be the subjects of the coming Lord, but not one Christian denomination has made preparations to receive the coming Lord. Believing in a Lord who will come upon the clouds may be said to be a far-fetched, illogical faith. Christian history has had both Cain's side and Abel's side. Cain's side, which came into existence first, expanded and grew phenomenally, while Abel's side had only a handful of people who could receive the Lord. (May 4, 2006, Miami, USA)
True Mother said, “Though Jesus died on the cross before he could completely fulfill the purpose for his coming to this earth, he achieved spiritual salvation during the 40 days of his resurrection, and thus the history of Christianity was begun”
Based on True mother’s word, “Spiritual Cain and Abel Must Be Restored First Before Physical Cain and Abel Are Restored.” This content came from True Father’s word.
Spiritual Cain and Abel Must Be Restored First Before Physical Cain and Abel Are Restored
<60-190> What is Christianity? Christianity is a religion of spiritual salvation. Isn’t that right? Isn’t it spiritual salvation? It lost the substance. The completion of the spiritual salvation is, in other words, what kind of history has it been so far? History until now is the history of the restoration of servants. In other words, it is the history of the archangel's restoration. Yes, Jesus died and is now in the spirit world, but what was his mission? He did the mission of a son who could receive love. If he was the son, he would have to go to his father's house, but since he cannot enter his father's house and is in paradise, he’s taking responsibility for the mission of restoring the archangel, which is the completion of the providence of spiritual salvation of Christianity. Do you understand? (August 17, 1972)
Very interesting here: “If he was the son, he would have to go to his father's house, but since he cannot enter his father's house and is in paradise…” What does it mean? Father’s house means what? God’s house. God’s house is the kingdom of heaven. You can stay in the kingdom of heaven through a substantial foundation. A substantial foundation means what? You need to form the family. Without forming the family, you cannot stay in Father’s house, which is the kingdom of heaven. Spiritual salvation means no substantial body. Spiritual salvation means you have not yet formed a family.
Next(?) when we talk about (not having?) sovereignty and people and nation, that means what? You don’t have a substantial body which is the substantial kingdom of heaven on earth. Until we restore one nation, one sovereignty, one people, it is still spiritual salvation because there is no substantial body.
True Mother stated the following. “Though Jesus died on the cross before he could completely fulfill the purpose for his coming to this earth, he achieved spiritual salvation during the 40 days of his resurrection, and thus the history of Christianity was begun.”
True Father stated that Christianity is a religion of spiritual salvation.
What does it mean? (It means) no substantial sovereignty, no substantial kingdom of heaven on earth.
The achievement of spiritual salvation only refers to how only spiritual salvation was achieved upon the loss of the substantial body. Jesus was supposed to establish both spiritual salvation and physical salvation when he still had a physical body, but was not able to establish a substantial foundation due to offering his body through the cross.
Jesus doesn’t have a body. Then how (can he) substantiate? No wife. No family. How (can he) settle on the earth centering on a minimum level of the four position foundation, centering on God and husband and wife and children? Without a spouse, without children, how can (he) settle on earth? The substantial foundation begins with your spouse, begins from forming the family and having children. We call that the four position foundation. The four position foundation means (one is) on the family level. If no family -- just a boy or girl living on the earth (who eventually) dies -- you don’t have a substantial foundation.
Substantial salvation is that of entering the realm of completion upon passing through the completion-level of the growth stage (and) upon a man and woman receiving the Blessing together. Thus, Christianity is in the position of only existing spiritually, like the archangel, due to only having spiritual salvation without a body.
The archangel has no body. The archangel is only an invisible spirit. It has no substantial body, right? That is why without establishing and forming the family substantially, any religion is still under the spiritual level.
Accordingly, Christianity is forced to remain in the realm of spiritual salvation only. All religions below the completion-level of the growth stage correspond to the level of the archangel. The level of the archangel is given from the level of servant to adopted son, which is reflected in these religions.
That is why True Father stated that Jesus has passed away to the spirit world but only completed the mission of the son who could receive love from God. A son is supposed to enter his father’s house, but Jesus has been unable to enter his Father’s house and instead has been in Paradise, the waiting room before entry to Heaven. Jesus, with the mission of completing the restoration of the archangel, conducted the providence through Christianity, and Christianity is thus limited to the completion of the providence of spiritual salvation.
At the individual level in order to have the substantial foundation, no matter what, you need to receive the blessing; you need to form a family. Otherwise you cannot settle in the spiritual world at all. How can we settle? It begins with the family. That is why we need to have the four position foundation. The four position foundation is settlement substantially upon the earth.
This is the family level; (then) we need to expand to the national level. We need to have substantial sovereignty, God’s people, God’s nation. Without substantially forming God’s nation, Satan can invade and destroy (our foundation) any time. That is why the minimum level is the national level. The nation means we need to have sovereignty, we need to have people, need to have land. That is why until the substantial restoration of one nation, your foundation is not yet substantial. Your foundation is still only (on the level of) spiritual salvation. That is the problem.
That is why True Parents are looking so much for a substantial foundation. No sovereignty, no nation, no people? The evil sovereignty can invade and destroy any time. That is why we need to have a substantial (nation). Without one substantial nation, we cannot protect our people, our nation. That is why True Parents want to restore the nation of Korea so much. Of course, True Parents have already proclaimed Cheon il Guk; already God’s nation (exists); that is really substantial. Even though we don’t yet have a national level foundation, True Parents have already proclaimed CIG based on the blessed families, based on Cheongpyeong land, based on True Parents sovereignty. That is already substantial.
Because True Parents already have a substantial foundation, then this foundation can last forever. However, Jesus did not have a wife, did not have a family. Then how (can he) substantiate on the earth?
ACLC must thus complete the mission of completely unifying all of Christianity together. All Christians, on the standard of having achieved such unity, must meet the True Parents, receive the Blessing, and receive both spiritual and physical salvation through them.
As a Christian if you don’t receive the Blessing, (then) without meeting True Parents, your foundation still is centering on spiritual salvation; it is not a substantial foundation yet.
Christian pastors and believers will remain in the completion-level of the growth stage even if they learn the Principle and receive the Blessing unless they complete the 3-Day Ceremony as well. Our mission as Unification Church members is to have all Christians receive the Blessing, be registered in the CheonBo Won, and receive both spiritual and physical salvation.
<60-190> When considering such an issue, from now on, if the Unification Church, centering on spirit and body, sets only the standards of the ideal that Jesus was driven out of, the world of the archangels will be subdued. Do you understand? [Yes] Jesus couldn't be a son; then why couldn't he have become a son? This is because he couldn’t win a victory on the national level. Therefore, if it becomes a standard that can advance from the national level, the world of the archangel will absolutely obey and submit on the earth. Then, the original world centered on the spiritual Adam will be realized. So, what is the current government's position? If the Unification Church is the physical Abel, the government is the physical Cain. Therefore, the physical Cain and Abel must be restored on the foundation where the spiritual Cain and Abel are restored. This is the conclusion of the Principle. (August 17, 1972)
In addition, it is crucial to have each Christian pastor and believer all be registered in the CheonBo Won through the ACLC as part of the next stage. We must expand this foundation to reach the national level. The substantial Cheon Il Guk can be established only when this is completed.
A foundation can collapse at any time unless there is the substantial pursuit and establishment of a foundation and standard until the national level with True Parents at the center.
If the Unification Church is likened to the physical Abel, a nation’s government corresponds to the level of physical Cain. The physical Cain and Abel must be restored on the foundation of the restoration of the spiritual Cain and Abel.
Our task is thus figuring out what we can do to lay a substantial foundation to move the U.S. government. We must first establish a spiritual foundation by unifying all of Christianity as one centering on the ACLC. In this respect, ACLC’s activities and role are extremely crucial. Once U.S. Christianity and the Unification Church become one as Cain and Abel respectively, the path in which we can become one with the U.S. government will automatically open without fail. This is the substantial and physical foundation that we need.
That is why we need to make unity through ACLC centering on all of Christianity together. We already have the spiritual foundation; this condition can unite with the physical foundation which is the U.S. government. That is why in the beginning we need to have spiritual unity centered on ACLC Christian leadership. This is the condition (through which) we can unite with the external foundation which is the U.S. government. Then (we) can go forward. Why do True Parents focus on ACLC? I truly understand that. The spiritual foundation comes first; then through that we can make a substantial foundation with the government.
In that sense, first, we need to lay the groundwork for the restoration of the nation by internally uniting ACLC, which is Abel's position, and UPF, which is Cain's position.
LIVING DIVINE PRINCIPLE: Who Is God?
God is:
• The subject and harmonious union of original internal nature and original external form.
• The harmonious union of original masculinity and original femininity.
• The subject partner having qualities of internal nature and masculinity towards the universe.
1. God is my eternal parent.
2. God is the subject of the Three Great Subjects thought
3. God is absolute, unique, unchanging and eternal.
4. God is a God of love.
5. God is a God of heart.
6. God is the Word.
7. God is dual characteristics.
8. God is the original absolute Sex.
9. God is a being of character.
10. God is the origin of Principle, law and order.
Recently I have been talking about who God is. I have already shared from one to four (above). Today I will focus on “God is a God of heart.” The Korean word is shimjung.
5. God is a God of Heart [Shimjung]
“The emotional impulse that cannot help but live for the sake of others, that cannot help but love others, that cannot help but sacrifice for the sake of others. In other words, the emotional impulse that has to love no matter what.”
I was so inspired by Father’s explanation of shimjung. We normally talk about heart according to outside terminology. Our (concept of) heart is very different according to Father’s explanation.
What is heart [shimjung]?
God has the emotional impulse that cannot help but live for the sake of others.
God has the emotional impulse that cannot help but love for the sake of others.
God has the emotional impulse that cannot help but sacrifice for the sake of others.
God has the emotional impulse that has to love no matter what.” (he almost can not control himself…)
Heart [shimjung] is much, much deeper than love. Father said, Love is thus external, while shimjung is internal.
I really love this explanation of heart.
What is heart? We need to understand that God has this kind of heart, loving the universe, loving each human being.
<9-286> In the end, we cannot come before God wearing the mask of religion, or the mask of any ideology or doctrine. We cannot come before him with any doctrine. We cannot come before him bearing just the name of a religion. What must we have to come before Him? We must come before him with heart. We must face God with a heart that goes beyond the moral leader who believes in himself.
Heaven is a world of heart. Religion, theory, external matter all disappear in the end. The only thing that remains at the end is the heart. Position and honor all disappear between parents and children, and only the heart of missing each other remains. Therefore, you should be like a child.
What is the most important thing between parents and children? Do you think it is property? Do you think that it is religious theory? Do you think (it is) any kind of external material things? Those will just go away someday.
The most important thing between parents and children is heart. That is heart! When we go to the spiritual world, we have no need to worry about what to wear, what to eat. Everything is there. What is the most essential content: God loves me; I love God -- based upon the relationship of heart. That is everything.
<9-286> That is the moral judgment of the last days. When God judges our moral standard, he does not say, "How many years did you believe in me? How many churches did you build, how many temples did you build?" Even if there were thousands or tens of thousands, that is not the point. The ultimate point is heart.
Wow! This is incredible guidance by True Father. Father said, “That is the moral judgment of the last days. When God judges our moral standard, he does not say, ‘How many years did you believe in me?’” Since you joined the church, how long has it been? You became 40 years old, 60 years old, 70 years old, your whole life you have been in the Unification Movement. That is fine. But that is not the point. How many years did you believe in God, how many years (have) you followed True Parents, that (also) is not the issue. Even though you are a senior blessed couple, even though you are really a junior blessed couple, it does not matter how many years. The important thing is how close you are to God. How much of a heartistic relationship do you have with God. That is the issue. Many people are so proud of themselves. “Since I joined the church, do you know how many spiritual children really follow me?” Do you know how many churches I built? Do you know how many temples I built? That is external. Even though you built so many churches, even though you have built so many temples or constructed this and that, how about your heart? How about your heart!? The more churches you have built, the more temples you built, the more you contributed(?) something, what is your conclusion, what is your relationship with God? How much closer has your relationship with God (become)? That is why Father said, “The ultimate point is heart.”
The only thing that remains in the end in a relationship between husband and wife is heart [shimjung], not money nor fortune. What is important is the accomplishment given by how much your loved others. That is the point.
<14-175> In the Unification Church, we say that God's heart is long and large and deep. We need to understand God's heart before the Creation, God's heart at the time of the Creation, and God's heart after the Creation at the time of the Fall of Adam and Eve. We need to understand what a large dagger went through God's heart when Adam and Eve fell. We need to know how sorrowful God was after the Fall.
I mentioned this a few times.
This is an example from Rev. Yo-han Lee. Rev. Lee stated the following. What is the Fall? It is the act of hammering a nail into God’s heart [God’s shimjung].
Each human being, as a fallen human being, always hurt God’s heart. Even though we try to contribute something for the sake of God’s will, in the end we are hurting God’s heart, more than contributing something for God.
In order to understand God’s heart [shimjung], we must understand His original heart before Adam and Eve’s fall, His heart of sorrow at the moment of their fall, and His suffering and ordeals as He has conducted the providence to restore human beings after the Fall. We must also understand how God’s heart [shimjung] must be regarding the future of human beings.
That is why we need to know his past; we need to know his current situation, and we need to know his future.
Then we can truly understand God’s heart.
<14-175> And we need to know what a mournful heart He had as he searched for us, all through the course of restoration. We need to know how mournful God's heart was even as He told His people to bear the pain as they saw their own sons and daughters being sacrificed for the sake of building the restored world. And, finally, knowing all of that, we need to work with a central being to accomplish the Will that can settle this world of sin and evil and liberate the great sorrow in God's heart.
To liberate God's sorrow and anguish means to liberate God's heart.
Recently True Mother has emphasized the importance of the CheonBo Won. Of course, the CheonBo Won is very important. True Mother says when we register for the CheonBo Won, our 5% portion of responsibility is already completed. That is fine. External result is also important, but for me -- I am a ChenBo member -- I always reflect (about) how much I understand God’s heart? How much do I understand True Mother’s lonely heart? How much of a heartistic relationship do I have with my brothers and sisters? We can achieve the external goal of the CheonBo Won, but we need to achieve the internal goal of a heartistic relationship with God, with True Father, with True Mother, with my spouse, with my children, with my dear brothers and sisters -- because the kingdom of heaven is what? The kingdom of heaven is the world of heart.
This Bible verse makes me reflect on myself.
Revelation 3:1: “You have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead.”
Then what type of people are those who are truly alive? I am talking about centering on heart.
First, A person who is truly alive is a person who always longs for God’s word and lives with the Word, a person who meets God in the Word all the time.
Those who are alive always have a longing heart to listen to God’s word, to read God’s word, because God’s word is his love, our nourishment, our spiritual food. Those who are not concerned about God’s word, those who do not have a longing heart for God’s word, those persons have something out of order.(?)
Second, A person who is truly alive is a person of constant giving. A person who has a heart of giving for the sake of others is always truly alive.
Yesterday I met one great man and great guy. He said his mission is giving and giving and giving and giving and giving. That means his spirit is really alive!
One who has a live spirit always tries to give and give and give.
Three, a person who is truly alive is a person who always gives love to others. A person who gives love to others always serves and thinks for the sake of others.
Four, a person who is truly alive is a person with a strong sense of attachment regarding the salvation of life. People who have no interest in witnessing are already (among) the spiritually dead. The quickest way to determine whether a person is spiritually alive or dead is by examining how much attachment he or she has in his or her heart towards witnessing to others to bring salvation to the lives of others.
Very simple. Is your spirit alive or not? How can you check?
You can very quickly check. Do you have the spirit of witnessing? Do you have a strong desire for the spirit of salvation? Then you are truly alive. One who truly loves God and truly loves True Parents and truly loves God’s will, that person always carries on the spirit of salvation.
If you don’t have any concern about witnessing, if you don’t have any concern about salvation, that means you have nothing to do with God, nothing to do with God’s wishes.
Thus, for us, fallen people, to be resurrected, we must have a strong attachment to saving others, or in other words, bringing salvation to the souls of others.
I would like to introduce another Bible verse here.
1 John 3:14-18: 14 We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love each other. Anyone who does not love remains in death. 15 Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him. 16 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. 17 If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? 18 Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.
This word really scared me so much!
“You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead.” Anyone who does not love remains in death. Every time I read these words, I get really scared.
The Bible mentions something important here. He (John) said that our resurrection from death to life is possible only when we love our own brothers and sisters. A person with a dead soul has no ability to love others: “I have no interest in people at all,” (I) just focus on work, work, work, work to make a living, to make money.
Also the bible says, “Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer” -- Oh, my God! -- “and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him.” It is said that he who hates his opponent is a murderer. That said, hating someone is spiritual murder.
If you are a Christian and you hate Muslims, according to the Bible, you’re a murderer. If you are a Muslim and you hate Christians, you are a murderer. If you are a husband and you don't love your wife, you're a murderer. This saying means (you should) love even your enemies who hate you, like Jesus, in any situation.
TODAY’S YOUTH MINISTRY: Jacob’s Course - Restoration of All Things and Restoration of Love Seen Through the Providence of Restoration
This is the last part of the series on Jacob’s Course.
1. Fortune of all things comes upon the foundation of restoring the family.
2. Jacob was respected by his servants, and Laban was indebted to him. What we have to learn from Jacob’s course is that Jacob had (have) others indebted to him until he got married and started his family. Before leaving the family, it is better to live a public life than to save money or get paid.
3. It is a principle to have others indebted to me so that they can help me economically when I start a family. Rather than buying your own house, you have to create an environment where people who owe you feel compelled to help you. You should live knowing that serving others is a hobby. If humans did not fall, they would live thinking that serving others is rewarding.
4. In today’s fallen world, everyone lives for themselves. If humans had not fallen, everyone would have prioritized living for others. Then blessings would automatically return to me.
5. Because we live for ourselves, life is difficult, painful, and full of numerous hardships. However, if you live for others, you will be filled with love. When a wife lives for her husband, a husband lives for his wife, parents live for children, families for relatives, relatives live for the people, and the people live for the country, everything connects and the world of God's dreams is realized.
6. This is the case even in our lives. If I live for myself, I lose strength, and if I live for others, I gain strength all the time. True Father knew such a secret, so whenever he got money, he always first thought of and used it for people in need.
7. As True Father lived like that, those who owed him were moved. Also, True Father helped others first, and if he needed something, he would go out and work, so he made good money. True Father learned the secret of how to live.
8. True Father knew and practiced the secret to surviving in Heungnam Prison. For 21 days, he experienced being mentally very full by taking half of his rice off. He said that because he lived for others, he gained weight even though he ate less than others and worked heavy labor. This is because he lived for others even in such a difficult environment. Since he lived for others, he was respected and had happy experiences.
9. When you are respected by others, your strength shows up on its own. It's really exciting. Looking at such things, people are supposed to live with love, not with food alone.
10. Our hearts are such that no matter how much we eat, we lose strength when we receive contempt from others, and even if we are starving, we get excited when we are praised by others.
11. Jacob restored love first before he got married. This is my point. He was praised by Laban, Laban's children, his servants, and people around him. Because he built a foundation of love and restored love, the fortune of all things automatically followed. Therefore, you need to restore love first before restoring all things.
We can learn from Jacob’s course. Restoring all things or restoring love? We need to think about this. Which do we need to restore first? You need to restore love, you (need to) conquer someone’s heart, you need to move someone’s heart. Then external material blessing automatically will come. But fallen man focuses on the restoration of all things. That is a problem. We need to really comfort someone’s heart through serving and loving and having everyone indebted to us. Then you don’t need to worry about financial matters, according to True Father’s guidance.
12. In the fallen world, people are extremely frugal and save money to buy their own houses. Even if they go to work, they don't work for the sake of that company. They just work to make money. How many people these days really love and work for a company that I get paid for?
13. When I work for a company, the only person I work for to get my paycheck is the company's servant. Therefore, you can never become the owner of the company. You should think of the company's work as God's work.
“No matter what, I want to make a profit for my company.” “How (can I) make a profit for my company” rather than “how (can I) make money through my company.” Wow! Then you can become the owner of that company. Then the income will automatically come to you. God will really bless you, and that company will protect you because you are taking ownership.
As Jacob worked in Laban's house, he thought it was God's job to help him. This is not Laban’s job. This is my job. This is God’s job. This is God’s will. His attitude is really excellent and wonderful.
14. The universe blesses those who give. God does not bless those who try to own their own things first. God blesses those who give a lot to others.
When you go to a company and work outside, do not work as a servant. Don’t work to make money. Truly, truly love that company. Truly, truly love that organization. Think that this is God’s will. Think “My job is God’s job” and work for that company, work for that institution, rather then (thinking) how to make money for myself. Then you will truly become the owner of that company, owner of that institution. Then surely God will bless you. Blessing and heavenly fortune will automatically come to you.
The conclusion is what? We need to restore love first. When we restore love first, then the restoration of all things will automatically come to our life of faith.
(Response to sharing) Even though they have the heart, many people hesitate to do witnessing. We need to change our concept. If I decide to do something for witnessing, that… does not work. Let God work. Let God talk. When we truly deny ourselves, truly believe in God and deny myself, then using my body, he will talk, he will know how to guide people. If we have that kind of empty heart and mind and deny ourselves, we can have incredible experiences and witnessing will become joy and happiness. It will become our hobby.♦