The Words of Sun Myung Moon from 1974
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The Words of Sun Myung Moon from 1974 |
In 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.
We 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.
It 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.
The 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.
In 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.
Jesus 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 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.
You 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.
If 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.
In 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.
The 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.