Chapter 25 - Attendance: Sacrifice

Chapter Summary and Introduction

A very simple but accurate definition of sacrifice, is doing something that one does not want to do, but does it because it is the right thing to do. At times, to sacrifice can be extremely difficult, and utmost effort is necessary. Sacrifice is for the sake of love and for the restoration of love. True love can be defined not only for what it is, but what it does. True love sacrifices in order to build relationships and in order to restore relationships. There are also higher and still more altruistic definitions of sacrifice. God invested and sacrificed Himself totally for the love of human beings, His sons and daughters. His sons and daughters should have matured and returned love to God. These would have been His filial sons and daughters who would have loved God by attending Him with all their sincerity, utmost devotion, and the sacrificial heart that God Had invested in them.

Parental love sacrifices for children from the position of the subject partner. In filial attendance the children as object partners sacrifice for the parents. This establishes a vertical relationship of sacrificial love in the Parent and child relationship.

In His Providence, God has been restoring mankind in order that the Parent and child relationship may be established. The relationship of love between God and His children must first be restored before an ideal family of true love and God's Kingdom of love can be established. This is the relationship of Parental love and filial attendance. The fulfillment of the first blessing is accomplished when the Heavenly Parent and child relationship is realized. Due to the Fall, God needs to save and re-create mankind. In order to restore the Parent and child relationship sacrifice is necessary.

Due to the Fall mankind has come to stand in a midway position between God and Satan. God is able to influence mankind through their original nature and Satan continues to dominate mankind through their sinful nature. God has been trying to separate mankind from Satan. God, with His Parental love continues to sacrifice and invest Himself in order to teach human beings that they may be successful in making the necessary sacrifices to separate from Satan. Human beings need to fulfill their portion of responsibility by making the necessary sacrifices in order to separate from Satan and to restore and establish God's ideals of creation. Mankind made the conditions by which Satan claims them. Satan's ownership, however, is not absolute. Mankind can thus make the necessary conditions to separate from Satan. All religions teach the way of sacrifice. Sacrifice is necessary in order to fulfill the indemnity conditions to separate from Satan and to bond with God. Filial sons and daughters attend God by accepting as their portion of responsibility the task of offering the necessary sacrifices for God, His providence, one's family and lineage, and for mankind.

God must first restore a filial son and daughter who live a life of attendance Him. Upon establishing the first blessing, the ideal of creation is fulfilled on the individual level. In order to reach individual perfection, which is the restoration of the Parent and child relationship, mankind needs to make sacrifices and undergo the process of restoration through the eight vertical stages. Men and women must make sacrifices as servants of servants, servants, adopted sons, illegitimate sons, true and filial sons, true mothers, true fathers and God. This completes the restoration of the Parent and child vertical relationship and the establishment of Parental love and filial attendance. God's holy sons and daughters live in complete attendance to their Heavenly Parent. Sacrifice is necessary to perfect the vertical tradition of love. After the Parent and child relationship is restored, one establishes and ideal family and gives birth to sinless children. The parents and their children then sacrifice in order to multiply the vertical love of God horizontally.

Once the vertical relationship between the Parent and child is established, God's love is embodied in His filial sons and daughters. Vertical love then needs to be expanded horizontally. The vertical expansion of love horizontally is established through the restoration of the eight horizontal stages. These are the individual, the family, the tribe, the race, nation, world, cosmos and God. This is fulfilled through the process of the restoration of the elder son's birthright in each of the eight horizontal stages. True love is necessary. Sacrifice is necessary at each of the eight stages of horizontal restoration and expansion. Sacrifice is the continual giving of true love at each stage. Sacrifice of heart and true love completes the establishment of God's ideal world of creation, the Kingdom of God on earth and in heaven. The victory of True Parents is due to their sacrifice of heart and true love at each of the eight stages. These sacrifices are called indemnity conditions.

Filial sons and daughters sacrifice for the sake of their family; patriots sacrifice for the sake of their nation; saints sacrifice for the sake of the world; and filial sons and daughters of God, that is holy sons and daughters of God, sacrifice for the sake of the cosmos as God's representatives.

While all religions and many philosophies recognize value in sacrificing, there is no ideology that most clearly defines sacrifice as well as Rev. Moon's ideology, The Divine Principle. The Principle maintains that sacrifice is an indemnity condition necessary to restore mankind and the cosmos back to God's original ideal of creation.

In the Old Testament Age material things of the creation and the blood of animals were offered to God as sacrifices. In the New Testament Age the body and blood of Jesus and the martyrs were the sacrificial offerings on the altar of God. In the Completed Testament age the heart, through attendance, is offered as the sacrifice. By attending True Parents and their children we can fulfill our conditions of sacrifice and indemnity for the restoration of our hearts.

The reason that sacrifices had to be offered in the three ages is that God first created the material forming the physical universe. Next God created the body of man, from all things of the creation. Next God had to put His heart in the body of human beings. Thus in the Completed Testament Age filial sons and daughters in their attendance of God and True Parents offer the suffering of their heart as the necessary condition to restore the heart of man and God's ideal of creation.

Through our tithing and financial offerings we establish the condition of offering all things to God. Though the holy wine we establish the condition of offering our body and blood to God. Through attendance we establish the conditions of offering our heart and love to God and True Parents. In this way we restore the historical vertical providential sacrifices and establish the necessary conditions to restore the eight horizontal stages and establish God's original ideals for which He created.

In the Completed Testament Age the sacrifice of the heart is the offering in order to restore the spirituality and heart of sons and daughters of filial piety and the Parent and child relationship. Sacrifice is a heartistically more demanding expression of living for the sake of others. To live for the sake of others is to live a life of service and sacrifice. God and True Parents live for the sake of the restoration of the cosmos. Filial attendance is living for the sake the Parents. The original relationship of heart was to have been expressed by Adam and Eve who would have internalized and become one with God's heart of love and such love would have been returned to God. This would have established the original Parent and child relationship of love. In the Completed Testament Age the hearts of filial sons and daughters of God are being restored. When one establishes a way of daily life living in sacrificial filial attendance to God and True Parents, then one learns to live for one's spouse, one's children, brothers and sisters, tribe, race, nation, world and cosmos.

A life of sacrifice can be summed up as living a life of absolute faith, absolute love and absolute obedience. It is living a life of attendance to God, True Parents and True Children. This is the quickest and most successful way of making acceptable sacrificial offerings. These sacrifices are necessary because Adam and Eve failed to keep faith in God's commandment and promises. They failed to obey God's Word. Because they failed to maintain absolute faith and absolute obedience, they could not inherit the heart and love of God by which they would inherit God's life, love, lineage and ownership. Adam and Eve would have developed God's nature and perfected their character, heart of love, and attendance. Instead, they inherited Satan's false life, corrupt heart and false lineage.

In making our sacrificial offerings, we need to go a course of absolute faith in God's Word and promises. It is through absolute faith, absolute love and absolute obedience that we are able to separate from Satan and establish oneness in the Parent and Child relationship. Filial sons and daughters offer sacrifices on the altar of God in order to restore the Parent and child relationship and advance His providence stage by stage, across the eight horizontal stages until the establishment of the Kingdom of God on earth and in heaven.

The Words of Rev. Sun Myung Moon

True love is sacrificial love, as with a devoted son who gains his greatest satisfaction in helping his parents. God created the universe out of just such love: absolute, unique, unchanging and eternal, investing everything without any expectation or condition of receiving something in return. (Messages of Peace 1 -- 22, 2005.9.12)

What kind of love is true love? The essence of true love is found not in having others serve you. Rather, it is found when you give out to, serve and live for the sake of others. It is love that gives and forgets that it has given, and continues to give endlessly…It is love expressed through sacrifice as when, with pleasure, a child acts with filial piety toward his or her parents. It is a love just like that which God expressed when creating humankind, an act requiring absolute, unique, unchanging and eternal love that gives without conditions or expectations of receiving anything in return. (Messages of Peace 3 -- 51, 2006.4.10)

God created the universe for the sake of His object partner. If God is alone, even He feels lonely. Don't you feel lonely if you are alone? That is why you need an object partner. You need to be in a partnership. What kind of partnership? A partnership of love. God, who is the subject of love, started out on the basis of investing and forgetting, investing infinitely and then forgetting. Therefore, His partner must also be an object partner who can infinitely invest, infinitely give and offer stimulation. To sum up, God's love contains the concept of investing and forgetting. Because this concept exists, the entire universe began to emerge on the basis of the spirit of sacrifice and service that consumes God Himself. That is how the universe began its perpetual existence. (268-13, 1995.2.7)

Those who spare no effort in sacrificing themselves become the light of their families. They are called filial children. Those who shine by sacrificing themselves for the sake of their nation are patriots. Those who sacrifice themselves for the world are known as saints, and those who do so for heaven and earth are divine sons and daughters. (276-159, 1996.2.18)

Those who live continuously for the sake of others become the central people. This is a certainty. Filial sons and daughters in the family are the ones who live continuously for the sake of their parents. They can become the central figure in a family who can inherit from the family. It is the same with patriots. Those who live in service of the nation's ruler and invest and invest again, sacrifice and sacrifice again for the sake of the nation become those who can take responsibility for the nation. Presidents or prime ministers are such people. They should certainly be the central figures. For this reason your conscience tells you to go that far. Your conscience teaches you to be a filial son or daughter in the family, a patriot in the nation, a saint in the world, and even to go the way of a divine son or daughter in heaven and earth. (275-38, 1995.10.30)

In a family, those sons and daughters who have made greater sacrifices than other children are known as filial sons and daughters. Those who have invested more for the sake of the nation than other tribes or citizens are known as patriots. Saints are those who have invested more than others for the sake of the world. Someone who has invested for the sake of heaven and earth can become a heavenly prince like Jesus Christ. If you do not live that way, you cannot go to the heavenly kingdom. The heavenly kingdom is where people go who have lived that way. If you do not live in such a way, you cannot enter the heavenly kingdom.

The filial child is the person who can accept what he dislikes more than what he likes. The person who sacrifices his precious love in order to fulfill his filial duty to his parents will be able to go anywhere in Heaven, and if there are twelve pearly gates, then not one of them will be blocked to him. All the gates will be wide open. (163-264, 1987.5.1)

At the time of the creation, all things belonged to Adam. However, after the fall, Adam lost his ownership. . . What is fortunate is that there is a way of indemnity (to restore that ownership). However, for indemnification, Adam needs to make indemnity conditions. That is why in the Unification Church, we are doing everything possible.

Even if you are persecuted, sworn at, beaten, nose-bled, have broken bones, or even if killed, you should still offer all of your hearts and minds to make indemnity conditions, shedding bloody tears. (13-40)

How can the path of true love be paved? It can be paved through dedication, service, and sacrifice. This means it is the course of re-creation. You must make sacrifices on this course of re-creation. Such a path of indemnity becomes the path of service. You have to go the way of sacrifice. Only when we go along the path of indemnity can we stand on God's side. Upon the foundation of indemnity, you can stand on God's side. This is an absolute fact. Therefore, you should go the way of indemnity. (146-294, 1986.7.20)

A true parent will never say to their child, "You have become a filial child, so, you do not need to become a patriot. Do not go the way of a patriot." A true parent must teach that filial child, "You have to sacrifice your family and walk the path of a patriot. You must serve your country, fulfill the duty of a saint, and you have to sacrifice your duty as a saint in order to go the way that Heaven desires. And beyond this, you have to sacrifice Heaven and Earth to find God."

People become filial children only by sacrificing themselves for their families. Further, in order to become patriots, people must be willing to sacrifice their entire families in order to save their nation. Only in this way can they become patriots.

Saints are people who are willing to sacrifice their country in order to save the world. Divine children must be willing to sacrifice the world in order to realize God's Nation and Land, the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth. Humankind has been ignorant of this truth. You need to invest and sacrifice yourselves. If not, then the ideal of one world or one country will never be accomplished. (285-218, 1997.5.19)

Children of filial piety will forget their own situation and think first of their parents. They'll always live for their parents with a tearful heart. Loyal patriots are those who will forget about their personal circumstances in times of crisis, and take the path of loyalty, worrying first about the king's difficulties. Forgetting ourselves and sacrificing our own interests links us to the zenith of loyalty and filial piety. (37-33, 1970.12.22)

The religious way of life and way of faith is the way of sacrifice, and the necessity of sacrifice came into being because of the fall of man. According to the Divine Principle, the fall prevented Adam from standing on the side of either God or Satan. Fallen Adam was not in a position where God could fully claim him; therefore, throughout history God has worked to separate the good and evil in Adam through the providence of Cain and Abel. By Cain and Abel making a proper offering together, God would be free to claim Adam.

According to the Principle, the purpose of a sacrifice is to enable God to determine the ownership or possession of a particular level of creation. Therefore, we come to the conclusion that unless we can make an acceptable sacrifice, from the individual through the universal levels, by which God can claim the entire creation then we will not have the Kingdom of God on earth. The sacrifice offered on the altar of God must be separated or cut in two. The altar symbolically represents the entire universe, upon which the sacrifice is cut into two parts to show that good and evil are separated in purity. In order to be accepted by God the blood of the offering must shed, demonstrating that the impure blood of Satan is drawn out.

The Old Testament era is the period in which man must make offerings of all the things of creation. All the creation was employed for making offerings. The things of creation will purify the altar, and upon that foundation man himself can rest upon the altar. The most important aspect of the offering is that it is not for God's sake but for man's sake. A great distance between God and man was created by the fall, and man is destined to indemnity his way into heaven; thus the offering is not for the sake of God but is the opportunity for man to become closer to God.

God's role is to judge whether a sacrifice is acceptable or not; when God is presiding over a sacrifice He is approving it. It is man's heart in making the offering that needs to be approved by God. Man must be completely united with the spirit of making the sacrifice as a conditional offering on the altar. All throughout history man has made many kinds of offerings, including superstitious offerings, thinking to please God by bringing Him something. That was a wrong understanding.

The true meaning of offering a sacrifice is to enable man to come closer to God. On each level of restoration-individual, family, society, nation, and world-man must represent himself and make an offering to come closer to God. From this we can also conclude that the making of offerings should not be continued for eternity, and that the day will come when man will have no further need to make offerings.

God has a final purpose in restoration, and the symbolic altar on the individual level has been expanded onto the level of one tribe and one nation. After making a successful offering on the worldwide level, man can finally eliminate the necessity of further sacrifices or offerings. The key principle in making an offering is this: the man and the sacrifice must become one. (Living Sacrifice, 1977.5.8, Unofficial)

Those who worship God must shed blood. Those who yearn to love God must shed tears. In fact, their tears should not cease to flow. Those who are seeking God must shed sweat. Then, with parental hearts and the bodies of servants, they must sacrifice and serve from the position of Abel for humanity, and give everything they have with utmost devotion. In giving, they should not boast of it to others, but instead feel ashamed that they cannot give something better. This is what Godism is all about. (38-328, 1971.1.8)

When we silently sacrifice everything for the sake of God, He will protect us. God surely will be at our side. (88-231, 1976.9.20)

Concerning the process of re-creation, to give and give again for the sake of others is the same as God expending Himself in the act of creation. To invest oneself is the act of creating one's second self; it is the same as God investing Himself for the sake of Creation. The works of re-creation follow the course of restoration through indemnity; indemnity is carried out through the works of re-creation. Therefore, re-creation can only come about when you invest yourself. For this reason, it is a reasonable conclusion to say that sacrifice is inevitable. (82-240, 1976.1.31)

What is true love? It is parental love, conjugal love, and filial love put together. Without a tradition of sacrificing for each other, love cannot last for a long time and would disappear. Since parents sacrifice themselves for their children, the bond of love they have for their children cannot break. The sons and daughters who grew up receiving true love from their parents can only be filial to them. When the husband and wife try more and more to live sacrificially for each other, thinking in their hearts, "You have lived for my sake," their family will receive blessings from heaven. Such families are the dwelling place sought after by God. (43-323, 1971.5.2)

The true family is the place where a husband sacrifices for and loves his wife as his mother, and where a wife sacrifices for and loves her husband as her father. Also, they should love each other as younger sister and older brother respectively. Heaven is where ideal families live in a world where husbands and wives love and respect each other as they would God. Such a tradition should be established on earth. (Blessed Family -- 920, Korean Edition)

What kind of people are filial sons and daughters in the family? Filial sons and daughters are those who want to love their parents no matter how much they sacrifice their minds and bodies for them and then still love them even beyond that. What is a patriot? It is someone who sacrifices himself for the nation again and again without caring about his own well being, and who invests and forgets about how much he has invested for the nation. Such a person is a genuine patriot. If there is a man who invests ten times for his nation and forgets about his investment and a man who invests eleven times and forgets about his investment, the one who has invested and forgotten eleven times is in the subject position. Following this principle, everything can be settled in peace. Without love and without the path of living for the sake of others, there is no way to achieve this. (255-190, 1994.3.10)

Loving minds always try to sacrifice, to concede, and to give, and give again. (133-180, 1984.7.10)

Do you pledge to sacrifice and serve others even at the cost of your own lives? If so, you need to follow the path of subjugation at the risk of your lives. The path of religion is that of submission. It transcends the mind-body conflict. Unless you tread the sacrificial path, you will not be able to achieve mind-body unity. (222-333, 1991.11.7)

You cannot even begin to fathom how much the conscience has sacrificed itself for the sake of the body. Do you understand the circumstances of the conscience, which has been trampled upon throughout its entire life? It is always tired because it has to manage you night and day. Yet it does not tire of preventing your body from committing any wrongful action. It tells the body, "You have done more than enough. Shouldn't you stop and listen to me now?" It is closest to you, and stands in the place of God, your parents, and teachers. It does not need to be educated. However, the body definitely requires an education. (214-282, 1991.2.3)

Individuals must invest themselves in their families, giving and forgetting, while sacrificing themselves for the sake of others. They are to sacrifice themselves for their families and their families for their tribes; similarly, tribes for their people, people for their nation, nations for the world, the world for the cosmos, and the cosmos for God. Once this cycle reaches God, He will sacrifice Himself to requite us. What we give is not lost. When we have given everything for God and forgotten, He will take possession of it and add on His love, and afterwards recompense us with the heavenly and earthly worlds. (297-211, 1998.11.20)

We have to determine to become sacrificial offerings of loyalty, devotion, love, and sacrifice. (156-233, 1966.5.25)

We must sacrifice. Sacrificing is the only way to find love. Throughout his life, a filial son follows the path of sacrifice for his parents, solely for his parents; and a patriot makes sacrifices for his nation. A patriot sacrifices not only himself but also his family. It is not just the individual. He must sacrifice his wife, sons, and daughters. Those who do not know the value of sacrifice cannot become filial children, or anything else. They are unable to hook into the realm of the heart of restoration, but they must. (283-21, 1997.4.8)

What was lost during the Old Testament Age should be recovered. In the Old Testament Age, all things were sacrificed; in the New Testament Age, the son was sacrificed; and in the Completed Testament Age, the Parent was sacrificed. (216-204, 1991.3.31)

Now, the ownership should be restored. In order to attend God, in the Old Testament Age things were sacrificed, in the New Testament Age the son was sacrificed, and in the Completed Testament Age the parent was sacrificed. What should you do now? You should stand in the position of the mother and father on their behalf. Sons and daughters represent the New Testament Age and all things represent the Old Testament Age. As these Old Testament, New Testament and Completed Testament Ages all come within the range of God's true love, you should pay indemnity for having deviated from God's love and come back to the original owner and return to Him all that Satan controlled. (208-345, 1990.11.21)

If you are to inherit the realm of the victory of the True Parents, you should live in absolute obedience, absolute compliance, and absolute faith. Only when you shed blood, sweat, and sacrifice everything, in total oneness of heart through which you are willing to become a living sacrifice for the True Parents, and you want to hold more love than the love of the True Parents, can the True Parents be liberated. God's realm of liberation emerges only when society becomes a place where people love more than the True Parents love mankind. Only when the True Parents have such sons and daughters, will the realm of liberation emerge in which they can praise their sons and daughters and rejoice, loving them. (266-288, 1995.1.1)

Accordingly, as human beings who have to go along the way of recreation and restoration, we must go through that path of sacrifice. We cannot recreate ourselves by ourselves; we must go with God's help along the path of pouring out energy for the realization of the ideal self. We are standing in the position in which God must pour out His power again, so there must be sacrifice. Since this is the original standard of the Principle, a religion which seeks the ideal world or the perfection of human beings must go the way of hardship. We must sacrifice our self-centeredness; in proportion to the degree of that sacrifice, our original nature from God is restored. As the result of the fall, we must go this way of recreation; accordingly, religious people must go through the way of hardships. This is the fundamental point of recreation...

From the Principle and God's point of view it is absolutely impossible for us to reach the perfection level unless we go through sacrifice. It is the way of restoration to work and recreate the ideal self so that one can reach God's standard. (God's Will -- 114, 1972.9.11)

The process of restoring fallen people's relationship to God has also progressed from external to internal. God first restored people to the position of servant of servants in the period prior to the Old Testament Age by having them offer sacrifices. Next, He restored people to the position of servants in the Old Testament Age through the Mosaic Law. In the New Testament Age, God has restored us to the position of adopted children through our faith. Finally, in the Completed Testament Age, He will restore us to the position of true children through heart. (Exposition -- 349)

An altar must emerge with the pride and integrity… We know that the person who renders unselfish devoted service for the sake of the nation is called a patriot. The man who forsakes himself for the good of his family and relatives is called a filial son. A woman who lives unselfishly as a sacrificial offering for her family is called a virtuous woman…

The moment I can call God "Father" after feeling this kind of Shim Jung relationship, although "I" am a being of today, I am not limited to this earth. I am assured of being in the realm of the ideology of the eternal world. Heaven will name such a person a person of perfection. According to my understanding, a true person of faith must feel the heart of such a relationship above all. That is the proper attitude. The grace you received is not affected by today's happiness. It is the grace resulting from your having inherited the historical relationship. (Sermons Vol. 6-60, 1959.3.29)

You understand that history indemnifies the vertical history horizontally. It proceeds along the Old Testament, New Testament, and the Completed Testament. The Old Testament is offering things as sacrifices, the New Testament is offering the body as the sacrifice, in other words offering the substantial body as the sacrifice, and the Complete Testament is the time to offer mind (heart) as the sacrifice.

Why does it proceed forward in this way? It moves according to the law of creation of the universe. Because man fell, because fallen things are worth less than even a lump of dirt, water is put on it and oil is poured into it to remold it and carry on the re-creation process. In order to create one man the creation is made, and after that the body is made, and finally God's heart was blown into it. This is the way that man has become a synthetic being. He has become the synthetic being of the universe. Just as the Principle says, man is a microcosm. This is the meaning behind what you have learned as the substantial Sung sang form and substantial Hyung sang form of God.

So, what must we do in order to restore through indemnity? First, the creation must be restored. Because after the fall, the creation and God's things, have become Satan's belongings. In order for them to be considered as God's things, they must be remolded and created again. They must be recreated, but what must they be made out of?

What I am talking about are ideals and conceptions. Because they were created centering on the Principle in order to materialize the Word, this is what is to be done. Therefore, the Old Testament is the time one is to believe based on the Word, and what comes next is the time when the Word is to be put into practice, and the next stage after that is the era of living centering on the Word. We are to enter the time of living the truth. In order to build the kingdom, all this must become one. The era of faith, of practice, and of life; this is the course that the progress takes. What is this? Because one man has fallen . . . Originally, Adam and Eve were to at once . . . (Speaks while writing on the board) The realm of materials, then the realm of body, and the realm of mind (heart). After that is the realm of spirit. In the Unification Church, we consider them as precious as our lives.

Since when all these are achieved creation will take place, the material will become one with the body, the body will become one with the mind and the mind will become one with the spirit. (Speaks while writing on the board) These are the domains of Formation (Body), Growth (Mind), and Completion (Spirit). It is the same. This is the unfolding of that. However, while it is unfolding during the seven-thousand-years of history, it has been divided into three stages and made progress.

In the Old Testament, to be returned to God, as a condition of indemnity blood had to be shed. Blood had to be shed no matter what. Why? It is because Satan's blood was inherited. This is because Satan's blood must be taken out. For this reason, the sacrifice had to shed blood.

The Old Testament is the time of sacrifice centering on the animal, and next the New Testament is the time of sacrifice of the body centering on Jesus, in other words the time of sacrifice of the son. This was because people did not believe. Next is the Completed Testament, and this is the time of sacrifice of the mind (heart). Therefore, you are to experience great pain in your heart after joining the Unification Church. This is how the restoration has been proceeding forward. (74-318)

Making sacrifice with the material things is the way to pay indemnity for the Old Testament. Sacrificing with the physical body is the way to pay indemnity for the New Testament. Attending the will of God with heart of faith and tears is the way to restore the Completed Testament.

(1) The Old Testament is the era when the Foundation of Faith is restored through indemnity and during this time, all things are restored through the symbolic offering.

(2) The New Testament is the era of restoring through indemnity of the Foundation of Substance and through the substantial offering man's physical body is restored.

(3) The Completed Testament is the era of restoring the Foundation of Heart and in this period man's mind is restored through the sacrifice of the heart. (74-320)

What kind of promise can inspire God? "Oh my God, I have power and talent and great scholarship. I became a great doctor and I can wield authority. I am a capable president; through my orders I can control everything." Such words cannot inspire God. You can boast of none of those things.

If you say, "I have raised many sons and daughters," you still cannot be proud of yourself or inspire God. Only one promise can inspire God: "I have decided to be a sacrifice in order to establish the tradition of Your love. I have been trying to live for others. All I want to do is continue living this way." Then God will reply, "Oh, I understand you well. You have accomplished the principles of loyalty, filial piety and fidelity." Otherwise, you have no true pride before God, even though you work hard witnessing and fund raising, trying to do something for the world. (God's Will -- 568, 1981.5.1)

Father's history involved the restoration of the three different providential ages. In each age, a different type of sacrificial offering, representing the restoration of heaven and earth, was made at the altar of God. The Old Testament age offering was material; the New Testament age, the offering of life; and the Completed Testament age, the offering of love, of the heart. True Parents have accomplished these conditional offerings on every level, from the individual to the world level. Every follower, every grandson, should do the same thing. But that would be impossible, physically, and it doesn't need to be done, because the Parents have taken all the responsibility.

As long as the children just follow the pattern, the Parents will regard that as a condition, and God will accept it. It is easier for you, since the Messiah has already paved the way. We only need to follow Father's way in that small area of 360 homes. Home church represents a condensation of his course. Symbolically, the 360 home area has everything in it; not only does it contain the entire earth, but also the element of man. That number 360 symbolizes earth and man. It means not only the 360 degrees of all space, but also the 360 days in the year of the lunar calendar. Thus both time and space are represented in your area by the number 360, representing the entire earth and all mankind. (Home Church -- 437, 1978.11.27)

You need a certain conditional foundation to participate in all this. That is Home Church. (God's Will -- 491, 1978.10.22)

In the world of evil, there is only one road for God to go. That's the road of sacrifice made by the man of sin who is willing to get rid of whatever he has in order to receive God. How do you feel after hearing that? Sad, serious? You are here ready to receive God, but God wants you to sacrifice yourself even before being told to do so. That's what kind of person God would want you to be, because He wants you to surpass the standard of fallen men. Because of that His heart is sad. Unless you are ready to sacrifice yourself before you are told to do it, God cannot come to you. If you live like that, God will be proud of you before Satan. Unless we do that, there is no way for us to restore God's authority and dignity as His children.

You must make a hopeful prayer to God, "Oh, Father, I don't want to be a foolish child, to be unwise. I want to know your heart. I am here ready to sacrifice myself, so why don't you come and abide with me." For that prayer, God will be proud of you.

And you can even pray this: "Father, I will be responsible to restore this world, and I can do it, believe me. You don't have to come and help me. I don't want you to come to this world of suffering to help me. You stay there and watch me." With that kind of prayer you can console God's heart. Then how would God respond? He would tell you, "I am coming. I must come and help you. Even if you want to stop me from coming, I have to be with you. I want to be with you, right in the midst of darkness." God would say that to you. Then when you are pursuing your mission, ready to fight your way through all difficulties, you will suddenly find that God is already there before you, having prepared everything for you and paved the way ahead of you.

God is the God of love, of parental heart. In that case, if you were God, wouldn't you do the same for your children? When you live like that with God, you become the greatest of His sons, since you have moved your Parent's heart. You will have restore d God's dignity, and He will be proud of you.

I have thought and thought and finally found that this is the only way for the sons of filial piety to please God. You will be grateful that God has come to earth because of you. You will be able to make God happy, warm and proud. And you will be proud of each other and satisfied with yourselves (New Hope -- 68)

To see things with the mind of love means to deny yourself and go the way of sacrifice. You must become a perfect minus in front of a perfect plus. When a perfect minus appears in front of a perfect plus, another plus is attracted to it. For example, if I am a perfect minus before a nation, the ultimate plus, God, will be attracted. This is the principle of heaven. Therefore, the tradition of patriots is one of blood, sweat and tears. The tradition of filial piety is one of blood, sweat and tears. The tradition of saints is one of blood, sweat and tears.

There is one axis in history: the axis that links the hearts of the heavenly child, the saint, the patriot, and the filial child. This axis is the standard of sacrifice for the whole, set on all levels -- filial child, patriot, saint and heavenly child. No matter how ambitious you are, you cannot reach the goal unless you go through these stages. (God's Will -- 567, 1981.5.1)

If you want to live for the sake of God's providence of love, you must think that in order to save the whole world, all the Unificationists are to be sacrificed. If I do not inherit God's tradition of sacrifice, I am a fake and all my disciples are fakes. (Tribal Messiah -- 72, 1986.2.1)

Loyalty and filial piety are fulfilled in a difficult situation. (22-152)

Today, the young people have not realized this. Those who always sacrifice become central figures. The person who sacrifices the most is the filial son in a family. A patriot becomes the central figure of a nation because he or she sacrifices more. A sage who sacrifices more than others also becomes the central figure of the sages. This is the heavenly rule. (113-326)

Accordingly, a true parent-child relationship, a true husband-wife relationship, and a true brotherly relationship cannot be established unless we relate with sacrificial love. The genuineness of those relationships depends upon that standard.

Children know that their parents truly love them when they truly sacrifice themselves for them. Although the sacrificial position is a sorrowful one, if the children perfectly appreciate it and return love to the parents, then the parents can feel more joy.

Likewise if a true couple sacrifices for each other, then love can constantly be restored in addition to the power of sacrifice. Therefore, husband and wife can become one eternally if they share their suffering with each other. True friends are those who sacrifice themselves for each other. The position of love can be established when one sacrifices oneself and gives himself for others. Thus sacrifice accompanies love.

God could not truly love man up until now because man fell and did not achieve his perfection. Thus God's love could not be returned by a perfect object.

If someone truly desires love, he should stand in the same position as God and give everything until the perfection of his object of love, as God does. Parents give everything until their children grow up and get married. They have to sacrifice everything and give everything until their children understand the sphere of parental heart. If the children appreciate it and give filial piety to their parents, then the parents feel joy, forgetting all of their sacrifice. This is the way of love.

From the Principle and God's point of view, it is absolutely impossible for us to reach the perfection level unless we go through sacrifice. It is the way of restoration to work and recreate the ideal self so that one can reach God's standard. (God's Will -- 117, 1972.9.11)

Never complain. Indemnity is fulfilled only through obedience…Because an indemnity course is the period of offering, during that period you must not have the consciousness of your own existence…Jesus was the purest offering in the life of heart and in the life of offering…You cannot become an offering if you are looking for sympathy in your circumstances…Your first feeling in the morning decides the outcome of the entire day. Try to make God happy by becoming the first to sacrifice in the morning… In order to pay indemnity for yourself, it is necessary to tread the course of suffering in the positions of a servant, an adopted son and a true son. This then becomes a condition of glory because you work in place of God…

Do you have any former attachments left in the life you are going to dedicate? If there is the slightest trace of a defect in the offering you place on the altar of God, Satan will accuse… It is necessary to offer yourself to Heaven unconditionally and entrust yourself to the Will. Since God is your Father, He knows best where you should be and leads you to the place of joy and fulfillment...Heaven wants the whole rather than just the individual to be an offering. In order to make a desirable offering, unity of your whole life, action and ideal is necessary…

An offering symbolizes obedience and surrender. Therefore, it is selfless, does not have the consciousness of possession, and does not resist even on the verge of death…God always sent those whom He trusted the most through the steepest way. This is why many people He loved were sacrificed… Reconstruction cannot be done without an offering. Re-creation is done beginning with something, although creation starts from nothing… To offer material is to indemnify the Old Testament Age; to sacrifice the flesh is to indemnify the New Testament Age; and to serve the, Will of God with heart and tears is to restore the Completed Testament Age. (The Way -- 150-158)

The Old Testament Age was an age when sacrificial offerings were made; thus, God could find people whom He could use as His servants. This is Old Testament history. Because human beings were lost, things were turned upside down and people became lower than all things of creation. Human beings came to be in a worse situation than all things of creation. For this reason, they had to divide all things, which were closer to God, into two and divide what belongs to God from what belongs to Satan. Such divided sacrificial offerings were not made because of God or Satan but because people failed to fulfill their responsibilities. You should know this. It is because people failed in their responsibilities that they came to receive Satan's blood. (136-228, 1985.12.29)

The blood of hundreds of millions of sacrifices is crying out to you at this time. (67-226, 1973.6.27)

What did God do in the Old Testament Age? Since the world became satanic, He took on the task of seeking His servants by sacrificing all things and establishing people on the heavenly side. God was not even looking for adopted sons. He was looking for servants of servants. The people of the satanic world have all become Satan's sons and daughters. God cannot take them away. Hence, God has been gathering those who have lost hope in the satanic world. It is a sad reality, but God has been collecting useless material. He has been dealing with junk. This process does not finish there. Sacrifice is required, and people go through the process of being a sacrificial offering. (136-222, 1985.12.29)

Looking at history, the Old Testament Age used all things of creation as sacrificial offerings. They sacrificed the things of creation. The purpose of sacrificing all things was to liberate human beings and to help with the resurrection of humankind. The things of creation were sacrificed in order to restore people, to regain God's children. In the Old Testament Age, the things of creation were used as an offering, and in the New Testament Age, God's children shed their blood as they moved toward the realm of resurrection in this world. This has been the history centered on Christianity. In Christian history, Jesus and all individuals, families, peoples, and nations that followed Jesus have been sacrificed as offerings until the present. (166-276, 1987.6.14)

In the Old Testament Age, they sacrificed material things to pave the way for the coming of the true son. Jesus came as the son and sacrificed himself to pave the way for the coming of the parents. The True Parents come on this level plane, and walk a suffering path in order to invite God in. To what position do they come? To the original, vertical place. Since the original, great principle of heaven and earth was cut off from that point, peace cannot begin as long as that fundamental root is not rectified. This is absolute. (200-55, 1990.2.23)

The methods for fallen people to go back to God have differed according to the age. In the Old Testament Age, people could go to God by offering sacrifices; in the New Testament Age, it was by believing in Jesus, the son of God; and in the Completed Testament Age, people can go to God by attending the True Parents. (20-340, 1968.7.20)

In the Completed Testament Age, True Parents sacrifice in order to bring the vertical God to earth. This is the final task. (208-339, 1990.11.21)

Why has the all-knowing, all-powerful and absolute God been letting Satan infringe upon human beings? Why did He let people be sacrificed, crushed under Satan's foot? Why was He so unable to exercise His power that people could not recognize His existence? This is a serious question. The answer is that God has had no nation, no people, no tribe and no family that He could govern. Furthermore, there has been no individual whose qualification He could officially recognize. If such an individual, family, tribe, people and sovereign nation are established, He will be able to govern the evil nations, peoples, tribes, families and individuals at once. Only this way will lead to goodness, and only then will God have His authority. (56-247, 1972.5.18)

Religious leaders today fall on their knees and pray for their own blessings. But I have never prayed to receive blessings. Instead I prayed, "Let me be a sacrificial offering for the sake of Your liberation." (137-185, 1986.1.1)

The value of the sacrificial offerings on the levels of tribe, ethnic group and nation will be reproduced in the world that attends the Second Parents, thereby restoring through indemnity, as resurrected beings of substance, all the saints who sacrificed themselves in history. Our destiny prevents us from leaving this land without fulfilling this. (166-74, 1987.5.28)

For fallen humankind, I am the savior. But from God's viewpoint, I am the True Son and True Parent who will fulfill the true-love ideal of creation that was lost in the beginning. The savior is one who pioneered the path of sacrifice, offering his life to relieve God's anguish that began with the Fall. The savior is not only living in glory. He weeps together with God's heart and is deeply concerned with bringing Satan to his knees. (232-225, 1992.7.7)

Christianity has made unknown sacrifices in the course to establish its current worldwide foundation. The pitiable screams of those who were constantly sacrificed and offered on the altar of martyrdom permeate Christian history; they have been heard in every corner of the world. We should know that this bloody altar still exists; the historical sorrow is right in front of our eyes. We have the solemn, historical task to resolve this sorrow. We must liberate God and liberate Christianity. (210-360, 1990.12.27)

A true person, as the representative of history, would strive to teach humankind by saying, "Humankind, this is the true standard you must follow." Even if he had to make harsh sacrifices, a true person would nevertheless teach and pioneer in this way on behalf of humankind. If he knew the path and said he would take it only for his own sake, he would not be a true person. (63-88, 1972.10.8)

The coming of True Parents marks the beginning of a new love, a new culture, and the birth of an ideal history. Through True Parents there begins new life, a new family, a new nation and a new world. They also represent the beginning of the heavenly nation and of God's love. The term True Parents represents far more than just the words themselves. You should know that many individuals, families, and nations have suffered and died in order to make a relationship with the coming age. The blood of hundreds of millions of sacrifices is crying out to you at this time.

The Bible says that Cain accused God when he killed Abel and shed his blood. This is the only place where such a history can be set right through the liberation of resentment. The people who have gathered to inherit this mission and undergo the amazing task of restitution are the Unification Church members. If you truly come to know this, you cannot complain about your life or situation even in your dreams, even though you may die a thousand times. (67-226, 1973.6.27)

As the false parent, he tried to accomplish this by sacrificing countless people and making them pay a price in blood by any means. Terrible sacrifices were made up until today. These have been the works of Satan who sacrificed all those believers who tried to uphold this philosophy and follow this path as individuals, families, ethnic peoples, nations and the world. You should know what a terrible price in blood was paid by our ancestors who were sacrificed, and by our brothers and sisters who sought goodness and pursued the way of truth and the path to the True Parents? (67-225, 1973.6.27)

Who is closer to the center: someone who is willing to sacrifice love to sustain life, or someone who is willing to sacrifice life for the sake of love? Who is closer to the truth? One who sacrifices his life to attain love is close to the center and close to what is true. This is because the one willing to sacrifice love for life is self-centered, whereas the one willing to sacrifice life for love is not. (174-15, 1988.2.23)

Why are we instructed to do good works? When you carry out an act of goodness, you must sacrifice to do that, and sacrifice means investing yourself. Then why is it good to invest yourself? By investing yourself, you can reach the point of connecting with the source of heavenly fortune, with cause and effect, with the essence of power, and with the mainstream. You can then be supplied with infinite power. Since good people are supplied with this infinite power, everything they do will turn out well. (164-323, 1987.5.18)

If children can sacrifice themselves for their parents and love them with a bright and positive attitude rather than despair, while longing for ideal circumstances in which their love can sprout as the hope of tomorrow, that love will be one with pure and true value for the happiness of that family. Thus, if there is a family that is complete with true parental love, true conjugal love and true filial love, we cannot but conclude that it is the most ideal family in this world. (Blessed Family -- 913, Korean Edition)

When Jesus cried out, "My God, why hast thou forsaken me?" as his body was being torn, when his soul was about to be wrenched out of his body on the way of sacrifice, when he was just passing over the peak of death, he determined to fulfill his duty of filial piety and loyalty to God until the very end, and in so doing, he died a noble death peacefully in a higher position than anyone in the satanic world. What was the condition that enabled him to stand in a higher position than anyone in the satanic world who had died before him? It was the fact that he prayed for his enemies. This became the shield which made it impossible for Satan to invade any further. God loved Jesus, and Jesus loved God, and this love mobilized the power of Jesus' resurrection. (50-201, 1971.11.7)

Love requires sacrifice. You need to invest yourself. Because of the tradition of investing all of one's life and possessions, entities at a lower level seek to invest their entire selves in service to those at higher levels. (204-129, 1990.7.1)

Love is something you can never feel by yourself. Love is something given to others for their benefit, through which someone sacrifices himself to save them. (Blessed Family -- 342, Korean Edition)

What on earth is original love? It is the love by which parents can give their life for their child. Their love goes beyond their own life. Genuine love acts by sacrificing life and by going beyond life. You should know that this is the love of Heaven, a love that can connect with the universe. (132-152, 1984.5.31)

This is the Kingdom of Heaven in heaven, where the atmosphere is composed of love and filled with parental love. That love is not for me; it is a love that is in keeping with the unilateral law under the principle of service and sacrifice. In accord with this principle, you must love the universe and humankind. Your life on earth is the training ground for the development of such love. (105-108, 1979.9.30)

Parents want to sacrifice everything for the sake of their children. This is like God. What does this mean? God does not invest Himself for His own sake. Likewise, parents want to live for the sake of others rather than for their own sake; they want to stand in the position of God, who lives for the sake of others. If God were to say that He only exists for Himself, this would not be true love. Love, life, and hope are realized when parents sacrifice themselves completely for the sake of their children and are bound together with them. (69-61, 1973.9.10)

It is the order and tradition of love for the one in the position of the elder brother, as a representative of the parents, to sacrifice himself and love his younger siblings centering on the parents' love. The position of the elder brother brings with it the responsibility to suffer most among his siblings. It is the same with the position of parents, who suffer the most for the sake of the children. If parents shed tears and sacrifice for the sake of their children, the children will naturally want to follow their parents. (Blessed Family -- 913, Korean Edition)

When we sacrifice everything for the sake of absolute love, we can control God, the satanic world, and heavenly fortune. What do I mean by control? It means that God will follow us. God, this world, and heavenly fortune will follow us. (201-133, 1990.3.27)

When you see me in your dreams, I appear to you through the waves of God's love. For that to happen, your ego should not be there. You have to sacrifice yourselves and create a vacuum. After creating a vacuum, you have to become like pure gold. Gold does not contain any other elements. It is pure in itself. (112-16, 1981.3.15)

Mind-body unity can be brought about only through true love. Hence, the mind sacrifices itself for the sake of the body and forgets it has done so, repeatedly. The original mind stands in God's stead, and is the teacher of all teachers for you. Your original mind is your center, dispatched by God on His behalf. It is the vertical you. (226-60, 1992.2.1)

There is nothing else God desires more than love. Who would be His greatest enemy in the Last Days? What is the number one premise for judgment? In the Last Days, individualistic self-love becomes the number one premise for judgment. For scholars, the scholarly awareness and their desire to study will become the basis for judgment. The things you like most will become the basis for your judgment. For the person who likes money the most -- a person who sacrifices everything to gather money -- that will become the condition for his judgment. For those who like honor and for those who like authority, those things will be the condition for their judgment. For a woman there will be something that she likes according to all her attributes and specific nature. That will be the condition for her judgment. (170-92, 1987.11.8)

You should offer something pure in which you have invested your utmost devotion as a tithe. That is a sacrificial offering. Sacrificial offerings should be something pure. If you are to offer your son, what kind of son should he be to you? Should he be a son you hate? A hopeless child? Such sons should not be offered as a sacrifice to God's purpose. You must offer your most beloved son. Why is this so? It is because an offering is something that takes your place. (48-85, 1971.9.5)

Have you ever wailed and prayed through the night for the sake of a new guest? Did you ever lament more sorrowfully than at the death of your father, mother, or even your lover? If you have not, then you must try. You should be lamenting through sleepless nights. If you can save one life, then there is nothing that you will feel reluctant to sacrifice. Money, clothes, and house are not even an issue. You must be crazy in loving people. (34-270, 1970.9.13)

What are people who love humanity sacrificially called? They can only be called saints. (Blessed Family -- 92, Korean Edition)

It has been four years since I asked you to develop your local tong ban breakthrough activities. You good-for-nothings! Do I have to give you money? You say you love your country, so do I still have to finance you? I've sponsored you up until now by selling my blood, my land, and my home. I've served my country, sacrificing my wife and children, all my brothers and sisters, and my relatives. If the Unification Church members, who follow and emulate the heavenly tradition, don't know the way to go and are neglectful of their attitude and conduct, they will bring their nation into ruin. I expect that some of you will collapse in front of me. (185-63, 1989.1.1)

Godism teaches how loving human beings can walk a path that confers on them the privilege to ascend to a position even higher than the Creator. Godism is the ideology of true love. It cannot be achieved without first finding the way to sacrifice and invest our fallen lives. This is the reason the Bible taught the paradoxical logic that those who seek to die will live and those who seek to live will die. (268-162, 1995.3.31)

If you cannot go beyond the sacrificial altar, you can never go to the heavenly kingdom. You must make this altar. (261-98, 1994.5.22)