Creating a World of Peace - The Thought and Works of Sun Myung Moon by Joon Ho Seuk

Volume 1 - The Life and Teachings of Reverend Sun Myung Moon [Part 20 / 20]

4. The Solution

The third part of Divine Principle describes Reverend Moon's understanding of how God has worked through history to restore this fallen world back to His original ideal of creation according to His Providence of Restoration through Indemnity.

Central to this understanding is the Messiah, who brings salvation to all humankind, and the consummation of this providence in the Last Days at the time of the Second Coming.

God's Commitment

From "View of the Principle of the Providential History of Salvation," Inaugural Banquet of The Washington Times Foundation, Washington, DC, April 16, 1996.
Ladies and Gentlemen, how great must have been the pain of God when, by the Fall, our human ancestors destroyed His ideal of True Love! Humankind should have been the sons and daughters of God, but they do not know God Himself as their Original Parent. Yet even though His sons and daughters serve Satan, God has worked for the Providence of Salvation.
Because He is an absolute being, and His ideal of creation is also absolute, He has carried out the Providence of Salvation even amid great sadness.

A. God's Providence of Restoration

Since God is absolute, unchanging and eternal, God's purpose of bringing about a world of true love has never changed. Reverend Moon's teachings reveal the suffering of God after the fall and throughout the long history of restoration until today.

God did not intervene to prevent the fall, nor to restore human beings to their original position, because He gave humankind the gift of freedom so that we can respond to Him in love. Freedom brings with it responsibility.

God gave human beings a portion of responsibility that is theirs alone to fulfill.

God's Situation after the Fall

From "The Kingdom of Heaven: Who Will Enter It, and How Will They Get There?" Closing Banquet Address, The 7th World Culture and Sports Festival, New York, NY, January 29, 2001.
Many people rattle off words about God's absoluteness, omnipotence and glory.
Nonetheless, through my lifelong search for truth, I have found that to be way off the mark. God lost His loving children as a result of the first ancestors' Fall. If your children are imprisoned, can you live in glory? God's heart is in the deepest pain.
What's more, God had to give Satan the beautiful creation that He made for His children. From the moment He lost His object partner of love, the God of true love became the God of loneliness. God was never in the position to exercise His power as the Lord of the universe. Meanwhile, fallen people often boast of themselves for nothing.
Even though He is the owner of all that has breath, God was never able to reveal His pride.
Being the author of the principles that guide the universe, how can God move freely in the fallen world, the world of non-principle?
Humankind, living with all degrees of distrust and disobedience, even ignore God and mock God as non-existent and dead. God has endured this long history in a heart of agony. Truly, His waiting has seemed endless.
This tragedy transpired because Adam and Eve fell while they were growing up, and became false parents. Out of profound respect for their freedom and responsibility, God did not intervene directly to rectify their mistake.
For that reason, we find in history that the Lord has appeared as the second Adam and the third Adam, in order to indemnify the mistake of the first Adam and perfect the ideal of true parentship. In this way, everything should be restored. Until then, God waits anxiously. This is the real story behind history: it was a providence of restoration to liberate God's aching heart.

Because He is the parent of love, God took it upon Himself to restore humankind, His children, back to His original ideal. Since God's providence is one of restoration, it must be accomplished by reversing the original deviation from the ideal, i.e. the fall of the first human ancestors.

God's formula for restoration is based on the relationships in the first human family and with the archangel, Lucifer, who became Satan.

In order to reverse the process of the fall, someone in the elder position, representing Lucifer, must unite with and serve someone in the younger position, representing Adam.

The Providence of Restoration

From "View of the Principle of the Providential History of Salvation," Inaugural Banquet of The Washington Times Foundation, Washington, DC, April; 16, 1996.
The human Fall was committed by three beings: Adam, Eve, and the Archangel.
The Archangel seduced Eve, causing the spiritual fall, and later fallen Eve seduced Adam, causing the physical fall. As a result, they turned their backs on God, and the fallen Archangel became Satan. Since the Providence of Salvation is the Providence of Restoration, the Principle of Restoration can be carried out only by going in a direction 180 degrees opposite of the Fall.

Adam's elder son, Cain, was in Lucifer's position and Abel, Adam's younger son, was in Adam's position. God accepted Abel's offering and rejected Cain's, providing them with an opportunity for restoration.

But in what was the first murder in human history, Cain, rather than loving his younger brother Abel, killed him. Cain envied Abel, just as Lucifer had envied Adam. Cain could not overcome this feeling nor could he see his brother from God's point of view. Instead of reversing the process of the fall, he repeated it.

Humankind's history, therefore, has followed this pattern of attempted reconciliation between those in the positions of Cain and Abel.

Formula for Restoration

From "True Parents and the Completed Testament Age," North American Speaking Tour, 1993.
If you read the Bible carefully, you will see that the fall of man involves the loss of Adam's entire family. First, the position of parents was lost through the fall of Adam and Eve. Second, the position of children was lost as Cain murdered Abel.
God's blueprint for an ideal family and world perfection was lost. Therefore, to restore the original family, God works in reverse to reclaim the positions of Cain and Abel, and then the positions of True Mother and True Father.
This pattern of reconciliation of Cain and Abel as the foundation for restoring the True Parents has been God's consistent formula throughout the history of restoration.
The separation of fallen mankind into a Cain-Abel division occurs over and over again in Judeo-Christian history. God first of all separated fallen mankind into two "brotherly" sides of Cain, symbolizing Satan, and Abel, symbolizing God, to work out the hatreds resulting from the Fall.

B. Parallels in History

It is a common understanding that history repeats itself, but what is the reason for this?

A careful examination of human history reveals parallel periods with similar circumstances, caused by the repetition of attempts to restore the dysfunctional relationships within the first human family.

Parallels in History

From "True Parents and the Completed Testament Age," North American Speaking Tour, 1993.
The struggle within individuals has expanded to the family, nation and world. As a result, humankind has always been divided into two opposing camps, one good, or Abel-like, and the evil, or Cain-like, locked in struggle at every level. It has always been God's intention, however, that both sides be restored, not that one triumphs over and destroys the other.
Some examples of this division are the thief on the right side of Jesus' cross, who represented Abel, and the thief on the left, who represented Cain, and South Korea versus North Korea, which represents the last conflict between right wing and left wing on the world level.
So the key to God's work of salvation has always been to unify such divided sides, based on His ideal, in order to build a foundation on which to reclaim the True Mother and True Father.
As time passed, these relationships were extended into the human societies that developed. Thus, families, tribes, nations, and finally blocs of nations have experienced anger and resentment toward each other.
God's providence is the history of finding those on the side of goodness, in the Abel position, who can overcome those historical emotions and bring harmony and unity with those in the position of Cain.
Successful restoration requires that certain conditions, known as indemnity conditions, be set. In the family of Isaac, Jacob successfully reconciled with his brother Esau after spending 21 years in exile, offering everything he owned to Esau, bowing down before him, paying him respect and showing him love.
When indemnity conditions are met, God's providence is advanced to the next stage. When those in the key positions fail to accomplish their responsibilities, God's providence is prolonged and repeated at a later time with different people engaged in the same relationships in a parallel circumstance.

Providence of Re-Creation

From "View of the Principle of the Providential History of Salvation," Inaugural Banquet of the Washington Times Foundation, Washington, DC, April 16, 1996.
God's Providence of Salvation is the Providence of Restoration, which means to recover the lost Purpose of Creation, centered on True Love. The Providence of Salvation is also the Providence of Re-creation.
Based on this point, the root of the Providence of Salvation is the re-creation of the seed of the original child, the human being who will fulfill the ideal of creation. That which God abhors -- the life and blood lineage that began with the false love of the adulterer Satan -- must be cleansed. The essence of the Providence is the task of setting up the birth of the True Parent, the Savior united with the True Love, Life and Lineage of God.

C. Purpose of the Messiah

Central to God's plan for restoration is the Messiah, who is to appear as soon as people have fulfilled the necessary preparations. It is God's promise and responsibility to send the Messiah, but it is humankind's responsibility to establish the indemnity conditions in preparation for the Messiah's coming.

The Messiah

From "View of the Principle of the Providential History of Salvation," Inaugural Banquet of the Washington Times Foundation, Washington, DC, April 16, 1996.
God lost Adam, who had the seed of True Love and True Life. So God had to find a son with the new seed free from satanic accusation.
Just as God created Adam first at the time of the creation, God must prepare a son first who has no relationship to the Fall, according to the Providence of Restoration, which is the Providence of Re-creation. This is the basis for the idea of the coming of the Messiah. The Messiah rejects the sinful lives of those with a fallen lineage under the dominion of Satan.
He comes as a True Person who engrafts fallen humanity into the seed of new life. The Messiah has his roots in God, and comes as the Second Adam, who wipes away all that was committed by the first Adam. This is the reason God cannot send a superman Messiah who will work only through miracles.

The Messiah must be born sinless, as were Adam and Eve, coming as the second Adam to reveal the true love of God. As a result of the fall, humankind lost God's love and became dominated by the selfish, false love of Satan.

The Messiah comes to end Satan's dominion, to liberate us from false, selfish love and to establish God's kingdom, by fulfilling his life on earth according to God's original ideal of creation for human beings.

Jesus

From "The Cosmos Is Our Hometown and Our Fatherland," The Washington Times Foundation American Century Awards, Washington, DC, February 2, 2000.
During the course of God's providence of restoration, Jesus was the only one born with true life directly connected to God's true lineage. Accordingly, no one among fallen humanity has ever entered God's realm of direct dominion, either on Earth or in the spirit world. That is why God has been alone, leading a lonely and sorrowful existence.
Hence, the world has become a place where people and all of nature are sad.
God has been searching for one person whom He could trust -- one man who could purify the fallen lineage of humanity and transform it into true life. That man is the Messiah who inherits God's true love and brings liberation to all humankind.

Jesus Christ came 2,000 years ago as the second Adam, to complete the providence of restoration and establish the Kingdom of Heaven on earth.

Jesus' life and his death are a testimony to the power of true, unconditional love.

Our Responsibility

From "God Is Our King and True Parent," Canaan Baptist Church, Harlem, New York, May 8, 2001.
If the people had received Jesus to the extent that he as the bridegroom could have had his own marriage supper, he would not have died. Satan could not have touched him.
Because Jesus completed his responsibility, he entered the direct dominion of God. In the direct dominion, God's blood lineage is connected; therefore, there is no way for Satan to break in. The problem is that we have not advanced to that level.
If Adam and Eve had married and loved with God's true love, they would have been unable to fall. Satan could not have separated them. Adam and Eve were in their growing period; the fruit was not ripe. Unripe fruit does not produce seeds. It has no eternal life. The place to dispose of lifeless things is hell. They have no relationship with God.

Jesus' death on the cross was the tragic result of the failure of his contemporaries to do the will of God. However, Jesus himself was totally faithful. As a result, all people, through faith, can inherit Jesus' spiritual victory and receive spiritual salvation, enabling them to grow to a higher spiritual level.

D. The Consummation of Human History

Because Adam and Eve did not fulfill God's ideal, and because Jesus was prevented from bringing God's kingdom on earth, as a result of being rejected by his contemporaries, someone will be born on earth as the third Adam to complete the providence of restoration and establish God's original ideal.

God has prepared people of all races, cultures, and religions throughout the world to expect this second coming of the Messiah.

The Third Adam

From "True Family and True Universe Centering on True Love," Founder's Address, 15th Anniversary of The Washington Times, Washington, DC, June 16, 1997.
Who is the Messiah sent to the people of Israel, promised in the Old Testament? The Messiah is the one who comes as True Parents, True Teacher, and True King. However, because Jesus was prevented from establishing the True Family and uniting his people, he needs to come again.
In other words, because he did not accomplish the national-level foundation, the Messiah of the Second Coming will come as the Third Adam and teach the way of the True Parents, True Teacher and True King at the world level. This is the messianic concept. Wherever the family, nation, world and Heaven exist, the idea of the three primary positions of parents, teacher and leader should always be established.

The foundation for the Second Coming was completed after World War II. At that time the Christian culture was united and leading the world, providing a basis for humankind to receive the teachings of the Messiah.

The Second Coming

From "True Family and I," South American Address, June - July, 1995.
Christianity has taught that Jesus will return. In Buddhism, they speak of the return of Buddha. Confucianism alludes to a new Confucius. Likewise, in Islam, believers await the return of Mohammed.
What could be the reason God established the different religions? We need to understand that the Will of God is accomplished centered on His beloved children, children who are like God's flesh and blood.
With that type of son and daughter, God wants to form families, tribes, races and nations.
We need to understand, then, what the Messiah is. The Lord in his second coming is the person who completes the ideal for which all religions have longed, descending to earth with the root of true love from the eternal God.
He will become a True Father. Through the restoration of that lost true love, he will work to establish a true family on earth, on the foundation of true life and true lineage.

The returning Messiah will finally destroy Satan's dominion over humankind and fulfill God's three blessings on the earth. The present time is the Last Days. Thus, Satan is attempting to destroy the human family and our belief in God before his own demise.

Preparation for the Second Advent

From "True Parents and the Completed Testament Age," North American Speaking Tour, 1993.
God's preparation for the Second Advent required a world-level foundation of successful Cain-Abel reconciliation. This dispensation was carried out through the events surrounding World War II.
The Allied countries of Britain, America and France represented Christianity and were in the position of Abel. The Axis countries of Germany, Japan and Italy were under the influence of nationalistic militarism and stood in the position of Cain. This war represented the expansion of the conflict between Cain and Abel to the world level.
Immediately after the Allied victory, great strides were made toward creating a world of peace centered upon Christianity. With Britain in the world-level position of Eve, and America and France representing Abel and Cain respectively, these Allied nations stood in the position ready to receive the Lord of the Second Advent.

The Last Days

From "True Family and I," South American Address, June - July, 1995.
When the Last Days come, Satan has to give over to God's side his spiritual power as a ruler over humanity and the respect which he once enjoyed. Satan retaliated by coming up with the idea of atheism, the ideology of no God, which supported the appearance of humanism, materialism and communism.
After World War II, the struggle between God's side, the right wing, and Satan's side, the left wing, moved to the world level. Further, after World War II, because of the victory of God's side, the world entered a transitional period in which to welcome victory and peace based upon the realm of Christian culture.
The present era is the era of the realm of individualism: the era of free sex, the era of children denying parents, the era of parents denying children, the era of denying the couple. Through homosexuality, an attempt is being made to destroy completely the family ideal.
It is this ideal which the Messiah, at his second coming, intends to establish in order to change this hell into the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. The Messiah, as the True Father, desires the unity of mind and body, the unity of husband and wife, and the unity of children.

Reverend Moon's key teaching is that restoration of God's original ideal of creation comes through the establishment of God's true love, true life and true lineage. Although God sent Jesus as the Messiah, fallen people did not engraft themselves through him to God's true lineage of true love. Humankind still awaits the Lord of the Second Advent, who comes to eliminate sin altogether and finally establish God's kingdom on the earth.

The Blessing Ceremony

From "Becoming the Leaders in Building a World of Peace," Congratulatory Banquet Address, Nineteenth International Conference on the Unity of the Sciences, Seoul, Korea, August 22, 1992.
The International Marriage Blessing of the Unification Church, which I will be conferring during this time, is the blessing of resurrection. Through this ceremony, humanity is able to cut itself clear from original sin and recover the true love, true life and true lineage of God.
It is within the context of this ceremony that we can give birth to peace that enables us to realize the ideal of the great brotherhood of humanity that transcends race, nationality and international boundaries.

This begins with the True Parents, who establish the True Family, onto which all human families are engrafted. Reverend and Mrs. Moon have initiated this process by conducting Marriage Blessing Ceremonies that transcend race, nationality and religion.

It is Reverend Moon's belief that he was commissioned by God through Jesus to fulfill this responsibility and thus consummate human history and usher in the era of God's Kingdom on Earth and in Heaven.

The Position of True Parents

From "The Cosmos Is Our Hometown and Our Fatherland," The Washington Times Foundation American Century Awards, Washington, DC, February 2, 2000.
The Old Testament age after Adam's fall is the history of the people chosen to receive the Messiah. God's will was for Jesus to come as the Messiah through the chosen people of Israel, for all people to be grafted on to Jesus' family, and for this to be expanded to encompass the world. However, due to the disbelief of his contemporaries, Jesus died on the cross, leaving this process as an ideal to be accomplished at the time of the Second Advent.
Thus the returning Lord must stand in the position of the True Parents of humankind and recover the position of embodying God's true love. He must fulfill the position of the parents of Heaven and Earth and bring God's providence of salvation for all humankind to completion.
The Messiah must begin by forming a family that attends God more gloriously and with greater filial piety than the family that Adam and Eve would have formed had they not fallen.
The Messiah is the head of the family that represents the core of the ideal for a new humanity that must begin by linking to the lineage of true love through the life of true love. He must connect blessed families to the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth and in Heaven so as to expand and complete the Kingdom on Earth and in Heaven.
Therefore as the True Parents of all humankind, the coming Messiah should renounce the love of the fallen satanic world and fallen human ways. He must establish the path and tradition of a perfected man and woman, perfected family, clan, people, nation, world, and cosmos linked to God's true love. All humankind must receive the new Blessing through the love of the true parents, and inherit the new family lineage.
Humanity must understand that there is no way to do this except through true love.
This is how the hellish world of Satan's dominion can be supplanted and overcome.

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