Divine Principle Lectures from the 120 Day Workshop

by Ken Sudo

Predestination

I. General View of Bible (God's Predestination of His Will)

Everyone is reaching for fortune or happiness from the individual level to the family level, and tribal, national and worldwide levels. Every one of us is looking for fortune and happiness but some can obtain it and some cannot. Why? Who can decide our fortune or misfortune in our destiny? God? Man? Or something else? In order to understand this, theologians established the theology of predestination, but it's strange. Then let's investigate.

First of all, a general view of Bible verses concerning predestination. If we read the Bible, we can find some verses which imply that destiny will be decided only by God, that man cannot participate in the decision of his destiny. (Diagram #85.) For instance, Romans 8:30, "And those whom He predestined He also called, and those whom He called He also justified, and those whom He justified He also glorified."

Everyone of us is looking for glorification by God but according to this understanding, only those whom He predestined are qualified to be glorified. This means those who weren't predestined cannot be glorified, and will be forsaken by God and must be miserable. Then it is only God who can predestine, can decide the fortune or misfortune of man's destiny.

In Romans 9:11-13 it is more clear. "Though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad, in order that God's purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of his call, she was told, 'The elder will serve the younger.' As it is written, 'Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.'"

Though they were not yet born, and had done nothing, what is to be loved and what is to be hated will be decided by God before birth and already God had decided that God loved Jacob but hated Esau. God must be so partial to Jacob. Therefore, even St. Paul couldn't understand the reason and said, "Don't complain." Because of this misunderstanding we don't feel good, but if we investigate more we can find Biblical verses which are contrary to the above.

First one is Genesis 2:17. God said to Adam and Eve, "Don't eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, for in the day you eat of it you shall die." Is there anyone who likes to die? Then this means that if you don't eat of it then you shall live. Then life and death doesn't depend on God but depends on whether man eats or not. It isn't God who can decide the destiny of man, but man himself.

According to Jesus it depends on man himself, if he will be happy or unhappy. Even if he can be glorified or not, misfortune depends on him, not on God. Also, in Matthew 7:7, "Ask and it will be given you. Seek and you find, knock and it will be opened." This means if you ask it will be given you. This means if you don't ask it will not be given you. Therefore, if it is given to you or not, will depend on whether or not you ask. Is there anyone who doesn't like to be given by God? Then what should we do? Must ask. How much did we ask God? How desperately? How seriously, how honestly, how many times did we ask God?

One small story. In the early days of the Church in Korea, Father told about an old woman, who had been a pious Christian a long time and loved Jesus so much, but because of spiritual guidance she could understand that Father was the Messiah. She still loved Jesus very much and Father explained a hidden secret of the Bible. The lady came to Father and said, "I think Heavenly Father is partial to You, because Heavenly Father didn't give this much to Jesus. Why did Heavenly Father give so much to You only?" Then Father answered, "To those who are not interested, even Heavenly Father cannot give." Even for the Messiah, the contents of what he has depends upon his own interest and effort to ask for truth.

If you have providential desire, pray one month, two months, one year, three years, ten year, Heavenly Father will answer You. This is very true. The only problem is that we can't continue and be serious. This is why Heavenly Father cannot work. Ask and it will be given. Seek and you will find. Knock and it will be opened to you. According to this understanding, happiness or unhappiness, fortune or misfortune does not depend on God but upon you. Then man can decide his own destiny. According to this the two interpretations are contradictory. How can we solve this question?

II. God's Predestination of His Will

First of all, what did God predestine from the beginning? God predestined to realize the purpose of creation first of all. According to the Bible, those who call Lord, Lord, cannot always get into the kingdom of God, but only those who do what God required. Then what is His will, His purpose? Fulfillment of the purpose of creation. This is realization of the three great blessings. God predestined to realize three great blessings, but because of the fall of man, the purpose of creation was not realized and the world came under satanic dominion. Therefore, the purpose of creation was lost to Satan once, and the kingdom of God must be restored. (Diagram #86.)

Instead of the purpose of creation, God's desire must be to fulfill the purpose of restoration. This is salvation; it became the purpose of restoration to realize the kingdom of God. God must be the God of goodness, and His purpose of creation must have been good. God never intended evil, never planned to realize the evil world. Therefore, the evil world cannot be God's plan. First of all, to be evil means to be in defiance of God's will and principle. God's words were to not eat. Was it in line with God's predestination to have eaten the fruits of the tree of knowledge of good and evil? No. The fall of man cannot be God's predestination.

The fall of man must have given a deep wound to God's heart and in Genesis 6:6, the Bible says that the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He repented in His heart. He must have cried. God must have cried to see the miserable fall of man. Also, He said in I Samuel 15:11, when King Saul rebelled against God, "I repent that I have made Saul king. Saul has turned his back from following me and has not followed my commandments." God was a grievous God because evil took place which God never intended.

(Diagram #87.)

However, God's predestination of His will must be absolute and His determination must be absolute. According to Isaiah 46:10-11, "I have spoken and I will bring it to pass. I have purposed and I will do it." Once decided, He will never fail to fulfill it. God's predestination of His will must be absolute, must be 100%.

What does fulfillment of the three great blessings mean to each of you? The kingdom of heaven, highest happiness. Therefore, God predestined you to be happiest! He made a deep determination: "I will never fail to realize to make you the happiest." That's all Heavenly Father desires. No matter how hard you try to be miserable and unhappy it is impossible. (Diagram #88.) We have tried to be miserable for more than 6,000 years and now is the time to give up being miserable. God sacrificed 6,000 years of His life only for you, to make you happy, happier and happiest. How miserable and impure you may be, whatever deep sin you have committed, God wants to make you the happiest of all. "I will never fail to realize My will, oh My son and my daughter."

This is the true meaning of predestination; it is God's confession of love. Far better than the confession of your boyfriend. Can you even continue three days sometime? Girls cannot trust boys and boys cannot trust girls. Therefore, God's confession of love must be more fantastic than the confession of love from your girlfriend or boyfriend. Then how can He make you happiest? He needs our own cooperation.

III. God's Predestination of Accomplishment, His Will

According to the Principle of Creation, other creations can reach perfection only by the force of principle, but in the case of man, man needs not only the force of principle, but also the fulfillment of man's portion of responsibility. Throughout human history of restoration, we had many difficulties because God must be almighty and God must be love; then why couldn't almighty God save mankind? A big question. If almighty God didn't save mankind, then He mustn't have had love. How can we give an answer to this question?

Truth is truth: we didn't know that God is almighty but it will be expressed only when mankind can fulfill his portion of responsibility. Man didn't know this point. God created Adam and Adam couldn't create himself; God created his body and mind. This is God's portion of responsibility. Once born, man is responsible for his own perfection. To our regret, man did not fulfill his portion of responsibility and committed sin. In order to indemnify this failure, God sent the second Adam, Jesus. (Diagram #89.) Now this time, the Israelites should have restored faith. As you know, we killed Jesus and salvation was prolonged. If the people f Israel were successful in their mission, mankind would not have to suffer so much for close to 2,000 years. Only because man didn't fulfill his portion of responsibility, was God's will and the happiness of mankind not realized.

It wasn't so many people who decided the destiny of mankind: Christians, religions, Israelites must decide the destiny of mankind. It was only several people who met with Jesus, who supported, or who deserted Jesus, who decided the destiny of mankind. Therefore, this can't be my 5%. However God may have prepared His portion of responsibility, because I didn't fulfill my portion of responsibility, God couldn't realize His will and God was involved in misery, and all mankind was involved in tragedy and misery. Then eventually, it wasn't God but me who made God miserable, who made mankind miserable.

When Adam and Eve fell, God was so sorry' to see it and said, "I repent to have created man on earth." God was miserable. And also when King Saul rebelled against God, God was shocked and said He repents, He repented to have made Saul king. Throughout the history of restoration has there been even one moment in which God's will, God's desire was fulfilled? Not at all.

As you know, at the end of World War II, under the dominion of Nazism, many Jewish people were arrested and driven to the ghetto where there was almost no food at all. One day the young men were taken away to a labor camp, and young women were taken away for another purpose, and old men and women and children and the injured who couldn't work were taken to a bath. They went into a big room. The doors shut and the next moment poisonous gas was blown in. The people screamed and shouted but the doors were shut, and in 10 minutes, 20 minutes, the doors were opened and all were dead.

Some died with both eyes open, some died with both hands stretched and some, because of death's agony, scratched the back skin of other people, and their back skin was all torn off. The Israelites, whom God loved most, were not in such a terrible situation.

God must have been looking, gazing upon the tragedy of His own beloved sons and daughters. To see this fact, how deeply torn His heart was. It's not the Israelites but God who screamed. This is not a story of 2,000 years ago, but this is a story of this age. From the beginning, at the fall of man, from the beginning of human history up to this time, this is so. Also, you know that close to 100 million people were killed because of Communism. To see this fact, has there been even one moment in which Heavenly Father was happy to see this world? Not at all. What a poor God He has been. Why? Why must Heavenly Father suffer so much?

Now we must understand that man's portion of responsibility is just 5% of the entire dispensation of God, but 5% of dispensation must be 100% of man's effort. We must understand man's 100%. Ninety-nine percent is not enough, only 100% or more, when God can start to work.

This is the reason why God has been miserable. Throughout human history there has never been even one moment in which Heavenly Father was satisfied, and no one knew that He was betrayed. He was denied, He was refused by those whom He loved most. So it seemed as if He was incapable of saving mankind. People said, "God died. No God." Behind this refusal God must have been shouting, screaming and crying but no one could understand the depths of His weeping. Then He couldn't do anything at all. He was like an artist blindfolded. He couldn't shout, He couldn't work, He couldn't do anything to save mankind. Can you imagine the real situation of Heavenly Father? (Diagram #90.)

He is old, 6,000 years old or more. Old man. Shedding blood and shouting, He couldn't do anything. Just imagine this is your father. Who made Him so miserable? It's me. I did because I did this way. This attitude towards God made my Father so miserable. From the history of restoration has there even been one case in which Heavenly Father didn't fulfill His portion of responsibility? Why? Because He's God and because of love He cannot forget, He cannot fail. He did it, but we didn't do that; we are sometimes hanging around, we never knew God's grief, miserable God.

Then who knows what is man's portion of responsibility? The President, or governors, or Rockefeller? Then who knows? We know. Therefore, eventually it is only we who can decide the destiny of America and the world. The key point is to do what the Messiah requires us to do. This is man's portion of responsibility. So we don't have to worry about Communism in a sense, if only we can do what He requires us to do.

Then what is Father's expectation for you? American missionaries, remember, every ten days one member. This is the reason why Father gathered you all here in Barrytown. If only you do this, America will be saved and the world will be saved because we can restore the responsibility of all mankind.

Therefore, during this period, we must change ourselves. In order to fulfill this goal we must be desperate, shedding sweat, shedding tears, even shedding blood. We must change so that Heavenly Father can work through me, so that I can love Father more than other people.

IV. God's Predestination of Man

God created Adam first and centering on Adam, God intended to realize Adam's family, tribe, race, nation and world. But because of the fall of man, everything was lost. In order to restore what was lost, God has to choose one central figure then what is the qualification to be chosen as a central figure?

First of all, he must be a member of God's elect, chosen people. God tried to find a central figure out of the chosen people. Next, even if he was born out of the chosen people, God prefers those who have a good natural disposition. A man of good heart, rather than one who is strange. Even God doesn't like someone who is strange as a central figure--then everything will become strange.

Therefore, a man is best who has a deep heart and who is intelligent and has a strong will. Then God gives priority to those who have the proper qualifications. If he has a deep understanding of the Bible, it is better. Bible study or music or some experience in the field is good qualification to be chosen. (Diagram #91.)

After those who have proper qualifications, God will give priority to those who were born at the right age. However wonderful a person may be when the Messiah comes, if he's 85 years old God cannot choose him as a central figure. Twenty to thirty years old is better. So Father envies you because you are young. Father always says that if he were your age, he could do anything.

A typical example. Originally, John the Baptist was one of God's elect. He had good ancestry because he was born as a son of Zechariah, and he had a good disposition, plus proper qualifications. He went into the wilderness and had a period of training in deep communication with the spiritual world and God. He was just the right age, just six months older than Jesus. This was the reason he was chosen as central figure to be the. first disciple of Jesus. As you know, God's expectation was great, but he betrayed God's expectation and the deeper was the wound given to God.

As a result, John's destiny was turned upside down. Jesus said in Matthew 11:11, "Among those born of women, none is greater than John, but even the least in the kingdom of Heaven is greater than he." John was lost but still God has to fulfill His will. Instead of John the Baptist, whom did God choose? Peter.

Now centering on Peter, a new dispensation was started. At the same time, Judas Iscariot was one of the most reliable persons to Jesus, yet he was also deceived. Jesus' expectation for him was great, but he betrayed Jesus. Now his destiny was turned upside down, and he died. He hanged himself and died. Instead of him another person was chosen by lot to be a disciple.

However wonderful he or she may be when they are chosen to be responsible for a special mission, unless a person can fulfill his portion of responsibility, it eventually doesn't work. He will be forsaken by God and another person must be responsible for it. (Diagram #92.) Then if you also don't fulfill your portion of responsibility, you must be cast out by God. Instead of you, someone else must be responsible. Then, because of greater indemnity conditions, those who come after will have to suffer more than ourselves.

If only we do our portion of responsibility, God will give glorification. If we all can do our portion of responsibility desperately, with faith, then the happiness of all mankind will be given to us, and we will be eternally blessed.

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