Rev. Hwang's sermon from the February 18th early morning service at the Headquarters Church in Chungpa-dong, Seoul

Good morning brothers and sisters. This morning's portion of Divine Principle records the purpose of the Second Advent. [Rev. Hwang reads from pages 118-9 of Exposition of the Divine Principle.] The purpose of the Second Advent is to realize the purpose of creation. The purpose of creation is to build the Heavenly Kingdom on earth. True Parents came to the earth for that purpose. What have True Parents tried hardest to realize on earth? Needless to say, they have tried to complete the ideal world of God's purpose of creation as it is written in Divine Principle.

The purpose of True Parents' coming to the earth is very clear. They came to realize the Kingdom of Heaven here. In the following four ways I can more specifically speak of the purpose of True Parents' coming:

The first is God's liberation. It is indeed surprising for believers of other religions to hear that people are trying to liberate God. As I have always stressed, the accepted idea throughout human history has been that God liberates people, the Creator liberates the created, the Absolute liberates the relative, and the Unlimited liberates the limited. It appears illogical for the created to be liberating the Creator, people to be liberating God, the limited to be liberating the Unlimited, the relative to be liberating the Absolute.

Nevertheless, we claim to be trying to liberate God. There is only one reason for it: The relationship between God and people is that of parent and children. Because God is our parent and we are His children, there is an inseparable bond of love so that restricting the parent restricts the children, and vice versa. This is the law of love. The law of love is that when the beloved is suffering, the one who loves is in much greater pain. It is simply logical that people must liberate God.

Secondly, the purpose of True Parents' coming to this earth is to save humanity. The third purpose is to recover the Creation. The fourth purpose is to liberate all of history, from the beginning up until now, which means liberating the spiritual world. When you look at the content of Father's prayers in the fifties, sixties, seventies and eighties, you can understand that those four messages are fundamentally included: the liberation of God, the salvation of humanity, the liberation of the Creation and the liberation of the spiritual world.

In terms of fulfilling those four purposes, the salvation of humanity is at the core. There are two reasons that this is so. We are to be lords of all things. The perfection of the Creation is only possible on the basis of human perfection. Because the liberation of the Creation can be realized on the basis of the liberation of humanity, the salvation of humanity is the first and most important task to be accomplished. The second reason is related to how the liberation of the spiritual world must come about. Because the physical world is in the subject position in the dispensation, only when things are solved on earth can they be solved in the spiritual world. Ultimately, those who are with True Parents on earth must be liberated in order for the door of the liberation in the spiritual world to open. With liberated humanity as the foundation, the Creation can be liberated; with the liberated spiritual world as the foundation, God can be liberated.

As we all know, True Parents' lives are providentially significant. Their lives symbolize all of human history. Father's eighty-some years of life represent the indemnification of the six thousand years of the history of God's dispensation. Father turned eighty years old in the year 2000. Thus, the year from Father's eightieth birthday to his eighty-first birthday was the year when True Parents' lives, as well as all of history, came to fruition.

If I had to choose the most significant year in history, my choice would be the year 2000. It was the time to conclude the past and was the starting point of the new future. The period of history that began based on the life of Jesus 2000 years ago was the most important up to that time. However, God's will could not be realized. The third beginning, in 1920, was also very important, but that was just the start of a new dispensation.

True Parents' holy wedding in 1960 was still more important than Father's birth. The coming of the first, second and third Adams were parallel events. True Parents' holy wedding, however, was important in that it was the first and last such event in human history. But it did not mean the dispensation was concluded at that time. It meant simply that the providence of True Parents began with the marriage ceremony of True Parents.

Then, in which year did the fruit of all of history since the time of the Creation come to fruition? From the perspective of God's dispensation, it was the year 2000. Last year was the most important year in human history. To jump straight to my conclusion, I can say that True Parents' efforts to accomplish the four purposes for which they came have borne fruit.

What do we mean by "saving humanity"? Divine Principle teaches us about spiritual salvation and physical salvation. What is the concrete meaning of the salvation of humanity? If the ancestors of humanity, Adam and Eve, had not fallen, we would not need a savior. In the world as it was originally created, everyone has a one to one, direct, relationship with God. We would not need faith or religion. Life itself is life as it was meant to be. God automatically lives in us. We are trying to help the world to recover that state.

Looking at Introduction to Restoration in Divine Principle, the paths that central figures walked were model courses. There have been many historical central figures who lived lives that were model courses of their time for fallen humanity. The model course to complete the physical salvation of humanity is that of the third Adam, True Father's providential path. Following the footsteps of True Father, we can become original human beings, that is, fourth Adams.

God's dispensation concludes with the restoration of humanity to the status of the original creation on this earth, centering on the third Adam. The model course for the fourth Adams is the path of the third Adam.

When True Father was called at fifteen years of age, the first providential tasks toward becoming the Messiah were to keep his purity and to find the truth that could save humanity. According to the introduction to Divine Principle, True Father, on his own, met all the saints by going back and forth between the spiritual and physical worlds. Having received approval from the spiritual world, and eventually from God, he could finally find the truth needed to save humanity, all by himself. On that foundation, Father started along his public course in 1945.

However, Christianity did not fulfill its mission. Father had to repeat the path of restoration through indemnity. Having been born without original sin and having found the truth by himself, Father became the Messiah and a True Parent in the 1960s. And in 1997, True Parents became the Parents of Heaven and Earth. They can solve problems in the physical world and the problems of the spiritual world. Then the year 2000 arrived.

The course for True Parents is the course of the third Adam. It is also the model course that we are to follow. How far can True Parents lead us on the path of the original creation? True Parents will lead us until the moment that we inherit what they have accomplished as original human beings of creation.

We were not qualified to be messiahs by birth. Why? Because we had the original sin. We differ from True Parents in terms of our roots. However, as God created the first human beings by the Word, and breathed a living spirit into their nostrils, True Parents have been recreating us by the Word from the moment we joined the movement.

We all finally received the blessing, through which we have been born again. So, what is the blessing? It means rebirth and resurrection, the complete change and restoration of our blood lineage. Through the blessing, we can return to a position similar to that of True Parents, who do not carry the original sin.

And then we must understand how to live our lives. We must mature more and more. The course after the blessing is to fulfill the mission of tribal messiahship. As True Parents had to be born on earth to walk the path of Messiahs, we also must be born again through the blessing to walk the path of tribal messiahs.

True Parents have rid us of the original sin and have had us walk the same path that they have traveled down as messiahs. They have walked the path of True Parents. We must also follow that path. That is how we can be fourth Adams. The providential event that enables us to walk the True Parents' course is the registration blessing. Through the registration blessing, we can be fourth Adams. The registration blessing puts us in the position of true parents to our tribes.

At this time, many members are not in their mission areas. What is your mission area? It is not just a geographical area where you are supposed to witness: the mobilization is a course we have to go through to become true parents. You attended the 21-day workshop before the registration blessing. The 21-day workshop is the time for True Father to create original Eve.

Between July 6th and 9th 1992, an event of dispensational importance took place: the proclamation of the Messiah. This proclamation is normally made by a John-the-Baptist figure. On this occasion, that position was held by True Mother. Mother did not stand in her own position, but proclaimed the Messiah from the position of John the Baptist on the foundation of the Women's Federation. Furthermore, the Completed Testament Age began in 1993, and Mother began a seven-year course, the period of mother-son cooperation.

This time period ended on June 14, 1999 with the "Declaration and Celebration of True Parents' Cosmic Victory." Father presented Mother with an award the significance of which was that she had fulfilled her required role in the providence of mother-son cooperation.

After that, Father put all the blessed wives in the younger-sister position to True Mother and, from his position of original Adam, recreated them in the role of original Eve. Father directed them to carry out witnessing activities in selected mission areas. Their husbands, in the role of archangels, must help these women who are in the role of Eve. Father has thus given men the way to restore themselves from archangels to true husbands. That will eventually bring all blessed couples to become true parents.

The registration blessing is to make us fourth Adams. It is the way to inherit True Parents' final providential course. True Parents told us that after we receive the registration blessing, they no longer have any relationship with us. Of course, that does not mean that our relationship with True Parents has completely ended. It means that we no longer have a relationship in terms of salvation.

There are many more fourth Adams than third Adams, but the level is the same. The time of our depending on True Parents has passed. The providential time has come for us to make a direct connection with God without the help of True Parents. So the past year has been a tremendously meaningful year, because it was a year of True Parents' lives-and of all of human history-that bore fruit.

After joining the church we were recreated by the Word and, through the blessing, born again without the original sin. On that foundation, we have walked the course of tribal messiahship and we should now walk the tribal level course of true parents. The turning point was the registration blessings, which have been held from September last year and have such providential importance. On that foundation, True Parents could successfully liberate the Creation.

Dearest brothers and sisters! Three most important among the many proclamation ceremonies that have been officiated by True Parents were the ceremonies for the return of the oceans, the return of the earth (land) and the return of the cosmos to God. True Parents proclaimed that the oceans, earth and cosmos would return to their state when originally created through these three ceremonies. [See Today's World June/July 2000 issue]

After that, they held a "Ceremony for the Liberation of the Spirit World" on October 14th [Today's World October 2000 issue]. On December 1, in South America, True Parents held a special ceremony to dissolve hell and paradise. Thus, in the year 2000, True Parents indeed presided over many events of the dispensation that had the significance of being the overall fruits of previous eras. These fruits were the salvation of humanity, the liberation of the Creation, and the liberation of the spiritual world. In addition, in August True Parents successfully accomplished the breaking down of international barriers, centering on the United Nations. They also opened up the era of family kingship.

So, if we look at the dispensation in the year 2000, we notice that everything was concluded. On that foundation, on January 13, 2001, True Parents officiated the Coronation Ceremony for the Kingship of God. Since True Parents began their public mission, they have presided over countless providential events. Jesus and other figures in history were central to many providential events as well. The most important, final fruit of the entire dispensational history of restoration was the Coronation Ceremony for the Kingship of God on January 13th.

True Father himself told us that the most significant event of the dispensation since his birth has been the holding of this Coronation Ceremony.

True Parents concluded the providence by liberating God on the remarkable foundation of having liberated humanity, the natural world, the spiritual world and of having broken down international barriers. The final fruit of all these efforts was the Coronation Ceremony. Accordingly, because the year 2000, the year for the dispensation to bear fruit, has passed, and a new providential opportunity, the year 2001, has begun, True Parents have informed us of three changes.

The first change is their giving us complete authority with regard to the blessing. Brothers and sisters, please think about this. What has been the most essential event among many events of the dispensation that True Parents have guided? It has been the blessing. True Parents have had the unique authority of being able to give the blessing. The responsibility has been gradually extended to us, however, and finally, this year the authority was passed to us completely.

Since I started to accompany True Parents in their work in relation to the blessing ceremonies, I have often seen True Parents practice absolute, total authority with regard to the blessing, especially the second-generation blessings. True Parents used to share everything else at the time of the blessing but they never talked to us about the second-generation blessing. For this, they would practice their absolute omnipotence and authority. Even then, True Parents were saying that the time would come when the parents of the second generation would directly officiate the matching and blessing of their children, according to the original order of creation. That time has already come. Following this year's Coronation Ceremony, parents will decide on the blessing of their children, the second generation. This is the original order of creation.

The second change is that we no longer pray in the name of True Parents, but in the name of a central blessed family (chukbok joongshim kajong). This means that the period of the fourth Adam has actually begun. The order of the original creation has been restored. Now is the time in which people can directly meet God without going through a mediator. From the viewpoint of the dispensation, the global purpose of creation has already been realized on earth.

The third change is that True Parents allowed all the blessed families on earth, at the dawn of this new dispensational age, to receive the holy wine ceremony as they symbolically concluded the past and made a new beginning.

These are the providential changes True Parents have brought about as we greet the new age. The characteristics of the new changes can be summarized as ultimate and conclusive. This is the eternally unchanging order of the original creation. The time has come for us to directly report to and ask God. It is a time for us to report to God directly, to be under God's direct dominion, and to communicate with God directly, as was to be the case in the original ideal world of creation. These providential changes are proof that the year 2000 has been a providential period with significant results, and that the year 2001 is the beginning of a new age.

Thus, the year 2001 is the age of God's kingship (sovereign power). It means that we live in the age wherein God has direct dominion over us. We may define this in many different ways:

First, this is the age of transcending religion. We are in an age where we have no need of religion. This does not mean that we don't need faith. Dispensationally, this is now the age of transcending religion. Therefore we must develop our movement to help others to transcend their religious limitations.

Second, we are in the age of transcending nations. The time in which our one world centers on God has begun. Third, it is the age of unity between mind and body. Fourth, it is the age of direct reporting, which is the true order of the original world of creation. Fifth, the providential age of Parents is over and the age of Children, the second generation, is coming. On September 24th last year, True Parents held a special ceremony immediately before the registration blessing. In that ceremony, True Parents clearly stated that they had passed the providential mission of the Parents to the Children. Responsibility for the spiritual world was bequeathed to Heung-Jin Nim's family, and that of the physical world to Hyun-Jin Nim's family. Concrete changes were visible starting from the new year. There is no question that this year heralds a new age. We must put on new clothes of a new heart and spirit.

Brothers and sisters, we are entering that new age right now. Every part of our lives should be new. In a new providential age, what we experience, and how we feel about family members, our own families, ourselves, True Parents, God, holy songs, our life of faith, donations, praying over night and our mission areas should all be new. Have we become new people? We must check that we are not failing to change into someone new. An inability to change shows that we just carry on our life of faith habitually.

Dearest brothers and sisters, the new age has come. Even if we live just as in the past, the past was clearly the night, and it is now the middle of the day with bright sunlight shining down. The past was the era of the third Adam and it is now the era of the fourth Adam.

In the past True Parents gave us opportunities to be reborn. But now we must make rebirth and resurrection happen for ourselves and for others. In the past, True Parents took responsibility for us but now we, their children, must take responsibility for ourselves.

Therefore, now we must grow to be parents ourselves. As God was liberated thanks to True Parents, True Parents must be liberated thanks to us.

True Father told us, "As I have accomplished the Coronation Ceremony for the Kingship of God, putting God in the place of sovereign power on the cosmic level, you must do the same for God on the tribal level." In addition, he said, "As I have liberated God in my lifetime, you must liberate True Parents in your lifetimes." Moreover, he added, "As I have made you fourth Adams by investing my entire life, you must make your own tribes the fourth Adams by investing your entire lives."

The fact that such a divine task is ahead of us at this new age should be written indelibly in our hearts. I pray for you to be new providential central figures in the new age, and for blessings to be with all of you.

[Originally published in Today's World, February 2001]

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