The Words of Joong Hyun Pak
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The Words of Joong Hyun Pak |
Father
prays at the first anniversary of the Pal Chong Shik Ceremony, on
August 31, 1990
My topic this morning is "One World, One Family". We have heard this phrase many times, haven't we? Our goal, centering on God and True Parents, is to make one world and one family.
Many American brothers and sisters are now preparing to go to the 40-day pioneer witnessing program on a worldwide level. This 40-day period is the third 40-day condition this year. From July 22 until September 2 was the tribal level witnessing campaign. From September until October 10 was the national level witnessing campaign. Now, from October 11 to December 30, is the world level witnessing condition.
We need to understand why Father asked us to do worldwide level pioneer witnessing. Sometimes people do something without understanding, but it is better to understand what we are doing, don't you think?
The Olympics were held in Seoul, Korea in 1988. It was an important historical event where 160 nations representing the second generation, or Joshua and Caleb, came to Korea in the name of world peace, seeking to break down the walls of human division and to create one world family. Their coming to Seoul represented Joshua and Caleb and the second generation Israelites entering Canaan. After the Seoul Olympics ended on September 27, Father announced the first anniversary of the Day of Opening of New Heaven and New Earth [Opening of the Gates of the Kingdom of Heaven]. On October 3, he announced a new major Holy Day, the Foundation Day for the Nation of the Unified World. The meaning of Opening of New Heaven and New Earth is that we are entering Canaan. As you know, just this year on October 3, East and West Germany became officially reunited. This is actually very providentially significant.
In 1989, on August 31, Father held an important ceremony in Kodiak, Alaska, called the Day of the Settlement of Eight Stages, or Pal Chong Shik Ceremony. Its significance is that our human representatives, True Parents, arrived at the eighth stage, or perfection, and then God is in the ninth stage. So God and True Parents are completely one. True Parents have entered the direct dominion of God. God is the vertical God, and True Parents are the horizontal God. God is dwelling inside of True parents, and True Parents are dwelling inside of God.
In the Bible, John 14:8-10, there is a passage where Jesus explains about this:
"Philip said, 'Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.' Jesus answered: 'Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father?' Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me?"
The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work." It may be very difficult to understand this concept. Our True Father and Mother went from the servant of servants level to servant, adopted son, stepson, true son, true son, true parents, and then to God's level. We need to understand that level. It means the living God is here on earth.
Adam and Eve were created by God 6000 years ago, in God's image. Adam was God's external object; his face and form were a copy of God's form. God is invisible, but He has a divine nature which has a form, too. God is plus and human beings are minus. God created Adam and Eve because He wanted to see a reflection of His form. So Adam, who was a copy of God's nature, was growing to perfection, and when he arrived, he would be God's external form. But we lost Adam, and the second Adam, Jesus Christ, was crucified, so the True Parents came as the third Adam. Now Father has arrived at the eighth stage so he completely reflects God's form. That is why we call it the settlement of eight stages. Now centering on true love, God and True Parents are always one in body and heart. Our True Parents have reached perfection and dwell in God's dominion.
So in 1988, Father declared that we were entering Canaan. That means that after Father and Mother completed their victorious 43-year wilderness course, they could enter Canaan and God's Kingdom of Heaven, the New World, could start.
Before our restoration course began, we were completely living in Satan's dominion or kingdom. Satan was our father, our ruler, our god. So we needed to escape from Satan; our physical and spiritual selves needed to be liberated from Satan. When we entered into Canaan, we separated our physical selves completely from Satan. That was Father's declaration on October 3, 1988. Then spiritually we were liberated completely from Satan on the Day of the Settlement of Eight Stages.
So from now, we are living in Canaan. The Kingdom of Heaven has already started. Your family is the kingdom of heaven on earth, isn't it? You may have a very humble house and humble clothes, but you are centered on God and true love. Centered on your family, your individual and family level kingdom of heaven has already started.
Last year we made a lot of effort to establish the tribal level of Heaven. So now, through these 40-day conditions, we are going to the national and world levels.
You received the blessing from True Parents at the growth level. Now, through your tribal messiah work, your spirit is at a higher level, but not perfected yet. As blessed couples, we need to follow our True Parents' pattern in order to reach perfection. So what level is Father on now? He is on the world level and cosmic level. Can we stay on the family level then? No. We must make some condition to connect with Father's worldwide and cosmic providence.
We need to go True Parents' course both spiritually and physically. When we unite with True Parents and love True Parents by living a life of attendance, we can advance vertically (spiritually) through the eight stages. However, God's kingdom is not just a spiritual kingdom, but also physical. Entering Canaan is both spiritual and physical, horizontal and vertical. Our heart and motivation to go out to the world is love.
Through this condition, the spiritual and physical, vertical and horizontal can be harmonized. According to how much we love the world, we can be resurrected that much. We receive that level of benefit and grow to perfection through uniting with True Parents' direction. We who have lived and worked together with True Parents during the wilderness course can now enter Canaan with them and expand the providence through our own family, tribe and nation. The spiritual and physical will be harmonized.
The meaning of Canaan is not just one particular piece of land. The meaning of Canaan is the entire world. At the time of Joshua, when the Israelites settled in Canaan, God intended them to keep expanding. But they only stayed in one place, they didn't move out to surrounding areas like what is now Saudi Arabia or Lebanon. They lost their higher goal, and as a result they became very secular, as the Canaanites were. They only concerned themselves with their individual or family happiness, and their situation became very dangerous, and they lost God's protection. So Father is now giving us a higher goal. It is truly his blessing for us, so that we don't fall into the same situation as the Israelites. This is our blessing.
Sometimes when you go to the department store, you want to buy one thing, but they have a special deal where they give you a second or third item free. This is the same principle in inheriting True Parents' victory. When we make some small condition, we can inherit True Parents' victory on the world and cosmic levels. We have been working in the tribal level providence until now. Now we want to inherit True Parents' victory on the world level.
Why did we receive the blessing? Was it only for our own family? No, we cannot stay at the family level if we want to retain God's and True Parents' blessing. We did not follow True Parents in order to buy a house in the suburbs or to get a Mercedes Benz. We joined the Unification Church in order to build God's Kingdom on this earth. Therefore we cannot stay at the family level.
If we are really God's children and True Parents' children, we want to go together with them wherever they go, don't you think so? Since Father is now on the world level, we have to go there too. So last year, we worked for the restoration of our tribe, and now Father is making a wonderful offer to us that we can inherit his worldwide blessings through this 40-day world level witnessing condition.
Father is witnessing night and day on a world level He witnessed to Gorbachev, and is now witnessing to Deng Xiaoping and Kim Il Sung. Also, hundreds and soon thousands of Russian students, politicians and professors are coining to the U.S. to study Divine Principle. Father invited the leaders of the world's religions to the U.S. at the Assembly of the World's Religions Conference. These are Father's spiritual children. Father not only asks us to witness, but he himself is already doing it. Father is now 70 years old; if he can do so much at his age, then we should be able to fulfill this 40-day condition.
So by going to our countries, sacrificing our own family and nation for only 40 days, we can grow through the eight stages vertically and expand God's providence to the nation, world and cosmic level. You remember the Crusades in the Middle Ages? In the Crusades, young people went out and never came back. Compared to them, our life is easy. Actually, this 40-day condition is a very joyful, exciting and happy opportunity.
Some of you are going to very exotic locations: Malta, the South Seas, Kenya, and India. Most of us in our whole life would never have the opportunity to go to these countries, even if we wanted to, because of limitations of time or money. But now, Father has given us a wonderful opportunity. Because it is our mission, we have reason to travel to new lands and meet new brothers and sisters.
I am sure if you pray, Heavenly Father has already prepared someone to meet you. In the early days of our church in Korea, spiritual world was so helpful. Even though we were very poor, someone was always prepared to help our pioneers with food or a place to stay. Brothers and sisters would pray and spiritual world would show them which house to go to. I am sure if you are praying with Great Grandmother Hong's candle, then spiritual world will guide you, giving you many miraculous experiences. As soon as Father announced the worldwide level witnessing condition, the spiritual world immediately was mobilized to prepare the way for our members. The ancestors of people in the foreign countries are already mobilized to connect their descendants to our missionaries. They are working ahead of us. So you can expect many amazing experiences.
Because Father has invested so much in America -- spending so much time, shedding so much sweat and tears for this country and bringing manpower and money from many countries -- Father really trusts American brothers and sisters to carry God's heart and tradition of service to the world. He trusts us. This is our greatest honor and privilege, don't you think? The Americans going out to the world, commissioned and entrusted by our True Parents are the happiest people.
To be successful, we just need to trust True Parents' direction and go out with a joyful, grateful heart and mind. Although we should be serious to restore the world, we can be so joyful because of True Parents' victories and True Parents' love. The internal character of the Kingdom of Heaven and its citizens is that of rejoicing. This is always our vision and our goal, to rejoice in the Kingdom of Heaven. How can we go to our countries with a long face, looking sad and heavy? Can we inspire others that way? No, we need to uplift others as Father has always uplifted us. Father is bestowing his blessing to us, and now we go out to the world and give our blessings to the world.
The meaning of the global village is one world and one family under God. We have all been longing to see this day come. This is an exciting and wonderful event in history. So let us pray and determine to do our best to make True Parents proud of us. And in the new year, let us meet together as one world family. I am sure we will have many stories to tell and many wonderful experiences and memories to share. May God bless you.