The Words of the Kim Family Before 2008
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The Words of the Kim Family Before 2008 |
Sometimes we are asked by non-members whether or not we believe Father is the Messiah. Usually we answer, "Yes." but when asked, "How can you believe he is the Messiah?" what would you say? You can answer in many ways. You could say, "I received a revelation from Heaven," or "I had a dream which testified that Rev. Moon was the Messiah." Or you might answer, "Through the Principle we can solve all the mysteries of the Bible. Since the Messiah comes as the lord of truth, we can understand that Rev. Moon is the Messiah." We can also talk about the work Father is doing, such as giving the Blessing -- which no one has ever given to fallen people before. There are many different ways to testify to Father, but I think the most convincing testimony comes from Father's course. If we understand what process Father passed through we can clearly see that he is the Messiah. We must have strong faith in our Father in order to be able to answer this question.
Also, we all know that Father had a previous marriage, and that he even had a son from that marriage. Often even our members wonder how Father could get married before starting his mission. If you were asked this question many of you couldn't answer it, but you should be able to.
Father came on the foundation of Jesus. We know that Jesus accomplished the growth stage of God's providence. Therefore, those who believed in him could go to the growth stage spirit world, which is called Paradise. This is what Principle teaches us. Adam and Eve fell at the growth stage by uniting in false love centered on Satan. Their hearts therefore couldn't grow beyond that level. In order to return to and go beyond that point to the perfection stage, man and woman must work together as a couple united in the love of God. God had to work through Abraham's family to restore man to the formation stage. Through the work of Jesus, God could restore fallen man to the growth stage -- but only on the individual level, not the family level.
Our Father came on this foundation of Jesus' accomplishment. He inherited Jesus' victory, and upon this growth-stage foundation he was married. We aren't blessed after reaching the perfection stage but when we reach the growth stage. Father goes through the model course which all people must follow. Although he, unlike ourselves, had already attained individual perfection, he had to marry and together with his wife pass through the completion stage to establish family-level perfection. In this way he and his restored wife together were to carve the path by which all fallen people could reach individual and family-level perfection.
Father inherited Jesus' foundation, but he also could have inherited the accomplishments of Christianity's 2,000-year history if Christians had accepted him as the Messiah in 1945. If they had, then Father's first family would have formed a God-centered, victorious four-position foundation. They could have become the central family of God's providence and could have gone through the perfection stage easily. They could have blessed other people then, as True Parents do now. The restoration could then have progressed quickly.
After Korea's liberation father worked secretly with Christian ministers, but they rejected him. They thought he couldn't be the one. Thus the foundation which Jesus made for Father was lost. Actually, the Christian's work was for the Lord of the Second Advent, but when Christianity rejected our Father, he completely lost all foundations. He was in the position of Jesus when he lost the foundation of Judaism, prepared for him throughout the Old Testament Age. When Jesus lost that foundation, he had to go into the wilderness, taking a secondary course by confronting Satan. Similarly, after Father lost the foundation of Christianity he had to take a secondary course by going to North Korea and winning a victory in Satan's territory. He had to find someone who would testify that he was the Messiah.
Father went to Pyongyang, which was called the Jerusalem of the East. Many Christians and spiritual people lived there. There he found a lady who called herself the wife of Jehovah, or the wife of God. Father went to her home and served her as a servant would. He did everything for her and her sons as if they were the children of God. The providence required that this lady testify, "You are the Messiah." Until she testified this, Father had to serve them, enduring all kinds of difficulties. He was ridiculed by the neighbors because he was a grown man coming to this strange woman's house and working like a servant. People just laughed at him, saying, "What kind of man is he? How can he do this?" If he had thought only of himself, he could never have done such a thing. But he continued serving this lady and her sons, doing more than the most lowly servant would.
Finally the lady testified, "You are the Messiah." From then on their positions were reversed; Father stood above her. However, although she testified to the fact that he was the Messiah, she didn't follow him. Her testimony was inspired by the spirit; she had become spiritually open and so could say those words. But upon returning to her usual self, she for- got what she had said; she wanted to keep Father as a servant, and continuously asked him to serve as before. This was no longer possible. She and her family were supposed to serve Father. If they had followed him, they could have established the restored family foundation for him, but they failed; she forgot her own testimony and didn't follow Father.
It was the same with John the Baptist, after testifying to Jesus he should have followed him, but he forgot his revelation and went the other way. Maybe he considered himself greater than Jesus and thought, "How can I be your disciple?" In the same way, this woman didn't follow Father, and he had to build another foundation. Since she completely rejected him, Father had to go to jail. Whenever something fails, more difficult conditions must be made. North Korea itself is one big prison, but the prison of prisons is a communist prison.
God prepared many spiritual groups even before the liberation of Korea from Japan. One such group, headed by a spiritual lady [Ho Ho Bin], was waiting for the coming of the Lord. They prayed day and night. That woman and her followers were all thrown into jail. Father was in the same jail, and he met that group. This is just like the Korean folk story about Chun Hyang, who met her husband in prison. This is a prophetic story. Chun Hyang symbolizes fallen people and her husband represents the Lord of the Second Advent. Her husband comes with the power to save her. He meets her in prison the night before her execution and saves her at the last moment, just before she is to die.
In the same way, Father was to meet people from this group in prison; he already knew this from Heaven. The leader of this group also received a message from Heaven that they would meet the Lord in jail. So these Christians met Father and knew that this young man was the one that they had been waiting for. He wrote a short note to them telling them how to answer the questions of the police. Father didn't want them to die, so he told them to deny what the police said, even though it would mean lying about their faith. But they didn't follow Father's hint and were all killed.
They could have been saved, but in keeping with old Christian tradition they wouldn't deny their faith. They should have followed whatever Father said because he was the Messiah for whom they were waiting. Because of their failure, Father was beaten almost to death after the note was found. As you know, he was thrown out into the snow and left to die. If this Christian group had obeyed Father, this wouldn't have happened; they died and Father had to suffer so much, as indemnity. He couldn't find his necessary three disciples in that jail. He had gone there to find his foundation, but due to their disobedience and death, he couldn't succeed.
After this, on February 22, 1948, Father was arrested again. This time he was sentenced to five years in prison and sent to Hungnam. When something fails, the next stage becomes harder. Why did he go there? This was just like Jesus' crucifixion. Father couldn't stand on the foundation of Christianity and the chosen people; he had nothing. Jesus died because he lost his twelve disciples. If they had maintained their faith in Jesus unto death, he wouldn't have been crucified. Likewise, in order to survive, our Father had to find twelve disciples. But where could he find them? Since Christianity and the chosen people rejected Father, he had to start anew from the very point where Jesus left this world: on the cross. This is the connecting point. Jesus was put on the cross because he lost his twelve disciples, the minimum condition to continue his mission on earth as the Messiah. For Father to live and continue the unfulfilled mission of Jesus, he had to restore the twelve disciples while on the cross. If Father had failed, he would have suffered the same fate as Jesus.
November
6, 1950. Bomb damage to the nitrogen fertilizer factory in Hungnam,
North Korea.
Hungnam labor camp was equivalent to Golgotha: a place of death. Few survived more than six months; it was a place of slow crucifixion. Father had to find twelve disciples there, but he couldn't speak freely. There were spies everywhere. He especially couldn't talk about faith, or he would have been put to death.
We live in the free world; we are free to speak with anyone, and have many books and things to help us. Yet, it is extremely difficult to bring even one new member. When you cannot speak, how can you find disciples? It is an almost impossible task. But spirit world helped Father. Why? Leaving Seoul for North Korea was already beyond what an ordinary person would do. Father had already determined that for God's cause he could even lose his life. With this determination he went north and to prison. "I will only do God's will." This was his attitude. Then he entered prison, but failed to gain the people he needed. He was almost beaten to death. An ordinary person would think, "I'll never do that again!" He almost died. Nevertheless, he went to prison again, to create a new foundation and to do God's work. He acted in absolute obedience to God. He didn't think of himself, only of God's will. Because of this, spirit world could help him. Even though he didn't say anything in the labor camp, people came to him.
Mr. Pak [Chung Hwa Pak], who later broke his leg, was one of the first who came to Father in prison. Mr. Pak was having difficulty in bagging the fertilizer. One day a young man came over and helped him; that was how he first met Father. Then one night an old man dressed in white appeared in his dream and said, "The young man who helped you is the Messiah." Mr. Pak was bewildered. He began to observe Father closely. Then Father approached him and said, "You had a dream two nights ago, didn't you?" Mr. Pak was shocked. He replied "You are the Messiah." Father taught him about John the Baptist's failure, but Mr. Pak was offended and angry. He was a devout Christian and couldn't accept what Father said.
That night he was in pain and couldn't sleep; the old man reappeared and said that his pain was caused by his failure to follow Father. Mr. Pak repented to Father, but again when Father told him about the private life of Jesus, he protested and turned and walked away. That night he felt even greater pain, both in body and spirit. The old man came again and ordered him to never doubt Father. Mr. Pak repented again. In this way he could overcome Father's difficult message and finally become Father's disciple: he pledged to absolutely obey Father no matter what difficulties might come. Eventually, twelve people came to Father in prison and pledged to follow him through life and death.
Because Father restored twelve disciples, he could be released from prison. Otherwise he would have had to die there. So Father actually had to begin his mission all over again from prison. He inherited Jesus' course there. Jesus left this world on the cross, having lost twelve disciples, and Father started his mission on the cross, restoring twelve disciples. This is history, not some fairy tale, and it clearly shows who Father is.
There have been many religious leaders, especially in Korea, who did wonderful works. One such was Tae Sun Pak, who had great spiritual power. He could gather more people than Paul, who witnessed to three thousand at once. Mr. Pak attracted tens of thousands to his revival meetings and they became his followers. He once had greater power than Paul, but now his group has almost perished. He was in the position of John the Baptist to Father, but he didn't follow; that's why his group is almost nothing now. There have been many people with spiritual power, but there is no one who went through the same course as Father. We can't find anyone in this world who started his mission as Father did. Father is the only one who could inherit the mission of Jesus. This is seen from his course. Therefore, we must say that our Father is the Messiah. He alone can be the Messiah.
There are many other stories of Father's time in prison. As you know, the United Nations forces bombed Hungnam because it was a big industrial city. Many prisoners died from the bombing. Father asked some to gather around him and these people survived while most others died. No bombs fell within ten meters of Father. God worked a miracle and Father emerged safely from prison.
For Father, Mr. Pak symbolized fallen humankind. At that time everyone was desperately fleeing south. Parents were even leaving their children behind. With his broken leg, Mr. Pak couldn't walk; he wanted to stay behind. Father visited him, pleading with him to come south. But he said, "No, if you take me, I'll be killed and you'll be killed with me. You had better not take me. You go on alone. Leave this place!" Then Father said, "If we live, we live together; if we die, we die together." Father took him along. Why? The Messiah's mission is to save fallen man: he wasn't born for his own sake, but for fallen man. If Father had abandoned Mr. Pak, he couldn't be the Messiah or True Father. Mr. Pak was in the position of the main disciple and represented all of humanity. Therefore, Father had to take him; he brought him to South Korea on his back and on a bicycle. Many things happened along the way. Sometimes Father had to pay indemnity in order to get food for them. You can read the testimony of Won Pil Kim to find out more about this time.
What purpose did the Korean War serve? Nothing much changed in Korea because of the war. The only result was that over two million people died and most material property was destroyed. Politically nothing changed; the country remained divided. Then what was the purpose of the war? It happened because the Korean people, both north and south, didn't follow Father. This was one form of indemnity which they had to pay. When the people of a nation don't fulfill their mission, they must pay in order to restore their original position. For the Korean people to receive Father again, they had to pay indemnity even with their lives. If the Korean people had followed Father after Korea's liberation from Japan, there wouldn't have been such a war. The war also served to free Father from the north. Of course, if the Korean people had followed him in the beginning, he wouldn't have had to go to the north. Since they rejected him, Father had to suffer in the North Korean prisons and the Korean people also had to suffer.
After the war, Father had to start again in South Korea, but this time Father's wife rejected him. If Christianity had accepted Father, he and his wife could have been united. God chose the most devout Christian woman to be Father's wife. She represented the fruit of Christianity. When Christianity rejected him, she did likewise. In fact, she went to see Christian ministers and said bad things about Father. By doing so she hoped that Father would give up his mission and disciples and stay with her and their child. Because of her,
Father's course became even more difficult. He had to start over again in the south. You know how this course went. There are many things which you need to understand, but I'll just go this far now. Maybe I can give more explanation about this some other time.