As we can see from Genesis, God accepted Abel’s offering but rejected Cain’s. In accepting his offering, God was not catering to Abel’s desire. God’s principle required that Cain accept Abel as the one chosen by God and became one with him through love. On this basis, one of the problems caused by the fall would have been resolved and God could have focused thenceforth on Adam and Eve.

In fact, the unity of Cain and Abel should have been brought about through their mother, Eve. But she failed in this. Therefore, God had to wait for another woman to indemnify this aspect of the fall on behalf of Eve.

The Bible describes Rebecca, Isaac’s wife, as a great woman who fulfilled her responsibility in God’s providence. As the mother of two sons, she was in the position of Eve. However, unlike Eve, she understood God’s providence and helped Jacob, her younger son, receive Isaac’s blessing that was due to Esau. When Esau learned that his blessing was given to his brother, he planned to kill Jacob as Cain murdered Abel. However, with the wisdom of their mother, Rebecca, the two siblings did not shed blood, but eventually embraced. This reconciliation was a crucial victory for God. But the victory was incomplete and symbolic from the perspective of the change of lineage. Substantial victory had to be brought about in a woman’s womb.

This is the reason for the puzzling story of Tamar. By understanding it, we can comprehend why Jesus was born from the tribe of Judah with Tamar’s lineage. Like Rebecca, Tamar was in the position of Eve. Tamar had a relationship with Judah, her father-in-law, and conceived twin brothers, Perez and Zerah. (Gen 38) The Bible records that these brothers fought over the elder’s position even in the womb. One son’s hand came out first and the midwife tied a red string around his wrist. Then it went back into the womb, and the brother without the red string was born first. (Gen 38:28) The one who was to have been younger ended up the elder. Through this, the providence for the reversal of Cain and Abel occurred in the womb, prior to birth. Due to this culminating substantial condition, the Israelites became the chosen people to receive the Messiah.

From the normal ethical viewpoint, the actions of Rebecca and Tamar are questionable. Readers of the Bible and even theologians puzzle as to why God blessed such women. This puzzle is solved by the knowledge that God needed to restore His lost lineage in order to lay a foundation to send Jesus. The victories of these two women brought the change of blood lineage and the victory of Israel. Israel began to grow as a nation on the foundation of a blood lineage restored through true love.

Jesus Was Born in God’s Complete and Direct Lineage

Thereafter, Judah’s lineage prospered from generation to generation, expanding into a tribe, society and nation. Through this lineage, 2,000 years later, Mary appeared in Israel at the center of God’s providence. Mary had to set indemnity conditions. In order to restore the elder sonship, she had to unite Cain and Abel from the family to the national level.

Mary conceived Jesus in obedience to God. From a human point of view, she actually betrayed her parents and her fiancé Joseph. She was living in culture in which out of wedlock pregnancy was a capital offense. However, Joseph, in the position of Adam, did not forsake Mary, his fiancée. He thereby protected her from death by stoning.

Because Mary stood on the victorious foundation of Rebecca and Tamar, Satan was not able to claim ownership over Jesus who was conceived in her womb. Therefore, Jesus was born one hundred percent in God’s direct lineage. Jesus is, therefore, the only begotten Son of God, born after the process of changing the fallen blood lineage into the good blood lineage was complete. For this very reason, Jesus is the saint of all saints and the ancestor of the true blood lineage.

Next, Mary, in the position of restored Eve, should have brought unity between Jesus in the position of Abel and John the Baptist in the position of Cain. Unity between these two was critical for the Israelites and Judaism to receive Jesus as the Messiah.

As Jesus stated to his disciples, the mission of John the Baptist was to fulfill the prophecy of the prophet Malachi. "The disciples asked him, ‘Why then do the teachers of the law say that Elijah must come first?’ Jesus replied, ‘To be sure, Elijah comes and will restore all things.’" (Mt 17:10-11) In Luke as well, it is written that John the Baptist came with the "spirit and power of Elijah." However, John the Baptist denied that he was Elijah. And although he had received a clear revelation from heaven as to who Jesus was when he baptized him at the River Jordan, he continued to doubt whether Jesus was the Messiah. (Mt 11:3)

In the eyes of his contemporaries, John the Baptist was viewed as a great religious leader worthy of respect and admiration. Jesus, on the other hand, was regarded as an illegitimate son born in a family of a poor carpenter. Clearly, it was very difficult for the Israelites of Jesus’ day to believe and follow him, unless he had the support of John the Baptist. Lacking that support, Jesus could not help but to go a thorny path. He ended up going about as a self-proclaimed Messiah in the face of John the Baptist’s disbelief.

John the Baptist should have assisted Jesus and opened a way for him to appear credible to major Israelite religious leaders of that time. Had John fulfilled this, Judaism in the position of Abel and Israel in the position of Cain could have become one centered on Jesus. In that case, the marriage supper of the lamb, for which Christians still hope, could have occurred in Jesus’ own day. Jesus would have become the True Father of humankind, and his bride the True Mother of humankind. On the foundation of God’s marriage Blessing, Jesus’ teachings would have rapidly spread all over the world, restoring even Asia and Rome within seven years, before he reached the age of forty. Jesus and his bride together would have restored the individual kingdom, the family kingdom, the tribal kingdom, the national kingdom and even the worldwide kingdom.

Without John the Baptist’s support, however, such glorious dreams were shattered. Chief priests, scribes, and Jews who believed themselves to be faithful and religious rejected Jesus’ words and eventually drove him to the cross. Faced with the disbelief of the Israelites, Jesus had to offer his life on the cross in order to open a way for the spiritual salvation for humankind. Consequently, while the human heart can approach God through Jesus, the body is still assaulted by Satan’s evil temptations. Even the apostle Paul agonized over the conflict between his bodily desires and the higher aspirations of his mind. (Rom 7:21-25) Therefore, Jesus must come again, in order to save humankind physically as well as spiritually.

Take Down the Cross!

Today, with the arrival of the True Parents on the earth, the time has come to resolve all the grievances that remain in Jesus’ heart. Two thousand years ago Jesus had to go the way of the cross due to disbelief and persecution from his own people. He employed the cross as a sacred implement upon which to sacrifice his body in order to save humankind. However, in God’s eyes, Jesus’ death on the cross was too appalling even to watch. After making 4,000 years of preparations to send the Messiah, God had sent Jesus, His only-begotten Son. Instead of being welcomed, Jesus was tried, convicted and sentenced to death. The cross was the dreadful instrument of his execution. The Bible describes three hours of darkness that suddenly fell when Jesus was crucified. God could not bear witnessing the scene of Jesus’ death and turned His face away.

As Jesus prophesied that "Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down" (Mark 13:2), the Jews were scattered to wander all over the world. God had to watch in tears as awful historical consequences played out, even the massacre of six million Jews by Hitler. Today, in order for Judaism and Israel to be resurrected, they should clearly understand the tragedy of Jesus’ death.

It is no coincidence that recently a movement to take down the cross is spreading among the churches. It is being led by the American Clergy Leadership Conference (ACLC) and is based upon the words that the Reverend Moon spoke at the 20^th anniversary of the founding of The Washington Times. In his keynote speech, he declared that the cross that Christians revere was not God’s primary will, but rather was Jesus’ second choice necessitated by the impossible circumstances. Jesus took that path with a painful heart, in order to open at least the way to spiritual salvation for humankind. Yet when Jesus looks upon the cross, his heart is flooded with painful memories. His heartbreak and sorrow will finally be resolved only when the cross is taken down from every Christian church.

Moreover, as a result of Jesus’ crucifixion, Christianity has been plagued with struggles between right wing and left wing. It is as if Cain and Abel had to be divided once again, as they were due to the fall of Adam’s family. Also, Islam appeared and fell into conflict with Christianity. These historical struggles and divisions were ultimately caused by Jesus’ death on the cross. Thus, unification can come only at the Second Coming of the Lord.

In order to prepare the Second Coming of the Lord, God needed a worldwide condition of reconciliation between Cain and Abel. This providence unfolded through the course of the Second World War. The Allied nations England, America and France stood in Abel’s position representing the realm of Christianity. The Axis nations Germany, Japan and Italy stood in Cain’s position under the influence of nationalism. Here was the confrontation between Cain and Abel expanded to the worldwide level.

After the Allied victory, there were tremendous efforts to establish lasting world peace based upon Christian ideals. At that point England was in the position of Eve on the worldwide level, and France and America were in the positions respectively of Cain and Abel. At the same time, God was completing preparations to send the Second Advent of the Lord. When viewed from the perspective of God’s providence, immediately after World War II, America and Christianity stood on the victorious foundation of unity between Cain and Abel. Hence, the time was ripe to receive the Lord of the Second Advent.

Nevertheless, God’s providence was not fulfilled at that time. Christianity failed to receive the Messiah, and consequently the Cold War ensued, beginning with Korean War. As with World War II, the world divided into two camps, Cain and Abel. Communism rejected God, like the thief on the left side who disbelieved Jesus on the cross. It represented the Cain-type world. Democracy was established based on Christianity and belief in God. It came to represent the Abel-type world. The Lord at the Second Coming must unite these two warring camps. The center of confrontation is the Korean peninsula that is divided into South Korea and North Korea. The providential reason sixteen nations of the United Nations participated in the Korean War was to protect and unite the fatherland of humankind.

During World War II, the Christian nations of England, America and France played the central role. After that, the Unification Church led the effort to restore their failure to receive the Messiah. Japan was chosen for the position of Eve on the democratic side. America and Germany were chosen for the Abel and Cain positions, respectively. These three nations, with the support of the rest of the Free World, should complete the unification of the Korean peninsula, which is in the position of Adam on the worldwide level. Furthermore, to indemnify the fall of the human ancestors, Eve, the mother, should again give birth to two siblings, Cain and Abel.

1945 marked the end of the New Testament Age. Christianity failed to receive the bridegroom within the following seven years until 1952. As a result, God’s providence was prolonged for 40 years, leading to 1992. During those forty years, the Reverend and Mrs. Moon prayed five times a day while seeking every possible way, internally and externally, to restore the lost New Testament Age on the world level by working to unite the seven providential nations: Korea, England, America, France, Japan, Germany and Italy.

In April, 1992, Mrs. Hak Ja Han Moon, with the Reverend Moon, founded the Women’s Federation for World Peace and proclaimed the arrival of the women’s era. Mrs. Moon traveled all over the world, visiting even Russia and China, as well as the seven nations mentioned above, and established WFWP chapters in scores of nations. By doing this, she brought the nations together that had been divided in Cain or Abel positions since World War II. Thus, she restored the foundation for the Bride that had been lost since the Second World War. On that victorious worldwide foundation, in July 1992, the Reverend and Mrs. Moon proclaimed that they are the True Parents of humankind. This marked the first appearance of the True Parents in human history. A goal toward which God had been leading His providence of salvation for thousands of years was achieved.

The returning Messiah comes as the Savior of humanity and the True Parent. What is his mission? His most important mission is to re-establish the relationship between God the Creator and human beings as that of parent and child. This requires that he sever the link of blood lineage between human beings and Satan, and restore human beings to God. The returning Messiah comes to complete what Jesus couldn’t finish: the completion of the God’s providence of restoration. Specifically, he appears on the earth as true child, achieves God’s ideal of creation, and completes the ideal of the True Parents who are the origin of true love, true life and true lineage.

The returning Lord comes to begin his mission on the foundation of the victorious providence which God had developed to the point of Jesus’ death on cross. In other words, he stands on the foundation that Jesus had established—the level of growth stage. Then he finds his Bride, and they become the True Parents and save all the people, as Jesus would have done had he found his bride 2,000 years ago.

As the True Parents of humankind, they celebrate the Holy Marriage Blessing Ceremony that changes the blood lineage, engrafts humankind into the God’s true love, true life and true lineage, establishes true families, and ultimately opens the Kingdom of Heaven on earth.

Accordingly, the returning Messiah comes as human being in the flesh and establishes a new relationship with God through blood lineage on the earth. In doing this, he takes back the true primogeniture, the true parentship and the true kingship, which should have been established back in Adam’s family. He transforms this evil world into the Kingdom of Heaven on earth and in spirit world under God’s direct dominion. He inaugurates the age of God’s kingship on earth and in heaven, an era of true victory, true freedom, true happiness and true unity.

The Meaning of the Marriage Supper of the Lamb

The Bible is a revelation of God’s Word through metaphors and symbols. For example, the verse, "I am the Alpha and the Omega," means that God will accomplish in the Book of Revelation (Omega) the divine purpose that He was to have completed in Genesis (Alpha). If Adam and Eve had not fallen, they would have fulfilled the ideal of a true family, whose sons and daughters would encounter no obstacles on their way to Heaven. Adam and Eve would have become the True Parents and established the original true family, living in oneness with God. Their descendents would have expanded that divine family for evermore. This verse means that through the marriage supper of the lamb in the Book of Revelation, God will restore what was lost in Genesis. He will find the true bride and bridegroom and celebrate the Holy Wedding to establish them as a true husband and wife. They will become the true parents with true children and constitute God’s true ideal family.

Adam and Eve, the first human ancestors, separated from God. They shattered humanity’s original relationship with God and thereby devastated human history. Therefore, in order to restore God’s original ideal, Adam and Eve have to unite. This is the very marriage of the lamb prophesied in the Book of Revelation. This holy wedding will take place when the Lord comes again, meets his Bride and marries her. On the very day of the marriage supper of the lamb, God completes His Providence of Restoration. He fulfills His ideal of creation that He wanted to complete in the Garden of Eden 6,000 years ago. Humanity is restored from the fallen world to the original ideal world.

Therefore, the biblical vision of the marriage of the lamb envisions God calling the man and woman who embody the true love, true life and true ideal that God wanted to see 6,000 years ago. God will set up them as the sinless Parents and true ancestors of all humankind.

The Bridegroom is a man who will become the perfect True Father, and the Bride is a woman whom God loves and who will become the True Mother. If there had been no human fall in the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve would have married centering on God’s love. In fact, they were married centering on Satan. Hence, the Marriage of the Lamb in the Book of Revelation symbolizes the restoration of the original Holy Marriage centering on God. God at last finds the perfect man and the perfect woman who have restored the ideal of Adam and Eve, and celebrates through them the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.

This is God’s purpose in the Providence of Restoration on Earth. He has sought to find a man and a woman who are far superior to fallen Adam and Eve and grant them the Marriage of the Lamb, make them the ideal husband and wife and the progenitors of the ideal family on earth. In this sense, we can know that Jesus’ deep desire was to have been the True Parent. He should have been heralded as the King of kings representing the kingship of God, based upon first fulfilling the course of becoming the True Parent.

The biblical image of the Marriage of the Lamb is a prophecy of the day God will accomplish the original ideal that He intended for humankind, by setting up the True Parents that were lost due to the fall of the first ancestors. Ever since the fall of man, God began preparing for the day of the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. But nobody can celebrate it except God’s direct son and daughter.

The Messiah achieves perfection as an individual; nevertheless by himself he cannot save the world completely. The Messiah should bring his family to the point of perfection in order to save the world completely. Therefore, he has to meet his Bride, who represents the Holy Spirit. He has to set up the God-centered family with his Bride, thus fulfilling the ideal of the Trinity, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. God has been preparing for this family, and finally He will see it in actuality at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. The returning Christ will take a bride chosen by God and celebrate the Marriage of the Lamb. Christians should clearly understand the meaning of this prophecy in the Bible.

All people, whether black, white, Korean, Japanese, young, old, on earth or in spirit world, need to see the day of the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. Spirit people also cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven without serving the True Parents in the last days; therefore they also need to see the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. Heaven is the place where a father lives together with his wife and children. The familial four-position foundation is the basic unit of the Kingdom of Heaven. That is the heavenly principle.

The Holy Wedding of the True Parents on March 16, 1960 (Lunar Calendar)

The most important and serious event in the history of God’s salvation providence is the Holy Blessing of Marriage, through which God sees the fulfillment of the ideal of True Parents as first good ancestors of humankind. Had Adam and Eve not fallen, but achieved perfection and celebrated the Holy Blessing of Marriage centering on God, they would have become the first True Parents of humankind.

When Jesus came to this earth as the second Adam, he should have celebrated the Holy Blessing of Marriage. The families of Joseph and Zechariah should have united together to help Jesus fulfill this. To this day, nobody has understood Jesus’ mind and heart at the wedding in Cana when he reproved his mother Mary for asking him to make wine. He reproved her for being concerned about a neighbor’s wedding while she had not prepared a wedding for him, the Son of God, as she should have done.

The returning Christ, who comes as true man, should likewise meet his bride and celebrate the Holy Marriage Blessing. They should become true husband and wife, and at last True Parents. Then, as the substantial true Olive Tree, he should give Holy Marriage Blessings to all humankind, giving rebirth to all people, who are like wild olive trees. People in Old Testament times were redeemed by the ceremony of circumcision, which symbolized separation from Satan. People in New Testament times were redeemed by baptism and the rite of the Eucharist. Finally people in the Completed Testament Age are redeemed fully by the Holy Wine ceremony and Holy Marriage Blessing officiated by the returning Christ.

The present-day international Holy Marriage Blessing ceremonies originated with the Holy Wedding of Reverend and Mrs. Moon held on March 16^th, 1960 (lunar calendar). It could be held only after Reverend Moon had completed conditions to indemnify all the providential content of the 4,000 years from Adam to Jesus and the 2,000 years from Jesus to the present. Jesus represented Adam and the returning Messiah represents Jesus.

Soon thereafter, on the 16^th of March, Reverend Moon held the Holy Wedding. This was the greatest event in God’s providence of salvation. It was an historic event of with significance throughout heaven and earth, yet very few understood it at the time.

On that day, Reverend Moon substantially achieved the spiritual and physical triumph by fulfilling horizontally on earth all the vertical conditions of indemnity. Beginning on the individual level, he restored Jacob’s victorious standard. On that foundation, he then achieved the victorious standard of the family. The year 1960, when he could start his family, was 14 years after Korea’s liberation from the Japanese colonialists. He used that 14-year period as a course to reach the completion level of growth stage, precisely the level Jesus reached when his life on earth was brought to an end at the cross. Thus, it was the first time in history when the separation of the human family from Satan could take place. It was the right time for God to provide him with a Bride. The Bride of the Messiah is not merely an individual bride. She is the center and the representative of all brides in the world. Thus, there appeared the first true family on earth, what God had longed to see through all of human history.

The Holy Marriage Blessing was held in two ceremonies at the Cheongpa-Dong Headquarters Church. The first ceremony signified the installation of the Parents of Restoration through Indemnity and the second the installation of the Parents of Glory.

Satan knew that the satanic world would be destined for destruction once the Messiah and his Bride were wed and established the center of salvation for humankind. Hence he mobilized every possible means to prevent the Holy Wedding. Satan’s world exerted all power to prevent the establishment of the messianic family. Even the Christian churches sided with Satan at that time. The ideal couple could appear only after passing through a complicated course of indemnity, prevailing over death and winning a terrifying fight against Satan.

Jesus’ three disciples represented the three archangels who should have made a trinity to serve and protect Adam and Eve. They failed in their responsibility and thus brought about this fallen world. Therefore, as mentioned above, in order to hold the Holy Wedding and become perfect Parents, the Messiah needed three disciples who would serve him completely. These three disciples stood in the position of the three archangels. These three disciples also symbolized the support of the spirit world. At the same time, these three indemnified and restored all people in the Cain position who had not obeyed and surrendered to Abel. It signified their restoration through the Old, New and Completed Testament Ages. They had to obey and cooperate completely with the returning Messiah, who was indemnifying and restoring horizontally in this one event the vertical history of Old, New and Completed Testament Ages.

Thus, one purpose of the Holy Wedding was to set the condition to indemnify Adam’s family. As the human fall was committed by a husband and wife, so its restoration had to be achieved by a couple. Hence, these three disciples also represented the resurrection of Adam’s three sons, Cain, Abel and Seth. On the foundation of their filial relationship with the Messiah, the Messiah and his Bride could be engaged and rise to the position of substantial parents. Following this principle, before his Holy Wedding Reverend Moon first engaged three couples from among the first 36 couples. Then just after his Holy Wedding, he officiated the Holy Marriage Blessing of those three couples.

The engagements of these first three couples prior to the Holy Wedding also had the significance of Jesus’ three disciples helping him accomplish the ideal of the Bridegroom and Bride while he was on the earth. It was a condition by which these Cain-type children in the age of Second Advent could indemnify the failure of Jesus’ unfaithful disciples. In this manner Reverend Moon established the vertical foundation for his victory.

From that starting point, founded upon the returning Messiah’s establishment of True Parents and a true family, the Holy Marriage Blessing has expanded to reach hundreds of millions of couples. The first group Marriage Blessing Ceremony was held on May 15^th, 1960 for 36 couples. These couples symbolized the restoration of all human history, and afterwards they became the leaders of the providence of restoration. The historical meaning of the Blessing of the 36 couples was to it indemnified in one ceremony the vertical history of the three biblical ages. Likewise, all the Holy Marriage Blessings are not merely weddings in the conventional sense, but are ceremonies of restoration to advance the providence of salvation. Through these Blessings, God has been regaining His lost children, the lineage He would have had originally had there been no fall. Humanity thereby erects original, sinless true families by inheriting new life from the True Parents, who are the center of restored true love, true life and true lineage.

The Holy Marriage Blessing is God’s greatest and most precious provision of grace to humankind. It severs the blood lineage of evil inherited from the human fall. It restores people to the state of God’s original true children, whereby they become true individuals, true husbands and wives, and true parents who have no connection to sin. According to the Divine Principle, this wonderful grace is a privilege granted to people on earth who have a physical body. However, by the True Parents’ unique ministry, the ancestors of Blessed families can receive the Holy Marriage Blessing as they participate in the process of returning resurrection. They are educated at the Principle Training Center in the spirit world, after which they can live in spirit world as Blessed families, just as the Blessed families live together on earth. Heung Jin Nim, whom True Parents appointed the general commander of the spirit world, administers this extraordinary and unprecedented benefit and grace.

True Parents first proclaimed the worldwide expansion of the Holy Marriage Blessing on the occasion of the Blessing of 30,000 Couples on August 25, 1992. Subsequently they expanded it to the level of heaven and earth, by holding a spiritual Holy Marriage Blessing for Dae Mo Nim, Dae Hyung Nim and Choong Mo Nim as representatives of True Parents’ clan on the occasion of the Blessing of 360,000 couples on August 8, 1995. The dispatch of Heung Jin Nim to the spirit world as the family-level representative of the Messiah enabled the True Parents on earth to put the spirit world in order. The 3,600,000 and 40 Million Couple Holy Marriage Blessings, held on November 29, 1997 at RFK Stadium in Washington D.C. and transmitted worldwide by satellite, was the twelfth Blessing and the final stage of the providence of restoration. For that event, True Parents ordered countless spirit persons, guided by Heung Jin Nim and Dae Mo Nim, to descend from Heaven and sit on the reserved seats at the right of the center platform. At that occasion, True Parents entrusted to Heung Jin Nim and Dae Mo Nim the authority to give the Blessing to spirits and proclaimed the "Declaration of the Opening of the Blessing in the Spiritual World."

On Easter Sunday, April 17,1998, True Parents gave the "Declaration of the Opening of Elder Brothership, Parentship and Kingship." Through this, three nations, representing father nation, mother nation and elder brother nation, had established an absolute unified foundation centered on True Parents, representing the nation of heaven and earth which is the center of the universe. After this, the liberation of the spirit world and the blessing of spirit people began in earnest. Having established equal authority to give the Blessing of liberation both in the spirit world and on the earth, True Parents opened wide the gate of the Blessing in both worlds. In particular, at the historic Holy Marriage Blessing at Madison Square Garden on June 13, 1998, True Parents gave the Holy Marriage Blessing to 34 historical figures, spirit men who represented both the good and evil worlds, among them the five founders of worldwide religion and philosophy, Jesus, Confucius, Buddha, Muhammad and Socrates, and the worst mass-murderers in human history, Hitler and Stalin. By this, he opened the final gate for both good and the evil spirit people to cooperate in supporting the True Parents’ providence on earth.

On Chusok (Korean Full-Moon Day) of August, 2000, True Parents proclaimed the "Ceremony for the General Liberation of the Spirit World." The walls dividing the myriad realms in the spirit world were brought down, and at last spirit men were able to travel about freely between their various abodes. This proclamation made an enormous change in the religious spheres in spirit world. The spirit world is the world of the mind. Once a person fixes an idea in his or her consciousness, they won’t easily change. The barriers they erect through their thoughts manifest as high walls and sheer cliffs frequented by avalanches. It is almost impossible to traverse them. These are the impenetrable barriers and borderlines that separate the various spheres in the next world. Knowing well these circumstances, Reverend Moon determined to abolish these many walls and barriers. After he had set the conditions of indemnity and achieved his historical triumph on earth, he held the General Liberation Ceremony for the spirit world.

Why did the Reverend Moon choose not to liberate the spirit world first , so that the hosts of heaven could support him strongly from the outset of his ministry? He knew that the partitions and walls in the spirit world wouldn’t give way until their root problems were first solved on the earth. As the Bible states, "Whatever is bound on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever is loosed on earth shall be loosed in heaven." (Matt. 18:18) It is due to this principle that the True Parents have gone the bloodstained course of restoration through indemnity.

This set the stage for one of the most important events in the history of the providence of restoration, the Coronation of God’s Kingship, held on January 13, 2001. On that day the True Parents restored God’s original, omniscient and omnipotent kingship on earth and offered it to God. Through this holy ceremony, which took place on the completion level of the True Parents’ promise and proclamation, the True Parents connected the liberated cosmos to God’s sphere of love. God cannot sit on His glorious throne until the peaceful Heavenly Kingdom is established in heaven and on earth. Just as the omniscient and omnipotent God could not prevent His children Adam and Eve from falling and changing their blood lineage and sphere of dominion, likewise the returning Christ, as the third Adam, could not hold the Coronation of God’s Kingship and serve the Creator God as the substantial King until he established the foundation of true kingship on earth. He first had to gain victory through the substantial course of indemnity and restore the right of true children and the authority of True Parents. After that, God could truly enjoy happiness, glory and nobility as the Heavenly Parent.

When Blessed families fulfill their mission and responsibility on earth and enter the spirit world, they are automatically brought to the Kingdom of Heaven. In Heaven, we live in an atmosphere of deep and moving love. Feelings of freedom, happiness and joy arise naturally. We experience deep emotion and passionate love for evermore. People in Heaven always have bright and peaceful faces. They live without worry, anxiety or troubles. Without words, they voluntarily help each other and care for each other. There is no conflict, hatred or fallen nature such as envy, jealousy or arrogance to be found. The Kingdom of Heaven is filled with nothing but true love, which ever prompts people to live for others.

Now the age of peace has arrived, when we can go beyond national boundaries and all humankind can live as brothers and sisters. Therefore, all Blessed Central Families have the responsibility to honor God’s Kingship and God’s Nation. As God’s families, they should be determined and resolved to bring about the safe settlement of the Cheon Il Guk. After the Coronation of God’s Kingship, the time came when absolute good spirits descended to work on the earth. Only those people who live centering on absolute goodness and live their life in accordance with the Principle can prosper in this new age. Now that God is the completely liberated essential substance, He can work directly, illuminating all corners of the earth and the spirit world. The beneficence of God’s direct dominion of love revives people’s original nature, by which they can make a reciprocal relationship with God. Then God can directly shine the light of His true love to illuminate the whole cosmos. In this way, the providence centering on the True Parents is becoming evident to all, both in the spirit world and on the earth.