The Life of Jesus as Seen from God’s Will
and God’s Warning to the Present Age, the Period of the Last Days

20th Anniversary of the Washington Times Banquet • Washington Hilton, Washington, DC • May 21, 2002

…Jesus’ Death Gave Christianity Only a Spiritual Foundation

Until now, Christianity has not been able to pursue the Kingdom of Heaven both on Earth and in the spirit. Christianity has had no choice but to yield the physical world, attending Jesus as the spiritual Messiah and setting spiritual salvation and a spiritual Kingdom as its goals. The people of Israel had a nation and possessed national authority as the chosen people, but worldwide Christianity today is in the position of the second Israel only as a spiritual nation; it has no national authority. Christians have no country. We stand in the realm of the second Israel with only a spiritual foundation, not a physical foundation. Because Christianity was not able to accomplish the original Will of God, who must bring about a Kingdom on Earth that is of both spirit and flesh, there is no other way except for the Lord to come again.

I want to make one declaration to you here today. The crucifixion was not God’s victory. Instead, it was Satan’s victory. You will remember that Jesus said to those who arrested him in the Garden of Gethsemane, “… this is your hour — when darkness reigns.” (Luke 22:53) You need to know that the cross was the place where the nation that God had prepared for four thousand years was lost, the place where the religious faith of Israel was lost, and the place where the followers of John the Baptist, the twelve disciples, the thief on the left, everything else was lost.

You need to know that Christianity was not there on the cross. When did Christianity begin? Jesus resurrected after three days and spent forty days meeting the disciples he had lost, who had turned against him. The Holy Spirit descended on the disciples, and you need to know that it was only then that Christianity began. Christians for the past two thousand years have believed in Christianity without knowing that it came into existence not by the principle of the cross, but by the principle of the resurrection. If you realize this fact, then you must repent. Because Christianity began on the foundation of Jesus’ resurrection, Christianity has been strictly spiritual.

What would have happened if Jesus had not died on the cross? In that case, the nation of Israel would have followed Jesus’ teachings, stabilized and endured. Judaism also would have remained as it was. Jesus knew that if he were to die on the cross, multitudes of people in future ages would have to follow him on the way of the cross, and that they would not be able to do so without shedding blood. Many Christians would have to suffer, and even when the Lord came again he would have to go the way of suffering. You need to know that this is the reason that Jesus had to pray as he did in the Garden of Gethsemane. Christians today say that Jesus prayed for deliverance because he had a physical body and feared the pain of death. But was Jesus such a trivial Messiah? Certainly not.

What, then, did Jesus mean by saying, “It is finished,” when he committed his spirit on the cross? Jesus had come with the mission to save both spirit and flesh, but he realized that he could not completely fulfill God’s Will in a world in which there was no foundation. So, he offered himself completely in order to establish a condition for spiritual salvation and allow that providence to begin. Having completed that, in the end he said, “It is finished.”

You probably have never featured this even in your imagination. Christianity and Judaism should realize even now that the Lord, who tried to demolish Satan’s nation and do away with Satan’s kingship, and to accomplish God’s will and restore humanity, died a tragic death. When they realize this, they should repent and become one. They should become one and prepare to receive the Lord on his return.

Truth must conform to reason. The time has come for all Christians to throw off the age of blind faith and move ahead into a new age united as one, to sort out this world and bring it to salvation. You need to know that the time has come in which the term “unification” is essential.

Jesus’ Three-Day Suffering Course

What does it mean that Jesus suffered pain during the three days following his death? Heaven, Earth and Hell all remained in the realm of death. For Jesus to gain authority over Heaven and Earth, he needed to encompass the depths and heights of this realm of death. For this reason, in order to pursue the connection of life and go the path that could comfort God, Jesus needed to prevail, even if it meant descending into the lowest environment such as Hell and suffering pain. Because Jesus passed through Hell, he prepared a path by which it was possible to make a new beginning toward Heaven. Though he was cast out and isolated on Earth, and finally forced to go the way of death, he was able to leave a path of hope for future generations. That is the reason Jesus had to go on his three-day course.

Jesus did not go to Hell for three days just to look around. He already knew about Hell. He needed to go there, pass judgment and pave the way to go from the world of death to the world of life. In this way, he laid a foundation of victory on Earth, which is the world of death and Hell, and established a starting point from which it is possible to reach Heaven.

Even on the cross, Jesus was concerned for Heaven and loved His enemies

In the eyes of the religious establishment, Jesus was a heretic, and in the eyes of the nation, he was a destroyer of the religious law. His own clan rejected him and chased him out of his home. The group surrounding John the Baptist rejected him. So he went into the wilderness, but there Satan pursued him. That was not all. Eventually, the entire country mobilized to force him to go the way of death on the cross, the path of Golgotha.

Jesus, though, shed tears for the nation that was rejecting him as a traitor. The Jewish establishment treated Jesus as a heretic, but he shed more blood and tears for them than did any priest. Not a single person of that age would stand on his side, but Jesus was a friend of that age. He was rejected as a traitor, but he was the greatest patriot. He was rejected as a heretic, but he was the most faithful believer.

Jesus walked a wretched path, the path of the cross, where people ripped his clothing, drove him on, and forced him to the ground. That was not all. Evil men whipped and beat him. In this situation, if Jesus had been like Elijah, he might have said to the people, “I am the only one of the Lord’s prophets left.” (1 Kings 18:22) But when Jesus left his disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane and went to pray, he said, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt.” (Luke 22:42) This was his greatness. He understood that his body was a sacrificial offering for the nation, a sacrificial offering for humanity and a sacrificial offering for Heaven’s Providence.

Because he understood this, Jesus, while not denying his own sorrow, was more concerned about how great a sorrow God must have felt. Jesus had appeared for the sake of the nation and he was concerned how great God’s sorrow was to see him rejected as a traitor. Jesus was the prince of Heaven, the central personage of the entire universe, and the Messiah. If he chose, he could have fallen prey to self-pity and asked why he should go the miserable way of the cross. He could have set the entire universe in motion to breathe a deep sigh of despair with him. But he understood that his position was not to sigh in despair. Instead, he even went so far as to feel apologetic toward Heaven for having been rejected.

Jesus bore the responsibility to rally the religious establishment, rally the nation, build the Kingdom of Heaven and return the world to the Father’s bosom. Yet when he was forced to abandon that mission and walk the way of the cross, he did not feel enmity toward anyone. He did not pray, “Let this cup pass from me,” out of a fear of death. Rather, he prayed this because he knew that his death would add to the grief of the nation and to God’s grief.

Jesus knew that if he died on the cross, there would be an even heavier cross remaining for the future generations of humanity. It would mean that the sorrowful history would not end. He knew that the path of Golgotha would not end with him. He knew that the path of death would not end. And he knew that if he went the way of Golgotha, those who followed him would also have to go the same way. Jesus knew that an even more difficult course lay beyond the cross.

As he was made to wear a crown of thorns, and the nails were hammered into his hands and feet, and his side was stabbed with a spear, Jesus knew that these events would have impact far beyond his own death. When he turned to Heaven and said, “It is finished,” he did not mean that the path of the cross for the world was finished. He meant that Heaven had received his heart’s tearful plea of concern over the cross. We need to know that Jesus comforted Heaven by taking upon himself all the mistakes committed by the prophets and patriots and offering himself as a living sacrifice.

And even beyond that, as he neared death Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” (Luke 23:34) God had a mind to pass judgment immediately, judgment that was even greater than that of Noah’s time. But Jesus died clinging to the nation, clinging to the religious establishment and clinging to the cross. For this reason, God could not abandon humanity but held on to us. Because this bond of heart existed between Jesus, the future generations of humanity and the remaining people of Israel, God has been unable to abandon the religious organizations and people of succeeding generations who have turned against Him. Instead, He has clung to them….