Earthly Life and Spirit World

by Rev. Sun Myung Moon

Chapter 1 The Kingdom of God [Part 3]

2. The Standard To Be Able To Enter the Kingdom of God

1) Our Position

God is our Parent. Then, why did He create us? God's creation of humankind started from the place participating in love. The creation of humans started in God's mind. They were to grow up in God's bosom of love, become mature in God's bosom, and form the family which can connect with the love of the world. Through that, they would return to God's bosom of love as mature persons. This is the way to live. Due to the fall, this was fundamentally destroyed. The relationship between God and humankind was completely severed. No matter how people try to return to God, they cannot. Furthermore, with God it is the same. Such a big gap was made. The wall and boundary line were made.

What kind of wall is it? That wall prevents humans from going to their Parent, God. What is that wall? This is the problem. That wall, which even God could not handle, must be raised as the most important problem for religious people.

That wall divided the individual's mind and body. That wall, with various historical contents, also came between husbands and wives. That wall was made in the family, tribe, people, nation, world, and between the spirit world and world of earth. That wall was made between heaven and hell. Although God dwells in the glorious place called heaven, without removing that wall, humans on earth can never go over the boundary line surrounding it.

This is the tragedy of human life on earth. How can we overcome this tragedy? Despite the fact that humans are meant to live attending God as their Parent and be led by Him, people don't even know if God exists. People came to radically insist that God does not exist. Furthermore, they proclaimed that God is dead. You are living in this kind of tragic environment that is demanding, "Lets remove God from human society!" Who made such a world-God or humans? That is the problem. This is not what humans want. Then, who made it? Who raised this environment? (135-267)

2) When You Cannot Enter the Kingdom of God

True Father himself is worried about the Unification Church. What should be our motivation: God's Will or our own will? The self should not become the motivation. However, in many cases, the motivation is derived from the self instead of from God's Will.

While God's Will asks us to go the way of suffering, the self tries to betray it. These are opposite positions. While God's Will asks us to go right, the self tries to go left. You try to excuse yourself by saying, "I had a harder time than anyone else since joining the Unification Church."

The one who makes excuses for himself cannot enter the Kingdom of God. The position of absolute faith is not a place to excuse oneself. There is nothing to say. The Kingdom of God is where one cannot be proud of one's achievements. What you call a hundred percent might be just one percent from God's viewpoint. What you think is a hundred may be just one from God's viewpoint. Therefore, the one who is centered on himself cannot enter the Kingdom of God.

From where does the Kingdom of God start? It starts from absolute faith. Absolute faith means to not insist on one's opinion. It is the place to deny oneself absolutely. Without denying oneself absolutely, absolute faith cannot emerge. If you follow the secular environment and, at the same time, try to pursue the life of faith, then the life of absolute faith cannot emerge.

Most people live their routine daily lives saying, "I am fine in God's eyes." However, regarding the fundamental problem, living a routine life in this fallen world cannot bring us to the Kingdom of God. Such a person cannot be fine before God. Without having a certain objective standard authorizing oneself, one cannot have the absolute standard of faith. Where there is no absolute standard of faith, the Kingdom of God, which would be established after surmounting absolute faith, cannot emerge. Why is this so? Because Satan stays in that place. (46-79)


Historically, those called by God were usually over the age of fifty or sixty. Most of them were getting old, and were close to their own funeral day. God was working with these old people in the past, but he knew that in the future He would work with the young generation. So, in the background of His providence, God was concerned about how to develop the providential history with that young generation. God has walked the providential way of history having such contents.

Old age must pass over into the prime of life, the prime of life into youth, youth into childhood, and childhood into infancy. Through that course, you should be born again, or you will not be able to enter the Kingdom of God. You should be pure and innocent like a child. That is why Jesus said to Nicodemus, "You must be born again." If you are not born again, you cannot enter the Kingdom of God. Therefore, God developed the history of salvation from the mother's womb as the highest history of salvation. How tragic it is! (20-95)

3) Our Life to Enter the Kingdom of God

If two-thirds of your life of seventy or eighty years is sorrowful, how shall you handle that period? You should make that period a joyful life centering on God. You should make your life the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God is where one gives, and gives again. God also has to give. Parents have to give to their children. The parental mind is to want to give, and give again when you have something better to give. (34-141)


You are now fighting. You are shooting a gun centering on you whole life. Before meeting the world, your mind and body are fighting each other. How can you make peace? Which side will win-mind or body? How about you? Which side will he victorious, your mind or your body You should be a person who can say, "My mind definitely wins over my body." The one whose mind wins over his body is on the good side, while the one whose body defeats his mind is on the evil side.

Then, what is the secret method for the mind to defeat the body in this struggle? Or conversely, what is the method by which the body defeats the mind? This is the issue. What can solve this struggle? This is important. What is the essential element to establish goodness for people living in this evil world? What is the essential element to establish evil? By knowing this, let's add or remove some elements. This essential element is very simple. (36-61)


If there is a great man and a great woman in history, can the man say that he wants to receive God's Blessing alone? Can a woman say that she wants to receive God's Blessing alone? [No!] You have to think of God's Will as absolute and go through all the conditions that are raised as the hope of mankind. By doing this, you can be qualified to receive God's Blessing. In the Kingdom of God on Earth in the future, the way must be found for husband and wife to be welcomed and respected worldwide. This is the way of life in the Kingdom of God on Earth. Can you do that? (1?2-69)


You alone cannot go the way of goodness. The world should be occupied by good or evil. When good occupies the world, it is the way of life, but when evil occupies the world, it is the way of destruction. This world is running the way of life and death.

The individual is the result of history. The family, nation, and world are the results of history. However, out of these results, how many are good results? In the individual, how many good results do you have?

What percentage of good results do you have in your living environment? What percentage do results of goodness have in your personality? That is the issue.

Looking at our surroundings, we see we are surrounded by evil elements. The way of evil does not need to be taught. Everybody can go that way without education, because history started from an evil foundation. Do we need to be taught how to be bad? Because humans fell by their own decision, human society educates people to act according to their conscience centering on human morality. What is the center of education? Although people are educated according to goodness and conscience, how many are able to fit that education? Evil things can be done without education; everybody can get 100 points.

In this environment, our conscience is always telling us to be a good person. Although your mind always stimulates you to be good, did you actually become a good person? If we think about this problem, our whole life is continual lamentation. Today is lamentation, tomorrow is lamentation, this year is lamentation. Youth is lamentation, the time of middle age is also lamentation, old age is lamentation, and one dies with lamentation. In other words, one's whole life may marked by evil.

This is the present reality. Because humans were born from an evil foundation, they are struggling in evil and go toward evil. This has been the way throughout all human history. When we consider today's religion, what about the Unification Church? Does it teach people to be evil? If so, then the Unification Church is not needed. Evil does not need to be taught. (36-56)

4) Ourselves and the Kingdom of God

Before his death, Jesus said, "Father! If it is possible, please let this cup pass from me. But please do not do as I wish, but as the Father wishes." Before his death, he did not protest to God, but offered himself for the sake of God's Will. Jesus' attitude brought him to the closest position to God forever. Before such a person, even God cannot do as He wishes. The one who opposes such a person will be destroyed. God treats such a person directly. Therefore, what the right hand is doing should not be known by the left hand.

If you lend money to someone and remember it with added interest, you cannot be an owner of the Kingdom of God. One has to forget about the money he lent. When parents raise children, do they remember how much money they used for the children? The parents' mind is to give and forget. Moreover, after giving and forgetting, they are also anxious to give something better. Because the love of parents is eternal, the person who has no parents is called an orphan, and nobody wants to be an orphan. (36-85)


Do you know about the spirit world? The Kingdom of God is where people go who live for the sake of others. The one who lives centered on himself can never go there; he will go to hell. No matter how great a priest he is where will he go after death?

Our Unification Church tries to save our enemy and even Communists. Communists try to cut off the heads of the Unification Church members. That is the difference. So, what kind of thought should have dominion over the world? [God!] You must be stronger than the Communists. Do you understand? You should not be evil like Communists. If we become strong, centered on love, living for the sake of others, it will be enough to save the world.

Are you the people who live in the Kingdom of God, or are you the people who are going to the Kingdom of God? [We are going to the Kingdom of God!] When? [Now!] When is "now"? How long will "now" last? Will it finish today or will it take ten years, or a hundred years? While you are doing that, what will you do if you die? Therefore, you should be engrafted. You should be cut off and engrafted. (91-173)


Finally, what kind of world are you going to? Are you going to hell or to the Kingdom of God? (Kingdom of God) On the way there, are you going to be a person who says, "Father, please help me!" or are you going to be a person who says, "Welcome, True Father!" Which person are you? That is to be or not to be. After marriage, you say, "We will live a happy life." When True Father says to live well, it means becoming an unchanging couple. In order to be an unchanging couple, you should go to the world of easily-separated couples and take instructions, and you should not separate wherever you may go. You should reach such a trained standard. (129-182)

3. The Four-Position Foundation and the Kingdom of Heaven and Earth

1) The Family Can Enter into the Kingdom of Heaven

If I had only worked for the family level until now, why would I have been persecuted? I have confidence that if my father, mother, clan and all my relatives are gathered in one place, then I can deeply touch them all through God's Word. Surely, I have confidence that I can bring all my clan and relatives to God's Will. I was not able to do that because it was not yet God's Will. Jesus was expelled by his own relatives because he was not able to do it.

However, you who live in the environment of this era can touch your parents and relatives by expressing your sincere heart, by shedding tears. In a sense, you have a better situation than mine. Now is the time for you to touch your parents and relatives, whomever among them does not accept God's Word, by shedding tears and other means. It is difficult to face your elder brother, but you can tell your younger brother to come to the Unification Church and say, "My brother, are you going to believe it or not?" even if you have to be forceful with him. Although you entered this kind of time, if you do not fulfill your responsibility, you cannot face God. From now on, Father also cannot relate with this kind of person. Do you understand? [Yes.] If you do not fulfill this, you cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven. You can enter the Kingdom of Heaven only after you have established your family. (21-66)


The Unification Church teaches that salvation absolutely cannot come to you as an individual alone. Is that right? Individually, you cannot enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. You cannot enter alone. That is the Principle. In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve together would have been able to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Can the husband enter the Kingdom of Heaven alone? Doesn't the wife have to go to the Kingdom of Heaven too? You cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven without the unity of husband and wife, and family unity. That is the ideal. Do you think it is good if a father goes to hell and the mother goes to the Kingdom of Heaven? That cannot be the Kingdom of Heaven. You must enter the Kingdom of Heaven as a couple and as a family, and not only the family, but all the relatives and the whole nation. (50-63)


From where does the Kingdom of Heaven start? It starts when you deny the root of all your innate heartfelt feelings. Therefore, the person who is living according to the way of truth lives a single life. But, there are some difficult problems here. In the future, the Lord at Second Coming can solve these problems easily. Until then, you have to face these difficulties alone.

There is no way to achieve individual salvation. In order to save humanity, we have to save the family. To open the way to give salvation as a whole family, the Messiah is coming to the earth. Nowadays, Christians believe that they can go to the Kingdom of Heaven if they believe in Jesus. They are indulging in individualism. Originally, you cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven alone. Do you think Adam and Eve would have been able to enter the Kingdom of Heaven or not if they had stayed in the realm of God's love without falling? If that had happened, there would have been no such thing as hell.

How can we go to the Kingdom of Heaven? This is the place we go as a family, with children whose parents as a couple gave birth to them. This is the place to go as a clan with sons and daughters and grandchildren. Further, this is the place for the entire nation to go. That is why this place becomes a heavenly country. The Kingdom of Heaven is forming in this way today. Today, Christians are trying to go to the Kingdom of Heaven by themselves, but the Kingdom of Heaven is not the place for individuals. They absolutely cannot enter as individuals. (41-300)


Centered on the individual, if you say, "Here is the Kingdom of Heaven. Here is the Kingdom of heaven," how much will Heavenly Father feel suffocated? So, do you like that way? Do you or don't you? When Heavenly Father looks at the human world or the religious world, will he feel suffocated or not? Heavenly Father will say, "Oh dear!" (6-71)


What standard do you as a Unificationist have to attain? You have to be better than Buddha, or Jesus, or Confucius. Until now, the purpose of religion was individual salvation, but the purpose of the Unification Church is family salvation, rather than individual salvation. This is the difference between Unification Church and other religions. In order to receive salvation, you need to save the family. You cannot go alone to the Kingdom of Heaven.

The Unification Church view of salvation is not that only the husband goes to the Kingdom of Heaven and the wife goes to hell. Both have to go together. Also, we cannot go to the Kingdom of Heaven while letting our father and mother go to hell. We cannot let our father and mother go to hell. We are going to the Kingdom of Heaven with our sons and daughters and parents.

The Unification Church is on a different level of teaching from any other religion, since it shows the way to go to the Kingdom of Heaven with the family and the clan, whom we love. That is why the Unification Church emphasizes the family while other religions emphasize the single way of life. We are going this family-centered way living for the sake of God and the world. This is the way for Unification Church members to go. From now on, you have to clearly understand how to live your life. (34-359)


What is happiness? As I mentioned before, our original nature strives to go forward to future happiness. Who can be the greatest source of happiness in your family? For the husband? [Wife] For the wife, who is it? [Husband] For the parents, it is the children. For the children, it is their parents. From this foundation, it is possible to establish the Kingdom of Heaven.

Imagine how lonely and miserable Jesus was when he could not say that the Kingdom of Heaven is in the family. Instead, he said that it is in you. You have a family, and you can even sing with happiness. At some time, you could be thankful and happy even if you had to commit suicide together by drowning in the river and become fish bait while your body is floating in the water. Even if the whole society and nation were to come against you, you could throw them off as if you were taking off your shoes. Isn't that right? For the human being, there is a way to lead this kind of life.

Jesus, the savior, as the only son of God, came to save this world by bringing the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth. He said, "The Kingdom of Heaven is within you," which is the basis of the environment of the Kingdom of Heaven, without even fulfilling his dream. He was crucified after wandering around for almost three years, keeping to himself the idea of fulfilling the Kingdom of Heaven. How lonely and miserable Jesus was!

Then, was the Kingdom which Jesus wished for only the Kingdom of Heaven in his mind? When could the Kingdom of Heaven be established beyond the Kingdom of Heaven in his mind? That became impossible then. So it also became impossible to build the Kingdom of Heaven beyond the family to the society and nation. How about the Kingdom of Heaven on the world level, and the Kingdom of Heaven in the spirit world?

The savior, as the Messiah, had the responsibility to liberate the entire spirit world and Heavenly Father through saving humanity. It would only be possible for him to do this by going through all these stages. When you think about his situation, how lonely and miserable he was. The fact that Jesus was crucified on the cross was not a big thing compared to this. It was not a big deal.

If I collapse, I cannot face Heavenly Father because I failed to establish the ideal of the Kingdom of Heaven and the ideal society. I cannot hide myself. Who can understand Jesus' shameful heart which he could not remove even if he were to die a hundred times? (120-48)


You cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven alone. Is that right? You can enter the gate of the Kingdom of Heaven after you realize the ideal of a spouse. As a fallen human, to enter the Kingdom of Heaven you have to go through the history of restoration, the history of resurrection, the history of re-creation. To give the Blessing to you is to open wide the gate of the Kingdom of Heaven. Entering the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth is up to you. What is the meaning of giving you the Blessing? What does the word Blessing mean? Through the Blessing, the closed gate of the Kingdom of Heaven is opened in front of you.

You cannot enter alone even though the gate is open. The family enters. Do you understand? I am saying that you can enter with your sons and daughters. What we mean by the family is the historic family as a result of accumulated merit. Heavenly Father's six thousand years of restoration history went through the first Adam, the second Adam and reached the third Adam's era. Therefore, you can enter as a family. (152240)

2) Jesus and His Family

Who is the most saintly of all the saints in history? [Jesus.] You said it is Jesus. What did Jesus say? Are you just saying this? Didn't we talk before about the definition of a true person? Then let's find out whether Jesus was a true person or not. Jesus said that God is his Father. Didn't he say that? [Yes.] He said true life is to become God's son, and Jesus was longing for the position of God's son, wasn't he? [Yes.] Also, he said "I am the only son of God." Because he is the only son of God, he can receive all of God's love, right? [He can receive everything.] Did he take the position to receive God's love or not? [Yes, he did.]

Next, Jesus said, "God and I are one body," From this point, Jesus is not only in the position of the son of God, but he prepared himself internally and externally. Moreover, he said "I am the bridegroom, you are the bride." He connected himself with God and with humankind in a relationship like that between bride and bridegroom. Also, he said, "You are my brothers." Isn't that right?

From this point, we have to understand what Jesus was wishing for. What did both God and mankind desire? It is the religion which shows the eternal standard of love to live forever centered on God which should be Christianity. Isn't that the reason why God wants to find a man to fulfill this? It was also man's desire. There is no other desire above this. Jesus strove to establish his family but he was crucified without its fulfillment, leaving the concept of bride and bridegroom behind him.

Therefore, when the Lord comes he will conduct the wedding banquet of the Lamb. This refers to the appearance of the ideal family in which God can dwell. Then the Lord can enter into the position of True Parents. In the position of True Parents, he has to establish taste children and taste brothers and sisters. Centered on this, true families, true tribes and a true people have to be established, and finally a new nation and new world have to emerge. Now we can make a clear conclusion. The Messiah has to come on earth to realize this. Do you understand? [Yes.] (39-344)


3) Four-Position Foundation and the Kingdom of Heaven

We need to understand that our spouse and children, our mother and father, and our grandparents are three angels to guide us to the Kingdom of Heaven. Grandparents, spouses, and sons and daughters, are also three angels. We have to understand that they are the representatives of the three archangels because they exist as pairs. So the father and mother have to learn from their grandparents, and from their sons and daughters. Do you understand? The husband has to learn from the wife, and the wife has to learn from the husband. This is the family tradition.

What is marriage? Marriage is for women to learn what they do not know about men and for men to learn what they do not know about women. You have to understand this. Marriage is the program to learn about the opposite sex. We have to understand that marriage means you are going to this kind of school. So you each have to achieve 100 points. The husband likes this and the wife likes this too. You have to achieve 100 points. It would be good if I could tell you more details and talk until

I could totally convince you of this, but I don't have time now.

The reason we give birth to our sons and daughters and live for them is to learn how to love the world. Sons and daughters can connect us to the world and the future. If we don't have sons and daughters, we cannot be connected to the future. We have to understand that God gave us sons and daughters as the source of education to connect us to the future world. Then our ancestors and grandmother and grandfather are the source of education about the spirit world. We should take care of our grandfather and grandmother with filial piety, for that kind of system exists in the spirit world. This is for you to receive education about the spirit world. You have to understand this.

What can be the center of this? Under the title of love, everything can be connected. Centered on love, everything can be connected. Grandfather and grandmother, husband and wife, sons and daughters can be connected all together centered on love. If you have that love, you can be connected to millions of generations of your ancestors in the spirit world. You can also be connected with your descendants only with this love. The system of the spirit world is just like our blood circulatory system. That is the system of the universe. The realm of love is so wonderful! It is amazing! Right? [Yes, it is.] Everyone wants to follow righteousness. How about you? We can make a clear conclusion. The greatest happiness is to become the slave and servant of love. (135-120)


What is it that needs to be restored? Is it not to restore the four-position foundation? To restore the four-position foundation we have to restore father, then mother, then sons and daughters. Therefore, you have to be completely restored as a Blessed couple and give birth to children and bring them up in the position of an unfallen person. You must understand that this is your most important mission. To do that you have to infuse a new tradition which is far better than that of the saints. (58-35)


First, you have to establish the Kingdom of Heaven as an individual. Next, you have to establish the Kingdom of Heaven as a couple. Where is the Kingdom of Heaven as a couple? Where is it? That is the place where plus and minus become totally united as one. In the beginning, you say you like your spouse. Then after a few years you say good-bye and divorce. That kind of marriage is not like this.

Do you think it is true love that you married him because he was handsome before you got married? What if one week after the marriage he had a car accident and his chin is twisted, he injures his eyes and breaks his arm and you divorce him because of that. Is that true love? [No.] Is this American woman's love? Is that true love or false love? [False love.] I investigated one hundred people. Among them, one third had divorced. The initiator in one third was the husband, and in two thirds it was the wife. That's true. (laughter)

Now do you know what is the Kingdom of Heaven as a couple? Nobody can separate the couple who are completely attached together, even though they lose their legs by exploding dynamite. (laughter) What kind of love are you looking for? [True love.] True love. You can achieve that kind of love when your mind and body are completely united.

The Kingdom of Heaven as a couple can emerge. After that, what will happen? Are you satisfied with only the Kingdom of Heaven as a couple? How can the Kingdom of Heaven as a couple emerge? When father and mother become totally one and love each other, the son will think he wants to marry a bride just like his mother, and the daughter will think that she wants to marry a bridegroom just like her father. When the father and mother as a plus, and the sons and daughters as a minus are totally united as a family, that is the Kingdom of Heaven as a family. Do you understand?

The place where the Kingdom of Heaven can be established in the family is the place where the Kingdom of Heaven can be established on earth, which is God's ideal. The four-position foundation has to be formed. The Principle says that the completion of God's ideal of creation is the completion of the Four-position foundation. Do you understand? Why do things have to be like this? Centered on the three stages of God, Adam and Eve, the vertical world and horizontal world can be extended. Do you understand? [Yes.] This is the Principle.

That is why Adam and Eve have to have sons and daughters in order for the horizontal world to expand. If this horizontal world becomes larger, the vertical world can emerge naturally. The horizontal standard of the body is the children, and the vertical standard of the mind is the spirit world. From this point, finally, Heavenly Father can go freely between the spirit world and the world of earth, and the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth can be realized. Do you understand? [Yes.]

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