Book Nine - Blessed Family
Chapter Three - The Providential Significance of the Blessed Couples
Section 14. The Single Blessing

Man is God's masculine and woman His feminine external form. A couple is like the universe enfolded in a wrapping cloth; they thus can feel the heart of God's ideal love. The Blessing is the most precious thing in all of heaven and earth. At the same time, it is extremely fearsome. If spouses think about someone else other than their partner, they are violating each other. They must become have a parental heart to each other and cause people to say, "I wish my family were like yours." (13-67, 1963.10.17)

In the beginning, God first created all things and then Adam and Eve as their center and the substantial beings of glory, wishing for the coming of the joyful day of their victorious blessing. Yet as His will was not fulfilled due to their fall, we who live in the world today should do our utmost to fulfill that day of hope within our own generation. We should hold high the glory of that victory and -- whether as individuals or couples -- praise God before heaven and earth. You should realize how blessed you are to be able to be a part of such a gloriously unique occasion. (30-170, 1970.3.22)

The history of religion progressed from the Old Testament Age of the servant to that of the adopted son at the coming of Jesus. Since the history that has unfolded through religion until the present day has been one of restoration, the realms of the servant and adopted son were restored.

Viewed globally, religions other than Christianity undertook the work of restoring the realm of the servant, whereas Christianity restored the realm of the adopted son. In restoring the era of the servant, many religions did not allow their most devout believers to have possessions or spouses, and consequently they had to lead lives of celibacy and have nothing to their names. Thus, priests, monks, and nuns have no possessions of their own. A Buddhist temple may have possessions, but its chief monk may not. Furthermore, the idea of conjugality is not permitted to such people. Hence, from God's providential viewpoint, of the numerous religions that people have historically believed in, those that are on a higher level could not but emphasize celibacy.

In restoring the realm of the adopted son, Christianity has accomplished this spiritually but not physically; thus, the history of the physical restoration of the servant was prolonged. The wish of the servant is to find a good master. Even if the servant has his or her own spouse, if the servant meets the wrong kind of master, the spouse could be snatched away. Satan is a bad master, and so the greatest hope of a servant under his dominion is to find any way possible to meet a good one. The higher religions have shouldered responsibility for the work of restoring the servant, and so until now the idea of having a spouse was not allowed in these religions; consequently, most devout believers have had to lead lives of celibacy. (61-182, 1972.8.30)

Religion up until this time has emphasized the inviolability of conjugality and celibacy. The ideal of matrimonial conjugality was first realized in my time. From God's viewpoint, Jesus only succeeded in establishing three chief apostles among the twelve, seventy-two disciples, and the 120 followers. But by restoring through indemnity the organization of the family of God's ideal on earth, which Jesus could not achieve before passing away, I succeeded in restoring and going on to complete on earth that which was left unaccomplished by the first and second Adams.

Since everything was lost through the Fall, then as a condition for the restoration of all the things of creation, I established 120 holy grounds across the world in 1965. With representative stones and soil from Korea as the seed of these holy grounds, I conveyed the victorious foundation and connected it horizontally worldwide. (55-168, 1972.5.7)

Until this time, marriage was largely forbidden in the religious realm. Devout believers were encouraged to leave home in order to enter the priesthood and lead lives of celibacy. However, times have changed and now we are living in the era when you can get married and return to your hometown, that is to say, receive the Blessing and form a Blessed Family. The families that follow the satanic world have their basis in the evil love, life, lineage, and mind. However, since the Blessing signifies restoration, once you walk in the footsteps of the True Parents, you will become Blessed Families of true love, life, lineage, and conscience, and these families, tribes, and eventually the whole world will become like one great extended family, living together as brothers and sisters. Everything will be brought to a conclusion through the Blessing Ceremony. (286-41, 1997.7.1)

In order to win in the battle against Satan, you need a family. You can never be victorious if you fight as an individual because Satan invaded through the family, that is, of Adam and Eve. To restore this through indemnity, you need to receive the Blessing in God's presence. Thus, a new husband and wife must emerge.

When you consider present-day believers in established churches, although they may have complete faith in their religion and husband and wife may love each other dearly, once they pass away to the next world, the spouses and family members will end up in different places. They will not even be able to meet each other. If a beloved child found himself in hell and called out for his father and mother, how would they feel? Even if they were in heaven, would they feel happy? Originally, the Kingdom of Heaven created by God was a place the whole family would enter together. Since Jesus could not form a family, then the only place he could ascend to was paradise. Thus, Christ at his Second Advent must come on earth. (19-171, 1968.1.1)

You cannot enter heaven alone. The Blessing is what is required in order to pass through the gates of heaven because that is a place where only families can enter. It is a place you can only enter through the united relationship of three generations. Jacob's seventy family members comprised three generations, which is how they were able to enter Egypt.

Before you can receive the Blessing, you need to resurrect individually. You must pray just as Jesus did in the Garden of Gethsemane. Since God carried out His providence in three phases, He will let you off easily for a period of three years. In order to resurrect, you need to repent of all your wrongdoings in the past. There are many different types of people gathered here today; however, each one of you must follow the course that leads to the benefit of the whole. For an individual to resurrect, he or she should not deviate from the providential destiny. Once you have resurrected, where should you go? You must go and visit the members living in the countryside who are praying in the background for you. In actual fact, you should join your spouse only after your spiritual children have matured and are ready to receive the Blessing. Even Jesus went before the Holy Spirit only after that was achieved. (12-265, 1963.5.25)

The family is established through me. The path a family follows is the way of restoring through indemnity the realm of the suffering of women. The contents in the Bible are not centered on woman. The vertical history up to this point has been the history of seeking after the subject. For six thousand years, history has sought after one Adam. After Adam is restored, shouldn't woman be restored as well? In this male-dominated world, women were absolutely needed. Even the most wretched tasks were carried out by women. Didn't I say that we are indemnifying vertical history horizontally? Viewed horizontally, history up to the present has been one of seven thousand years. The period in which we have set this history on the horizontal standard and are restoring it through indemnity is the period of the first seven-year course. (47-199, 1971.8.28)

The tendency to be tempted by fallen love has been inherited through generations of fallen parents. To overcome this, humankind must be connected to God-centered love through the True Parents; otherwise, we can never overcome the problem of fallen love. Those who dwell in the realm of the Fall, who have inherited the lineage of the fallen parents, need to welcome the True Parents in the final stage of restoration and unite with them vertically in order to overcome the fallen world. This is the standpoint of the Principle.

We cannot complete this process individually. It takes a couple -- a man and a woman -- to restore this problem of love. This is the Blessing being conducted in the Unification Church; it cannot be performed as you wish -- it must be carried out by the Parents who are the vertical center.

Even in the fallen world, those who have inherited the fallen lineage do not do get married centering on themselves but rather on their parents. In the course of restoration, the True Parents must first come forth and become perfected as the vertical parents. At the same time, Cain and Abel must unite and thereby satisfy the condition for victory. The Blessing that is carried out from such a position can, for the first time, overcome the limitations of the Fall. You cannot climb to such a position alone. The top of the growth stage can be surmounted only through the Blessing and by nothing else. In other words, only upon receiving the Blessing can you pass through that stage and climb to the bottom of the completion stage. The Blessed Couples have to go through a seven-year period to attain perfect oneness with God. The three stages of the growing period -- that is formation, growth, and completion -- comprise twenty-one years; thus, the Blessed Couple must undergo a seven-year course in the completion stage. No one has come this far before. (55-137, 1972.5.7)

There could have been only one kind of marriage feast held in the Garden of Eden, one based on Principle. Humankind received Satan's blessing through the Fall. This is our greatest grief; we should have received God's Blessing instead. Think for a moment how the people on Satan's side -- his innumerable descendants -- rejoiced on this feast day of fallen marriage, how much they delighted in it, and how much they ate and drank in celebration of it. All of these actions have added to God's sorrow. Marriage became an important means and source of expanding the satanic world. On account of this, ascetics placed much emphasis on celibacy. All marriages performed from ancient times to this day are a source of sorrow to God. They have left conditions that sadden Him, and not one of them has left behind any point that can give joy to Him and form a connection with Him. (158-276, 1967.12.29)

The single Blessing is premised on the idea that the spouses will be reunited in the spirit world. You must realize that it is a great blessing to be able to receive the Blessing as a couple on earth rather than alone. (101-307, 1978.11.7)

When I say that a Blessed Couple must become as one I mean to say that they must unite with me, the original plus, not just within the individual couple. You should know that the position of the Blessed Couple is one that has to follow such a course. Only after a man and woman achieve complete unity can they reach the original position of God. They must not engage in a love relationship before they attain unity with me. Until then, they should live like brother and sister. The love between husband and wife should be as pure as that of innocent teenagers and greater than that between any brother and sister. From such a place, they must pass through the process of respecting and serving each other. Once they have done so, God will come to them automatically. The ideal love is the love that is like a flash of lightning at the point where the original plus characteristic of the man and the original minus characteristic of the woman come together. (129-23, 1983.10.4)

I conducted the first international joint wedding in 1970 -- the 777 Couples Blessing, which signified that everything on earth was drawing together globally. After the 430 Couples Blessing, I went to other countries to bless them because it was not providentially allowed to have them come to Korea to receive the Blessing. For the first time ever, then, an international joint wedding of 777 couples was performed in Korea with participants from ten nations around the world. In this manner, based on the family ideal, the path through which any nation on earth can return to God was completed. This event made it possible for the fortune of the world to be related to the fortune of the Unification Church. From this day onward, we do not need to go through the trouble of shedding sweat and blood in order to establish our nation. Once we give birth, multiply, and form a new tribe, then a nation is naturally created. Just like the Israelites gave birth too many healthy children while in Egypt, all we need to do is give birth. All we need to do is to be blessed like the sons of Judah and have many sets of twins. We are not to practice birth control. In this way, we can expand the foundation of the new lineage across the world. We are therefore already in the process of establishing a trans-racial nation in the world. (55-171, 1972.5.7)

Blessed members who predecease their spouses go to the spirit world as single persons. Nevertheless, in the case of childless couples, the surviving spouse has the possibility of remarrying a person in the same situation so as to leave behind blessed descendants. With these thoughts in mind, you can't help but realize what a fearsome thing the Blessing is. You may not realize it right here and now, but once you pass on to the spirit world, you will understand. Those who have received the Blessing have the path to heaven opened before them.

Blessed people are accused not by Satan but by God's angels. From the standpoint of God's laws, if you do anything wrong, the archangel will reject your status of being blessed. After you have studied the Divine Principle, received the Blessing, and at a later stage, passed into the spirit world, you will see that the paths to heaven are wide open for you. However, in spirit, you must be prepared for the occasion, dressed in the very best attire. There should be no false steps on the way. You thus have multidimensional responsibilities. (55-87, 1972.4.23)

The time is coming when widows or widowers who have received the Single Blessing on earth can be blessed with their spouses in the spirit world. In the era after the Blessing has transcended the national and global levels, people on earth can be blessed with their spouses in the spirit world for the first time. Until now such things had been impossible. When you received the Single Blessing, weren't you blessed separately? From now on, you can receive the Blessing together like everybody else. Since such a privilege has been granted on earth, when such a couple is blessed, the spouse on earth and the spouse in the spirit world are blessed together, and so they can stand united in an equal position. This is how a person on earth can be blessed with his or her spouse in the spirit world. (284-167, 1997.4.16)

The Lord, who comes as the originator and central figure of the Blessing, is not limited by the restrictive environment of the age in which he appears. He is a central person who encompasses and transcends the history of the world. As such, the Blessing does not end with a husband and wife coming together in union. Through it, a new family must be formed and further, a new tribe, race, and nation must be created. All this begins with the Blessing.

From this point a new heaven and earth should unfold. Each individual should be able to say to God, "I will become such a son or daughter. The path I am treading is for the nation You desire so much. I am treading it not only for the nation, but also the world that You have sought after until now."

On the way, your couple will face many difficulties and situations of extreme deprivation. Nevertheless, these are not matters for you to worry about; the greatest challenge for you will be how to become a husband and wife who can overcome all these hardships and march forward transcending the nation and on to the global level. (30-168, 1970.3.22)

You cannot belong to two different nations. Since you have become husband and wife to create one nation of God, you can only be married once. Similarly, there cannot be two worlds, and since you are husband and wife for the sake of God's world, you can only be married once. Furthermore, there cannot be two gods, and since you as husband and wife exist for Him, you can only be married once. (30-184, 1970.3.22)

The reason you are being married is to deeply experience parental, conjugal, and filial love. Why do you need to do this? The spirit world is a place filled with all these different desires to be stimulated by love. You must understand that you need to be married and have families in order to train yourselves to be in sync with such an environment. (92-181, 1977.4.3)

Unification Church Blessed Couples stand in a historic position. How many times has God initiated this work in history? This is His second attempt. At the first attempt, perfection was not achieved due to the Fall. To restore this, God invested His omnipresent love to build a foundation of faithful families that everyone could harmonize with, centering on the establishment of the chosen nation that, all told, had four thousand years of Judaic culture as its foundation. In simple terms, God wanted to create an ideal couple by sending the Messiah and having him receive a queen who could become the object partner of his love. (113-181, 1981.5.3)

You need to be blessed in order to present yourselves as ideal couples that have been victorious in all aspects of life, including culture, politics, and economics -- as representatives with Adam's original authority. You must realize that such is the significance of the Blessing. This is a path that you cannot walk alone. In entering heaven, man is the right leg and woman the left. Alone, you could not be a complete person because you would be one-legged and therefore lame. (118-280, 1982.6.13)

The most important work of the Unification Church today is the Blessing bestowed upon you as couples. The Blessing of couples is the seed of love planted by God in Adam's couple. As such, it should be disseminated.

All of you gathered here know what cell reproduction is, don't you? In that tiny cell is contained the whole tree, is it not? When you sow it, a whole tree grows from it. The roots, branches, leaves, stems, flowers -- in fact, all parts that make up a tree are contained in that cell. The conceptual blueprint is contained in it.

Couples are blessed to become the embodiments of True Parents, and through their children, reach out to the nation and world, becoming its roots; just as the roots and leaves of a tree absorb essential elements and control the tree's carbon assimilation and the separation of elements from the air, Blessed Families should perform similar functions. A tree takes in carbon dioxide and releases oxygen to its surroundings. Isn't that strange? How can it do that? That is an expression of the harmony and beauty of creation. The universe is a world of love -- it is not a cold-hearted and desolate place, but an enclosure of love. Just as the seeds are all wrapped in a shell, God also wants to reside in that realm of love that is the universe -- the enclosure of love -- with His plus and minus dual characteristics.

For God to dwell enwrapped in the universe of love, there must be unity in love between Him as the subject and the universe as His object. He can only be enveloped by the love that is shared by the two sides in the process of giving and receiving. That is why love is eternal and great. It is also boundless. Wouldn't you want to rest in such a place? The conclusion is the same. That is the seed of God's love. You must return to that seed. (180-110, 1988.8.7)