Cheon Seong Gyeong – Sun Myung Moon
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Cheon Seong Gyeong – Sun Myung Moon |
How great is the value of humankind? They are the only beings that God would long for over tens of thousands of years, leaning on his walking stick. According to my observations, this fact happens to be the basis for the creation of the universe. Since God and human beings related to each other as internal and external, vertical and horizontal perspectives about the world of love could be established. Both vertical and horizontal views on the world of love can come into existence once upper-lower and left-right relationships are formed. God can come to reside in the center of them all. That place, which can bind them all into one at the deepest core of the heart, is the central place of the vertical and horizontal. If they are not bound into one, the standard of the vertical and horizontal cannot develop into the ideal form of love. The existence of the vertical form alone does not guarantee the existence of the horizontal form. Therefore, you should understand that God had no other choice but to create human beings in this form. (48-224, 1971.9.19)
As an absolute being with an absolute ideal for His creation, God pursues beings who can relate to Him with absolute value. This is something that cannot be exchanged for anything in this world. A being that can relate to God has a value that is greater than that of God Himself. The term "the value of one's counterpart" seems difficult to comprehend. The value of a partner, of any being as a counterpart, is so great that it cannot be exchanged for anything or anyone, even for God. God cannot exchange it with Himself, for if He did, He would be left alone as a result. He would be left all by Himself.
This is why God invests Himself and exhausts His own strength and His own energy. He is engaged in a war of attrition. The forms of existence thus created with relational value that cannot be exchanged for God Himself are human beings. The form of existence with absolute value is none other than humankind. God created people as beings of value with such an idea. (68-134, 1973.7.29)
God created humankind for the sake of love. Why were human beings created? They were created because of love. The reason human beings are different from other forms of creation is that they were created as God's sons and daughters. They were created as object partners who can receive love directly from Him. Such is the privilege of humankind. (132-245, 1984.6.20)
Whom do human beings resemble? God. Therefore, it follows that He also desires love just as they do. In the world of the ideal of creation based on love, human beings embody God as His image and the rest of creation embodies God symbolically, according to the Unification Church's teaching. Based on what? Love. When God rejoices, people will automatically rejoice, and when they rejoice, the creation will automatically rejoice as well. What would bring this about? Only love, nothing else can achieve this. (166-48, 1987.5.28)
When creating an object to reflect His love, whom would God make it resemble? Would He not create it to resemble Him? If He creates the object to resemble Himself, that object should have all His characteristics, both His male and female characteristics. Human beings resemble God, and they are the substantial manifestations of His internal nature, His invisible form and His invisible mind. Hence, the Book of Genesis is correct in saying that God created human beings in His image. (170 -167, 1987.11.15)
God's invisible form is symbolically reflected in all parts of our body. Whose eyes do ours resemble? God's! Hence, when you closely study the facial features of human beings, you see that the eyes are set deeper than other features. The deep-set eyes can thus observe everything. Next, the nose symbolizes Adam and Eve. It rests at the center. Next, the mouth symbolizes all the things of creation. It is horizontal and encloses thirty-two teeth, or four times eight, based on all the things of creation in the world and the number four. Next, the ears symbolize all directions. The features found above the neck symbolize heaven. In other words, it is the information center of heaven. (201-83, 1990.3.4)
The Lord of Creation has placed every part of His form in the face of human beings. Hence, God's characteristics can all be found in the human face. The eyes symbolize God. Thus, when a being comes into existence, the first feature to develop is the eyes. Since the center of the universe is God, the eyes symbolize Him. Therefore, you can tell just by looking into the eyes of someone, indeed anyone, whether that person is conscientious or not. (39-247, 1971.1.15)
Whatever form truth may take, what would be its core? It is not money or power or knowledge. The core of truth is love. The essence of love is vertical, and truth that embodies love is horizontal. Hence, you can know God just by looking at His creation, and since Adam and Eve were created in His image, you can know Him by looking at them. They are His object partners of vertical true love while standing as subject partners to the creation. If the love between these two, man and woman, can be made to fit together with the axis of the world through east, west, north and south, then God, the spirit world, and the entire physical world would be connected. (179-290, 1988.8.14)
You need to attain oneness with your spouse. Through the unity of subject and object partners, reproduction takes place. Only through give and take action can reproduction take place. The place where reproduction occurs is truly one of joy. Does God Himself have dual characteristics of internal nature and external form? When separate, neither can be the subject partner. Only when man and woman unite, can the subject of the couple be established. When they are united, the man automatically becomes the subject partner, even if he did not wish it to be so. (42-115, 1971.2.28)
Human beings, of their own volition, need to engage in activities that demonstrate God's original love; they need to love Him and come closer to Him. The first commandment in the words of Jesus was, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind." What comes first is to love God. You need to love Him with all your body and soul. Stopping halfway will not work. You need to go to the very end. In such a manner, you need to attain the state in which your heart reflects God's image, with an original nature that is absolutely aligned to become one with Him. Through this, you will attain the beginning and the end of everything. The first commandment dictates this as the way to love God. (149-237, 1986.11.23)
The rhythm of delight, the rhythm that brings God and human beings together in harmony, is the expression of joy. In its presence, everything, each in its own unique form, can dance, either symbolically or substantially, in tune with that rhythm. When that happens, all creation will say, "Yes, my existence in this world is worthwhile!" To take an example, would it not be the greatest wish of even the smallest creatures in the world to be a part of the feast day celebrating the love of God and humankind? (166-46, 1987.5.28)
The creation is the foundation on which God's sons and daughters can be created. This foundation connects them together in a relationship. This is true of animals, as well as minerals. Positive and negative charges exist in the mineral kingdom. Stamen and pistil are found in the plant kingdom; similarly, male and female are found in the animal kingdom. The greatest masterpiece of creation, the combination of all forms of creation brought and bound together, is the internal nature and external form of human beings. (144-236, 1986.4.25)
Then why did God create night and day? If the sun were up in the sky day in and day out, how stimulating would the morning be? People say it is a glorious morning, a bright morning, but if the sun was up there all the time, what would be so glorious and bright? It would become boring. In reality, however, everything exists to be exciting, and so it possesses a rhythm that can harmoniously bring together the stimulating symbols and forms to fulfill the undertaking of love. (124-85, 1983.1.30)
Where can you find the root of your life? It lies with unfallen parents. Then can the unfallen parents of goodness be found here? As the Lord with dual characteristics, God created the universe and human beings in His image to reflect His dual characteristics. Adam is the manifestation of His male characteristics and Eve His female characteristics. From this perspective, although we usually say, "Our Heavenly Father," because He is just one being, the concept of God actually includes the idea of God being "Our Heavenly Father and Mother." (140-123, 1986.2.9)
What would have happened had our first ancestors Adam and Eve not fallen? They would have attained oneness with God and stood in the same position as Him, inheriting and experiencing His joy in His great work of creation. Such would have been the relationship formed between God and humankind. Original, unfallen human beings would have become His temples. (54-64, 1972.3.11)
Adam and Eve were God's son and daughter; at the same time, they were also His temples. Once they had matured, that is, once the temple had been built completely, He intended to dwell in them. Then, when the fully matured Adam and Eve performed the ceremony of holy matrimony, centering on God, they would have become as one with Him. He would then have become the internal God, and human beings would have become His external form with substantial bodies.
In 1 Corinthians 3:16 it is written, "Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?" If those who are saved by faith can become God's temples, then surely Adam and Eve, in the position of the originally intended true ancestors of humanity, should have become His temples. (54-139, 1972.3.22)
Even though God is our Father and we His children, it still feels like a relationship in which He is superior and we are inferior. At such times, what would be our thinking? We have this desire in our hearts that cries out to Him, "Father, let me have Your place for just once. I want to sit in Your place!" If He were to answer this cry with, "No, you scoundrel, I won't allow it!" then we would be crushed. Hence, He cannot answer thus. On the contrary, He knows we have such a desire in our hearts and so encourages us with words like "Of course, by all means!" and gives up His place for us. He wants us to occupy His place while He vacates it to enter our hearts and indwell us as His temples. (54-89, 1972.3.20)
In the Bible it is written, "You are God's temple." What do these words mean? No one has succeeded in interpreting these words. They are great words. That is because, no matter how great God is, we are given the right to inherit the universe after we have formed the realm of an objective relationship of love with Him. In that relationship we can whisper words of love to each other and attain oneness with Him. Through the foundation of the principle of love, we can obtain the right of inheritance to this universe and everything in it, that is, all of the spiritual and physical worlds as created by Him. No one knows about this amazing truth. (137-67, 1985.12.18)
Adam was God's body in substantial form. 1 Corinthians 3:16 testifies to this fact with the words, "Do you not know that you are God's temple." The temple is God's dwelling place. The place in our hearts where the original love blossoms would then become the Holy of holies. God would have erected the temple of universal love in Adam's heart, expanded the power of love from there, and let the flower of love blossom. This is the purpose for which He created Adam and Eve and blessed them to create a family that would eventually fill the whole world. (121-113, 1982.10.24)
Where is the most sacred place of all? When asked where the most holy place is, we cannot answer that it is the temple in Jerusalem. Something man-made cannot be the most holy place. God builds the greatest sanctuary, where His love can dwell. This sanctuary, however, was lost. Thus, how great is the sin of humankind? (136-310, 1985.12.29)
God created human beings as His substantial bodies. 1 Corinthians 3:16 attests to this fact, with the words, "Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you?" What is the temple? It is God's dwelling place. Adam was God's body and Eve in the position of His wife. If they had fulfilled their destinies, their children would have been born from God's lineage. It is the Principle that they were to be His kindred. (135-313, 1985.12.15)
What would happen to people who have reached the stage of perfection when passing into the spirit world? Adam would have become God's body. It is alluded to both in the Gospel of John, Chapter 14 and in 1 Corinthians 3:16. We infer from these words that we are designed to be God's temple and dwelling place. Then how can we come to resemble Him? Once we have reached the perfection level in fulfilling our portion of responsibility, He will indwell us and all human lives will come together in oneness through love. When a man and woman come together as husband and wife and form a family, they are mutually assimilated and united in love. In the same manner, the power of love would enable us to be assimilated to God; that is, we would be as one with Him. (130-21, 1983.12.11)
When human beings have fully matured into adulthood, the invisible God can then enter them and make a love nest. He is also capable of climactic love pleasing to both Himself and Adam at the same time. Therefore, love is the greatest and most sacred temple. The word temple in Korean is Seong Jeon, and Seong (?) is a Chinese character meaning "sacred." Therefore, God can be found wherever there is true love.
Why do human beings like true love? Whenever they encounter true love, they know that they have met God as well. Hence, when Adam and Eve have fully matured and are making love, God, the Creator of the universe, would enter their bodies and make them into the most sacred temple of all. (128-325, 1983.10.2)
Eve is Adam's wife. Adam is God's substantial body. It has been said that we are God's temple. He is the invisible Father indwelling Adam's heart. These two fathers can then become one. They attain oneness. Thus, Adam's standard of original nature is the starting point where the invisible spiritual world and the visible physical world come together in unity. What is that standard of original nature? It is not a bundle of money, or greed. In the innocence of adolescence, the faculties of one's cells are fully mobilized, and that manifests as a feeler or antenna, which can later settle down once God has come to reside in him. (120-70, 1982.10.3)
1 Corinthians 3:16 states, "Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?" This means that we are His temple. When you have attained a mystical state, and offered Him a prayer, asking, "Heavenly Father, where are You?" you will be rewarded with a wonderful answer. He will say, "I am here! What is all the fuss about? Didn't you get anything to eat for breakfast? Why are you making so much noise in the middle of the night?" When you ask, "Where are you?" He will answer, "Where else would I be? I am in the innermost depth of your heart! I am inside your heart!" Where is heaven said to be? It is in your heart. (224-214, 1991.11.24)