Book Ten - The Way In The Completed Testament Age
Chapter Two - A Perspective on the Family
Section 2. The Family Is the Basic Unit of Heaven

2.1. Family is the cornerstone of God's Kingdom on earth and in heaven

Heaven must be established from the family. Since Jesus couldn't form a family, he could not enter heaven, but instead is in paradise. Paradise is like the waiting room you have to pass through before entering heaven. Hell came into existence because of the Fall. God did not create it from the beginning. (21-199, 1968.11.20)

The four-position foundation is the cornerstone of God's Kingdom on earth and in heaven. One individual cannot establish it by himself. Accordingly, Jesus cannot establish it alone; the Holy Spirit must descend. (13-67, 1963.10.17)

The starting point of heaven is not the individual or nation. It is the family. That is why Jesus will descend to earth in his quest for a bride. Is an individual the starting point of heaven? No, the family is the starting point. (30-83, 1970.3.17)

The family is the basic unit in building God's Kingdom. Once you enter God's Kingdom, you would never want to leave, because "the One" with whom you want to meet tens and even hundreds of times dwells there. If all humankind had a common desire to enter there, and wanted to meet and live with Him, the world could be unified right away. The Unification Church is heading towards that destination. However, that cannot be established all at once. First the foundation of the individual must be laid, followed by the foundation of the family, expanded into the tribe, nation, and world. (12-180, 1963.4.1)

The Kingdom of Heaven in a family is established when man and woman are completely united. The individual heaven is realized when mind and body form oneness. Husband, wife and children should be united centering upon God's will in the heavenly kingdom. The heavenly kingdom in the family has all of humankind as its focus, and the center of its will is God.

Therefore, the heavenly kingdom in the family is to be realized where a family lives for humankind, centering upon God. We have to work not just for God alone, but for all humankind centering on Him. He desires to establish such a family. Unless this is done before restoring the world, humankind, nations, and families cannot be saved. You must understand that Blessed Families were established in order to make such families. (100-310, 1978.10.22)

The four-position foundation in the Unification Principle refers to the domain of three-generational love. When three generations live together happily in harmony, the ideal of creation is realized. Of course, husband and wife should love each other. In addition, they should pray for their children with love and take sincere care of them in order to create a happy and harmonious family. When this is accomplished vertically through three generations and connected horizontally through brothers and sisters, then perfect love is established. Even cousins and second cousins should become as one in love to form the perfect spherical shape of love. (Blessed Family - 947)

The family and God's Kingdom are the same in form. There are parents, husband and wife, children, and brothers and sisters in a family. The family can be united through love. On this foundation, unification can be established, life can be connected, and the ideal can be realized in a family. Therefore, you become qualified to enter God's Kingdom when you can respect conjugal and parental love.

Grandparents bequeath love to parents and the parents bequeath love to their children. If any one of these fails to happen God's Kingdom cannot be established. You should love your parents more than your spouse and you should love your grandparents more than your parents. This motto is the core and the ideal of God's Kingdom. (Blessed Family - 946)

What is the world of God's ideal of creation? It is where God's Kingdom on earth and in heaven is established through the realm of true parents. God's Kingdom is established only through the foundation of love. No one has received the love of true parents in the fallen world; there is no trace of it. The same is true for the spirit world, because there has been no one who experienced the love of true parents on earth before passing away. In the original family foundation, the love of a man, woman, son, daughter, parents and God are all included. Whoever loves their parents, spouse and children in such harmonized circumstances leads a life of heaven. (Blessed Family - 946)

Where is the Kingdom of Heaven? It doesn't just drop from the sky. It is the place where we develop a living tradition of giving and receiving between the father, mother and children. It is where we experience complete joy in utilizing the creation in our daily lives to create an ideal environment. (Blessed Family - 945)

I feel that from now on I should teach you the code of conduct for Blessed Families, the code you should follow as you lead a life as families of God's Kingdom. Those who are walking the course of restoration have someone to teach them based on the Principle, and so should learn from them. The age in which I myself take responsibility for such problems has already past.

Each and every one of the families needs to be set in order. The Unification Church is a family-based organization. That means we place families first. In the past, individuals were considered the most important but now we must prioritize the family over them. (22-334, 1969.5.11)

The day that humanity meets the Messiah will come only after passing through the Ages of the Word and the Substance. Only after that day has arrived can humanity begin life in the Kingdom of Heaven. By that time, you will have to attain such a state that his mind, heart and state can become your mind, heart, and state, so that his difficulties and his sufferings can also be your own. Only when you attain such a state and feel that his heart and mind is one with your heart and mind can you become families of the Kingdom of Heaven. Only when this is completed on earth can the families of the Kingdom of Heaven be established. (19-251, 1968.1.15)

Where does the life of the Kingdom of Heaven begin? It begins in the family, not in any other place. The Kingdom of Heaven is the dimensionally expanded version of the family; it does not appear outside the realm of the family. Hence, when you embrace your spouse, you need to think that all the men and women of the world are becoming as one. The family is the place where you can make the conditional offering of loving all humanity. (30-83, 1970.3.17)

The Kingdom of Heaven is established based on the family. You should never forget to maintain your dignity as Blessed Families. (21-77, 1968.10.20)

In the future, the Sunday service of the Unification Church should be in the format of a report, not a sermon. The contents of the report should be about something a family can be proud of. Therefore, the whole family would need to attend the service. In this way, the other families can model themselves after the exemplary families and be guided by them to the right path. In such a manner we can establish the heavenly kingdom for the family, on earth. You should bear in mind that before this is done God's Kingdom on earth cannot be established. (23-63, 1969.5.11)

The reason I'm not currently constructing any church buildings is because I have plans of my own. The number of people in the church is not important. The Kingdom of Heaven does not begin from the church; it originates from the family, that is, the bride and groom.

Woman was born to meet man, and vice versa. When a baby wakes up, it looks for its "mama." The husband should call his wife more than the baby calls its mother. A person who fails to do so is truly pitiable. The wife should also call her husband more than he does her. They should become such a couple. As husband and wife enjoying the happiness of conjugal harmony, they should call out to each other all the time. If they can live in such a manner forever, they would not envy the young even when they grow old. In the future, I will arrange a world tour for those blessed couples that reach the age of eighty. (23-55, 1969.5.11)

Just like in the early days of our church, you should form a household that can make your friends exclaim, "Hey, I like this place better than my own home. Here, boiled barley and gruel tastes better than food in my own home. Let me stay one more night!" Your family must make your friends and visitors want to abandon their own homes to live in yours. Only then can your family belong to God's Kingdom. (16-328, 1966.7.31)

The Kingdom of Heaven of husband and wife is established only when a couple becomes one based on God's love. No one can dissolve that union and it will never separate into two. What kind of love did you find? If you found God's love, your mind and body should be in complete oneness so that His love can dwell in you. In this way, the heavenly kingdom for a married couple and for the family can be established. When a father and mother are in a complete union of love and the children have their own spouses to love just as their parents loved each other, family heaven can be realized. When parents become plus and children become minus, the heavenly kingdom in the family appears. (Blessed Family - 943)

In a married couple, what should the husband do? He should be involved with church activities. The wife should deal with material matters. This is what they are supposed to be responsible for in their daily lives. Then what should they do as a family? The father, mother and children should be united. From there family heaven can come into existence. Therefore, in order to establish God's Kingdom based on love, the four-position foundation needs to be fulfilled. (26-101, 1969.10.18)

2.2. The family is the training ground for true love

The cosmos-centered ideology is for the sake of achieving mind-body unity. It is to establish the family as the embodiment of God's love, and to implement these ideas in the spiritual and physical worlds. The Chinese character for ju in cheon-ju (cosmos) means "house." That's why the term "cosmos-centered ideology" is being used. The cosmos is the combination of the incorporeal and corporeal worlds. How does this relate to us? We need a family. If you cannot achieve oneness on the family level, the cosmos-centered ideology will have nothing to do with you. The God-centered family is the ultimate standard to complete the ideal about which such a cosmos-centered ideology teaches. If you cannot sing the song of peace and praise happiness in the family on earth, you will be unhappy in the spirit world. (26-190, 1969.10.25)

Love continues eternally. It is the greatest aspiration. That is why everyone in the world desires to inherit it with open arms. By leaving behind such a love on earth, you can justly advance into the presence of God when you enter the spirit world. The family is the place where you can attain such a love. Entering the Kingdom of Heaven through the family is none other than establishing the realm of oneness of love. (Blessed Family - 937)

If there is a heaven, there must be an earth, and if there is a heaven and an earth, there must be a man and woman representing them. In the family resides the standard of heart where the two can be united in all dimensions. Such a family is the absolute standard for the world of God's purpose; it can overcome any difficult circumstance. That is where the foundation for a new history, new world and new cosmos is laid. (25-148, 1969.10.3)

The cosmos-centered ideal should be realized on the foundation of the family. The cosmos is the totality of heaven and earth. The two are like mind and body in a human being. Mind and body should become as one. One subject partner needs one object partner; likewise, one man needs one woman. The union of a man and woman will create a family. (26-189, 1969.10.25)

A family is the ethical foundation of the society and is the exemplary, fundamental and primary organization. In such a family, love becomes the most accurate measurement of value. (Blessed Family - 930)

How should we measure the value of humanity? We should place more value in the state of an individual's heart rather than the state of the world. Therefore, to love the world you need to love individual people. You should love them as a man loves his wife and vice versa. (Blessed Family - 929)

In order to become God's child, you need to take after His heart. His heart is embedded in the world. Therefore you must love every single person in the world. If you cannot love them because they are far away, then love their nation, tribe, family or parents. This is because the parents represent God, the husband and wife represent Adam and Eve, and the children represent all humanity. (24-307, 1969.9.7)

What is the ideal world? Being colorful is more ideal than being of one color. In that sense, which is more ideal, the five races living in unity together or living separately? Living together would be more ideal. Therefore, we have to rebuild everything that does not follow the ideal way. Do you think God wants me to rebuild all these things or not? God supports such people. Therefore, you should inherit God's heart and the True Parents' tradition and focus on how to expand the bond of heart of the heavenly family which loves humankind. (Blessed Family - 928)

Raise your hand if you like old grandfathers and grandmothers. What about those who don't like them? I see many of your hands are down. If you were to take care of 500-year-old grandparents, what would you do? Would you still like them? To love older people is to love God, because God is the oldest being in the universe. If you love God you should be able to love everyone regardless of age, whether they are the youngest, uncles, grandfathers or sons. That is to say, you need to love God's family. His family includes Japanese, Korean, American, and people of all nationalities. People with racial prejudice do not love God's family. Racial prejudice cannot exist in the ideal world. Isn't that true?

When children who have received love from their parents go out and meet people of their parents' age, they will feel very close and will try to talk with them and help them. When people who have a beautiful relationship with their siblings go out into society, they will easily get along and have close relationships with the people they meet. They will feel natural even in their relationships with the opposite sex. They would see the opposite sex as their brothers and sisters without any sexual desires or unsound ideas. God's Kingdom on earth is realized through families in which you are able to experience such love relationships centering upon God. (Blessed Family - 927)

Life together with grandparents, parents and children is a sound family life. If one of those generations is missing from a family, it is deprived of something. When ideal families are established, those families should serve as the building blocks for God's Kingdom on earth.

We have the mission to establish ideal families on earth. People who have experienced the deep love of grandparents in their family relate well with society. For example, they will feel very close to the elderly folk on the streets of New York, and in turn these senior citizens will treat them as if they were their grandchildren. No matter what the circumstances, they will want to communicate with each other and share feelings of closeness. Young people who have served their grandparents will try to help elderly people right away, whenever they are in need of assistance. (Blessed Family - 927)

The family that is composed of grandparents, parents and children is a miniature form of the world. The way for humankind to live is to expand the love for their family into love for humanity. You should consider and love old people as your grandparents, middle-aged people as your parents, people who look older than you as your older brothers and sisters, and people who look younger than you as your younger brothers and sisters. So the true person is the one who considers everyone as his or her family and whose heart can love the whole of humankind by transcending the barriers and boundaries in the world. Then you are truly qualified to love your father and mother. (Blessed Family - 926)

Wherever you go you should not think of everyone you see as strangers. Instead, you should think of them as members of your family. When you see old people you should think of them as your own parents, and you should always be ready to weep with them and share their sadness if something happens to them. (16-314, 1966.7.31)

A true family is the place where a husband loves and lives for his wife as his mother, and a wife loves and lives for her husband as her father and brother. Next, the world where a husband loves his wife as God and a wife loves and respects her husband as God is the Kingdom of Heaven where ideal families reside. Such a tradition should be established on earth.

You cannot abandon your siblings. You cannot abandon your mother. You cannot abandon anyone in your family. Therefore, the word "divorce" cannot exist. A husband represents the father and older brother, so a wife cannot abandon her husband any more than she can abandon her father and older brother. You have to love the world with such love. When you see a man who is the same age as your father, you should love him as your father, and when you see a woman the same age as your mother, you should love her as your mother. (Blessed Family - 926)

Why does everyone have affection for their family? Because the family is the base for free action focused upon parental love. Likewise, God should also be able to act freely in the family. When society is composed of individuals who possess such a radiant nucleus of love regardless of their external appearance, God becomes free. Don't you think so? When you visit someone else's home as a guest, you feel uncomfortable, don't you? Why is it? It is because there's no bond of love with them. You feel awkward because that bond is not set up in all four directions. Therefore, our way is to become men and women of character. (Blessed Family - 925)

The Unification Church regards God's Kingdom as starting from within the realm of the tribe. When parents, siblings, cousins and second cousins become as one centering upon the grandfather, a perfect three generations are established. When this tribal domain of love becomes as one with God on earth, the whole world will be filled with God's love, and become His Kingdom. When a woman marries, she has to serve her grand parents-in-law and parents-in-law in place of God and her husband. She also has to harmonize with the sisters-in-law and brothers-in-law. If such love relationships are extended to the society, nation and world, this world will be full of peace and love, instead of crime and war. This is God's Kingdom, His ideal world. (Blessed Family - 947)

Where is the center of the universe? It is the family. Where is the base for true love to settle? It is in your family. Therefore, the family of the original ideal is one that grasps the love of the universe and participates in the protection of the universe. Also, such a family applies the realm of love for the universe to the national level in order to walk the way of patriotism and finally, applies it to the world level. People who love their family are called filial sons or daughters, people who love their nation are called patriots, and people who love the world are called saints. (Blessed Family - 925)

Because God is at the center of the family, this world should be His Kingdom. The Blessed Families should strive to lead a life that works toward building His Kingdom. A God-centered tribe, nation and world are established when we live for the sake of others on His behalf, so Blessed Families should be responsible for creating a God-centered world. The Unification Church centered upon the True Parents is like a tribe and race. The purpose of our church is to form a heavenly nation composed of five races in unity, which can live more for the sake of the world than anyone else. This is my purpose and it is God's purpose that He desires to accomplish through me. (Blessed Family - 947)

The family is the representative training ground that educates people in love for humanity. It is the representative environment for establishing the center of heart. If you trust each other and lead a happy family life, you will stand as the center of the whole universe and be blessed with happiness. That is the beginning point of the ideal domain. Beings without love have no meaning to their existence. (Blessed Family - 925)

The family is created to be the textbook for life in heaven. If you can love every person who is your grandfather's age as your own grandparent, you will surely enter heaven. If you can love every person who is your parents' age as your own, there will be no boundaries for you in the spirit world. If you can consider all the young people in the world as your own children, you will be able to visit any place in heaven. Even though there are twelve pearl gates leading up to heaven, you will be able to pass through all of them. The family is the teaching material through which you can relate to the whole Kingdom of Heaven. In other words, it is the textbook. (Blessed Family - 924)

In a family, parents should completely inherit the vertical axis of love and align themselves to it. Next, the husband and wife are to relate horizontally at an angle 90 degrees to that axis. The standard is the same for a nation. The axis of love exists in only one place. That is why although the family is small in itself; it extends to the tribe, nation and world centering upon this axis.

The ideal realm comes into existence when these lesser or greater relationships with the central axis continues to expand in all directions. Consequently, the work I am doing at present involves righting that axis in order to unify the world. In order to achieve this, Father should occupy the position of the prince of all ideologies. He will obtain this position not by exercising force but by digesting with love. (Blessed Family - 924)

Your families represent the sovereignty of God's Kingdom. The parents stand on behalf of this sovereignty. The children stand in the stead of the citizens, and the material possessions represent the land of that kingdom. Subsequently, being filial to one's parents is the same as being loyal to one's nation, and also leads one to fulfill one's duties as a saint. At present, the family has become the origin of many disgraceful acts, but God hopes that the family will be transformed into sanctified ground. Therefore, the mission to save corrupted families in the fallen realm lies with us. Though families worldwide are shattering, we are not in a position to abandon them. (35-306, 1970.10.30)