Cheon Seong Gyeong – Sun Myung Moon
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Cheon Seong Gyeong – Sun Myung Moon |
According to the Bible, the Kingdom of Heaven is in our heart. It is not at the end of the world, but in our heart. In what sort of abode does the heart dwell? It does not dwell in a place that harbors all the elements of death, but rather one that can overcome them and disseminate life.
The Kingdom of Heaven cannot be found in the physical world -- it is not of this world. As such, it starts from the point where we actualize the visions of our heart. Finding that one place enables us to welcome the Kingdom of Heaven.
That being so, the Kingdom of Heaven is not coming through the end of the world, but rather through us establishing that starting point in our heart; it is like the fulcrum for balancing a pair of scales. The purpose of a scale is to become level, but it starts out tilting towards the right and not the left. It begins with a tilt to the right.
So, the Kingdom of Heaven begins from the heart. From where in the heart does the kingdom originate? It originates from the place where it can conquer the world. Even if the Kingdom of Heaven were to come externally, if our hearts were evil and could not harmonize with it, then that kingdom would be useless. Accordingly, the basis upon which we can welcome the Kingdom of Heaven is not something external, but rather, it is ourselves. We are the problem. The pillar -- the fulcrum -- that can support the Kingdom of Heaven is not our external environment, but our heart.
Jesus' disciples did not understand the reality of his teaching. In working to prepare a foundation of happiness for the coming Kingdom of Heaven, they had self-centered concerns for their position. Seeing this, Jesus fundamentally demolished this fallacy and taught that the Kingdom was in one's heart. Those who do not create the Kingdom within their hearts would be unable to contribute to Heaven even if placed in its environment. An irresolute heart cannot produce perfect action; perfect action arises only through absolute resolve.
Therefore, what matters is how much our mind yearns for goodness. While yearning for and striving to follow the path of historical goodness, we must overcome our circumstances, no matter how bloodstained and tearful they are.
However lonely the path of our struggles, we must not avoid the path. Rather, we must instead unswervingly blaze a trail with a mind to break through and move on. God's Kingdom begins from our resolution and determination to open up an environment for our body to unite with such a mind. Where the actions of the mind and body are separated, the Kingdom does not exist. Advancement towards the Kingdom begins where the mind and body are united. When they act separately, it will not come about.
In this sense, Jesus was teaching that the Kingdom would come about when we attain the self-governing character to advance with mind-body unity while ridding ourselves of the circumstances that would cause us to veer to the right or left.
The Kingdom does not come through the efforts of others but by our own efforts. Being fallen people, you must deny yourselves. If I cannot bring about the Kingdom by myself, it will then be done by someone else. If that happens, then I must unite with that person in order to reach the Kingdom. I would have to follow and keep in step with him. If he were to go east, I would have to follow. We should not think of going west if he goes east, or judge his actions. There should not be any criticism. (46-21, 1971.7.18)
Jesus said that the Kingdom of Heaven is within our heart. What kind of place is it? It is one centered on God's love -- one where the environment is established centered on God's love. Then, what kind of people would reside in that realm? They should be those who are harmonized with the essence of God's love. Only such people can go there.
What kind of people are those who are harmonized with the essence of God's love? Those who are self-centered have no value. Those who can invest their lives, all their devotion, and everything they have for their partner can live continuously in the realm of God's love. Historically, great people and saints went that way. (46-36, 1971.7.18)
Even if people attend church for one hundred years, if they still have a self-centered mind they will never get to heaven. They cannot receive salvation.
We need to know what kind of religion is a true religion, what kind of person is a true person, and what kind of nation is a true nation. (78-117, 1975.5.6)
In the spirit world, you will see that martyrs who died for the purpose of entering heaven did not actually get there. On the other hand, there were martyrs who were able to think, "Heavenly Father walked the path of suffering and shed blood to find me. I will follow any path in order to return His grace," and then died saying, "I am grateful for this moment of glory enabling me to participate in returning this grace;" only they could enter heaven. Such people did not die for their own sakes but for heaven and earth. If you think, "I will die like this in order to enter heaven," it is dying for your own sake. Fallen people can never enter heaven through self-assertion. (41-353, 1971.2.18)
It is stated in the Bible, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first commandment." Those who do not abide by this commandment cannot enter heaven.
What is the second commandment? It is, "Love your neighbor as yourself." Those who love God first and their neighbor second are pious children. (198-258, 1990.2.4)
Can one go to heaven, by simply believing in a doctrine about Jesus, as many Christians say? If Jesus himself were not to fulfill the ideal as God's partner in love, even he would not go to Heaven. Can Jesus realize true love on his own? Even God could not do so. Therefore, Jesus must come again. Will he do it by coming on the clouds? The nation that can ponder and fathom the present reality will follow me. (176-209, 1988.5.9)
Many Christians today think they are saved and will go to heaven through a certain belief about Jesus. They say that each person goes to heaven by himself. Only a few say they want to take their father and mother with them to heaven. From now, religion should not just be for the salvation of individuals.
A true religion founded by God must be able to remain universal until the end. The ultimate religion all humankind desires would state that God does not want to have just individuals enter heaven. It should introduce heaven as being not just for individuals, but also for their mothers and fathers. When this thought is also introduced to, and understood by the tribal leaders, everyone will follow them into heaven. (41-341, 1971.2.18)
Christians say, "Believe in Jesus and you will go to heaven," but who will go there? Will it be individuals by themselves? Until now, there was no religion that taught about going to heaven together with one's mother, father, and family. The religions that have existed until now gave priority to individual salvation. Yet a religion of a family's entry into heaven must emerge. Only when the concept of family salvation emerges can the doors of heaven be opened. The religions that have existed in the past were religions of individual salvation; they could be likened to like someone rope climbing alone. Thus, the religious world emphasized a life of celibacy. Having a family was akin to having enemies. Jesus said that one's family members were in this sense one's enemies.
Alter reaching the pinnacle, one should have dominion over the earth. Single men and women have to attend the Blessing Ceremony. Originally, the Kingdom of Heaven was the place God's sons and daughters would enter after getting married and receiving His love -- the place unfallen humankind should originally have established.
Jesus went to the spirit world alone. That is why he went to paradise instead of heaven. Paradise is the waiting room before going to heaven; it is not the ideal Kingdom of Heaven that couples enter together with their family members. Therefore, Jesus has to come again to meet his bride, create a family and a people, and take them to heaven. To prepare for this purpose, God has had Jesus remain in paradise. Therefore, Jesus should come again into the world, prepare an internal principled foundation, and, then, enter heaven. These things are not done by guesswork or some vague rule of thumb.
In the future, your father and mother will be saved. The religion that can get every family into heaven and teach everyone the way of salvation can establish the nation. The nation cannot be established individually. Hence, Christianity has no nation of its own. It is a religion in which unmarried men and women create communities. You have met these Catholic priests and nuns haven't you?
In this world there are many countries where Christians reside but there is no country whose sovereign is a Christian leader, a priest or pastor. There is a stark separation. Christianity is a spiritual nation. Not having their own country on earth, many, many Christians have been killed. Had they had their own sovereign nation, it would have protected them from being killed.
Yet because they did not have their own nation, they were scattered abroad like vagrants and driven to their deaths.
In the future, we should bring all Christians of the world together and through gaining that national sovereignty we should find our common home, country, and world. That is what Christians should do. (41-346, 1971.2.18)
Not once has God or Jesus found someone whose flesh and spirit are united, whom God could totally love. That is why Jesus is still praying in paradise.
Therefore, we should know the love of God, who seeks to fully embrace our spirit and flesh. Within such a realm, we must be able to govern all of creation, having justified ourselves as God's children. You must understand that such a world is the world of dominion and the garden of rest God desires to restore. Going back to the issue of our individual selves, we, who are destined to go through restoration, must wander about seeking a new truth. That time has arrived. In the future, the issue of a true view of life and of the universe will come to the fore. (5-49, 1958.12.11)
How is it that Jesus did not enter heaven? God created heaven for people who had not fallen. People can enter heaven only when they have reached the original standard of the Principle. Jesus had meant to save fallen humanity, stand with his spouse in the position of unfallen Adam and Eve as the parents of humankind, and enter heaven with his children. Yet he came and went alone. He had no children, and thus would not enter heaven, but went instead to paradise. He is waiting to enter heaven.
Thus, Jesus must return and find his bride. In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve originally were to get married and enter heaven. Despite the Fall of the progenitors of humanity, the rule by which Jesus must return to make the flowers bloom still stands.
By going alone, he could not enter heaven. Jesus must come again to loose on earth what was bound. Only then can he go to heaven. This is in line with what is stated in the Bible that what was bound has to be loosed on earth. (41-299, 1971.2.17)
Were it not for the Fall, heaven would have been a place to which God's only begotten son and daughter would have gone alter creating His family and living in His love. Heaven is to be entered by families, not individuals. As Jesus did not form his family, he did not enter heaven and is in the waiting room, namely paradise, a place for preparing to enter heaven.
In that regard, heaven is vacant. We thus realize that God's providence for restoration has been a sorrowful history. God lost Adam and Eve. Yet it did not end merely with the loss of two individuals. The loss of Adam and Eve meant the loss of their clan. That clan would have expanded to become a race, nation, and world; but all these were lost. That being so, in losing Adam, God lost His kingdom centered on the kingship of heaven. He lost the heavenly race and tribe, and the heavenly man and woman - His only begotten son and daughter. (143-25, 1986.3.15)
What kind of place is heaven? It is where we can take pride in what we prepared during our life on earth, and in our life of attendance. Then what kind of people enters heaven? Is heaven a place for those who simply believe in the Lord and expect to receive blessings or who act only for the sake of receiving blessing? No. Heaven is the destination for those who live preparing their hearts to attend God, as well as those who can leave behind a life of attendance and joyfully move on, even if they were to die while preparing. There is resurrection there. The details of life do not appear there. How we should live from now on is the important question we should reflect upon in our life of attendance. (8-303, 1960.2.14)
Heaven is a place we cannot enter without a connection of heart. It is the original nation, the nation of original nature, which can govern everything. It is a nation that cannot be possessed based on some situation, but only by those who have a deep bond of heart. As such, Christianity is, ultimately speaking, a religion where mutual sentiments are understood, rather than circumstances. The purpose of God's providence on earth is to make the foundation on which we can sing sharing our hearts beyond sharing circumstances.
What is the Fall? It is not a matter of God not being able to discuss His circumstances, but rather His heart. Coming in search of fallen humanity with the heart of longing to meet His lost sons and daughters, yet not being able to find anyone who could share His heart, God has worked to find such people. That has been the history of salvation and the one sent to find such people is the Savior.
Before desiring heaven, we must desire to know God's heart; and before desiring to know God's heart, we must think about how we should conduct our lives. First, have a heart of attendance. Our original nature reveres and yearns for that which is sublime and precious. In spite of the Fall, our original heart wants to attend the sublime and precious heart of God. Therefore, those who have never been able to lead a heart-centered life of attendance have nothing to do with heaven.
To live a life of attendance we need preparation. After passing through a process of preparation, we need to then practice the life of attendance. Our destination, after preparing and practicing a life of attendance, is heaven. The destination of people who have attended with their hearts is heaven. Heaven is the world where we can be proud of our preparation for attendance and the life of attendance, and where we can actually demonstrate our accomplishments. It is our destiny to follow the course that advances toward the world of heavenly purpose.
From the day we were born with fallen lineage until the present day, there has not been even one day when all humankind attended God with a full heart. Before Adam and Eve fell, they grew according to the ideal of creation, but they never attended God based on a relationship of heart.
What is God's regret? It is that we, who were created to attend Him with our heart, moved into a position where we could not do so, and that God, who should have received heart-centered attendance, was left unattended. God was not anguished because there was nobody who believed in or knew Him. The grief of heaven and earth is that there was nobody who could attend or relate to God in heart. (8-290, 1960.2.14)
Today, many believers say that heaven will be established only through their own religion. This is a delusion. Many religions assert that heaven will be established through their founder's teachings. Considering just Christianity, we see that it is divided into scores of denominations. One denomination usually regards a church outside their denomination as heretical or satanic. If in actual fact, they do this from a position authorized by God, there is no problem: however, if they do it for the sake of establishing their own denomination and for the sake of satisfying their desire to perpetuate it, then their motivation is not pure. Accordingly, all such denominations will perish. If the Unification Church were like that, then it would have to perish first.
In this regard, the first consideration of religion is not to realize God's Kingdom. That is not its primary purpose. Before the Kingdom emerges, a special nation that can inherit the Kingdom is needed. God prepared His chosen people to establish such a nation. In history, this notion of a chosen nation proves that the leading trend of thought to leave behind a good group in the evil world was always in the background of history.
When the chosen people emerge from the evil world, the heavenly nation begins to be established. For that nation's citizens to emerge, its children should first emerge. Moreover, the emergence of the citizens, and the nation, is preceded by the emergence of the family that can establish the heavenly nation. For that family to emerge, the one man and one woman whom God can guarantee must emerge.
Then, only when such a man and woman emerge, is everything complete? No. Sons and daughters must emerge from them. In so doing, the family formed by the eternal son and daughter that God can guarantee must emerge. It is an extremely obvious fact that without such a family, the tribe and race cannot be realized; and without such a race, the nation and world cannot be realized.
The stronghold that God seeks is the individual. He is erecting a fence around the individual. Thus, the purpose of religion so far has been individual salvation, but that is not what God is seeking. It is the family. As such, before the foundation for the family of the Kingdom of Heaven has been established, the tribe, people, nation, and world of that Kingdom cannot exist. (47.249, 1971.5.29)
The line where heaven and hell are divided is not determined by knowing or preaching well from the Bible, but through actual results and heart. Ultimately, the boundary between heaven and hell is the boundary of heart and the boundary of actual results. (2429, 1970.7.19)
Adam and Eve are the physical body of God. It is stated in I Corinthians 3, "Do you not know that you are God's temple?" So our body is a house where God can dwell. Such houses are not the bodies of today's fallen people. God does not want to reside within people who want to be saved simply by believing in doctrines about Jesus -- those who have gone through the repair factory after breaking down. They should be people of the ideal of creation who have experienced pure first love, but we have departed from the realm of God's love.
What is hell? It refers to the devils' realm of love. Those in that realm only adore hatred, envy, jealousy, separation, and destruction and thus only these things are prevalent in their realm. These are manifested in wars. We must root out such devils.
What was the reason a nail was driven into God's heart? It was the devil coming into being, the fact of Satan's lineage being planted, the grievous fact of Satan's seed being planted, and the fact that the fruit of God's love bore Satan's family. The family that could have lived forever in God's love under His protection was destroyed by the appearance of Satan's family. Conversely, the families centered on Satan's tribe spread all over the world. Now the world has about 180 countries. Countless tribes fought amongst each other and the weak were absorbed by the strong, so the number of countries was reduced to about 180. However, these countries must be unified into one according to God's will.
Where did Satan set up his base of operations? Even Satan knows God. As God is the source of the original nature of creation from whom Lucifer was originally created, he has a standard from which to reciprocate. From the human perspective, this original standard is the conscience. Whom does the conscience resemble? It resembles God. For that reason, we say that it is on God's side. Who does the body resemble? It resembles Satan, so we say that it is on Satan's side.
How much was the conscience sacrificed for the body? Your conscience becomes exhausted in caring for you day and night. Yet, tirelessly it blocks the body from misconduct. The closest being to you, which stands as the substitute for your parent, for God, and for your teacher, is your conscience. The mind itself does not need to be educated; but the body absolutely needs to be educated.
Therefore, following the dictates of your body connects you to hell, whereas following the dictates of your mind connects you to heaven. We are the dividing line between heaven and hell. Satan is straddling the thirty-eighth parallel dividing North and South Korea. Since God knew this, we are divided. If we die without separating good from evil we will not be able to overcome our individual thirty-eighth parallel and will be blocked in the spirit world. The thirty-eighth parallels of the family and nation will all be blocked. Then, how will we cross over the thirty-eighth parallels of the world and universe? (24-281, 1991.1.3)
You must deplore the fact that your bodies have become the devil's ballrooms. They have become the love trysts of devils. Your bodies inherited the devil's lineage through his love. You should know this amazing fact that Satan's blood is controlling you with the realm of power in order to trample upon your original character in your bodies now. There is no way for even your countries to clear this up. You will have to do it yourselves.
What is religion? Its historical struggle is essentially to fight the root of sin. Yet despite fallen people being in a domain destined for hell and having become the devil's ballroom, some people still protest the effort of religion to save society.
You have to hate your corrupted self and your body. You should understand that the blood of the enemy is coursing through your bodies and that you cannot cut this off with a knife or burn it away. You have to realize the misery of having become factories that consume and digest creation from a position where you are unable to receive God's protection. (214-285, 1991.2.3)
From the viewpoint of the providence for restoration, if you think that the present time is the time that God's final will is to be expressed, then you should reflect upon yourselves whether you are living each moment seriously. Do not have the attitude that causes you to be swept back and forth by the affairs of the world. If you never even once stood in a serious position or never had even one serious moment, you will be ashamed of yourselves before God.
When you are close to death, when you reflect upon your life to this point, ask yourself this question: "How well have I kept the public laws of heaven and earth, and how well have I lived a life in a position that heaven and earth can approve of publicly?" If you conclude that your life consists of goodness not exceeding 60 percent, you will be heading for hell.
Although your body is limited, your mind should have a history of struggle, in which you were not willing to be limited. Before heaven and earth, before history and the present, and before your descendants, you should be able to proclaim, "I am liberated; so all people should inherit my tradition." If you did not have such a moment, you are to go to hell without mercy. (19-27, 1967.11.10)
The physical world is in chaos. Then, what about the spirit world? Since confused people go to the spirit world and gather there, it also cannot but be in chaos. People who develop the habit of stealing will always end up stealing something. Thus, people who stole on earth will naturally want to get something for nothing in the spirit world. As it was difficult to handle such people in the spirit world, hell came about.
God did not make hell. Hell came into being. People do not build their houses after making a trash can. It is after building the house that you come to have a trash can. It is the same with hell. Christians are unaware of the fundamentals. (148-27, 1986.10.4)
If you are living a false life, when will you clean it up? Don't you have such a mind? If one of your eyes loses its sight, you will have to remove it or cure it. You should be discerning. Since God exists, He must teach a method for correcting such things. That is why religion emerged.
God did not make hell out of jealousy or envy. Since false people appeared, hell became the warehouse to manage them. Do people build their houses after first making a trash can? If you bought good quality cabbage to make kimchi, but while making it you discovered the outer leaves had been eaten up by worms, you would dump it in the trash can. The Fall was committed by the progenitors of humanity.
Therefore, only someone having the qualification of the True Parents can liquidate sin by indemnifying this. (1968.5.1)
Who is the highest grandfather in the universe? God. Then, who are the final descendants who unite this world and all of heaven and earth? The future descendants are. They have to be connected.
That which links them is the family, not the nation. In entering heaven, you will not be recognized just because you are American. You will not be rejected for being from an underdeveloped country. In heaven, only the model family that can connect the past, present, and future along with God's will, centering on this mainstream lineage and family institution, will be acknowledged. You should know that this is the formula. The warehouse, where the fruits of such families are stored, is heaven.
Until now, people who were born into this world were all destined for hell, because there was no condition whatsoever for God to be able to save them. They have been eaten by insects and worms and God could not avoid their becoming fodder for pigs or the like. He had no other option but to choose a place to store such people, and that place was hell. Hell and paradise do exist. In this regard you know what I mean when I say that heaven is vacant. (35-118, 19?5.10.11)
In the spirit world, people are allocated their proper dwellings according to their respective levels of achievement. How did they come to attain that? They stay in the position that corresponds to the degree they have practiced filial piety according to the way of love, whether they fulfilled their loyalty to their nation, and how much they fulfilled the way of saints in this world.
The path that people should take in their earthly life is the way of righteousness. Concerning this way, there is one path each for the individual, family, clan, race, nation, world, universe and even for God Himself. This should be the one and only path. What is that path? It is the path of original love. (10-181, 1963.2.1)
In the other world, if you are not equipped to conform to the atmosphere where the ideal of love is present, a repulsive reaction will come against you. Nobody needs to tell you to go to hell. Therefore, the Bible states, "Love your enemy!" Genuine love exerts its influence on the enemy. If this love goes to the enemy once, twice, three times and four times, the enemy will disappear for sure. It is because love has such great power that Jesus said, "Love your enemy."
Christians today think enemy refers to an individual enemy, but that is not the case. The enemy is the one who violates the law of love, which has infinite value. Who is Satan? He is an adulterer before God. I am saying this based on what I unearthed and discovered in the spirit world. I was called a heretic because I disclosed these things. People slandered me, calling me the king who is trying to destroy Christianity, and they called for my death. However, while I am still alive, those ministers who said all this have already died. Why is this so? The will of Heaven sustained me: I still have many things to do. (121-11, 19?2.10.24)
Imagine you had a son who committed murder or some crime against the state and was sentenced to death. When he goes to his execution, are you going to say, "It serves you right"? Are there such parents? You would rather cling to him and die together with him.
If such tragic deaths were to continue forever, do you think you could just watch without doing something? If he had to suffer an eternal death, then you would want to save him even if it took you all eternity. You would try to do everything possible in order to save him. In this sense, God suffers miserably.
When God sees humankind dying in hell, He becomes desperate in an ongoing effort to save them. Only then will His responsibility as the Parent of heaven be fulfilled. If He says, "Ugh! Let's just get rid of them all," He cannot stand in the parent's position. Therefore, this establishes the logic that God has to liberate even hell.
When your son sees you desperately trying to save him, he will say, "Mom and Dad are having such a hard time because of me!" and repent thousands of times for his sins. If you are such parents, your son will come to repent till his bones melt and his flesh becomes haggard. Because of your efforts, such a way can open up.
Not even Satan can accuse God for His love in trying to save humankind. There is no rule preventing forgiveness for the one who repents through the love of his parents. Hell must also be liberated through this kind of heart. That is the way of a true filial child, isn't it? Therefore, we in the Unification Church speak of saving even hell. Why? It is because God is such a being. (62-40, 1972.9.10)
Hell is a place you can never escape from once you are caught. Despite that, you are not realizing that your mother, father and relatives are going to hell. You just think, "It will work out somehow." However, let's think seriously that your beloved parents are really going to hell. If your parents were to go to jail in this world, human nature is such that you would cry and do all sorts of things to have them released. Then, even more so, if you fed that your sons and daughters, parents and relatives, brothers and sisters -- with whom you have bonds made in heaven -- were going to go to a prison from which they would never be set free forever, how could you have a casual thought?
You do not know anything yet. You do not know whether there really is a hell or not. It might exist but you do not know what kind of place it is. You probably are not convinced and it must be vague to you, but once you die, you will know. Once you die, you will know in an instant, but it will be too late then.
That is why the parents who died are now returning spiritually to witness to their children. During their lifetimes, they opposed their son or daughter attending the Unification Church. However, once in the spirit world, they found out that they had made a big mistake. So, they are coming to this world spiritually and are eager to lead people to the church. If they do not do this, they will be in difficulty once in the spirit world. If you oppose your son attending the Unification Church, you will be in trouble in the eternal stage of life.
Therefore, in the spirit world, spirit beings devote themselves entirely to receiving permission to become good spirits in order to appear to and to teach their children on earth. Not just any one can appear freely. When people on earth experience this phenomenon they will realize what an amazing place the Unification Church is. Can you imagine how totally dumbfounded they will be!
People may say that the Unification Church is a place where people just come and go, but that is not the case. If you draw a line here, that line will stay drawn forever. If this door is closed, nobody can open it again for eternity. If it is opened, nobody can ever close it again. What is bound on earth should be loosed on earth, you should loose yourselves what you bind. This is the problem. Therefore, when you go witnessing, do not wander off to other places. (34-266, 1970.9.13)
Suppose there is a dying person who says, "God, though I did not live according to Your will until now, in my mind I tried to go to heaven. So please regard me as having established the proper indemnity conditions!" Because God is fair, He will put that person in a position of those trying to go to heaven. In what position will God place him? Since the person was trying to go to heaven, God will put him in such a position. God rewards him according to his actions. God put him in a position where he is still trying to go to heaven. That position can be even beneath paradise. Even people in hell are trying to go to heaven. (1972.6.1)
In order for the individual to find rest, the realm of the Sabbath for the family has to be created; in other words, a fence surrounding the family has to be made. In order for the family to find rest, a fence surrounding the tribe has to be made. If there is no fence, they can always be invaded. In order for the tribe to rest, a fence surrounding the race has to be made. In order for the race to rest, a fence surrounding the nation has to be made.
Then, in order for the nation to rest, a fence surrounding the world has to be made. Thus, a time will come when we can find rest within the fence surrounding our nation and world. In order for the world to rest, the spiritual and physical worlds must be united and a fence has to be established. After that, God's Kingdom on earth can for the first time be accomplished, in which His love can spread all over the world, and His kingdom in heaven is accomplished automatically. (69-20, 1973.7.23)
The place where we want to live is the heavenly nation. There are no borders there. It does not use two languages. Racial differences do not exist there. People are all brothers and sisters because they all were born from God's bosom. In God's eyes, as his children, they are all siblings and therefore all citizens of His kingdom on earth. They are the citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven on earth.
There are three prerequisites for forming a nation: sovereignty, territory, and citizenry. In relation to that, this world could not come under God's rule. The earth could not become God's nation, and the citizens of the world could not become the citizens of one nation. We talk about the Kingdom of Heaven, but it is established after these conditions are met. Since this has not been realized, the struggle between Cain and Abel continues, and we cannot rest.
We want to live not in the process of restoration -- but rather in the Kingdom of Heaven. Therefore, our desire to realize the Kingdom is about preparing our abode. Our abode will come into being only when the Kingdom is established. If we cannot establish it, our descendants will always be an oppressed race. We must devote ourselves to the utmost so as to become ancestors who do not burden their posterity. (66-281, 1973.5.1)
To get to heaven, we must go through the process of obtaining the qualification of God's sinless sons and daughters who can receive His love directly, transcending the need to believe in Jesus and the need for a savior. God's ideal kingdom will be realized when those who lived that way go to the spirit world.
Jesus has yet to see a lineage of his own. Consequently, he must return to dissolve that anguish and complete his unfinished work. Otherwise, we cannot enter heaven. Where are the conditions to open the Kingdom of Heaven? The conditions are laid on earth. For that reason, Jesus left the key to the Kingdom of Heaven on earth.
Since Jesus and the twelve apostles did not form their families, the families of the seventy disciples and 120 followers have to be restored, through the Blessed Families of the Unification Church today. If that is done, the Kingdom of Heaven will be opened. (160-??, 1968.3.11)
After creating Adam and Eve, God was waiting for them to mature so that He could celebrate their wedding feast. But because they fell, His will was not fulfilled; and they became false parents. Four millennia later, the standard of the True Parents -- lost due to the inception of the false parents -- should have been restored through the marriage of Jesus, who stood in an unfallen position, and his bride.
The sons and daughters born from true parents are not false children but true children. From them, the true family can emerge. With the emergence of a true family, a true tribe, a true race, a true nation, and a true world will be created. In that world, we will lead a God-centered heavenly lifestyle in the family, tribe, people and world. Only then can this earth become God's Kingdom.
After living in this way, we will discard our bodies on earth and enter eternal heaven. That place is heaven in the spirit world. This is the overview of God's providence. All people on earth were born with Satan's lineage, as opposed to God's lineage. Therefore, according to Romans, Chapter 8, they could call God Father in the position of adopted children. Being of a different lineage, they can call God Father by laying down a bridge, without which they cannot directly do so. Yet only Jesus had the relationship of the direct lineage of God. Thus, he was called the only begotten son. (160-42, 1968.8.11)
When the day of the Second Advent arrives, a new ideal realm should be created, not in heaven, but at the bottom of paradise and hell. There, Cain and Abel will be restored, and God's realm of the new family will be created. Everybody on earth must be restored through indemnity through the realization of the realms and God’s new tribe, new race, new nation, and new world. Cain and Abel must be restored, all things must be absorbed and digested, and then a unified world on the earth must be created; failing which, there would be no way of dissolving the anguish and completing the unfinished work by fulfilling God's desire of creating the heavenly nation.
That is why Jesus said, "Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." God's Kingdom will not be established in heaven without it being established on earth. This indicates there is some extraordinary circumstance, and that without establishing on earth the sovereignty of the heavenly nation, the good sovereignty cannot be recovered in the spirit world. (143-29, 1986.3.15)
Do not think of only going to heaven, but, also of building heaven on earth. Before that, you yourselves must become heavenly people. To do this, you must become one in heart with the Father to the extent that you can confidently say that His heart is yours and yours is His. Accordingly, in this earthly life, you should be people representing the hearts of God, the lord, as well as your ancestors. Only by doing so can you solve all historical problems. (4-294, 1958.1.19)
No matter how strong a storm and wind may come, even if you are destroyed and dying, you should have a firm and resolute conviction, saying, "At least this conviction is absolute. If there is anything wrong, the fault lies with me, but God's will is absolutely right." I would be exceedingly foolish of you to dream of heaven while maintaining a faith wherein your belief in the morning is different from that in the evening.
What kind of path is the path by which you can approach heaven? It does not appear in a self-centered position. When you find that you are far away from heaven, you have to smash that which is called the self to pieces. Only when you denounce the self will the path that can open up to heaven -- or an indirect heaven -- be opened.
However, those who try to make others adapt to themselves while asserting themselves, or place themselves in a proactive position and force others to follow them, will be unable to relate to heaven.
It is obvious that the realization of the Kingdom of Heaven starts with us. Even if the relational Kingdom were established, if we could not become people who are responsive to that Kingdom's call, we would have nothing to do with that Kingdom.
What kind of place is heaven? It is the place we go after subjugating Satan. It is not where we go by overcoming ourselves, or just the self. Heaven cannot countenance the realm of the fallen world or our habits or the habitual circumstances of the fallen world. As Satan chronically controls our habits and resides here, heaven can come only after we overcome those circumstances. Heaven will be realized at the place that mutually contradicts the contents of Satan's world. If any remnant remained, it could not be heaven. If such a place bore the name heaven, it would be nothing but a deception.
The concept of heaven can be established from the position of subjugating Satan, of denying and, further, eliminating everything to which he can relate. Heaven is affirmed on the basis of having denied and removed the negative historic relics of Satan and all the contents of a satanic lifestyle. Without removing those, we cannot present the contents of heaven.
Heaven is such a valuable thing. Although described as being aligned to the absolute standard, there is too much confusion over our concept of it. People are longing for heaven from an extremely self-centered standpoint. There is no doubt about that. Only when we overcome these circumstances with absolute faith, can the Kingdom of Heaven emerge; yet that alone will not settle the Kingdom. It will be realized only when we subjugate Satan, who brought God hardships for millennia and deceived humanity.
There can be no two ways about it. God's Kingdom cannot be realized through just submissively going along by faith. It can never be realized by having only a believing heart. Since Satan always challenges us to battle, the Kingdom is realized through overcoming that course of struggle. Here, we need sovereignty and numerous citizens. A large number of families should create a state system and overcome this battle for the sake of one purpose. In God's position, they must be able to be in harmony and unison anytime, anywhere, with their subject partner without any conflict. We may be able to feel in our mind the Kingdom of Heaven at the place where we are prepared to die and where we have faith, but that is not the substantial Kingdom. Even though a great price of martyrdom and suffering has been paid through the past two millennia, the Kingdom has not been accomplished in the sphere of reality. Thus, the Kingdom is not something that simply comes into being.
In the biblical phrase, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind," the Lord refers to one who is unforgettable and eternal. He is a being of absolute content. The Kingdom does not come through our believing in the Lord God, but through our loving Him. The Father's will is fulfilled not only by faith, but by love.
We need to realize how much our faith falls short and how far it has deviated from the Principle up to this time. Some of you maybe here for the first time. With regard to the individual, you cannot go to a place where you can receive consolation. Although the Kingdom might exist in your minds and although God may have felt joy from you, that would not mean it has been established on earth. It might be an individual Kingdom of Heaven, but it would not be the Kingdom of Heaven in its entirety.
What God desires is not the individual Kingdom of Heaven. He does not rejoice over seeing its realization. Can we say that the Kingdom of Heaven is established just by seeing one person's joy? God sent Jesus Christ -- the one person over whom He could rejoice -- to the earth, to be the center for all nations to connect horizontally in seeking the Kingdom in its entirety. He thus sent the Messiah to the earth and sacrificed him. (46-74, 1971.7.25)
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