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The Resurrection
of Earthly Men
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The Three Stages in the Dispensation for Resurrection
God began his dispensation for resurrection with Adam's
family, which had fallen into the non-Principle realm. However, since
persons in Adam's and Noah's families failed to carry out their
responsibilities, resurrection itself did not begin until Abraham's family.
So in retrospect the two thousand year period from Adam to Abraham ended up
being the period during which only the foundation for God's dispensation
for resurrection was established. Thus, this period is called the
'Dispensational Age of the Foundation for Resurrection'.
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On this foundation, God carried out the formation stage of
the dispensation for resurrection, which again, because of man's repeated
failures, ended up taking two thousand years, from Abraham to Jesus. People
on earth who received the merits of the age of formation stage resurrection
were to fulfill their responsibility by keeping and living the Old
Testament Law, the formation stage Word of re-creation. Since people were
to be justified by their practice of the Law (Word), this age is called the
'age of justification by keeping the law'.
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If a person fulfilled
that responsibility, based on his physical self, his spirit self would grow
through the formation stage of resurrection and become a form spirit. When
a person who has attained the form spirit level on earth leaves his
physical self, his spirit self goes to live at the 'form spirit level of
the spirit world'.
Complete resurrection
should have taken place through Jesus, the Messiah; however, because of
man's failure to accept Jesus, the period after his death has been the
period for only growth stage resurrection. Because of the Israelites'
faithlessness toward Jesus,
Jesus was crucified and the completion of the dispensation for resurrection
was delayed until the Second Coming. In retrospect, we can see that the
period from Jesus' time up to the time of his Second Coming has been the
'age for' only 'growth stage resurrection'.
During this age, people on earth could receive the merits of the age of
growth stage resurrection and carry out their responsibility by believing
and living the New Testament, God's growth stage Word of re-
creation.
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Therefore, this age is called the 'age of justification by
faith'. People of that age could pass through the growth stage of
resurrection and attain the life spirit level by believing and living the
New Testament Word. When a person who has attained the life spirit level
leaves his physical self, he goes to live in Paradise, which is the 'life
spirit level of the spirit world'.
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The 'Dispensational Age of the Completion Stage
Resurrection' will be completed with the resurrection of both spirit and
body[1] (spirit self and physical self) by the Messiah at the Second
Coming. The Messiah will bring the Completed Testament, which is to bring
about the fulfillment of the Old Testament and the New Testament. People on
earth can receive the merits of the age of completion state resurrection by
accomplishing their responsibility to believe in and incarnate the new Word
and directly attend the Messiah with full sincerity of heart. Therefore,
the age is called the 'age of
justification by attendance'. When a person believes in and attends the
Messiah at the Second Coming, his spirit self reaches the perfection level
of resurrection and becomes a divine spirit. The place on earth where the
people of this divine spirit stage live is called the Kingdom of Heaven on
earth. When a perfected person living in the Kingdom of Heaven on earth
leaves his physical self, he goes to live in the 'Kingdom of Heaven in the
spirit world', which is the region of the spirit world belonging to divine
spirits.
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Spiritual Phenomena Occurring in the Last Days
Man fell from the perfection level of the growth stage. As
man enters the Last Days, he enters the age in which he can restore himself
to the perfection level of the growth stage. By believing and living the
Word of the New Testament Age, a person's spirit self can attain the perfection
level of the growth stage, the position of man immediately
prior to the Fall.
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The Last Days is when man restores on a world-wide scale the
level just prior to the Fall -- the life spirit level, which is the level
at which Adam attained the ability to deeply communicate with God. For this
reason, in the Last Days, as the top of the growth stage is approached
there will be many people who develop the ability to communicate with the
spirit world. Seeing things from this viewpoint we can understand God's
promise to pour out his spirit on all flesh in
the Last Days (Acts 2:17).
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In the Last Days, there will be many people who receive the
revelation, "You are Lord". This does not mean that they are the
Lord of the Second Coming, but means that they are being re-established in
the position of lord of the Creation, that position having been lost
because of the Fall of Adam. In other words, they are restoring the level
of spiritual development that Adam had reached just prior to the Fall.
Just as John the Baptist
was to prepare the way for Jesus, there will be many people with various
missions who are to prepare the way for the Lord of the Second Coming.
Since these persons responsible for certain missions represent the Lord of
the Second Coming, they each receive the revelation, "You are the
Lord", though they may be working in an age or in a field different
from that of the Lord. If at such a time a person receiving the spiritual
communication does not understand the principle behind it and mistakenly
thinks that he is the Lord of the Second Coming and acts as if he is the
Lord, he becomes an antichrist. This is the reason for the biblical
prophecy that many antichrists will appear in the Last Days.
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Also, although people capable of spiritual communication
communicate with the same spirit world, since the spiritual level,
circumstances, and individual character are different in each spiritually
open person, the level of the spirit world with which they communicate and
the contents of the revelations they receive differ from one another (1 Cor
15:41, 12:8-10).
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Because of this there is often disagreement and conflict
among spiritualists. Especially since they have only a vertical
relationship with God and are responsible for only one part of the entire
Dispensation for Restoration, they are often ignorant of their horizontal
relationship with others who have spiritual communication. Since each is
the best in his particular area of responsibility, God gives each the
revelation "You are the best" to encourage him to do his best.
Yet, because they do not know the whole picture of what God is doing, they
often conflict with one another. The confusion among those who can
communicate spiritually will be cleared up by the new expression of truth,
which will explain the overall purpose of the dispensation for Restoration.
Based on this
complete understanding, spiritualists will be able to achieve reciprocal,
horizontal harmony, in addition to vertical harmony with God. Their
abilities should fit in with the purpose of the whole. -
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The Dispensation
for the Resurrection of Spirit Persons
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Returning Resurrection of Spirit Persons
Countless people have already passed on to the spirit
world, and not one has ever perfected himself while on earth in his
physical self. How can these spirit persons be resurrected? A person's
spirit self can neither grow nor be resurrected apart from the physical
self. So for those in the spirit world to be resurrected, they must
return to earth and fulfill the responsibility that they left
unaccomplished during their physical life. they accomplish this by
cooperating with people on earth and working through others' physical
selves to help them to fulfill their mission. This is the reason that
Jude 1:14 says that in the Last Days '... the Lord came with his holy
myriads ...".
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In what manner do the spirit persons cooperate with
persons on earth to accomplish God's Will? When a person on earth,
through prayer or spiritual activities, happens to form a base conductive
to spiritual communication and partnership, then a spirit person will
return and begin to cooperate with that person on earth by Give and Take
Action with his spirit self. The spirit person helps the person on earth
to receive revelations or to have deep experiences of truth, and
sometimes helps him to experience other spiritual phenomena such as the
power to cure diseases, the ability to prophesy, or spiritual fire.
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Returning Resurrection of Spirit Persons Who Believed in
God
Jesus' age two thousand years ago and the time when Christ
returns in the Last Days are both special times when all the faithful on
earth can be spiritually elevated (in accordance with the Dispensation
for Restoration). Especially since these are the times when God's Word of
re-creation appears anew (as the gospel and the new words
respectively), then according to the principles of resurrection these
times are the most significant opportunities -- opportunities when man's
spirit self can be resurrected at an accelerated rate. Therefore, in
Jesus' time the form spirits of the Old Testament Age,
who had dealt only with the Law, all longed to return and meet the
condition of cooperating with the faithful on earth.
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Since Elijah appeared as a spirit person to Jesus and his
disciples on the mount of the Transfiguration (Mt 17:3), it is clear that
Elijah is in the spirit world. Yet, Jesus indicated that John the
Baptist, who was on earth, was Elijah (Mt 17:12,13; 11:14). In light of
the principles of resurrection we can understand that Elijah had returned
in order to complete the mission that he had left unaccomplished while on
earth by cooperating with John the Baptist. According to the principles
governing returning resurrection, the physical self of John.
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Matthew 27:52 says that when Jesus died on the cross many
saints rose from their tombs. This is also a phenomenon of the
resurrection of spirit persons -- resurrection of those who had developed
a form
spirit while on earth. By cooperating with those on earth who believe in
and attend the Lord of the Second Coming and by helping them to become
divine spirit selves, spirit persons of the life spirit level (Paradise)
can receive the same benefits and themselves become divine spirits.
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Hebrews 11:39-41 says, "And all these [saints of the
Old Testament age], though well attested by their faith, did not receive
what was promised [admission to the Kingdom of Heaven], since God had
foreseen something better [the Kingdom of Heaven] for us [persons on
earth], that apart from us they [spirit persons] should not be made
perfect". These words demonstrate the principles of returning
resurrection.
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The Returning Resurrection of All Other Spirit Persons
The spirit persons who believed in religions other than
Judaism and Christianity when they passed away also must return and
cooperate with people on earth -- with those who are of their respective religions.
It is with them that they can easily form a reciprocal base. Good
spirit people who lived conscientiously while on earth, though not
religiously, return and cooperate with good people on earth who have
similar spiritual levels and circumstances.
Matthew 25:41
mentions the devil and his angels. In this passage, 'His [the devil's]
angels' includes evil spirit persons. For evil spirit persons also, there
is no way to be resurrected except through returning resurrection, which
is possible only in certain ages. But evil spirit persons cannot descend
to earth simply as they wish, and even if they do descend, they do not
necessarily receive the benefits of returning resurrection through the
Second Coming, their work must first meet the indemnity condition [2]
that fulfills God's will to eradicate their sins through punishing them.
Returning Resurrection and the Theory of Reincarnation
God works to
accomplish the total Dispensation for Restoration by calling many
individuals and giving each the portion of work that is suitable for him.
As the Dispensation progresses and a new central person is chosen for a
mission, God progressively broadens the scale of the dispensation,
expanding it from the individual level to the levels of the family, the
nation, and the world.
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A person who dies without completing his mission must
return and cooperate with a person on earth who has the same type of
mission and the same spiritual disposition. From this mission-oriented
viewpoint, the physical self of the person on earth becomes the physical
self for the returning spirit person as well. In this sense, the person
on earth becomes the "second coming" of the returning spirit
person. When viewed with spiritual eyes, the person on earth could seem
to be the reincarnation of the spirit person who is cooperating with him.
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For this reason in the Last Days many people will appear
claiming to be Elijah, Buddha, Confucius, or the Olive Tree. It would
seem that the theory of transmigration, or reincarnation, is the result
of interpreting what is happening based on appearances, without knowing
the principles of returning resurrection.
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Unification of Religions by Returning Resurrection
Based on what was already explained in the section on the
returning resurrection of spirit people, we can see that life spirit
level spirit persons, who are in Paradise, must inevitably return to
earth and cooperate with the faithful at the time of the Second Coming.
The time and type of help that a person on earth receives from a spirit
person vary depending on the person's attitude, faith, and disposition
and the merits of his ancestors. Yet those who have strong faith will
ultimately be led by spirit persons to the Lord at the Second Coming,
where they can devote themselves to the Will of God. Since all of the
most faithful will gather around the Lord through the influence of spirit
people, the unification of Christianity will be naturally realized at the
time of the Second Coming.
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As will be discussed in the section on central and peripheral
histories (in "Second Coming"), Christianity is not a religion
for Christians alone; it is the central religion with the mission of
accomplishing the ultimate purpose of all religions which pursue
goodness. Accordingly, those believers of various religions who have
passed on to the spirit world will return to those of their own faith who
are on earth and lead them to the Lord of the Second Coming. Yet the time
when each person is connected with the central religion will vary
according to the spiritual level of the spirit person
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and the beliefs and degree of faith of the person on
earth. Even though believers of the various religions may have had no
communication with each other up until now, through the influence of
spirit people, all the faithful of the various religions are destined to
unite centered on the Lord of the Second Coming.
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