Belvedere, New York
Translator - Bo Hi Pak
My message this morning is on "Our Family in Light of the Dispensation," the continuation of my March 1 message. I am sure you remember from that talk that in order to build ideal families we must become men and women of genuine gold. Adam and Eve were supposed to be the first ancestors, and mankind was to have extended out from them like many, many branches. A diagram of this looks like an upside down tree, with the single trunk on top, spreading out into many branches. What would be the root of this human tree? God would be, and just as healthy roots are hidden deep in the ground God is also hidden from view.
It is awesome to see what the earth can do. The earth is the source of thousands of different miracles-trees, flowers, fruits and all manner of infinite beauty. A seed may have the hidden potential for making red flowers, but a seed alone means nothing; it must be supported by the earth. Even people like our giant Gerhardt was born small and the ingredients of the earth helped him grow. Of course his parents gave him genes, but something in the earth made his blue eyes possible. The earth is the source of wonder and beauty, but the spectacular things which spring from this earth must have some source of infinite energy where all the wonders and beauty of life originate. That source is certainly God.
Is it true that the ideas of men control this world? The men who have deep vision and insight are the ones who actually control the world, not those who just have power or money or knowledge. An idea has the ability to organize and effectively put power and money and knowledge to use. However, even the men with ideas have deviated from their original state.
In striving to become prosperous
men have actually been losing
Where did the separation occur-between the trunk and a branch, or between the root and the tree? A broken branch is no problem because the trunk can always reproduce branches and leaves without difficulty. Man's problem is the more fundamental one of separation between the root and the tree. There is absolutely no way that such a tree can survive.
We fallen men now stem from a different root: the root of evil. Then who are our ancestors? All Of our human ancestors have come from that evil root. Do you really know, not just in your mind, but all the way down to your bones, that your ancestor is Satan? Since Satan became the ancestor of mankind, men have been like his branches, and he has maintained control over men's actions. Like him, people pull things to themselves, trying to be prosperous, and for this reason people have been fighting among themselves ever since the fall of man.
Right now that same fallen human history is still continuing. Even though people are desperately trying to accumulate external things for their own benefit, internally they are all losing. For example, though America has been a powerful nation, it has often been trying to control the rest of the world for its own purposes. Even though America has become the central nation in the world, and is desperately trying to survive, make friends and gain influence, America keeps backsliding internally.
America's way of life has become extremely individualistic. How could a nation become selfish if it is truly centered upon the ideals of Christianity? When individualism becomes people's major interest then ultimately the people will lose everything. If God is lost, then the nation will be lost. In America today, how many youth are seriously thinking about the well-being of the nation? Not too many. By centering upon "self" a person can only lose parents, family and friends. The "self" may be trying to survive, but it can never endure alone.
Ultimately human value is being lost through individualism and love itself is becoming stained. Human life in America often resembles the life of animals. It has become very trivial, with little mutual respect. Are you the product of a society that has degenerated to that degree?
All through human history man has been foolishly striving to enrich himself, but in that process people are actually losing everything. That is a cold, historical reality. How is it possible that all mankind has been making such tremendous efforts to survive, yet losing everything in the process? No man in history who made the effort to acquire things for himself ever seriously thought, "Of course I will lose all these things some day." Yet in striving to become prosperous, men have actually been losing instead. If this were just a local phenomenon, in Tarrytown or New York, then we could dismiss it as a very trivial matter. But this is not just a local matter; it is a historical phenomenon, a universal situation, and we must take it very seriously.
Does any person or any nation actually desire to be in such an impossible situation? No, all people would prefer to be happy, prosperous, honored, and respected. Yet at the same time they are going in exactly the opposite direction. Why is that?
Is this a random process, or is there some reason that world history has always been persisting in this direction? It is a scientific principle that in our world no result can occur without some cause. There must be a decisive cause behind every world situation. We can see that contrary to the will of men, the world is heading further and further into despair and decline. There must be some invisible, opposing force exercising control beyond us that causes this. Do you think the American people wanted to create this present world situation? Do you think that American philosophers and men of thought got together and decided to take the world in this direction? Do you think that a majority vote would have ever placed the world on its present course?
There must be some cause beyond human reach or control, one that no philosopher on earth could influence or even slightly change. There must be a first cause; you could call it God or anything you like. The name does not matter, but there must be a first cause that is separate from human thought.
We all feel very anxious to perceive the future of the world. Let us use our wisdom and think about it. So far in human history many thousands of people have been trying to improve their own situation, but still losing in the meantime. What would happen if we were to live in exactly the opposite way? Instead of taking, what would happen if we exerted ourselves to give things away and to respect others? What do you think would happen? The change would be a fundamental one. So far a history of grasping has brought mankind to decline and despair. Then what about a philosophy of giving? That must produce completely different consequences.
The God that we know has a giant personality; He has feelings of joy and sorrow, just like human beings. Consequently, His ideal must include eternal happiness. This idea about God is contrary to human assumptions so far. We must consider how God would describe happiness. It must be entirely different from man's present thinking. The fallen world, which separated itself from God, has a history of greediness and exploitation; those characteristics brought the fall and the destruction of the world and mankind and we are still living on the edge of a cliff. We could fall anytime. What would have happened if we had been living under God from the very beginning? The world would have been 180 degrees different from the one we live in now.
Generally speaking, everybody assumes that if there is a God, then He must be a good God. Satan is the king of evil, the center of evil. Then what is the definition of good and evil? Why is God good and Satan evil, and who will decide? Everyone, but particularly individualistic American youth, must know this very clearly.
What is evil? The answer is simple. Evil is self-centeredness. The person who makes himself the center of everything is an evil person. What is good then? A good person exists solely for the sake of others. A good man is always trying to give of himself to make others happy, trying to benefit them.
The environment for true life
You have only one absolute life. In that one life can you possess more than one absolute love? You cannot even use the word love in describing the present situation in America. Do you know what diarrhea is? Love in America is suffering from diarrhea in a hundred different directions. What American young people call love is just trash. Would you like to have one life and ten loves and a hundred ideals, or one life, one love and one ideal? The fundamental problem then, is finding where that one absolute true life can be born, and finding the environment where it can survive and prosper. This true life can emerge when there is an environment of absolute giving, absolute service, and absolute love for others. When parents have an absolute sacrificial, giving love, the beauty of an ideal child can be conceived.
I want you to know that there is a universal law and principle created by God which declares that anyone who builds his life on absolute love and the absolute ideal of service to others will have the rest of creation respond to him as his object. This is a universal law which no one can bend. It is true simply because God is such a person. God exists in that ideology and it is God's own way of life. God controls this world through that philosophy of giving Himself up for the sake of others.
Anyone who lives that philosophy must certainly receive the same power, beauty, and honor as God does. Isn't that wonderful! Is becoming a billionaire the most precious thing in this world? Many people are convinced that I am trying to become a billionaire, but I just laugh at them. Becoming wealthy is such a trivial matter and so far from being the central value of human life.
Anyone who really knows me knows that my ideal goes far, far beyond that. I know that anyone who becomes an embodiment of absolute life, absolute love and the absolute ideal will have the entire universe respond to him. That is the way God has been dominating and controlling this universe, and I can do the same things God can do by becoming the embodiment of His truth. You do not respond to me because I am successful or have a Ph.D. from Harvard, but because I am the embodiment of God's truth.
For example, you do not have to come here on Sunday morning. You could go to a comfortable place and listen to a sermon in beautiful English instead of Korean. Then why did you come here? You do not hear kind things here; I am always pushing you and giving you a hard time. But in all honesty I am glad you came since you are drawn to this one internal, fundamental truth of the universe, to that one call of the true love and true ideal. That is why you came.
If anything other than the truth is moving you, then my teaching is not true. There is no power in this universe which can overthrow a true love, life and ideal. The power to create the beauty of true life, true love and the true ideal is the greatest power of the universe and it can only come from God. Even God could not obstruct someone who lives that kind of life because God Himself has to live that principle. Is God very, very strong in love, or weak in love? Would God ever say that because He is Lord of the universe He does not need love or care about love?
Once there is even a little bit of love, God will forget about being God and stand helpless before that love. Can you imagine this? When even a small whisper of love reaches His ears, God completely melts. True love is God's vulnerable point. Am I also a vulnerable man in this sense? Could I say, "I have an iron will and I do not care about your love"? I too, am like a helpless child before pure love.
I know the secret of God's vulnerability, so if I carry a big bag of love when I go to God's mansion I can do anything. I can ride anywhere piggyback on God and God would let me. God is far greater than I am in ideology, in knowledge and in life, so I cannot approach Him except through love. The kind of love that I am speaking of is not a greedy love but a sacrificial love for others.
That love is the essence of God. Therefore, once we know that truth about God and understand His personality, we come to a clear vision of how we can live with God and make Him and ourselves happy. Even God could not stop a man who followed this way of life, and certainly Satan would have no power. Such a man would not even have to give a thought to Satan. If God, you and I are the group pursuing that philosophy and that way of life, can anything block us? For example, right now the world is trying to stop the progress of the Unification Church. Do they have power to stop us? Personally I choose to live this difficult way of life only because I know the love of God, and I know His vulnerability. Because we are talking about that love everyone here is wide awake this morning.
A life-style of greediness will only bring this world into despair and destruction. If right at this moment all the four billion people of the world would do an about-face and turn from selfishness to unselfishness, what do you think the world would be like? If four billion people could have that realization then would God just doze and sit idle, or would His eyes pop open with excitement? If such a thing ever happened, God would shout, dance, sing, and act crazy for sure. Do you think there would be hope for an ideal world here on earth? Is the ideal world going to be eternal or just temporary? Is it far from reality or within reach?
All that is necessary is for the four billion people of the earth to do an about-face, then all the work would be done. Could that possibly take only a moment, or would it have to take several decades, or even several centuries? It could happen instantly; you do not have to travel 9,000 miles to find true love. How can we change the minds of four billion people? Actually we do not even have to instruct them to do so; all we have to do is show them clearly what they would gain by doing it, and they would change on their own. For us the Kingdom of God is so close and so obtainable. Jesus Christ began his mission by saying that the Kingdom of God is at hand, that it is in the midst of us. He did not say that we had to die and go up to heaven.
How do you know that the Kingdom of God is in the midst of you? Simply speaking, the answer is that you are becoming a heavenly person, a person of God. That is the kind of person who goes out to give his life by truly serving and loving the world in order to unite it centered upon God. That is a godly personality. This is a religious ideology because it is concerned with human souls. It is the ideology of Jesus and of God and the root of it comes from God. This is why Jesus said that he had come to serve and not to be served, even though he was the King of Kings and the son of God. God will surrender to you when you stand on this fundamental, basic truth.
Did Jesus want God to curse the Roman soldiers who were crucifying him? No. Instead Jesus asked God's forgiveness for his enemies. He knew that God's way of life would eventually blossom and bring down the blessing of the Kingdom of Heaven here on earth. That ideology of unselfish love can fulfill God's ideal and Jesus had the power to live it,
Christians today are still a minority in the world. Are they respected by the rest of the population? Christians have become arrogant, feeling that they are especially privileged people of God and the rest of the world is doomed to die. Many Christians believe that when Jesus comes again they will be lifted up to meet the Lord in the air while the rest of the world is consumed in the fire of judgment. How can the rest of the world admire people like that?
There is a subtle infiltration of individualism in contemporary Christian thinking. Right now a peculiar situation exists; many Christians have power and great social prominence, but when people meet them they find that they are not very impressive personally. Moonies, on the other hand, are ridiculed by the media and many people are strongly opposed to our Church. But once people meet our members, they experience a sense of new hope. They are surprised to find that we are wonderful people after all. Why is there such an amazing contrast?
Why do you want to go this way?
The answer is that our way of life is entirely different from conventional living. We are living a revolutionary way of life and trying, however imperfectly, to practice a life of service and love. Now that the heavenly secret of service has been unlocked, will you say that you simply cannot live that way, even though it sounds very sweet to your ears, or do you want to live it and experience it, going all the way to perfection? The first way is the selfish way of life and the second is unselfish.
Do you want to go the heavenly way only because I told you to, and because you want me to say good things about you? Have you decided to work hard for three years just so you can get married in the Unification Church, even though you do not care about the philosophy too much? Is that the right attitude to take? While the couples walk in to be blessed perhaps some of them are thinking, "I'll graduate from peanut selling any moment now!" However, others might be thinking that after receiving the blessing they will sell ten times more. What kind of spouse will you be?
How do you envision an ideal man? Does he have a great mustache and a custom-made suit? How about a pate, humble-looking man who is desperately trying to serve others and help people to re-build the world? That ideal man might not even have time to sleep at night, and during the day he might look like a sleep walker going down the streets. If you want an ideal man or woman as a wife or husband, then you are going to get such a person.
Sometimes l press Mother to keep an impossible schedule and she wonders, "Why do you have to go so hard all the time? Why can't you slow down a little bit?" Should Mother be like that? Your mouth is laughing, but your eyes are serious. You are responding with two different faces.
God's search for one true man and one true family
What has God been doing these years? Why did He not just tell people plainly what I am telling you this morning? I want you to know that God is not free to do that Himself. Instead He needs a representative who can embody His spirit. Until He could discipline, nurture, and train such a man, God could not say these things. God is now bringing human history to its conclusion. Before His philosophy could prevail throughout the world, God needed to find one man of perfection to live His ideal and then expand it to the family level. God wanted to remake history from the very beginning, so He has been searching for one man and one woman to make that new beginning. God has had to take a slow and gradual route, rather than instantly turning the entire world upside down.
What kind of men and women does God need? God has been searching for men and women who are trying to give their lives to the fullest degree, to truly become the embodiment of His own way of life by giving totally for the sake of the spirit world and the earthly world. Until you give to the absolute degree you will not receive in the absolute degree. Absolute giving brings absolute receiving.
The history of the chosen nation of Israel can be seen as one dispensation: the search for one true man and one true family. God will push that one chosen man out into a head-on collision with the world. In Adam's family Abel gave his life in order to return his family to God. If Abel could have given the blessing to his elder brother instead of just being killed, then the will of God would have been fulfilled far sooner. When God asked Noah to build an ark, Noah made his shipyard on the top of a mountain instead of on the shore. Do you think even one person thought Noah was sane? Not even one. That is why Noah is unique. God was using Noah in a face-to-face confrontation with the world.
When Abraham was called by God he was living decently and doing well in his own home town. But one night a vision came from God and he was told to drop everything and take off for some unknown land. Furthermore, God said to this man with a barren wife, "Your descendants shall be numbered as the stars in the sky and the sand in the sea." Who could believe such a promise?
All of a sudden Abraham was a gypsy with no direction or destination. Since he was not welcome anywhere he even went to Egypt. Do you think he went there willingly or helplessly, without any choice? And once in Egypt bad fortune was waiting for him; his nephew was taken away and the Pharaoh even stole his wife! Under those circumstances Abraham could either curse God, or deep in his heart he could maintain his faith in the blessing of God. Abraham was a man of iron will, the one obedient man that God was seeking. God was not seeking a group of people, but one man of faith, and Abraham met the criteria to become that man.
When God looks at this world He sees basically two personalities: one like Abraham and the other like Pharaoh. Pharaoh would change even 100 times during the course of the day to gain his own advantage, but Abraham would never change, regardless of his situation. Ultimately God fulfilled His blessing through Abraham, and Satan could not accuse him because there was not even one other man like Abraham.
Moses was similar in that he was a man of strong will. His love for his own people and his faith in God never wavered. John the Baptist, on the other hand, was also chosen to be God's champion but he became a traitor to his own people. He brought tremendous misery, not only to himself, but to the world. John the Baptist is greatly responsible for the form of today's Christianity. In contrast, Jesus Christ never changed at all. At the end he prayed to God, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" It is not recorded but he must have also said, "Even though you may abandon me, I will never abandon you. I am your son."
What about you? Are you changing or unchanging? Your answer comes very easily but your actions do not come as easily. Because Jesus was unchanging, God was able to raise him up and give him the power to conquer the world even after he had died on the cross.
What about me? How do you know I am not the world's number one swindler? The rest of the world thinks so. If God gives me responsibility here on earth then Satan will accuse, "How do you know he is your son? How do you know he is not a person who changes?" God will answer, "I know who he is but you go ahead and test him, and then report back to me." God should be able to say that with confidence.
Indeed, Satan is testing me by mobilizing the American nation and the entire world to oppose me. Some people think that I will continue on in the name of God only as long as I have money. They are sure that once I become poverty-stricken, that my life is endangered, or that all of you leave, I will curse God and die. I know that this is Satan's test and that God is waiting for Satan's report so how could I become weak? I am striving to become the one unique man under the sun who can qualify as God's one man of faith. I know that the criteria are not easy, and for that reason I welcome whatever difficulties come. In my own lifetime I have become the center of worldwide controversy and have received persecution everywhere.
Even though some people are trying to destroy us, we are surviving and prospering. In this one room there are representatives of every human race and in becoming one with me, you are all treated alike. This one phenomenon says a lot about us. If the entire world is opposing me, then do I represent God's way of life or the fallen world's way of life? The mere fact that the entire world is set against me is good proof that I represent God. If I lived Satan's way of life then the world would have no reason to oppose me. Further proof lies in the fact that I am not teaching you to take everything for yourselves. Instead I am asking you to give for the sake of the world by sacrificing your families, society, nation, and even the Unification Church for the sake of the world. This is my fundamental teaching and because of this doctrine I am being opposed.
Do I represent good or evil? I am absolutely good, and therefore God-like on this point. Then am I a heretic? From God's point of view I am completely orthodox. Those who do not agree are mistaken. In the Last Days the false will appear to be true and the good will appear to be evil.
Why be like genuine gold?
Are you like imitation or genuine gold? Genuine gold is the best conductor of electricity because it offers no resistance to a current. It has 100% conductivity. Gold is ready to conduct any amount of electricity. You should be like that, ready for any eventuality, willing to accept any mission. Then when God gives you energy you will have no resistance but instead will absorb it 100% like a sponge. Then it will not lie dormant in you but be amplified and used for the prosperity and salvation of the world.
Both iron wire and gold wire can conduct electricity, but where will the electricity travel first? Electricity will travel first along the gold wire, switching to the iron wire only when the gold wire is carrying its full capacity. You do not have to wonder whether God or the True Parents recognize that you are working hard, because if you become a wire of genuine gold then the power of God will automatically flow through you to your fullest capacity. Without being genuine gold, even if you beg God to show you many secrets and visions, He cannot accommodate you. How God responds to you is up to you. Are you becoming that kind of man and woman? In that case you are genuine gold.
Imagine that a powerful king orders you to be brought before him and he orders you to melt yourself on the spot. Would genuine gold obey such an order? The king might become enraged and order you to be beaten. The amazing thing is that when you hammer genuine gold, it only becomes more brilliant. Suppose God said to you, "I am the creator of the universe and you are only a chunk of gold so you must listen to me. I command you to turn into black dust." Would you turn into black dust?
My point is that when you become a true person you need not worry about hell, heaven, the world, or God. As long as you are genuine gold you will continue being genuine in whatever circumstances you may find yourself. Once you become genuine gold then God Himself cannot change you, and all hell cannot threaten you. Do not worry about who recognizes you. Even if you remain completely hidden, do not be concerned. Suppose the entire world acclaimed you as a hero but you turn out to be a fraud. What good would that be to you? But as long as you remain genuine gold, you will have no anxiety because you shall remain genuine wherever you may be, whether before the throne of God or at the bottom of hell.
Why are we teaching that you must serve others? The serving person becomes the central person and the master of life. Those who live for others become the subjects because they are like God, and God is indeed the subject of the universe. Those who do not serve others are lonely people because there is nothing connected to them. It is the same in the Unification Church. Does anyone like someone who exploits others, speaking harshly and parading himself around as though he were the boss? Such a person would soon lose whatever position he had because he is not following God's way of life.
Searching after your horizontal line
No matter how straight and true you may be as a gold wire, if you are suspended all by yourself from heaven to hell them you are unstable. You must be supported by others. A single lonely wire will never be ideal. The vertical line must be supported by a horizontal line. A vertical line and a horizontal line have the power to support each other, thus becoming solid and stable. Then power can move in one circular flow of energy. Why does that make the ideal? If you touch a person on top of his head, not only his head but his whole body senses your touch. If you pull just one hair, his entire body knows. Your whole body is completely alive; it has no dead parts. Because there is give and take between the parts of your body then whatever is happening in one area is communicated throughout.
This is also true in God's ideal. When something wonderful happens in one place then it becomes the source of happiness throughout the entire universe. When we achieve that goal what will happen? The universe will be in constant motion from give and take for eternity. Have you ever thought about the automobile wheel? What if it were square instead of round? When round wheels turn they can go anywhere without limitation. If you are a person with a vertical line then searching after your horizontal line means searching after your perfection and your mate. It is our responsibility and our destiny to become united with others. First your own mind and body must be united. Then you can expand your capacity for love and broaden your sphere of influence.
We must be able to expand the scope of our unity. First mind and body must be united; then as we individually expand onto a larger scale men and women must become one by forming families, then a society, and nation, ultimately encompassing the entire universe. We are developing our horizontal lines of perfection, starting as individuals and then expanding to the family, society, nation and world, Individualism is very narrow and leaves no room to maneuver. As you develop an unselfish way of life your sphere of maneuverability and influence becomes larger and larger, and eventually the entire universe becomes your sphere of influence. Then the entire universe belongs to you. You must always be ready to become absorbed in a higher goal. By doing so, you are horizontally expanding yourself and expanding your sphere of influence.
Everyone has the innate desire to expand his territory and position. To do this you need a reciprocal relationship between subject and object. Your goal is to eventually possess the most precious thing in the universe. This goal is reached through the process of giving; do not be satisfied with second best or relax until you reach that goal. This is a very wise way of life, because if you delay establishing your position until you possess God then the rest of creation will automatically become yours. When you reach perfection you will possess the highest position and there is nothing that will not come under you. Striving to reach that goal of perfection must become our daily way of life.
God is brilliant, shining like the sun. You can stand directly in His celestial light, or you can stand to the left of that light, in a shadier area. Both areas are within the sphere of God's influence, but the sunny area has a subjective role while the shady area has an objective role.
When a subject in the sunny area is connected to heaven then the object is drawn from the shady to the sunny area. You have relationships both horizontally between men and women, and vertically between heaven and earth. Therefore, you must become a central, harmonizing person within these two kinds of relationships. You need both experiences. When you are together in the expression of love between man and woman and are united in love with God, then you are already united with the universe.
Customarily we stand with the man on the right and the woman on the left because in this way the man protects the woman. The right side receives direct sunlight. In this relationship the man more directly receives the rays from heaven and his nature is to embrace, support and lead. Being in a more objective role, the woman has an innate tendency to rely or depend on the man.
How about American women? When riding with her husband an American woman does not move after the car stops. She just sits until her husband gets out and opens her door like a servant. What if the man refuses, thinking, "I am the subject after all, and I will just sit." Who will outlast the other if the man is determined to sit there and not open the door? The woman would have to give up.
However, there is a dispensational reason why women occupy a more subjective position here in America. America is an archangel nation and for 70 years women should move forward and take the initiative. When restoration history is over, however, then American women must resume their original, feminine position. Today the woman's voice is too loud in the American home. I will bring about a revolution in the American home by softening the women's voices.
Men and women have distinctly different body features. Men have broad chests and women have broad hips. Are you built thus for your own benefit, or are you made to fulfill a higher purpose? What if a woman had all the feminine as well as all the masculine features? Then she would be useless as a woman. She would be a monster instead, and men would not need her.
Do you want to stay as you are or do you want to be a monster? That means you are existing for whom? You women exist for the purpose of serving men, but this formula does not only apply to you women. A man has strong, masculine features to serve a woman. God tailor-made women and men to serve each other. From the beginning of existence man was made for woman and woman was created for man. This is a fundamental principle of God's creation. God did not create you for your own sake. He created you to serve each other and to become men and women united in perfection. We must live up to that ideal.
A selfish person has no way to elevate himself
Why are your eyes the way they are? Are these eyes existing solely for themselves? How about your ears? God made the eyes, ears, nose, mouth, and hands to function perfectly for the needs of the others. When the subject takes the initiative and the object responds, then the subject can turn the object. This is the principle of action and reaction. When you push another person he will lose his balance, but if you quickly redirect your energy that person can right himself again. Once it is controlled, subjective energy stimulates the object to respond. This action and reaction creates universal beauty.
The person who is trying to live for himself with the attitude that he is all-important is a destructive person who understands nothing about the universal law. Eventually he will become a victim of his own selfishness. What is the fall of man revealed in the Divine Principle? It is really the destruction of heavenly law and the redirecting of energy into a self-centered way of life. Because the archangel's motivation was self-centered, he could initiate the fallen act. Then how could Eve have been tempted by Satan? Eve was vulnerable to temptation only because she was also motivated by selfishness.
A selfish person has no way to elevate himself out of the unprincipled level. He needs to progress to the level of a servant, then the adopted son, true son and finally to the level of parents, but his selfishness will always prevent him from laying the necessary foundations. Only a sacrificial spirit of service can lay those foundations.
The person of sacrificial service becomes a foundation. He brings himself down so that somebody can step on him and then he lifts that person higher and higher. On that foundation a new structure can be built. The restoration of the heavenly family becomes the building block of the Kingdom of God. That is the ideal of God and the point where God's providence will be consummated.
In the circle I have drawn the top half represents the Orient, and the bottom half the Occident. The Orient and the Occident are in a subject-object relationship. The materialistic culture of the West is now crumbling and Westerners are fuming toward the East in their search for spiritual inspiration. Only God's ideology will govern the world in the future. If our way of life is the fruit of God's own ideology then it will prosper, regardless of opposition. It is God's mandate that the center of the dispensation is the ideal family.
You have a messianic role
A heavenly revolution is turning the satanic family into the God-centered family. The ideal family must be born as the building block of the Kingdom of God. The Unification Church has the terminology of "True Parents." You are now true children and you will become true parents when you marry. What is the difference between the True Parents and you? You are only a step lower because you did not pioneer this mission, but your role as the true parents of your ancestors and descendants is the same messianic role.
Why do you believe in Jesus? Why do you believe in the True Parents? The mission of the Unification Church is to become one with the Messiah who brings liberation to the satanic world. Then you are in the Abel position to the rest of the satanic world in Cain's position. That means your role is a messianic one.
The Unification Church is like a tree; God in heaven is the root, the True Parents are the trunk and you are the branches. What is the difference between the trunk and the branches of a tree? They are essentially the same. We are all inter-connected as in one tree. What if something terrible were to happen and Mother and I passed away as well as the rest of the Unification Church? If only one couple among you remained then your duty would be to fulfill the role of the True Parents! An entirely new world would spring from you. You must realize that even at this time you are in that central role.
You must learn to think that the Unification Church is not my church, nor even God's church; it is your church. Our success and foundation is your success and your foundation. You can say, "Actually Reverend Moon is employed by me and God is also working for me. All my brothers and sisters throughout the whole world are working for me, for my church, my movement and my perfection." Whether there are hundreds or tens of thousands or even a million members in the Unification Church does not make any difference; each one of you possesses everything.
I want you to go out to that wide world waiting for you with the conviction that you are the messiah. I want you to proudly present yourselves with that conviction and that commitment. Will God say, "No, no, no, you are not the messiah!" Will God be angry at you?
You can think, "No one is trying to save the satanic world. I am the only one who is working to reverse the tide so I am truly doing the work of God. God needs more people like me." Regardless of whether you are a man or woman you are a messiah. Such men and women will create true families in the ideal of God. Do you really feel, "Heaven and earth belong to me and I am responsible for everything. I am definitely committed to bringing this world to the throne of God, and even if I die I will return in spirit to fulfill that responsibility. I will not give up."
Eventually we are all going to spirit world, but when we go we cannot freely return to work and help this world unless we are deeply motivated. Would you rather be dead and work from spirit world or would you rather work to consummate your duty on earth while you yet have this life in the flesh? In this flesh you can bring a total revolution with one great leap, but once you die you will no longer have that freedom. This is the age of miracles and here on earth you can perform such a miracle.
When God lifts up His one ideal family then the whole universe will be lifted up, the same way that potatoes are unearthed when the plant is uprooted. Where that family moves the entire universe will move. That one family is the cornerstone of the Kingdom of God on earth. In searching for that family, God has felt such tremendous sorrow at the suffering of the Jews, the martyrdom of Christians and now the sacrifices in this age of the Unification Church.
We are creating a dramatic unity
Let us imagine that somehow every man on earth was killed, leaving two billion women alive. What would you do in that case? You would be willing to swap even two-thirds of the women for just one crippled, hunchback man. Even such a man would be priceless in that situation. Would it be worth giving up nine-tenths of the women in order to have that one man? What if all but one woman had to be given in exchange for that one, ugly man? Why should you do it? The women alone could survive no more than 100 years and then the whole earth would be left destitute, but with that one man, posterity would be ensured. The same thing would apply if only men had survived. You would even sacrifice all but one man in order to get only one woman. There would be no other way. Imagine being blessed under the dramatic circumstance of your spouse being the sole survivor of two billion men or women. You must feel that your spouse is that precious. Then how can you complain?
Suppose God asked you to separate, promising that He would be your mate instead. You would probably answer, "Then You are no God! I don't care about You." Do you think that God would prefer to see Adam and Eve sharing in perfected love, or would He rather separate them that they might always love only Him? Would our God of true love want to see separation or unity? Would the genuine love of men and women be sacred or dirty before God?
What about love in a world without God? Love can be as sacred and high as heaven or as dirty and low as hell. My responsibility is to discipline men and women in order to re-make them into the genuine gold of the original Adam and Eve, and bring them together in heavenly matrimony. That is my responsibility. Are you going that course now?
Is it good for blacks and whites to marry each other? There are two types of unity. One spans a short distance, in which there is not too much difference between spouses in culture and language. The second, more dramatic unity embraces two extremes. We are creating the dramatic kind of unity. Who would make the perfect mate for a white person with blue eyes and blond hair? Shouldn't we look for the darkest possible spouse? With that spirit will America prosper or decline? Then who can bring that spirit to America? Only I can do it. Even if the government spent two-thirds of its budget to do that it would never be able to create this spirit. To bring this nation into God's ideal and prosperity the whites should marry blacks. As God watches the whites and blacks running towards each other, willing to unite and build one family, would God say, "Stop, your lineage will be stained," or would He say, "At last, here are genuine men and women of heaven!"
When we look at families from God's point of view, what pleases Him the most? Black sisters and brothers, you might have developed very narrow attitudes in the past but God cannot allow that to continue. You must not even be conscious that you are black. Merely walk with pride as sons and daughters of God. You are the most beautiful people in the sight of God as long as your spirits are beautiful. This black brother here moves my heart very much. Every Sunday he comes early to sit right in front of me, always with a burning spirit. When I come to the platform, I always look for him thinking, "Where is my little black son?"
All of you women, would you look at men with scorn? You rascal brothers, would you scornfully look at your wife and drive her like a slave? If you both answer no, then there is a possibility that you can create ideal families. The family is the building block of the society, the nation and the world. We must concentrate our efforts on the perfection of the family. Once perfect families begin to flower, we will see the beginning of the perfected society, nation and world. The joy and laughter of God will burst forth as God's hope blossoms.
One ideal family is like one small stone dropped in a calm lake. That one stone makes a small ripple that spreads out, expanding into ever-widening waves. Eventually the whole lake will feet the effect of that one small stone. Would you like to pioneer that kind of family? When you look at Mother and 1, do we appear to be a happy couple? Actually I do not care whether you say yes or no; I only care about whether Mother says yes or no. I should also be in a position to say yes to Mother. Can you say, "Father, we will be like that; we want to pioneer that ideal family." If you volunteer to become the number one family under the sun, then God bless you!
