East Garden
Translator - Sang Kil Han
The topic of Father's sermon this morning is "Sung Yak Si Dae Wa Na", "The Completed Testament Era and Me".
I see many Japanese members here. Those who are Japanese members, raise your hands. It is the majority. Now, Americans and Europeans, raise your hands.
As you know, today is Valentine's Day. I understand that Americans cherish this day very much, exchanging gifts between loving husband and wife, such as watches for the husband and combs for the wife, to show their love and appreciation. This is their tradition. Even though the gift may be humble and small, what makes it big is the power of love. It is not the material, but the love behind it which makes a Valentine's Day gift significant.
The opposite case would be for a husband to give his wife a large diamond ring with a heart that was not full of love. By the same token, the wife could purchase something tremendously expensive for her husband, but with a heart lacking True Love. Those gifts would not mean much.
When someone with plenty of money buys a gift for his loved one, it doesn't have such great importance, whereas someone who is living in poverty has to dedicate a lot of heart and energy to buy a gift for his beloved. That is a more valuable gift.
As people of faith, living day by day, how can we dedicate our love to God? What can we do? We understand that God is not in need of any material thing, but God is in need of love, just as we are. The Bible encourages us to dedicate our whole heart and mind in loving the Lord God. So, love is the first commandment. So the presents which the husband and wife exchange are valuable because even though they are a small token, it goes beyond the country, beyond history. The fact that he or she gathered these small things and was able to present them to their spouse is a great achievement, in fact. Even though this handkerchief here may be humble in terms of monetary value, if love is represented by this handkerchief, then it becomes priceless, something which cannot be purchased with money.
Self-Centered Love
There is no doubt about the most important day of commemoration in human life. It is the day you commemorate love, such as today. This is the same, not only among human beings, but also for God. God needs a spouse and family and country, just as we do. Then He perhaps needs the best person in the whole country, too. What kind of person is the best in the country? As we know, God, centering on love, invests so much into everything, and then He forgets. He invested so much into human beings, and then He forgot all that He invested. Even after the human fall, God did not have time to rest, but continued to invest and give of Himself to fallen man. Since God invested all His love into this world, love is the essence of the world. We can understand that this world and cosmos operate centered on love. Love is the power.
We see the fallen world, one that we are not proud of. Still, because God put so much into love and restoration after the fall, in God's eyes, even in this world, He cannot see it as fallen love. He only sees it as His love. It is God's position to invest with original love, not with the idea, "Oh, this is fallen love." God does not think like that.
Here is Satan, who goes completely in the direction opposite from God. To God this is unbearable. Satan is the enemy of love. It was as if somebody snatched your own spouse, but yet you had to love him. Because Satan is part of the creation, God had to forget that he is the enemy.
Satan has been coming against God and against the order of nature, but the one who made that happen was not Satan himself, but man. Because of man, Satan became what he is. What did Satan bequeath to all mankind until now? Satan's life, Satan's love, and Satan's lineage. What is the result of his planting these things in human beings? Unlike God, Satan has been stopping anyone from investing love into others. Centering on himself, he tried to plunder love for his own sake. If we receive and absorb lots of love, then we should return that love to God and to everyone else. But there is no way we can return it, because of Satan.
This is a problem. After receiving love, we draw love to our self, thinking, "I am the center." Even though we are ungodly, human beings became the center, rather than God, one's country, one's parents, and so forth. Each person became centered upon himself, wanting to draw everything to himself for his own purposes. God's action in love was to give out love for the sake of everything else. In the act of creation, God poured Himself out, investing love to create all things. But after the fall, human beings stepped into God's place and reversed the action of love. Rather than giving out their love, people began drawing love into themselves, centering on themselves, stopping love from flowing to everyone else.
This is today's reality. How can this trend be reversed? How can human beings be brought back into the original position which God intended for them? Returning to God is, of course, the path of restoration. Now God is trying to reverse this trend of human beings who have fallen so far down and pick them up again and bring them back to their original position. That means God still has not experienced the original individual and family which He intended, let alone the original country. This is the work which God is still doing. How painful it has been working so hard, yet not seeing any results in human beings returning to their original position.
The Fulfilled Promise
We can see that God has invested so much. God worked day and night, for thousands and thousands of years, tirelessly, but for what? For one man, one woman and one family which God can call His own. That is the objective for which God has been working. We can understand that. Referring back to the title of today's sermon, "Completed Testament Era," what is meant by that? In Korean, the concept of "completed" also refers to fulfillment of a promise. So the Completed Testament Era means the same as "Fulfilled Promise Era" according to the Korean language.
As we know, the original family of Adam had to be restored. That promise had to be fulfilled. Millions of individuals and families stand behind that restored family, but they are bygones. What is most important is now, from this time forward. This is the time when we see the fulfillment of God's promise, the Completed Testament Era, and this is the important time. We must understand that, as already stated, man stepped into history and usurped God's way of love, turning it into a self-centered activity. Then many religions arose, but there was conflict among these different religions. Conflict arose on many levels, between nations and ultimately on the world level. Political and religious disharmony were everywhere. Throughout all of these conflicts, God has been protecting humankind. Had God not been doing that, the human race would have already destroyed itself. But God did not allow that. Rather, God put a lot of work and love into protecting mankind in order to preserve us. Now is the time when God is about to restore mankind, just as He promised after the human fall.
God created Adam, and then Eve was given to Adam. He is carrying out restoration in the same manner. So God has to create Adam, and the earth has to create Eve. Centering on Eve, two sons, Cain and Abel, were lost. How can He restore that loss and eventually restore Eve, as well as Cain and Abel-that is the question. We have seen, time and time again, this formula through history: God creates the circumstances and puts the subject and object into their corresponding realms. For example, God set up the Jewish religion and the Jewish nation which was centered on that religion. They had to come together in harmony, representing Abel and Cain respectively. That was God's formula which we saw at the time of Jesus, as well as at other times.
First Cain and Abel must come into unity, and then together they must unite with a third subject. In that way, all three will become one. Centering on the mother, Cain and Abel have to become one, standing on her left and right sides. The three of them were to become unified. Centering on Cain and Abel, conflict was planted by Eve, the mother, so this must be restored on the world level.
Based on this formula of Cain and Abel, the Jewish nation and religion should have become one and united with the mother, and then the mother would eventually have led them to the father. This would have been the completion of the four positions. The ultimate purpose the earth is pursuing is the father, because that is the one position which the whole earth lost. If this formula had been followed and adhered to, then this world would have been unified a long time ago, and we would have had much time and energy to spare after unification. But it is so difficult, even now.
Providential Nations
If the Israelite religion and nation had understood and had gone in the same direction, then unification would have been rather easily attained. But we see their history. They did not understand and they did not unite, and today God's purpose is still on the way to being accomplished. God's will had to be extended into the New Testament Era and now the Completed Testament Era. In other words, at the end of the Old Testament Era, Jesus came as the True Parent. If the people had followed God's will, then restoration and salvation would have been achieved at that time. It was very simple. We didn't have to see three different eras. The Old Testament was the only one necessary in God's original plan. But mankind did not follow and Jesus had to say, "I must come again." When he said that, it meant that not everything had been accomplished. Mankind had to wait until such time as God's purpose could be tried again and fulfilled. Thus we saw the New Testament Era, and now the Completed Testament Era, which became necessary only because God's purpose wasn't accomplished. We must understand why the New Testament Era came into being.
What does the New Testament Era signify? Because of the failure in the Old Testament Era, the Christians of the New Testament could achieve victory only on the spiritual level and not the physical level. Then how, centering on this spiritual victory, could they bring both spirit and body in the New Testament Era? For this purpose, God made two blocs, centering on the Cain and Abel countries and their mother-position countries. God has been working through that form to achieve His restoration. God put one on His side and one on Satan's side, the same thing He did in the Old Testament era. What was World War II? It was fought between two groups, one centered on England in the mother's position with America in Abel's position and France in Cain's position. And, on the satanic side, there was Japan, Italy and Germany. God put these countries in the different positions. By working that out, God has been achieving restoration. That was the meaning. The goal was to achieve the unified world. That was the meaning of World War II, and after World War II, that was achieved.
In God's eyes, Eve centered on Satan and gave birth to Cain and Abel. Now God is restoring that by making unity. Why does God have to do that? England, America and France fighting on the same side was the form necessary for restoration. By bringing them together and letting them win over the other side, God has restored the failure. That was the goal and the purpose of World War II.
The Second Advent and World War II
We see the historical significance. The problem was sown by Adam and Eve, but now it has been restored on the world level, as we see. God has been putting all His energy into this result. Since that time, on the world level, the one man whom God has fostered until now is, of course, the Messiah. But what is he? He is in the position of inheriting the victorious foundation on all levels. That is the Messiah-to-come, and he was to be connected with this foundation after World War II. In that position, since he inherited and stands on all the foundation of victory throughout history, Satan has no claim over him. Still the satanic forces tried to stop God's work. Therefore, Japan, Germany, and Italy tried to stop God's advancement, but they failed. They were defeated. This adds to the fact that Satan no longer has any claim, because his side already tried.
These defeated countries had no claim over their victors, England, America and France. Nor did they have any claim or blame over the Messiah-to-come. In this general situation, how much God coveted the foundation and the Messiah being united. How much God wanted that! So the attention of all the people on earth has been focused on that one point: this victorious foundation and the Messiah becoming one. That is the one focal point of all human beings and all existence. Unification at that time meant the perfection of the whole world. What does that mean? Perfection of the world automatically means the perfection of the country, perfection of the clan, perfection of the family, and perfection of the individual. Perfection of all these different levels could have had a good start at that time. Every living existence would have shouted out "Mansei!" because that is the purpose which all mankind has been craving throughout history since the fall.
The world and mankind approximately forty-five years ago did not understand their situation. Only three persons knew that situation: God, Satan, and the Second Advent of Adam. No one else understood. The Second Advent means, of course, the return of Jesus. So this is the real, clear conclusion of all history. You all received that booklet, Proclamation of the Messiah I, on True Parents' Birthday, containing Father's sermons. The first portion of the second sermon [January 10, 1993 speech] contains all this content. This is something we must realize; we must learn it by heart.
If the world had united at that time, how wonderful it would have been! Now we can understand what has taken place in history, as well as the position we are in now. If Adam had not fallen, then the Messiah would not have been necessary, or because the fall did occur, the Messiah could have come in Adam's family. Since it didn't happen then, the next opportunity was at Jesus' time. Jesus came at a higher level, one much more complicated. Still, he could not succeed. So now, if this whole world level of restoration should not succeed (although we know it will succeed), we can see how much more complicated God's work would be.
Two Women
Imagine. Looking back, was it easy for the people of Jesus' time to understand and serve him? Who was Jesus? Jesus came with no social background. That means his position was lower than humble. At that time, everyone had a father, but Jesus didn't even have a father. It was very detrimental, and ultimately fatal. It took two thousand years after that to restore from the root.
Eve deceived Adam and her Father, too. That was the beginning of the fall. To restore that, God has to put everything in the same position and let them go backwards to restore. To go backwards means you have to deny that existence completely. It was not easy at that time. It isn't easy now.
Centering on Jacob, the older brother was subjugated with the help of the mother. After the three become one, they connect with the father. That means, the father will eventually be saved, also. Father and son are on Satan's side. If Jacob and his mother are on God's side, then his elder brother and father are on Satan's side. Jacob and his mother were 180 degrees in a different direction from the father and the elder brother. How much this father and elder son hated the younger son and mother! Jacob went and for twenty-one years worked so hard under that hatred. This portrays the essence of restoration history. We know the story from the Bible. For the first seven years, Jacob worked hard to gain the hand of Rachel, but whom did he get? He got Leah instead. We see that the intent of God was to reverse the process of the fall. Therefore, by first going through the process with Leah first and then with Rachel, he could restore the fall. Do you see that?
In the world, there are two types of women. One is fallen women and the other is women in the restored position. Just like God's position, the Lord-to-come faces the same problem of two women, one in the fallen position and the other restored. How can he restore fallen Eve's position and bring her back to the original Eve's position? Leah sort of plundered her younger sister's position. First embracing the satanic side, later embracing the heavenly side, Jacob tried to work this out. We can see how hard he worked, even though it was difficult. Basically the problem for Jacob was none other than these two women fighting each other. They weren't harmonious; they fought each other. We see the same thing in Adam's family. This is an exact replica of Adam's family. They were disharmonious and fighting. Centering on love, Satan came in. This is the action which destroyed the ideal of God. Two thousand years after that, the same situation which occurred in Adam's family also took place in Jacob's family. We know that restoration gained by paying indemnity is the formula of history: an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth-that one-for-one principle.
Laban and his wife had two daughters. When the husband works toward the unity of these two men, the wife had to work with two women. She did not know at that time, but we can look back in history and pinpoint that now. Rebecca, in the woman's position, worked with a clear purpose of bringing oneness centering on Jacob, to subjugate the one in Cain's position. We can now see how difficult it was for her at that time. So it is not Leah's but Rachel's position which has to be upheld, and together along with that to be restored. How difficult it was to achieve that.
In Jacob's family, as long as Esau was not ready to unite with his younger brother, the whole family would continue to have difficulty. Esau and his father were in Satan's position. Nothing will automatically come into unity. They had to work very hard. Esau and Isaac were in Satan's position, so the mother and Jacob had to work. The mother had to work to subjugate them under Jacob. How difficult it was for her.
Even though the mother really worked hard and with a lot of tears, apologizing, saying, "I am sorry because I made a mistake," no matter how much they had dedicated, they had to take the position to be grateful. Even if Esau and Jacob made unity at that time, what were they thinking about? Was Esau angry? That's a problem. How can we erase that kind of phenomenon in the family? How can peace be found in that situation? Esau and his father had to be subjugated naturally, not by force or any other means. They had to say, "Yes, you are right. I will come under you." You have to make it work, you have to make it like that. Then the mother had to work very hard. Jacob had to work hard, of course, but his mother had to work even harder. She had to work hundreds of times harder. How much rests upon the mother! Even with Jacob's hard work, the mother's responsibility was necessary to make the restoration possible.
Restoration by Giving
So we see, don't we, that in history, Jacob worked hard for twenty-one years. He then received his wives, and lots of domestic animals. Then what did he do? He gave them all to Esau, didn't he? That's exactly what God did. Jacob worked so hard, but gave his rewards to Esau so that his mind would no longer be antagonistic. Otherwise, restoration is not possible. God worked so hard, but had to give to Satan to make him peaceful.
When Jacob came back home, his mother was surprised. Also, his father was surprised because the father made a mistake and gave the blessing to the younger brother, which should have gone to the older brother. To be "blessed" means that that person stood in the position of God, on God's side. When Jacob came back and worked as the center, then the father and mother would have become one. She had to work with Jacob so that Esau would not come against them.
Did Jacob come back triumphantly and announce, "I am the victor representing the three generations, so now since you have sold off your blessings, you must come and be subjugated under me"? Would Jacob have said that? Then what would Esau have done? Wouldn't he have kicked him back? At that time, there were three, instead of two, Jacob, his mother and father. These three were very uptight, very serious and uptight, wondering what Esau's response would be. If Esau rebelled against them, the whole purpose would have been broken down. But what was Jacob's model attitude? Jacob's attitude was humble. He was dedicated, living for the sake of others. He was not centered on himself, but centered on others. That was the key which brought Satan to be subjugated under Abel.
We must remember this principle. As we saw in the Bible, that scene must pass. Now we know the meaning of natural subjugation. Jacob worked so hard, but he was humble.
America is Abel, as we have said many times, but what must Abel uphold? Of course, Abel must be humble, not arrogantly saying, "Everybody must come under me because I am the Abel." If someone in the Abel position receives some blessing, that person should not be proud of his own position, but should try to work for the sake of those in the Cain position, for Cain's family, in order for Cain to come under him. That is the formula. We know that.
Natural Subjugation
This natural subjugation begins from the individual. Look at how much our mind continually works for the sake of the body, but our body resists the mind. Still, the mind continues to pour out love and work for the sake of the body. With the knowledge of Divine Principle, we know clearly what should happen. In the family, too, mind and body become one, then corresponding to the subject and object relationship will be the mother. After the mind and body become one, then that kind of mother must become the center of unification of "me". We have to be the center of unification. The formula applies everywhere. That is why it is a formula. Now we know why natural subjugation must be accomplished, not subjugation by force.
We see the perfect example in Jacob's family. Centering on Jacob, we know what happened. When Jacob behaved as he did, bowing down before Esau, do you think his mother was very happy, or was she angry, saying, "You are Abel, the blessed one, and you should become more dignified"? No, she applauded what Jacob did. Her husband, Jacob's father, applauded him also, saying, "You have done right." That was natural subjugation. Of course, Esau, too, felt very good. Otherwise he would have rebelled against Jacob. Esau, in Cain's position embraced the younger brother in Abel's position. This was a historical embrace. That means the whole world changes its direction 180 degrees, just by Esau embracing Jacob. The whole direction of history changed. The "whole world" at that time meant the "whole family." The family was the whole world. That family came to bear the name of Israel, which means victor. What did Jacob win over, how was he victorious? He won over Cain and he won over Satan.
Naturally, this has been a long-held secret, a puzzle for many. Nobody could understand what happened in that Bible story, no matter how many times they read it. This is the Jewish ancestors' history and secret. Now Father has solved the problem and has taught them what happened. Therefore, Father now stands in the position to be qualified to teach all Israelites, all Jewish people. That means Father stands on a higher position than the Israelites' ancestors. That means he stands above the ancestors of the fallen world. Do you understand?
This history has been going on continually. Even though Jacob and Esau achieved success after forty or more years of physical life, the fall still had spoiled their lineage. Their blood lineage became dirty. You cannot restore that after forty years of age, which is fully grown. What about those years between one to forty years of age? They were still a part of Satan's domain. The restoration of these years was continued in the work of Tamar. Tamar had to work to restore the lineage from below the age of forty years. We saw the solution of the Cain and Abel problem in the mother's womb, the very root of human beings. Tamar deceived her father-in-law, didn't she? How could she do that? Because she understood the life and death importance of what she had to do for God. Therefore, she risked her life to do it. If her scheme had not succeeded, she would have been killed. Of course, heaven was right behind Tamar, helping her to do her heavenly work.
The Path of Tamar
You may remember that at that time in Jewish history, if one son died early without offspring, the next brother in line would inherit the wife of the elder brother. Then he would try to conceive a child by her so the lineage could continue. This is what happened at that time. As we see, in that particular family, the second son didn't want to do that. They slept together, and he ejaculated, not in her, but outside of her. This man soon died. There was only a small son remaining and he was too young. Because of this, Tamar had to work in a different direction and that was toward her father-in-law. What principle made this possible? In the Old Testament time, including even in the Garden of Eden, the son and the father were the same, equal. Therefore, when the second son did not fulfill, Tamar went to his father. When Adam became an adult, of course, he became a father. So instead of going through the son, Tamar went through his father, and achieved the same purpose.
Today, this will help us to change our fixed ideas more easily. There is common sense in the twentieth century. Look at that time. Even then, for a perfectly decent woman to be disguised as a prostitute and lie with her father-in-law and then conceive a baby, how can that be justified? Even in today's morality, how can that be justified, much less in those days? Yet, we can see today that God was actually working in such supposedly "immoral" ways. We have a way of explaining it according to the Divine Principle. Since the fall took place unethically, the restoration goes backwards. Even though it goes backwards, it is apparently unethical. This is why in the past, especially in Old Testament history up till now, the stepmother system, or the system of second wife, third wife, has been legal in God's eyes.
Because these women had to work the main area of restoration, we see plenty of examples. Therefore, in order to work that, this generalized that all men, even in the fallen world, had nothing to do with the direct dispensation. Men could have second wife, third wife, still they could get away with it, basically because of this thing. There were lots of tears shed by women, especially the great women, and they worked very hard to make the husband very successful. After the husband became successful, what did he do? He took another woman, which caused a lot of tears in the eyes of women throughout history. But here is the lesson, the rationale: if such a woman, the real wife, should find harmony with the illegitimate wife, or the second one, can there be any more perfect woman's mind than that? That means, can any wife love her husband's second wife just as much as she loves another woman? Can anyone do that? That's the question still remaining.
We must understand that without going through that actual situation, of "I am the wife, but now my husband has another wife," but still loving her, unless she does that, she cannot understand God's heart. A woman's position can never be perfected until she understands God's heart. Same thing if a man's wife takes in another man. Unless her husband can forgive that man, accept him and love him as much as any other man, the husband cannot understand God's heart. That's the same thing; it is a reality. We must extend love to that perfection.
Let's assume that you trusted your husband very much. He was a perfect husband otherwise, and you got along very well, but then after thirty years of marriage, one day he tells you, "Actually, to tell you the truth, I had one woman before you whom I loved so deeply." Just those few words of betrayal can cause you to turn away from those thirty years of love and deny everything. This is the way love responds.
Love with Tears
We must understand God's position. In order for God to be God, He must go over that hurdle today. What about man? We have Japanese members here, as well as Korean, American, and so forth. Do you say, "I cannot be subjugated by such-and-such a nationality"? This is out of the question. Do you understand? For a woman to persevere in such a painful way, to persevere under another nationality is nothing. That's the point.
Today is the day of love, so to speak. Every day is the day of love, but today is Valentine's Day and therefore, I have been giving all these examples of love. We must understand first what kind of God we are loving, then also, we must know how to serve and live under that God. What should our position, our attitude, our heart be? We must understand what posture we as individuals must have in serving the historical God, who has been persecuted and rejected by the world, by the country, nation and all clans, as well as all families and individuals of the world. God has been rejected by all of these. That is the God you must serve as your own Father.
You will say, "Yes, Father, now my family will love God very much." But I think that is far too ambitious of you. Why? Because, before "my wife" or "my husband" understands, before "my children" understand, "I" must first understand. When the individual understands this kind of God in the impossibly difficult situation, when he loves that God first, we have no time to even think about the rest of our family. This is why when we understand this heart of God, when we feel this impossibly difficult position of God, then to forsake the rest of the family and come to join the work of God is the only way we can go. Now we understand.
How serious this is, how miserable this is. We must understand that Father must solve this highest problem, then Father must come back and forth to this realm very often and freely, to solve the essential problem. Father has a past; there was a time when Father had to come back and forth to try to solve this essential problem. When someone understands his father's problem and takes that upon his shoulders, saying, "You go and rest, father, I will take that problem on," when he grows up and understands his father's problems and tells him, "How difficult it must have been for you to handle all those problems," if the son truly says that to his father and says, "You don't have to worry now. I will solve that problem for you, I will bear that burden on my shoulder," then wouldn't the father burst into tears?
This is the actual historical happening. And we, each one of us, must go into that position to understand it deeply. That means we have to follow God to the point where God is being troubled with a problem, we go around God in that position and come out of it. That is what we have to do. Then we are better prepared to understand the problem. We have to do this not only with our head, but in reality. Now we are more ready to so-called subjugate the world. We must first understand God's historical problem, our Parents' historical problems.
The Cross of Love
She is Satan's wife, even though she was meant to be my wife. Originally, Eve was God's wife. Do you understand? Eve's children were originally to be God's children. After the fall, Eve became Satan's wife and started the fallen world by giving birth to Satan's children. How can God love His enemy's children? Is that easy or difficult? It is difficult, without question, but how difficult? It is so difficult that, if you are given the choice, would you rather die than bear such a burden? Many would prefer to die.
Do you understand God's heart? You have to take action. Otherwise, you cannot go over. In this way, do you think God loves Father? If so, how much?
Jesus said, "You must love me more than anybody else, including your wife, your children, and anybody in your family. You must take up your own cross and follow me." What is that cross? It is the cross of this love which everyone has to carry.
We read the story in the Bible about the twins who struggled to get out of the womb first. One of the twins was about to come out and he got pulled back and the other came out first. How did the midwife know? One little hand came out during the labor, so the midwife tied a red string around the wrist. Then that hand went back inside the womb. Later, the one without the red string was born first. That's how she knew. If you didn't do such a thing, how would you know that one brother pushed his way past the other one?
That red string symbolized the communist world to come, where he will act in disguise or falsely in his original position. In other words, this one with the red string will have the elder brother's position. That means the communists will act in the elder brother's position. Communism was rampant, and even America was pretty much following that direction, but the second son came out and took the position of elder son, just like the Messiah, who will do the same. Who won over communism? Wasn't it Reverend Moon? Nobody was even thinking about going against communism, but Father did. This was predicted thousands of years ago.
If you paraphrase the Bible in terms of history, we could write many volumes. It has that much content. Being restored from the womb, which is the very root of human life, the true women's history begins from there. We know in the Unification Church that the woman has to suffer more, and there is more suffering ahead of us. That's the suffering of heart, of love. That means the woman must give birth to the devil's son and bring him up as the perfect son of filial piety. In order to do that, how many tears should all women shed? Until now, women lamented, "Why do we have to suffer so much, without exception?"
Women's Suffering
Nobody understood the reason why women had to suffer throughout history. Even though American women may not suffer the same way that women of other countries suffer, are they particularly happy? No, many of them are very unhappy. What about free sex? Will that make them happier? No, it certainly does not. Women are confused, disgusted, and so on. All five senses, as well as the five spiritual senses, are confused. Through love they must come into focus, into unity. That's the nature of love. Free sex works the other way around, causing people to become disturbed and confused.
As a result of free sex, there will be many children who do not even know who their father is. This is the worst thing that can happen in the human world. Even Satan doesn't want to have anything to do with that kind of person. This is the kind of confusion that can take place through free sex. Still we cannot say it's impossible. Even though remote, there is still a chance, and Satan is looking towards that. Satan helps people to lie to themselves and others, causing them to be unaware of how bad their lives are, of what is happening.
In Jewish history, the main history in God's providence of restoration, we see that disharmony in one family between two women caused the later division between northern and southern Israel. Ten tribes and two tribes divided. Leah and Rachel, as I have already stressed, should have come into unity, but they didn't. They fought. Leah and her servants gave birth to ten children, while Rachel had two. There were divisions within the family, ultimately becoming a divided nation, even fighting a war in the future. So here, Eve, that has fallen, and the two women, those three must become one and be restored, and go back to be restored through Rachel. They must become one, then go back to God. Then the brothers would be behind them. So the mother, together with Rachel, must pave the road for them to go on. But Leah not only did not help them, but even opposed them. These three generations should have become one.
Horizontally, this is three generations: Eve's time, elder sister's time, and younger sister's time. Through this process, ever cleansing the blood, the dispensation goes up to a higher and higher level. Satan's side already made a national base. These three generations is where Mary's lineage came from. Now from there Mary will arrive. We need to understand the course of every crucial personage in history, then you have to go over that history. They failed the same points, and they had to be overcome. We see that sort of formula. Look at Mary and what she did. She had to betray and lie too, she had to do that in order to accomplish her mission. She had to deceive Joseph. Joseph's position was Adam's position. Adam and Eve were engaged, and then Eve deceived Adam. Now through Mary, Eve had to deceive again on heaven's side. She had to deceive Joseph's entire family. Isn't that what Mary did? She was put into the position to deceive them, and then to conceive a baby.
Then there was enough work put into the restoration, because the blood had been cleansed in her family tree, and therefore Satan had no claim over the baby she conceived through this process. Even though Satan had no claim over that baby, she had to conceive that baby in such a way. Only God could legitimately claim the baby which Mary conceived, saying, "It is MY son."
The Only Begotten Son
For the first time a different lineage came about through Mary. For the first time in history, God could start a new history, and God could call Jesus His only begotten son. There were many sons, but why was Jesus God's "only begotten son"? This is why. In all mankind, Jesus was the only holy man with that lineage. Therefore, he was the holiest of all holiest. He is the leader of Christianity. There have been other holy men, such as Buddha, Confucius, Mohammed, but Jesus was the holiest.
We can understand, God will unite the world centered on the holiest man, who is Jesus. He is the mainstream of God's providence. Other religions try to serve the same purposes, but they are only side stream religions, so to speak. Christianity, centered on love, is the most holy religion. Since Jesus was the only-begotten son, he had no ancestors, so to speak. He was the beginning.
Thus he who is to come, comes alone. We have to be prepared to fulfill all of his needs, with a bride for him, with a place for him to live. We have to prepare all things for him. But how did Jesus come? He was laid in a manger, a horse stable. How can we be proud of the fact that our own father was born in a horse's stable? That is ignorance. What do you think? Are the traditional Christians today ignorant, or is Father ignorant? Who is right? How can we say that? We have a formula and we have to solve all our difficult problems with a formula.
Mary and John the Baptist's mother were stepsisters to each other. If Jesus is Abel, who is Cain? John the Baptist. Who took Adam's wife? Satan, who is Cain. Did Jesus have a woman? The bride was lost on earth, therefore she has to be restored from earth. So they have to become one first, then prepare for the king to arrive and prepare for him. This is what it must have taken. Eve was Adam's younger sister. So Satan took the younger sister; therefore, in Cain's world, Jesus had to take the younger sister of Satan, or Cain, John the Baptist's younger sister, to be very specific. It is the opposite way.
John the Baptist's mother and Mary had to unite. Their relationship was the same as Leah and Rachel's. They should have united and prepared someone for Rachel's position, but that first step of those two mothers becoming one was not fulfilled. Even at that stage, they failed. These two mothers should have become one, then prepared. Then John the Baptist would have united, or at least moved in that direction. If the three had become one, then John's sister would have been available for Jesus as his physical bride. This was what God intended. Do you follow?
We have been talking about the women's side, but the men, like Joseph's father and John the Baptist's father, they too, should have cooperated in this one plan. Then the restoration would have been achieved perfectly within Jesus' family, between these two families. Then witnessing to bring in more people would never have been necessary. The purpose of God would have been achieved right there. Have you ever stopped to wonder who was Jesus' father? Jesus had a father, since no living thing can be born without a father. Did you believe that Jesus didn't have a father? Who is Jesus' father? It was Zechariah. So John the Baptist's father is also Jesus' father? You know better than I know.
Who was the one who opposed this the most? That was the father himself. John the Baptist's mother and father knew about this fact more clearly than anybody else, and they were the ones who opposed. It was almost like brothers and sisters marrying together. But think about the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve got married, but they were brother and sister, weren't they? In the strictest sense. So it's nothing new. The true lineage must turn away from the whole satanic mainstream of history, all those billions of people. The true lineage must turn away, turning around and going back to the original direction. This is what God intended in history.
Restoration History
Who knew these staggering secrets? No one can deny them. By reason and by Principle, what I am saying is clear. As we see, it would have been like a brother and sister getting married, although they represented two different families at that time, in the most important lineage of God. At the end of the days here in America, sexual ethics have become very confused and mixed-up. The only explanation for it is that this kind of restoration can take place amidst that confusion. It has a significance. If this kind of a situation would be used to achieve God's purpose, it can be very holy. In today's America, it is being used as a satanic playground, but originally it must have had a meaning. Do you understand?
This intra-family relationship, what has happened in history in God's own working, is the same concept as that of "free sex," isn't it? Therefore, God is leaving it as is, and after finishing His work, then He will help us to correct it here in America. Here in America we see the elder brother enticing his younger sister; in other words, engaging in incest. We see uncles invading their nieces. This is occurring among the three generations. It is very confused. The whole meaning of that taking place is just one time, one point, centering on God. We know that the rest of it doesn't mean anything. Therefore, basically, free sex is not good.
Much time has passed already today. It is not easy to understand restoration history.
If Jesus had married John the Baptist's younger sister, would he have had to go to the cross? No, he would not have had to have been crucified. John the Baptist knew the good side, but it simply did not occur to him at that time, according to his standard of morality. He thought, "How can a person like Jesus, in such a miserable position, ever be the Messiah?" He did not believe God would send a person in that situation to be the Messiah.
There is one puzzling scene in the Bible where Mary is helping at the wedding at Canaan, and asked Jesus to help them because they ran out of wine. Jesus became very angry at her at that point and said, "Woman, what have you to do with me?" In Jesus' mind, he was saying, "You should be worrying about your own son's marriage, not that of strangers." That is what Jesus was angry about. Of course, Jesus could have wed someone who was prepared, but who would give their daughter to Jesus, being a fatherless child? He was simply an outcast.
Preparation for the Messiah
That was Jesus, the one who should have been served by the whole world as their king, the king of Israel, and the king of the whole Jewish race. Could anyone of that time even have imagined, "This is the one I have to serve as my king"? On the other side, all the nation was waiting for Elijah to come, knowing that the Messiah could come only after that happened. They were all waiting for Elijah. They believed that Elijah was coming on a cloud, but then Jesus said, "Elijah surely has come." The people asked, "Who was he?" And Jesus told them, "John the Baptist." Nobody believed him.
After World War II, centering on America, the free countries of England, America and France were at the pinnacle of the world. These free countries were waiting the arrival of one person, and that person was Reverend Moon. Could they, at that time, easily accept and serve him as the Lord of the Second Advent? He who is an Oriental man, not even a white person? Christianity is the bride religion, isn't it? The bride religion means it must prepare for and wait for the bridegroom. Reverend Moon prepared himself, but the world, especially England, America and France, never even dreamed that he was the one.
If they had known, they should have become one. Cain and Abel must become one. America represented Israel and Christianity represented the Jewish religion. The two should have combined into one and made preparation for Mother. That would have made the foundation representing a palace of the world's nations. After welcoming that, the world would have seen the bridegroom, that is, the Second Advent. Is that true? Those three enemies nations looked to be at the top peak at that time. They controlled everything. The Messiah had to go to the top. Who is the Messiah? Only one man is coming just like Jesus with no bad background, no evil tradition. Only one man appears, suddenly saying, "I am Messiah." He spoke out, "You have to follow me." Those three independent races should have combined with one person, me, and dedicated themselves to me. At that time, those three would stand on top of the world. But could any of those countries receive the lonely, miserable Reverend Moon?
The same situation as at Jesus' time happened 2,000 years later. Today the people are again looking to see the Lord coming to them on a cloud, with the angel's trumpet. Did Reverend Moon come to the world on a cloud with angels blowing trumpets for him? We can see it is the same situation. It has to be the same. That is why we must have restoration through indemnity. Indemnify first, then restoration.
What God prepared through America, England and France was not able to serve His purpose of receiving Reverend Moon. Now they have declined. They have been chased out into the wilderness. Where does God go? That means the whole thing is going back to Satan again. What God built up till then had to be turned back to Satan. Then we saw what Father did. Father gave up everything and started all over again. From where? From 6,000 years ago, in Adam's time. He has been re-indemnifying and re-restoring Adam's situation. First he re-indemnified the Old Testament time. Jesus was crucified with one thief on the right and one on the left; the free world came to represent the one on the right, and the communist world came to represent the one on the left. Barabbas, the released prisoner, came to represent the religious world of Mohammed. Father had to restore that. That restoration foundation could come at the end of the Second World War, but when it went back to Satan again, then Father had to go back to that situation, starting all over again, and reindemnifying it. That means, after the end of World War II, if America, England and France had received the Lord of the Second Advent, Reverend Moon, then communism would have been stopped right there. It would never have gone on for another twenty or thirty years, as we saw.
The Tribal Messiah
If America and England had received him, it would have been the culmination. But as they didn't, history slid back, back to the Old Testament time. Then Father did it again, and reindemnified the whole thing in forty years. This is why on September 27 and 28, 1991, Father brought it back again to the victorious foundation, just like after World War II. That is when the whole religious and political realm came into unity, and communism went down.
Father did it all over again. This time Father is utilizing Japan as the Eve nation, and America as the archangel nation. Father has done that. We saw that Father has achieved again what was lost before in history. Father spent fourteen years in Korea, then came to America and worked for twenty years, taking America back again. Actually, America was selected by God, and it failed. God cannot select it again. But, Father is second generation to God, therefore, Father could choose it again. So Father indeed took America because it is the only country which spans over Christianity and the Jewish time, the Old Testament and New Testament time. There is no other country with that qualification anywhere in the world. Therefore, Father took it according to his own authority and claimed America as the chosen nation again. The Completed Testament Era must stand on the foundation of Christianity and the Old Testament. Therefore, Father cannot stand alone. Father took America in and let all the enemy nations come here, rebuilding America. On that rebuilding of America, Father uses today America as his chosen nation.
All these nations, including Japan, Italy, Germany, were on the satanic side. After that, in World War II, we saw England, America and France on God's side. In this time, all those nations on God's side, as well as all those on Satan's side, came against the Second Advent, the Messiah. All those six nations. How could Father unify all those six nations again? Without that unity, Father could not restore world after World War II. That means the bridegroom must recover the bride who was lost. It took forty years.
Father did that all by himself. Everyone came against him. Why? Because it takes only him. To do away with him would have meant that the satanic world would remain intact and continue. Therefore, since everything belongs to the satanic world, all the world goes against him. By taking the action he did, Father reindemnified the whole thing. From the individual level he was opposed, then the family opposed him, his clan, nation, even the whole world opposed him. He had to rebuild that foundation step by step. In 1991, Mother won her victory, and made it possible for Father to take her in. That is the history we saw within the last twenty-one and fourteen years.
Father reindemnified the whole thing. Now he brought God back to going over the national barrier, the world barrier, all the way down to the individual barrier, alone with God. Now Father is establishing the tribal messiah. Father now starts the tribal messiah on that foundation and sends out hundreds of thousands of messiahs on the horizontal level to the world.
The whole purpose is to connect all the rest of the families, what used to be the fallen families, back to this lineage. Since Father's family is the prototype family, all we need to do is to connect all the families in the world to this tree. We know our task, our mission is the formula mission, to help all the families in the world win their mother and their children back into unity. In the fallen world, they became enemies. Now restore the world and the mother and their children become one and they bring their husband into salvation. We see that more concretely now that we help other families in which the mother and the children are becoming one.
The Prototype Family
This is important, so let me reiterate. By centering on the mother and the children becoming one, then becoming one with the True Family, their father and husband are in the archangel's position. He, too, can be brought in later. After restoring him, that family becomes complete. We saw what Father did to reindemnify all of history. What is the end goal? The end goal is to bring the fallen family back into God's tree. How do you do that? Exactly as Father has told us now. It takes so long.
After the fall, each family went into incredible difficulties and hardships, and it was a long way. But now the reconnecting time is here, circling around the world and it must fit in the right position, the right direction. The family in that position actually is the family which represents not only itself but also the clan, nation, and whole world. Do you understand? Therefore, this is aptly called the Completed Testament Era.
Referring to my topic this morning, "The Completed Testament Era and Me," then what becomes of each "me"? Each person becomes the son and daughter that can live with God literally. Anytime, wherever we go, the fall has nothing to do with us any more. With "I" as a restored being, wherever I go, God can follow me, can live with me. This is each person's goal.
Father has already given you the concrete direction of restoring the four great heart realms and three great kingships to restore the royal family. That means all of us become the royal families to God, not fallen families. We are in the position to return to God and indeed live with God. Then wherever we go, it will be heaven. In order to go to heaven, we will become one with Father's family and we have to love other families as well. We have to have that qualification by practicing love here on earth. Our family, too, will become a royal family.
This is the Completed Testament Era. We must go beyond the satanic customs and boundaries, wherever our brothers and sisters may go. We are scattered around the whole world for the sake of our missions. By being blessed families we are literally brothers and sisters of one another, and God can live in each of our families, anywhere and any time. We have to live like that. This automatically solves all the color problems, racial problems, you name it. All the problems here don't exist any more. Each person must say, "This is the way I must trod."
We must understand this morning about Valentine's Day. It is a great day, even in the satanic custom. Yet even among this Valentine's Day, True Parents are on earth with us at this time and celebrating this Valentine's Day. How significant this is! This is the day for which we see no parallel at any time in history. We cannot see the same providential position anywhere. On this Valentine's Day of love, we understand about love, we understand the root of love, we understand the history of God, which is to restore love, and we know everything about love. We have that entity in front of us, in the center of us, and therefore, God is right here with us. How meaningful this is!
The First Proclamation
This is the second Sunday in February, the second month of 1993. This is the second most important talk Father has given you this year. So Father sees the future of the Unification Church wide open from this point. If you are really aware of the day of which we should be most proud in history, the day representative of all history, should we be proud of today, or not?
This year Father proclaimed the reappearance of the Messiah, or the Completed Testament Era. Understanding the secrets of history, as Father taught us today and the last few Sundays, is not enough. What we must do is be able to explain this content to other people, especially when they ask questions of us. We should be able to explain clearly what we learned from Father. There will be a newspaper mobilized, and on the worldwide scale Father will proclaim what is happening. The happiest thing is for us to receive Parents and the Messiah. The Messiah is absolutely necessary to restore the whole world, but True Parents are necessary to restore the family. The nation's problem and the family problem is the most important problem faced by today's world. It is our privilege to be here. We can be proud in the spirit world to say, "I was the one who was sitting here in 1993, and I was one who received this first proclamation." This is the historical position of which we will be proud.
Until now we have been hiding our church affiliation, not proclaiming our Unification Church membership proudly. But now we should be very proud, and we should proclaim everything because we can teach them everything. We have no other teacher, we are the teachers of ourselves. Look at Father. Father fought single-handedly against Satan all the time. Father didn't hide. All the time Father fought in the open field against Satan on all different levels. Father never fought as an individual, but always as the head of the Unification Church and on behalf of all of you. You should do the same. I had to be arrested and put into prison, and in the fetters of the prison I also fought against evil until now. You should do the same. This victory is the victory which Father won with so much hardship, including imprisonment.
It is your responsibility as tribal messiahs to proclaim these things and teach these truths to all of your relatives and clan members. You yourselves must literally be the messiah to them. You have no other teachers. You are the teachers of yourselves. You should be proud and grateful for the fact that you serve True Parents. If you receive a Ph.D. from Harvard or if you became the president of the United States, of course you would be very proud. But you are now in the position to be more proud than those people because you are in a more honorable position. With unabashed confidence, you should proclaim to the world the secrets of history. The era of the Completed Testament is the era of teaching the people about True Parents. Teach and proclaim True Parents.
Who will do that? It is "I", "me", the one who first learned it. "I" must do that., wherever we go, to whomever we meet. We wake up in the morning and the first thing we should think about is to proclaim these truths today. Wherever we go, when we go to our job-site, then we should find a person to proclaim these truths to, the person we can teach. Wherever we go, in the restaurant, in the bathroom, we should be thinking about how to find someone we can teach this to. We should make the world full of the sounds of these precious teachings. The nation which does this first will be the first nation to be restored. Of course, there will be voices of opposition. But the voice of teaching should be louder than the voices of opposition. We should proclaim this not only individually but also through the media.
"My" True Parents
True Parents are "my True Parents", not "our True Parents." You should feel they are your True Parents personally. How loudly you proclaimed and taught people while you were here on earth shall be your source of pride once you reach spirit world. At Jesus' time, the Israelites were a country, and that country was the world, but today it is literally the world-beyond the nation, beyond all religions, beyond all colors of skin, we can proclaim this literally to the world. If we eat three meals a day, we should do more than three meals worth of proclaiming, before we can eat. Do you follow? Those who say, "Yes, Father, I will do that and even more," raise your hands. Then the world will be restored much more quickly. Now there is no indemnity to pay.
First have them prove that Father is not the Messiah and you are not the messiah. If they fail, then you explain why you are the messiah, why Father is the Messiah. Teach what Father taught you this morning. That content should more than qualify you as the messiah. Do you follow?
Of course, fundraising is very important on this precious Valentine's Day, as you know, but how much more important are the contents of what I have said this morning, which I have given you as my gift this morning? So with much hope and pride, you can go out fundraising today, believing that God is right behind and beside you and knowing that today's fundraising will be wonderful. Now you have spent three precious hours-from 4 o'clock to 7:00 in the morning-listening to Father's words. But this small investment will really increase your results by tens and even hundreds of times. So from now on, run to recover these lost three hours. They are not lost, they are gained! Have a good Valentine's Day! Let us pray.
