On March 4th Rev. Chung Hwan Kwak was installed as International President of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, we offer our sincere congratulations on this dispensational appointment. We call on all families to join with Rev. Kwak with one heart to realize the Peace Kingdom.
Here is a draft translation of True Father's Address on March 4, 2005.
Michael Jenkins
Chung Pyung Heaven and Earth Training Center
(Note: As a draft translation this text is not final and should not be used for publication. Official and final translations will be forthcoming.)
Beloved Blessed Families,
Today we have entered a significant providential time with the fifth year of Cheon Il Guk. On this day, you are all opening the way to a world of a new heaven and new earth in the direct presence of the True Parents of Heaven, Earth and Humankind, who stand on the victorious foundation of the King of Peace Crowning Ceremony of Cosmic Unity. Today, with the cooperation of the spirit world, you have all been urgently called here as the central figures with the important role of building the kingdom of heaven on earth and in heaven. You have been called here to build the world of God's ideal at the time of creation-in other words, a world of peace.
We are here today in the third month of the fifth year of Cheon Il Guk, at the Cheonseong Wanglim Palace, the original holy ground. At this significant time in history, I would like to speak about "The Restoration of Our True God's Homeland" which has been God's most earnest desire, and to convey this message from Heaven that you should know and put into practice in this age. With the new spring season that is upon us, please open your hearts today and welcome this deeply meaningful spring day in the era after the coming of heaven.
Seeking God's Kingdom and His Righteousness
Dear members, the people living on this earth today have been unable to find God's kingdom and His righteousness, which He has already revealed. Therefore, you should understand that seeking God's kingdom and His righteousness is the hope of mankind today, and the hope of all those who have lived on this earth throughout thousands of years of history until the present.
Then how did this kingdom of hope, the righteousness of that hope, come to be our final goal and purpose? It is because of the human fall. Due to the fall of our first ancestors, God and humankind, who were to become the center of that kingdom and righteousness, were instead placed in a position where no relationship of any kind could be established between the two. Due to the fall, human beings lost the heavenly lineage and instead became Satan's children who inherit the satanic lineage.
Mankind had fallen into a state of ignorance about the true fathers and true families that were to be the center of God's Kingdom and His righteousness, and about the true nation. For this reason, God has had to labor throughout history to this day in order to awaken the ignorant people, all humanity, and teach them about the true father, the true family and the true nation. Consequently, the task of finding God's kingdom and His righteousness still remains as our ultimate hope and goal.
Dear members, there are over two hundred nations in this world today. Yet among those numerous nations, there is not one that God could call His own "Fatherland" and that could receive His love. For this reason, the purpose of God's providence, which has spanned a period of six thousand years until now, was to completely deny this fallen world and re-create the kingdom of God.
Thus, throughout history, God's providence was to find His kingdom. Without the cooperation of that kingdom, God's will for the restoration of humankind would not be fulfilled. A true nation centering on a true religion must exist. Therefore, at a given moment in history, God had sought for a nation of His own. That has been the providential history centering on the chosen people of Israel and Judaism. The Nation of Our Hope
Then what kind of nation is the one we yearn for? It is not a nation like the one we live in today. Such a nation is one that we should someday part with for good. We still do not have God's nation. A person without a nation does not have an original hometown. Without a nation you cannot have a nationality. Without a nation there is no basis upon which you can register your existence. Therefore, our task in this life is to restore that nation.
Only when we have a nation can we leave behind a tradition that can live on through our descendants for eternity. All the efforts we have made through our blood and sweat will remain too. It is a monument that celebrates Heaven's labors. Through this nation, all vestiges of glory can remain on this earth. Yet if we fail to find that nation all this will have been in vain.
For this reason, you should clearly understand that seeking and establishing God's nation is the most critical task for us today. You must always live with the conviction that, "Our family protects that nation loved by True Parents. Thus, I must become a filial child before True Parents, and fulfill the path of a loyal citizen of the nation."
The path we should seek is one we would truly wish to take. The kingdom that we should seek and establish is one in which we would want to live for all eternity. The things we need to have must belong to the cosmos while at the same time belonging to us; they should belong to this age and the past, and also be things that can be guaranteed into the future. You should envision this ideal hometown in your mind, establish its righteous laws in your lives and live for the sake of that kingdom and its righteousness.
Do you have such a kingdom? As you don't, shouldn't you be seeking to establish such a kingdom? What did I say this nation was? It is an ideal nation of unification and peace. It is a nation where all six billion people of the world live as one family. It is the Peace Kingdom that glorifies the reign of eternal peace and prosperity where we attend the King of Peace of Cosmic Unity as our true lord, true teacher and true king. To this nation, the family, tribe, people and world will offer their support. The entire spirit world will be mobilized. The five great sages, as well as your good ancestors, will observe your every movement as they support you. Based on the unity between the mind and body we can unify the individual and also unify the family, tribe, people, nation, world and cosmos.
Heaven's Will Begins on Earth
God must fulfill the purpose of His providence on this earth, without fail. Then what will be the result of the fulfillment of His will? It will be that God can save all the people in this world and have dominion over them as His children. The will of providence has indeed been yearning for this to happen.
If you die without restoring a nation on this earth during your lifetime, you will be unable to have the value of a true person who belongs to the heavenly kingdom. You must go to the spirit world on the basis of having been under the reign of God's dominion on earth. That is the original standard of God's creation.
Dear members, throughout my entire life to this day I have lived without any interest in worldly things. My lifelong desire is encapsulated in the following statements: "Should I not die in that nation that God can protect? Wouldn't my entire life be miserable if I failed to live in that way? Thus, I must seek that kingdom and live there, even if it is for just one day, before I die."
With that day in mind, I have walked this path with the heart of investing thousands of days of sacrifice. I am marching forward even while you who are ignorant take rest. If you do not rise up, then I will have to mobilize people from other nations to accomplish this. If this nation does not move, I will have to resort to such tactics of other nations coming in to achieve this purpose. In this way, there can be no failure on this heavenly path of bringing fruits in the age of Cheon Il Guk. There can no longer be any compromise, delay or extension caused by Satan's interference. The completion and conclusion of God's providence is literally the total completion of the providence in my lifetime. We are in the final leg of God's providence for completely establishing the Peace Kingdom, God's ideal at the time of creation.
In light of this, those without a nation are always exposed to aggression. They stand in an unfortunate position. There will be many times when they can be helplessly invaded. Where can we find the kingdom of God's desire? In other words, where can we find the kingdom that can become God's foothold? This is the question.
The reason we shed our blood and sweat for the people of this nation is to ultimately establish the eternal heavenly kingdom, and to establish a country of public well-being that can be praised for eternity by countless descendants to come. There is no doubt that this kingdom is one that the children of God's direct lineage can reign over by upholding the heavenly decree. In other words, it is a nation in which they rule on behalf of God's commands and kingship.
Democracy and communism cannot exist in such a kingdom. Once established, it will remain as an eternal state system. Considering these things, isn't it mortifying that you have not yet become the citizens of that kingdom?
You should lament the fact of not having such a kingdom. You should deeply regret the fact that you have not been able to live in such a kingdom. We should repent for not having established that unchanging sovereignty. Throughout history, God established sovereign states in order to establish such a sovereignty, nation and territory. We are aware that in this course of history, a great many people have died, myriads of people have been sacrificed, countless of nations have perished and numerous sovereignties have been replaced.
There is no doubt that among those who were sacrificed in this way, those who stood on the heavenly side and those souls who were sacrificed for the heavenly cause, have yearned for the establishment of such a kingdom and world at some point in history.
We know that Satan, not God, came to dominate history after the fall of our first ancestors. But originally, God should have been the master of this world.
If tribes, nations and a world had been established centered on a true family consisting of children from God's direct lineage created through the relationship of love with God, then it would have brought about a world under God's dominion, a nation under God's dominion, families under God's dominion and individuals under God's dominion.
However, because of the human fall, everything from the individual to the family, tribe, people, nation, and world came to stand in a position against God. You should know that such is the fallen history and fallen world.
If we leave this world as it is, the eternal world of true love based on the ideal of creation that God sought to establish would never be achieved. God can only restore His original authority by fulfilling His original ideal of creation. Therefore, God took that as the standard to put this evil world in order and to lead this world towards a true world based on His original ideal. This has been God's providence in dealing with the fallen world.
Today there are more than two hundred nations belonging to the fallen sovereignty scattered across this earth. This reminds us of an exhibition of nations. Yet among them, there is not one nation of God's desire.
Unbeknownst to man, God has led the providence through history in order to establish that nation that can fulfill His will. He created Adam in the hopes of having dominion over the family, society, nation and world through one individual, and raised him towards perfection.
Yet, due to the fall of one man, Adam, history was broken into many parts. The history of the providence for salvation has been restoring order and reconnecting the pieces.
Since Adam was the first ancestor of humanity, losing Adam as an individual was the same as losing everything else. Hence, God had to call and raise another individual. That individual should be one who could give up and forget about the tribe, people and nation in the satanic world. He should be a true person who could even give his life for God's will.
Dear members, all religions ultimately have the common goal of establishing God's will. As an example, let us take a look into the history of Christianity that we are all familiar with.
Historical Evidence
Although Noah was placed in a tribal environment he did not desire to belong to it. He belonged to a nation and yet was not concerned with it and instead sought his own nation of hope. Noah had to go through all manner of trials and adversity in order to seek and establish that nation of hope. Noah had relatives and belonged to a certain race of people. But more than that, he pursued a nation of God's will. God's desire for Noah was for him to seek His kingdom and His righteousness and overcome his individual circumstances. How great were the difficulties he faced in surmounting that course of 120 years throughout the four seasons, without a day's rest? Abandoned even by his family, Noah still persevered for 120 years despite all the arrows that came his way. Noah knew very well the principle that he would have to pay much indemnity if he were to eat and drink before seeking God's kingdom and His righteousness.
God found Abraham and Sarah and had them leave Ur of the Chaldeans. They went to Haran with a heart of unconditional faith and obedience without even knowing that it was the place where they were to live. Even when Pharaoh took Sarah away, she did not bear resentment towards Abraham, nor did she betray him. In this way, their hearts were unchanging as they headed towards the nation of hope, even amidst severe persecution.
Let us take Jacob as another example. He had the conviction that a nation and people of hope were promised in the blessings given to him. Thus, nobody could bend his firm conviction. In this way, God's will expanded from the individual to the family and tribe, and our prophets gradually began to come forth raising the banner of hope on the world level.
God's Providence Centering on Jesus
What kind of life did Jesus lead? Jesus led the life of a wanderer due to the disbelief of the Jewish people and persecution in Israel. In the end, he perished as a sacrifice on the cross and could not fulfill God's hopes for both man's spirit and flesh.
However, the Messiah comes with the mission of breaking down all the walls in heaven and earth, and creating a unified world. God's will was to establish a nation with an ideology in accordance with the heavenly principle, even if such a nation created based on this fallen earth were to perish.
God's desire centered on Adam was not to dwell only within Adam, the individual, but was to establish a family, tribe, people, nation and world centering on Adam.
Israel perished when the nation that the Messiah had tried so hard to establish was destroyed due to Israel's disbelief. Hence, the Second Advent of the Lord comes with the responsibility to become perfect Adam and complete the mission of the Messiah. He has the responsibility to perfect Adam and complete a family, tribe, people, nation and world centering on Adam.
At certain times in history, God sent central figures to this earth and worked through them to establish one absolute nation; yet each time those people failed. The providential history for restoration has been God's endeavoring to find again such a righteous man through which He can administer, promote and fulfill this task.
Therefore we should be grateful to God even if He has to sacrifice each of us, and even if He has to sacrifice our families, tribes, peoples and nations. Only when such an individual and nation emerges can a new world be brought to order. However, no matter how many individuals are sacrificed, if that nation is not established, such sacrifices of individuals and even of families, tribes, peoples, nations and world will continue again.
Our Mission
Dear members, what is the purpose of our birth on this earth today? It is to love the nation and the world. God's purpose to this day has also been to love that nation and the world. Citizens of a nation without sovereignty are pitiful indeed. That is why Jesus said with concern, "Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the Gentiles seek all these things; and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well." (Matt. 6:31-33)
God sent Jesus to this earth as His incarnation and representative of the heavenly lineage in front of fallen man. In other words, Jesus was the first person in history that came to this earth in order to fulfill the hope God had nurtured throughout history.
After four thousand years had passed, Jesus was the person who was raised on this earth as the Son, and the true seed that emerged from Joseph's family within Judaism.
However, Satan had already established nations and was attacking the heavenly side. Therefore, the heavenly side also needs a standard on the national level as a firm foothold. For this reason, God has toiled for four thousand years in order to establish one nation within this evil world.
Dear members, Jesus came to this earth in search of God's nation. He came in search of one nation. But due to the disbelief of Israel and Judaism, who had been so prepared through heaven's toil, Jesus could not establish that nation both on the physical and spiritual dimension and only established a spiritual kingdom. Therefore, Christianity today still does not have a substantial nation of its own on this earth.
This means that God does not have a nation or people on this earth whom He can call, "My beloved homeland and beloved people." This means that the foundation for God's kingdom has still not been established on this earth.
Consequently even now Christians have fallen to the position of a people without a nation and sovereignty, and have been subject to death wherever they went. Christianity developed based on the blood shed by its martyrs. Since Christianity began in this way, it could not have grown except for the blood shed by martyrs.
Although, the age for bloodshed and persecution has ended, it still has not died away. The Christian belief in the second advent of Christ comes from the deep yearning for such a nation and anticipation of the Lord who is to restore and establish the substantial nation that was lost, on the worldwide level based on Christianity's spiritual foundation.
Dearest blessed families! Humanity has now entered the age after the coming of heaven and are receiving new heavenly fortune. The vortex of disbelief and betrayal that troubled this earth has now given way to a new heaven and new earth. Spring in the fifth year of Cheon Il Guk has come towards us in full bloom. The time has come for all blessed families to stand up in firm resolution.
The time has come for our blessed families to fulfill the providential responsibility of making all six billion people of the world into one family by raising the Interreligious and International Federation for World Peace, which stands in the vertical position of Abel, and by binding together the Mongolian peoples, which include some 70-80 percent of the world's population, as one clan through the marriage blessing, and raising them to the horizontal position of Cain, for the sake of the building of Cheon Il Guk. This should completely break down the walls between races, those between religions and the boundaries between nations.
God has now given His full authority to me, the Savior, Messiah, returning Lord and King of Kings-in other words, the King of Peace and True Parent. Cross-cultural, international blessed marriage is the only way to bring humankind together as one global family that transcends races, nations and religions. What other way is there to make one's enemy of yesterday into one's blood relative of today, and to make people of different traditions and cultures into one great family?
Dear members, first and foremost you must all give the blessing to your family and tribe, and centering on them, establish a tribal hoondok church. The success or failure of the Family Federation movement and the reunification of Korea, and, further, the providential victory or failure of the creation of one global family, depends on this initiative.
We must quickly break free from the customs and mindset belonging to the era before heaven. By practicing a life of the settlement of noon [in complete vertical alignment to God], offer yourselves in absolute faith, absolute love and absolute obedience to God and True Parents. You will then enjoy eternal peace and freedom as citizens of Cheon Il Guk. Your descendants will pay tribute and take pride in your achievements for eternity. You will live eternally in attendance to True Parents even in the spirit world.
Please engrave in your bones this message I have given you today and depart from here with the resolve of the elite soldiers of Cheon Il Guk who will open a new heaven and new earth. The fire of true love ablaze in your hearts will guide you. Have heavenly courage and push forward on the path of a true master, true teacher and true parent.
I pray that God's blessings will be with your family. Thank you very much.