February, 2020 | Daily Inspiration

A New Life is Born through the Love of Parents

James 1

¹⁹My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, ²⁰because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. ²¹Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.

1 Kings 10

King Hiram’s ships brought gold, juniper wood, and jewels from the country of Ophir. Solomon used the wood to make steps^[b] for the temple and palace, and harps and other stringed instruments for the musicians. It was the best juniper wood anyone in Israel had ever seen.

Exposition of the Divine Principle
3 Color Edition-The Red part

REBIRTH AND TRINITY

The doctrine of the Trinity has remained one of the most mysterious topics in Christian theology. Moreover, the related doctrine of rebirth, though seemingly evident to all, also needs deeper elucidation. We will examine these doctrines in this section.

4.1 REBIRTH

4.1.1 JESUS AND THE HOLY SPIRIT AND THEIR MISSION TO GIVE REBIRTH

Jesus told Nicodemus, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”31 Rebirth means to be born a second time. Why must fallen people be born anew?

Had Adam and Eve realized the ideal of creation and become the True Parents of humanity, they would have borne good children without original sin and formed the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. However, Adam and Eve fell and became evil parents, multiplying evil children who created this hell on earth. Hence, as Jesus told Nicodemus, fallen people cannot see the Kingdom of God unless they are first born anew—as children without original sin. Parents who have original sin cannot give birth to good children who do not have original sin. Certainly, it is impossible to find sinless parents among fallen humankind. These parents must descend from Heaven. Jesus was the Parent who came from Heaven. He came as the True Father in order to give rebirth to fallen people, transforming them into good children, thoroughly cleansed of original sin and fit to build the Kingdom of Heaven on earth.

However, a father alone cannot give birth to children. There must be a True Mother, as well as a True Father, for fallen children to be reborn as good children. The Holy Spirit came as the True Mother.

4.1.2 JESUS AND THE HOLY SPIRIT AND THE DUAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LOGOS

Logos is Greek for “rational principle” or “the Word.” Adam and Eve, the embodied object partners of God in image, were created separately out of the dual characteristics of the Logos. Because they fell, this world became an earthly hell. Therefore, to give rebirth to fallen people, Jesus came as the second Adam, the True Father of humankind, with the mission symbolized by the tree of life. This being the case, should not there also have come the True Mother of humankind, the second Eve with the mission symbolized by the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? The one who has come as the True Mother to give rebirth to fallen people is the Holy Spirit.

4.1.3 SPIRITUAL REBIRTH THROUGH JESUS AND THE HOLY SPIRIT

A new life is born through the love of parents. When we believe in Jesus as the Savior through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, we receive the love of the spiritual True Parents, which is generated through the give and take between Jesus, the spiritual True Father, and the Holy Spirit, the spiritual True Mother. Through this love, new life is infused into us, and our spirits are reborn as new selves. This is spiritual rebirth.

4.2 THE TRINITY

God’s purpose of creation is completed based upon the four position foundation, which is established by fulfilling the three object purpose through origin-divisionunion action. To fulfill the purpose of creation, Jesus and the Holy Spirit stand before God as object partners who separately manifest the dual characteristics of God. They unite through give and take with each other with God as the center and form the four position foundation. God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit thus become one, and this oneness constitutes the Trinity. If Adam and Eve had not fallen, but had formed this trinity with God and become the True Parents who could multiply good children, their descendants would have also become good husbands and wives with God as the center of their lives. Each couple would thus have formed a trinity with God.

Instead, when Adam and Eve fell, they formed a four position foundation with Satan as their center; in other words, they formed a fallen trinity with Satan. The resurrected Jesus and the Holy Spirit in oneness with God could form only a spiritual trinity. They could fulfill only the mission of spiritual True Parents.

Christ must return in the flesh and find his Bride. They will form on the earth a perfect trinity with God and become True Parents both spiritually and physically. They will give fallen people rebirth both spiritually and physically, removing their original sin and enabling them to build trinities on earth with God as the center.

View slides 23 to 51 below for an illustrated presentation of the above content:

2007p1-CHAPT-7-Christology_revised-4-28-2014

Jesus is God’s Second Self, but he is Not God

Cheon Seong Gyeong 758

For what reason are we born? What
should be the focus of our life, and for
what purpose do we pass on? We can
never answer these questions without
God. Without God, we cannot find the
real motive in our life. The one who is
without a motive can neither reap the
fruit of his work nor have his value
recognized. A building is constructed
according to the designer’s blueprint. A
building that is built without reference
to the original blueprint cannot be what
the designer originally intended. (21-100,
1968.11.17)

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1176

I am accomplishing restoration
through indemnity by myself. The
world is not aware of this. By this meth-
od, restoring the individual, restoring
the family… I have been continuing.
The satanic world bears fruit according
to the seeds it has sown. If the Messiah
does not come to this world to save it,
there is no way to for it to be saved. Had
only people become one with me right
after the liberation of Korea, all Cains
on the levels of the individual, fam-
ily, tribe, ethnic people, nation and the
world could have been restored through
indemnity over a seven-year course.
Because of their disbelief, however, this
course was prolonged for forty years.
(138-216, 1986.1.21)

Exposition of the Divine Principle
3 Color Edition-The Red part

JESUS AND THE PERSON WHO HAS REALIZED THE PURPOSE OF CREATION

2.1 PERFECTED ADAM, JESUS AND THE RESTORATION OF THE TREE OF LIFE

Human history is the history of the providence of restoration. Its goal is the realization of the Kingdom of Heaven on earth when, at the end of history, the tree of life which was lost in the Garden of Eden will be regained. We can understand the relation between perfect Adam and Jesus by comparing the tree of life in the Garden of Eden with the tree of life to be restored in the Last Days.

Adam, had he realized the ideal of perfection symbolized by the tree of life in the Garden of Eden, and Jesus, symbolized by the tree of life in the Book of Revelation, would be identical in the sense of having realized the goal of creation. As such, they would have equal value.

2.2 JESUS, HUMAN BEINGS AND THE FULFILLMENT OF THE PURPOSE OF CREATION

Let us compare the value of Jesus with that of a person of perfect individual character. A fully mature person is perfect as God is perfect.11 Having the same divine nature as God. A fully mature person is unique in all the cosmos. Furthermore, since he is the lord of the entire natural world, which cannot realize its full value without him, he possesses the value of the cosmos. There is no greater value than that of a person who has realized the ideal of creation. This is the value of Jesus, who surely attained the highest imaginable value.

For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. —I Tim. 2:5

2.3 IS JESUS GOD HIMSELF?

When Philip asked Jesus to show him God, Jesus said, “He who has seen me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father?’ Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father in me?” Based on these biblical verses, many Christians have believed that Jesus is God, the Creator. Since Jesus is one with God and the incarnation of God, he may be understood to be God’s second self; but he is not God.

JESUS AND FALLEN PEOPLE A fallen person has nothing of the value of a true person who has completed the purpose of creation. Rather, he has fallen to such a lowly status that he looks up to the angels, who were created to be his subordinates. On the other hand, because Jesus came with the full value of a true person who has completed the purpose of creation, “All things are put in subjection under him.”23 A fallen person with original sin is stained with the condition through which Satan can attack him. On the other hand, Jesus, having no original sin, had no condition in himself for Satan to invade him. A fallen person cannot fathom the Will and Heart of God. At most, he can catch only a glimpse of them. In contrast, Jesus not only understood the Will and Heart of God thoroughly, he also experienced God’s Heart as his own reality in his daily life.

View slides 13 to 22 below for an illustrated presentation of the above content:

2007p1-CHAPT-7-Christology_revised-4-28-2014

You Are the Only One Who Can Stimulate God Distinctively

Acts 4

4 The apostles were still talking to the people, when some priests, the captain of the temple guard, and some Sadducees arrived. ²These men were angry because the apostles were teaching the people that the dead would be raised from death, just as Jesus had been raised from death. ³It was already late in the afternoon, and they arrested Peter and John and put them in jail for the night. ⁴But a lot of people who had heard the message believed it. So by now there were about five thousand followers of the Lord.

Isaiah 29

¹⁶You have it all backwards.
A clay dish doesn’t say
to the potter,
“You didn’t make me.
You don’t even know how.”

Richard: Every person is wonderful and uniquely made by God. Who are you to say that God has made a mistake in creating you the way you are?

Exposition of the Divine Principle
3 Color Edition-The Red part

Chapter 7
Christology

The most important questions which fall within its scope include the Trinity, which deals with the relationship between God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit, as well as rebirth and the relationship between Jesus, the Holy Spirit and fallen people.

THE VALUE OF A PERSON WHO HAS REALIZED THE PURPOSE OF CREATION

Let us discuss the value of a person who has realized the purpose of creation; that is, the value of Adam or Eve in perfection. We can understand such a person’s value from several perspectives. First, the relationship between God and a fully mature person resembles the relationship between the dual characteristics. Similarly, the relationship between God and a person who has attained perfection of individual character may be compared to that between the dual characteristics of a person, that is, between mind and body. Jesus spoke of this state of perfection, saying “You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Thus, we see that a person who has realized the purpose of creation assumes a divine value, comparable to God.

Second, let us consider the value of a human being from the perspective of the purpose for which he was created. Each person is God’s substantial object partner who manifests a distinctive aspect of God’s dual characteristics. Hence, that person is the only one in the entire universe who can stimulate that distinctive aspect of God’s nature to bring Him joy. Every person who has completed the purpose of creation is thus a unique existence in the cosmos. Third, let us consider the value of a human being based on his relationship with the universe.

We have learned through the Principle of Creation that the universe is the substantial unfolding of the dual characteristics of a human being. A person’s spirit encapsulates all elements of the spirit world while his flesh encapsulates all elements of the physical world. A person who has completed the purpose of creation thus encapsulates all the essences of everything in the cosmos. This is why a human being is called a microcosm of the universe. For these reasons, a human being has the value of the entire cosmos.

View slides 1 to 12 below for an illustrated presentation of the above content:

2007p1-CHAPT-7-Christology_revised-4-28-2014

Calvin Wrongly Believed that the Accomplishment of God’s Will depends solely on the Power and Work of God

Cheon Seong Gyeong 579

One day we will go to the spirit world.
There is no doubt about that. People vis-
iting Korea land at Gimpo Airport, but
that does not mean they have traveled in
Korea. From Gimpo Airport, where do
we go? Do we go to South Jeolla Prov-
ince or South Gyeongsang Province or
Pyeong-an Province? From Pyeong-an
Province, where do we go? To a coun-
ty. From there, where next? A township.
What is next? A village. From there, we
must go to a neighborhood. This is not
easy. If people cannot determine their
dwelling place, what is the value of suc-
cess in social life? That is a problem.
If God orders me to come, even
tomorrow night, no matter how great
I may be today, I have no choice but to
go. However loudly I might protest, I
would have to go. I will go while pro-
testing loudly, but only after speaking
the right words. I must present the way
that the nation and the world must go.
It will be my death if I fail to do so. (177-
41, 1988.5.15)

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1231

Until now, who has completed the
payment of indemnity for the portion of
responsibility? Can you pay that indem-
nity with money? Can you pay it by sell-
ing your house and your country? Then
what should you do? There is nothing
you can do. You can only be absolutely
obedient. You must be absolutely obe-
dient until you are in your twenties.
Adam and Eve insisted on their own
way. They had a sexual encounter, thus
falling before they reached the age of
twenty. Until you reach your twenties,
you must be absolutely obedient. Before
you reach twenty, you must obey. There-
fore children are absolutely obedient.
They are, even if you do not teach them
to be like that. They know that if they
do not become one with their parents,
they will go to ruin. You will go to ruin
if you do not become one with God. (133-
136, 1984.7.10)

Exposition of the Divine Principle
3 Color Edition-The Red part

THE PREDESTINATION OF HUMAN BEINGS

Adam and Eve were to become the good ancestors of humanity, conditional upon fulfilling their responsibility to obey God’s commandment not to eat of the fruit. Accordingly, God did not absolutely predestine that Adam and Eve would become our good ancestors. The same holds for all fallen people. Even though God predestines someone for a particular mission, God’s ninety-five percent responsibility and the person’s five percent responsibility must be accomplished together before the person can complete his given mission and fulfill God’s Will. If the person does not complete his responsibility, he cannot become the person God has purposed him to be.

Let us next examine God’s predestination of central figures in the providence of restoration. Yet, as was the case with God’s creation, His providence of salvation—a work of recreation—cannot be completed in an instant. It begins from one point and gradually expands to cover the whole. Therefore, in the providence of salvation, God first predestines one person to be the central figure and then calls him to a mission. What qualifications should the person possess to merit such a calling? First, the central figure must be born into the chosen people. Next, even among the chosen people, he must come from an ancestral line with many good accomplishments. Among the descendants of this outstanding lineage, he must be endowed with the requisite character. Among those with the requisite character, he must develop the necessary qualities during his early life. Finally, among those who have acquired these qualities, God selects first the individual who lives in a time and place most fitting to His need.

ELUCIDATION OF BIBLICAL VERSES WHICH SUPPORT THE DOCTRINE OF ABSOLUTE PREDESTINATION

For those whom He foreknew He also predestined . . . those whom He predestined He also called; and those whom He called He also justified; and those whom He justified He also glorified. —Rom. 8:29-30

Then He calls upon them to fulfill the purpose of the providence. Calling a person is God’s responsibility, but that alone does not entitle the person to be justified before God and given glory. Only when the person completes his responsibility after being called by God is he justified and then glorified. God’s predestination concerning an individual’s glorification is thus contingent upon the completion of his portion of responsibility. Because the biblical verse does not mention the human portion of responsibility, people may misinterpret it to mean that all affairs are determined solely by God’s absolute predestination.

People such as John Calvin have propounded the doctrine of absolute and complete predestination, which is widely believed even in our present day. They have held to such a doctrine because they wrongly believed that the accomplishment of God’s Will depends solely on the power and work of God. They were ignorant of the true relationship between God’s portion of responsibility and the human portion of responsibility in the fulfillment of the purpose of the providence of restoration.

View slides 17 to 36 below for an illustrated presentation of the above content:

2007p1-CHAPT-6-Predestination_revised-4-28-2014

God Predestines the Accomplishment of His Will Conditionally

Matthew 12

²²Some people brought to Jesus a man who was blind and could not talk because he had a demon in him. Jesus healed the man, and then he was able to talk and see. ²³The crowds were so amazed that they asked, “Could Jesus be the Son of David?”

Jeremiah 22

If you obey me, the kings from David’s family will continue to rule Judah from this palace. They and their officials will ride in and out on their horses or in their chariots. ⁵But if you ignore me, I promise in my own name that this palace will lie in ruins. ⁶Listen to what I think about it:

The palace of Judah’s king
is as glorious as Gilead
    or Lebanon’s highest peaks.
But it will be as empty
as a ghost-town
    when I’m through with it.
⁷I’ll send troops to tear it apart,
and its beautiful cedar beams
    will be used for firewood.

⁸People from different nations will pass by and ask, “Why did the Lord do this to such a great city as Jerusalem?” ⁹Others will answer, “It’s because the people worshiped foreign gods and broke the agreement that the Lord their God had made with them.”

Exposition of the Divine Principle
3 Color Edition-The Red part

Predestination

Theological controversy over predestination has caused great confusion in the religious lives of many people. Let us begin by examining the source of this controversy. In the Bible, we find many passages which are often interpreted to mean that everything in an individual’s life—prosperity and decline, happiness and misery, salvation and damnation, as well as the rise and fall of nations—comes to pass exactly as predestined by God.

Yet we can also find sufficient evidence in the Bible to refute the doctrine of absolute predestination. Since there are ample grounds in the Bible to justify either of these two contrasting doctrines, controversy over the issue of predestination has been inevitable. How can the Principle solve this problem?

THE PREDESTINATION OF GOD’S WILL

Before discussing the predestination of God’s Will, let us first examine what is being willed. Let us remember: God could not accomplish His purpose of creation due to the human Fall. Accordingly, God’s Will in carrying out His providence for fallen humanity is still to accomplish the purpose of creation. In this sense, God’s Will is that restoration be accomplished.

To what extent does God predestine His Will—the ultimate accomplishment of the purpose of creation? God is the absolute Being, unique, eternal and unchanging; therefore, the purpose of His creation must also be absolute, unique, eternal and unchanging. Likewise, His Will for the providence of restoration, the goal of which is the accomplishment of the purpose of creation, must also be absolute, unique and unchanging. It follows that God’s predestination of His Will—that the purpose of creation one day be fulfilled—must also be absolute, as it is written, “I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have purposed, and I will do it.”

THE PREDESTINATION OF THE WAY IN WHICH GOD’S WILL IS FULFILLED

According to the Principle of Creation, God’s purpose of creation can be realized only when human beings complete their portion of responsibility. Although God’s Will to realize this purpose through the providence of restoration is absolute and beyond human influence, its fulfillment necessarily requires the accomplishment of the human portion of responsibility.

To what extent does God predestine the unfolding of the events in the providence? Although God’s Will to realize the purpose of the providence of restoration is absolute, God predestines the process of its accomplishment conditionally, contingent upon the five percent responsibility of the central figure, which must be completed in addition to the ninety-five percent responsibility of God. The proportion of five percent is used to indicate that the human portion of responsibility is extremely small when compared to God’s portion of responsibility. Yet for human beings, this five percent is equivalent to one hundred percent of our effort.

View slides 1 to 16 below for an illustrated presentation of the above content:

2007p1-CHAPT-6-Predestination_revised-4-28-2014