Cheon Seong Gyeong | Daily Inspiration

God Wants Us to Resemble Him

Listen to the Richard Urban Show installment 33

The Family Rooted in Absolute Sexual Ethics-Part 4 with Stephen Downward

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1854

The Unification Church made the Jardim Declaration. I have announced the second forty-year course. We are restoring Eden, which means that we have returned to Eden. We must go back to Eden and establish a standard of equilibrium for God’s absolute faith, absolute love, and absolute obedience. That is why, in Jardim, I proclaimed the standard of absolute faith, absolute love, and absolute obedience. By doing so, I can take care of the entire world and all of creation before the Fall, which were created on the foundation of absolute faith, absolute love, and absolute obedience, and have access to it within the same sphere. That is why I am educating people in Jardim.

Cheon Seong Gyeong 440

When you stand in the world of space, you need top and bottom, left and right, and front and back. Only then is the status of your position stable. Your shape will vary depending on the position in which you stand: top and bottom, left and right, front and back. When dealing with matters that concern the relationships of top and bottom, left and right, front and back, and also problems in the family, nation and world, there is only one solution. Just as there has to be top and bottom, left and right, and front and back with the individual at the center, there also have to be parents and children, husband and wife, and brothers and sisters.

Richard: We will be hosting family education programs at the new Peace Kingdom Family Education Center in Harpers Ferry WV.

Individual Responsibility

2. Responsibility Is God’s Gift and Provision to Human Beings

The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to till it and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die.”

Genesis 2.15-17

For of course, no one would dare to believe or declare that it was beyond God’s power to prevent the fall of either angel or man. But, in fact, God preferred not to use His own power, but to leave success or failure to the creature’s choice.

Saint Augustine, City of God 14.27 (Christianity)

Rabbi Akiba said: Beloved is man, for he was created in the image of God. But it was by a special love that it was made known to him that he was created in the image of God; as it is taught, “For in the image of God made He man.” (Gen. 9.6)8

Mishnah, Avot 3.18 (Judaism)

Everything is in the hand of Heaven except the fear of Heaven.

Talmud, Berakot 33b (Judaism)

Satan… came before me, saying, “Behold, here am I; send me, I will be Thy son, and I will redeem all mankind, that not one soul shall be lost. Surely I will do it; therefore give me my honor.”But my Beloved Son, who was my Beloved and Chosen from the beginning, said to me, “Father, Thy will be done, and the glory be Thine forever.”Therefore, because that Satan rebelled against me, and sought to destroy the agency of man, which I, the Lord God, had given him… I caused that he should be cast down; and he became Satan, yea, even the devil, the father of all lies, to deceive and to blind men, and to lead them captive at his will, even as many as would not hearken unto my voice.

Pearl of Great Price, Moses 4.1-4 (Latter-day Saints)

Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon

To bring about the perfection of humankind in true love, God required that human beings accomplish a condition of responsibility in order to reach unity with Him. For this purpose, God gave the Commandment to the first ancestors. God knew that they were in the growth period, as yet imperfect, so He established the Commandment as the condition for His children to inherit the most precious thing—true love. (277:197, April 16, 1996)

God gave human beings a portion of responsibility as the condition based on which He could love them more than any other being in creation. God’s intention in giving this condition was to make them worthy to be the lords of creation by having them take after His creative nature. (Exposition of the Divine Principle, Predestination 4)

Because human beings have a portion of responsibility, they have supreme value, greater than any other creation. If Adam and Eve fulfilled their portion of responsibility, then there would be no such thing as bitterness in human life.10 Had they fulfilled their portion of responsibility, then the human world, the angelic world, and the entire creation would have received God’s governance with rejoicing and glory. That is the Principle. (63:320, October 22, 1972)

Why did God establish a portion of responsibility in our lives? As the omniscient and omnipotent Creator, God wanted to bequeath His omniscient and omnipotent creativity to us. As the Subject Partner of eternal and unchanging love, God wanted to establish us in a position where we could resemble Him as the Subject Partner of love. For these reasons, God gave us a portion of responsibility.

Hence, the human portion of responsibility is a condition for God’s blessing. It is like the key to a treasure-chest which, when opened, gives us possession of everything. Yet it was this portion of responsibility that became an issue in bringing about the Human Fall. (20:210, June 9, 1968)

If God were to interfere with human actions during their growing period, it would be tantamount to ignoring the human portion of responsibility. In that case, God would be disregarding His own Principle of Creation… [For this reason,] God did not intervene in the acts that led the human beings to fall. (Exposition of the Divine Principle, Fall 6.1

Be Self-Sufficient, So You Can Help Others

Listen to the Richard Urban Show installment 32:

The Family Rooted in Absolute Sexual Ethics-Part 3 with Scott Ferch

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1700

My Rhema:

Fundamentally, this universe was created in the pair system in order to create consonance. This consonance or harmony takes place centering on love. When you think of it this way, did God establish love for the sake of man and woman, or did He establish man and woman for the sake of love? Which came first? Did God design love to be the way it is because men and women are the way they are or did God design men and women to be the way they are because love is the way it is? In light of this, the most precious thing is that which can-not be seen. (226-81, 1992.2.2)

Stacey’s Rheama:

What belongs to woman is not for her own use. It is for man. Is there anyone who can deny this? That being so, nobody owns anything. It is not shameful to be women with nothing for your-selves but your names, for as such you can harmonize anywhere. You can harmonize with grandmothers, mothers, grandfathers, aunts and uncles. As the centrality of being women is not great, it leaves plenty of room for women to gradually expand their realm of reciprocity. This is connected to the formulated foundation based on the principles of the creation of the universe, and so it becomes definite. (255-144, 1994.3.10)

Richard: We are in different locations this morning. We both opened (in different books) to the exact same page about love!

Individual Responsibility

1. Each Person Is Responsible for His or Her Own Self

Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon

In the life of faith, you absolutely cannot remain a bystander. You think you can follow me, Reverend Moon, but you cannot lead your life of faith through me; you must find it in yourself. Regardless of what others do, you have to keep on the path of faith by your own will. (153:136, November 15, 1963)

Even in the midst of the wilderness, you can build your dwelling. You must build it by yourself. No one can help you. Therefore, be self-sufficient, so you can help others. No matter how hard things may be, add something good to your daily life. Invest step by step. God also has been investing Himself and forgetting what He had invested: that is His tradition. (248:133, August 1, 1993)

You know what to do. You know better than I what needs to be done. This course is yours, not mine. (36:31, November 8, 1970)

Unless you develop yourself and arrive at maturity—the realm of God’s direct dominion—you will not understand what love is. (137:100, December 24, 1985)

All things reach perfection after passing through the growing period (the realm of indirect dominion) by virtue of the autonomy and governance given by God’s Principle. Human beings, however, are created in such a way that their growth requires the fulfillment of their own portion of responsibility, in addition to the guidance provided by the Principle. They must exercise this responsibility in order to pass successfully through the growing period and reach perfection. We can deduce from God’s commandment to Adam and Eve (Gen. 2.17) that the first human ancestors were responsible to believe in the Word of God and not eat of the fruit. Whether or not they disobeyed God and fell depended not on God, but on them. Hence, whether or not human beings attain perfection does not depend only on God’s power of creation; it also requires the fulfillment of human responsibility. In His capacity as the Creator, God created human beings in such a manner that they can pass through the growing period (the realm of indirect dominion) and attain perfection only when they have completed their own portion of responsibility. Because God Himself created human beings in this way, He does not interfere with human responsibility.
God endowed human beings with a portion of responsibility for the following reason. By fulfilling their given portion of responsibility—with which even God does not interfere—human beings are meant to inherit the creative nature of God and participate in God’s great work of creation. God intends human beings to earn ownership and become worthy to rule over the creation as creators in their own right (Gen. 1.28), just as God governs over them as their Creator. This is the principal difference between human beings and the rest of creation. (Exposition of the Divine Principle, Creation 5.2.2)

The path of life is not a way I go at another’s urging,
nor because someone leads me;
I realize I can only walk this path if I cope with it by myself.
It is a principle of nature:
I feed myself when I am hungry
and drink for myself when I am thirsty. (42:90, February 28, 1971)

Endure Over and Over While Being Persecuted

Listen to the Richard Urban Show Installment #31

#57-The Family Rooted in Absolute Sexual Ethics-Part 2 with Andrew Derricutt

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1919

We are now in the era of the Pacific civilization. At the same time, this leads to the space age. All the waters of the world merge with the waters of the Pacific Ocean. The rivers and the waters from the Atlantic Ocean and even water from the Mediterranean Sea all join with the Pacific. There is a flow of water called the Black Current that is about four to five thousand miles long. As it circulates it influences all five of the great oceans of the world.

For this reason, when the era of the Pacific civilization draws near, every-body must become one. Then we can explore outer space. Unless people become one, they would even fight over the ownership of the sun, with everyone claiming that right. They would ask who the master of the starry realm is and they would all claim to be the one. They are bound to fight among each other. Our sun is about 1.3 million times larger than the earth. How could human beings, who don’t even amount to a tiny speck, claim to own this vast entity? The universe would roar with laughter. A unified world is bound to appear in the era of the Pacific civilization. That is why everything must be overhauled. Democracy in America does not work, and neither does communism. That is why the head-wing ideology, known as Godism, must appear in this age. (207-46, 1990.10.28)

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1191

Instead of beating His enemy to death God must set the condition of having loved him. In the same way the person standing in the position of Adam has to set up a condition of having loved the enemy Satan. If you endure over and over again while being persecuted, and prevail over all the tears, blood and sweat, until the enemy naturally surrenders to you, and return embracing God’s love, then you can receive the blessing. That is when Satan will let you go. You must receive this public approval; “You can now become a child qualified to go to the heavenly kingdom.” Who must sign this approval? Satan must. After Satan signs this, you will sign it, and then True Parents must sign it. You can only stand before God only after getting this signature from True Parents. That is the heavenly kingdom. (141-202, 1986.2.22)

Individual Responsibility

Responsibility is central to what it means to be human. Other creatures have life, consciousness, and even intelligence, but only human beings are responsible to choose their manner of life and hence their destiny. individual responsibility implies an attitude of self-criticism. We should not blame others for our own difficulties, but rather look for the cause within ourselves.
All the religions of the world emphasize, in one way or another, individual responsibility in matters of faith and practice, although the definition and limits differ. Buddhism and other non-theistic traditions regard the journey on the path to liberation as entirely the responsibility of the individual. each individual is “a lamp unto himself ”; each works out his own salvation alone and by himself. There is explicit rejection of reliance upon a savior from without, as both Buddha and Muhammad rejected characterizations of themselves as saviors.
On the other hand, in the monotheistic faiths, the context of individual responsibility is prevenient grace. As a person works out his own salvation, at the same time God is at work within. Salvation is a gift, yet it is our responsibility to receive it and not reject it. Father Moon characterizes this joint responsibility in numerical terms: 95 percent is God’s responsibility and 5 percent is the human portion. In this view, responsibility ennobles human beings. It means that each of us has a role to play in our own perfection, and even an indispensable-able role in completing God’s work of creation. This responsibility contains the gift of freedom. Several passages explore this teaching in light of the human Fall and divine forbearance in not intervening to prevent it.
Many religions hold that an individual’s destiny is at least partly determined by factors beyond his or her control: God’s predestination, past karma, or the burden of inherited sin. Nevertheless, several texts reject the notion that such conditions impinge in any way on one’s individual responsibility. Arguing against fatalism, they maintain that with every situation comes the opportunity to improve our lot by the exercise of responsibility. Father Moon goes one step further: he teaches that inasmuch as our individual selves are the results of many generations, fulfilling our responsibility benefits not only ourselves but countless ancestors as well.

1. Each Person Is Responsible for His or Her Own Self

O ye who believe! You have charge over your own souls.

Qur’an 5.105

If I am not for myself, who is for me? And when I am for myself, what am I? And if not now, when?

Mishnah, Avot 1.14 (Judaism)

By self do you censure yourself. By self do you examine yourself. Self-guarded and mindful, O bhikkhu, you will live happily.

Self, indeed, is the protector of self. Self, indeed, is one’s refuge. Control, therefore, your own self as a merchant controls a noble steed.

Dhammapada 379-80 (Buddhism)

Whoever works righteousness benefits his own soul; whoever works evil, it is against his own soul: Your Lord is never unjust to His servants.

Qur’an 41.46

Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

Philippians 2.12

You must be lamps unto yourselves. Rely on yourselves, and do not rely on external help. Hold firm to the truth as a lamp and a refuge, and do not look for refuge to anything besides yourselves. A brother becomes his own lamp and refuge by continually looking on his body, feelings, perceptions, moods, and ideas in such a manner that he conquers the cravings and depressions of ordinary men and is always strenuous, self-possessed, and collected in mind. Whoever among my disciples does this, either now or when I am dead, if he is anxious to learn, will reach the summit.

Digha Nikaya 2.99-100 (Buddhism)

The lord our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. Not with our fathers did the lord make this covenant, but with us, who are all of us here alive this day.

Deuteronomy 5.2-3

Oneself, indeed, is one’s savior, for what other savior could there be? With oneself well controlled one obtains a savior difficult to find.

Dhammapada 160 (Buddhism)

“Please, Man of Shakya,” said Dhotaka, “free me from confusion!” “It is not in my practice to free anyone from confusion,” said the Buddha.

“When you have understood the most valuable teachings, then you yourself will cross the ocean.”

Sutta Nipata 1063-64 (Buddhism)

Not by traveling to the end of the world can one accomplish the end of ill. It is in this fathom-long carcass, friend, with its impressions and its ideas that, I declare, lies the world, and the cause of the world, and the cessation of the world, and the course of action that leads to the cessation of the world.

Samyutta Nikaya 1.62 (Buddhism)

[God to Adam]: “Adam, We give you no fixed place to live, no form that is peculiar to you, nor any function that is yours alone. According to your desires and judgment, you will have and possess whatever place to live, whatever form, and whatever functions you yourself choose. All other things have a limited and fixed nature… To you is granted the power of degrading yourself into the lower forms of life, the beasts, and to you is granted the power, contained in your intellect and judgment, to be reborn into the higher forms, the divine.”

Pico della Mirandola6 (Humanism)

Man’s main task in life is to give birth to himself, to become what he potentially is. The most important product of his effort is his own personality.

Erich Fromm(Humanism)

You Will Know Them by Their Fruits

Listen to the Richard Urban Show Installment #30

The Family Rooted in Absolute Sexual Ethics-Part 1 with Stacey Urban

Cheon Seong Gyeong 2028

Until now, religions focused on the goal of individual salvation, but the goal of the Unification Church is to save the tribe. We are striving to save the whole tribe. Instead of dying and saving ourselves, let us live, receive the ticket of universal shared values, and enter Heaven together with our tribes. You should understand that this is the meaning of the Home Church movement. (101-261, 1978.11.1)

Richard: In traditional Christian thought, when you die, you can enter heaven based on your faith in Jesus.
Rev. Moon calls us to work to build the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth. Through God’s new word of truth and the Blessing you will receive not only spiritual salvation, but physical salvation! Physical salvation means that through the Blessing your children can be born without original sin. Furthermore, as this environment of goodness expands from the family to the tribe and nation, the Kingdom of Heaven will be built on earth. The method through which this is carried out is Home Church, as Rev. Moon says above.
We cannot enter heaven alone, but only with our family and tribe.
Learn more by studying the 10 part series on Absolute Sexual Ethics.

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1264

Who are the new parents of humankind? Adam and Eve, who fell in the very beginning in the Garden of Eden, became fallen parents. The new parents coming with the mission of giving rebirth to humankind are the original, parents who have nothing to do with the Fall. They have become one with God’s will and can be approved by God. They are the parents who keep the original, unfallen standard and fulfill God’s will. They multiply children of goodness by forming an ideal family in the embrace of God, centering on His love. They are the parents who have nothing to do with the Fall. (22-269, 1969.5.4)

Richard: The True Parents are Rev. and Mrs. Moon.

Good and Evil

3. Good or Evil Is Seen in a Person’s Way of Life

You will know them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorns, or figs from thistles? So, every sound tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears evil fruit. A sound tree cannot bear evil fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will know them by their fruits.

Matthew 7.16-20

God enjoins justice, kindness, and charity to one’s kindred, and forbids indecency, abomination, and oppression. He admonishes you so that you may take heed.

Qur’an 16.90

Now the works of the flesh are plain: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, anger, selfishness, dissension, party spirit, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and the like. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such there is no law.

Galatians 5.19-23

Worthless men live that they may eat and drink, whereas worthy men eat and drink that they may live.

Socrates(Hellenism)

God’s messenger said, “Do you know the thing which most commonly brings people into Paradise? It is fear to God and good character. Do you know what most commonly brings people into hell? It is the two hollow things: the mouth and the private parts.”

Hadith of Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah (Islam)

“All who commit crimes, robbing, stealing, practicing villainy and treachery, and who kill men or violently assault them to take their property, being reckless and fearless of death—these are abhorred by all.”

The king says, “O Feng, such great criminals are greatly abhorred, and how much more detestable are the unfilial and unbrotherly—as the son who does not reverently discharge his duty to his father, but greatly wounds his father’s heart, and the father who can no longer love his son, but hates him; as the younger brother who does not think of the manifest will of Heaven, and refuses to respect his elder brother, and the elder brother who does not think of the toil of their parents in bringing up their children, and is very unfriendly to his junior. If we who are charged with government do not treat parties who proceed to such wickedness as offenders, the laws of our nature given by Heaven to our people will be thrown into great disorder and destroyed.”

Book of History 5.9 (Confucianism)

Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon

People who live self-centered lives cannot produce good seeds. Those who are trying to benefit themselves cannot bear good fruit. Simply speaking, people who want to use others for their benefit are evil. Good people, on the other hand, are willing to take other people’s burdens. (41:91, February 12, 1971)

Good and evil are not determined by your beliefs. They are determined by your daily life. Whether you are destined for heaven and hell is not determined by your worldview, but by your daily life. (40:294-95, February 7, 1971)

Evil acts by using force. Its activity is not the natural way, but goes against nature. That is why it utilizes oppression, fear, intimidation and threats. (60:61, August 6, 1972)

Everything has its beginning and its end. Whether it is good or bad, once it begins, at some point it will reach its end. If it is a good thing, the result may take a long time to bear fruit but its record will remain in history. However, if it is a bad thing, its result will quickly appear. Good keeps step with eternity, while evil keeps step with the moment. A deed that quickly perishes is fascinated with the moment, while the deed that prospers is fascinated with eternity. (18:64, May 21, 1967)

Good is standing for a public purpose, and evil is standing for a personal purpose. By this standard a patriot and a faithful wife are good people. The greater cause they live for, the better they become. Evil is living for a selfish purpose. Since good is searching for something greater, it should at least be centered on the family rather than the individual. That is why a man and woman should marry and establish a family. Next, their family should be recognized and praised by their neighbors. After an individual establishes his family, he should go forth to benefit his tribe, his people, his nation and finally the world. (31:236, June 4, 1970)

Good and Evil Started from Love

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Video-Why Abstinence Matters – Interview with Kuku Miriam Afanga

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1972

We know that the peninsular nations surrounded by sea are where the important civilizations in history blossomed. Many religious beliefs and ideologies emerged from peninsular nations and guided the spiritual realm of humanity. These include the Greek philosophy that began on the Balkan peninsula; the Christian culture that blossomed in the Italian peninsula; the Hindu culture and philosophy of India; the Islamic culture from the Arabian peninsula; the Buddhist culture that bore fruit in the peninsulas of southeast Asia; the art of navigation from the Iberian peninsula; and the Nordic culture from the Scandinavian peninsula. In this way, we can see that the peninsular nations exerted the greatest influence on the cultural history of the world. (279-208, 1996.8.20

Richard: Florida is a peninsula. Governor Ron DeSantis would be a good presidential candidate for 2024. President Trump would be a great vice presidential candidate.

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1084

Did Jesus go through adolescence or not? Did Jesus not also go through adolescence? What kind of adolescence did he have? The one of “thinking of spring” or the one of “the death of spring”? He did not have the kind in which he whistled at girls. He went through adolescence with the character meaning “thinking of spring.” (57-159, 1972.5.31)

Good and Evil

2. Good or Evil Is Determined by the Intention of the Heart

Out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a man.
Matthew 15.19-20

How can activity be good or wicked? That which is performed with good intention is good; and that which is performed with evil intention is wicked… That which purifies the soul or by which the soul is purified, is merit—producing a happy feeling. That which keeps the soul away from good is demerit—producing an unhappy feeling.
Pujyapada, Sarvarthasiddhi 6.3 (Jainism)

If a person has no wound in his hand, he may carry poison in it. Poison does not affect him, for he has no wound. There is no ill for him who acts without intent to do wrong.
Dhammapada 124 (Buddhism)

Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon

Originally good and evil started from one point; that one point is love. (26:282, November 10, 1969)

Analyze yourself: you have a dual structure. The conscience is in the position of good, while the body is in the position of evil. (227:46, February 10, 1992)

Good or evil can come to existence depending on the direction and the way of your mind. The direction and way of your mind will make the distinction between good and evil. (37:116, December 23, 1970)

A nation’s constitution, which is inspired by its highest ideals, is the basis for determining right and wrong, good and evil within a nation. Likewise, as regards our own behavior, we need some basis or standard for distinguishing right from wrong. Think about it. How can someone who is always drunk determine whether his drinking is good or bad? He cannot be his own standard. This is the case for all of us. We find all kinds of justifications for everything we do, whether good or bad. How can we judge rightly?
Today throughout the world people do many evil things and justify them based on their own way of thinking. Hence, the world is in chaos. This state of affairs will continue as long as there is not a clear and accepted standard of good and evil. There should be one standard, and it should be absolute, unique, eternal and unchanging. (March 1, 1981)