Category: Cheon Seong Gyeong

Jesus Did not Even Let Death Stop His Unwavering Efforts

Editorial: Do You Know the Facts about COVID and the COVID Vaccines?

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Who is the Messiah? The True Parents. Then, why are they necessary? It is because human beings must receive new grafts through the love of the True Parents. Thus, unless the True Parents – the Messiah – appear, fallen human beings will not be able to eliminate their original sin or be liberated from sin and receive the Blessing at the completion stage. (35-215, 1970.10.19)

Richard: Rev. Sun Myung Moon and Mrs. Moon are the True Parents.

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Why do people do penance by inflicting pain on their bodies? This is because they have inherited the blood of Satan, the blood of the enemy of God. Who is this enemy of God? He is the adulterer. He is the enemy of the love of God. He is the adulterer. We inherited the blood of the adulterer.

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15. Jesus’ Resurrection

On the cross, Jesus prayed for the people and determined to fulfill his responsibility for them even after his death; indeed, his concern for God’s Will transcended even death. Therefore, God could resurrect Jesus, and Satan did not dare accuse the resurrected Jesus. When you attain a level of perfection that you have the same value as Jesus, Satan cannot accuse you, either. (2:141, March 17, 1957)
 
Satan exercised his maximum power to crucify Jesus, thereby attaining the goal he had sought through-out the four-thousand-year course of history. On the other hand, by delivering Jesus to Satan, God set up as compensation the condition to save sinful humanity. How did God achieve this? Because Satan had already exercised his maximum power in killing Jesus, according to the principle of restoration through indemnity, God was entitled to exercise His maximum power. While Satan uses his power to kill, God uses His power to bring the dead to life. As compensation for Satan’s exercise of his maximum power in killing Jesus, God exercised His maximum power and resurrected Jesus. God thus opened the way for all humanity to be engrafted with the resurrected Jesus and thereby receive salvation and rebirth. (Exposition of the Divine Principle, Moses and Jesus 3.3.1.1)
 
After his death, Jesus was concerned about his scattered disciples. Even during the three days in the tomb, he was determined to protect them for eternity. Hence, he went to the shores of Galilee after his resurrection and searched for them.
    Today from a humanistic perspective we might wonder how Jesus could care for his disciples, when they showed no sense of responsibility and betrayed him the moment they faced difficulty. Yet this did not stop Jesus from fulfilling his responsibility toward them by visiting them in Galilee.
    This is the character of Jesus, who did not let even death stop his unwavering efforts at raising his disciples to also be unwavering. We should take a lesson from Jesus’ admirable character in this regard. (1:38, May 16, 1956)
 
Due to the sin and blindness of the people, God permitted His Son to be a sacrifice. That was the significance of the crucifixion: God allowed Jesus to die on the cross as the ransom paid to Satan. In exchange, upon Jesus’ resurrection, God could claim the souls of humankind—though redemption of the body was not possible. Therefore God’s victory, and our salvation, was not in the cross but in the resurrection…
    Our salvation comes from Jesus’ victorious resurrection. This is Christ’s victory, and Satan’s power can never affect it. But the body of Jesus Christ was given up as a sacrifice and a ransom. In giving up his body, Jesus also gave up the body of humankind. Our salvation is limited to spiritual redemption, because the redemption of the body remained unfulfilled 2,000 years ago. And our world still suffers under Satan’s power. Sin still rages within our bodies and dominates this world.
    Therefore Paul cried out in anguish, “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I of my self serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.” (Rom. 7.24-25) Paul was living in the grace of the Lord. Still he confessed that he could serve God only with his mind, and his flesh served the law of sin. His body yearned to be redeemed; he still anguished over sin.
    And so it is for us. By accepting Christ, we receive spiritual salvation. But our body still serves the law of sin under Satan’s domain, until Christ returns and liberates us from the bondage of sin. The Lord of the Second Advent alone can give total salvation, in spirit and in body. (September 18, 1974)
 
Richard:  Redemption of the body is now possible by grafting our lineage on to that of the True Parents.
 
 

We Would Have Also Crucified Jesus

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I have given you the title of messiah, tribal messiah! Then what should you do? What should you do as the messiah? I have prepared everything that you might need to become the national messiah, the world messiah, and the cosmic messiah. I have prepared treasures the size of a mountain for you. You will inherit all this mountain of treasures once you become messiahs. It will all be passed down to you like water flowing through water pipes. (189-247, 1989.4.9)

Richard: We become Tribal Messiah’s through our work in Home Church.

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Now, we three – God, True Parents and you – must become one. We have to act in concert. Since this is a decisive question of life and death, all three must unite at the point where they come together. The realm of resurrection is at that very point. It is the connecting point where oneness comes, where True Parents and you become one and unite together. There, the unification into one heart takes place. Therefore, you must lead a life of oneness with His will. (31-321, 1970.6.7)

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14. The Tragedy of Jesus’ Rejection

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, killing the prophets and stoning those who are sent to you! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not!
    Matthew 23.37

And when he drew near and saw the city he wept over it, saying, “Would that even today you knew the things that make for peace! But now they are hid from your eyes. For the days shall come upon you, when your enemies will cast up a bank about you and surround you, and hem you in on every side, and dash you to the ground, you and your children within you, and they will not leave one stone upon another in you; because you did not know the time of your visitation.”
    Luke 19.41-44

None of the rulers of this age understood this; for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
    1 Corinthians 2.8

“Hear another parable. There was a householder who planted a vineyard, and set a hedge around it, and dug a wine press in it, and built a tower, and let it out to tenants, and went into another country. When the season of fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants, to get his fruit; and the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Again he sent other servants, more than the first; and they did the same to them. Afterward he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him and have his inheritance.’ And they took him and cast him out of the vineyard, and killed him. When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death, and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.” 
     Matthew 21.33-41

Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon

Today it is easy to accept Jesus Christ as the Son of God, because for nearly 2,000 years Christianity has been glorifying him. But if you had lived in the days when Jesus was being pushed around and ridiculed, would you have believed? The scribes and priests of those days longed to see the Messiah, yet they did not recognize him. Do you really think that the Jewish people of that era were inferior to Christians today? In fact, we would probably have compounded their mistakes if we had lived in the days of Jesus of Nazareth. (69:100, October 21, 1973)

Jesus came with the lonely heart of Heaven to a people who were collapsing and dying, and taking compassion upon them, he came to them without holding back even his own life. But the people of Israel, who called themselves the chosen people, did as they pleased to the Messiah whom Heaven had sent and to John the Baptist whom Heaven had prepared…

Today let us know: It was not because the people of Israel at that time were inferior to us, that they betrayed Heaven, nor was it because their desire to live for the sake of Heaven was not as great as ours, that they forgot Heaven.

Let us understand: They had a concept about the Messiah, thinking that the Lord to come would appear as a great man, but because in reality the Messiah who appeared was haggard, pitiful and unimpressively small, they rejected him.

Let us consider our position now: Today we commonly speak ill of the historical people of Israel, and like to criticize how they handled the situation at that time, but please let us understand: between the situation now and the situation then there is no difference. May we have the mind to admit: if we had been alive at that time, we would have done the same as they. (5:284-85, February 22, 1959)

After preparing humanity for four thousand years to receive the Messiah, his death was not in God’s original plan. Satan was the one who dragged Jesus to the cross and killed him. The crucifixion was a total loss. Everything was lost: Israel, Judaism, John the Baptist, the twelve disciples who betrayed Jesus… No one remained on the side of Jesus or Heaven.

There is no Christianity at the place of Jesus’ cross. Christianity began on the Day of Pentecost. You must know that the cross was the victory of Satan, not of God. God’s victory came with the resurrection by the power of the Spirit.46 (73:220-21, September 18, 1974)

 
 
 

Jesus Humbled Himself and Became Obedient unto Death

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Then who is Christ at the Second Advent? As the True Father and True Mother were lost in Eden, he is the one to come upon the earth as the True Father. He will become as one with God in heart, lineage and flesh, establish the position of True Mother, and form a family centered on this oneness. The Messiah’s family will be the first to live with and serve God. The Messiah solidifies the position of the perfected Adam. The Kingdom of Heaven will be established only after the perfected Adam and Eve marry, live on earth serving God, have sons and daughters centered upon Him, bring forth His clan and live on earth together with them, and then, finally, move on into the heavenly world together with God. (282-51, 1997.3.10)

Richard: This is a good summary of the Role of Rev. Sun Myung Moon and of Mrs. Moon.

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Sunday is the day to offer to the other members what you have planned and saved during the week that can bring them joy. On Sundays, you can share some specially prepared food and everyone should praise their spouses. (21-88, 1968.11.3)

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13. Jesus Bore Our Sins on the Cross

He was despised and rejected by men;
a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief;
and as one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our
sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.
But he was wounded for our transgressions,
he was bruised for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that made us
whole,
and with his stripes we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned every one to his own way;
and the l ord has laid on him the iniquity of
us all.
Isaiah 53.3-6

Under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. Thus it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ has entered, not into a sanctuary made with hands, a copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the Holy Place yearly with blood not his own; for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the age to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.
    Hebrews 9.22-26

Christ Jesus, who,
though he was in the form of God,
did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,
but emptied himself,
taking the form of a servant,
being born in the likeness of men.
And being found in human form he humbled himself
and became obedient unto death,
even death on a cross.

Therefore God has highly exalted him
and bestowed on him the name which is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father. 44
    Philippians 2.6-11

Was Jesus’ Death Predestined by God?

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Adam’s family stands in a representative and central position. For that reason, you must have the concept that your couple is the representative family of all of the world’s people, and the central family of the world. That is the way the sons and daughters of God should be, isn’t it? Because you are families that will enter the heavenly kingdom, you must be like that. Therefore, Blessed Families must know the Family Pledge in order to enter Adam’s family. (265-253, 1994.11.23

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f you keep pace with the Unification Church by way of the principled standard, good spirits and ancestors in the spirit world who used to cooperate with the national fortune will work for you. Externally, you may appear unlucky with a flat face and small ears, but the spirit world sees you as a lucky child. Your ancestors within ten generations are anxious because the history of restoration is realized based on ten generations. Yet when an evil descendant appears, ancestors within ten generations judge him by saying, “Hey you! You are going to ruin us!”

Richard: Doing ministry, and specifically Home Church is like playing chess.  If you are not even playing, then how can God help you? The term “playing” means that you are doing Home Church in your 360 home area. If you are doing your best, God can arrange the chess pieces and game so that you will win (the goal of saving people will happen, and the sub-goals will happen along the way)  This process takes requires patience and takes time.

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12. The Agony of Christ’s Passion and Crucifixion

Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon

People say that Jesus came to die. Was his death indeed predestined by God, or was it an event brought on by circumstances? You should know that it was something that came to pass suddenly and unexpectedly. We can discern this from the New Testament’s account of the Transfiguration: “And behold, two men talked with him, Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure [his crucifixion] which he was to accomplish in Jerusalem.” (Luke 9:30-31)
    When Jesus later informed Peter that he would suffer in Jerusalem and be crucified, Peter violently protested, “God forbid, Lord! This shall never happen to you!” (Matt. 16:22) Then Jesus lashed out at him, saying, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me; for you are not on the side of God but of men.” (Matt. 16:23)
    Conventional Christians understand this passage to mean that Jesus was supposed to die on the cross, and because Peter tried to stop him, Jesus called him “Satan.” What Jesus actually meant was this: Peter had witnessed the trance-like scene on the Mount of Transfiguration alongside Jesus; hence he should have heard sometime during that event, the instruction to Jesus that he should go to his death. However, Peter had dozed off and never heard it. Yet now that Jesus’ death was decided, Peter had no business telling Jesus what to do or not to do.
    The decision [to alter Jesus’ course] been made on the Mount of Transfiguration. Jesus had originally come to fulfill God’s Will both spiritually and physically, but he was driven into a situation where unless he sacrificed himself, he would have to turn the nation and the people over to Satan. In that situation, by going the way of crucifixion God strove to lay at least a spiritual foundation. In other words, God had determined to lead him on a secondary dispensation, one that would give birth to Christianity. (73:218, September 18, 1974)
 
Jesus walked a wretched path, the path of the cross. Evil men whipped and beat him. They ripped his clothing, drove him along the street, and forced him to the ground. In that situation, if Jesus had been like Elijah, he might have said to the people, “I am the only one of the Lord’s prophets left.” (1 Kings 18:22) But when Jesus left his disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane and went to pray, he said, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as Thou wilt.” (Luke 22:42) This was his greatness. He understood that his body was a sacrificial offering for the nation, a sacrificial offering for humanity and a sacrificial offering for God’s providence.
    Therefore, although Jesus felt his own bitter sorrow, he was more concerned for God’s sorrow. God had sent Jesus for the sake of the nation; instead he felt God’s sorrow to see him betrayed by his own people. Jesus was the Messiah. He was the Crown Prince of Heaven and the central personage of the entire universe. If he chose, he could have given way to self-pity and lamented his miserable fate. He could have set the entire universe in lamentation with him. Yet, he understood that his position was not to sigh in despair. Instead, he even went so far as to feel apologetic toward Heaven for having been rejected.
    Jesus bore the responsibility to rally the religious establishment, rally the nation, build the Kingdom of Heaven and return the world to the Father’s bosom. Yet when he was forced to abandon that mission and walk the way of the cross, he did not feel enmity toward anyone. He did not pray, “Let this cup pass from me,” for fear of death. Rather, he prayed this way because he knew his death would add to the grief of the nation and to God’s grief.
    Jesus knew that if he died on the cross, there would be an even heavier cross remaining for the future generations. It would mean that humanity’s sorrowful history would not end. He knew that the path of Golgotha would not end with him; those who followed him would also have to go the same way. Jesus knew that an even more difficult course lay beyond the cross.
 
As he was made to wear a crown of thorns, and the nails were hammered into his hands and feet, and his side was stabbed with a spear, Jesus knew that these events would have impact far beyond his own death. When he turned to God and said, “It is finished,” he did not mean that the world’s path of the cross was finished. He meant that his heart’s tearful plea of concern over the cross had reached Heaven. We need to know that Jesus comforted God by offering himself as a living sacrifice and taking upon himself all the mistakes committed by past prophets and patriots.
    More than that, as he neared death Jesus prayed, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” (Luke 23:34) God had a mind to pass judgment immediately, a judgment even more terrible than in Noah’s time. But Jesus died clinging to the nation, clinging to the religious establishment and clinging to the cross. For this reason, God could not abandon humanity, but held on to us. Because this bond of heart existed between Jesus, the future generations of humanity and the remaining people of Israel, God could not abandon the religious organizations that turned against him, nor the people of subsequent generations. Instead, God has clung to them. (378:314, May 21, 2002)
 
 
 

Can You Understand the Heart and Situation of Jesus?

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Blessed families should establish a family tradition and create a family code of conduct. You should also create a standard of education for children and rules of conduct for the family. If the parents have not done so, they will have nothing to say when they commit an error and their children press them hard. (21-87, 1968.11.3)

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If you carefully study the contents of the Bible, you cannot deny the fact that due to the illicit love the human ancestors connected themselves to the devil, Satan, with a relationship of father and children. Human beings are precious beings who were supposed to inherit God’s lineage and be born as His own sons and daughters within His absolute love. However they were born into lineage of devil, Satan, as his sons and daughters. In the eighth chapter of Romans, it is recorded, “…but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the spirit, groan inwardly, as we wait for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.” An adopted child has a lineage different from that of his foster parents. This is the reality of human beings. (53-261, 1972.3.1)

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11. Jesus’ Wept Out of Love for the People and Agonized Over Their Unbelief, Even as His Closest Disciples Proved Faithless

Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon

Does God live only for Himself and His glory, or is God totally selfless, living for the well being of the entire creation? Which is true love? In fact, the true God comes to us fallen people, shedding tears. People weep either when they are sad or happy. What about God? Does He shed tears of grief looking at human misery, or tears of laughter as He saves people? Think about it. If you ever lost a loved one and then found him again years later, what would you do? You would weep, first with grief and then with joy.
    Therefore, God wants to meet His beloved ones on the path of tears. Would you like to experience God’s tears? Have you ever cried, so shaking with sobs that water runs from your nose and mouth, your entire body drenched in sweat? Until you experience what grief is, you cannot taste true love. (102:163-64, December 17, 1978)

In the world dominated by Satan, God’s providence requires battles. God has to set up fights. Jesus certainly made some people angry when he criticized the Jews living in peace and comfort, calling them “hypocrites” and a “brood of vipers” and casting curses upon them. If Jesus had praised the rabbis, scribes and priests, telling them that they were doing a wonderful job for God, would he have been killed? Confucius and Mohammed—all the saints without exception—declared to the world something it did not want to hear. By doing that, they created the momentum for change. (95:276-77, December 11, 1977)

The people who were the closest to Jesus caused him the most sorrow. His sorrow was not so much from rejection by the people of Israel whom God had prepared, or from rejection by the Jewish authorities. His greatest sorrow came when his beloved disciples—some who had followed him for as long as three years—lost faith when he needed them to believe, did not testify when he needed them to testify, did not fight when he needed them to fight, and ran from death when he needed them to face death. (3:142, October 18, 1957)

Who followed Jesus to the end without forsaking him? The twelve disciples? No, even the three chief disciples among the Twelve did not keep faith and follow Jesus to the end.
    Although Jesus tried to introduce the love of God to humankind and tried to put that love into practice, he died without building a substantial relationship of love with a single human being. Although Jesus conveyed words of heavenly love, and although his heart burned with love, he died without having found one person whom he could tightly embrace and exchange the affectionate words, “My son!” “My father!” sharing the love that runs between a parent and child.
    Can you understand the heart and situation of Jesus as he cried in anguish through the sleepless night in the Garden of Gethsemane, even as the disciples were dozing off? Many people today appreciate Jesus’ words of love, but 2,000 years ago, Jesus did not have anyone to whom he could give his love. (3:58, September 22, 1957)

Jesus lived barely thirty years, a life filled with sorrow. Jesus spent three years of public life, offering everything he had; yet who knew his heart, and who knew his situation? Not even one person.

Even the disciples, who attended him as their teacher, who shared his joys and sorrows, who were sad when he was sad and lonely when he was lonely—they did not know, either.

The disciples, who should have clung to Heaven and appealed with earnest hearts, concerned that their teacher might go the path of death, instead were confused, asking, ”Who is Jesus?” (7:45, July 12, 1959)

On this earth, who knew the heart of Jesus? Not a single person recognized Jesus, a man filled with apprehension, who experienced and felt keenly Heaven’s sorrow, who felt Heaven’s lament over humanity. Jesus did not have even one disciple who exclaimed, “My Lord!” intimately feeling God’s heart…

Enable us to sympathize with the heart of Jesus, who had to leave behind disciples ignorant of his great sorrow, with the heart of Jesus, who died without seeing his life bear fruit, even though he lived his entire life for humankind. (5:137-38, January 11, 1959)