Category: Cheon Seong Gyeong

He Began to Build the Ark

My latest blog post: Seek First His Kingdom

Video: Seek First the Kingdom

Listen to the Podcast of Seek First the Kingdom

Cheon Seong Gyeong 2082

Do our political leaders love the nation? Politicians do not care about what is going on in the nation, but just fight to get the presidency. Just let them try and do it! Everything will just fade away eventually, dissolving like bubbles, because they do not have the heart to sincerely live together with the people. If a leader cannot love the people, then he cannot escape the judgment of his people and history. (148-275, 1986.10.11)

Richard: False and fake political leaders will meet their reckoning.

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1127

How many times a day do you think about your portion of responsibility? You have to remember this many times: when you eat, when you hold a spoon, when you wash the dishes, while you go to the toilet, while you walk…. Adam and Eve did not think about their portion of responsibility and consequently came to ruin. We must not become people who, like Adam and Eve, cannot fulfill our responsibility and fall. To become someone who can be restored and be victorious we have to respect and consider our portion of responsibility twenty-four hours a day. (124-103, 1983.1.30)

Noah

Noah is the first Biblical father of faith. His remarkable work to build an ark, believing God’s command that a flood was about to destroy humanity, showed faith far beyond the ordinary. Father Moon emphasizes the incredible faith of Noah, which was difficult to comprehend even for his wife and family. Another quality of Noah was his compassion for the people whom he knew to be doomed, enabling him to follow God’s command that he announce to the very people who were mocking and persecuting him that the judgment was imminent and invite them into his boat.
The story of Noah goes far back in the historical record. Diverse versions of the story go back 5,000 years, to ancient Sumer and Babylon. There is reason to believe that the account is based on historical fact, from evidence of a massive flood that wiped out a whole civilization in the region of the black sea some 7,500 years ago.
The biblical story of Noah ends with the sin of his son ham. Father Moon regards this as a serious setback for God’s providence. Always viewing history from a family perspective, he sees ham’s mistake as fracturing the unity of Noah’s family such that it could no longer serve in God’s providence.

1. Noah and the Flood

The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the lord was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. So the lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the ground, man and beast and creeping things and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.” But Noah found favor in the eyes of the lord…And God said to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh; for the earth is filled with violence through them; behold, I will destroy them with the earth. Make yourself an ark of gopher wood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch. This is how you are to make it: the length of the ark three hundred cubits, its breadth fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits.
      Genesis 6.5-8, 13-16
 
My counsel… was inspired in Noah: “None of your people will believe except those who already believe, so grieve not at what they do. Make an ark under Our eyes and by Our inspiration, and speak not to Me on behalf of those who are unjust. Surely they will be drowned.”
    And he began to build the ark. And whenever the chiefs of his people passed by him, they laughed at him. He said, “Though you mock us, yet we too mock you even as you mock; and you shall know to whom will come a punishment that will confound, and upon whom will fall a lasting doom.”
    At length when Our command came to pass and the oven gushed forth water, We said, “Load in two of every kind in pairs, and your household—but not those against whom the word has already gone forth—and those who believe. Yet but a few were they who believed with him.
    He said, “Embark in it, and in the name of God may be its sailing and its anchoring. Surely my Lord is Forgiving, Merciful.”
    And it sailed with them amid waves like mountains. And Noah called out to his son, who was standing aloof, “O my son, embark with us, and be not with the disbelievers.” He said, I will betake myself for refuge to a mountain that will save me from the water. Noah said, “This day there is no one safe from God’s command, but he on whom He has mercy. And a wave came between them, so he was among the drowned.
    Qur’an 11.36-43 
 
God… did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven other persons, when he brought a flood upon the ungodly.
    2 Peter 2.5
 
Lo! We sent Noah to his people, saying, “Warn your people before there comes to them a painful doom.” He said, “O my people! Verily I am a plain warner to you. Serve God and keep your duty to Him, and obey me, that He may forgive you some of your sins and grant your respite to an appointed term. Surely the term of God, when it comes, cannot be delayed. Did you but know!”
    He said, “My Lord! I have called unto my people night and day, but all my calling has added to their repugnance. Whenever I call them that You may pardon them, they thrust their fingers in their ears and cover themselves with their garments and persist, magnifying themselves in pride.”
    Qur’an 71.1-7
 
 

No One Living on Earth has ever Seen God’s Day.

My latest blog post: Seek First His Kingdom

Video: Seek First the Kingdom

Listen to the Podcast of Seek First the Kingdom

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1474

God created humankind for the sake of love. Why were human beings created? They were created because of love. The reason human beings are different from other forms of creation is that they were created as God’s sons and daughters. They were created as object partners who can receive love directly from Him. Such is the privilege of humankind. (132-245, 1984.6.20)

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1100

No one living on earth until this time has ever seen God’s Day, True Parents’ Day, True Children’s Day, and Day of All True Things. There are 365 days in a year. You should clearly understand that the most important days among all 365 days are those days that I have just mentioned, which have now appeared in providential history. You should know that these days are the king of all days, and if a year like that existed it would be the king of all years. (92-252, 1977.4.18)

Richard: These are four foundational Holy Days of the Unification movement and all mankind, as if Adam and Eve had not fallen.

Founders, Prophets and Saints

3. Keeping the Tradition of the Fathers of Faith

Think not that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the law until all is accomplished.
Matthew 5.17-18
 
I [Krishna] told this eternal secret to Vivasat. Vivasat taught Manu, and Manu taught Ikshvaku. Thus, Arjuna, eminent sages received knowledge of yoga in a continuous tradition. But through time the practice of yoga was lost in the world. The secret of these teachings is profound. I have explained them to you today because you are my friend and devotee.
    Bhagavad-Gita 4.1-3 (Hinduism)
 
Moses received the Torah on Sinai and delivered it to Joshua, and Joshua [delivered it] to the elders, and the elders to the prophets, and the prophets delivered it to the men of the Great Synagogue.
    Mishnah, Avot 1.1 (Judaism)
 
Confucius said, “I have transmitted what was taught to me without making up anything of my own. I have been faithful to and loved the Ancients.”
    Analects 7.1 (Confucianism)
 
Mention Abraham in the Book. He was a truthful prophet when he told his father, “My father, why do you worship something that neither hears nor perceives, and does not benefit you in any way?…
    When he moved away from them and what they worshipped instead of God, We bestowed Isaac and Jacob on him. Each We made a prophet. We bestowed some of Our mercy on them and granted them a sublime tongue for telling truth.
    Mention Moses in the Book. He was sincere, and was a messenger, a prophet. We called out to him from the right side of the mountain, and brought him close to confide in. We bestowed his brother Aaron on him as a prophet through Our mercy.
    Mention Ishmael in the Book. He kept true to the Promise, and was a messenger, a prophet. He used to order his people to pray and pay the welfare tax; he was approved by his Lord.
    Mention Idris in the Book. He was a truthful prophet; We raised him to a lofty place.
    Those are some of the prophets from Adam’s offspring whom God has favored, and some of those We transported along with Noah, and some of Abraham’s and Ishmael’s offspring, as well as some others We have guided and chosen. Whenever the Mercy-giving’s signs are recited to them, they drop down on their knees and weep!
    Qur’an 19.41-58
 
It was in this way that Emperor Yü, Kings T’ang, Wen, Wu, Ch’eng, and the Duke of Chou achieved eminence: all these six noble men paid attention to propriety, made manifest their justice, and acted in good faith. They exposed their errors, made humaneness their law and prudence their practice, thus showing the people wherein they should constantly abide. If there were any who did not follow these principles, he would lose power and position and be regarded by the multitude as dangerous.
    Book of Ritual 7.1.2 (Confucianism)
 
Of yore I followed countless Buddhas,
And perfectly trod the Ways
Of the profound and mystic Law,
Hard to perceive and perform.
During infinite kotis of kalpas,
Having followed all these Ways,
Attaining fruition on the Wisdom-throne,
I could perfectly understand. 7
Lotus Sutra 2 (Buddhism)
 
 

They Kept Mocking the Messengers of God

My latest blog post: Seek First His Kingdom

Video: Seek First the Kingdom

Listen to the Podcast of Seek First the Kingdom

Cheon Seong Gyeong 291

Essentially, what have we been trying to do during the Old Testament, New Testament, and Completed Testament Ages? We have been trying to bring God inside us. Who is the root? God is. God is the root of humankind. Originally, True Parents were not the root. True Parents also came from God, who is the root. Before Adam and Eve fell, they were in the position of God’s son and daughter. But after their Fall, all things of creation came to be in a higher position than Adam and Eve. This happened because Adam and Eve fell. Through the Fall, they sunk lower than all things. Since all things became higher than people, they have given their lives for humankind. They have shed blood in our place and through this, have worked to reverse the positions. This is why, in the Old Testament Age, offerings were sacrificed to pave the pathway for the sons and daughters to travel on.

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1059

You should offer all your devotion in witnessing to your parents. There is no greater happiness than receiving heaven’s blessings with them, in the presence of God’s will, and creating a protective fence as a Blessed Family. (16-329, 1966.7.31)

Founders, Prophets and Saints

2. Every Prophet and Saint Endured Hardships and Rejection

A prophet is not without honor, except in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house.
    Mark 6.4
 
As an elephant in the battlefield withstands the arrows shot from a bow, even so will I endure abuse.
    Dhammapada 320 (Buddhism)
 
A scribe came up and said to him, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of man has nowhere to lay his head.”
    Matthew 8.19-20
 
The Messenger says, “O my Lord, behold, my people have taken this Qur’an as a thing to be shunned.” Even so We have appointed to every Prophet an enemy from among the sinners; but your Lord suffices as a guide and as a helper.
    Qur’an 25.30-31
 
To what land shall I flee? Where bend my steps?I am thrust out from family and tribe;I have no favor from the village to which I would belong,
Nor from the wicked rulers of the country:How then, O Lord, shall I obtain Thy favor?
    Avesta, Yasna 46.1 (Zoroastrianism)
 
While Confucius stood alone at the east gate of the outer city the natives reported to Tsekung, “There is a man at the east gate… He looks crest-fallen like a homeless, wandering dog.” Tsekung told Confucius this story, and Confucius smiled and said, “I don’t know about the descriptions of my figure, but as for resembling a homeless, wandering dog, he is quite right, he is quite right!”
    Ssu-ma Ch’ien, Shih Chi 47 (Confucianism)
 
The lord, the God of their fathers, sent persistently to them by his messengers, because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place; but they kept mocking the messengers of God, despising his words, and scoffing at his prophets, till the wrath of the lord rose against his people, till there was no remedy.
    2 Chronicles 36.15-16
 
They say only, “Lo! We found our fathers following a religion, and we are guided by their footprints.” And even so We sent not a warner before you [Muhammad] into any township, but its luxurious ones said, “Lo! We found our fathers following a religion, and we are following their footprints.” And the warner said, “What! Even though I bring you better guidance than that you found your fathers following?” They answered, “Lo! In what you bring we are disbelievers.” We have requited them; see what was the consequence for the deniers.
    Qur’an 43.22-25
 
You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. Which of the prophets did not your fathers persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered.
    Acts 7.51-52
 
 
 

The Great Work of the Conversion of Lineage Is Absolutely Necessary

Cheon Seong Gyeong 2160

From what point will God’s ideal nation be realized? Where will the restoration of the homeland take place? It starts from the individuals who live by the philosophy to love their enemies. Therefore, as long as God exists, there is no way Christianity can avoid becoming a global religion, because Christianity offers a movement to break down national borders with love, to transcend all environments and cultural barriers, and to embrace even one’s enemies. If you plant beans, you get beans, because kidney beans come from kidney bean seeds, and red flowers bloom from red flower seeds. In the same way, if you plant a satanic seed, a seed of taking revenge on your enemies, you will get a tree of evil – a tree of vengeance. But if you plant the seeds of goodness, the seeds of loving your enemies, you will get a tree of goodness, a tree of love for enemies. This is just a natural principle.

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1272

In order to enter God’s realm of heart, your lineage has to be the same. You can only join that realm of heart after changing your lineage, which originated from a different root. The stems are different. The roots, stems and sprouts need to be identical. For that to be so, the great work of the conversion of lineage is absolutely necessary. This cannot be carried out alone. You need True Parents for this task. (172-55, 1988.1.7)

Richard: This is a very core part of the Unfication teaching: you must change your lineage through the Blessing (of marriage).

Chapter 9

History of God’s Providence

Founders, Prophets and Saints

God operates His Providence to save humankind through establishing religions; the religions in turn elevate human morality and ethics, leading to the creation of civilizations. Each of the major religions begins with its founder. Father Moon terms these founders “saints,” and gives pride of place to Jesus, Buddha, Confucius and Muhammad as the four representative saints of humankind.
Each founder is unique, proclaiming the core truth for the religion he spawned. For the Christian, it is the saving work of Christ alone that saves, notwithstanding the accomplishments of other founders, great as they may be. Likewise, the Muslim’s faith is defined uniquely by the message of Muhammad, the “seal” of the prophets—that is, the last and final prophet. The committed believer is confronted with one individual as the standard of truth, the exemplar and revealer who defines the true way. the declaration, “I am the way, the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father but by me” (John 14.6) is comparable to, “outside the Buddha’s dispensation there is no saint” (Dhammapada 254); “Muhammad is the seal of the prophets” (Qur’an 33.40) and so on. For Father Moon, however, all the founders were sent by the one God. All bear witness to the one truth of God. All stand within a single providence of God that seeks to elevate people of every culture and every nation and prepare them to enter his universal Kingdom.
Thus, Father Moon adds Buddha, Confucius and Muhammad to that more familiar roster of God’s chosen ones in providential history, which in the Western tradition begins with able and Noah and continues with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Moses, David, Solomon and the prophets, up to Jesus. Judaism, Christianity and Islam all regard themselves as heirs to this illustrious lineage. Judaism omits Jesus of course, but adds a succession of great rabbis; Islam includes Jesus and adds a few Arabian prophets to its list such as Ishmael and Idris. Meanwhile, in the east, Hinduism recognizes a succession of avatars who arise from age to age to defeat the powers of evil and return the world to righteousness. Confucianism has its own lineage of saints: King you, Wen and Wu and the Duke of Chou. Confucius saw himself as recovering their ancient wisdom and tradition.
This section treats the common characteristics of a saint: pursuit of the truth regardless of the cost; desire to elevate society and all humankind to a higher ideal; a universal outlook that does not discriminate by nationality, wealth or social status; faith in God or heaven or some higher power; and willingness to bear with persecution and ostracism from ignorant society. Subsequent sections will treat these saints and prophets individually, with special attention on the Western biblical tradition.

1. God’s Champions and Messengers

Whenever the Law declines and the purpose of life is forgotten, I manifest myself on earth. I am born in every age to protect the good, to destroy evil, and to re-establish the Law.
    Bhagavad-Gita 4.7-8 (Hinduism)
 
Lo! We inspired you [O Muhammad] as We inspired Noah and the prophets after him, as We inspired Abraham and Ishmael and Isaac and Jacob and the tribes, and Jesus and Job and Jonah and Aaron and Solomon, and as
We imparted unto David the Psalms; and messengers We have mentioned to you before and messengers We have not mentioned to you… messengers of good cheer and of warning, in order that mankind might have no argument against God after the messengers. God was ever Mighty, Wise.
    Qur’an 4.163-65
 
Inasmuch as these Birds of the Celestial Throne are all sent down from the heaven of the Will of God, and as they all arise to proclaim His irresistible Faith, they therefore are regarded as one soul and the same person. For they all drink from the one Cup of the love of God, and all partake of the fruit of the same Tree of Oneness. These Manifestations of God have each a twofold station. One is the station of pure abstraction and essential unity. In this respect, if you call them all by one name, and ascribe to them the same attribute, you have not erred from the truth. Even as He has revealed, “No distinction do We make between any of His Messengers!” For they one and all summon the people of the earth to acknowledge the Unity of God…
    The other is the station of distinction, and pertains to the world of creation and to its limitations. In this respect, each Manifestation of God has a distinct individuality, a definitely prescribed mission, a predestined Revelation, and specially designated limitations. Each one of them is known by a different name, is characterized by a special attribute, fulfills a definite Mission, and is entrusted with a particular Revelation.
    Book of Certitude, 152, 176 (Baha’i Faith)
 
To be unsnared by vulgar ways, to make no vain show of material things, to bring no hardship on others, to avoid offending the mob, to seek peace and security for the world, preservation of the people’s lives, full provender for others as well as oneself, and to rest content when these aims are fulfilled, in this way bringing purity to the heart—there were those in ancient times who believed that the “art of the Way” lay in these things… They preached liberality of mind, hoping thereby to bring men together in the joy of harmony, to insure concord within the four seas. Their chief task lay, they felt, in the effort to establish these ideals. They regarded it as no shame to suffer insult, but sought to put an end to strife among the people, to outlaw aggression, to abolish the use of arms, and to rescue the world from warfare. With these aims they walked the whole world over, trying to persuade those above them and to teach those below, and though the world refused to listen, they clamored all the louder and would not give up, until men said, “High and low are sick at the sight of them, and still they demand to be seen!”
    Chuang Tzu 33 (Taoism)
 
Time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets—who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, received promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched raging fire, escaped the edge of the sword, won strength out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. Women received their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, that they might rise again to a better life. Others suffered mocking and scourging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword, they went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, ill-treated—of whom the world was not worthy—wandering over deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.
    Hebrews 11.32-38
 
Let us now praise famous men,
and our fathers in their generations.
The Lord apportioned to them great glory,
his majesty from the beginning.
There were those who ruled in their kingdoms,
and were men renowned for their power,
giving counsel by their understanding
and proclaiming prophecies…
And there are some who have no memorial,
who have perished as though they had not lived…
but these were men of mercy,
whose righteous deeds have not been forgotten.
    Ecclesiasticus 44.1-10 (Christianity)
 
 
 
 
 
 

There is No God Save Him

Cheon Seong Gyeong 2296

The Completed Testament Age signifies that the entire world can receive grace from the True Parents equally. For that to happen, cause, lineage, right of ownership and realm of heart need to be converted. That is the responsibility of the tribal messiahs. Indeed, this has been made possible because we have entered the era of women. (251-286, 1993.11.1)

Cheon Seong Gyeong 861

Who is God? He is your friend! He is your best friend. He is your elder brother, Father, King and Creator. So when you enter the vast world of heaven in the spirit world, even if you ask God for something greater than anything there, He will make it for you. That will not be a problem. How proud you will be! That is the position representing God. Do you think God would dislike people who reach that position? No! He will welcome them saying, “My son, my number one son!” This is the greatest wish of a parent. (293-161, 1998.5.26)

Islam

2. A Rival Religion, Correcting the Religions that Preceded It

Surely the true religion with God is Islam. And those who were (formerly) given the Book differed only after knowledge had come to them, out of envy among themselves. Whoever disbelieves the messages of God, God is Quick at the reckoning.
    Qur’an 3.19
 
And the Jews say the Christians follow nothing true, and the Christians say the Jews follow nothing true; yet both are readers of the same Scripture. Even thus speak those who know not. God will judge between them on the Day of Resurrection concerning that wherein they differ.
    Qur’an 2.113
 
[The children of Israel] alter the words from their contexts and neglect a portion of that whereof they were reminded. And you will always discover treachery in them excepting a few of them—so pardon them and forgive.  Surely Allah loves those who do good to others. 
    And with those who say, “We are Christians,” We made a covenant, but they neglected a portion of that whereof they were reminded, so We stirred up enmity and hatred among them to the Day of Resurrection. And Allah will soon inform them of what they did.
    O People of the Book, indeed Our Messenger has come to you, making clear to you much of what you concealed of the Book and passing over much. Indeed, there has come to you from Allah a Light and a clear Book.
    Qur’an 5.13-15
 
And when Allah says, “O Jesus, son of Mary, did you say to mankind, ‘Take me and my mother for two gods beside Allah?’” He says, “Be glorified! It was not mine to utter that to which I had no right. If I used to say it, then Thou wouldst know it. Thou knowest what is in my mind, and I know not what is in Thy mind. Surely Thou art the Knower of Things Hidden.
    Qur’an 5.116
 
Fight those who believe not in God nor in the Last Day, nor hold that forbidden which has been forbidden by God and His Apostle, nor acknowledge the Religion of Truth, even if they are of the People of the Book, until they pay the tribute39 with willing submission and acknowledge their subjection.
    The Jews say, “Ezra is the son of God,” and the Christians say, “Christ is the Son of God.” That is a saying from their mouth; they but imitate what the unbelievers of old used to say. God’s curse be upon them: how they are deluded away from the truth!
    They have taken as lords besides God their rabbis and their monks and Christ the son of Mary, when they were bid to worship only one God. There is no God save Him…
    It is He who hath sent His Messenger with the guidance and the religion of truth, that He may cause it to prevail over all religion, however much the idolaters may be averse.
    Qur’an 9.29-33