Eight Great Textbooks | Daily Inspiration

Resurrection Occurs through Repentance on Earth

Cheon Seong Gyeong 678

On February 1, 1985 at 3 a.m., Moth-
er and I established this condition
through special prayer. Thenceforth, all
the barriers of hell crumbled, so whoev-
er makes effort on that foundation can
rise up to the heavenly world. Also, if
there are good spirits among your rela-
tives in the spirit world, they will come
to you, educate you and even take you
with them to the heavenly world. Their
role as the Savior in the spirit world has
begun. The mission of the Savior lay not
in the spirit world, but has been limit-
ed to the earth, yet now, by paving this
way, the good spirits in the other world
can educate the evil spirits in hell. While
the good ancestors play the role of the
Savior, a way has been opened allowing
them to develop and ascend to the heav-
enly world. (136-183, 1985.12.22)

Richard: Your good ancestors can guide you, if you are willing to listen and be open to God’s guidance.

Cheong Seong Gyeong 1350

Just as the Israelites set out from
Egypt for Canaan, the 430 Couples sig-
nify that we too have set out to restore
the world, which is our Canaan. Where-
as they set out in the 430th year of their
captivity in Egypt, we have settled on
the number 43, representing 4,300 years.
We are moving forward from this point.
In doing so, we are not working individ-
ually but in family units. We must move
forward with our families. You should
understand this. The unit is no longer
the individual; it is the family. Thus, you
should not abandon your families and
move forward alone. Furthermore, the
central person in the position of Moses
should not abandon the Israelites. He
must lead them all out of Egypt into
Canaan. If one of them happens to be in
prison, he should help that person to get
out so he can come with the others.

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

Chapter 6
Resurrection

If we are to believe literally the prophecies of Scripture, we should expect that when Jesus comes again, the saints will come back to life in the flesh. Their bodies, buried in the earth and completely decomposed, will be reconstituted to their original state. Given the modern state of our knowledge, they do not make rational sense. This brings great confusion to the Christian faith. Therefore, it is important that we elucidate the true meaning of resurrection.

RESURRECTION

Resurrection means to come back to life. To come back to life implies that we have been dead. To fathom the meaning of resurrection, we must clarify the biblical concepts of life and death.

1.1 THE BIBLICAL CONCEPTS OF LIFE AND DEATH

When a follower asked Jesus if he could go home to bury his deceased father, Jesus said, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead.”2 From these words of Jesus, it is clear that the Bible contains two different concepts of life and death. The first concept of life and death concerns physical life. Here, “death” means the end of physical life, as was the case of the disciple’s deceased father who was to be buried. “Life” in that sense means the state in which the physical self maintains its physiological functions. The second concept of life and death concerns those living people who had gathered to bury the deceased man, those whom Jesus called “the dead.” This second concept of death does not refer to the expiration of physical life. It means leaving the bosom of God’s love and falling under the dominion of Satan. The corresponding concept of life refers to the state of living in accordance with God’s Will, within the dominion of God’s infinite love.

1.2 THE DEATH CAUSED BY THE HUMAN FALL

We have learned that there are two different biblical concepts of death. Which of the two refers to the death brought about by the Fall of the first human ancestors? God created human beings to grow old and return to dust. According to the Principle of Creation, the flesh is the clothing of the spirit. Just as one discards worn-out clothes, the flesh is to be discarded when it has grown old and weak. Only the unclothed spirit self then enters the spirit world and lives there eternally. We can conclude that the death caused by the Fall does not mean the end of physical life, but rather the descent from the good dominion of God into the evil dominion of Satan.

1.3 THE MEANING OF RESURRECTION

Resurrection may be defined as the process of being restored from the death caused by the Fall to life, from the realm of Satan’s dominion to the realm of God’s direct dominion, through the providence of restoration. Accordingly, whenever we repent of our sins and rise to a higher state of goodness, we are resurrected to that degree.

1.4 WHAT CHANGES DOES RESURRECTION CAUSE IN HUMAN BEINGS?

According to God’s Word, Adam and Eve died when they ate of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Nevertheless, no significant external change took place in them. At most there were momentary changes in their countenances due to the anxiety and fear they felt over having fallen. Likewise, no significant external changes should be expected to take place in fallen people when they are resurrected to the state prior to the Fall.

The changes a person experiences when he is resurrected and enters the governance of God take place in his heart and spirit. Having been liberated from Satan’s dominion, a resurrected person can unite with God in heart and acquire a divine nature. These internal changes also purify his body, transforming it from a haunt of Satan into a temple of God.

View slides 1 to 21 below for an illustrated presentation of the above content:

2007p1-CHAPT-5-Resurrection_revised-4-28-2014

The Main Reason Jesus Had to Die on the Cross Was the Failure of John the Baptist

Matthew 23

²³The Sadducees did not believe that people would rise to life after death. So that same day some of the Sadducees came to Jesus and said:

²⁴Teacher, Moses wrote that if a married man dies and has no children, his brother should marry the widow. Their first son would then be thought of as the son of the dead brother.

Richard: Having children (when you are married!) is very important.

Psalm 115

¹²The Lord will not forget
    to give us his blessing;
    he will bless all of Israel
    and the family of Aaron.
¹³All who worship the Lord,
no matter who they are,
    will receive his blessing.

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

THE SECOND COMING OF ELIJAH AND JOHN THE BAPTIST

The prophet Malachi foretold that Elijah would come again: “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes.” Jesus testified that the prophesied coming of Elijah was realized in none other than John the Baptist: “I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not know him, but did to him whatever they pleased. . . .” Then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them of John the Baptist. —Matt. 17:12-13

2.1 THE JEWISH BELIEF IN THE RETURN OF ELIJAH

Since the disciples already believed that Jesus was the Messiah, they willingly accepted his testimony that John the Baptist was Elijah. Yet how could others who did not know Jesus accept this controversial claim?

2.2 THE DIRECTION THE JEWISH PEOPLE WOULD CHOOSE

Jesus made it plain that John the Baptist was the very Elijah whom the people were so anxiously awaiting, while on the contrary, John the Baptist himself flatly negated this claim. Whose words were the Jewish people to believe? This matter obviously depended on which of the two, Jesus or John, appeared more credible and respectable in the eyes of the people of that time.

When the Jewish people of Jesus’ day compared Jesus and John the Baptist, who appeared more credible to them? Without a doubt, John’s words had more credibility. Therefore, they naturally believed John the Baptist when he denied being Elijah more than they believed Jesus’ testimony that John was Elijah. Since the people believed John, they considered Jesus’ words to be a fabrication concocted to support his dubious claim to be the Messiah. Consequently, Jesus was condemned as an impostor.

2.3 THE FAITHLESSNESS OF JOHN THE BAPTIST

Many among the Jewish leadership and people of Jesus’ day had the highest respect for John the Baptist; some even thought of him as the Messiah. Had John the Baptist announced that he was Elijah, as Jesus had testified, those who were eagerly waiting for the Messiah would have readily believed John’s testimony and flocked to Jesus. Instead, John’s ignorance of God’s providence, which led him to insist that he was not Elijah, became the principal reason why the Jewish people did not come to Jesus. Here we have come to understand that the main reason why Jesus had to die on the cross was the failure of John the Baptist.

2.4 THE SENSE IN WHICH JOHN THE BAPTIST WAS ELIJAH

We have stated previously that John the Baptist was to inherit and complete the mission which Elijah had left unfinished on earth. As recorded in the Bible, he was born with the mission to go before the Lord, “in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.” Hence, in terms of his mission, John was the second coming of Elijah.

2.5 OUR ATTITUDE TOWARD THE BIBLE

We have been reading the Bible based on the unquestioned belief that John the Baptist was a great prophet. Our new insight into John the Baptist teaches us that we should dispense with the conservative attitude of faith which makes us afraid to question conventional beliefs and traditional doctrines.

View slides 33 to 53 below for an illustrated presentation of the above content:

2007p1-CHAPT-4-The-Messiah-_revised-4-28-2014

What Would Have Happened if Jesus Had Not Been Crucified?

Cheon Seong Gyeong 311

A life lived for love is a productive
and fruitful one, and a life lived with-
out knowing love leads to exhaustion
and destruction. God, humankind, and
even the universe desire to live for the
sake of love. This is the original way of
life. (Blessed Family – 1062)

Cheong Seong Gyeong 1165

In the first chapter of the Gospel of
Matthew, four great women who had
illicit relationships: Tamar, Bathsheba,
Rahab and Ruth, are listed in the gene-
alogy of Jesus. This gospel is the equiva-
lent of Genesis, but the question is, why
do the first pages of the New Testament
focus on these women, who are stained
and impure? Without understanding
the Principle view of the Fall, there is no
way to understand this. It has remained
a mystery. By searching throughout my
life, however, I have been able to answer
these questions for the first time. (211-137,
1990.12.30)

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

1.4 THE LIMIT OF SALVATION THROUGH REDEMPTION BY THE CROSS AND THE PURPOSE OF JESUS’ SECOND ADVENT

What would have happened if Jesus had not been crucified? Jesus would have accomplished both the spiritual and physical aspects of salvation. He surely would have established the everlasting and indestructible Kingdom of Heaven on earth. Yet the people did not believe in Jesus; instead they led him to the cross. Jesus’ body was exposed to Satan’s assault, and he was killed. Therefore, even when faithful Christians are united with Jesus, their bodies remain exposed to Satan’s attack, just as was Jesus’ body. Consequently, no matter how devout a believer may be, he cannot attain physical salvation through redemption by the cross of Jesus.

However, Jesus laid the basis for spiritual salvation by securing the victorious foundation for his resurrection through the redemption by his blood on the cross. As a result, all believers since his resurrection have received the benefit of spiritual salvation, but not physical salvation. Therefore, to uproot the original sin, which he could not remove through the crucifixion, and to complete the work of physical salvation, Christ must come again on earth. Only then will the purpose of God’s work of salvation be fulfilled both spiritually and physically.

1.5 TWO KINDS OF PROPHECIES CONCERNING THE CROSS

If Jesus’ death on the cross were not predestined as necessary for the complete accomplishment of his purpose as the Messiah, why was it prophesied in Isaiah that he would suffer the ordeal of the cross? As Isaiah prophesied24 and as the angel announced to Mary, it was foretold that Jesus would become the king of the Jews in his lifetime and establish an everlasting kingdom on the earth. Let us investigate why God gave two contrasting kinds of prophecies concerning Jesus.

Human beings have their own portion of responsibility. The nature of the fruits they bear depends upon whether or not they fulfill their portion of responsibility. For this reason, God gave two kinds of prophecies concerning the accomplishment of His Will.

1.6 GOSPEL PASSAGES IN WHICH JESUS SPOKE OF HIS CRUCIFIXION AS IF IT WERE NECESSARY

There are several passages in the Gospels in which Jesus spoke of his suffering on the cross as if it were necessary for salvation. For example, when Peter heard Jesus’ prediction of his imminent crucifixion and tried to dissuade him, Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me.” Peter’s dissuasion could have hindered Jesus from paving the way for spiritual salvation through the cross. For this reason, Jesus rebuked him.

A second example is Jesus’ last words on the cross, “It is finished.”33 Jesus did not utter these words to mean that through the crucifixion he had completely accomplished the providence of salvation. Hence, by the words, “It is finished,” Jesus meant that he had finished laying the foundation for spiritual salvation. By this time, it had become the alternative goal of the providence.

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2007p1-CHAPT-4-The-Messiah-_revised-4-28-2014

You Rejected Jesus, Who Was Holy and Good

Acts 3

¹⁴You rejected Jesus, who was holy and good. You asked for a murderer to be set free, ¹⁵and you killed the one who leads people to life. But God raised him from death, and all of us can tell you what he has done. ¹⁶You see this man, and you know him. He put his faith in the name of Jesus and was made strong. Faith in Jesus made this man completely well while everyone was watching.

Richard: Jesus did not come to die. God prepared the chosen people of Israel to receive Him. See the Divine Principle Study below.

Isaiah 60

I will bring bronze and iron
    in place of wood and stone;
in place of bronze and iron,
    I will bring gold and silver.
I will appoint peace and justice
    as your rulers and leaders.
¹⁸Violence, destruction, and ruin
will never again
be heard of
    within your borders.
“Victory” will be the name
    you give to your walls;
“Praise” will be the name
    you give to your gates.

Richard: This is a prophecy that should have been fulfilled at the time of Jesus coming, if the chosen people of Israel had received Him.

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

The Messiah: His Advent and the Purpose of His Second Coming

The word “Messiah” in Hebrew means the “anointed one,” signifying a king. The chosen people of Israel believed in the Word of God as revealed through the prophets, which promised that God would send them a king and savior. Such was their messianic expectation. God sent this Messiah in the person of Jesus Christ. “Christ” is the Greek word for Messiah. The Messiah comes to fulfill the purpose of God’s work of salvation.

SALVATION THROUGH THE CROSS

1.1 THE PURPOSE OF JESUS’ COMING AS THE MESSIAH

Jesus came as the Messiah for nothing less than the complete salvation of humanity; he was to fulfill the goal of the providence of restoration. Jesus was supposed to establish the Kingdom of Heaven, first on the earth.

1.2 WAS SALVATION COMPLETED THROUGH THE CROSS?

Did Jesus’ crucifixion, which brought us redemption from our sins, fulfill the purpose of the providence of restoration? If so, we would expect that faithful believers in Jesus would have restored their original nature and built the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. Yet in the entire history of Christianity, there has been no one, no matter how devout, who lived his life in inseparable oneness with God. Not one person has ever experienced God’s Heart in its full intensity or possessed a divine nature. There has never been a believer who had no need of redemption or a life of ardent prayer and devotion. Christian parents continue to transmit the original sin to their children. The grace of redemption by the cross has neither fully uprooted our original sin nor perfectly restored our original nature.

1.3 JESUS’ DEATH ON THE CROSS

Was Jesus’ death on the cross the most desired Will of God? Let us first examine the words and deeds of the disciples as recorded in the Bible. Next, let us examine from the viewpoint of God’s providence whether the crucifixion of Jesus was inevitable as the predestined Will of God. Next, let us examine the words and deeds of Jesus himself to ascertain whether his crucifixion was in fact the way to completely accomplish his mission as the Messiah.

God’s clear intention for the chosen people of Israel, whom He had led through all manner of difficulty from the time of Abraham, was to send them a Messiah and build an eternal Kingdom on earth. Nevertheless, when the Jewish leadership persecuted Jesus and led him to the cross, Israel lost its qualification to be the founding nation of God’s Kingdom. Within a few generations, the people of Israel would be scattered over the face of the earth. They have suffered oppression and persecution ever since. This can be viewed as the tragic consequence of the mistake their ancestors committed when they condemned to death the Messiah, whom they should have honored, thereby preventing the completion of the providence of restoration. Moreover, not only the Jews, but also many faithful Christians have shouldered the cross as their portion for the collective sin of having killed Jesus.

View slides 1 to 16 below for an illustrated presentation of the above content. For more detail, view the entire text: https://tparents.org/Library/Unification/Books/DP06/DP06-14.pdf .

2007p1-CHAPT-4-The-Messiah-_revised-4-28-2014

The New Truth Must Appear

Cheon Seong Gyeong 606

Where do you discover God’s supreme
love? Not in a palace. The way to occupy
the highest love of God is found at the
bottom of hell where you are bleeding
close to the point of collapse and about
to die. When I was in prison under the
communists, the spirit world testified to
me without my saying even one word.
That is why I had disciples who were
resolved to do anything for me at the risk
of their lives. Given that kind of support,
had I been a villain, I would have had
many ways to escape from prison. God
works with us in such situations. (91-175,
1977.2.6)

Cheong Seong Gyeong 1934

We know from history that the
Americans established their nation
while migrating from east to west, giv-
ing birth to a new civilization. Then,
based on Hawaii, the United States
secured a beach-head from which to
influence the Pacific Ocean sphere. (79-72,
1975.6.1)
The reason that Japan attacked
Pearl Harbor in Hawaii is that she had
come to the conclusion that it would
be impossible to defend her position in
either China or Korea without strik-
ing the United States, which lay in the
background. You should be aware of
this. You should understand that Japan
struck Pearl Harbor in order to defend
her dominant position in Korea and
China. Historians in America have not
known this. I am certain about these
things. (111-313, 1981.3.9)

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

THE LAST DAYS

3.1 THE MEANING OF THE LAST DAYS
Human history has been the history of restoration. Despite its evil beginning, the world under the sovereignty of Satan must one day be transformed into the world where goodness reigns, where the three great blessings are fulfilled centered on God. The Messiah comes at this time of transformation.
The Last Days is this time, when the evil world under satanic sov-
ereignty is transformed into the ideal world under God’s sovereignty.
Hell on earth will be transformed into the Kingdom of Heaven on earth.
THE LAST DAYS AND THE PRESENT DAYS
We can deduce that today is in fact the Last Days by examining the
various circumstances of the present age. We can recognize in these cir-
cumstances the restoration of the three great blessings, which God has
purposed in His providence of restoration.
4.1 SIGNS OF THE RESTORATION OF THE FIRST BLESSING
The first blessing God gave to Adam and Eve was perfection of indi-
vidual character. 73 In the modern world.
First, we can observe that the spirituality of fallen people is being
restored. A second sign that the first blessing is being restored in the present
era can be seen in the historical trend toward the recovery of the free-
dom of the original mind. A third sign of the renewal of the first blessing is the restoration of
true human value. A fourth sign that the first blessing is being renewed in the present
age is the restoration of original, true love in fallen people.
This is more evidence that the present time is the eve of the Last Days, when we can restore God’s
first blessing and reach perfection of individual character grounded in
the love of God.
4.2 SIGNS OF THE RESTORATION OF THE SECOND BLESSING
God’s second blessing was for Adam and Eve to attain True
Parenthood and bear and raise good children, forming a family, soci-
ety and world where goodness reigns. In the present
era, the world has been coalescing into one cultural sphere based on
Christian ideals. As the world has been greatly influenced by the teachings
of Jesus and the Holy Spirit, who are the True Parents of humankind, 75 the
way has been opened for all people to become godly children. This trend
is evidence that God’s second blessing is being restored. Thus, we can con-
clude with certainty that the present age is the Last Days.
At present, our world is divided into two: the democratic world, which seeks to create societies on God’s side, and the
communist world, which has been establishing regimes on Satan’s side. Today we are at this very point of inter-
section, when these two worlds are confronting each other in the final battle. This is yet more evidence that the present era is the Last Days.
4.3 SIGNS OF THE RESTORATION OF THE THIRD BLESSING
Once Adam and Eve had attained perfection, they were to fulfill
God’s third blessing by gaining dominion over the natural world.
Dominion over the natural world has two aspects: internal and exter-
nal. Internal dominion denotes dominion of the heart. God’s providence of restoration through religion, philosophy, ethics and so forth, has gradually elevated the spirituality of fallen people toward God. In the modern world, there is evidence that people are regaining the worthiness to govern the creation through heart. External dominion denotes proper mastery of the creation through science and technology, leading to today’s highly advanced science. Modern people have built an extremely comfortable and pleasant living environment through the economic progress that has accompanied scientific development. Fallen people have thus been restoring their dominion over the universe, advancing toward the re-establishment of God’s third blessing. Observing this, we are assured that the present era is the Last Days.

THE LAST DAYS , THE NEW TRUTH AND OUR ATTITUDE

5.1 THE LAST DAYS AND THE NEW TRUTH
Fallen people have been overcoming their internal ignorance by
enlightening their spirituality and intellect with “spirit and truth” 79
through religion. “Truth” may be divided into two types: internal truth
as taught by religion, which helps people overcome internal ignorance,
and external truth as obtained through science, which helps people
overcome external ignorance.
God assists ignorant, fallen people to elevate their spirituality and
enlighten their intellect through spirit and truth. By these means, God
conducts His providence to restore people to the original state before the
Fall. Spirit and truth are unique, eternal and unchanging. However, the
degree and scope of their teaching and the means of their expression
will vary from one age to another as they restore humankind from a
state of utter ignorance.
For modern, intellectual people to be enlightened in the truth, there must appear another textbook of higher and richer content, with a more scientific method of expression. We call this the new truth.
5.2 OUR ATTITUDE IN THE LAST DAYS
Those who live in this period suffer internally from anxiety, fear and confusion due to the absence of a guiding ideology or philosophy. They suffer externally from strife and battles fought with fearsome weapons. The providence of the new age does not begin on the ashes of the
old age. On the contrary, the new age sprouts and grows amidst the
final phases of the old age and comes into conflict with that age. Jesus, for example, who inaugurated the New Testament Age, came at the close of the Old Testament Age in such a way as to bewilder the faithful adherents of the Mosaic Law.
He was ostracized by the Jewish people and eventually crucified.
We who are alive today are living in the Last Days. We should cul-
tivate a humble heart and make the utmost effort to receive divine
inspiration through prayer. We should not be strongly attached to con-
ventional concepts, but rather should direct ourselves to be receptive
to the spirit, in order that we may find the new truth which can guide
us to the providence of the new age.

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2007p1-CHAPT-3-Escatology_revised-4-28-2014