Category: Speeches of the Rev. Sun Myung Moon

Salvation is to Restore What has Been Lost

Ezekiel 44

The Lord said:

15 The priests of the Levi tribe who are descendants of Zadok the priest were faithful to me, even when the rest of the Israelites turned away. And so, these priests will continue to serve as my priests and to offer the fat and the blood of sacrifices. 16 They will come into my temple, where they will offer sacrifices at my altar and lead others in worship.

1 Kings 20

23 Meanwhile, Benhadad’s officials went to him and explained:

Israel’s gods are mountain gods. We fought Israel’s army in the hills, and that’s why they defeated us. But if we fight them on flat land, there’s no way we can lose.

24 Here’s what you should do. First, get rid of those thirty-two kings and put army commanders in their places. 25 Then get more soldiers, horses, and chariots, so your army will be as strong as it was before. We’ll fight Israel’s army on flat land and wipe them out.

Benhadad agreed and did what they suggested.

The Toil of God as He Tries to Raise up His Beloved Children

Rev. Sun Myung Moon
October 11, 1959

John 3: 11-21

1 Corinthians 7:28-29

If this is what the God who sought me is like, then how about tomorrow? Is there any way to comfort this God? Even if human beings were to experience pain, there is no greater pain than God has experienced. No matter how unsolvable a problem human beings have, there is no problem more difficult to resolve than God’s.

Do you think that God yearns for the appearance of a son who will say to Him, “Father, how much You have suffered,” with a heart more sorrowful than His? Have you ever thought that God sought sons and daughters who can say, “Father, how much have You suffered, how many times have You fallen down, and how many times have You struggled?” He wants sons and daughters who can endure many sufferings, persecutions and difficulties and cast away all sorrows, bitterness and indignation. The God we believe in and should serve is such a person.

Where are the true sons and daughters who understand the sorrow of God, who is seeking us even while going the course of the cross? We need such sons and daughters. You have to understand clearly that the group, the people, the nation and the world which can unite centering on such sons and daughters is the world that God is hoping to realize, the ideal world of creation.

I know God as a miserable being. Misery is the only word to describe God’s situation. No matter how miserable a person may be, compared to God, he is not miserable. No matter what kind of sorrow there may be, it is not comparable to that of God. No matter how bitter one may be, compared to God, he has no problem.

Upon creating Adam and Eve, God desired a garden of goodness. God created them in order to embrace them and love them and rejoice while all things of the universe reciprocated in harmony. Yet when we look at the Bible, where does it say that such a thing ever took place? The heart of God over losing Adam and Eve is the heart of sorrow over losing one’s only son and only daughter.

It is said that Jesus is the only son. What does the only son refer to? It refers to the only son who can receive God’s love and comfort God. Since Adam lost God’s love due to the Fall, Jesus was sent to recover it. He is the first son and the only son born of God’s love. That is why he is referred to as the only begotten son. What was Jesus supposed to do on the earth? He should have shown us what the love of God is like. He was supposed to show us what life centering on God’s love is like, what society centering on God’s love is like, and what the world centering on God’s love is like.

When Jesus came to the earth, did he clearly show what the love of God is like? He passed away without showing it fully to us. Did he show what the family that God loves is like? Did he show what the people, nation, and the world that God loves are like? He could not.

If Adam and Eve had reached perfection without falling, God would have raised two arms and blessed them, “Oh, my beloved sons and daughters, I want you to inherit My work and govern all the things of the universe and live together with Me eternally.” However, this will of God was completely undermined. For this reason God longs for the one day that He can bless two people like Adam and Eve, giving them all of Heaven and earth. This is what you have to understand.

What is salvation? It is to restore what has been lost. This is why while going through the historical course of ups and downs, God held the people up every time they became tired and fell down. After four thousand years passed, God sent Jesus.

By sending him God wanted to unveil the sorrow and unload the suffering of the four thousand years. Through Jesus God wanted to restore and complete the ideal of the creation of the universe. Jesus was the person sent as the one responsible for that. Jesus was the one sent to complete the ideal of creation.

With Whom Will God Share His Heart?

Matthew 5

When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on the side of a mountain and sat down.[a]

Blessings

Jesus’ disciples gathered around him, 2 and he taught them:

3 God blesses those people
    who depend only on him.
They belong to the kingdom
    of heaven!
4 God blesses those people
who grieve.
    They will find comfort!
5 God blesses those people
    who are humble.
The earth will belong
    to them!
6 God blesses those people
who want to obey him
    more than to eat or drink.
They will be given
    what they want!
7 God blesses those people
    who are merciful.
They will be treated
    with mercy!

Job 16

12 Everything was going well,
until God grabbed my neck
    and shook me to pieces.
God set me up as the target
13     for his arrows,
and without showing mercy,
he slashed my stomach open,
    spilling out my insides.
14 God never stops attacking,
15     and so, in my sorrow
I dress in sackcloth[a]
    and sit in the dust.
16 My face is red with tears,
and dark shadows
    circle my eyes,
17 though I am not violent,
    and my prayers are sincere.

Richard: No one has a “right” to complain about their situation. We can not definitively say whether a particular circumstance is good or bad, in the long run.

The Toil of God as He Tries to Raise up His Beloved Children

Rev. Sun Myung Moon
October 11, 1959

John 3: 11-21

1 Corinthians 7:28-29

God’s goal is to raise up individuals and people and to send one embodiment whom He can love and do His work of liberation through. God has been guiding history toward that purpose.

After the Fall, even though human beings betrayed Him so many thousands of times, because God considered them His children, He did not hesitate to do any difficult work or face the risk of death for the sake of achieving His goals. A parent cannot abandon a child just because he is committing sins. Original human beings are the direct children of God who are connected to God’s heart. Even if human beings were to abandon God, God cannot cut off this relationship and abandon people. This is what you have to understand.

When we think about this, we see that we are descendants who deserve to be mistreated by the universe and labeled as violators of filial piety. The same is true for every single person in history, including our good ancestors. From the standpoint of a nation, God is the king. We should serve God as the king and become loyal ministers. Because we are unable to do so, we cannot protest, even if people label us traitors and expose our sins to the world. This is what we are.

If such a relationship existed between two people, they would surely be the bitterest of enemies. How can God overlook these facts? It is because God has a never-ending desire to see people as sons and daughters who will live with Him eternally. Thus, even if God were ostracized today and tomorrow, turned away from this place and that, He could not turn away from His pursuit of the true child.

I have thought about it like this and have cried, “People on the earth! Before you long for your children and cry, long for God and cry. Before you become indignant about something, you should look toward Heaven and feel its indignation. If there is someone who is crazy about something on the earth, he should forget the earth and become crazy about God.”

God is an infinitely sad person. These are not abstract words. With whom will God share His heart? To whom will God reveal His pain and bitterness? There is no such person. For this reason God yearns for sons and daughters to appear on the earth, sons and daughters who can cling to God’s sorrow and pain and comfort Him. This is the highest standard we should aspire to.

What kind of person is God? He is not a ruler but a Father whose relationship with you is inseparable. That Father struggled in relation to the earth with a heart as desperate as if He were going crazy for six thousand years. Nevertheless, people repeatedly caused that Father pain and betrayed Him. If there is someone who recognizes this sin and becomes crazy about God even now, God will not abandon him.

True Happiness is Finding Love and Living in Attendance to God

Cheon Seong Gyeong 2082

North and South Korea cannot
become one if they remain as they are.
For this, we need patriots who fight with-
out sleep and possess hearts of determi-
nation, willing to overcome all obsta-
cles. The unification of North and South
Korea begins with people who think, “I
truly want to live together. I would like
to die together if we must die, or live
together if we must live. I would like to
live together with our forefathers, with
those who are in the spirit world.” (148-277,
1986.10.11)

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1319

Since I put great emphasis on the
family, I blessed 30,000 couples last
year. This was like dropping a bomb
on the world. Think about it, the mar-
riage of 30,000 couples! We are living in
a world in which even the parents can-
not control their own children, and yet
Rev. Moon of the Unification Church
brought together young people from 131
nations around the world and married
them. Can you think of anything more
miraculous or amazing in the world?
(243-214, 1993.1.10)

The Toil of God as He Tries to Raise up His Beloved Children

Rev. Sun Myung Moon
October 11, 1959

John 3: 11-21

1 Corinthians 7:28-29

However, there has not been even one person who loved his or her sons and daughters with the same heart of love that God had toward Adam and Eve. There has never been a couple who came together with such heart and love.

Sinning daily and making a lot of noise is love below the level of the angels, love which is a product of the Fall. People are distant from the love of God who exists as the center of ideals and as the ideals themselves.

You have probably not given much thought to the fact that Adam and Eve fell. You are unclear about the significance of what you have vaguely heard. There is no deep response of the heart in you. That should not be so. The moment Adam and Eve fell, God’s heart was torn so painfully He almost went insane. You should never forget about the Father who was shaken so thoroughly as to almost forget Himself. Have you ever thought about that?

Even when fallen people on the earth watch their children die, they feel their bone marrow melt. They want to save their children even at the cost of their own lives. How must the heart of God have been as He watched Adam and Eve walking the path toward the Fall and crossing the line of death? Unless you understand that heart, there is no way for you to become God’s sons and daughters.

If someone has experienced the sorrow of God as he watched the Fall of Adam and Eve, nothing of this human world will pose any problem for him. Even the greatest love in the human world cannot comfort the sorrowful heart of God. We understand the history of restoration through indemnity. To return to the original world, we have to go through God’s heart and build a relationship of love with Him. Only after that can we become God’s sons and daughters. Have you ever felt the heart of God who mourned while watching the Fall of Adam and Eve? For six thousand years, God has been ceaselessly struggling to liberate the grieving heart of the Fall. God sent many prophets to liberate it. He sent His beloved son. God sent His beloved son to execution to liberate the grieving heart of the Fall. It is to liberate this that countless people are in pain.

If a day of joy were to come to the earth, what kind of day would that be? The day of joy is the day that the grief which is rooted deep in the heart of God since the human Fall is removed. However, today that grief in God’s heart remains unresolved. The universe is surrounded by sadness. For this reason we are struggling in the sad and painful course of history. In the meantime we are struggling to find happiness. We have to understand this.

Why did we come to have this sorrow? It is not because we do not have money that we are sad. It is not because we do not have prestige that we are sad. It is not because we do not have people to love. What is the pain? It is not the pain that you experience when you are wronged. There is no greater pain than not being able to love one’s beloved.

What is true joy? Becoming a millionaire does not make one happy. Making the universe our own does not make us happy. We have to understand that true happiness is finding love and living in attendance to God.

We fallen people live in sorrow. We fallen people experience pain in our lives. Although we have thirsted for the ideals of goodness for six thousand years, nothing of the kind has emerged. You know very well that the society we live in, the world and current trends of thought cannot build the ideal garden of goodness where God’s love and life can dynamically flow. Yet, to our grief, we cannot deny this world. It is our fate to cross this pass of grief.

How can we cross this pass of grief? We have to go through the love of God. To do so we have to understand the wound in God’s heart and comfort Him. You have to understand that; otherwise, there is no way to usher in the time of hope.

God has sought for us to accomplish this goal. In the Old Testament of the past, God established offerings as the condition to build a bridge to fallen people. God placed nature before human beings and they came to Him through it. Even when God came through nature, our ancestors did not worship Him sincerely. Many prophets in history did not know that by making the offering they were to build a relationship with God’s heart of love. They frequently made mistakes. Using the offering as the sacrifice, God tried to place human beings higher than nature. By doing so He pushed history forward. He sought an individual and connected him to God’s heart, then expanded it to the family and national levels. On that foundation of a nation, God sent a representative whom He could love.

God Created Human Beings to Give them His Love

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2 Samuel 23

8 These are the names of David’s warriors:

Ishbosheth[d] the son of Hachmon[e] was the leader of the Three Warriors.[f] In one battle, he killed eight hundred men with his spear.[g]

9 The next one of the Three Warriors was Eleazar the son of Dodo the Ahohite. One time when the Philistines were at war with Israel, he and David dared the Philistines to fight them. Every one of the Israelite soldiers turned and ran, 10 except Eleazar. He killed Philistines until his hand was cramped, and he couldn’t let go of his sword. When Eleazar finished, all the Israelite troops had to do was come back and take the enemies’ weapons and armor. The Lord gave Israel a great victory that day.

11 Next was Shammah the son of Agee the Hararite. One time the Philistines brought their army together to destroy a crop of peas growing in a field near Lehi. The rest of Israel’s soldiers ran away from the Philistines, 12 but Shammah stood in the middle of the field and killed the Philistines. The crops were saved, and the Lord gave Israel a great victory.

13 One year at harvest time, the Three Warriors[h] went to meet David at Adullam Cave.[i] The Philistine army had set up camp in Rephaim Valley 14 and had taken over Bethlehem. David was in his fortress, 15 and he was very thirsty. He said, “I wish I had a drink from the well by the gate at Bethlehem.”

16 The Three Warriors[j] sneaked into the Philistine camp and got some water from the well near Bethlehem’s gate. But after they brought the water back to David, he refused to drink it. Instead, he poured it out as a sacrifice 17 and said to the Lord, “I can’t drink this water! It’s like the blood of these men who risked their lives to get it for me.”

The Three Warriors did these brave deeds.

Hosea 8

8 Israel, you are ruined,
and now the nations
    consider you worthless.
9 You are like a wild donkey
    that goes its own way.
You’ve run off to Assyria
    and hired them as allies.
10 You can bargain with nations,
    but I’ll catch you anyway.
Soon you will suffer abuse
    by kings and rulers.

11 Israel, you have built
many altars
where you offer
    sacrifices for sin.
But these altars have become
    places for sin.
12 My instructions for sacrifices
were written in detail,
    but you ignored them.
13 You sacrifice your best animals
    and eat the sacrificial meals,[c]
but I, the Lord,
    refuse your offerings.
I will remember your sins
    and punish you.
Then you will return to Egypt.[d]

14 Israel, I created you,
    but you forgot me.
You and Judah built palaces
    and many strong cities.[e]
Now I will send fire to destroy
    your towns and fortresses.

The Toil of God as He Tries to Raise up His Beloved Children

Rev. Sun Myung Moon
October 11, 1959

John 3: 11-21

1 Corinthians 7:28-29

God created Adam and Eve as the heroes who could govern all things of Heaven and earth. God is the motive of love and the origin of love. He created Adam and Eve to invest all His love in them.

God did not create human beings to have them rule the entire universe. We have to understand that God created human beings to give them His love.

If God’s love is the power that motivates all things of the universe, why did God create and bless Adam and Eve? God created Adam and Eve as the people to whom He would give all the love which flows in Heaven and earth. You have to understand that God created our ancestors centering on that love.

God, who established the ideals and created the universe, must have rejoiced when He thought about how the creation of the universe would reach a finale with the creation of Adam and Eve. Moreover, God must have been indescribably happy as He watched Adam and Eve grow up. He looked at Adam and Eve with incredible joy and happiness. Don’t you think this is how it was? That was Adam and Eve.

God wanted to love Adam and Eve to the extent that He forgot about His dignity as the Creator, He forgot about all His powers and His omnipresent existence. You have to understand, then, how it must have been for God to look at Adam and Eve after the Fall.

Although you are children born of Satan’s lineage, you still love infinitely. You know how to love your beloved without limits. If human beings had not fallen, and good children rather than evil children had multiplied on the earth, then you could have looked at your children and felt the same intense feeling of love that God felt toward Adam and Eve after He created them.

God Loves Human Beings Infinitely

Happy Thanksgiving!

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Cheon Seong Gyeong 2009

It is sad to be a citizen of a country
with no sovereignty. Jesus was very con-
cerned about this point. He told people
not to worry about where their food,
drink or clothes would come from; that
these are the matters that the ungodly
are always concerned about. He said,
“Your Father in heaven knows that you
need all these things. Instead, above
everything else, be concerned with his
Kingdom and with what He requires,
and He will provide you with all these
other things.” Did Jesus say save your
son first, or save the nation first? He said
to save the nation that God is seeking.
(34-337, 1970.9.20)

Cheong Seong Gyeong 628

In meeting people, do not think of
taking advantage of them or trying to
use them for your benefit. Never do that.
If their original character is crushed, it
will take half a year to three years to
repair it. That is why your actions are
crucial. If you take advantage of others,
you will be placed in a more hellish place
than the usual hell. Those who under-
stand such consequences do not even
think about doing selfish deeds. (204-304,
1990.7.11)

The Toil of God as He Tries to Raise up His Beloved Children

Rev. Sun Myung Moon
October 11, 1959

John 3: 11-21

1 Corinthians 7:28-29

The title of the speech that I want to reflect upon together with you is “The Toil of God as He Tries to Raise Up His Beloved Sons and Daughters.” I will speak upon this topic.

Love is what every existing thing in Heaven and earth needs the most. It is true that the one love is most important in Heaven and true love centering on men is most important in the human world.

In Christianity they talk about God’s love. They believe that Jesus is someone who showed God’s love to human beings. We know very well that if there is any love worth longing for in the human world, it is the love of Jesus. If there is some love worth longing for in Heaven, it is God’s love. Likewise, our hope is to connect with God’s and Jesus’ love. The problem is, what is that love like? The original purpose of creation was for the first human ancestors to live centered on God and to live by God’s eternal love. However, we learned through the Principle that due to the Fall, they could not build a relationship of love with God. Instead they built a relationship of love with the enemy Satan.

If we recognize that the center of life, ideals and value for all created things is the love of God, people who cannot experience the love, ideals and life of God do not have any relationship with Heaven. This is true even if they talk about love, life and ideals. Why is humanity living in such a miserable state? It is because they lost the life, love and ideals of God. We have to experience this deep in our minds.

If someone longs for God’s life, love and ideals, no matter how sorrowful he is, he has the hope of revival. Given that God works to save people who are disconnected to His love, life and ideals, what providence would He conduct? We have to understand that in His work God moves the heart which longs for the true life, the heart which is thirsty for love, and the heart which is deprived of ideals.

How much have you longed for the love, the life and the ideals of God in your mind? If you do not have such a heart, there is no way to find God’s love. If such a shock does not explode from your mind, you cannot connect to the life, love and ideals of God, no matter how abundant they are.

The Last Days are nearing. People say universally that the end of the world is coming. There is no one in this world you can cling to and say that he or she can satisfy the hunger of your mind and give you life. There is no one who can be the only one you longed for in your heart, the only one who can fill you. The same thing holds true even in the sphere of ideals. We have to build a relationship with God’s life, love and ideals. Otherwise, we can only conclude that in the Last Days of history we cannot become a person of true love, life and ideals.

What is the purpose for which we are seeking a religious path and life? It is to possess the life, love and ideals of God. God and Jesus seek this kind of a person. Only when someone appears with this quality, a person God and Jesus can bless and recognize, will true love, life and true ideals be established in this world.

God loves human beings infinitely. He has been seeking them since the day they fell. To what extent does God love them? You cannot fathom this based on your own concepts alone. Even in the fallen world, parents love their children. If their beloved children are threatened by death, parents will overcome any pain or fear to save them. They do not hesitate to do anything, even to die. Even fallen people have such deep love for their children. Moreover, there are people who do not spare their own lives for the sake of their beloved.

Then would God’s love be only as great as a parent’s love for his children? If love is something which emboldens one to overcome any difficulty including death and brave any kind of sacrifice, then what about God’s love? You cannot compare it with fallen people’s love toward their children. We have to understand that the love God had for the original human beings was incomparably greater than the love found in the fallen world.

Human beings today feel pain and mourn when their beloved children or people precious to them die. Some even lose their sanity. In some extreme cases, people may die. If people mourn even on the earth, if they can lose their sanity and even die over the loss of their beloved, what about God? Think about it.