Jesus

In Order to Raise Good Descendants, the Parents Should Do Well

#97-Why is the Truth about the January 6th US Capitol Protest Being Obfuscated? – VisionRoot The Richard Urban Show

Why is the Truth about the January 6th US Capitol Protest Being Obfuscated? – VisionRoot Blog Post

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1827

The time has come when we can farm under the ice. Do you know what this means? Flowers will bloom. If you go to Alaska, the tall mountains are covered with perpetual snow and grass grows in the central regions. Below there, flowers bloom and people go fishing. You have no idea what a beautiful and enchanted land it is. It is beautiful with clean water and clear air, and is a perfect ecologically balanced environment. If you ever visit there on vacation and enjoy it, you will want to live there and never leave. The reason I am exerting myself and investing in all these projects is because such things are now possible. (220-13, 1991.10.13)

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1091

You cannot expect your children to grow well when you do not even strictly observe morning Pledge service, devotion, and Sunday service. You should establish a four-position foundation centering upon True Parents. In order to raise good descendants, the parents should do well. (21-87, 1968.10.27)

5. Worldwide Preparation for Christ’s Advent

Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the East, and have come to worship him.” When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea…” They went their way; and lo, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came to rest over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy; and going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.
Matthew 2.1-11

The ancient children of the East were possessed of a wisdom which they inherited from Abraham, who transmitted it to the sons of his concubines, as it is written, “Unto the sons of the concubines that Abraham had, Abraham gave gifts, and he sent them away… eastward, unto the country of the children of he East.” (Gen. 25.6). In the course of time they followed the track of that wisdom into many directions.
Zohar 1.100b (Judaism)

I tell you, many will come from east and west and sit at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the Kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 8.1

Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon

Buddhism in India, Confucianism in China and Zoroastrianism in Persia were religions with leading influence in the Orient. Spiritualists of these religions could naturally recognize who Jesus was. (227:81, February 10, 1992)

In preparation for the First Coming of Christ, God sent the prophet Malachi to the chosen people 430 years beforehand to arouse in them a strong messianic expectation. At the same time… among the world’s peoples, God founded religions suited to their regions and cultures by which they could make the necessary internal preparations to receive the Messiah. In India, God established Buddhism through Gautama Buddha (565-485 b.c.) as a new development out of Hinduism. In Greece, God inspired Socrates (470-399 b.c.) and opened the brilliant age of classical Greek civilization. In the Far East, God raised up Confucius (552-479 b.c.), whose teachings of Confucianism established the standard of human ethics. Jesus was to come upon this worldwide foundation of preparation, and through his teachings he was to bring together Judaism, Hellenism, Buddhism and Confucianism. He was to unify all religions and civilizations into one worldwide civilization founded upon the Christian Gospel. (Exposition of the Divine Principle, Parallels 6)

Jesus was born of Asian blood, but since he lost his body in Asia, his legacy moved in the opposite direction—to Western civilization centered on Rome—in a course of restoration through indemnity. Originally, had Jesus not died on the cross, He would have led Israel to create a unified religious sphere with Buddhism in India and Confucianism in the Far East, centered on his teachings. The religious realm was to be unified first. The highest leaders in the religious sphere communicate with the spirit world and know the direction of Heaven. For this reason, had Jesus won for Israel a degree of independence from Rome and unified the divided peoples in lands of the Middle East (representing the twelve tribes of Israel), he would certainly have been able to embrace Asia. (229:174-75, April 12, 1992)

It Only Takes a Spark to Start a Forest Fire!

#97-Why is the Truth about the January 6th US Capitol Protest Being Obfuscated? – VisionRoot The Richard Urban Show

Why is the Truth about the January 6th US Capitol Protest Being Obfuscated? – VisionRoot Blog Post

James 3

It takes only a spark to start a forest fire! ⁶The tongue is like a spark. It is an evil power that dirties the rest of the body and sets a person’s entire life on fire with flames that come from hell itself. ⁷All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles, and sea creatures can be tamed and have been tamed. ⁸But our tongues get out of control. They are restless and evil, and always spreading deadly poison.

Ecclesiastes 1

¹⁰I got whatever I wanted and did whatever made me happy. But most of all, I enjoyed my work. ¹¹Then I thought about everything I had done, including the hard work, and it was simply chasing the wind. Nothing on earth is worth the trouble.

Jesus

4. Preparation for Christ’s Advent and the Responsibility of John the Baptist

Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon

If the Messiah were sent to this fallen world without any preparations or foundation, the enemy Satan would definitely capture him and kill him. Therefore, to prepare for his coming, God worked throughout history to establish religions. God erected the major religions and separated good from evil to find the people on His side. God’s plan was to raise an individual, family, tribe, people and nation that could be victorious over Satan. It would be the prepared foundation, ready to unite totally with the Messiah when he came. That foundation was the nation called Israel, which means victory. (74:59-60, November 12, 1974)

Through many prophets, God sent messages promising that He would send the Messiah to Israel. Thus God built a foundation of messianic expectation in the Jewish people. At the proper time, God fulfilled His promise by sending His Son, the Messiah. He was Jesus. (73:218, September 18, 1974)

When Jesus was born, God proclaimed his advent. He sent the three wise men from the East as well as Simon, Anna, John the Baptist and others to testify widely.

Concerning John the Baptist in particular, many people knew that an angel had appeared and testified to his conception. (Luke 1.13) The miracles surrounding his birth stirred all of Judea in expectation. (Luke 1.63-66) Furthermore, John’s ascetic life in the wilderness was so impressive that many people questioned in their hearts whether perhaps he was the Christ. (Luke 3.15) God’s purpose behind sending such a great personality as John the Baptist to bear witness to Jesus as the Messiah was to encourage the Jewish people to believe in Jesus. (Exposition of the Divine Principle,Messiah 1.3)I

f the Jewish believers who respected John the Baptist as a prophet had united with Jesus, what would have happened? Jesus’ disciples would have been the leading citizens of Israel, not poor fishermen. With that level of support, who would have dared arrested and killed Jesus? Was it originally God’s will that Jesus’ chief followers should be tax collectors and prostitutes? (74:153, November 28, 1974)

When the mind of John the Baptist was focused on God, he recognized Jesus as the Messiah and testified to him. Later, when the inspiration left him and he returned to a mundane state, his ignorance returned and exacerbated his faithlessness. Unable to acknowledge that he was the return of Elijah, John began to regard Jesus in the same disbelieving way as other Jews viewed him, particularly after he was imprisoned. Jesus’ every word and deed seemed to him only strange and perplexing. At one point, John tried to resolve his doubts by sending his disciples to Jesus and asking, “Are you he who is to come, or shall we look for another?” (Matt. 11.3)…

John the Baptist had been chosen while still inside the womb for the mission of attending Jesus. He led an arduous, ascetic life in the wilderness, building his ministry in order to prepare the way for the coming Messiah. When Jesus began his public ministry, God revealed the identity of Jesus to John before anyone else and inspired John to bear witness to him as the Son of God. Yet John did not properly receive the grace that Heaven had bestowed on him. Therefore, when confronted with John’s doubting question, Jesus did not answer explicitly that he was the Messiah; he instead answered in this circuitous way. (Exposition of the Divine Principle, Messiah 2.3)

Jesus said, “Among those born of women there has risen no one greater than John the Baptist; yet he who is least in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than he.” (Matt. 11.11) What did he mean by this? The mission of prophets through the ages was mainly to testify to the Messiah. Prophets in the past testified from a distance of time, but John the Baptist was the prophet contemporary with the Messiah, the prophet who could bear witness, in person, to the living Christ. Therefore he was the greatest among prophets. However, John failed to love and serve the Messiah. Even the least of the prophets then living in the spirit world knew that Jesus was the Son of God and served him. That is why John, who was given the greatest mission and failed, became less than the least.

From his birth, John should have lived and died in the service of Christ, but instead he died over involvement in a trivial matter, the affair of Herodias. Was that the path God intended for John the Baptist?

Jesus said, “From the days of John the Baptist until now the Kingdom of Heaven has advanced forcefully, and forceful men lay hold of it.” (Matt. 11:12) In other words, Jesus said that during days of John the Baptist just prior to the appearance of Jesus, there was the possibility that the Kingdom of Heaven could be taken and claimed by forceful men.

If John the Baptist had believed in Jesus, he certainly would have become Jesus’ chief disciple. Jesus’ 12 disciples and 70 disciples would have been the leaders of John the Baptist’s group. As Jews of good reputation, they could have won over the scribes and priests to Jesus’ side.

One day John’s followers came to him and asked, “Rabbi, he who was with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you bore witness, here he is baptizing, and all are going to him.” (John 3.26) They carried concern in their question: Look at all the people going to Jesus. What about you? John replied, “He must increase, and I must decrease.” (John 3.30) Usually this passage is interpreted as evidence of John’s humility. But what it really means is that John and Jesus were not united in heart and action. If Jesus and John had been united, their destiny would be to rise or fall together. Know, then, that the reason Jesus died on the cross was due to the failure of John the Baptist. (69:139, October 23, 1973)

There Can Be No Perfection in Ignorance

Cheon Seong Gyeong 2168

Are you brave soldiers who should stand forward for the establishment of the homeland, or are you failures who bring it down? When we say brave warriors, we mean those who can represent the nation and carry out the things that other people cannot do. We do not use the term brave soldier for the people who do what just anyone can do; they are the rank and file troops. The brave soldier is the one who carries out the mission that his comrades have retreated from or failed to accomplish. The word yong means swift, quick. The brave soldier has to be able to run faster than anyone else, and even to be able to dodge bullets. The term brave soldier is reserved for those who do what no one else can do.

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1260

There can be no perfection in ignorance. Who did I say Satan is? He is the adulterer. I have made all this clear to you. Do you think you can go to the Kingdom of Heaven if you ignore this? Do you think you can be saved if you ignore it? There is not even the slimmest chance. What a set of ignorant people! If you could be saved by just believing what you are told to believe, people like you and I would have been saved a long time ago. We would not have to suffer like this. (188-230, 1989.2.26)

Jesus

4. Preparation for Christ’s Advent and the Responsibility of John the Baptist

But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah,
Who are little to be among the clans of Judah,
from you shall come forth for me
one who is to be ruler in Israel,
whose origin is from of old,
from ancient days.
Micah 5.2

As it is written in Isaiah the prophet,

“Behold, I send my messenger before thy face,
who shall prepare thy way;
the voice of one crying in the wilderness:
Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight”—

John the Baptizer appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And there went out to him all the country of Judea, and all the people of Jerusalem; and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. Now John was clothed with camel’s hair, and had a leather girdle around his waist, and ate locusts and wild honey.

Mark 1.2-6

John said, “I baptize with water; but among you stands one whom you do not know, even he who comes after me, the thong of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.” This took place in Bethany beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, for he was before me.’ I myself did not know him; but for this I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.” And John bore witness, “I saw the Spirit descend as a dove from heaven, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him; but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.”

John 1.26-34

Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, “Are you he who is to come, or shall we look for another?” And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is he who takes no offense at me.”

As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to behold? A reed shaken by the wind? Why then did you go out?… To see a prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is he of whom it is written,

‘Behold, I send my messenger before thy face,who shall prepare thy way before thee.’

Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has risen no one greater than John the Baptist; yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and men of violence take it by force.

For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John; and if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

Matthew 11.2-15

And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” He confessed, he did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the prophet?” And he answered, “No.”

John 1.19-21

Is Jesus God?

Joshua 24

²Then Joshua told everyone to listen to this message from the Lord, the God of Israel:

Long ago your ancestors lived on the other side of the Euphrates River, and they worshiped other gods. This continued until the time of your ancestor Terah and his two sons, Abraham and Nahor. ³But I brought Abraham across the Euphrates River and led him through the land of Canaan. I blessed him by giving him Isaac, the first in a line of many descendants. ⁴Then I gave Isaac two sons, Jacob and Esau. I had Esau live in the hill country of Mount Seir, but your ancestor Jacob and his children went to live in Egypt.

Jeremiah 51

⁶³When you finish praying, tie the scroll to a rock and throw it in the Euphrates River. Then say, ⁶⁴“This is how Babylon will sink when the Lord destroys it. Everyone in the city will die, and it won’t have the strength to rise again.”

Richard: Here, in these two verses, God gives a warning; ‘Get with the program, or else’. As I said on Monday the fundamental core issue is the breakdown and discarding of good sexual ethics.

Jesus

3. Jesus—the True Man and the Sinless ‘Second Adam’

The first man, Adam, became a living being; the last Adam [Jesus] became a life-giving spirit.
1 Corinthians 15.45

Lo! The likeness of Jesus with God is as the likeness of Adam.
Qur’an 3.59

For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.
1 Timothy 2.5

In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard for his godly fear. Although he was a Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered; and being made perfect he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him.

Hebrews 5.7-9

And when God said, “O Jesus son of Mary, did you say to mankind, ‘Take me and my mother for two gods besides Allah?’ ” He replied, “Be glorified! It was not mine to utter that to which I had no right. Thou wouldst have known it if I said it. Thou knowest what is in my mind, and I know not what is in Thy mind. Truly Thou alone art the Knower of Things Hidden. I spoke to them only that which Thou didst command me, saying, ‘Worship Allah, my Lord and your Lord.’ I was a witness to them while I dwelt among them, and when Thou didst take me Thou wert the Watcher over them. Thou art Witness over all things.”
Qur’an 5.116-17

Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon

Had Adam and Eve realized the ideal of creation and become the True Parents of humanity, they would have borne good children without original sin and formed the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. However, Adam and Eve fell and became evil parents, multiplying evil children who created this hell on earth. Hence, as Jesus told Nicodemus, fallen people cannot see the Kingdom of God unless they are first born anew—as children without original sin.

We cannot be born without parents. Who, then, are the good parents through whom we can be born again, cleansed of original sin and able to enter the Kingdom of God? Parents who have original sin cannot give birth to good children who do not have original sin. Certainly, it is impossible to find sinless parents among fallen humankind. These parents must descend from Heaven. Jesus was the Parent who came from Heaven. He came as the True Father in order to give rebirth to fallen people, transforming them into good children, thoroughly cleansed of original sin and fit to build the Kingdom of Heaven on earth… Jesus came as the True Father whom Adam had failed to become. For this reason, the Bible speaks of him as the “last Adam” and the “Everlasting Father.” (1 Cor. 15.45, Isa. 9.6) (Exposition of the Divine Principle, Christology 4.1.1)

Jesus said that the value of a human life cannot be exchanged for the entire universe… Yet many Christians say that God is very high while we human beings are sinners. They say that Jesus is God while humans are creatures with no value. If that were true, how could we possibly be connected to God? How could we realize our full potential to become God-like people? That teaching creates an unbridgeable gap between God and human beings.

To connect us to God, Jesus should stand on the side of human beings. If he stood on the side of God, we would have no hope. We read from the Bible, “For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” (1 Tim. 2.5) The passage is correct. Because Jesus is a man, he provides the way for us sinners to approach God. If Jesus were God and not man, we would have no way to approach Him. This is a fundamental issue; it requires the correct and logical understanding.

Jesus is a sinless person while we are sinful people—that is the difference between him and us. Because Jesus is sinless, he can relate with God’s love, life and ideal; and as the mediator, he can connect us to God’s love, life and ideal. (69:80-81, October 20, 1973)

Let me ask you a question: Was Jesus a man or a woman? Of course he was a man. When Jesus looked at a woman, do you think he saw her as a woman, or as a man? Of course, he saw her as a woman. Then, do you think he sometimes felt an attraction? There is always the force of electricity pulling plus and minus toward each other—it is the law of nature. While Jesus was standing there, an attractive woman would approach him. His body must have shaken like this [demonstrating]. His hand must have shaken, but his feet were firmly planted. He felt frustrated, but he did not move his feet. He knew that if he moved he might fall, so he remained still and unwavering. Ordinary people respond to temptation, but Jesus never budged, even if his hand might have touched her.

No matter how great we may be, we cannot consider ourselves to be greater than Jesus. Jesus experienced the vulnerability of his human nature, but each time he drew the line and said, “No, I cannot do it.” “No, it is not permitted.” “I had better cut it off.” By continually overcoming temptation, he reached the point where he could say, “Now I am in oneness.” (128:78-79, June 5, 1983)

Richard: Here we see in Rev. Moon’s teachings that Jesus is not God, but the sinless second Adam who mediates for us before God.

Jesus Is Indeed the Son of God

Cheon Seong Gyeong 2143

All things are seeking such owners. We should feel ashamed of not having yet realized this degree of love. The universe is filled with all beings existing as pairs at their level, but ultimately, they follow the principle of being absorbed into higher levels of love. Thus, minerals want to be absorbed by plants, plants by animals, and finally all of creation by human beings. Through this process they ultimately reach the position where they can experience the essence of true love, which is the love that is nearest to God, the origin of love, who created everything with an intrinsic nature to provide value to a higher level.

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1023

If there is something bad, do not get rid of it right away. Even if there is something bad, you should deal with it, having the flexibility and capacity to find some conditions that will improve it while you keep the bad aspects on hold. If a person is cut off due to a mistake he made a year ago, then he may spiritually die completely. But if he is kept for one, two, or three years in the belief that the mistake is a secondary consideration, then after that time there may be a way for him to live. (72-313, 1974.7.14)

Jesus

2. Jesus—the Son of God and Incarnation of the Word

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

John 3.16

Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and we shall be satisfied.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you do not know me, Philip? He who has seen me has seen the Father; how can you say, “Show us the Father?” Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father in me?…

Yet a little while, and the world will see me no more, but you will see me; because I live, you will live also. In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.

John 14.8-11, 19-20

In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him…

And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son as the Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. So we know and believe the love God has for us.

1 John 4.9, 14-16

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God; all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it…
He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world knew him not. He came to his own home, and his own people received him not. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God; who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father.

John 1.1-15

Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon

After being born on this earth, Jesus claimed, “I am the only-begotten Son of God!” He made the decisive proclamation, “No one comes to the Father but by me,” meaning that in history up until his coming, no one could fully receive God’s love. Thus, Jesus expounded the ultimate standard, the level that God longs to see us attain. Jesus was the only person who claimed this relationship with God. We read his words in John 14, “Believe that I am in the Father and the Father in me.” Thus, he declared that he is one with God. (53:231-32, February 28, 1972)

The Bible calls Jesus the “only-begotten Son.” What does this mean? God’s love is absolute love. Jesus was the first person in history who could receive the total love of God and represent that love to humankind.

Because God gave Jesus the title, “only-begotten Son,” he could become our Savior. Jesus taught that he is the true Son of God from the standpoint of love. Therefore, only by going through Jesus can we make a relationship of love [with God]. (146:168,June 15, 1986)

Among Jesus’ words, he said, “God is my Father.” This is the correct teaching. It is the word that can bring complete success to human life. It is a word without precedent, which can elevate human affections to the level of heavenly heart and heavenly law.

Next, Jesus said, “I am the bridegroom, and you are the brides.” He was speaking about this in a religious sense, was he not? In the human world, what can be more intimate than the relationship between husband and wife? What can be closer than the relationship between parent and child? Jesus also said that he was our brother. What relationship could be closer? With these teachings Jesus was describing God’s family. He encapsulated the truth by describing relationships containing the divine heart. (39:42-43, January 9, 1971)

Jesus came as the incarnation of the Word. Jesus was the man whom God had been hoping to see over the long course of restoration history, the desire of God from the time of creation. (3:318-19, February 2, 1958)

God’s original thought in creating the universe centered on human beings was to rejoice with all His creatures. This was God’s desire, but it was not realized on this earth due to the Fall of Adam and Eve, our progenitors. God created all existence in six days through the Word [logos]. He bestowed upon all created beings a purpose: to become God’s object partners by manifesting God’s Word.

What then, would all created beings hope for, having been created as substantial object partners through the Word? This was for a mediator, one central being that would enable them to move in step with God. If human beings had become that center, the chaotic history that has unfolded on this earth would not have happened.

God also hoped to see the appearance of the one being who could represent Him and act on His behalf. This has been the center of God’s hope—not only during the course of the providence of restoration since the Human Fall, but even since the beginning of creation.

The being God and creation hoped for would come as the incarnation of the Word… Due to the Fall of Adam and Eve, God’s Word returned to Him without being manifested on the earth; meanwhile, separated from the Word, human beings still live on this earth. Therefore, God would once again bestow His Word upon humanity. (Exposition of the Divine Principle, Christology 4.1.1)

Because Jesus was born on the foundation of a purified lineage, having nothing to do with Satan, he is indeed the Son of God. He could finally claim: “I am the only begotten Son of God.” No one like Jesus had ever appeared before in human history…

There have been other religious founders and saviors in history, but none of them was born relating to God as a son to his Parent, because they did not have a purified lineage, unstained by Satan’s polluted blood. Neither Buddha nor Confucius nor Mohammed came from such a background. Therefore, Jesus’ birth on earth was truly the hope of all humankind. It is through the glory of his person that we can receive new life and resurrection. (53:205-206, February 21, 1972)