Tag: Jesus

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)
 
 
 
 

The Fundamental Core Issue of Society is the Breakdown of Sexual Morality

Ezekiel 16

23 Now I, the Lord God, say you are doomed! Not only did you do these evil things, 24 but you also built places on every street corner 25 where you disgraced yourself by having sex with anyone who walked by. And you did that more and more every day! 26 To make me angry, you even offered yourself to Egyptians, who were always ready to sleep with you.

Richard: The fundamental core issue of society is the breakdown of sexual morality. It’s really simple; don’t have sex before marriage. Keep faithful in marriage. Center your marriage on God. Teach this to the next generation. But, by and large, we are not doing that. Join us as we work to change this and make a movement of good sexual ethics.

Hosea 12

3 Even before Jacob was born,
    he cheated his brother,
and when he grew up,
    he fought against God.

4 At Bethel, Jacob wrestled
    with an angel and won;
then with tears in his eyes,
he asked for a blessing,
    and God spoke to us there.

Richard: This indicates the importance of the human portion of responsibility. Jacob knew the value of his birthright, his brother Essau did not. God sent an angel to test Jacob, and he prevailed. As I mentioned above, it is our responsibility to promote good sexual ethics. If we do not, we will continue to reap the fruits of the breakdown of society.

Jesus

1. Jesus Came to Save Sinful Humankind

Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon

Jesus spent his whole life fulfilling his responsibility and mission. What he completed on earth during his 33 years of life secured an eternal and inviolable accomplishment. His Gospel of faith, and the example of his life, will remain for eternity.
    Jesus took responsibility, not only for his own generation but also for all of history. Jesus single-handedly took responsibility to complete the providential will that God had been striving to fulfill for 4,000 years. (1:37, May 16, 1956)

Jesus came to answer the universal questions, resolve humanity’s sins, and solve the problem of death. Jesus was the only person who could provide solutions to these problems. 
    Moreover, more than anyone else, Jesus lived a truthful life for the sake of God. Disregarding his personal life, he sought to elucidate the fundamental questions of the universe. Disregarding his own glory, he labored and sacrificed endlessly to fulfill the will of God. By virtue of his consistent heart and life, he was elevated before Heaven as the foremost torchbearer, representing all of history. That is why he could confidently cry out, “Believe in me.” (3:14, September 8, 1957)

Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life.” What a bold statement! Was his way a treacherous mountain trail? No, it was a firm and solid road. Was his truth dim and obscure? No, he clearly knew everything that he spoke. He intended that his truth should be welcomed by all peoples, and it should become the measure of all truth. Was his life one of dying or thriving? He lowered himself to serve others, yet as he said, those who humble themselves will be lifted up. (106:13, November 4, 1979)

People in a state of imperfection cannot establish the ideal world. People ignorant of the truth cannot lay its foundations. Therefore, God promised to send to Israel the Messiah—the one perfected person with complete knowledge. Jesus would be the beginning of the God-centered sovereignty and nation; this would be possible once the Israelites united absolutely with him.
    That is, by attending38 the Messiah, immature people were to proceed on the path to individual perfection and establish families, communities and a nation united with Jesus. They had to obey Jesus’ will in its entirety. However, the Israelites who met the Messiah did not understand that God had sent him. Neither did they know that God’s work for Jesus was to save not only his own people but also the world. (54:41, March 10, 1972)

Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at Hand

Cheon Seong Gyeong 2393

Where does true love come from? True love comes into existence when one serves others, and not when one wants to be served by others. Why? The fundamental foundation for the creation of heaven and earth in the beginning was not the action of drawing things in to oneself. Catching hold of something and drawing it to oneself can create only one entity. Everything in this world requires investing oneself. The axis for the creation of the universe belongs to God, who has been seeking the ideal of love. It did not begin with drawing or pulling things in, but with investing. You must understand that the way of true love is found by investing even your life and being able to forget about it. (284-71, 1997.4.15

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1684

Taking into consideration the principle of the dissipation of energy, can input be equal to output for human beings? Energy enters the body to carry out actions; can that energy be equal to that left after the action has been carried out? Is it consumed in the process of action? Does motion consume energy? Thus, output cannot be equal to input, but is always less than before. Evolutionists imply that energy increases with action. Such a formula does not exist. If it were true, this world would be turned upside down. Hence, an external source of additional energy would be necessary. (55-254, 1972.5.9)

Jesus

Sun Myung Moon regards Jesus of Nazareth as the Greatest of all the religious founders. He has made an exhaustive study of his life and work; his speeches about Jesus take up many volumes. He does not view Jesus from the conventional Christian perspective as the savior who fulfilled everything through his atoning death on the cross. No, Father Moon’s Jesus knew he had a much greater mission—to live and establish God’s Kingdom on earth during his lifetime. the crucifixion cut short his mission, frustrated his aspirations, and prolonged the centuries of suffering and wars while the Kingdom tarried until the days of the second coming. It is through this lens that he views scripture passages about Jesus’ person, preparations for his coming, and his relations with his family, his ministry, the cross, and the resurrection.
Father Moon knows Jesus as the “man of sorrows.” he asserts that even in his youth, during the 30 years prior to beginning his public life, Jesus was misunderstood and ridiculed by his family and his village. The fact that Jesus never married, when it was customary for all Jewish men in their twenties to do so, is taken not as a mark of special holiness but rather as the painful lot of a man of questionable birth and strange behavior who was not regarded as marriageable.
When it came time for Jesus to begin his ministry, all heaven’s attempts to prepare the Jewish people to welcome him ended in failure—notably the ministry of John the Baptist. Consequently, Jesus was never able to preach what he set out to preach: the gospel of the Kingdom of God in plain language. Instead he had to speak in obscure parables. He was never able to do what he set out to do: lead a spiritual and political movement to win Israel’s independence from Rome and establish God’s Kingdom throughout the world.
Jesus’ sorrow only increased as the forces opposing his ministry grew stronger and he was compelled to take an alternative course, the way of the cross. His grief was exacerbated by the weakness of his disciples, who fled and scattered leaving him alone at the end. In the Garden of Gethsemane he prayed desperately, knowing the sorrow of God and the sufferings of generations to come that would ensue if he took that path and died without completing his original mission. But by that time the people’s rejection was unalterable; the die was cast and he obediently accepted the cross as God’s will.
Yet Jesus never changed his heartfelt love for the people, even for those who were killing him. When he forgave his enemies on the cross, it was an earth-shaking moment that changed history forever.

1. Jesus Came to Save Sinful Humankind

Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.
1 Timothy 1.15

From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”… And he went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and preaching the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every infirmity among the people.
Matthew 4.17, 23

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me.”
John 14.6

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
Matthew 11.28-30

And as he sat at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Jesus and his disciples. And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” But when he heard it, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”
Matthew 9.10-13

I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep. He who is a hireling and not a shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hireling and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd; I know my own and my own know me, as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. And I have other sheep, that are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will heed my voice. So there shall be one flock, one shepherd.
John 10.11-16

All Have Sinned and Fall Short of the Glory of God


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Cheon Seong Gyeong 1418

At which time should Western Civilization and oriental civilization be joined together? When the two combine, where will this union take place? They will not be combined in an island nation. They will be joined together on a peninsula. From this point of view, as a peninsular nation, Korea is in the most precarious situation in Asia. When you consider Korea’s location, you will find that it is surrounded by the Soviet Union, communist China, Japan, and even America. Taking into consideration the Pacific coast, it can be regarded as being connected even to America. All scholars are saying that history will now advance into the era of the Pacific cultural sphere. Scholars in the fields of politics, economy, and history are asserting that such an era will come. In America, they regard this as indisputable.
    Then, which nation will play the leading role? Will it be Japan? Will it be China? Japan and China are enemies. They were enemies forty years ago. Korea and Japan are also enemies. They are all enemies. In Asia, Japan fought against China, against the Soviet Union, and also occupied Korea. They all regard Japan as an enemy nation. She was the Eve nation on the satanic side that could replace Great Britain. (196-162, 1990.1.1)

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1270

The love of Jesus, the groom, and the love of the Holy Spirit, the bride, must unite into one. Their united love must then become one with your bones and flesh. In other words, as Jesus said, “I am in you, and you will be in me.” There can be no rebirth if the foundation of love is not established. (114-27, 1981.5.14)

Atonement

2. Atonement by the Sacrifice of Jesus Christ

Since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, they are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as an expiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins; it was to prove at the present time that he himself is righteous and that he justifies him who has faith in Jesus.
    Romans 3.23-26

But when Christ appeared as the high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) he entered once and for all into the Holy Place, taking not the blood of goats and calves but his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. For if the sprinkling of defiled persons with the blood of goats and bulls and with the ashes of a heifer sanctifies for the purification of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify your conscience from dead works to serve the living God.
    Hebrews 9.11-14

In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the expiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
    1 John 4.10-11

For it is impossible to restore again to repentance those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they then commit apostasy, since they crucify the Son of God on their own account and hold him up to contempt.
    Hebrews 6.4-6

Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon

Jesus Christ came to the earth to save humanity, bringing with him the glory, love and eternal life of God. Yet there was one condition that obstructed his way. This was none other than sin—sin intertwined like a gigantic steel net, woven through this person and that person, this organization and hat organization, this society and that society, this nation and that nation. Jesus willingly offered himself to eradicate sin; otherwise we could not see the glory of God on this earth; nor could we know the love of God or the life of God. (1:167, July 11, 1956)

When someone owes a huge debt, if the creditor displays good will in forgiving a portion of the debt, then the debtor can pay back less than the total amount and still satisfy the entire debt. The outstanding example of this is redemption through the cross. Merely by fulfilling a small indemnity condition of faith in Jesus, we receive the much greater grace of salvation, which entitles us to participate with Jesus in the same resurrection. (Exposition of the Divine Principle, Restoration 1.1)

Many Christians believe that the omniscient, omnipotent, benevolent and loving God forgives us even though we commit sins tens of thousands of times. Then as soon as they go outside the church door they start fighting again. A church is not a house of forgiveness, dispensing forgiveness to people who commit sins unceasingly.
    If God could forgive sins so lightly, why would He not forgive the one sin that was committed in the Garden of Eden? Furthermore, if God could find a way to forgive Satan, would He not have done it? Surely He would. Nevertheless, God cannot forgive Satan’s sin, which transgressed the core principle of the universe. For God to forgive that sin would be to fundamentally undermine the universal law of love, causing the world, which was created for love, to fall into chaos. Satan violated God Himself. This cannot be forgiven.
    This is why God had to set up the Providence of Restoration to enable humans to reach the standard prior to the Human Fall. By this means, when people reach that standard, Satan can be expelled and a new perfect Adam can appear. It has taken God six thousand years to prepare that foundation. (19:161, January 1, 1968)

Heaven Wanted to find Someone who Knew Jesus

1 Kings 20

12 Meanwhile, Benhadad and the other kings had been drinking in their tents. But when Ahab’s reply came, he ordered his soldiers to prepare to attack Samaria, and they all got ready.

13 At that very moment, a prophet ran up to Ahab and said, “You can see that Benhadad’s army is very strong. But the Lord has promised to help you defeat them today. Then you will know that the Lord is in control.”

14 “Who will fight the battle?” Ahab asked.

The prophet answered, “The young bodyguards who serve the district officials.”

“But who will lead them into battle?” Ahab asked.

“You will!” the prophet replied.

15 So Ahab called together the two hundred thirty-two young soldiers and the seven thousand troops in Israel’s army, and he got them ready to fight the Syrians.

Richard: Notice here that a small vanguard of bodyguards leads the troops, who are in turn led be Ahab, who was not confident that he could lead the troops.

Mark 12

13 The Pharisees got together with Herod’s followers.[a] Then they sent some men to trick Jesus into saying something wrong. 14 They went to him and said, “Teacher, we know that you are honest. You treat everyone with the same respect, no matter who they are. And you teach the truth about what God wants people to do. Tell us, should we pay taxes to the Emperor or not?”

15 Jesus knew what they were up to, and he said, “Why are you trying to test me? Show me a coin!”

16 They brought him a silver coin, and he asked, “Whose picture and name are on it?”

“The Emperor’s,” they answered.

17 Then Jesus told them, “Give the Emperor what belongs to him and give God what belongs to God.” The men were amazed at Jesus.

Jesus Whom God Wanted To Find

Rev. Sun Myung Moon
October 18, 1959

Matthew 23:29-39

The short speech that I want to give today is on the topic of “Jesus Whom God Wanted to Find.”

We know that Jesus is the only begotten son of God. God wanted to find Jesus for four thousand years. God found Jesus after the Israelites went through all kinds of conditions of hard work. Jesus was a person who worked hard to fulfill the will of God and the will of the people who wanted to attend him. Thus, the fate of Heaven, the historic fate of the chosen people of Israel, the fate of the age and the fate of the future were all entangled centering on Jesus. When God found Jesus, His purpose for choosing Israel was to be fulfilled. When God embraced Jesus completely, He was embracing the chosen people of Israel. When God could dwell joyously with Jesus, He could dwell with the people of Israel. It was the work of God to find Jesus in total fulfillment. Moreover, attending Jesus completely is the hope of the fallen descendants and of mankind, who are anticipating salvation.

To find Jesus Heaven went through all kinds of hardships from after the Fall until his arrival. In order to attend this one man, the chosen people went through a road of unspeakable persecution and the road of death in their historic course. They repeated numerous times the history of struggle where they fell down, stood up, stood up and fell down, and stood up again. This historical sorrow of the chosen people of Israel would have been removed by their clinging to Jesus. The sorrow of God, who had suffered to send Jesus, also would have been removed.

Jesus did come. Jesus came to this land and worked hard. Jesus fought for us in this land. He endured and fought for Heaven. He even went the road of death alone. Jesus actually did come for the age and the future.

But he is in a position of not having removed the sorrow of history and not having removed the sorrow of the age. For that reason today, two thousand years after Jesus’ coming, he has to come again. This age needs Jesus to come again. The future also needs Jesus.

When we think of this, how much would God have longed to see Jesus as a person who had completed God’s hope? How much would Jesus have wanted to stand in a position representing the dignity of Heaven on the one hand and the dignity of earth on the other? But Jesus never got to establish that dignity in its totality.

Jesus, having appeared to his people, probably longed to reign as King of Kings, the governor of all people and the crown prince of Heaven. Even if that did not happen, the Israelites, who had been prepared for four thousand years, should not have abandoned him, even at the risk of their lives. He would not have let go of the Israelites even at the point of death. But with death at hand, they divided and separated. Thus, he disappeared from the people, and he was in a situation where he had to depart from this earth. We should know this clearly. Jesus was filled with a sense of his historic mission and a sense of the mission to the age. Moreover, he was filled with a heart of wanting to save mankind, who were crying out as they were swept away by the wave of death. Was there a person who attended this Jesus, the Messiah, the only begotten son of God? There was no one.

If there is something that Heaven looked for from Jesus, what would that have been? If there was something that Heaven wanted to find, it would have been someone who knew Jesus. The person who truly knows him is a person who knows God. The person who knows God knows him. The Israelites, who considered that they knew God, were supposed to attend Jesus. But mankind lost Jesus. Heaven lost him, and he had to die, leaving his mission behind on this earth. We should recognize this fact again.