Claim. Jesus, though God’s beloved eldest son, is in paradise rather than the Kingdom of Heaven because he was unable to become the True Parent, and no Kingdom in heaven or on earth is established without the name of True Parents.
Elaboration. SMM poses this as a question Christians cannot answer: ‘Why is Jesus in paradise instead of in the Kingdom of Heaven, even though he is God’s beloved eldest son?’ His answer: ‘Jesus is in paradise because he was unable to become the True Parent. In the fallen world, there has not yet been anything or anyone who has received True Parents’ love, nor has there been any trace of True Parents’ appearance’ (Section 4. The Kingdom of Heaven and True Love The coming of True Parents marks the beginning of a new love, a new cul-).
The paradise/Kingdom distinction is drawn from Jesus’ words to the thief on the cross (Luke 23:43) and developed in DP as a holding-realm short of the completed Kingdom. The structural claim is sharp: ‘The Kingdom of Heaven in heaven and on earth is established only on the basis of True Parents’ fully perfected love. Unifying the Kingdom in the spirit world is the mission of True Parents rather than of any other.’ Even if a foundation were to emerge solely in the spirit world, ‘it is of no use’ — earthly True Parent achievement is required.
This is the most provocative implication of the christology-completed-by-marriage thesis: it explicitly subordinates Jesus’ postmortem status to SMM’s sacramental accomplishment. For traditional Christianity, Jesus is already enthroned (Acts 2:33, Hebrews 1:3); for UC theology, Jesus’ mission was bifurcated by the cross and the remainder belongs to the Lord of the Second Advent. Critics — particularly evangelical — will engage on the exegesis of Luke 23 and the dogmatic cost of demoting Jesus’ present state. Worth a thread once a counter atomic is in place.
See also. messiah-completes-physical-marriage-and-family-salvation, true-parents-required-for-complete-engrafting