Section 1. The Meaning and Value of the Blessing
1.1. What is the Blessing?
1.1.1. The meaning of the Blessing
The Blessing signifies the True Parents and true children coming together to fulfill the purpose of creation. (19-73, 1967. 12.27)
God exists with dual characteristics. These dual characteristics are positive and negative, the former represented by the man, Adam, and the latter by the woman, Eve. The children are thus a combination of the two of them. In this way, according to God’s ideal, the first, second and third generations are formed. Out of the three generations, it was the generation of Adam and Eve, the second generation, where the problem occurred. Adam and Eve did not become one in God’s love. If they had, they would have formed a love relationship in which God could dwell. They also would have established the standard of love through which God could have naturally formed a relationship with Adam and Eve’s children. This would have been the Blessing. (32-239, 1970.7.19)
The Blessing Ceremony of the Unification Church is not simply a wedding through which a man and a woman come together and form a family. Until now, all weddings were solely for the sake of the people getting married. But our wedding ceremony is significant and necessary to set a condition to indemnify the past and return joy to God. Therefore, we conduct our ceremonies in a sacred and splendid manner. Divine Principle clearly explains to us that our wedding ceremony alleviates God’s bitter grief that was caused by the Fall of Adam and Eve. It goes beyond the standard of husband and wife, which Jesus was unable to attain. (22-212, 1969.2.4)
You should know that the concept of the Blessing did not begin with the Unification Church. Rather, it has been the hope of God in His innermost heart, something He has pursued and striven to fulfill throughout history since the time of creation and the Fall. To see this dream come true, God has been walking a path of suffering until this day, but the day of its fulfillment has not yet come. That is why the day that God’s hope is fulfilled will be the day of the liberation of the world, and the day His historical wish is fulfilled. Knowing this, you should understand why the Blessing is so significant. (30-164, 1970.3.22)
Since the Fall of the human ancestors, Adam and Eve, human beings have waited eagerly for the day when God could bless them. (19-23, 1967.11.14)
The Blessing can resolve all the grief from history, up until the present, renew God’s hope, as yet unfulfilled, and be the basis for a new beginning for the future of humanity. (30-166, 1970.3.22)
In the present era, we are heading towards the completion stage, having passed through the formation and growth stages. This is the era in which history has to move horizontally after developing vertically. In other words, it is the era in which the boundary of the six-thousand-year long history of indemnification is crossed. That is why you need to escape from the dominion of Satan. Then what is the Blessing? It is the gate you have to pass through to leave the realm Satan has dominated throughout history. (18-209, 1967.6.8)
The Blessing means we can inherit a relationship with the True Parents. I have offered devotions and fought many battles for this cause. That is why the True Parents conduct the Blessing under the same banner they used while fighting against the satanic world. (19-23, 1967.11.14)
What is the most precious thing in my life? It is the Blessing. Even for you, the greatest gift in all of history has been the Blessing. (23-317, 1969.6.8)
Even today, you have not formed a complete connection to the True Parents. The Blessing of the Unification Church is held to forge that relationship. (23-333, 1969.6.15)
True Parents take eternal responsibility for those who have received the Blessing, even when they pass on to the spirit world. I will guide and lead them. The Blessing establishes an eternal relationship between those who receive it and me. (God’s Will -538)
The full authority of Heaven is passed on when the Blessing is bestowed. (17-328, 1967.4.16)
The Blessing opens the gates of the Kingdom of Heaven. The Kingdom of Heaven is a place where only families with children enter. (12-266, 1963.5.25)
The Blessing is an eternal treasure. It is a pledge to begin a lineage that will span ten thousand generations. That is why when you defile the Blessing, your whole clan will be affected, just as the whole nation of Israel was affected by the crucifixion of Jesus. (God’s Will -550)
The Blessing is the key that opens the door to the liberation of all humanity, which has been pursued throughout the history of the providence. (22-206, 1969.2.4)
It is truly significant to receive the Blessing. Those who receive the Blessing should be able to think of themselves as God’s representatives and conduct themselves as such. They should think, “If I do not move, then heaven and earth do not move.” God can establish a living ideology for the sake of humankind only when this position is reached. (13-14, 1963.10.1)
God’s Blessing is absolutely public in nature. It is not just for an individual, family, nation, or even the world. God’s Blessing is for the whole universe. (15-67, 1965. 2.13)
The literal meaning of the word “blessing” is “praying for blessings.” If you break down the word chookbok (blessing), chook means to pray or wish
for something. When you are praying for blessings, what is it that is most precious? It is none other than the blessing of love. The Unification Church uses the word blessing with this meaning. The blessing of love is the greatest, because the fundamental origin of life begins with man and woman coming together in a holy wedding. It represents the most precious commitment of the universe. When praying for blessing, the best blessing you can ask for is the blessing of love, and so the Unification Church refers to marriage as the Blessing. The people who come to our church for the first time must understand this. When we say we have received the Blessing in the Unification Church, we don’t mean we have received just any blessing. When we speak of the Blessing, what we actually mean is we have been joined in holy matrimony by True Parents in the presence of God. (83-226, 1976.2.8)
The British royal household’s 518 carat diamond was nothing but a shiny stone to the native people. Who would have known then that diamonds would one day become the most precious jewels in the world? People saw it shining and reflecting light, and thought it was a piece of glass. It is the same in the case of the Blessing. In one way or another, you have received the Blessing. Though it is as precious as a diamond, all of you are thinking that it is merely a piece of glass, of no particular value. You do not know the true value of it until I explain it to you. Then everyone will realize and say, “Oh! It is that precious!” (83-240, 1976.2.8)
What is the most important thing when it comes to receiving blessings? It is neither money, nor honor. It is not having power. The most important blessing is for your sons and daughters to receive good fortune in life. You must understand this. What did I say is the best blessing out of all the blessings you can receive? It is none other than giving birth to sons and daughters who can be loved by God. That is the best blessing. Then, what would happen next? If your son receives more love from God than you do, then you will also benefit from it. Isn’t that how everything works? When you see power lines extending to remote parts of the land, you can see that they hang loosely between poles. Nevertheless, if you pull from one end, the lines become taut. In the same way, when your children receive great love from Heaven, even if you’re sagging, you’ll be pulled up just like the power lines. You receive benefit in this way. (78-42, 1975.5.1)
If you have the opportunity to attend a Blessing Ceremony, you should not go thinking you are just a man or a woman and there is nothing else to it. When you attend the ceremony, you are there representing men and women who have come and gone in the world over the past six thousand years. You must understand that you have been invited as such. You should experience this reality deep in your heart. (30-169, 1970. 3.22)
What era is this, now that the Blessing is finally being given? It is the time when God’s wishes can finally be fulfilled and His grief of the past six thousand years can be alleviated. The wishes of Jesus, who came to earth as the son of God for all humankind, can also be fulfilled. Moreover, it is the moment when human beings can start to truly love for the first time since creation began, and receive respect, honor and joy from the creation. Can you imagine how happy God will be on this day? On the day every evil disappears and we usher in a new era with the bright rays of the rising sun, nature will rejoice, everything in the universe will dance with joy, and we will finally celebrate the dawn of victory. (19-106, 1967.12.31)
Although our circumstances are not yet settled at the moment, my hope is that a day will come when those who remains true to the Blessing to the last will be honored as human treasures. (21-79, 1968.10.20)
1.1.2. The value of the Blessing
You must understand how important the Blessing is from a providential point of view. God’s Blessing is received where the Kingdom of Heaven on earth and the Kingdom of Heaven in the spirit world meet. It is the place where the eternal world and the corporeal world meet horizontally. (Blessed Family -544)
The Blessing is the most precious thing in heaven and earth. It is also the most fearful. If a blessed member is attracted to others besides his or her spouse, it is an emotional violation of the spouse. Good ancestors, the territory and the nation stem from you, the Blessed Families. That is why blessed members should think about the universe during every waking moment. You have received the Blessing so that you can share blessings with others. ( 13-67, 1963.10.17) The place of the Blessing is a very fearful place. You cannot receive the Blessing based on your emotions alone. The value of a life is more precious than the whole universe. That is why when you make vows to take responsibility for a person, you should be ready and willing to do so forever. You must understand clearly that the place of the Blessing is where these questions come up and are answered. For this reason, if a person has a chance to be in the place of the Blessing, he is truly a happy person. You must have firm resolve if you are to take part in receiving this great Blessing. (30-186, 1970.3.22)
You must know the value of the Blessing before you receive it. You should understand that through the Blessing you become one of the citizens of the Third Israel. Now that you know the significance and value of the Blessing, do you think it is possible for a person to reach individual perfection without receiving the Blessing? Are unmarried people ever treated as adults? Even in the human world, when men who have been bachelors or women who have been virgins die before they marry, they will be bachelor ghosts and virgin ghosts. Because they could not marry, they naturally became ghosts; this is just how the heavenly laws operate. (19-106, 1967.12.31)
The act of signing something is the same whether the person signing is the king of a nation or a lowly peasant. However, what can be accomplished through those signatures is very different. In the same way, when you consider the Blessing, externally it may not seem so different from other marriages. However when it comes to internal meaning and value, there is a great difference between them. (21-339, 1969.1.1)
If you were so poor you had nothing to eat or wear, would you forget about your duties and sell the Blessing you had received from God? Would you? God’s Blessing is something that cannot be exchanged even for heaven and earth. (14-161, 1964.9)
The value of the Blessing is so great that it cannot be exchanged even with the whole world. There have been times when I regretted bestowing the Blessing. I have blessed you so that a man and woman can become a true father and a true mother practicing true love, according to God’s will. (Blessed Family -552)
What is the occasion of the Blessing? It is the very best place in the entire world. With whom should you establish a relationship at the place of Blessing? You cannot perfect yourself on your own. You are perfected through True Parents’ love. When a child is born from its parents’ bosom, regardless of whether it is good-looking or not, the child takes after its parents. In the same way, in the Unification Church, members are taught the way of the true parent. For you, that is the greatest blessing of all blessings. (35-236, 1970.10.19)
Even old women who are over eighty years of age know that they cannot go to the Kingdom of Heaven if they are not blessed. So, even as they are breathing their last breath, they desperately want to be matched to someone, regardless of whether he is thousands or tens of thousands of miles away. They want to at least set the condition that they have received the Blessing. That is how it is in the Unification Church. I must have been born under an unlucky star because that is the task I must perform. (22-18, 1969.1.1)
The fact that you have received the Blessing signifies that the time has come to start a new era in the name of the husband and wife. This new era is based on the chosen people, the church, and the tribe and the foundation the Messiah has laid on the earth for the past two thousand years. Can all of you become tribal messiahs? Even Satan cannot do anything to prevent you from becoming tribal messiahs because you are connected to Father in a father and son relationship. The Blessing is truly amazing. (21-14, 1968.8.13)
What did Jesus want so much to accomplish that he devoted himself to the task for two thousand years? It was all to hold a marriage ceremony. What marriage ceremony would that have been? The Blessing. For two thousand years, Jesus had longed and yearned for the marriage ceremony of the Blessing. In order to hold a marriage celebration, a bride must come to her groom. For Christianity, that represents the Last Days. You cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven without going beyond Christianity. (76-72, 1975.1.26)
What did Jesus hope to achieve as he brought four thousand years of history to a conclusion? He could not continue his mission because he did not have a family. If he had a family, his tribe would have restored all the past history, however long it took. Isn’t it logical to say that if Jesus had a family, then his clan, his people, and his nation would all have stemmed from it? Jesus endured hardships for thirty-three years so he could have a family. He was unsuccessful in forming a family after thirty-three years of toil. Do you truly know the value of the Blessing? The Blessing is the solution that has been sought for six thousand years to clear away all resentments. (62-231, 1972.9.25)
The marriage feast of the lamb signifies that the Blessing is given for the first time in history. It establishes the standard of salvation on the family level. This is what has been sought during six thousand years of history. The bride and groom, who are the central figures of the marriage feast of the Lamb, are coming with the mission of the True Parents. Therefore, once you receive the Blessing at the time of the Second Advent of the Lord, you open the door to salvation as the savior of your family. (19-31, 1967. 12.15)
The fact that you have become Unification Church members and have received the Blessing, signifies that you have now reached the victorious standard of having restored your family centering on God’s will, for which purpose God had sent Jesus on the foundation laid by four thousand years of history. Through your victorious standard, your descendants can now inherit the grace of their ancestors who were people of merit spanning the history of restoration. This is true even if your descendants have no opportunity to accomplish anything in the providence of restoration themselves. (23-235, 1969.5.25)
What would life have been like if woman had not been created to stand before man in the Garden of Eden? It is a universal truth that women exist. It is a miracle of miracles that both men and women exist. If one existed without the other, it would be the same as having no existence at all. That would be the end of humanity. The Blessing of the Unification Church should be understood and appreciated in this context. Once you meet your spouse, that relationship will last forever. You must be thankful for the original love between husband and wife, which you cannot buy even if you offered the universe or God Himself. You must also be strong and bold. Those who have tasted the true love of the Unification Church will be followed by the light of love wherever they go. You cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven if you do not love humanity and the whole universe, centering on true love. (Blessing -287)
You must think like this: “I will not change as long as God does not change. I will go on, no matter what is taken from me by someone or something from my past or present, be it a life, love or ideal that was rooted in the satanic world. Furthermore, even if God Himself changed, I will restore Him, and go on together with Him. If God is not absolute, I will make Him absolute.” Once you have these thoughts in your mind, God Himself will be absolutely obedient to you. I am telling you that you have to think, “The color emanating from me is like the bright color of gold, like the luster of diamonds; it is resolute and unchanging.” God has hoped for just one day, the day of the Blessing of Adam and Eve. He has had only that place and that day on His mind. (91-235, 1977.2.20)
There is no need for you to seek God. You need to seek love before seeking God. If you have love in you, God will automatically come to you. He will be drawn to you and bind Himself to you. That is why, if you want to seek God and love Him, you must think of human beings in this world as your brothers and sisters, and love them and relate to them as you would your parents, or even God. If you do so, God will come to you. This is why religion puts so much emphasis on love. However, until now, this has not been achieved, and so the Unification Church must conduct these activities in order to restore that. You receive the Blessing here, but if you expand centered on that union, the universe will become yours. (91-235, 1977.2.20)
The Blessing is the deciding factor of life and death. (27-85, 1969.11.26)
Do you know Lee Gap-seong? Of the thirty-three people who participated in the March 1st independence movement, he is the only surviving member. When you consider him with regard to that movement, is he higher or lower in rank than the president of Korea? Without question, he is higher. In the same way, the people who receive the Blessing through True Parents will be glorified by the world. Even if the last couple to be blessed is crippled, with one eye, crooked nose, one ear, and one arm, they will be glorified by the world. Their physical appearance and anything else that is lacking will not matter; only the fact that they received the Blessing through True Parents will be important. That is something you cannot buy even if you were to pay billions of dollars. Women in the Unification Church, do you understand that? How much do you understand? (35-71, 1970.10.3)
1.1.3. The Blessing is the formula course for humanity
The large holy wedding conducted by the Unification Church is not restricted to our church alone. It is the formula course that all humanity must go through. You must clearly understand this. Then, what is the fundamental reason for having to follow this course? The reason is that our human ancestors fell. If they had not fallen, there would be no need for us to receive the Blessing today. However, because of the Fall we now have to follow the course of restoration, through which we can return to the dominion of God. So, we have no choice but to walk this path. This is the reason why people today still believe in religion. This is what has been sought throughout history. (35-215, 1970.10.19)
Where is humanity supposed to be heading? No human being on earth can enter the Kingdom of Heaven if they have not passed through the gates of the Blessing. A lot of people believe in Christianity, but Christianity itself cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven without passing through the gates of the Blessing. When I say things like this, Christians complain that Rev. Moon of the Unification Church makes many self-righteous remarks. There may be many people who think like this and who complain out loud, but that is their problem. All fallen humanity must follow the course of the holy matrimony of the Blessing that we speak of in the Unification. Even if we face opposition from all sides, that does not change the fact that the holy matrimony of the Blessing connects the spiritual and physical worlds and allows you to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. (290-167, 1998.2.18)
What is the ultimate purpose of the Blessing? It is to restore the true family. This is the greatest purpose sought by fallen human beings. In order to form a true family, there must first be a true person. That true person should be none other than a true man. Then that true man will seek out a true woman, and be married to that woman centering on God; that is how a true family can emerge. Because of the Fall, this did not come to pass, and so we must deny all families that have been created up until now. We must go beyond this point and form new families according to God’s providential will. If you cannot do this, then from a Divine Principle point of view, fallen human beings will not be able to return to the original world. It must be clearly understood that fallen people, no matter who they are, cannot stand before God if they do not fulfill this formula course. (35-215, 1970.10.19)
The ideal of the Kingdom of Heaven cannot be achieved without being married and forming a family. The reason the Unification Church emphasizes that all single men and women must receive the Blessing is so the ideal of the Kingdom of Heaven can be put into practice. Not only single people, but also couples who are already married should receive the Blessing for previously married couples, after fulfilling a certain standard. The reason I’m saying all people should receive the Blessing is so we can all return to the world of the ideal of creation. Originally, that world would have been a world created by true men and women who received the Blessing. But due to the Fall, such a history of love never came to pass. (Blessed Family -556)
What is the Fall? It means getting married centering on Satan. Since the marriage was centered on Satan, another marriage must be conducted in the name of God, centering on Him. That marriage ceremony is a truly historic one on the world level. It is a marriage ceremony that is conducted not just among the people of a single ethnic group, but one that transcends ethnic groups and even the satanic world. It is the steppingstone upon which we can cross over the satanic world. (82-95, 1976.1.1)
In the Garden of Eden, the weddings of the sons and daughters of Adam and Eve should have been conducted by Adam and Eve themselves, under the guidance of God. Our weddings should also be conducted in the same manner. That is why in the Unification Church, the Blessing Ceremony is conducted in the name of True Parents. Have any of you ever seen a wedding in which the father and mother were the officiators? The fact that such a wedding was never held testifies to the fact that there is not one perfected individual in the world. A wedding ceremony is none other than the bequeathal of love. Just as our parents received love from God, you should receive love from your parents in place of the love of God. The wedding ceremony is the bequeathal ceremony in which you receive this love from your parents who are encouraging you with the words: “You should live this way!” What this means is that you receive the love of God from your parents. This is not something you can receive from a famous person. Weddings not officiated by the parents are officiated by the archangel. When an eminent person comes to officiate at a wedding, alone, like an odd shoe, he is conducting the wedding as the archangel. (96-236, 1978.1.22)
Since the Fall was brought about through the misuse of love, restoration should be brought about in connection with the love of the new parents, centering on God. That is why, in the large holy weddings conducted in the Unification Church, I officiate together with True Mother. That is the bequeathal ceremony of love. The tradition set up in this way will become the eternal tradition. There will be no need for a revolution. When a new tradition is established in heaven and earth that does not need to be overhauled by revolution, it will lead to the formation of a new family, new tribe, people, nation and world. It will have dominion over the earth. (35-67, 1970.10.3)
Until now, no one has been able to carry out this task; nevertheless, the Unification Church set about the work of leading the world along the path of re-creation. On the day this is fulfilled, the world will become a unified whole, and the evil satanic world will be transformed into the heavenly nation. I think it strange that American youths are allowed to find their own spouses. This is something that is not allowed in the Holy Scriptures, and yet they are doing so in a Christian nation. It is my belief that such actions are allowed because of the materialistic civilization, as well as the satanic liberalism that they are following. However, those of you gathered here do not do so. We cannot do what Satan has done until now. What is love? It is the fundamental rule that everyone must marry after taking into account the wishes of God and their parents. In spite of this rule, free love marriages have become possible due to the Fall. So, if this is not uprooted completely, we cannot return to the heavenly nation. (82-115, 1976.1.1)
The ways of heaven are established on the occasion of the Blessing. At the risk of my life, I have devoted my life to establishing the principles we have to follow. I am not someone who is mellow, who will listen to you and waver in my beliefs when it comes to the question of marriage. (75-284, 1975.1.12)
1.2. The Blessing’s true perspectives on marriage
1.2.1. True marriage reflects the
form of God. Why should you get married? It is in order to resemble the form of God. God exists with dual characteristics. He is a unified being in which both characteristics exist together in harmony. Man and woman were created to reflect the dual characteristics of God, and so, man and woman should come together in complete unity and harmony, become like the seed, and return to the position of the true character of God. (290-170, 1988.2.18)
We should sing in praise of the greatest holiness of marriage. The only way a man and woman can love each other is through marriage. When they come together in this union, whom do they resemble? They resemble God. Only when a man and woman unite into one can they resemble God, who created us in His image. Only then can He reside in us. (70-76, 1974.2.8)
When you consider the Divine Principle, you can see that if Adam and Eve had not fallen, and instead became perfected, they would have been prepared for marriage. In other words, Adam and Eve were the substantial object partners of God. With Him as the subject partner, they automatically became the object partners. As the object partners, they should have achieved individual perfection. This would have been the foundation upon which they could connect their objective love to God, the subject of love, and fulfill the Blessing through marriage. After all, perfection refers to marriage, and marriage refers to the realization of God’s love. To put it more simply, if marriage did not exist, genuine love shared between people would never have developed in this world. Who is the owner of that love? We must understand that the owner is not human beings, but God. (76-40, 1975.1.26)
Marriage exists in order to perfect the ideal of creation. In other words, you get married to fulfill the purpose of creation. Then whose purpose is the purpose of creation? It is God’s purpose before it can ever become the purpose of Adam. So, it follows that God should feel joy before Adam. That is the way it should be. Considering all this, for whom do we get married? It is for God. Simply put, marriage is for the sake of God’s will, which is the purpose of creation. That Will is involved with perfecting the ideal of creation. (35-231, 1970.10.19)
Why do people get married? It is not for a man and woman to find their own love. Instead, it is in order for them to fulfill their objective positions and form a circular movement centering on the nucleus that is the vertical love of God. This is the ideal. God’s ideal of creation is fulfilled centering on such a love, and only through the union of a mature man and woman can love be perfected and connected to life. The connection cannot be made through life. It is made through love. Centering on the vertical love of the Father and the horizontal love of husband and wife, the seed of the original love can finally be connected. (173-288, 1988.2.21)
God exists with dual characteristics. Therefore, when the time comes for matured Adam and Eve to form the connection of love with each other, God’s masculinity can reside in Adam and His femininity can reside in Eve. By residing in our minds and bodies, God Himself can also be a part of the marriage. Adam’s mind is like the holy of holies, his body is like the most holy place, and God is residing in him, both in mind and body. If this had come to pass, Adam and Eve would both have become the body of God. Adam would resemble the male characteristics of God, and Eve the female characteristics. When they come together in holy matrimony, that wedding ceremony would be where the kingship of the universe is established. What is that kingship? It is the kingship of love. (143-236, 1988.3.19)
Why do people get married? It is to love God. Why should we love God? It is because we need to become one with the axis of God. What are we trying to achieve by becoming one with God? What happens when we become one with Him? Why should we become one with God? Centering on the absolute God and his eternal love, we can achieve eternal life. And this is not all. From the place where we come to meet with Him, the right of inheritance of the universe is bequeathed. The world created by God, centering on love, belongs to Him, but that world can become mine through the right of inheritance. (136-39, 1985.12.20)
The love between a husband and wife is engrafted to the vertical love of God. Once you become one with that vertical love, there is no one on earth who can detach it. The engrafted love is bound so strongly to the love of God that no one can ever separate it. That is why even though everyone complains about their lives and how difficult it is to go on living, they still continue to seek the path of love. (180-309, 1988.10.5)
How can you discover your value? This is the question. Men are born for women and women are born for men. Why should a man and woman come together in union? Because they cannot feel the love of God without becoming one. This is the problem. Unless a man and woman unite into one through perfected love, they cannot possess the love of God. So, why do people get married? To possess the love of God. (165-178, 1987.5.20)
Since the absolute God needs love absolutely, He needs to find an object of absolute love. (144-219, 1986.4.24)
Adam and Eve should have fully matured and become the object partners of God as the bride and groom. Then they should have received the Blessing of God and become a family through His love. This would have created the realm of perfected love that was achievable in the Garden of Eden without the Fall. If Adam and Eve had fulfilled individual maturity, they would have risen to the position where they could receive the Blessing. (76-45, 1975.1.26)
Of all the blessings in the world, the most precious blessing is the love of God. The second most precious blessing is inheriting God’s power of creation. Just as God created Adam and Eve, you were given the power to create through the children you give birth to. Why do you love your children? You love them because you have inherited horizontally the great achievement of God. That achievement is the substantial creation, and so you feel the same joy from your children as God felt from Adam and Eve. Thirdly, God bequeathed to us the right of dominion, so that we can have dominion over the creation just as God Himself has dominion over it. Therefore, you must understand that at the moment you are married, you inherit the love of God. At the same time, as you enter the realm of perfection, you are bequeathed the power of a second creator and right of dominion. This is why marriage refers not only to the fulfillment of God’s love, but also to the bequeathal of the rights of creation and dominion. (76-45, 1975.1.26)
The ideal of creation is not achieved centering on oneself. All hearts must become one with God, the subject. If He moves, I move. If He does not move, I do not move. In other words, the inside and outside must become one centering on unity of heart. The purpose of creation cannot be fulfilled unless the standard is set, through which you can become harmonized with God in the manner described above. (35-231, 1970.10.19)
1.2.2. Marriage is for the perfection of love
What is marriage? Why do people get married? For what do they get married? It is not because the woman misses the man, and the man misses the woman. It is to perfect love. The love sought by the man cannot be found without the woman. Love cannot be fulfilled on our own. In the same way, the love sought by the woman cannot be found without the man. (144-234, 1986.4.25)
For a man to achieve individual perfection, he needs a reciprocal relationship, and that is why ultimately he needs to get married. He cannot enter the realm of perfect love if he is not married. The reason people need to get married is so they can relate to the love of God. In other words, a man and woman cannot fully connect to the love of God if they are not married. When a man and woman get married, the love of God resides with them, and they become one centering on this love. Then, God can bequeath to them the whole universe, including God Himself, His love, and everything that belongs to Him. (135-327, 1985.12.15)
People get married to perfect their individual love while at the same time perfecting the love of their object partner. Doesn’t it feel good to know you get married to perfect your love as well as the love of God? Men and women have to get married to prepare the foundation on earth through which God can love. Only when a man and woman come together in union through love can the love of God reside there. The foundation is set by them. In the long run, people get married for the sake of God’s love; by that, I mean in order to receive the love of God. Since you are living a married life for the sake of God, His love will automatically come to you; through that, the love of God can be made yours. (165-87, 1987.5.20)
The purpose of marriage lies in perfecting the love of man and woman and uniting their worlds of the mind into one. Marriage is the proclamation, the proof of that. If the mind and love are perfected through married life, we can safely say that the ideal of the family has been realized. So, if you achieve this before you pass away, you will definitely enter the Kingdom of Heaven. (97-276, 1978.3.26)
When a person gets married, he is doing so not just for himself, but also for his spouse as well. What do I mean by this? Marriage is more for the object partner than oneself. Just as all principles in heaven and earth involve a subject and object, it is a law of nature that man and woman should be married. The man represents the right and the woman represents the left. This is so they can form a horizontal relationship in the universe. If the man is the subject, the woman automatically becomes his object partner, and this forms a vertical relationship with God. Therefore, marriage is not just for the man alone or the woman alone; it is to comply with the laws of nature. That is why man and woman are shaped differently. They are shaped differently so they can come together according to the laws of nature. (Blessed
Family - 358) The reason a woman enters into marriage with a man is so she can be part of the world of men. Why should a woman want to be part of the world of men? By being so, she can achieve the union of love. (Blessed Family -359)
Man was born to seek woman and woman to seek man. Man and woman were born to come together in union and receive a higher level of love from God. They cannot receive this love alone. Even if they could receive this love alone, that love would be one-sided. Standing alone, a man or woman can never receive love that is three-dimensional and spherical. For this reason, men and women enter marriage so they can make the leap into a higher realm of love. (109-273, 1980.11.2)
In the original world, the more a man and woman unite into one, the more powerful their unity will be. Through this, a great center will appear and develop into a sphere. The more the man and woman are connected horizontally, the stronger the connection becomes with the vertical power of the parent body of love. It is precisely at this point that the mind and body become one. (109-273, 1980.11.2)
You must bear in mind the principle that marriage is not for yourself, but for your spouse. It is wrong to yearn for a spouse who is handsome or beautiful. If you understand the principle that human beings must live for the sake of others, you will automatically realize that even when you are getting married, you should do so for the sake of your spouse. Even if your spouse is ugly, you should be ready to love her more than the most beautiful woman in the world. This is in accordance with the principled view of marriage. (Blessed Family -364)
The greatest love in the world would be if a beautiful man and woman, who were created as the greatest masterpieces of God, loved each other, centering on God. That love would transcend everything; it would not be a worldly love. That love would be the most beautiful love in the world, the love that represents all other kinds of love, and the love that can shine forever. (26-153, 1969.10.25)
The bride and groom should not become one centering on money, power, or honor; they should become one centering on the original love of God. (Blessed Family -883)
Once you are born on earth, you cannot be restored to the heavenly nation unless you have the firm conviction that you will love your spouse as much as you would love God and humanity, and more than anyone else in the world can love them. If a man does not know how to truly love a woman, he cannot love God or humanity. (97-319, 1978.4.1)
What should you do after you marry? You should go forward to welcome the love of God. Why are human beings born as men or women? It is for love. Why is it for love? The husband and wife must become one, but why should they become one? What happens when two beings, who represent the dual characteristics of God and His love, come together in complete union? They would then be on the path of seeking and receiving the love of God. (144-132, 1986.4.12)
1.2.3. Marriage brings together heaven and earth
Why do people get married? What good things are they hoping for? It is to expand the love of God. It is to expand His people. It is to expand His lineage. (144-80, 1986.4.8)
For what reason do people get married? It is in order to go to the Kingdom of Heaven, and for the sake of humanity. The man must realize that the woman who stands before him is the daughter of God and the daughter of humanity. If he can love the woman as the beloved daughter of humanity and of God, he has the right to become the husband. But if not, he cannot become her spouse. It is the same in the case of the woman. She should not think, “He is my man!” Firstly, she should consider him as the son of God and the man who represents all men of humanity. She should be the woman who can love him more than anyone else and even love him more than God Himself. So, man and woman should get married with this thought in their mind: The man should act as the right foot and the woman as the left foot, and together they can move forward, step by step, taking footsteps of love for the sake of humanity and God, through their family. The right foot is the husband and the left foot is the wife. In that sense, if you do not get married, you are crippled. Furthermore, both right foot and left foot should be perfect. If one foot is not perfect, the marriage would become lame. That is why only perfected men and perfected women can lead a harmonious married life. When a wife likes her husband, it is the same as her liking humanity and God. When she loves her husband, it is the same as her loving humanity and God. (Blessed Family -360)
Marriage is a very serious thing. Marriage is the coming together of heaven and earth, east and west, north and south, and high and low. Then, where does love go? When the two become one, where does love go? Why should we seek love? By seeking love, we automatically go to the central place of the environment. If people do not have a family, they are imperfect in this society. No one will ever trust them. That is because they fall short of the standard of the principle in sustaining the universe and so people do not acknowledge their value. That is only logical. (139-64, 1986.1.26)
The coming together of a man and woman is the same as the coming together of heaven and earth. (67-63, 1973.5.20)
Man represents the heaven and woman represents the earth. Therefore, the two should come together in harmony and form parallel lines. (Blessed Family -344)
The place where a man and woman embrace each other in love is the place where the universe unites into one. The universe originally intended by God at the time of creation, and fulfilled in the ideal of God, would appear like this. (22-201, 1969.2.4)
Our views on marriage make us think like this: “I will make love on a spread of the finest brocade in the universe!” Your marriage is the moment you make a lifelong decision about the right of possession centering on true love. You will be given the right to possess a woman for your whole life. Who is this woman? She represents half the universe. On the day you receive the right of possession of her, the universe will follow you, chasing after you wherever you go. Then, why do women marry? By attaching herself to a man, half of the universe comes together with the other half, and the joining together of the two begins a relationship that is equal to the value of the whole universe. That is why they marry. When you consider this, you cannot help but wonder at the greatness of the ideology of the Unification Church. (113-33, 1981.4.26)
Do you like flowers that have no fragrance? People are not so inspired by flowers that do not have any fragrance. Would you claim, “If I were ever to become a flower, I would become a green one”? Have you ever seen a green flower? I have visited many botanical gardens, and I have never seen a green flower. A flower the same color as the leaves would be completely useless. From this you can see that the laws of nature go beyond our comprehension. The example of the green flower is enough to convince you that there is a God. All the leaves in the world are green, so would there be a need for green flowers as well? I have seen only one flower that is sort of greenish. It is the pepper blossom, but when you look at it more closely, it is actually not green. From the contextual point of view, there are many colors, including red. The color of the flower is different from the color of the leaves so that they stand out, and when they stand out, they become a part of the harmony in the world of creation. They must stand out to comply with the laws of creation in the harmony of the universe. Our understanding of marriage is so much more magnificent. You cannot help but wonder at the greatness of the Unification Church’s views on marriage. (113-33, 1981.4.26)
The free love marriages you see in the world today are traps set by Satan, trying to make people fall so they cannot move towards the presence of God. Once you are caught in this trap, you will spiritually die and be controlled by Satan, or become his prey. Because of widespread free marriage in modern Western society, particularly the United States, it is becoming more difficult to form true families. The number of people who fail in family life is increasing day by day, so that in the not too distant future, the majority of people will not have families at all. When that happens, American society will become increasingly loveless. I can tell you with conviction that, in the end, it will become a hell-like society, dominated by anxiety and fear because of mistrust. At this time, you have been given the responsibility and mission of eradicating these kinds of social trends. You must establish a society here in America that is brimming over with love and is desired by God. (Blessed Family -364)
Our views on marriage in the Unification Church are very special. Marriage is there for us to return to the Origin. (182-186, 1988.10.23)
1.3. Reasons for receiving the Blessing
1.3.1. Fallen human beings have false parents
The Fall changed Adam and Eve’s lineage. Whose love changed it? They became the embodiments of Satan through his love as God’s adulterous enemy. The living body of the man and the living body of the woman entered the realm of Satan’s love and united based on that; the fruit of this was their children who inherited Satan’s love, life and lineage. (227-41, 1992.2.10)
When you look closely at Holy Scriptures, you cannot deny that the human ancestors engaged in illicit love and formed a relationship of parent and child Satan, centering on him. Human beings, who were supposed to carry on the bloodline of God and be born as the direct descendants of God through His absolute love, instead inherited the blood line of the devil Satan and were born as the sons and daughters of Satan. The eighth chapter of the book of Romans states, “But we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait for adoption as sons… but you have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba! Father!” Adopted children are of a different bloodline. (53-261, 1972.3.1)
In chapter eight of the book of Romans, it is recorded, “But we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies!” It also states, “For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, ‘Abba, Father.’” Therefore, the best we can hope for is adoption. The Christians of today are adopted sons and daughters. Adopted children come from a different bloodline. In John 8:44, Jesus said, “You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desire!” Since he referred to the devil as the father, doesn’t that make it clear that the bloodline belongs to him, and that he, the devil, is humankind’s ancestor? What is circumcision for? It symbolizes the separation of good and evil. That is how it works. What is the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil? (154-337, 1964.10.5)
Who was Satan originally? The devil as we know him was originally a servant of God. This servant violated the daughter of his master. That was the Fall. The Bible explains that Eve’s eating of the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil represents the Fall. However, the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil is not actually a fruit. It is the act of the servant violating the daughter of his master. God intended to fulfill His ideal by giving birth to, and raising His sons and daughters, who would then carry on the blood line. However, the archangel, who was created as the servant, violated the daughter of his master, and this act became the origin of the Fall. How could such a thing happen at that time! But it did happen, and led the world to be the way it is today. The original relationships became complicated, but you will understand once you study the Divine Principle. (85-308, 1976.3.4)
What was the result of the Fall? Human beings fell into the realm of death. Just as God said, “If you eat of the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil, you will die,” so they fell into a realm in which they are as good as dead. What was the result? In John 8:44, Jesus pointed out that Satan, the devil, became the father of humanity. Adam and Eve, who were supposed to attend God as their Father, fell, and instead, Satan, the devil, became humankind’s father. You must realize this mortifying and shameful fact is the result of the Fall. (74-140, 1974.11.28)
If Adam and Eve had not fallen, they would have given birth to children who would have been the direct descendants of the eldest son of God. Adam would have been the eldest son, true father and king. He would have been the king of the kingdom on earth and in spirit world. Furthermore, he would have been the true parent and true first son. That is why the family of Adam would have been the royal household of the heavenly kingdom. Then, who would have been the grandfather of Adam’s family? God would have been the grandfather. The mother and the father would have been Eve and Adam. From the viewpoint of the positions represented, the grandfather and grandmother represent God, and the parents act on behalf of God. From the vertical point of view, God settles down in a family centering on the first, second and third generations. The first generation on the horizontal level is your grandfather, the second generation your father, and the third generation is yourself. Therefore, the blood line of the royal family can be passed on and will continue forever through your sons and daughters. (218-255, 1991.8.19)
The starting point of Adam and Eve should be the realms of true parents, true kingship and true eldest son. The palace of God and the love of God reside there. Man and woman connect as one to the Creator and become the foundation of true love. That is the foundation for the perfected family of Adam as originally intended, and the palace of God, where He can reside forever. (218-189, 1991.7.28)
If Adam and Eve had not fallen and become mature, they would have achieved perfection not just on the individual but the universal level. Moreover, an original family centered on the love of God would have been initiated. If a clan, tribe, a people, nation and world had stemmed from this family, the world would have become a great community of one extended family attending God. God and Adam would have been the center of this society that is like a large family. In this world, the everyday life or life course of the family of Adam, centered on God, would remain in history as the historical tradition. His lifestyle, customs, conventions, and background would become the historical tradition. God’s love would be involved in such tradition from the beginning to the end. God’s love is the source of life and the origin of all ideals, and so no one can leave His embrace even if he wants to. If by any circumstance a person does leave, he ultimately has no choice but to come back. (91-240, 1977.2.23)
The fall of Adam and Eve is not just something concerning themselves, but a fall from a position involving all of human history. In other words, Adam and Eve’s fall meant that they did not become good parents; they became evil parents. Through evil parents, evil children were born, and through them, evil tribes and nations and an evil world were formed, and within this global realm the five billion members of the human race live. Human history in this realm of the Fall is not a history of joy but a history of sorrow. Humankind is not living in happiness, but in sorrow. (38-149, 1971.1.3)
Once you perfect love, you can understand everything. You can understand not only the simple truths of the physical world, but your spiritual eyesight will be sharpened. You can understand the spirit world and finally reach the stage where you can see and converse with God directly. However, man and woman fell before they could attain maturity of love. Instead, they formed an illicit relationship with the archangel. This was the fundamental cause of the destruction of the universe. (137-127, 1986.1.1)
Where can you pay money to hear these kinds of words? Even if you sold your home, gave all your money and made ritual offerings for tens of thousands of years, no one would be able to teach you this. Only the founder of the Unification Church can do this. This is the secret of the universe. Even the Bible doesn’t have this kind of explanation. The Bible tells us that Adam and Eve took and ate of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and in so doing committed the Fall. How can you claim that this is a literal fruit? Can those without the ability of preschoolers insist that Rev. Moon, to whom doctoral degrees have been granted and who became the head of those so qualified, is a heretic? The Chinese characters for heretic ( 異端), do not mean that the ending is different, but simply that the ending cannot be seen. Are my words correct or not? They are correct. (238-213, 1992.11.22)
My close investigation of the historical details of the original sin and Fall revealed the illicit love relationship that took place between the archangel and the very first human family. In the Divine Principle, Satan is not a conceptual or imaginary being, but a spiritual reality. He is the being who destroyed God’s ideal of love, and changed God’s lineage into one centered on himself. In chapter eight of the Gospel of John, Jesus states clearly that the father of humankind is the devil. God intended to realize His ideal love through Adam and Eve as His external body. The adulterer of love who deprived God of His ideal of love is indeed the devil, Satan. This may not sound familiar to you; however, this is the conclusion that I have reached as a result of searching the spirit world in order to investigate the fundamental intricacies of the universe. That quest was a tremendous struggle of blood and sweat. All of you will be able to receive an answer about this if you pray in earnest. (135-12, 1985.8.20)
1.3.2. The lineage of the enemy has been inherited
Fallen people became false beings and so must be engrafted. Viewed lineally, your ancestors differ from the original. You could only become adopted children because your father and mother are of a different lineage; hence, it is logical that the Fall occurred through lineage. What is the Fall? It consisted of inheriting the wrong lineage. It makes sense that the explanation of the Fall is that it is an act of wrongful love. Thus, it is unreasonable to deny what is being asserted in the Unification Church, that the first ancestors fell through love. Doesn’t the Bible state that they fell by eating the fruit of good and evil? Do you know what that fruit is? Is it a fruit from a tree that falls and rolls around when the wind blows? It is not. (157-158, 1967.4.2)
Adam and Eve became one with Satan in their minds and inherited the lineage of Satan. God is a loving God, so why can’t He find it in His heart to forgive Satan? The Bible says He could forgive anything, even murder and robbery, and those who believe in Jesus will be forgiven their sins. So why can’t He forgive Satan? The reason God cannot forgive Satan is because he defiled the blood line of humankind. What does that mean? From God’s point of view, Satan is the adulterer, the adulterer of love. Do you understand what that means? (156-226, 1966.5.25)
Since the marriage of Adam and Eve was carried out centered on Satan, there is no way to deny that they inherited love, life and lineage centered on Satan. If they had not eaten of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, and had not fallen, their wedding would have been conducted centering on God. Just as the True Parents of the Unification Church blessed you, God would have called Adam and Eve to His presence when they were fully matured and blessed them centering on Himself. (228-254, 1992.7.5)
If Adam and Eve had not eaten of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, and instead become perfected, they would have become the son and daughter of the Great King, the Creator of the universe. If they became the son and daughter of the Great King, then who would their children have been, as grandson and granddaughter in direct descent from Him? They would have been the prince and princess. They would also have been the foundation upon which the kingdom on earth representing the heavenly nation was established. There cannot be two kingships. There can only be one. (231-27, 1992.5.31)
The only son and only daughter created personally by God with His own hands were Adam and Eve. Problems emerged because Adam and Eve fell. Then, what was the cause of the Fall? They fell because they did not obey the words of God, who told them not to eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. What would have happened if they had obeyed the commandment? This possibility has never occurred to Christians. Even if it did, they would not have known what to make of it. It is like a boundless expanse of water. Even if they wanted to measure the depth of it, they would have had no means of doing so. Even if they wanted to know about this, there was no way for them to understand it, so they had no choice but to believe without question what they had been told. However, there can be no perfection in ignorance. (231-21, 1992.5.31)
Why do people do penance by inflicting pain on their bodies? This is because they have inherited the blood of Satan, the blood of the enemy of God. Who is this enemy of God? He is the adulterer. He is the enemy of the love of God. He is the adulterer. We inherited the blood of the adulterer. Eve was supposed to become the heiress to the kingship of the heavenly nation; she was supposed to become the queen. However, she became the spouse of the devil, the mate of the servant instead. This is the secret of the universe. It has finally been disclosed in my time, so the satanic world should come to an end. (172-277, 1988.1.24)
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)
Why does the devil hate God? Why does God hate the devil? Christian logic dictates that one should love one’s enemy, yet God cannot love His enemy Satan. Why? If He were to love the enemy of love, heaven and earth would disappear. The heavenly laws of governance would disappear. The laws of existence would disappear. (191-43, 1989.6.24)
Satan destroyed the ideal love of God and violated the ideal life and ideal lineage. The children borne out of these actions created the progenitors of humankind. The sons and daughters of Satan, who are the manifestations of the love, life and lineage of Satan, cannot receive the direct intervention of God. (197-286, 1990.1.20)
Why does Satan come without fail to those who, throughout our history, have walked the path of faith, strangling them, pressing them down, and sacrificing them? In God’s eyes, Satan is the adulterer who stole and violated His family. Our original mother should have attended God, and built His kingdom of peace in heaven and on earth; yet we and our original father were driven out. Satan intervened and human beings came to be in this miserable state. It was no other sin than this that he committed. (156-226, 1966.5.25)
The Fall was brought about through the illicit motivation with regard to lineage. That is why the results of the Fall have been passed down until now in the form of the original sin. Therefore, people need to change the bloodline. Why should the bloodline be changed? Human beings have inherited and passed on the bloodline of Satan, and so that lineage has to be put right. Those of you gathered here must understand this clearly. (183-308, 1988.11.7)
The people who belong to the realm of Satan have no connection whatsoever with the bloodline of God. In other words, the whole of humankind, which was supposed to have been born as the children of parents of goodness, was instead born from evil parents. They spread out across the world, as the family, tribe, a people, nation and world centered on evil. (55-133, 1972.5.7)
Do you know what the Fall was? Through that, the connection of life was severed. What happened to Adam and Eve? They were supposed to form a relationship with God, and become one with Him, but instead they became one with a servant. The result was that the whole of humankind, which was supposed to inherit the lineage of God, instead inherited the lineage of the servant. That is why, although fallen human beings may call out to God as their Heavenly Father, they don’t actually feel that He is indeed their Father. Just like their fathers and mothers, they inherited the real nature of Satan, thinking about everything based on them, and connecting all that is high and mighty to themselves. (91-242, 1977.2.23)
Through the Fall, we lost the true parent, true husband, and true child. This all happened because of Eve and the archangel. From this point of view, women living on earth today are dependent on the archangel father, archangel husband, and archangel brother. That is why these women are wretched. It is the same as the daughter of a wealthy family living with her servant. In other words, these women were born from the bloodline of the servant. That is why they have never received the love from an original husband, original father, and original brother. (51-182, 1971.11.21)
How did the devil bring about the Fall? Through the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil? Where did they cover themselves after eating the fruit? Did they cover up their mouths or their hands? Didn’t they cover up the sexual parts of their bodies? This became the seed that sowed evil. They fell before they had fully matured, while they were still adolescents. As the lineage of humankind in world history stemmed form this act, in the Last Days the phenomenon of such relationships will thrive. The time will come, that, across the world, young people destroy the ethics of love. They will hide in the shadows, just like Adam and Eve, and have no fear of heaven. That will be the time when the era of Satan’s worldwide dominion will come to the earth. That is when we will be faced with the iron hammer of God. (200-227, 1990.2.25)
Because of the complex entanglement of the human lineage, restoration has taken six thousand years; otherwise, almighty God would have restored everything in a day. It’s as if there is a chronic disease in the bloodline; if it were to be pulled out all at once, everyone would die. That is why it has taken six thousand years. Did the first human ancestors fall through eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? How simple things would be if that were so. (155-295, 1965.11.1)
The problem we should focus on is how the foundations of sin, the Fall, evil, and hell all came into being. We have to return to Adam and Eve to understand this. When we trace the Fall of Adam and Eve to the source, we can see that they fell because they did not obey God’s commandment, “Do not eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil!” The second cause of the Fall was that they became self-centered. The third cause was that they tried to love centering on themselves. This is the essence of the story that lies behind the Fall. So, we can conclude that everything connected to this is on the side of Satan. All fallen human beings have loved illicitly and self-centeredly. Therefore, we can assume that the people of the satanic world are those who express love centering on themselves. (79-198, 1975.7.27)
What! You think the Fall was brought about by eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil? This fruit refers to the sexual organ of a woman. When a woman meets a good husband, she becomes a good mother, but if it meets with an evil husband, she becomes an evil mother. There is no one who can logically deny what the founder of the Unification Church is saying. The mind and body are in constant conflict because history began with a conflict of love between the husband and wife. You cannot deny this logically. (267-240, 1995.1.8)
1.3.3. The Messiah is needed as the True Parents
The reason human beings need a messiah is so they can be saved. Then, what is the original starting point from which salvation can occur? It is returning to the point of contact with God’s love. However, the whole of humanity has become totally disconnected from God, and instead has become the embodiment of Satan. This is the exact opposite of God’s love, and therefore needs to be indemnified. Indemnity refers to the complete removal of the original sin. But the fundamental problem lies in the lineage. Any problems related to the bloodline cannot be resolved by fallen human beings. That is why humankind needs the Messiah. (35-159, 1970.10.13)
Adam’s clan, that is the lineage in which sinful parents came to replace true parents, must be engrafted on to the lineage of the True Parents in the presence of God, through restoration by indemnity. This is the ideology of the Messiah and the Savior. The reason this reality has arisen is due to the Fall. (101-76, 1978.10.28)
Who is the Messiah? He is the true parent. Then why do people need true parents? It is because they need to be engrafted to the original lineage through true parents’ love. Fallen humankind cannot rid itself of the original sin without the advent of true parents. Likewise, without the true parents, people cannot advance to the place where they can receive the Blessing on the perfected level as sin-free and liberated beings. (35-216, 1970.10.19)
Who is the Savior that is needed by fallen humankind? The Savior should not be in the position of fallen parents, but instead in the position of Adam and Eve who have not fallen. From there, he can then become one with God’s will, receive God’s love and blessing, and give rebirth to humanity in the position of true parents. Otherwise, human beings can never rise to the position where they would have no connection at all with the original sin. (22-269, 1969.5.4)
Why are true parents needed? You need them because it is necessary for you to take root centering on the realm of heart. At the present time, your roots are different. Because of the Fall, the trunk and the branches are also different. A new root must begin from true parents, and new trunk and branches must also grow from them, which can then be used for engrafting. You must cut off the old trunk and branches and engraft the new shoot. By engrafting them like this on to the old root, that tree will then become part of the great mainstream of the universe. Everything in the satanic world must be cut down. It must be cut off at the roots. (164-155, 1987.5.10)
The Fall occurred through the wrongful marriage in the Garden of Eden. Now the time has come for True Parents to overturn this by marrying people in the right way. The True Parents will solve the trouble caused by the Fall. Through them, hell can be eliminated and the millions and billions of ancestors in the spirit world can be blessed in holy matrimony. Through the foundation of the families of descendants on earth, centering on true love, they and their ancestors in the spirit world can unite into one vertically. Through these family foundations, East and West will be connected. All of you should inherit a new lineage. In order for that to be possible, the Messiah comes as the father. He, together with Eve, should restore this new lineage through indemnity on the victorious individual foundation that transcends the world level where Satan cannot intervene. Only when he has accomplished this can humankind be engrafted horizontally, centering on the True Parents’ family and their true spousal relationship. That is the reason for having the Blessing Ceremony in the Unification Church. The Unification Church is unique. Where did the lineage of the Unification Church originate? It originated from God. That is why we dare the satanic world to oppose us. When they oppose us, they will have to pay compensation for damages. (169-37, 1987.10.4)
True Parents will save the whole of humanity as true people by engrafting them to the true love, true life and true lineage of God. They will do so by conducting the Blessing of holy matrimony through which the conversion of lineage takes place. Furthermore, the people will then form true families and establish the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. (282-224, 1997.3.13)
Section 2. True Parents, Rebirth, and Transformation of the Lineage
2.1. Who are True Parents?
2.1.1. True Parents are the ancestors without original sin
Who are true parents? If Adam and Eve had not fallen, God would have bestowed His vertical love on them, and Adam and Eve would have become the body of God. They would have represented the body of God. God would have been like the bones, and Adam and Eve like the flesh. God can have a mind and body through Adam and Eve. He would have become the internal parent in the internal position, and Adam and Eve would have become the external parents in the external position. The internal and external parents must become one through love; at that place, we come to have external parents and attend the internal parents in heart. With the union of love between God and Adam and Eve, then true parents – the perfected man and woman – would emerge. There can be no perfected human beings if there is no union through love. (184-71, 1988.11.13)
What kind of position is that of true parents? It is a place where Adam and Eve, centered on God, have united into complete oneness and are free from Satan’s accusation. The origin of true parents can only come into existence when a man and woman who have not fallen and who have nothing to be accused by Satan, can rise to the realm of perfection. This is the origin of true parents as seen from the Divine Principle point of view. However, attaining this position is not as simple as it may sound. (25-30, 1969.9.21)
Who are the new parents of humankind? Adam and Eve, who fell in the very beginning in the Garden of Eden, became fallen parents. The new parents coming with the mission of giving rebirth to humankind are the original, parents who have nothing to do with the Fall. They have become one with God’s will and can be approved by God. They are the parents who keep the original, unfallen standard and fulfill God’s will. They multiply children of goodness by forming an ideal family in the embrace of God, centering on His love. They are the parents who have nothing to do with the Fall. (22-269, 1969.5.4)
If Adam and Eve had not fallen, they would have become the parents of humankind and would have established a world centered on God. However, because of their fall, they became false parents under the dominion of Satan. As a result, the true parents, who were intended by God to become His ideal of creation, were lost. The true ancestors of humankind were lost. (20-117, 1968.5.1)
What do true parents signify? They are the symbol of hope for everyone. They are the absolute symbol of hope for fallen humankind. They are the fruit of past history, the center of this era, and the starting point of the future of hope which connects to the world we live in today. (35-236, 1970.10.19)
When you think of the words True Parents you should remember that history will be reset through True Parents. The origin through which we can build a new world will come into existence, the internal standard through which Satan can be brought into submission will be determined, and Satan’s domination of the external world will be conquered. Only then can the central point be set and the liberation of God take place. Therefore, you should be thankful for this great blessing which has been bestowed upon you, which is the grace of being able to live in the same era as True Parents and act upon their orders. (43-144, 1971.4.29)
The hope of humankind is to meet true parents. Even when you are walking the path of death, you desire to meet true parents. Even if you lost all of past history, all the ages, and all of your descendants, if you were to meet true parents, you would regain history, the ages, and the future. You should understand that this is what true parents are able to do. (35-236, 1970.10.19)
When the Messiah comes to earth, he will come as an individual and yet he is not just an individual. He is the fruition of the faith and devotion of the whole of humanity, the fruition of the desires of the whole of humanity, and the fruition of the love yearned for by the whole world. He is the fruition to which all courses of history are connected. To put it simply, he is connected to the past, present and future. He is connected from the individual to the family, tribe, people, nation, world, and heaven and earth. (13-143, 1964.1.1)
Jesus came with the mission of attaining the position as the parent of humanity, but he died before he could fulfill this mission. Therefore, in the era of the Second Coming, we cannot establish a world that advances beyond the old world unless that position is restored through indemnity and successfully achieved. The Unification Church has been continuously working for this purpose. (55-143, 1972.5.7)
The True Parent, as the perfected Adam, must restore the standard of the first parents, which Adam failed to meet. He must also perfect the standard of the parent that Jesus, who came as the second Adam, failed to achieve. The reason I have no choice but to establish a tradition of suffering in this era of the Second Advent is because Jesus established the spiritual foundation but failed to establish both spiritual and physical foundations on the world level. (55-173, 1972.5.7)
Who are the True Parents that we know of? They are the human ancestors. That is why you must attend True Parents as you would your own parents. (118-147, 1982.5.23)
Humankind needs True Parents. Why is this so? For the first time in history, we are able to connect to the axis of love. This is unprecedented, and there will not be another event like this in the future. You must know this clearly. There is only one axis. There cannot be two. That axis is none other than true love. (137-108, 1985.12.24)
Throughout history, there has never been even one person who was victorious in the name of God as a representative of all men in the world. That is why up until the present time I have struggled to establish the standard of victory. Members of the Unification Church and I could avoid suffering, but since we know of this Principle, we have to walk the path of suffering. (91-257, 1977.2.23)
What is the hope of humanity? It is to attend True Parents. Six thousand years ago, Adam and Eve were supposed to be blessed in marriage, an event that would have allowed all humankind to subsequently become the descendants of God. However, due to the Fall, everyone became the descendants of Satan. Therefore, True Parents, who were lost six thousand years ago, must be restored on the side of heaven, and human beings have to be reborn through the relationship of the love of True Parents. Only then can they become citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven. (19-203, 1968.1.7)
What does the term true parents mean? What is the difference between physical parents and true parents? Who are true parents? What is their responsibility? What is the difference when it comes to love? The difference lies in their concept of love. Their idea of love is different. Physical parents teach us about the love centered on the physical body, whereas spiritual parents teach us about the love centered on the eternal spirit world. The quality and contents are different. (129-99, 1983.10.1)
2.1.2. True Parents give rebirth to humanity through true love
You were born of the lineage of false parents, driven away from God, and have no connection to true parents. Therefore, in order to free yourselves from this lineage, you must stamp it out and uproot it. Only when you do so, and totally change the lineage, can you enter the Kingdom of Heaven. ( 22-271, 1969.5.4) What should true parents accomplish? They must put right the false lineage, which is the root of the satanic world, rectify the false life, and straighten the false path of love. (169-37, 1987.10.4)
To convert the lineage, the requirements for a victory bound to the love of God must be fulfilled in the seed of the future children of an Adamic figure, and must penetrate as deep as the bone marrow, flesh and blood of that person. Unless this is fulfilled, those children cannot be born as children of God. This is undeniable from a logical point of view. Is there a record of such a thing in holy scriptures? If so, then that is the word of God. (35-163, 1970.10.13)
Who is the Savior that is needed by fallen humankind? The Savior should not be in the position of fallen parents, but instead in the position of Adam and Eve who have not fallen. From there he can become one with God’s will, receive God’s love and blessing, and give rebirth to humanity in the position of true parents. Otherwise, humankind can never escape the connection with the original sin. (22-269, 1969.5.4)
Why are True Parents needed? You need them because it is necessary for you to take root centering on the realm of heart. At the present time, your roots are different. Because of the Fall, the trunk and the branches are also different. A new root must begin from true parents, and new trunk and branches must also grow from them, which can then be used for engrafting. You must cut off the old trunk and branches and engraft the new shoot. By engrafting them like this on to the old root, that tree will then become part of the great mainstream of the universe. Everything in the satanic world must be cut off. It must be cut off at the roots. (164-155, 1987.5.10)
What is desired by all humankind today? Before they establish a nation or world, they want to meet with true parents. From whom do your future descendants want to be descended? Your sons and daughters do not want to be born from your false lineage. They want to be born through the lineage of true parents. That is why true parents will automatically become the starting point of a new future. (35-237, 1970.10.19)
What is the responsibility of true parents? They must right the false lineage, which is the root of the satanic world, and right the false path of love. In the Bible it is written, “He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for my sake will find it.” Why did he put forth such a paradoxical logic? It is because the satanic world must die. (169-39, 1987.10.4)
True Parents and their children are an eternal, unchanging and predestined original family whose course needs to be fulfilled providentially. This is a bond of parent-child relationship that no one can break up. This is the eternal path. There are not two paths; there is only one path. There is no other way. There is no secret method. The only thing for us to do is to follow that path. (203-192, 1990.6.24)
The Fall occurred through the wrongful marriage in the Garden of Eden. Now the time has come for True Parents to overturn this, by marrying people in the right way. The trouble caused by the false parents should be solved by the True Parents. Through them, hell can be eliminated and the millions and billions of ancestors in the spirit world can be blessed in holy matrimony. Through the foundation of the families of descendants on earth, centering on true love, the ancestors in the spirit world and the descendants on earth can unite into one vertically. The East and West will be connected horizontally with this vertical family foundation. What should an adopted son do? He must be engrafted to the true son. The wild olive tree must be cut off at the root, and then the sprout of the true olive tree can be engrafted into it. It would be as if there were a movement to convert all the wild olive trees into true olive trees. In order to be reborn, you need to inherit the lineage of True Parents. That is why the whole of humanity hopes for True Parents, and Jesus and the Holy Spirit yearned to carry out the marriage feast of the Lamb. (19-164, 1968.1.1)
Before anything else, you must long for True Parents sincerely. You cannot be saved if you do not attend True Parents, centering on the standard that they are the origin of your life, all your hopes, and the source of all your ideals and happiness. Have you ever attended True Parents like this? You must understand this clearly. That is why you must have a firm belief that transcends even your self-awareness. This shows that you are the son or daughter who can become one eternally with True Parents. If you do not have such a strong faith, nothing will come to pass. (30-238, 1970.3.23)
You have been bought. You have been bought, along with humanity and the universe. That is why God wants to judge the universe with you. He bought you, who were in the position of slaves in the satanic world, to become His sons and daughters. Therefore, you are the blessed children of glory and you should be ready to give yourselves for the world when it asks for you. You should be ready to give everything you have even to Satan. You were bought with the blood and sweat of True Father. You were bought with my own flesh and blood. Therefore, you should carry out the same work as I. I would like to take pride in the members. Let us make a commitment in this regard. (11-164, 1961.7.20)
2.2. The core of providential rebirth
2.2.1. True meaning of rebirth
When I speak of rebirth, I do not mean that you must be reborn through the bodies of parents who are the descendants of fallen Adam and Eve, but through those who are not in any way connected to the Fall. Unless you are reborn through such parents, you cannot return to God. The root of sin began from Adam and Eve. Unless you step over this and are reborn in a position not related to the original sin, you can never ever return to the presence of God. (22-269, 1969.5.4)
For what purpose does God want to save humankind? No matter how much He tries to save people, if they are in the fallen realm, they can never be saved. That is why God has to send true parents to this world. They represent Adam and Eve who have not fallen, through whom humanity can be reborn. In this way, the connection between Satan and humanity is severed forever and Satan can no longer accuse humankind. God alone will have complete dominion over humanity and He alone can intervene in their affairs. Unless humankind is reborn into such a position, people with original sin embedded within them cannot be restored to a position free from original sin. (22-269, 1969.5.4)
If True Parents are the true olive trees, all of you are wild olive trees that need to be engrafted. You are like the lateral sprouts and branches. You will be able to grow properly in the original way only when new branches sprout from you. What did humankind become after they lost faith, love and substantial identity? Their lineage was overturned completely. That is why it must be overturned once again. When Nicodemus asked Jesus, “What must I do to enter the Kingdom of Heaven?” Jesus proclaimed a most important truth as his answer: “No one can see the Kingdom of Heaven unless he is born again.” (Blessed
Family - 509) Rebirth refers to the complete reformation of the mind. (Blessed Family -509)
When Nicodemus asked Jesus, “How can we be saved?” Jesus answered, “You must be born again in order to be saved.” What he meant was that, since human beings were born as the children of Satan, they need to receive the Holy Spirit from God and be reborn if they are to be saved. In other words, they need to sever their relationship with Satan completely and re-form their relationship with God as originally intended at the time of creation. (Blessed Family -509)
Even if your faith was reaffirmed through the providence of God, you need to be engrafted to be restored as His children. (Blessed Family -509)
If you are inferior to Adam and Eve you cannot be reborn, and restoration on the fundamental level cannot be carried out. In being reborn, not only the individual, but also the family, people, nation and world need to be reborn. Christians today do not know this. (58-42, 1972.6.6)
Among Christians, there are a few who believe that the Lord at his Second Advent will literally come on the clouds. If you think you can be saved because you believe, even if you don’t know anything, your belief cannot be considered as true faith. There would be no need for the Unification Church if it were that easy to be saved. (Blessed Family-509)
When you are engrafting the sprout of the true olive tree to the wild olive tree, you cannot just cut off the branch and engraft the sprout there; you must cut off the wild olive tree at the base so that only the roots remain, and engraft the sprout there. This means that when the Lord at his Second Advent comes to this world the existing churches should change their old systems, organizations, and rituals, and start new. (Blessed Family -510)
The fruits that Christians have produced through their lives of faith are the fruits of the wild olive tree. In order to produce fruits of the true olive tree, they need to be cut off at the base and have the sprout of the true olive tree engrafted on to them. If the sprout cannot be engrafted, the tree should be pulled up completely and burned to ashes. If the wild olive tree is not uprooted completely, it will produce further fruits, which will then be strewn around the tree and will grow into more wild olive trees. The cutting down of wild olive trees is necessary in order to engraft the sprouts of the true olive tree on to them. The problem here is that the sprout of the true olive tree and the sprout of the wild olive tree look exactly alike from the outside and so disputes may arise. In particular, at the time of the Second Coming, many Antichrists will appear and those trying to find the truth may be confused. That is why you have been told, “Pray constantly, without resting or sleeping!” By cutting off the wild olive tree at the base and engrafting the true olive tree on to it, all wild olive trees will disappear. The field where they used to be will become a field of true olive trees. Now that I am ready to carry out this task, many are raising uproar. They are scared of the pain they will feel when their bodies are cut off at the roots. They are worried that I may be an incompetent gardener. The spring of providential history has come and with it the task of engrafting the sprouts on to the wild olive trees has begun. (Blessed Family -510)
2.2.2. Rebirth
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)
You say you need to be reborn, but in order to accomplish this, you need to love Jesus more than you love anyone. You must realize there is no way you can be connected to God unless the love centered on God is on a higher level than any kind of love found in the fallen realm of Satan’s love. This is the path of suffering, the difficult path that religious people must follow. Christians long for Jesus every day, and are waiting impatiently for Jesus to come again. For 2000 years, they have cried out to heaven, “Jesus, our groom, please come quickly!” even though he did not come. When they reach the stage where their bodies are ready to burst, their hearts are being torn, their bones are melting, their spirit is hovering between life and death, and when they are connecting directly only with God or Jesus, only then, will the Holy Spirit come down upon them. When the Holy Spirit comes to them, spiritual rebirth will occur. Through this, their spirits can be reborn into spiritual babies. Those of you gathered here, have you ever had such an experience? If you have not had one such experience, you are still the sons and daughters of the satanic world. You must understand that you can still be accused by Satan. Such people cannot go to the Kingdom of Heaven. They have no choice but to go to hell. (114-27, 1981.5.14)
Jesus told Nicodemus that unless one is reborn, one cannot enter the Kingdom of God. The “I” who has lived until now must be denied. Even if you have excuses, and even if you have many accomplishments to your name, you must deny yourself. Because you are fallen human beings, you cannot escape from this fate. Your whole life should be denied, your daily life should be denied; you are living a spiritually dead life that should be denied. (6-278, 1959.6.7)
The Messiah may convert the lineage, but it is up to you to accept the conversion. Unless the foundation on which the conversion can take place is established, you cannot walk towards salvation. The path to salvation cannot be reached easily; before you reach it, you must go through a state of life and death. Only when you carry out a 40-day fast or you are on the brink of death, vomiting blood, can your lineage be converted. (35-160, 1970.10.13)
People in the world who were born before the True Mother came into existence were born in vain. That is why they needed to be engrafted to Jesus, pass through the body of Jesus, and be reborn through the Holy Spirit. This is possible because Jesus formed a spousal relationship of true love. Since they were born as the fruit of false love, they must be reborn through true love. This is one reason why a lot of emphasis is put on love in Christianity. (17-192, 1966.12.18)
There is no other way of becoming one with Jesus except through love. You cannot become one with him through truth or justice. Love is necessary before there can be life. Love goes beyond history, and is not limited by distance or space. (35-164, 1970.10.13)
2.3. The central ideology is the conversion of lineage
Who is supposed to carry out the conversion of the lineage? It cannot be performed by just anyone. You must know that in order to become the one who can perform it, I walked the tearful path of the cross. Because I set such a standard, you are able to become a part of the tradition of the Blessing without having to do anything for it. It took thousands of years of hard work on God’s part and my substantial life course, which was filled with hardships and suffering, to establish the victorious realm of the conversion of lineage. You are now standing on the foundation thus laid down. To receive the Blessing is to completely cut off the evil lineage and to engraft a new lineage. By engrafting, the lineage is completely changed. (35-178, 1970.10.13)
In order to enter God’s realm of heart, your lineage has to be the same. You can only join that realm of heart after changing your lineage, which originated from a different root. The stems are different. The roots, stems and sprouts need to be identical. For that to be so, the great work of the conversion of lineage is absolutely necessary. This cannot be carried out alone. You need True Parents for this task. (172-55, 1988.1.7)
God wants everyone reborn. From His position, He is trying to bring all of humanity, which is still in the realm of Satan’s false love, to His side through His greater love. Since all humankind was born through the parents, ancestors and lineage of false love, they need to be reborn through the parents, ancestors and lineage of true love. In this way, they can become the children of God and the people of God’s Kingdom. The precious blood of Jesus and the ritual of the Last Supper all symbolize the providence of becoming the children of God through the conversion of the lineage. (135-12, 1985.8.20)
It doesn’t really hit home when I say “conversion of the lineage,” does it? How did you come to be the way you are today? When I become Abel, you, as Cain, must completely unite and become one with me. It is only because of this relationship that you can become one with me; if there were no such relationship that would be a big problem. (161-153, 1987.1.18)
In what way can you connect to the heart of God? You cannot connect with His heart through logic. It is only through the lineage that you can connect with Him. Have you all inherited the lineage of the heart of God? You didn’t know about that until now. That is why before you have to go through the ceremony of converting the lineage to receive the Blessing. At the time of the ceremony, you must reach a state of nothingness, feeling that you have nothing. You have to reach the state where you feel you do not have a body. You should have a firm conviction that the point where the blood and flesh of the True Parents can be inherited begins with yourself. (180-159, 1988.8.22)
All of you went through the ceremony of converting the lineage before you received the Blessing, didn’t you? You did not really understand any of it; you simply followed my orders, but in reality it is not that simple. History came to be in utter confusion today because Jesus could not form a relationship of husband and wife at his first advent. Therefore, from the viewpoint of the standard of heart, there would be great trouble if any event occurred at the Blessing that would defile the lineage. I am not just talking about the penalty of such actions. The first human ancestors were thrown out of the Garden of Eden when they fell, even though they were not fully matured; bearing that in mind, there would be dire consequences if you committed a sin on the foundation of the perfected standard of heart. If that were to happen, God would not want to see you ever again and neither would I. (198-220, 1990.2.3)
Everyone, you must change completely after you go through the ceremony of converting the lineage. Would this be possible if True Parents were not here? Think about the path of hardships previous generations had to persevere through ever since the time of the creation of the world. Having True Parents here right now is something for which you should all be truly grateful. It is even more amazing that you have received the Blessing from them in person. Through the Blessing, the tradition of the lineage, that is, the tradition embedded with true love, life and lineage can be established. You must always keep this in mind. (216-36, 1991.3.3)
Satan is saying at this moment: “Through the Fall, I violated everything related to Your lineage. For You to enter the Kingdom of Heaven with Your son, You need to convert the lineage, don’t You? If You are indeed the subject of life, Adam can receive the seed of life from You. This seed of life can then connect to Eve and then set the original standard that can become the root. Based on this standard Your clan can reclaim its rightful place. However, in order for this to happen, You need to convert humankind from the roots of the fallen lineage, which is currently part of my clan. Unless You do so, You cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only people who stem from the roots of Adam can enter the Kingdom of God. People who stem from the roots of the archangel cannot enter the Kingdom of God, can they? No they can’t!” (197-286, 1990.1.20)
What is the significance of the Blessed Families? Satan has no control over the Blessed Families. When they have complete faith in Father and a strong conviction that they belong to True Parents, no matter where they are, Satan cannot violate that. Why is this so? It is because, centering on the heart of True Parents, they have a relationship with the realm of heart of the converted lineage. That is why Satan cannot touch them. (149-53, 1986.11.2)
The path of restoration begins from the era of the servant of the servant and passes through the eras of the servant, adopted son, and true son. Then, if you were to pass through the eras of servant of servant, servant and adopted son could you then form a relationship with the era of the true son? You cannot form a relationship with the era of the true son just like that. You must establish the foundation of faith, the foundation of substance, and finally the foundation for the Messiah, as laid down in the Divine Principle. What that means is that you need to receive the Messiah. The Messiah is the true Son of God. The adopted son and the true son are of different lineages. That is why conversion of the lineage is necessary. (55-192, 1972.5.9)
Fallen human beings need conversion of their lineage. This is the fundamental issue. The relationship between God and humankind is like that of father and children; however, this truth has not been known until now, and that is why there has been continuous conflict throughout history. No one has ever known the Providence of God. The conversion of the lineage must be carried out on the levels of individual, family, people, nation and world. Only the Messiah can accomplish this. Only after True Parents emerge can the new lineage be initiated by them. Without the Parents, the lineage cannot be converted. All these issues must be resolved by each individual. Overcoming these problems is the task given to all individuals. However, human beings do not know about all these matters, and that is why the Messiah has to come and complete the task on their behalf. (161-147, 1987.1.18)
Fallen humankind set out on the wrong foot from the very beginning. That is why they must go back. You may ask, go back where? They must return to the starting point. Since they began with false parents, they must return to the beginning and start afresh with true parents. How serious this is! Each person has to inherit the love of God, life of God and lineage of God. When you received the Blessing, you attended the ceremony of converting the lineage, didn’t you? You must believe in that, even more than in your own lives. You should not think of the ceremony as a normal religious ritual, just because it is a Unification Church ritual. This ceremony is like an injection that revives a person from death. It is like an antidote. (216-107, 1991.3.9)
In the Bible you read the story of Jacob, who plotted with his mother and tricked his father into giving him the blessing. You also read about Tamar, who committed immoral acts. Yet, it states in the Bible that Jesus will come to the earth through the tribe of Judah. What does all this mean? It is because the problem of conversion of the lineage remained and had to be resolved. The bloodline must be purified. Of all the religions, only Christianity has placed importance on the lineage, and laid down the conversion of lineage as its main ideology. You cannot find this in any other religion, and that is why you can safely conclude that we must follow this teaching. That is why in the conversion of lineage, Father could not exclude Christianity. On the contrary, I focused on Christianity, the religion that inherited the ideology of the chosen people. If I had used a title for our association for the unification of all religions rather than Christianity, would I have been persecuted? Do you understand what I’m trying to say? Therefore, converting the lineage had to be the main emphasis of the central ideology. (227-349, 1992.2.16)
2.4. Three stages in changing the lineage
2.4.1. Holy wine ceremony
Before receiving the Blessing of marriage in the Unification Church, you need to go through the ceremony of changing the lineage. All of you went through that, didn’t you? The indemnity stick ceremony and the three-day ceremony make it seem very complicated, don’t they? During these ceremonies, Satan cannot intrude. These rituals signify that the gates of the Kingdom of Heaven have been opened by virtue of the laws of God and True Parents; and that liberation has been proclaimed. Therefore, Satan, who has been particularly active on the perfection level of the growth stage, cannot interfere. Do you all know that Blessed Families went through the ceremony of changing the lineage? They had to pass through this ceremony before they could receive the Blessing. (235-215, 1992.9.20)
After the engagement, you need to go through the holy wine and holy wedding ceremonies. Then, what are the engagement, holy wine ceremony and wedding ceremony? They are not performed just for the sake of themselves. They are the ceremonies that must be inevitably carried out to re-enact and indemnify the Fall. (35-215, 1970.10.19)
Fallen human beings cannot go to the place of the Blessing if they do not deny all their past loves, which are defiled with the false love of the satanic world. They must become new, resurrected substantial beings, who can propagate the love of True Parents centering on the love of God. On that basis, the holy wine ceremony is a ritual that promises the achievement of a new standard of life by passing through the gates of the love of True Parents. (35-215, 1970.10.19)
What is the purpose of the holy wine ceremony? It is a ritual of putting the body of God into one’s own body, centering on a new love. Everyone has a fallen body that needs to be substituted centering on the love of God. This act of substitution is performed through the holy wine ceremony. Just as Jesus says in the Bible, “The bread symbolizes my body and the wine my blood, so you must eat and drink of it.” Through this ceremony, one can be cleansed of the original sin by inheriting the new lineage centering on the love and substantial aspect of God. You cannot go to the place of the Blessing without attending this ceremony. That is why the holy wine ceremony is a ceremony for changing the lineage. (35-245, 1970.10.19)
We need the absolute phrase, “the change of the lineage.” When you received the Blessing, you participated in the ceremony for changing the lineage, didn’t you? You need to take the holy wine in order to convert the lineage. When making the holy wine, one must pass through the process of selecting twenty-one elements. You don’t know what they are, do you? In this process, you need to focus on the fruits borne on trees, on the ground, and underground, and select twenty-one of the most precious elements from the mineral, plant and animal kingdoms. Moreover, these elements should not in any way be connected to conditions that can be accused. The wine has to be kept in storage for seven months, and nothing must disturb its purity during this period. (215-109, 1991.2.6)
The holy wine ceremony is the ceremony of restoration through indemnity. When you participate in this ceremony, you attend in the position of the archangel. That is why everything including the lineage must be offered through it. Everything is restored through the ceremony. It is a condition for restoration. I conduct the ceremony through True Mother. You are all in the same situation. A bridge is being laid. Through attending the holy wine ceremony, you can enter the position of restoration, which is the same as the position of parents. You must realize this. The woman receives the holy wine first. The woman first bows to Father, accepts the holy wine, and drinks half of what is in the cup. Then the husband bows. While the woman is drinking her half, the man should have his head bowed. At that very moment, the woman is in the position of the mother. She represents the mother. Under these conditions, the woman drinks half and hands the remaining half to the man for him to drink. When the man drinks the remaining half, the relationship between the two is formed. Then the man can stand on an equal level with the woman. (113-309, 1981.5.10)
The holy wine ceremony is carried out in the reverse order of the Fall of Adam and Eve. Before you can get married, you need to be engaged. Then there is the holy wine ceremony. Only then can you attend the holy wedding ceremony. You could not become the original Adam and Eve because of the Fall. Through the engagement ceremony, you present yourselves before God and True Parents, who are trying to reclaim their children, saying, “We will become a better Adam and Eve, who are better than your fallen children.” Adam and Eve were still in the state of engagement. Through the engagement, a new world is created. You must therefore understand that the holy wine ceremony establishes the conditions that restore all these relationships. (120-167, 1982.10.13)
In bringing the holy wine to the participants, it must start with the archangel representative first, followed by the Eve representative, and then the Adam representative. When you, as a candidate, are offered the holy wine, Eve receives it first. Without Eve, the man cannot be reborn. Because the purpose of drinking the wine is restoration, Eve must receive the holy wine first, drink half of it, and then offer the remaining half to her husband. When receiving the holy wine cup, you must make a bow first, because whoever is handing it to you is doing so on behalf of Father. You need to bow three times in theory, but bowing once is also acceptable as long as you are putting into the one bow what you would into the three bows. You receive the cup, drink half, and pass it on to your husband. After you drink from the cup, you must return it. The returned cup is then passed in reverse, from Father to Mother, and then the archangel, and then left to rest. In this way, you become unified in heart. In actual fact, initially, True Father must first place his hand on the women’s hands and pray. True Father would offer the prayer of unity. When you drink the holy wine after the prayer has been said, the fallen lineage is purified. That is the condition. The ceremony of changing the lineage is like baptism in Christianity! (183-89, 1988.10.29)
Eve fell because of the archangel. Therefore, in the work of restoration, Eve must stand before heaven through Adam and restore the archangel. This is the purpose of the holy wine ceremony. In conducting the ceremony, Father gives the wine to the woman first, doesn’t he? Do you know why that is? By doing so, Eve, who has been lost, is restored. Through the holy wine ceremony, they become one in spirit, in heart, and in body. It is an absolute and internal commitment. (46-233, 1971.8.15)
The holy wine is not simply made like ordinary wine. You cannot bring forth wine and claim it to be holy wine. It is made in the presence of God and Satan, and the angels in the spirit world. There are twenty-one elements within it that you do not know about. The wine contains all the elements that are formed in the process of restoring the physical world and humankind. When making the holy wine, spirits from the spirit world come and implore me to pour a glass for them so that they can partake of it. It is because they know that by drinking the holy wine they can be restored. That is why they come to me in a group and ask to share in the benefit. They know that I can bestow on them this benefit. However, I am not here for the spirit world. I am here for the physical world. That is why I tell the spirits, “Wait!” and give the wine to you, for all the suffering you have been through. (46-233, 1971.8.15)
The holy wine contains elements that symbolize the love of the True Parents. It also must contain something that symbolizes blood. So when you drink it, you become one with the love of the True Parents, and also with the blood. This is what the holy wine incorporates. (35-211, 1970.10.18)
How is the holy wine made? It is wine that symbolizes earth, sea, heaven, and everything in them. The holy wine contains three kinds of wine. It also contains other elements that represent all the things of creation. By drinking the wine, you are reborn spiritually and physically. You cannot rid yourself of the original sin and convert the lineage without attending the holy wine ceremony. You cannot pass through the standard of perfection and become one with God’s love if the lineage is not changed. That is why you must understand that the holy wine ceremony indemnifies all this. (35-211, 1970.10.18)
The holy wine ceremony draws out the blood of Satan, the blood that was defiled through the Fall. In other words, it is a ceremony that draws out the original sin. (35-215, 1970.10.19)
The holy wine contains elements representing all creation, which cannot be accused by Satan. After drinking the holy wine, and becoming one with True Parents, if you commit any acts that defile your body, you will be worse off than Satan himself. Satan defiled and violated the perfection level of the growth stage. But if someone receives the Blessing and then commits a sin, he defiles the substantial body of God in the perfection level of the completion stage and cannot ever be forgiven. This is a truly terrifying thought. (Blessed Family -596)
The place where the holy wine ceremony is conducted is the place that indemnifies the path of suffering and hardships experienced by True Parents. That is a place that cannot be exchanged for the universe or heaven and earth. You must not defile that place. Therefore, it is only right that you would be held accountable. (172-61, 1988.1.7)
What is the difference between the second generation children of Blessed Families and young members who are candidates for the Blessing? When those candidates want to receive the Blessing, they need the holy wine ceremony and other ceremonies as well. It is very complicated. However, in the case of the second generation, there is no need for the holy wine ceremony. Their roots are different. Your roots are lodged in the fallen world, but theirs are not. Everyone looks similar from the outside, but their histories and backgrounds are all different. The beginnings were different and so the process of growing up was different. The current situations they are in are different and their future destinations are different. Even though the final destination (spirit world) is the same, the final place they are going to there is different. It cannot be the same because those of the second generation are in the position of blessed children. (144-281, 1986.4.26)
2.4.2. Blessing Ceremony
The Blessing Ceremony is the bequeathal ceremony of love. Just as True Parents received love from God, you should receive love from Parents in place of the love of God. The holy wedding ceremony is the bequeathal ceremony in which you receive this love from Parents who are encouraging you with the words, “You should live this way!” What that means is that you receive the love of God from True Parents. It is not something you can receive from someone who is famous. Weddings not officiated by the True Parents are officiated by the archangel. When a prominent person comes to officiate at a wedding alone, like an odd shoe, that person is conducting the wedding as the archangel. (96-236, 1978.1.22)
A wedding ceremony signifies the realization of love, as well as the bestowal of the rights of creation and dominion. (76-46, 1975.1.26)
The Holy Wedding Blessing Ceremony is not simply a wedding through which a man and woman come together and form a family. Until now, all weddings were centered on the people getting married, but our wedding ceremony is a significant condition necessary to indemnify history. Therefore, in returning joy to God, we conduct the ceremony solemnly and splendidly. The Divine Principle clearly explains to us that our wedding ceremonies alleviate the grief of God caused by the Fall of Adam and Eve, and establish the true standard of husband and wife, which Jesus was not able to achieve. (22-212, 1969.2.4)
For you, walking towards the officiator of the Blessing Ceremony is like walking through the six thousand years of providential history. (Blessed Family -679)
Forming an entrance are twenty-one or twelve best men and bridesmaids representing three stages, which signify formation, growth and completion of the providential course. After taking seven steps, you must stop and make three bows as the condition that you have passed through the formation stage. This whole ceremony represents the providential course of history from the time of Adam until now. (19-268, 1968.2.20)
In particular, it is the process that represents the three eras of Adam, Jesus and the Second Coming. (Blessed Family -679)
You walk forward between the best men and bridesmaids, who are standing on either side, to meet the True Parents. The best men and bridesmaids establish the spiritual condition of representing the twelve tribes of Israel and twenty-four elders at Jesus’ time. The bows represent the setting of a condition of indemnity for all this. True Parents sprinkle the holy water on those receiving the Blessing, to place them in the position of having been restored through indemnity. In this way, you are setting the condition of having gone beyond the earthly foundation of ancestors in the spirit world. (19-268, 1968.2.20)
The mass holy wedding is held to find and establish the new family of God. In other words, the ceremony is held so that you can learn to love God more than anyone else in the world. (Blessed Family -563)
The mass holy wedding is something we can be proud of in the Unification Church. Moreover, we should be proud that it brings together not only people from the same race but people from East and West. No power on earth, except the Unification Church, can accomplish this, not even the presidents of nations. We are able to hold the weddings, not because Father is great, but because we have behind us the power of God. (Blessed Family -563)
True Father’s Holy Wedding ceremony should have been more grand and more magnificent than any other wedding performed to date. However, because it was carried out under extremely difficult circumstances, it was not as grand as it should have been. Therefore, we still have a condition to fulfill, which is to carry out the ceremony once again in all splendor and glory. The members must also be in the position to have the greatest wedding ceremonies in three generations whether at home or overseas. Only then can you set this as a condition in front of Satan. That is why we hold large weddings. At the same time, from an internal point of view, we need to set a condition as a sacrificial offering in order to conduct weddings that bring joy to God. (19-70, 1967.12.26)
A banquet hosted by God should be more extravagant than any other held in the satanic world. However, an individual cannot uphold this standard alone. That is why we need to host mass holy weddings as never been seen before in history. (19-32, 1967.12.15)
What is the purpose of the Holy Wedding Blessing Ceremony? It is to save the world. The ceremony is an international holy wedding ceremony that transcends nationality, race, language, culture and customs. Through it, new people of God are created. Therefore, the place where the ceremony is held is one of reconciliation. (Blessed Family -565)
We conduct the Holy Wedding Blessing Ceremony in the Unification Church in order to create a new race in the world, centering on God. (Blessed Family -565)
This Holy Wedding Ceremony being conducted today has been the hope and ideal of God. It is the Holy Wedding Ceremony that God had planned for Adam and Eve after they fully matured. It existed in His heart as the ideal of creation, and so, conducting this ceremony is truly a historic event. You must realize that this is the first time such a ceremony has been held since the time of creation. (9-83, 1960.4.16)
2.4.3. Three-day ceremony for substantial restoration
Forty days after receiving the Blessing, you need to go through the ceremony for substantial restoration, which lasts three days. This period of forty days is the period of total historic indemnity. A person is given the right of restoration centering on love, not in the formation or growth stages, but in the completion stage. (God’s Will -552)
Adam’s era and the era that came after that were both failures. As a result, the formative realm of God’s substantial love in the Old Testament Age could not be inherited, and the substantial love of God in the growth stage centering on Christianity also could not be inherited. Only after inheriting the realm of love in the formation and growth stages can you stand in the realm of completion of the Completed Testament Age. The three-day ceremony is a ceremony of conditional indemnity for substantial restoration. On the first day of the threeday ceremony, the realm of the Old Testament Age and the position of fallen Adam are restored. On the second day, the position of Jesus in the New Testament Age is restored through indemnity. On the third day, the groom, representing Jesus, re-creates the bride. From there, you can begin again on the right path. Setting the conditions for indemnity in detail, like this, is really complicated work. (God’s Will -552)
During the three-day ceremony, the people who have received the Blessing are in the position of husband and wife, but one in which the wife has to stand in the position of the mother. As the mother, she must give birth to her husband through love. This means that until the Lord comes, all wives must give birth to their husbands, and Eve who represents women must also give birth to the Lord at his Second Advent. (90-134, 1976.10.21)
At present, there is no perfected husband. There is no Lord, no owner on earth. Therefore it is the responsibility of the woman to give birth to him. Eve was supposed to perfect Adam, but instead she made him fall. Mary was supposed to give birth to Jesus and do her duty as the mother so that he could fulfill his mission, but she failed to do so. All this must be restored. What that means is that the woman must give birth to her spouse as Adam. If he does not become the perfected Adam, he cannot consummate his marriage. Since the providence took three eras, including the era of the Second Coming, the woman has to fulfill her mission of giving birth to three people, through three generations. (90-134, 1976.10.21)
The woman, in the position of Eve, must give birth to her husband as Adam. She must raise him through the formation stage. Then, as a representative of Jesus, she must raise him through the growth stage. Finally, in the completion stage, she must raise him to become Adam who is untainted by the Fall. Only after that can the husband claim his right as the husband of Eve and love her. This is the process that needs to be followed. A confession is necessary at this point. Only in the era of the Second Coming can he become the husband. When he can stand in the position of perfected Adam, he can claim the position of the Blessing, that is, the position of the bridegroom. (90-134, 1976.10.21)
Through True Father, the wife is bequeathed the mission of a mother towards her husband. What this means is that the wife must love in a way that allows her to give birth to her husband in three stages. In order to set the condition for her giving birth through love, the act of loving must be carried out in the opposite way from how it was done in the past. The woman is in the upper position and the man is in the lower position. You should keep this in mind in the act of love. (90-134, 1976.10.21)
When carrying out the three-day ceremony, the woman prays first. In order to give birth to Adam in the formation stage, one needs to be blessed. Only then can one enter the era of Jesus. Then the ritual is repeated, with the words, “Please bestow on me the blessing of giving birth to the second Adam, who is like Jesus!” With the second birth, the husband advances to the position representing Jesus, from where he can reach the position of perfection. Only then can he achieve the subject position of the husband. (90-134, 1976.10.21)
After the growth stage in the threeday ceremony, the man is restored to the upper position. That is why in making love on the third occasion, the man should be in the upper position. After completing this, the husband and wife should offer the prayer that they have become an eternal husband and wife, and an eternal family that belongs to God and that is the heir of heaven. Only then can they truly start their lives as husband and wife. Only when that is accomplished, can they boldly walk into the Kingdom of God as a family completely restored through indemnity. It is that difficult to achieve. Therefore, if you do not know about this, it is impossible for you to be restored. You cannot be restored if you don’t know this. In the world today, many churches claim that they will go to the Kingdom of Heaven if they believe in Jesus, but this is total nonsense. They are not going to the Kingdom of Heaven but to paradise. Paradise is the waiting room. (90-134, 1976.10.21)
The holy wine ceremony sets the condition that you have been born through three providential mothers – Eve, Mary and True Mother. The holy wine contains the blood of indemnity. By drinking the holy wine, you are purified internally, and by wiping yourself with the holy handkerchief, you are purified externally. (19-270, 1968.2.20)
From now on, after having completed the three-day ceremony, you must create substantial children. You must pray that you can give birth to children who can form a relationship of heart with Heavenly Father and who can become the priests of heart. I hope that you will give birth to children on the foundation of heart that represents heaven and earth. I always take responsibility once I have blessed someone. We must receive the Blessing once more on behalf of the world. That is why it is a conditional Blessing. The 40-day separation period indemnified the four thousand years of history. The actual married life begins today, the end of the three-day ceremony. Since the day of the Blessing until now there has been a period of indemnity. (11-161, 1961.6.24)
Section 3. Responsibilities of Blessed Families
3.1. Unity of heart with True Parents
Since human beings fell while at the top of the growth stage of the growing period, we cannot go directly to the completion stage. What this means is that people at the top of the growth stage can rid themselves of original sin through the Blessing. They can then rise to the level above the point where the first ancestors fell. Therefore, you must realize that the position you have acquired today through receiving the Blessing is not that of the top of the completion stage but the top of the growth stage. (35-233, 1970.10.19)
Through fallen Adam and Eve, the eight members of Adam’s family including Cain, Abel, Seth and their respective spouses all fell. Therefore, the Blessing is where you can once again proceed towards the completion stage by setting conditions of indemnity. You must feel the love of the Parents while you are doing so. The origin of life comes about when a person is born through the love of the parents. Only when you pass through the place where you can respect the value of life more than anything else in the world, can you proceed to the new path of life. That is how the Divine Principle works. (35-233, 1970.10.19)
The individual perfection we speak of today is not the absolute and complete perfection of the individual. It is conditional. You must understand that this perfection is a conditional perfection in the process of restoration. That is why, though they stand in the position of parents, they do not truly know about God’s realm of heart. They have not experienced the great power of loving each other so much that the husband cannot give up his wife and the wife cannot give up her husband even in exchange for the universe. The love they share is so strong that it can hold heaven and earth together. That is why those families who have received the Blessing must bear in mind that until they cross over from this fallen realm, they are only in the realm of conditional perfection. They are not in the realm of the perfected Kingdom of Heaven. Since they are only living in that conditional realm of perfection, once they pass on to the spirit world, they need to go through certain formalities. Only after they go through due formalities and reach complete perfection can they receive their passports and enter the Kingdom of Heaven. (100-144, 1978.10.9)
“I have received the Blessing, and that’s enough! I’ll go to the Kingdom of Heaven even if I don’t do anything now!” If you think like this, and sit still, doing nothing, you will go to ruin. The Blessing is not at the perfection level. Everyone here, you learned about the seven-year course, didn’t you? Since there is no one else who knows about these complicated details and has worked out the truth from them, even the Almighty God has no choice but to be drawn by this. After you received the Blessing, you may claim, “We received the Blessing according to the principles of God. We have become completely one.” But is that true? The husband and wife must in turn re-create. (68-148, 1973.7.29)
The husband and wife must re-create each other. If the Blessed families of the Unification Church forget that, you will still have to walk the path of filling in the bottomless pit that exists between the resentful husband and wife and all will come to ruin. Even if I claim that you will not come to ruin, the truth is that you will. The husband and wife must pass through the process of re-creation to become the ideal husband and wife who have been perfectly restored, according to the desire of God. That is why in the Unification Church we first talk of individual restoration and perfection, and then restoration and perfection of the family. (68-148, 1973.7.29)
What is the hope of humankind? It is to attend True Parents. Six thousand years ago, Adam and Eve were supposed to be blessed in marriage and all of humanity was to become the descendants of God. However, due to the Fall of Adam and Eve, human beings became the descendants of Satan instead. Therefore, True Parents, who were lost six thousand years ago, must be restored on the side of heaven. You have to be reborn through the relationship of love with True Parents. Only then can you become citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven. (19-203, 1968.1.7)
Everything starts from True Parents. The beginning of everything, the starting point, is not you, but True Parents. It is the same for the way we live, our general activities and our family relationships of love. The beginning is always True Parents. By True Parents, I am not referring to my wife and myself; my point is that this is the original concept harbored by God with regard to our first ancestors. You must keep this motto in mind: “How can we make our families like the family of True Parents?” (277-250, 1996.4.18)
True Parents are the center of your Blessed Family. In the Garden of Eden, a family living with true parents was not formed. It is your responsibility to restore the family, and in order to do so, you must follow the commands of True Parents absolutely. You should not argue with True Parents. The name of True Parents can settle down in your families only when your personal concepts disappear. If this does not come to pass, you cannot restore ideal families. This is not an idea I came up with; it is the original concept of creation nurtured by God. (277-250, 1996.4.18)
From now on, you must live with True Parents. True Parents are in the position of the grandparents, but you must also feel you have your mother and father living with you, and that you are in the position of the eldest son. We can thus conclude that three generations live together in your home. You must live with the feeling in your heart that God is with you, and True Parents are with you as your own parents. We have now ushered in an era in which we cannot think that God is not there, that He is not alive. (131-97, 1984.4.16)
All of humankind is supposed to connect to God in heart. God, the Father, and humankind, the children, are meant to be connected through the realm of heart. (55-163, 1972.5.7)
Since human beings fell because they did not believe in God, they must believe in the Savior and follow him. What should they do as they follow him? They should prepare a love nest for Jesus. Isn’t it simple? Then, they should become one substantially, as well as one in heart with Jesus, the groom, through whom they can then be prepared. In this way, the place where God, true parents, and true children come together, that is, the place originally desired by God at the time of creation, comes into existence on earth. A new universe can then begin from there. (15-263, 1965.10.17)
Though your lineages and backgrounds are different, if you want to take after True Parents you must first be engrafted to them. You must do a complete turnaround and be engrafted. To do this, you must complete the course of indemnity that you are undertaking. Since that course was begun through the True Parents, it can only be completed through the True Parents. That is why you must be engrafted to True Parents. Because Adam became a false parent instead of a true parent, God has continuously sought after the True Parents until this day. The reason the groom, the bride and the marriage feast of the lamb are needed in the era of the Second Coming is so we may find the True Parents. (24-203, 1969.8.10)
What should you do to receive the love of the True Parents? Love everything that is loved by True Parents. Only then can you receive love from them. In terms of a family, if a son wants to be loved by his parents, he needs to know he can only receive love from his parents when he loves everything they cherish. If a person wants to receive love without doing so, he is no better than a thief. If a child claims everything that is valued by his parents just as he pleases, he cannot receive love from them. (133-26, 1984.7.1)
Are you the true sons and daughters of True Parents? When you talk about true children, what are you centering on? It is the true lineage. Of course, the relationship is formed through true love, but the actual connection is through the true lineage. That is why those connected through the true lineage take after the mother and father. Do you resemble True Father? Your eyes are blue whereas my eyes are black, and our hair is different colors. My hair is white. I am an Asian and my face is flat. When taking after True Parents, you only resemble the most essential parts. By these essential parts, I am talking about winning over Satan and loving God absolutely. That is all you need to take after. Then you can dominate and control Satan. (170-237, 1987.11.21)
How much should you love True Father? Here we return to the fundamental problem. You cannot love him while you are still in a place stained with traces of love from the satanic world. You must love much more than that. You must love him more than you love anyone else, even your own mother, father, wife and children, who were all born in the satanic world. That is why the Bible says, “Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.” This was the conclusion. Jesus went on to say, “Anyone who does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me!” He said we must take up our crosses. Our public endeavors are regarded as our crosses, because we need to battle against the forces that are dragging us in the opposite direction. In the process of doing so, we will shed many bitter tears. (178-97, 1988.6.1)
The fallen world of today must deny everything, but while they are denying everything, they must nurture the bud of love. Such logic is necessary in the world. You must deny everything and try to discover the absolute standard centered on God and His governing love. (109-146, 1980.11.1)
You must involve True Parents in everything you do. You must consult them in making decisions; you must talk with them and try to solve any problems with them. (44-175, 1971.5.6)
3.2. The absolute value of sexual love
What is the symbol of the love between man and woman? What is the terminus of love? It is the sexual organs that physically unite man and woman into one. They act as the passageway through which the minds and bodies of man and woman form a complete union centering on love. (132-146, 1984.5.31)
What is the difference between man and woman? First of all, their bodies, including the sexual organs, are different. Then, for whom is the sexual organ of man absolutely necessary? The sexual organ of man exists for woman. When you look at the sexual organs of human beings, you see that one has a concave shape while the other has a convex shape. Why do you think that is? Organs of both sexes could have been made in pointed shapes or flat shapes, but why were they shaped so differently? It is all for the objective partner. The organ of the man is absolutely desired by the woman, and the organ of the woman is absolutely desired by the man. Until now, no one knew that the woman’s sexual organ belonged to the man absolutely, and that the man’s sexual organ belonged to the woman. By possessing the organ of the opposite sex, a person can understand about love. (299-119, 1999.2.7)
The sexual organs are the palace of love, the palace in which eternal life is born, the palace that inherits the future descendants and lineage which will succeed to the eternally unchanging traditions of heaven. It is the palace of true life, true love and true lineage. It is the most precious place of all. You cannot do anything you like with it. You cannot use it without permission from God. It is a place that cannot be touched by anyone other than your husband or wife, who has gained the approval of God and the universe. (216-207, 1991.3.31)
The unity of man and woman, convex and concave, is the place where God is perfected. That is where woman who is one half, and man who is the other half, are perfected. The land of settlement, where the ideal of God’s love can be perfected, begins from the place where concave and convex unite and a relationship of the first love is established after marriage. The first love relationship of man and woman represents the place of perfection of the object partner of God. This is the core of the universe. When this moves, the entire universe goes back and forth in harmony. It is the base for the Kingdom of Heaven on earth and in spirit world. Since this is the origin of love, it is called the original palace of love. Among the many royal palaces, the central palace is called the original palace. This is the original palace of love, life and the lineage, and the origin of the Kingdom of Heaven on earth and in spirit world. It is the beginning place of the freedom, happiness and peace longed for by humanity. That place is the royal palace for love, life, lineage and all creation; and the individual, family, tribe and a people are connected from there. You should understand that it is the original source and starting point of the Kingdom of Heaven on earth and in spirit world. It is also the origin of freedom, happiness and peace. If a woman does not have a man, she is in absolute darkness. If a man does not have a woman, he is in absolute darkness (261-173, 1994.6.9)
It is not only the base of peace, but also everything else that begins from love, including the Kingdom of Heaven on earth and in spirit world. What love? Is it the love of a man, the love of a woman, or the love of both man and woman? It is the love of both. Where does the love of man and woman come together? Is it the face or the fingertips? The love between the two comes together through the sexual organs. (263-52, 1994.8.16)
What is the best place a man can worship? Is it the face of a woman? Is it her breasts? Is it her body? Where is it? There is only one place in which the concave part can come together with the convex part. For this to happen, the creation is connected, and the society, nation, world, universe and Kingdom of Heaven on earth and in spirit world are connected. This is the iron rule and the formula of the existing world. (262-55, 1994.7.23)
Where is the original place through which not only man and woman, but also God Himself can be perfected? Where can you perfect the love of God and man and woman? Where is the central place of settlement? This is the question. If you don’t know the answer to this question, you cannot expand and extend the heavenly kingdom of the ideal of love on earth. Is that place of settlement the eyes, nose, hands, or feet? Where is it? It is the sexual organs. (261-167, 1994.6.9)
What are the sexual organs? They are the palaces centered on true love, true life and true lineage. They are the most precious in the world. Without them, God’s ideal, God’s family and God’s will cannot be achieved. They are the origin, from which we can achieve the perfection of everything. (216-218, 1991.4.1)
The sexual organ of a woman is the source of the universe. The place where one forms the connection of love is the main palace of love. It is the original palace. Love begins from there. The lovemaking on the first night after blessed marriage is the beginning of the main palace of love. It is the place where the life of man and woman unite into one for the first time. Therefore, that place is the original palace of ideal life, and the original lineage begins from there. Thus, that place becomes the original palace of the lineage. Heaven also begins from there, so that place also becomes the original palace for the Kingdom of Heaven on earth and in spirit world, and the original palace for human perfection and for God’s perfection. (257-324, 1994.3.16)
Sexual organs are the palace of love. What is the current state of that palace of love? The sexual organs of human beings are the most precious in the world: they are the palace of love, life and lineage. They are the most sacred in the world. Through the Fall, however, they became defiled. From the original viewpoint of God, the sexual organ is not unclean, but sacred. It is most precious. Life, love and lineage are connected to it. This sacred organ was defiled by Satan. (218-176, 1991.7.28)
If this world became one that absolutely valued the sexual organs, would that world be a good world or a bad one? Would it be a thriving world or a perishing world? When God was creating human beings, which part of the body do you think He put most effort into making? Would it have been the eyes, nose, heart, or brain? None of these organs are capable of reproducing new life and die out in the end. Isn’t that true? (279-244, 1996.9.15)
Your sexual organ is the original palace of love. I’m telling you that your sexual organ is the main palace, the palace of life and palace of lineage. Only when it is treated as such, can it become the palace in which God can reside. Since God is the King of kings, He needs to reside in His main palace. So if you want Him to come and reside with you, you need to become the main palace of love, life, and lineage, and the main palace of conscience. (280-197, 1997. 1.1)
The place where two lives come together as one, centered on love, and the place where the blood of man and woman become one, is the sexual organ. You must know that this place is more precious than sons and daughters, husband and even God. It is a place that is more precious than your children, husband, and even parents. If sexual organs did not exist, parents would be valueless, husband and wife would be valueless, and sons and daughters would be valueless. Since this place is so very precious, it is kept under lock and key, away from other eyes, during your lifetime, as the treasure of treasures. The key that can unlock the sexual organ of a man is owned by the woman, and the key for the woman is owned by the man; there is only one key for every person. There should only be one key per person. Do you want to possess ten or twenty keys, as in the case of free sex? Do you want to become a ruined house that has its gates open for everyone and does not have an owner? Do you want to become a place that anyone can pass through and come and go at will? (280-199, 1997.1.1)
What are the sexual organs where man and woman make love? They are the original palace of love, life and lineage. Grandfathers and grandmothers hold to them, as will all sons and daughters who are yet to be born. Is there any man or woman who does not hold on to them? Then why did it become such an immoral subject? People regard any word connected to sex as immoral. Why is it immoral? It should be sacred. You should accept words connected to sex as sacred. The sexual organ connects to eternal love to bring forth eternal life and eternal lineage. It is the most precious thing in the world of creation. (210-101, 1990.12.1)
Protecting and guarding the chastity of men and women is the same as protecting the universe. This is because the order of love between men and women is the basis of the universe. The sexual organ is more important than the head. You cannot find the origin of true love in your head. You cannot find the origin of true life in your head. You cannot find the origin of true lineage in your head. Where is this origin, then? It is in the sexual organs. Isn’t that only too true? Everything can be found in the sexual organs – life, love, and lineage. It is the main palace of love. You can find the root of life there. It is the same in the case of the lineage. The sexual organ is the most precious part of the human body as well as the human world and history of humanity. Without it, reproduction of humankind would be impossible. (203-104, 1990.6.17)
In the fallen world, love has become the most dangerous thing in the world. The Fall is the reason love is not being managed properly and the universe is broken and overturned. Though human beings did not realize how love became false and indecent, they still tried to guard and protect that love because of their instinctive desire and hope for true love. (Blessed Family -346)
Through the Fall, the sexual organs of men and women became evil. They became the main palace that opened the gates to the evil wave of death, laws of death, the hell of destruction, and the wicked object that destroyed the ways of heaven. This was the tragic secret that has been hidden in history until this time. (197-175, 1990.1.13)
Where is the palace of love? You must not think it strange that I am talking of such things. If this is not corrected, the whole world will go amiss. If the first step goes wrong, wickedness will spread throughout the whole universe. Through my strenuous efforts to find the answer to the fundamental problems of humankind and the origin of the universe, I discovered the answer within the sexual organ. After discovering this, I thought the whole matter through and found that the harmony of heaven and earth was swirling there. It is truly an amazing fact. (197-24, 1990.1.7)
True freedom is premised on taking responsibility. If everyone insisted only on the freedom of love for each individual and put this into practice, without taking responsibility for it, how great would be the confusion and catastrophe resulting from it! The perfection of human beings, who will be able to achieve the sublime ideal of love, is only possible when they take responsibility for love. (277-200, 1996.4.16)
Humankind must be grateful to God for giving them the freedom of love. But at the same time, they should take responsibility, by becoming the subject of that freedom through self-discipline and self-control. When a person takes responsibility for love, he does not do so because of laws or what other people think, but because of self-dominion and self-determination in the vertical relationship of life with God. (277-200, 1996.4.16)
If you use your sexual organs recklessly, like a blind person who is wandering here and there because he has lost his way, you are bound for hell. On the other hand, if you use your sexual organs according to God’s standard of absolute love, you will go to the highest realm of the Kingdom of Heaven. This conclusion is clear, fair and proper. (279-256, 1996.9.15)
You are bound to be punished if you treat the love organs recklessly. It is the palace of love and the garden of love, the ancestor of love. Love originated from there. Life was begun from there. History began from there. What that means is that the origin of the Kingdom of Heaven on earth and in spirit world, and the origin of God’s happiness are molded there. God’s laughter begins from there. The love organ is the place where God can find love and dance for joy. You must go in search for this place. Is that right, or wrong? That is how precious it is. (256-199, 1994.3.13)
Since human beings fell because of love, the sexual organs are the most frightening in the world. In religion, adultery is treated as the most frightful sin of all. Free sex is abundant in the United States. Is it expanding the hell of Satan or God’s heaven? It is expanding hell. It is expanding hell on earth, and hell in the spirit world. Through it, everything will end up in ruin. (261-302, 1994.3.13)
Even if I inquired into every truth in the world, probed into both the spiritual and physical worlds, and looked into every scripture, there would be no way to answer the question: Does God exist or not? If there is a God and if this God made the world the way it is today, I would fight with Him to bring this problem to an end. I would never let Him go until this problem was solved. Why were human beings born and what is the fundamental principle through which human beings were born? Man was born because of woman. That is the best truth of all truths. An ideal man standing before a woman is the best truth. You must realize that he is the substantial entity of the truth of the ideal; he brings the perfection of the whole universe. The woman standing before such a man is also the substantial entity of all substantial elements of universal truth. She is the being that embodies absolute truth. (267-230, 1995.1.8)
You must not stain your Blessing lineage. All of you should be fully aware of this. Your lineage is your asset that will enable you to succeed to and inherit heaven. It is like a document of your blood relatives or deed papers to that lineage. It is the equivalent of your genealogy. The issue is how you protect your purity. (263-62, 1994.8.16)
3.3. The importance of ideal marriage
Man is a being with God’s masculine form, and woman is a being with God’s feminine form. A husband and wife are like the universe wrapped up in a wrapping cloth. Therefore, a husband and wife can feel the heart of God’s ideal love. (13-67, 1963.10.17)
If a husband and wife love each other so much that their love is about to explode on the basis of a heart that loves God and humanity, God and the universe will be intoxicated through that family. The love they share cannot be anything else but the love for God and humanity. Where is the root of that love? That root cannot be found within oneself. It is the origin of God’s love and the love of humanity. (35-240, 1970.10.19)
If you are married, you no long just exist in a horizontal plane. Although you only have a horizontal foundation, the vertical concept comes into being when high connects to low. A horizontal history might bring order to the universe but not to the cosmos. Only when the vertical meets with the horizontal and forms a right angle, can all sides fit together: You can replace heaven with the earth, or the earth with heaven, or front with back, or back with front, or between any correlative aspects – left, right, top, bottom, front, back. The perfected standard on earth leads to total perfection in the spirit world. (230-259, 1992.5.8)
The wedding ceremony of perfected Adam and Eve is the wedding ceremony of God. That is how the Kingdom of Heaven on earth and the Kingdom of Heaven in spirit world come into existence simultaneously. It starts from the love nest. The moment the sexual organs of man and woman come together without the Fall is the starting point of the Kingdom of Heaven on earth and in spirit world. That is also the base on which the Three Great Kingships should be established. A love nest cannot be built anywhere else except that place. (263-57, 1994.8.16)
By nature, human beings do not like to share their spouses’ love with others. The horizontal relationship of love between husband and wife is different from the vertical relationship of love between parents and children, in that once it is shared with others, it becomes ruined. This is because, by virtue of the principle of creation, it becomes necessary for husband and wife to form an absolute unity in love. Human beings have the responsibility to live for the sake of their spouses absolutely. (277-200, 1996.4.16)
For God, the sight of a man and woman receiving the Blessing and feeling joy by giving and receiving perfected love is like a flower blossoming on earth. Moreover, everything that occurs through their love is like the fragrance of flowers to God. God would then come to reside in such a family because He desires to live amidst such a beautiful fragrance. The place of ideal love between a husband and wife is the base on which God’s love can come automatically. That place will also become the point where all creation and the universe can come together in harmony. (Blessed Family -889)
It is the desire of the world, humanity and the future history to form a family in which the love of God can blossom through three generations. You must realize that the love between husband and wife is such a precious and beautiful object that will appear as a new flower and have the fragrance of a new history in front of the laws of heaven and earth. (35-241, 1970.10.19)
The perfection of the love between man and woman is the perfection of the universe. The day that this love is broken is the day all order in the universe is destroyed and the world of vertical relationships is completely ruined. (Blessed Family -545)
A husband and wife bound together through heartfelt love should form a family that demonstrates clearly that their love is one with God’s purpose. To do this, they must go beyond their own spheres of life and even beyond their own lifetime. Otherwise, they cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven where God resides. (35-180, 1970.10.13)
Love is eternal. There cannot be two loves that are eternal, but only one. When a man and woman are bound together in love, they should live together in happy union while on earth, and even after death for eternity. Although they have two bodies, they are together in the spirit world, and become one completely. When two bodies become one, they form a circular motion with God, thereby establishing the four-position foundation of love; this is the ideal world. False love cannot invade this world; only true love can exist there. (Blessed Family -897)
Human beings are always in need of stimulation. Happiness cannot be achieved without it. There must be some kind of stimulation. Just as the food you eat every day tastes different and refreshing if you eat it when you are hungry, the love between a husband and wife must also always feel refreshing. The more a husband and wife see each other, the more they should want to be with each other, even all day long. To this end, one must continue studying about True Parents and God. (23-57, 1969.5.11)
What sort of couple are an ideal husband and wife? They are the husband and wife who can become substantial manifestations of the best art and the best literature. Before they seek elsewhere for the highest ideals and culture, husband and wife should know that the sweetest and deepest love they share should become the supreme work of art in the world. The married life shared by these two should become the best work of literature and an embodiment of literature itself. (22-270, 1969.5.4)
The place where husband and wife share true love after getting married is the place of the palace. This is the origin of the love, life and lineage of God and humankind, and the starting point for the ideal of the Kingdom of Heaven on earth and in spirit world. Centering on true love, the children born of this love become the perfect union of husband and wife, form a family attending God, and become the origin of peace and the ideal. The man and woman, who only represent halves by themselves, unite into one and complete the ideal love of God as His object partners. (259-45, 1994.3.27)
The place where one gives birth is the position where one occupies the higher realm of God’s heart. By ascending to the creative position of God and loving one’s children, one can experience the inner heart of God and how much He loved humankind after creating them. (224-28, 1991.11.21)
Do you think God would look down on you when you are making love, or not? Would God, who is omnipotent and omnipresent, close His eyes during the night when the five billion people in the world are making love, or not? How would He feel as He looks down on you? How many good wives and good husbands are there? Think about it. All sorts of things can be seen during the night. If a husband or wife does not want to make love to his or her spouse, but is forced into doing it, that is not how a person should live. What kind of love is that? Is that the way to live? Imagine the whole world becoming like the Garden of Eden, according to the ideal of creation desired by God: filled with the fragrance of flowers, butterflies and bees flying around, heaven and earth living together in harmony, and God falling asleep, drunk on the world itself. How wonderful that would be! Have you ever thought about that? You should all try to live like that. (222-252, 1991.11.3)
Children are the outcome of achieving the ability to create, in the same position as God, by becoming one through the love between husband and wife. (52-319, 1972.2.3)
3.4. Blessing is the key to perfection of the ideal family
God’s will in regard to humankind is to realize the ideal of creation by fulfilling the purpose of creation. The realization of the ideal of creation does not end with a man and woman marrying and becoming one through love; they must raise children after that. This is because the laws of nature dictate that the relationships of up and down, front and back become connected. If there was a yesterday, there should be a today, and if there is a today, there should be a tomorrow. They must all be connected. That is why if there is only a husband and wife, there may be a today but there will be no tomorrow. If there is no tomorrow, all things come to an end. That is why in the laws of nature, there can only be right and left when there is up and down. (85-178, 1976.3.3)
God’s ideal, which was to be achieved through the human ancestors, was to have a man and woman come together in union and form an ideal family. In this regard, the center of an ideal family is neither man nor woman. A family is a group formed by the union between the husband and wife, the parents and children. At the center is the love of God. Therefore, we reach the conclusion that the will of God is to perfect a family, centering on the love of God. (Blessed Family -301)
The family is the point where God’s ideal can be manifested on earth, and where the happiness of humanity can be manifested on earth. It is the place where the work of humankind is finished and God’s work is completed. (Blessed Family -934)
Why are families good? The reason is because the family is the base of all free activities centered on the love of the parents. (99-305, 1978.10.1)
There must be parents, husband and wife, and children in a family. Only then can that family become the base for happiness. There can be no doubt that the purpose for God’s endeavors in trying to restore humanity is so He can find His own happiness. That is why, in God’s efforts to build the foundation for happiness, such an ideal cannot exist without humankind. He can only reach this common ground after forming a relationship with human beings. Just as we feel happiness when our families are fulfilled in love, God also wants to feel happiness in such an environment. (32-198, 1970.7.15)
Once you become one centered on God, circular motion manifests in all sorts of forms and figures. That is why the older sibling must love the younger, following the example of their parents loving them. When a family is united into one in love in that way, love blossoms. Then that family love becomes the love within a society, and then the love within a nation. In this way, it becomes the love of the whole world. However, in the world today this is a concept that is only vaguely understood. (28-170, 1970.1.11)
A true family is one where the husband loves and lives for his wife as he would his mother, where the wife loves and lives for her husband as she would her father, and where the husband and wife love each other as they would their own brother and sister. Furthermore, the world in which the husband loves his wife as he would God and the wife loves and respects her husband as she would God, is the Kingdom of Heaven where ideal families dwell. Such a tradition must be established here on earth. (Blessed Family -920)
An ideal family is where the three kinds of love, that is, the eternal love of the parents, the eternal love between husband and wife, and the eternal love of the children, centered on God, can be found. (Blessed Family -913)
In a person’s lifetime, the most important moments are when he is born, when he gets married, and when he dies. Then, when he is being born, how should he be born? He must be born well. In terms of our Unification Church, he must be born centering on the connection of heart. The next important moment is the time he gets married. When a person gets married, he does so to expand life. In other words, he gets married to achieve the four-position foundation. Only when such a public law of the universe is established on earth can the will of God and the original will of humankind, be achieved. Families are there so that such universal laws can be established, both in form and substance, through them. (24-230, 1969.8.17)
Where does life in the Kingdom of Heaven begin? It begins from the family and nowhere else. The Kingdom of Heaven is a dimensionally expanded version of the family, and so does not go beyond the realm of the family. That is why, when you embrace your wife or husband, you must bear in mind that through this act, all men and women in the world have become one. The place where you can set the condition that you have loved all of humanity in this manner is the family. (30-83, 1970.3.17)
The true love relationship between parents and children is vertical, the true love relationship between husband and wife is horizontal, and the true love in the relationship between siblings is in the position of front and back. In these ways, God hoped to achieve the ideal of true love in a rotating spherical shape. In other words, at the central point where the line connecting the high and low vertically, the line connecting the left and the right horizontally, and the line connecting the front and back meet, is where unification can be achieved. That point becomes the central point of this sphere. When can the Four Great Realms of Heart, those of the children, siblings, husband and wife, and parents, achieve complete oneness? The place where two human beings marry and make love for the first time centering on God becomes the point of fruition and the center of all perfection. Therefore, marriage is the coming together of all people in heaven and earth, and the perfection of the vertical and horizontal, the left and right, and the front and back. Marriage is the perfecting place of the ideal of true children, siblings, husband and wife, and parents, through true love. (259-42, 1994.3.27)
In a family, when someone asks what the best aspect of that family is, you are not the one who can decide what that is. Then, who has the highest value in a family? It is the parents. Considering you as an individual, you may value power, knowledge, honor or money, but there would be nothing you can value higher than your parents. Following them, in order, would come your spouses and then your children. Indeed, is there anything in your family more precious and valuable than your parents, husband or wife, and children? Of course there isn’t. Then why would parents be the most precious in a family? Why would the husband and wife and children be precious? It is because there is love. The parental love is absolutely necessary for the husband and wife’s relationship with the children. The brotherly love between siblings and the heart of filial piety manifested by the children towards their parents is also absolutely necessary in a family. (Blessed Family -915)
Since God is the substance of true love, when one is connected to true love, everyone becomes part of the one body. Parents are living gods representing God, the husband and wife represent two halves of God, and the sons and daughters are small gods. A family structure formed of three generations centering on true love in this manner is the basis of the Kingdom of Heaven. Without achieving such a basis, the Kingdom of Heaven cannot be established. The family is the center of the universe. The perfection of the family is the basis for the perfection of the universe. So, if you love the universe as you love your family, you can be welcome wherever you go. In this case, God stands in the central position of multi-faceted love as the parent of the whole universe. (298-306, 1999.1.17)
The four-position foundation as taught in the Divine Principle of the Unification Church refers to the realms of love of the three generations. The ideal of the creation of the universe can be realized only when three generations live with a harmonious and happy love within one house. Needless to say, the husband and wife must love each other, but the family can only live in harmony and happiness when the parents also pray for their children with love and look after them devotedly. Perfected love can be achieved when this is established vertically and connected horizontally. The sphere of love can then be completed and perfected only when the cousins and second cousins of that family are united into one through love. (Blessed Family -947)
Ideal love is achieved in the family. However, God was not able to have true sons and daughters. He was not able to have true brothers and sisters nor true husbands and wives, and was not able to become a Parent. Therefore, it is the will of God to achieve all this. The place where this can be achieved is the place where love can dwell. People would flock to such a place, where such a love was achieved, leaving behind all their possessions. (19-314, 1968.3.17)
God is the center of the family, and so this world should come under the dominion of God. Blessed families should strive to become families that can connect to the Kingdom of God. Only when they live for the sake of others on behalf of God can tribes, races, nations and world be formed. Therefore, the family should fulfill its responsibility of establishing a world centered on God. The Unification Church centered on True Parents is like one big tribe, one big race. The purpose of the Unification Church lies in the five races coming together to form one single race, from which they can establish a nation that can serve the world more than any other nation. This is also the purpose I want to fulfill, and the purpose that God wishes to fulfill through True Parents. (100-310, 1978.10.22)
In the Unification Church, we believe that the Kingdom of Heaven is established from within the realm of the tribe. When the parents and siblings unite into one, and even the cousins and second cousins unite into one, centering on the grandfather, then the completion of three generations can be achieved. When such a love in the realm of the tribe is established here on earth, and united into one with God, the whole world will become a world of love in union with God, that is, the Kingdom of Heaven. It is the same for a married woman. The grandfather-in-law and the fatherin-law are representatives of God and her husband, so she must attend them with love. Furthermore, she must live in loving harmony with her brothers- and sisters-in-law. If such relationships of love are spread out to the society, people, nation and world, then that world would be filled with peace and love instead of sin and war. That world would then be the ideal world, the Kingdom of Heaven which substantially manifests God’s ideal. (Blessed Family -947)
Where is the center of the universe? It is in the family. Where is the base on which true love can settle down? This base is found in your families, where you are living now. That is why the original family must have a dominion of love and build a protective relationship with the universe. It must expand the realm of this love beyond the family. It must follow the path of patriotism in loving the nation, and extend it to loving the world, beyond race and nation. If a person who loves his or her family is called a filial son or daughter, and a person who loves his or her nation a patriot, what do we call the person who loves the world? We call that person a saint. (Blessed Family -925)
Within the realm of God’s love, humankind would have originally created an ideal family, tribe, people, and nation, and finally would have expanded to form a world embodying Adam’s ideal. Just as the roots, stalk, and leaves of a tree are connected to each other as one living entity, centering on love, human beings were supposed to attend God as their Father. They were supposed to live in harmony with all people in the world as brothers and sisters, living as one created being, an interrelated being of love. It was God’s worldview in accordance with God’s will, to achieve the eternal ideal world centered on God in this manner. People living in such a world would not need to be saved, nor would they need a messiah. This is because they would be exemplary sons and daughters of God. (Blessed Family -320)
If God’s will had been fulfilled here on earth, a single cultural realm centered on Adam would have been established. Unlike the world of today, with its many different races, cultures, and forms of civilizations, the ideal world would have had one single culture, single ideology, and single civilization. If this had come about, culture, history, customs, language and traditions would all have been unified into one. (Blessed Family -320)
The family is the representative training ground that teaches love for humanity. It is the representative place where the center of heart is established. When members of a family love and trust each other, and live a life of happiness, the center of the whole universe is thus established, and everyone can enjoy happiness. That is the beginning of the ideal realm. There is no meaning to existence without love. (Blessed Family -925)
The ideal of the Unification Church does not lie in anything else other than the family. It starts with the family and concludes with the family. Until now there has not been one person who was able to solve this problem, and so all humankind has been yearning for such a person. Unificationism has been approved publicly because therein lies happiness, and since it has been systematized and universalized, its infinite value has finally been revealed. Therefore, on the day when there is no one in the world who hates this worldview and everyone bows down to it and is in favor of it, the world will automatically unite into one. (26-103, 1969.10.18)
Nowadays, I feel that I must teach you about the norms of a family, that is, the norms you must follow in your lives as the families of the Kingdom of Heaven. However, the people who are supposed to walk the path of restoration have leaders who can teach them centering on the Divine Principle, and so they should learn about this from them. The time has passed for True Father to take responsibility for such problems in person. These problems should have been solved centering on the families one by one. Our Unification Church is an organization constituted of families. What that means is that we are centered on families. Whereas before we were centered on individuals, we are now centered on families. (22-334, 1969.5.11)