Introduction
God is eternal, absolute and one. Therefore, His will is one and the Bible, which is an expression of His will, is also one.
Yet today, Christians, who believe in the same God and read the same Bible, are divided into over 400 different denominations worldwide. The main reason can be traced to the fact that key parts of the Bible are expressed in parables and symbols.
Today, what Christianity needs is not another human interpretation of the Bible, but God's interpretation. We need to have God tell us how it should be interpreted. Then, we can have the correct understanding of God's will and be able to respond to Him according to His desire.
This lecture is a summary of the major topics covered in the Divine Principle, a revelation given by God to the Reverend Sun Myung Moon concerning God's will, His principles of creation, and how salvation is achieved, explained on the basis of the Bible.
The Principle of Creation
The fundamental questions about life and the universe can never be solved without understanding the nature of God, who created all things. But how can we know the characteristics of God, who is an invisible being? The Apostle Paul answered this question by saying, "Ever since the creation of the world his invisible nature, namely, his eternal power and deity, has been clearly perceived in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse" (Rom. 1:20).
Just as we can sense an author's character through his works, so we can perceive God's deity by observing His creation. In order to know the characteristics of God's divine nature let us examine the common factors which can be found throughout His creation.
The Dual Characteristics of God
No being, whether it be man, animal, plant, molecule, or even the atom, the basic unit of all matter, can exist except through the reciprocal relationship of its subject and object parts. For example, mankind is composed of men and women, animals of male and female, plants contain both stamen and pistil, molecules are formed from positive and negative ions, and even the simplest atom is composed of a proton and electron. This clearly suggests that all things exist only through the reciprocal give and take relationship of subject and object.
Furthermore, every created being has both an external form and an internal character. Though differing in value or importance according to their level of existence, the external form and internal character are simply the two relative aspects of each existing being.
As Paul indicated, the creation does reveal what God is like, and it shows us that God, the First Cause of the creation, exists as a harmonized being of Original Character and Original Form, as well as of positivity and negativity.
When we speak of God as a holy God or God of love, we are referring to a part of His Original Character, whereas when we speak of God as a God of power, we are referring to his Original Form. God is the causal being of all things. It is God's character that produced the motives, order and purpose for the created world, and it was His form, which took the form of energy, that produced the created world.
Universal Prime Force and Give and Take Action
Every created being which is created by God contains the essential characteristics of internal character and external form, as well as positivity and negativity; in other words each created being reflects God's own form of existence and contains the elements necessary to maintain its own existence. But then do things exist as completely independent and isolated beings without interrelationships? Or do they exist with some relationship to one another'? From an external viewpoint all things indeed exist as separate individuals, but because they were created by God, whose own nature is harmonized, then they, by nature, are designed to exist, grow and multiply only through interdependent and harmonious relationships with each other.
Reciprocal relationships strive toward the ideal of having the action of giving and taking, which we call Give and Take Action. An ideal relationship is established when a subject and object, which compose all things that exist, enter into Give and Take Action. This action then supplies all the energy needed for that particular creation; in other words, the energy necessary for existence, multiplication and action is generated. Then, what is the fundamental energy which generates this action of give and take? All things which exist in the created world must first have the energy that works within each being, plus the energy which makes possible action between beings; in other words, the power which serves as the motivating energy to make possible Give and Take Action. We call this energy Universal Prime Force.
The Universal Prime Force coming from God determines the direction and purpose of all give and take actions, and thus all created beings, from the smallest particle to the entire cosmos, are directed into organic relationships with one total purpose. Because Give and Take Action occurs between subject and object only when there exists complete commonality of purpose, we can see that the goal of Give and Take Action lies in subject and object uniting so that they develop into a higher being.
Once a being has been unified within itself it is then capable of higher give and take relationships with other beings, and upon uniting with them in Give and Take Action, is thus elevated into a still higher being. Since all things are directed by two purposes, the purpose of self-maintenance (individual purpose) and the purpose of maintaining the whole (whole purpose), the universe could be said to be one huge organic body, interwoven with the dual purposes of all creation.
Origin-Division-Union Action and the Four Position Foundation
When a subject and object, united through Give and Take Action form unity with God, who is the ultimate subject and basis of the universe, this Give and Take Action with God gives birth to a new being, which becomes a new object to God. This process of creation or process of energy projection is called Origin-Division-Union Action. Through this process of origin-division-union, centering around God, the origin, a divided subject and object pair (projected from God) enter into the ideal Give and Take Action with God. God the origin, the subject and object and the new being formed by their union all together form an unchanging foundation of power called the Four Position Foundation. The Four Position Foundation is the basic foundation upon which God can operate and becomes the most basic foundation where God's purpose of creation is perfected.
The Purpose of Creation
God is an eternal and unchanging being. Therefore His will and ideal must also be eternal, unchanging and unique. Before His undertaking the task of creation, there was within God His ideal, and in order to realize it, He created man and the universe. Then, what is God's ideal of creation?
Whenever God made a new species of creation, He said that it was good to behold (Gen. 1:4-31). Because perfect happiness is felt when our own personality is reflected through an object, God created man and the universe as His substantial objects of joy. Especially since man was created as God's direct objects of happiness, He gave man dominion over all things (Gen. 1:28). In Gen. 2:17 God commanded to the first human ancestors, Adam and Eve, ". . of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die." In this commandment God expressed His will and heart of love for man. Therefore, we can see that man is created as an object of love to respond the most directly to God's will and heart. Since the Four Position Foundation is the base upon which God can operate, when man has achieved these four positions centering around God's ideal of love, we become an object of God's perfect happiness, thus realizing God's purpose of creation.
God's purpose of creation of man is well summarized in Gen. 1:28: "And God blessed them and God said to them, 'Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion'. . . " First man should attain perfection and unity in heart with God, becoming a man who thinks and acts constantly centering around God, and the fruit of God's vertical love and His object of perfect happiness. This is the state of individual perfection.
Secondly, after both Adam and Eve attained perfection, they were to become eternal husband and wife, forming a heavenly family, thus perfecting the horizontal love of God. God gave them the ability to bear children so that they could experience with their own children the vertical love that God has for us. If Adam and Eve had perfected the purpose of God's creation and formed the first family, bearing children of goodness, they would have become a true father and true mother centering around God, the eternal true parents and ancestors of mankind.
Therefore, the basic unit of heaven is the true family where the Four Position Foundation is established and God's love, both vertical and horizontal, can dwell and be freely expressed. Upon that foundation of such a true first family, centering around God, His will is to realize a true society, true nation and true world. If Adam and Eve had established such a family and world on earth, this world would literally have been the Kingdom of Heaven on earth.
The third blessing God gave to man signified man's qualification to dominate the whole creation. God made man as an encapsulation of the structures, functions and essential qualities of all the plants and animals which He had previously created.
Thus, the world of creation was to be the substantial object of man and man was to feel immense joy when he felt his own nature reflected through the created things which resembled him.
The world where the three blessings are realized is the ideal world in which God and man as well as man and the creation are in complete harmony. Such a world is the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. As will be described later, man was meant in the beginning to live on earth a life of total oneness with God, the true being of life and goodness, and upon his physical death and passing into the spiritual world he would automatically be in the spiritual Kingdom of Heaven and live eternally under the perfect dominion of God's love.
In other words, the Kingdom of Heaven is the world resembling an individual who has attained perfection. In man, the mind's command is transmitted to the whole body through the central nervous system, thus causing the body to act toward one purpose. Thus in the Kingdom of Heaven, God's will is conveyed to all His children through the true ancestors of mankind, and under the ideal of God, causing all to respond toward one purpose of God. Just as no part of the body would ever rebel against a nerve's command, perfect man would feel no antagonism or rebellion against God's dominion of love. Such a world would have not one iota of contradiction or crime.
The Process of the Creation of the Universe and the Period of Growth
Then, let us consider the process of God's creation.
It is recorded in the first chapter of Genesis how God created all things. He commenced with the creation of light out of chaos, void and darkness and took a period of six "days" to come to the creation of man. But as it is said in II Peter 3:8, ". . with the Lord one day is as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day." From this we can understand that these days were not actual 24-hour days. The universe did not suddenly come into being without a lapse of time, but rather it was created through six gradual periods.
This means that for each creation to mature, there was a period of growth necessary. If things do not need time to mature, then time would not have been necessary in the original creation of all things. If the "morning" mentioned in Genesis stands for perfection, then the "evening" must signify the beginning point of creation while the night must represent the period of growth necessary for a creation to be perfected.
The fall of man as well implies that there was a period of growth necessary for man. If man had been created perfect, there would have been no possibility for man to fall, because a perfect God would not create anything perfect that was also flawed. If He did we would doubt His omnipotence.
Man, just before falling, was still growing towards perfection and was in the position to choose either the way of death or the way of life. God could not have intended for man to remain in imperfection, for His ideal was to have him attain perfection (Matt. 5:48, Gen. 1:27). Therefore, it can be concluded that man fell while still in the process of growth, or in other words, while still imperfect.
Had man gone through the period of growth and become perfect, he would have been dominated directly by God's love, and such a perfected man, in turn, would have directly dominated all things through love. Therefore, the realm of the direct dominion of God, or the dominion of love, is where the ideal of creation is realized.
Then, how does God guide man and all things that are still in the growth period? Because they are still in the growth period, He cannot relate to them directly. Instead, God relates to them indirectly through the Divine Principle, or the order of creation; hence, the period of growth is called the indirect dominion of God. God exists as the author of the Principle, dealing directly only with the results of the growth of the creation in accordance with the Principle.
Just as God created through the stages of evening, night and morning, so the growth period of all things is divided into three orderly stages-formation, growth and perfection. All things are automatically guided through the growth stage by the power of the Principle itself, but man was created to grow spiritually by observing God's commandment. In addition to growing physically through the autonomy of the Principle, man must accomplish his own portion of responsibility in order to grow spiritually.
When in Gen. 2:17 God says, "In the day that you eat of it you shall die," we can understand that man was to grow to attain perfection by observing God's commandment not to eat of the fruit. To trust in and obey God's commandment or to fall, depended not on God, but entirely on man, himself.
Seeing the result of man's failure to fulfill his own portion of responsibility, we might well ask why God gave this portion of responsibility to man. In sum, it was to qualify man to be lord over all creation.
The true right of dominion belongs only to the one who has created. Yet, God told man, who is a created being, to dominate all things (Gen. 1:28). So God had to have man inherit God's creatorship. Though it is just a small portion of responsibility, man is not perfected by God's Principle and power alone. Even though man is created by God, by man's fulfilling his own portion of responsibility to perfect himself, God can bestow upon man the qualification of being co-creator.
This portion of responsibility is not only a duty, but a precious gift from God. By failing to accomplish his own precious portion of responsibility, man fell. In order to save such a man who could not reach perfection on his own, God had to undertake the dispensation of the re-creation of man. And just as in the course of the original creation, man's portion of responsibility is inevitably the essential factor in the dispensation of re-creation (John 3:16, Matt. 7:7, Matt. 7:21).
The Invisible Substantial World and the Visible Substantial World
Now, let us turn to the matter of the existence of a world of life after death and the question of the existence of man's spirit, according to the Principle of Creation. Does a substantial spirit for man actually exist? If so, what does it look like, and what is the spiritual world like in which the spirit lives? What is the relationship of the spiritual world to the physical world? And what are the principles that govern the spiritual world?
Today, all around the world, much research is going on related to the spiritual world. But the vast and complicated realm of spiritual phenomena has never been presented in a systematic and clear way. As a result many people have been confused, and some even dismayed by these important questions and this has affected their religious life. In the Bible, there are references to the spiritual world, such as the three stages of heaven in II Cor. 12, the record of the appearance of Moses and Elijah with Jesus at the Mount of Transfiguration and many other consistent descriptions of a "heavenly world."
Just as man has mind and body, in the world of God's creation there is not only the visible substantial world, or physical world, but also the invisible substantial world, or spiritual world. The visible world is where the physical body acts within the limitations of time and space; on the other hand, the invisible world is where the spirit man lives, and it is limitless and eternal. As is implied in Heb. 8:5, ("They serve the copy and shadow of the heavenly sanctuary") the invisible world is the subject to the visible world, which is object. The invisible world is a greater reality than the visible world.
Then, how does man relate to these two worlds? In Genesis, it is written that God created man from the earth (Gen. 2:7). This means that man's physical body is made up of such basic elements as the earth, water, air and sunlight of the physical world. When God breathed into man the breath of life, this is when He created man's spirit. In Divine Principle, this is called the spirit man.
Thus man's spirit man and physical man are together an encapsulation of the entire cosmos, and man is the mediator and center of harmony of these two different worlds. These two worlds, the spiritual world and physical world, relate to one another through man.
The Reciprocal Relationship between the Physical Man and the Spirit Man
The relationship of the spirit man to the physical man is like that of fruit and tree: the spirit man grows only on the foundation of the physical man. In other words, the degree of goodness of the spirit man depends upon the quality of life lived on earth in the physical body. Just as a ripened fruit is harvested while the vine returns to the earth, the spirit man, because it was created to live for eternity, remains and lives eternally in the spiritual world, while the body returns to the earth (Ecc. 12:7). The death that afflicted man due to the fall is not physical death but the deterioration of man's spirit.
When a man lives his life according to God's ideal of creation in his physical body, he is living in the veritable Kingdom of Heaven on earth, and the world where this spirit man would go after physical death is the Kingdom of Heaven in the spiritual world. Therefore, God's primary goal of creation is to realize the Kingdom of Heaven on earth and then in the spiritual world.
So the purpose of creation should be fulfilled on earth first. This is why God's objective is salvation on the earth. And to achieve this, He sent His prophets and the Messiah to this world, in order to make people on earth believe in Him. Thus, the Bible says, ". . whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth, shall be loosed in heaven" (Matt. 18:18).
God does not determine whether a spirit man goes to the Kingdom of Heaven or to hell. It is man, himself, who determines this through his daily life on earth, and he goes to the place in the spiritual world based on the stage of development that his spirit attained on earth. God, the Messiah, and religion can only teach people how to avoid hell and show how to go on to reach the Kingdom of Heaven.
The Fall of Man
In the world where the purpose of creation is realized, there is no Satan, no sin, no hell. In the ideal of God's creation only heaven was to exist. But instead, because of sin, man has lost his original value and become like trash, creating hell as his trashcan.
The Root of Sin
Then, what is the origin of sin and what is the true identity of Satan? Christians have only vaguely understood, from the Bible, that the first human ancestors had eaten the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil and that this was the root of sin. However, is the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil a literal tree, or, as in many other instances in the Bible, is it simply a metaphor or symbol?
Divine Principle clearly shows that it is a symbol. Why would a God of love leave such an alluring fruit near his children that could cause their fall? (Gen. 3:6) As Jesus said in Matt. 15:11, nothing edible can cause a man to fall. It is highly unlikely that God would test man so mercilessly by a means that could cause his death merely to see whether or not he would obey Him. The fruit must symbolize something so extraordinarily stimulating and so ardently desired that even fear of death, of which God warned, could not deter Adam and Eve from eating.
Before we can really determine what the fruit of good and evil was, we must examine the tree that produced it, the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. In order to do that, we must first grasp the true meaning of the Tree of Life, which stood next to the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.
In both Prov. 13:12 and Rev. 22:14, the hope of the Israelites of the Old Testament and of Christians from Jesus' day to the present has been to become a Tree of Life. Since the ultimate hope of fallen man is the Tree of Life, we can conclude that the hope of Adam and Eve before their fall was also the Tree of Life. We find in Gen. 3:24, that Adam, after committing sin, could not reach the Tree of Life. The Tree of Life has remained the hope of fallen man.
What must Adam have hoped while he was in the process of growing to perfection'? He hoped to reach perfection or manhood. Had Adam attained the Tree of Life by becoming a perfect man and realizing the ideal of creation, all his descendants also could have attained the Tree of Life and thus they could have realized the Kingdom of Heaven on earth, or the Garden of Eden. But Adam fell and God placed the cherubim and flaming sword at the entrance of the Garden to block the way to the Tree of Life (Gen. 3:24). Accordingly, the purpose of creation remained unfulfilled and Adam became a false Tree of Life (fallen man) whose descendants were also false trees of life. Consequently, there must appear on earth a true Tree of Life to which a] I mankind can be grafted and be brought back to the Garden of Eden, or the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. For this reason, Jesus was symbolized as the Tree of Life in Proverbs in the Old Testament (Prov. 12:12) and the Lord of the Second Advent was similarly depicted in the Book of Revelation in the New Testament (Rev. 22:14). Thus, the goal of salvation is to restore the Tree of Life lost in the Garden of Eden (Gen. 2:9) to the Tree of Life mentioned in the Book of Revelation (Rev. 22:14).
God created Adam, and He also created Eve as Adam's spouse. Thus, when we find in the Garden of Eden a tree symbolizing manhood, mustn't there be another tree symbolizing womanhood? The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, which was described as standing with the Tree of Life, is this very tree. So, it is reasonable to conclude that this tree was the symbol of Eve. This can be more clearly seen by examining the meaning of the symbol of the serpent.
In Rev. 12:9, Satan is depicted as the ancient serpent. That serpent, who was thrown down from heaven, was originally created as a good being headed toward perfection. That being could converse with man, it was a spiritual being that knew the will of God, and was capable of deceiving man. And even after that being fell, becoming Satan, he still had the capability of dominating man's mind and body in every way.
Then what being could have done these things? There is no other being that could do these things except an angel. (Then some angel must have sinned against God and fallen to become the evil Satan.) II Peter 2:4 says, "For God did not spare the angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of nether gloom to be kept until the judgment." (Also see Isa. 14:12). Then what was the angel's sin? Jude 1:6-7 says, "And the angels that did not keep their own position but left their proper dwelling have been kept by him in eternal chains in the nether gloom until the judgment of the great day; just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise acted immorally and indulged in unnatural lust, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire." So from this we can see clearly that the sin of the angel was unprincipled or illicit love.
Then what was the sin of the human ancestors? In Gen. 3:7 we read that after the fall, the first human ancestors, who sinned together with the serpent, became ashamed of their nakedness and covered the lower parts of their body. As it is human nature to hide what is wrong with oneself, could it not be that man also fell because of an immoral act?
In Job 31:33 it is written: "I have concealed by transgressions like Adam, by hiding my iniquity in my bosom." This indicates that Adam committed sin with the lower parts of his body. In the Garden of Eden, what act could man have performed at the risk of his life, but the act of improper love?
Adam and Eve were growing in the relationship of brother and sister and after reaching perfection, were to be blessed in marriage to form the first perfect family, fulfilling God's purpose of creation. But Jesus said in John 8:44, "You are of your father the devil," indicating that all the fallen men of history belong to Satan. In other words, the first human ancestors, having had an illicit relationship with the angel, came to have Satan as their father and father of their descendants: a false father.
Thus, Adam and Eve, forsaking their true father, became one with a false father. Rom. 8:23 says, ". . we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the spirit, groan inwardly as we wait for adoption as sons." John the Baptist called fallen men sons of Satan (Matt. 3:7) and even Jesus said, ". . you serpents, you brood of vipers" (Matt. 23:32).
In conclusion, since the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil symbolized Eve, the fruit of good and evil was the symbol of Eve's love. The fact that Eve ate of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil means that she had an illicit love relationship with Satan, and the fact that Eve gave Adam the same fruit implies that she seduced Adam to fall in the same way.
Consequently, the origin of human sin is not that the first human ancestors ate a literal fruit, but that they had an illicit love relationship. This established a fallen blood lineage through which the original sin is passed on from generation to generation.
Throughout history, all of the major religions have called adultery one of the greatest sins. Also we can see why the Israelites had to be circumcised as a condition (of redemption) to become God's elect. We may be able to eradicate other sins through social or economic improvements, but even as these are made and living conditions continue to improve, man's inclination towards immorality and degradation has also increased. And no one has been able to prevent this.
As the Last Days draw near and Satan continues to thwart God's original plan for man, we must know this is a result of the fall of the first human ancestors, a direct result of their relating to Satan and making him our false father, disobeying God's commandment and heavenly law. Their descendants are not of God, but of sin, and have created this sinful world of conflict.
Even though God created the world and the universe, He has never been able to dominate the world as its Master. Instead, Satan became the false master of the world (John 12:31, II Cor. 4:4) and has ruled the world.
The Motivation and Process of the Fall
In the Garden of Eden, how did the ancestors of mankind and the angel fall? By what motivation and process did they fall?
For the creation and operation of the created world, God first made angels as His servants (Heb. 1: 14). Man was created as the son of God, and was given the right to have dominion over all things (Jer. 17:9), including the angels. But because man fell he became deceitful and corrupt above all things and thus has even envied the angels. Yet in I Cor. 6:3, it is written that man has the right to judge the angels. And spiritually gifted individuals have many times described angels as surrounding good spirit men and saints in Paradise. All this shows that man was originally created higher than the angels.
In Isaiah 14:12 we find that Lucifer ("Day Star") was in the position of archangel, the center of all the angelic realm and hierarchy, and that he himself was originally the object of the total love of God. However, after God created man, God loved man more than the angel, who was created to be man's servant. In actuality, God loved Lucifer just as much as before, but when Lucifer saw that God loved Adam and Eve more than himself, he began to feel that the love he was receiving from God had diminished. Then Lucifer tried to come closer to Adam and Eve, who were far above him as objects of God's love, in order to supplement the love he was receiving.
Since God's love is the source of life and the ideal of all created beings, Adam and especially Eve, as the objects of God's love to a much higher degree, appeared very beautiful and attractive to Lucifer. So Lucifer was attracted to Eve and by the stimulation of love, committed sin. The sin that was committed here was the spiritual fall.
How is it possible for sexual relations to occur between an angel and man? Because of the deterioration of man's spiritual perception due to the fall, this seems difficult to understand. However there are many examples in the Bible that illustrate substantial contact between men and angels. One example is that of Jacob wrestling with the angel, when the angel dislocated Jacob's thigh bone (Gen. 32:25).
After Eve and the archangel committed the spiritual fall by uniting their spiritual bodies in illicit love, Eve began to feel fear and with the additional knowledge given to her by her action, understood that her true spouse was supposed to be Adam. Hoping to correct her wrongdoing, Eve then tempted Adam and became one with him since she knew he was to be her original mate. This is the second fallen act of love, which we call the physical fall.
If the first human ancestors did not eat the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, they would have perfected themselves as the son and daughter of God, and then with God's blessing, they would have become eternal husband and wife centering around God's love and multiplied children of goodness to fulfill the ideal of God's creation. Then the love of Eve would have become a good fruit and she would have become a tree of goodness, the goal of creation.
However, by Eve's engaging in illicit love with an angel before reaching perfection, and failing, and moreover by her leading Adam to fall as well, a false family was formed within which God could not dwell. Therefore, fallen Eve was likened to an evil tree and her love to an evil fruit. Eve, before the fall, could have become either a good or evil tree, by perfecting herself or failing; thus she was likened to a tree of good and evil. Similarly, her love could have become either a good or bad fruit, accomplishing the purpose of creation or causing the fall, and thus her love was likened to a fruit of good and evil.
According to the principle of creation of man, God was to accomplish the purpose of creation through love. Therefore, love is the source of human life and happiness. And because man betrayed this heavenly law through the misuse of love itself, Satan is making mankind suffer through his false love and illicit domination. Satan is the one responsible for smashing all the ideals of the human family.
The Advent of the Messiah and the Purpose of His Second Coming
The Meaning of Salvation
Then, has God given up His ideal of creation which has never been realized? The Bible gives a clear answer. In Isa. 46:11 God says, "I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have purposed, and I will do it." God will surely accomplish His goal. The God of love could not leave fallen mankind in such circumstances. Instead, God has been working for man's restoration.
What is restoration? In one word, it is re-creation. To save a sick man is to restore him to health. To save a drowning man is to rescue him and restore him to the state he was in before drowning. Therefore, God's restoration of man means for Him to restore fallen mankind in this sinful world to the original world God had intended in the very beginning.
God's goal of restoration is to realize the ideal individual which He originally planned, and through him realize the original family, and based on that family, the original society, nation and world.
For this goal of salvation, God sent His only Son, Jesus Christ, as savior to this world. Therefore, the Messiah must stand before God as the origin of the ideal individual and thus be able to establish the ideal family, the goal of God's creation and the object of His love. The Messiah would then realize the ideal nation and world to bring about the Kingdom of Heaven on earth.
God and Israel
God truly loved the chosen people. He prophesied many times of the coming of the Messiah and warned the people to expect his coming. God also prepared the great John the Baptist, who was to testify to the Messiah for the people of Israel. Thus, the nation of Israel had been truly waiting for the Messiah. However, tragically, the much-prepared chosen people failed to recognize the Messiah when he came. The Son of God was left with no other choice but to persuade the people himself that he was the Son of God, yet he was not understood, branded as blasphemous, and ultimately crucified. Even Pilate, a pagan ruler, knew of Jesus' innocence, yet ironically the people who condemned Jesus were the chosen people and prepared Jewish leaders themselves. How could this have happened?
The Cross
Christians have traditionally believed that Jesus' death on the cross was the original plan of God. No! This is absolutely false. It was the Israelite's ignorance of God's will that led to the crucifixion of Jesus. God's will was clearly to lead the chosen people to believe in and accept the Messiah and be saved (John 6:29). The Jewish people did not know who Jesus of Nazareth was, for they even jeered that they would believe in him as savior only if he would come down from the cross, even as he hung dying. John 1:11 says, "He came to his own home, and his own people received him not." Paul also testified that " none of the rulers of this age understood this; for if they had they would not have crucified the Lord of glory" (I Cor. 2:8).
Christians everywhere today do not know what actually occurred at the time of Jesus. If it was God's will solely to crucify his Son, why did He prepare a chosen people for so long? Wasn't it expressly to protect His Son from a disbelieving world?
In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prayed, "My soul is very sorrowful, even to death ... My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me" (Matt. 26:36-38). Jesus uttered this prayer, not once, but three times. Many Christians today believe that although his mission was to die on the cross, Jesus, out of human weakness, uttered this timid prayer. But, could Jesus Christ, the savior of mankind, utter any prayer out of weakness?
Neither the first Christian martyr, Stephen, nor any of the many martyrs who followed ever prayed from such weakness. Did they ever ask, "Let this cup pass from me" as they were dying? What makes present-day Christians believe that Jesus was weaker than these martyrs? Especially because his sole purpose of coming to this world was to save mankind, why did Jesus pray this way?
Jesus, prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane was not a self-centered or timid prayer, uttered out of fear of dying. Rather, if there were any way-any way at all-that Jesus could have saved mankind, he would have gladly died hundreds of times over. He had been working all his life to accomplish his messianic mission and to realize God's purpose of creation here on earth.
Jesus' heart was so grieved that God's will would have to wait for thousands of years if he died without succeeding in his mission. He also foresaw that his disciples and all of his followers to come-the Christians-would have to go through the same agonizing way of shedding blood as he did on the cross. He also anguished over the troubled future that would befall the people of Israel who had rejected him. Therefore, in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus, as a last desperate prayer to God, was really saying: "Even in these desperate circumstances, let me remain on earth so that I can continue my mission, no matter what the price. Show me any way I can do this."
If dying on the cross was predestined by God, why did Jesus say to Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him, "Woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born" (Matt. 26:24).
Moreover, how can we explain Jesus' cry on the cross, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" (Matt. 27:46). If the crucifixion was the only way God prepared for Jesus, why didn't he feel resounding joy upon successfully completing his mission?
The crucifixion was not God's original will for Jesus, the Son of God; rather, it became God's painful alternative caused by the distrust of the people of Israel. What would have happened if all the people of Israel believed in Jesus and welcomed and loved him? Most certainly, salvation would have been realized. The purpose of creation would have been accomplished and thereby the Kingdom of Heaven on earth established. The people of Israel would have become the honored central nation of that ideal world and division would never have arisen between Judaism and Christianity nor would either of them have had to undergo the tribulations they have endured. Furthermore, because the will of God would have been done on earth, the Second Coming of Christ would have been totally unnecessary.
Salvation Realized?
To put it clearly, Jesus' crucifixion was only a secondary course of salvation, and provided only spiritual salvation. Because Jesus was neither trusted nor received by the Israelites, God had to pay the price for the sinful distrust of all mankind by giving His only Son to Satan as a ransom. Therefore, Satan could claim Jesus' body. This is why Jesus' precious blood on the cross became the price for the redemption of all mankind.
The Limit of Salvation through Redemption by the Cross
From that point, God could resurrect Jesus and open up a way of spiritual salvation not invaded by Satan. Thus God's only victory was not that of the crucifixion but that of Jesus' resurrection. As a result, the physical bodies of mankind, which were meant to belong to Jesus through acceptance and love, became subject to Satan's invasion. The only way left open was the way towards spiritual salvation, which could be won by believing in and loving Jesus spiritually and being resurrected spiritually as he was.
Even after Jesus' appearance on earth, the world continues to be ruled by Satan, and sin mercilessly persists in the bodies of men. The Apostle Paul lamented, "Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? ... I of myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin" (Rom. 7:24-25). As a saint, Paul was so devout and full in his love of the Lord, but his flesh continued to be oppressed by sin. Since this is true for all mankind, we are taught to "pray constantly" (Thess. 5:17) to protect us from satanic invasion. Also, we read in I John 1: 10, "If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar," Which tells us that mankind is still under the bondage of sin.
Therefore, the Lord must come again to completely liquidate the sins that remain and to establish the Kingdom of Heaven on earth, the purpose of God's creation.
The Messiah and Elijah
At this point, there is one matter which we must delve into regarding Jesus' having to go the way of the cross. God had repeatedly prophesied to the chosen people about the coming of the Messiah, and the chosen people themselves longed for and cherished the promise of his coming. Then how could God send the Messiah in such a way that the chosen people could not recognize him? Was it God's will that they not recognize and receive the Messiah? Or did God clearly show them how he was to come, but the people failed to recognize him?
Let us first examine the second coming of Elijah. In Malachi, the last book of the Old Testament, it says, "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers. . ." (Mal. 4:5-6). The great and terrible day referred to is the day when the Lord comes, and this prophecy shows that before the Messiah can come, Elijah must first come again.
Elijah was one of the great prophets of Israel who lived 900 years before the coming of Jesus, and had ascended into heaven on a chariot of fire. The Israelites' longing for the Messiah was indicated by their expectation for the arrival of the historical prophet, Elijah. This was because the Old Testament did not clearly foretell when the Messiah would come, but did clearly indicate that Elijah would come before him.
The Trend of Jewish Thought
It was under these very circumstances that Jesus appeared, proclaiming himself as the Messiah. He told the Jewish people that he was the Son of God-the very people who thought that he was simply a man from Nazareth. They had not yet heard any news of Elijah's coming, so they asked "how could it be possible that Jesus of Nazareth is the Son of God?"
Thus, when Jesus' disciples went out among the people of Israel, testifying to Jesus, the people asked, "If your master is the Messiah, then where is the Elijah who is to come first?" So, Jesus' disciples turned around and asked the same question of Jesus: "and the disciples asked him, 'then why do the scribes say that first Elijah must come? He replied, 'Elijah does come, and he is to restore all things; but I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not know him, but did to him whatever they pleased.' Then they understood that he was speaking to them of John the Baptist" (Matt. 17:10-13).
Jesus understood the meaning of the scribes asking this important question and indicated that John the Baptist was the second coming of Elijah. Jesus' own disciples could easily believe this, but the Israelites in general could not so easily believe it. John the Baptist did not come directly from heaven and he himself even denied he was Elijah (John 1:21). Jesus knew that the people would not easily accept this, saying, "if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come" (Matt. 11:14).
Jesus said that John the Baptist was the Elijah whom the people had been long awaiting, but when John himself denied this, whom would the people of Israel believe? Naturally, it would depend on how these two were viewed by the people of that time.
How did Jesus appear to the people? Jesus was known only as the son of a humble carpenter and was not even well-schooled. Yet, Jesus proclaimed himself the Lord of the Sabbath (Matt. 12:8), held himself as one who was higher than the Law (Matt. 5:17), and became the friend of tax collectors, prostitutes and sinners, even eating and drinking with them (Matt. 11: 19). He equated himself with God (John 14:9) and told the people they had to love him more than anyone else (Matt. 10:37). Thus, the Jewish leaders went so far as to claim that Jesus was possessed by Beelzebul, the prince of demons (Matt. 12:24).
On the other hand, how did John the Baptist appear to the people at that time? He was the son of a prominent family and the people knew of him even from the time of his conception and birth. When he was older, he lived on locusts and honey in the wilderness; thus, in their eyes, he led an exemplary life as a man of faith. In fact, John was held in such high regard that many came to ask him if he were the Messiah (Luke 3:15, John 1:20).
Under these circumstances, the people of Israel believed more in John the Baptist, who asserted he was not Elijah, than in Jesus, who told them that John the Baptist was the one. The people decided that Jesus' view of John the Baptist as the Elijah was untrustworthy, thinking Jesus said this only to make his own claims about himself believable.
Then, why did Jesus say John the Baptist was Elijah? As Luke 1: 17 says, John the Baptist came with the mission of Elijah. The people of Israel, who believed the words of the Old Testament literally, assumed that the same Elijah would actually come down from heaven. But, to be precise, God sent John with the mission of Elijah.
John the Baptist himself said he came to "make straight the way of the Lord" (John 1:23) and that he was not even worthy to carry his sandals (Matt. 3:11). Being a man of such a unique and important mission, John, by his own wisdom, should have known that he, himself, was Elijah.
The Mission of John the Baptist
Many of the chief priests and people of Israel who respected John the Baptist thought that he might be the Messiah. Therefore, if John had proclaimed that he was Elijah and testified that Jesus was the Messiah, all the Jewish people at that time would have been able to recognize and receive Jesus, obtaining salvation. Then, Jesus' lack of social status and background would never have mattered. However, John's insistence that he was not Elijah, due to his ignorance of God's providence, made Jesus seem a liar. This was the main factor that prevented the people of Israel from coming to Jesus.
In Matt. 3:11 John the Baptist said that he baptized with water but the one who comes after him-Jesus-would baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire; therefore, he said he was not even worthy to carry his sandals. In John 1:33, John said, "I myself did not know this, but he [God] who sent me to baptize with water said to me 'He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit [Christ].' And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God." Then God told John the Baptist that Jesus was the Son of God. And here John initially fulfilled his mission to testify to Jesus Christ. But what did he do next? He failed to Continue his mission of following and ministering to Jesus.
All people, after meeting the Messiah, must believe in and serve him all through their lives, most of all John the Baptist, who came with the mission of the Messiah's forerunner. Therefore, John the Baptist should have served Jesus with all his strength as one of his disciples.
Even John's father was told of the mission of his son upon his birth: "And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High, for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people (Luke 1:76-77). However, we cannot find any instance in the Bible where John the Baptist actually served Jesus.
Jesus Reprimands John
After going his own way, not serving Jesus as God would have had him do, John became doubtful that Jesus was the Messiah, and sent his disciples to him, asking, "Are you he who is to come, or shall we look for another?" (Matt. 11: 13). This clearly proves that John had not trusted in Jesus and failed to serve him.
Jesus was indignant at such a question, and answered quite judgmentally, "blessed is he who takes no offense at me" (Matt. 11:6), indicating that despite Israel's great respect for John, he had already failed his mission for Jesus.
Jesus also said among those born of women there has risen no one greater than John the Baptist, yet, he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he" (Matt. 11:11). If one was the greatest born of women, surely he should be equally as great in the Kingdom of Heaven. Then how could John the Baptist, who was born to be the greatest in history, be less than the least in heaven?
God sent John the Baptist as the greatest of prophets, for he was to testify to all people of the Messiah, and serve him. But he failed completely in fulfilling his responsibility.
Matt. 11: 12 also explains this: "From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and men of violence take it by force." If John the Baptist had served Jesus well, fulfilling his responsibility, he would have become Jesus' chief disciple, but because he failed, Peter, who made the most effort among Jesus' disciples, became the leader of the Twelve.
In order to prepare the people of Israel to have faith in Jesus, God gave much testimony to John's parents, Zechariah and Elizabeth, who were greatly trusted by the people. And the people could see that the conception and birth of John the Baptist was God's doing (Luke 1). Undoubtedly, John was told much by his parents about his relationship with Jesus.
Yet, despite all this preparation, John the Baptist failed because of his disbelief and lack of wisdom. His personal ignorance and disbelief did not remain merely as his individual loss, but led to the disbelief of all the people and ultimately resulted in Jesus' crucifixion.
The Meaning of the Last Days
Next, we will look into the consummation of human history. At the end of the world, will heaven and earth literally burn up and melt, the sun and moon lose their light and the stars fall from heaven as described in the Bible? Will the dead literally rise from the grave, and will all living people be raised up to the clouds to meet Jesus in the air?
Or, like in many parts of the Bible, are these symbolic or metaphorical? Let us examine these prophecies of the Last Days, keeping in mind the purpose of God's creation, the facts of the fall, and God's purpose of restoring this fallen world.
If Adam and Eve had perfected themselves in the Garden of Eden by observing God's commandment, they would have become the origin of the ideal family and produced children of goodness. The center of their thought and action would have been God, and they would have formed the Kingdom of Heaven on earth in which only God's sovereignty of goodness would have reigned. If this had occurred, their individual and family histories, as well as the ensuing history, would have been histories of goodness. God has sought this history of goodness.
However, because of the fall of the first human ancestors, sin began and they formed the family that God had not purposed, and thus Satan came to rule man and the world. This world then became hell on earth, full of sin and pain, and each individual and family, up to the world itself, has given rise to a history full of contradiction and sin.
The human history God desired was the history of goodness, but at the onset, history began contrary to His desire. Would God then leave the world as it is? No, God wants to achieve the world of His original intent through His providence of salvation. Thus, we call the period of transition from the sinful world of satanic sovereignty into the original world of God's sovereignty -- the end of the world, or the Last Days. The Last Days are the time of change from the fallen hell on earth into the Kingdom of Heaven on earth, where the ideal of creation is realized. Therefore, the Last Days are not only the time of fear when earthly catastrophes occur, but also, the time of joy for which the original mind of each person has been waiting since the beginning of human history.
In other words, the end of the sinful world is also the hopeful time when the new world of goodness will begin. Since God cannot just leave this world of evil and hell as it is and begin another world of goodness and heaven, a time of judgment, a time of destroying sinful things, must accompany the Last Days.
God has been working with such an aching and anxious heart to restore the world into goodness, so God has always hoped for man to successfully fulfill his providence for the Last Days. However, man repeatedly failed to accomplish his responsibility and thus the Bible records that the Last Days were to occur in Noah's time and in Jesus' time, and will again occur at the time of the Second Coming of Christ.
In Noah's time, God said, ". . . I have determined to make an end of all flesh; for the earth is filled with violence through them; behold, I will destroy them with the earth" (Gen. 6:13). This clearly indicates that it was the time of the Last Days.
Jesus' time was also the time of the Last Days; for this reason, Jesus said that he had come to judge and destroy the sinful world and build the world of the ideal of creation (Matt. 5:48, John 5:22). When the Lord comes again it will also be the Last Days, for it says in Luke 17:26, "As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be in the days of the Son of man."
All the signs and phenomenon of the Last Days can be explained by understanding God's will for the dispensation of the Last Days. As explained before, God's ideal world cannot be realized without restoring the sinful world; therefore, God undertakes the providence of the Last Days. God governs the Last Days to realize His ideal of creation. This is the reason he cannot destroy the earth literally, for it is man who must be restored, not nature.
Then, what is the true meaning of the destruction of heaven and earth (II Peter 3:12) and the formation of a new earth (Rev. 2 1:1)? It seems contrary to Ecc. 1:4, which says, "A generation goes and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever." Therefore, it must mean that God will destroy the sinful sovereignty and begin the good sovereignty and establish the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. God would not plan the Garden of Eden without realizing it; therefore, what is said to be destroyed is not the literal earth, but the sin, death and false sovereignty of Satan, all of which are symbolized by the earth.
The scriptural verse which records that heaven and earth will be consumed by fire (II Peter 3:12) could not be a literal one, otherwise the purpose of creation could not be fulfilled. In Jesus' time, it was recorded that the judgment would come by fire (Mal. 4:1), but it was not done literally. James 3:6 says "the tongue is a fire," meaning that judgment by fire is the judgment of the tongue or the spoken word. In other words, judgment is done by truth. John 12:48 says, "He who rejects me and does not receive my sayings has a judge; the word that I have spoken will be his judge on the last day." II Thess. 2:8, Isa. 11:4, and John 5:24 all also indicate judgment by words.
Neither could the passage describing all men being caught up to meet the Lord in the air to be raised up to heaven (I Thess. 4:17) be fulfilled literally because God's purpose of creation is not fulfilled in the air but on earth. All throughout the Bible, the earth connotes the fallen, evil world and heaven connotes the sacred world of the true sovereignty of goodness. Thus, being caught up from the earth to the air (heaven) means that fallen man will be restored or raised up to the original standard of sacredness and goodness from which he fell. Thus, when the Lord comes, the evil sovereignty will be ended, man will be restored to his original sinless state and the Kingdom of Heaven will be established.
Will the sun and the moon be darkened and the stars fall from heaven (Matt. 24:29)? When the sole purpose of the Last Days is to restore the world, how can the purpose of creation be realized by these catastrophes?
To explain, let us refer to the interpretation of the dream which Joseph had in Gen. 37:9-11. The sun denoted his father, the moon, his mother, and the stars, their children. In our religious life we have also used the sun and the moon to mean the light of truth which shines over the spiritual world and the heart of mankind, and stars mean the people receiving the light of truth. When the New Testament appeared, the work of Jesus and the Holy Spirit outshone the works of the Old Testament. Likewise, in the Last Days, when Christ comes again, and gives new words of truth, the mission of the New Testament will be over.
The stars symbolize the saints who are under the light of truth; therefore, this is a warning to the saints to take heed and not fail to recognize the Lord when he comes. Luke 18:8 says, ". . nevertheless, when the Son of man comes, will he find faith on earth?" h is a prediction by Jesus that in the Last Days the Christians might be likely to fail to believe in the Lord.
In summary, the Last Days do not imply physical destruction. Rather they mean a time of banishing pain and disbelief and removing the sinful sovereignty of Satan, which clearly is the obstacle in restoring the purpose of creation and realizing a new starting point of re-creation. We should pray that God's providence of the Last Days will be successfully carried out and we should prepare ourselves to meet this time with repentance and hope.
We should not be among the foolish ones who will become liable to judgment along with all other sins, but rather we should recognize and accept the dawn of the new heaven and new earth and serve our Lord to come with all our strength.
Will the sun and the moon be darkened and the stars fall from heaven (Matt. 24:29)? When the sole purpose of the Last Days is to restore the world, how can the purpose of creation be realized by these catastrophes?
To explain, let us refer to the interpretation of the dream which Joseph had in Gen. 37:9-11. The sun denoted his father, the moon, his mother, and the stars, their children. In our religious life we have also used the sun and the moon to mean the light of truth which shines over the spiritual world and the heart of mankind, and stars mean the people receiving the light of truth. When the New Testament appeared, the work of Jesus and the Holy Spirit outshone the works of the Old Testament. Likewise, in the Last Days, when Christ comes again, and gives new words of truth, the mission of the New Testament will be over.
The stars symbolize the saints who are under the light of truth; therefore, this is a warning to the saints to take heed and not fail to recognize the Lord when he comes. Luke 18:8 says, 11 , * * nevertheless, when the Son of man comes, will he find faith on earth?" It is a prediction by Jesus that in the Last Days the Christians might be likely to fail to believe in the Lord.
In summary, the Last Days do not imply physical destruction. Rather they mean a time of banishing pain and disbelief and removing the sinful sovereignty of Satan, which clearly is the obstacle in restoring the purpose of creation and realizing a new starting point of re-creation. We should pray that God's providence of the Last Days will be successfully carried out and we should prepare ourselves to meet this time with repentance and hope.
We should not be among the foolish ones who will become liable to judgment along with all other sins, but rather we should recognize and accept the dawn of the new heaven and new earth and serve our Lord to come with all our strength.
God's Work in the Providence of Restoration
We have previously stated that God, as a being of dual characteristics, created man and all things in the relationship of subject and object, and they are to respond to each other in Give and Take Action, establishing a harmonious union, fulfilling the purpose of goodness.
In addition, we have also shown that man betrayed God and made Satan the false master, thus initiating this sinful world. To save mankind and such a world, God began His providence of restoration in order to restore man and the world to its original sinless state.
Now, let us look at the way God has been working for the purpose of restoration throughout human history.
Does human history consist solely of the roles individual men have played? It is man's experience that he can hardly shape the course of his own life or personal history, much less human history. Therefore, who did what, when and how does not truly tell the whole story behind human history. From God's point of view, man's history is the entire record of His dispensation to save this world. In short, history is the history of restoration, revealing everything God has tried to do to reach this objective.
Because the purpose of God's restoration providence is to restore men and the world to the point where they have fulfilled the purpose of creation, man's history can be defined as the history of God's dispensation to restore the purpose of creation.
The Potentiality for Good or Evil
As was already explained in the section on the fall of man, man fell while growing to perfection to become the substantial ideal of creation. As a result, fallen man, has come to have the potential for both good and evil. In other words, man, who is still imperfect, contains both the original goodness given by God as well as the evil nature that he inherited from the fallen angel. This evil element from the fallen angel is the original sin.
The proportion of these two natures that individuals have is not always the same. In fallen man, the evil nature is so well developed that it easily manifests itself in his actions. On the other hand, man's foundation of goodness is so imperfect that it has to be constantly encouraged and conscious effort has to be made before it can bear results.
If a man has perfected God's original purpose of creation and has become as perfect as his Heavenly Father (Matt. 5:48), his center of thought, action and life automatically comes to rest on God. Such a man is good and his personal history would also be good. Such men will form good families, a good nation and good world establishing the history of goodness. This was God's ideal. However, due to the fall of man, the history of evil and sin began. But as shown in Isaiah 46:11, God will surely restore the world and its history to what He originally planned in the purpose of creation.
The Struggle between Good and Evil
In this world which is fallen and dominated by a false master, God continually separates good from evil in order to realize the original ideal world. Thus it is clear that history has largely consisted of the struggle between good and evil.
Throughout this fallen world which Satan rules as its false master, God's efforts to divide good from evil have continued, and as a result, most of human history is composed of the struggles between good and evil. Fallen man united with Satan with his mind and commits sin through his body, yet man also has his original mind created by God still within him, and it always remains directed toward God. Man is caught in the midway position. On one hand, the evil sovereignty of Satan is trying desperately to hold on to man, while on the other hand, the good sovereignty of God is striving to win man to His side. Thus, there is always a continuing battle to win man over to one side or the other. This is the true picture of human history: good and evil are in conflict in this world.
After man's fall, Cain's murder of his brother, Abel, was the first bloodshed among brothers in human history, and from then on the pattern of conflict persisted throughout history, irrespective of East or West. Although the scope of the struggle varied from that among individuals, families and societies, to nations and groups of nations, ultimately these conflicts have all been between good and evil, God's side and Satan's side, as the chief protagonists behind the scenes of history.
At times the struggle involved property, land and people, at other times, ideals or beliefs. But actually all of these are just reflections of this struggle between God and Satan. God as the being of goodness is trying to restore things of goodness to be used in His ultimate providence of goodness and Satan is trying to maintain his evil position and power. This struggle then appears in the actions of human life and history.
The Condition to Enable Historical Development
Then, what is the real driving force of history? When we say history stems from the dispensation of God, does history advance solely by the plan and working of God? If the goal of history is to fulfill the purpose of creation, do the conflicts between good and evil automatically progress toward realizing the purpose of creation? If this is so, how can we explain the many injustices and tragedies in history, such as the prevalence of evil or the sacrifice of people on the side of goodness?
In the beginning, God gave the first human ancestors a commandment which they were to observe until their perfection. The purpose of creation was to be accomplished not simply by the plan and workings of God, but by man fulfilling his comparatively small portion of responsibility, obeying God's commandment. In order to fulfill the purpose of creation, man's effort is as absolutely essential as God's.
But man may or may not fulfill his responsibility toward God. When men do accomplish their responsibility, God's plan comes to be concretely reflected in history and restoration progresses. But when men fail to fulfill their responsible part, God's plan for that time is frustrated, and Satan's will comes to be reflected in history instead. Thus, man can accomplish or fail his responsibility. The reason human history appears as nothing but a constant reenactment of sinful history with the prospect of an ideal world seemingly so distant is not because God is impotent or not absolute, but because so few men accomplished their portion of responsibility to fulfill God's providence.
God is absolute, eternal and omnipotent; therefore, His purpose of creation or restoration is also absolute. God's will of restoration is surely to be accomplished as is said in Isa. 46:11. Therefore, though one man fails to fulfill his responsibility, God, after a period of time, restores the same foundation and conditions as before, and chooses another man to carry out the same mission. This is precisely the reason why we see very similar incidents and events appearing over the long history of God's dispensation, even over periods of two to four thousand years. We call this reappearance of similar events or periods providential time-identity
In God's providence, He must first restore a true man to accomplish His purpose of creation and through him restore a family, society, nation and world of His ideal creation. God sends the Messiah to the world as a model of a true man. Therefore the Messiah is indeed the most valuable fruit of the providential history. As a result, God cannot just send the Messiah to the world without any preparation. This is because, due to the fall of man, mankind has been serving a false master, and if the Messiah were sent without a prepared environment, the sinful world would surely try to eliminate him. God first chooses a few individuals, from the evil ones, who can honor and obey Him, and through these people, He creates families and nations separated from Satan's side so that they can serve as a foundation of faith upon which the Messiah can arrive.
God chose the families of Abraham and Jacob and raised up the tribe of Israel to prepare this people as a landing site for the Messiah. God likewise worked with Christianity for the last two thousand years to prepare for the Second Coming of Christ. Consequently, the history of the Israelites before the coming of Jesus and the history of the Christians after Jesus compromise the mainstream of human history.
Central History and Auxiliary History
God's will is to restore all the people of the world. But first, God works a model dispensation through this central flow of history while conducting the histories of other nations in supporting roles, later grafting them to the central history to include them in the overall salvation.
From the providential viewpoint, the history of religions also occupies the central part of God's dispensation, because they are to educate man's mind and spirit towards accomplishing the goals of the restoration of mankind. Other fields, such as politics, economics, science and culture are meant to improve man's living environment, and thus their histories can be considered auxiliary ones.
With history viewed in this way, we can begin to understand the meaning and significance of the events of the history of the Jewish people as told in the Old Testament. It is not merely a history of a tribe and nation, but it is the central history through which God operated His providence of salvation.
The history of the Jewish people centering around Judaism together with the history of Western civilization centering around Christianity is the clearest manifestation of God's dispensation, and, astonishingly, we can derive a consistent formula which is applicable to all histories. With this formula, it becomes possible to forecast future historical courses. With this new perspective of restoration history, let's look at history more closely.
The Principle of God's Providence of Restoration
By what principle does God carry out His providence of restoration?
After falling from the top of the growth stage, man has been under satanic dominion. Before being able to restore such a man, God must first separate him from Satan. In order to completely separate man from Satan leaving no condition by which Satan can invade again, a man must rid himself of original sin. However, original sin cannot be removed until man is born again through the Messiah, who comes as the True Parent. Therefore, fallen man must go through the course of separation from Satan, returning to the top of the growth stage before being able to meet the Messiah, where he will be born again, and then must follow him to achieve perfection, thus fulfilling the purpose of creation.
Therefore, for fallen man, there are two paths to follow: the path of restoration one must go through to be born again and then the path of the Principle, following the Messiah, to reach perfection.
After being born again through receiving the Messiah the course of the Principle requires man to be completely obedient to the Messiah, following with all his strength until reaching perfection.
The Foundation for the Messiah
What is the path of restoration until the time of meeting the Messiah? By what principle does God conduct the providence of restoration until He sends the Messiah? These questions can be understood by knowing the principle of preparation for the Messiah. It is the same principle by which God prepared the foundation upon which to send the Messiah. The Messiah comes at the top of the growth stage, from which man originally fell. Therefore the essence of God's providence until the coming of the Messiah is to enable people to indemnify and restore the foundation upon which God can send the Messiah. Fallen man cannot reach the top of the perfection stage alone. So God gave fallen man some condition to fulfill to be restored to the top of the growth stage.
So, it is man's responsibility to prepare this foundation to receive the Messiah. What condition is necessary in order to prepare the foundation for the Messiah? Restoration must be achieved through reversing the steps of man's fall. What conditions are necessary to reverse the steps of the fall back to the top of the growth stage, which was lost by Adam and Eve when they fell?
First, Adam and Eve failed to believe in God's words and lost the foundation of faith. Secondly, Adam and Eve could not maintain their original character as the son and daughter of God before the angel, who was created as a servant; therefore they lost the foundation of substance.
Therefore, the foundation for the Messiah which fallen men must restore is to indemnify and restore the original foundation of faith and foundation of substance. Then, what is the condition necessary to indemnify and restore the foundation of faith?
Adam and Eve lost this foundation by failing to believe in God's words and by failing to observe His commandment while going through their growth period. In order to indemnify and restore this, first a central figure of faith is needed in place of Adam and Eve; second, a conditional object must be prepared, and third, a certain period of faith in God must be undergone.
The foundation of faith is the vertical foundation between man and God. Since man fell by not believing in God, it is the purpose of the foundation of faith to indemnify and restore this lost vertical relationship. Throughout the entire history of restoration, so many providential figures offered God a certain condition of faith to indemnify and restore the foundation of faith.
Then, what is the condition to indemnify and restore the foundation of substance?
If Adam and Eve had stood firmly on the foundation of faith, they would have become perfect substantial beings as children to God, and would have established a principled horizontal relationship with the archangel, to form the original relationship of creation.
But in reality, Adam and Eve lost both the foundation of faith and substance, becoming beings with fallen nature, dominated by the archangel, contrary to God's original desire.
Therefore, in order to indemnify and restore the foundation of substance, men must offer a condition to remove the fallen nature, which was inherited from the archangel, and restore the proper horizontal order which was lost.
On the basis of the principles of the restoration providence just explained, let us look into how the history of restoration has been carried out.
The Providence of Restoration Centering on Adam's Family
Because Adam himself failed, it would stand to reason that he be the one to make an offering before God. But instead, God had the next generation make the offering. Why was this so? God's dividing Adam into Cain and Abel, who made the offerings, was His first restoration effort to separate good and evil.
According to the Principle of Creation, man is created to deal with only one master. Adam was in a position to deal with two masters, God and Satan. Therefore, God could not work His providence with such a man. If God could deal directly with fallen Adam, and with his offering, then Satan could also claim he had a basis to deal with Adam and his offering because of their blood relationship. But with Adam still having two masters, God would not be able to work His providence.
Therefore, He had to conduct the providence of dividing Adam, the origin of the two natures of good and evil. For this purpose God gave Adam two sons, representing good and evil respectively. God put them in the respective positions to deal with either God or Satan by making their offerings.
Then, between Cain and Abel, who would represent God's side and who Satan's side? Both Cain and Abel were the fruit of Eve's fall. Consequently, this question was to be decided according to the course of the fall of Eve. As previously explained, Eve's fall consisted of two kinds of illicit love affairs, the first, the spiritual fall through love with the archangel, and the second, the physical fall through love with Adam. Both are the same in that they are fallen actions, however, the latter was more forgivable since it was because Eve wanted to be forgiven and return to God that she committed the second fallen act. Cain symbolized the first fallen act of love with the archangel, and thus was placed in the position to deal with Satan. Abel symbolized the second fallen act of love with Adam, and thus was placed in the position to deal with God. The second fall was the more forgivable act, thus enabling God to deal with man through Abel.
After Satan occupied the principled world which God had created, Satan began to bring about the non-principled world against God's will. Therefore, God separated Cain from Abel before He began to work His providence. Cain, as the first-born son, was to represent Satan's side, and Abel, the second-born, was to represent God's side. Each was now in the position to deal with only one master. In Gen. 4:7, God said to Cain, "Why are you angry and why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is couching at the door; it's desire is for you but you must master it." This shows that Cain was placed in a position to deal with Satan. When the Israelites fled out of Egypt, God smote not only all the first-born of the Egyptians but also of their cattle (Ex. 12:29). Also, God loved the second son Jacob and hated the first son Esau while they were still in their mother's womb (Gen. 25:23). And in the case of Jacob's blessing of his grandsons, Ephraim and Manasseh, he blessed them by crossing his hands to lay the right hand on the head of Ephraim, the second son (Gen. 48:14). These are all examples of how God placed every second-born child in the favored position.
Based on this principle, God placed Cain and Abel in their respective positions to make their offerings. God could accept Abel's offering (Gen. 4:4) because he was in a position representing God and made the offering acceptably (Heb. 11:4). Thus, God received Abel but rejected Cain. However, it certainly was not God's permanent will to accept Abel but reject Cain. Cain had to set up a condition of indemnity in order to separate from evil and move towards the side of goodness.
Then what was this condition of indemnity? Is it the condition to restore the foundation of substance? Because Cain had the fallen nature, he could not be the object of God, who is the subject of goodness. He had to establish some condition to remove this evilness within him so that he could become a person to whom God could respond.
Since the first human ancestors fell due to the archangel, inheriting and passing on his fallen nature, the only acceptable condition was to reverse this process. The archangel, who separated himself from God, must love Adam from the same position as God, and through obeying and humbling himself before Adam, go through him as a mediator to come back to God, thus coming to perfection; but he failed to do that. After their offerings, Cain was in the position of the archangel and Abel in that of Adam; therefore, Cain was to love Abel and through him come closer to God by continuing to obey and humble himself before Abel to establish the condition of indemnity. However, in actuality, Cain killed Abel and repeated the process of the fall of the archangel. This act was not simply the crime of an elder brother murdering his younger brother, but it meant that the satanic side had struck God's side, frustrating God's effort to separate good from evil in Adam's family, and losing the side of goodness.
What Cain failed to achieve was the necessary basic condition of indemnity for any individual separated from God to come nearer to God; thus, that condition remained to be fulfilled. Observing this principle within ourselves, our mind, which directs us toward goodness (Rom. 7:22) is in the position of Abel, while our body, tending to serve the law of sin (Rom. 7:25), is in the position of Cain. Consequently, only when our body obeys and is subjugated by our mind will our individual body be made pure (sinless). However, in reality, because of the dominance of our fallen nature, our body always rebels against the command of our mind, repeating the same actions as when Cain killed Abel. Therefore, we continue to do evil.
Since all fallen men stand in the position of Cain, by humbling themselves, and by serving, obeying and loving the Messiah as Abel, men can attain salvation.
Man had become deceitful above all things (Jer. 17:9), so in order to come to God, God made man go through the created things, which are now in Abel's position. God carried out His providence by having man make offerings according to this principle.
As was explained earlier, the foundation upon which the Messiah can come is the restored foundation of faith and foundation of substance. In Adam's family, a successful foundation of faith was laid by Abel's making an offering which God could accept. With the same successful sacrifice Abel also qualified himself to become the central figure to establish the foundation of substance. However, as a result of Cain's killing Abel, they failed to establish the condition of indemnity to remove the fallen nature, thus collapsing the foundation of substance, and in turn, failing to form the foundation for the Messiah. Thus God's providence could not be fulfilled in m , s family.
God's will to accomplish salvation by sending the Messiah is constant and unchanging. But when man fails to accomplish his responsibility, God's providence does not yield success and God must later find another person from among their descendants to continue the providence.
The Providence of Restoration Centering on Noah's Family
For example, utilizing the foundation of heart and loyalty established by Abel, God chose Seth, Adam's third son, to take the place of Abel (Gen. 4:25). And from among Seth's descendants God chose Noah's family to substitute for Adam's family and recommence His providence. Noah's family first had to establish the foundation of faith and then had to restore the foundation of substance. Then the foundation to receive the Messiah would be indemnified and restored.
Noah was a righteous man in the sight of God (Gen. 6:9). Thus he became the central figure of the providence and for 120 years built the ark as a conditional object, laying the foundation of faith acceptable to God.
Because of the vertical relationship with God which Noah established through his absolute faith, a history of judgment could begin. God exercised the flood judgment to destroy the rest of mankind because they would not change their evil ways and stand on God's side along with Noah (Gen. 6:13). Noah's family, having stood on the successfully laid foundation of faith, then had to set up the foundation of substance. Just as with the first son Cain and second son Abel in Adam's family, Noah's first son Shem and second son Ham had to indemnify and restore the foundation of substance by making an acceptable offering with utmost loyalty to God.
To do this, the second son Ham had to become inseparable in heart with his father, Noah, who established the foundation of faith and became the central figure of God's providence.
However, Ham failed to be completely one in heart with Noah, and showed a lack of faith in his father (Gen. 9:20-26), who was in the position to be completely separated from Satan. Thus Ham came into the position where Satan could invade and claim him. This is why Noah cursed Ham's son, Canaan, to be a slave to his brothers (Gen. 9:25).
Because of Ham's failure, the foundation of substance was not established. As a result, God could not fulfill His providence with Noah's family, which he had restored after 1,600 years of waiting and forty days of judgment through the flood.
The Providence of Restoration Centering on Abraham's Family
God had to continue His dispensation to fulfill the purpose of creation and He called Abraham on Noah's foundation of heart-and-zeal. Abraham was to become the central figure to restore the foundation of faith in the providence of restoration centering on his own family.
Abraham offered the sacrifice of the doves, ram and heifer as the conditional objects to restore the foundation of faith (Gen. 15:9). According to Gen. 15:10-13, Abraham cut the offerings in two and laid each half over against the other, but he did not cut the doves in two. Birds of prey, symbolizing Satan, came down upon the carcasses and Abraham drove them away. Then God appeared to Abraham and said to him: "Know of a surety that your descendants will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs, and will be slaves there, and they will be oppressed for 400 years. . ." (Gen. 15:13). Thus, because Abraham did not cut the doves in two, the Israelites had to suffer 400 years of slavery in Egypt.
Why was it such a sin, deserving of such punishment, not to cut the doves in two? The entire purpose of the providence of salvation is to separate good from evil in men and in the world, so as to destroy the evil and preserve the good, and eventually restore the purpose of creation. Therefore, that which is not divided in two remains belonging to Satan and leaves no part which God can claim. Accordingly, Abraham's offering was given to God externally, but internally it was given to Satan, and thus it became sinful. Therefore, after Abraham's failure in the offering, God ordered him to offer his only son Isaac as a burnt offering (Gen. 22:2). To offer his own son in that way was even more difficult for Abraham than offering his own life. But Abraham displayed absolute obedience and loyalty by making a successful offering of denying himself to indemnify his sin. Thus he established the condition to qualify his son Isaac to be resurrected in Abraham's position and succeed in his mission.
The Providence of Restoration Centering on Isaac's Family
Therefore, after the successful offering of Isaac, the central figure for the foundation of faith in Abraham's family became Isaac. Because of Isaac's absolute obedience to Abraham, God resurrected him from death and he could inherit his father's mission. Then Isaac helped Abraham offer a ram in his place as God commanded (Gen. 22:13), and indemnified and restored the foundation of faith along with Abraham.
The condition which Isaac's family had to establish was the foundation of substance, and this remained for his own two sons, Esau and Jacob to establish successfully.
God's activities with Jacob's family, from external appearance according to Scripture, raise many questions. Why did the twins Esau and Jacob fight even while in their mother's womb? (Gen. 25:22-23). Why was Jacob born with one hand grasping Esau's ankles? (Gen. 25:26). Why did Jacob take the birthright from his brother? (Gen. 25:32-34). Why did Jacob cleverly deceive his blind father to gain his blessing? (Gen. 27:18-19). And why did God so love and protect Jacob throughout his life?
From the providential viewpoint, Jacob and Esau were the repeated pattern of separating Abel and Cain and therefore they represented the sides of good and evil, respectively. Jacob, through his 21-year experience of drudgery in Haran, prepared himself so that ultimately his elder brother Esau was able to receive him with love and humility. Outwardly this seems merely the case of an elder brother being able to love his younger brother, but from the providential viewpoint, the deeper meaning is that for the first time in human history the satanic side was subjugated by the heavenly side. Thus God blessed Jacob, giving him the name "Israel," and \r gave His blessing to the three generations of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as their God. We can 1~4), see, then, that God first locates a victorious individual and a victorious family that have fulfilled the condition of indemnity, and centering around them, raises a chosen people. Thus, the fact that the Israelites became God's chosen people is due to Jacob's individual victory in subjugating the satanic side.
Jacob's course set the pattern for the subjugation of Satan and this pattern was to be followed by Moses and all other prophets. And because a nation must also follow this pattern, the history of the Israelite nation shows the model course which a nation must go through in the national level providence; for this reason, the history of the Israelites until the coming of Jesus is the central focus of the providential history.
Although it does not seem to have any personal consequence to us today, the Bible greatly emphasizes the details of the history of the Israelites for the reason just mentioned.
In Rom. 9:11 we read that God "hated" Esau even while in the womb. The fact that God hated him simply means that God was merely working according to the Principle to fulfill His providence of restoration through indemnity by placing Esau in Cain's position.
After Esau's completing his own responsibility by loving and receiving Jacob, he could then stand on the position of restored Cain and finally receive the equal love and blessing of God (Gen. 36:7).
When Esau and Jacob successfully established the foundation of faith and the foundation of substance, the foundation to receive the Messiah, long sought since Adam's time, was laid for the first time. However, because Abraham had already failed in his first offering, his descendants still had to go through the indemnity of 400 years of slavery. Therefore, God internally expanded His providence to the national level upon the base of the family foundation for the Messiah established by Isaac's family. Externally, however, Isaac's descendants still had to undergo the 400 years of slavery as indemnity for Abraham's failure in the first offering.
Thus, Jacob's 12 sons and 70 family members went into Egypt, which represented the satanic world, and remained there in captivity for 400 years. These events had the purpose of raising a chosen people, whom God could later separate from Satan so that He could receive them with love. God could then bring the chosen people back to Canaan to establish the national level foundation for the Messiah and upon that foundation, the Messiah could come, consummating the restoration providence.
God sent so many prophets to the Jewish people and protected them with much love, solely so that on that foundation after subjugating Satan, He could send them the Messiah, who is the fruit of the providence and the personification of the temple.
The tradition established by Jacob's subjugating Esau was to enable the people of Israel to fulfill Cain's position. Representing and taking responsibility on behalf of all mankind, they were to love, obey and serve the Messiah who was to come as the Abel for all the people.
The Providence of Restoration Centering on Moses
When the Israelites had completed their 400 years of slavery in Egypt, God chose Moses to lead the people back to Canaan. Moses was chosen as a representative of God (Ex. 4:16, Ex. 7:1) and as a model for Jesus Christ (Deut. 18:18-19, John 5:19).
Therefore, his leading the Israelites out of Egypt with miracles, crossing the Red Sea and wandering in the wilderness to reach the promised land of Canaan was the model course foreshadowing that which Jesus was later to undertake. It symbolized Jesus crossing the troubled sea and desert of this sinful world, bringing mankind with him to the lost Garden of Eden, which God had promised in the beginning of creation.
Thus, Moses was the central figure to restore the foundation for the Messiah on the national level. Although Moses was adopted and raised to be the son of Pharaoh's daughter and lived in the palace for 40 years, his natural mother disguised as a nurse, educated him, encouraging his strong consciousness of Israel as God's elect. As time went on, he chose to suffer together with his own people rather than enjoy the comforts of Pharaoh's palace, abandoning his years of palace life (Heb. 11:24-25).
Because Moses was chosen as the Abel of all the Israelites, all the people, in the position of Cain, were supposed to believe in him, absolutely obey him and learn the will of God from him, thereby restoring the foundation of substance on the national level.
After choosing Moses, God had him strike the Egyptians by giving him the power to perform three miracles and ten calamities. Later when the Egyptians pursued the Israelites, God led the Egyptians to their death in the Red Sea while He enabled the Israelites to cross safely. Afterwards, they made their way into the wilderness.
Seen from God's viewpoint, it was imperative that the Israelites enter the land of Canaan; they should never have desired to return to Egypt, no matter how much they suffered in the wilderness. But so many times the Israelites were faithless, disbelieving God and Moses in the course of the Exodus. Ultimately, God was concerned that even Moses might err in his mission. Therefore God had to raise up a symbol of firm faith that would never change even though man might change. That is to say, if any man among the Israelites would devote himself to this symbol of faith, God would give him the power to represent the nation and carry on the providence. This symbol of faith was the two tablets of the Ten Commandments which Moses had received on Mt. Sinai as well as the tabernacle and the ark in which they were placed. The two tablets, in which God's words were carved, represented Jesus and the Holy Spirit, who were to come in the flesh as the incarnation of the Word. This is why Jesus was symbolized in the Bible by the white stone (Rev. 2:17) and the rock (I Cor. 10:14).
Therefore, if the people of Israel, centering upon Moses, had devoted themselves with all their strength to these symbols as if they were the actual Messiah, they would have established the national level foundation of substance.
However, the Israelites continued to remain faithless while wandering in the wilderness and God said to Moses: "How long will this people despise me? And how long will they not believe in me, in spite of all the signs which I have wrought among them?" (Num. 14:11). Then God said, "But your little ones, who you said would become a prey, I will bring in, and they shall know the land which you have despised. But as for you, your dead bodies shall fall in the wilderness. And your children shall be shepherds in the wilderness forty years and shall suffer for your faithlessness, until the last of your dead bodies lie in the wilderness" (Num. 14:31-34).
Eventually, those of the first generation of Israelites, born in Egypt, who had fallen into faithlessness, died in the wilderness; then, Joshua and Caleb led the next generation into Canaan.
John the Baptist
God truly loved the chosen people, who were to later serve as the basis for the Messiah's coming. So many times He let them know of the Messiah's coming and warned them to be alert and expect him. Especially for a period of 400 years before his coming, God brought about a reformation of the religious attitudes of the people by sending the prophet Malachi, who greatly added to the expectation of the Messiah's coming.
And before the Messiah's coming God provided John the Baptist, the greatest born of women, (Matt. 17:11) to be the central figure to restore the national level foundation of faith and the forerunner to directly testify to the Messiah. He was the greatest of all prophets to "make straight the way of the Lord" (John 1:23), and was the second coming of Elijah (Matt. 11:14, Matt. 17:13). He was chosen to go before the Lord (Luke 1:15) preparing his way. John was to prepare the Lord's people to have knowledge of salvation in the forgiveness of their sins (Luke 1:77).
John lived in the wilderness on locusts and honey, and with utmost dedication to God established an excellent foundation of faith.
By the people of Israel's believing in John and becoming one with him, together they would have established the foundation of substance on the national level. Everyone knew that John was the greatest of prophets, for they had heard of the angel's prophecy of his birth, the miracle of his father's becoming mute in the temple, and the miracles and signs that occurred at the time of his birth (Luke 1). In Luke 1:65-66, it says, "And fear came on all their neighbors. And all these things were talked about through all the hill country of Judea; and all who heard them laid them up in their hearts saying 'What then will this child be? For the hand of the Lord was with him." (Luke 3:15, John 1:19)
Moreover, John's faith was so astonishing that many of the chief priests and people of Israel thought that he might even be the Messiah. The people of Israel loved John the Baptist and obeyed him, establishing the indemnity condition for the foundation of substance on the national level. Thus, the people believed in John so much, based upon the foundation of faith he had built, that the foundation to receive the Messiah was restored.
John the Baptist had testified that Jesus was the Messiah. However, in reality John later came to doubt this (Matt. 11:3). And although he had come in the mission of Elijah, he did not realize this and denied it (John 1:21). As a result, John not only blocked the way for the people to come to Jesus, but ultimately turned them against Jesus.
Thus, although John the Baptist actually laid the foundation for the Messiah, he was ignorant of how to make it correctly serve God's purpose; rather, he caused it to work against Jesus, isolating him. God had tried desperately to prepare John the Baptist for Jesus, but the outcome was a great betrayal to God.
Jesus Succeeds the Mission of John the Baptist
Jesus, already on earth, could wait no longer for a foundation to be prepared. Instead of acting in the capacity of Messiah, Jesus set out to restore the foundation of faith himself, standing in John's place as the central figure. To do so, he went through 40 days of fasting and prayer and Satan's three temptations. Then, Jesus attempted to establish the foundation of substance (or the condition to remove the fallen nature) on the national level by having the Israelites obey and believe in him.
So he had to create miracles in order to urge the people to believe in him. If and when the nation of Israel had believed in and served Jesus, who was in Abel's position, then the indemnity condition to remove the fallen nature would have been established, restoring the foundation of substance and forming the foundation for the Messiah.
Upon that foundation, Jesus could then be elevated from the position of John the Baptist to the position of Messiah, and by giving rebirth to mankind would have realized God's purpose of creation.
However, Satan who had left Jesus after he had overcome the three temptations, had invaded the chief priests and scribes and the whole of the people, so that they came to oppose Jesus. Even among Jesus' twelve disciples there was one who ultimately betrayed him, and not even Jesus' three main disciples could attain the oneness of heart with Jesus to support him (Matt. 26:40), failing to accomplish the foundation of substance.
Thus, the entire nation of Israel could not believe and receive Jesus, and even his own disciples fell into faithlessness so that God had to ransom Jesus as the price of their sin by sending him to the cross. And only by Jesus' resurrection could God begin a new providence.
God's providence in sending the Messiah was to bring salvation to the chosen people as well as the rest of mankind; thus, even at the cost of giving Jesus away to Satan, God had to save mankind. Conversely, Satan would rather have given up all mankind to God in order to prevent Jesus from succeeding in his work.
Therefore, God had to give Jesus' body away to Satan as the condition of indemnity to save all mankind, who had fallen onto Satan's side.
Satan used all his power to bring about Jesus' crucifixion; at that point God resurrected Jesus' spirit, which Satan could not invade, opening a new realm completely free of Satan's invasion.
The Providence of the Resurrection
After his resurrection, Jesus remained on earth for 40 days, gathering together his scattered disciples, teaching them to follow him even at the cost of their lives, thus spiritually restoring the foundation for the Messiah.
Upon this foundation, Jesus elevated himself from the position of spiritual John the Baptist and established the position of the spiritual Messiah. Then he began the providential task of re-birth. The realm into which Jesus resurrected is free from Satan's accusation, so it has become a spiritual sanctuary against satanic invasion.
In spite of this, however much fallen men may believe in Jesus and unite with him, they are still subject to satanic invasion through their physical bodies, because Jesus' body was given to Satan. Thus the physical salvation of man still remains to be achieved.
This caused Paul to lament in Rom. 7:22, "For I delight in the law of God in my inmost self, but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin which dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?"
And in I John 1:18, John confesses: "If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. . . . If we say we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us .
Those of us who receive salvation by the cross of Jesus Christ still cannot escape from being sinners, for sins are still committed by our physical bodies.
Nevertheless by believing in the resurrected Lord, we can remain with him in the realm free from satanic invasion and attain spiritual salvation.
However, to liquidate original sin and be free from it, in both our spirit and physical body, the Lord must come again to fulfill God's purpose of creation on this earth.
The Second Israel
When the people of Israel did not accomplish their mission as the central nation of the dispensation, unable to achieve unity with the Son of God, God began to form the Second Israel: the multi-racial Christianity. Therefore Christianity is what God set up worldwide to replace the nation of Israel and, of course, to be the prepared foundation for the Messiah to come. Thus God's central providence shifted from the Israelites and Judaism to Christianity.
For 400 years the early Christians in Rome paid the price through persecution and martyrdom to establish Christianity as the state religion of the Roman Empire and to build a strong foundation. Later, nations such as England and America were established by God as central nations to form the Second Israel of Christianity, which is to be responsible to bring the whole world into unity around God and is the foundation of God's blessing prepared for the Lord of the Second Advent.
The Second Advent
In What Manner Will Christ Come Again?
Then, how will the Second Coming of the Lord take place? In considering this, first, let us look at the second coming of Elijah. In fact, the second coming of Elijah is the clearest example that God has revealed to us of how Christ will come again.
God had promised through the prophet Malachi to send Elijah again before He sent Christ to earth (Mal. 4:5). However, the Jewish people believed that the same Elijah who had ascended to heaven in a chariot of fire 900 years before, would now come down from heaven. But in reality, Elijah's second coming was realized through a man born on the earth, John the Baptist, quite contrary to their expectations (Matt. 11:14, Matt. 17:13).
Two kinds of prophecies are to be found in the Old Testament concerning the Messiah. For example, the prophet Daniel predicted the Lord will come to earth from heaven on a cloud (Dan. 7:13), whereas the prophet Micah prophesied that he would be born on earth (Micah 5:2). Which of these two contradictory prophecies did the Jewish people believe? Among these two prophets, Daniel was the more popular and also the trend of Jewish thought was towards the Lord descending directly from heaven. Therefore even after Jesus, the Son of God, ascended into heaven after the crucifixion, there were those who insisted that Jesus, who was born on earth in the flesh, could not have been the Messiah (11 John 1:7-8).
Then why did God give this contrary prophecy of coming on the clouds in addition to the one that he would come in the flesh? Jesus indicated that, "No one has ascended into heaven but he who descended from heaven, the Son of man" (John 3:13), pointing out that he came from heaven. As we well know, Jesus was born on earth from his mother Mary; but why, then, did he say he came from heaven?
The word "heaven" is frequently used in the Bible. It is consistently used as a metaphor to evoke a sense of great sacredness, goodness and value. Thus, we can interpret what Jesus said to mean: "I was born like all of you, but I am very different in the motive and origin of my birth; I am born of God."
With this understanding, it becomes unmistakably clear what the prophecy really means concerning Jesus' coming down to earth on a cloud as described in Dan. 7. The true interpretation is quite matter-of-fact, yet by sticking to the literal meaning, the people were wrong. Similarly, John the Baptist, who was born in the family of Zechariah, was not merely born of this earth, but had a great mission (Luke 1:15-17, Luke 1:76). Regardless of the form of his birth, God was behind it and gave him the same mission as Elijah, and he "came down" to earth representing God Himself.
From what is shown in these examples of Elijah's second coming and Jesus' coming, one cannot help but give serious thought toward the prophecies for the Second Coming of the Messiah.
In summary, the New Testament not only contains prophecies that Christ will come as a judge amidst the glory on a cloud from heaven, but it also says he will come again just as he did at Jesus' time, which is quite contrary to the first prophecy of coming on the clouds.
We read in Luke 17:24-25 that Jesus, anticipating what was going to happen at the Second Coming, said, " So will the Son of man be in his day. But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation." If the Lord should come again, amidst power and glory, with the trumpet call of the archangel, who would dare deny and persecute him? Would you persecute him?
Today many faithful Christians and churches are looking up to the sky, waiting for the Lord to come on the clouds. If he does come on the clouds, there could be no reason for the Lord to be persecuted. But when he does not come on a cloud literally, and instead comes in the flesh, as in the First Coming, then he must first suffer before he will finally be recognized.
In Rev. 12:5 it says a woman gave birth to a child who will govern all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and His throne. The man who will rule the world with a rod of iron is the Lord to come. Thus it is recorded clearly that he will be born of a woman. When the Pharisees asked Jesus when the Kingdom of God was coming, he answered, "The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed" (Luke 17:20). Everyone can gaze up at heaven, but Jesus said that he will not be recognized so readily. Why?
It is because he does not come on a literal cloud. In Luke 18:8 Jesus says, "I tell you, he will vindicate them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of man comes, will he find faith on earth?" Why did Jesus say this? There are many people around the world who are doing their utmost to prepare for his coming, although their faith may not be perfect. Who would fail to recognize the Lord coming on a literal cloud? Even non-believers would recognize him and come to him. Is it because someone will prevent them from doing so? Certainly not. Difficulties do not necessarily weaken a man's faith. Then would it be because he will come in exactly the same way as Jesus did the first time?
Two thousand years ago, when Jesus came, there was much faith among the people. Day and night they prayed in the temple and memorized their commandments. They tried hard to keep all the commandments and laws that God ordered them to keep. They faithfully offered their tithes and they fasted. In this sense, they had much faith in believing in God, yet they did not understand the true meaning of faith. They were being prepared to recognize the Son of God who was to be sent to them. From this viewpoint, Jesus could not find any faith on earth! Similarly, today there are millions of good Christians waiting for the arrival of the Lord of the Second Advent, but if the Lord comes in the same way as he did before, will he find the faith that will enable Christians to recognize him?
To emphasize once again, from the lessons we have previously learned from the experience of God's working in history, and judging from the scriptural passages quoted before, the Second Advent will occur as at the First Coming, by the Messiah's birth in the flesh, born of a woman. Indeed, he comes as the Son of man.
God created Adam to be the origin of the ideal man and the ideal family on earth. But because Adam fell and began this sinful world, Jesus came to restore the original ideal world in the capacity of the Second Adam (I Cor. 15:45).
Therefore, the Lord of the Second Advent, comes to complete the overall task of restoration and purpose of creation as the Third Adam. Therefore, he must come in the flesh, and become the origin of the ideal individual and the ideal family, and realize the Kingdom of Heaven on earth, which has been God's eternal ideal.
If the Lord is to come on the earth in the flesh, then what is the meaning of the coming on the clouds'?
According to Rev. 17:15, water symbolizes fallen or sinful man. Then, what does a cloud mean'? Clouds are vaporized water. Regardless of how dirty water may be, when it evaporates into a cloud, it becomes purified. Likewise, clouds signify the men resurrected or reborn from fallen men, or in other words, the resurrected believers reborn from the sinful world. The metaphor that he will come on the clouds means he will come again among the saints that God has prepared.
We have just covered the main topics of the Divine Principle, which was revealed by the Reverend Sun Myung Moon. The full content of the Divine Principle requires approximately a week to cover in lectures. The condensing of such broad and profound content in proper proportion into a mere four hours is an exceedingly difficult task. Sudden conclusions and abridged explanations were unavoidable.
However additional lecture tapes of greater length and depth have been prepared to give a more comprehensive understanding of what is by far the most complete truth ever discovered and revealed to man.