Sun Myung Moon
Circa 1955
Excerpt
The Selected Sermons of Rev. Sun Myung Moon (Vol. 1)
Japanese Language Book
Unofficial Translation
God's strategy is not that of attacking His enemy first. It is to be beaten first, then those who beat you will bring back what was lost to you. Namely, Satan first attacks and takes away from the people. God's strategy is that you should be hit first, and then you will recover from the one who hit you. That is His strategy.
Today, God is begging and requesting of young people. In this complex present world, God calls you, young people, to stand for fulfilling a certain purpose. You must follow God's calling. It is a serious challenge for you as an individual. However one individual whose heart was filled with righteousness, and committed for living for justice, has moved history. With this standard of resolve, this individual pursues the purpose, overcoming all obstacles and gains victory. The world will have to bow down and follow such a person. History will worship this person. Therefore, since the same force that moved history in the past, still moves this world today, God employs this method: placing a man at the front line, to fight for the most important and holiest purpose in the world, even asking him to sacrifice his own life. This is God's strategy.
Therefore, our ancestors, about whom you have learned in the history of restoration, were righteous people whom God truly loved. They all were beaten as they stood at the front line of their age. The greater the mission they had, the larger the environment they must conquer. Even though they were beaten within a small and limited area, the ideal that they held in their hearts was for the entire world. The oppressor thought he had beaten only one man. However, if he had beaten the man whose hope and aspiration were for the world, he would be judged by the world level condition. This is how the indemnity condition is set.
Think of Jesus' time. Christ lived an extremely miserable life. In the nation of Judaism, he was labeled as traitor. He was chased and hunted down, until he had nowhere to go. Then he was crucified. However, even though Jesus was beaten as an individual, while God was standing behind him, he was beaten representing the past restoration history, all humanity present and future generations. In other words, he was beaten for the sake of the past, present and future. He was beaten, welcoming it with dignity. But, he was beaten from all angles.
The person who beat Jesus was confined in the present realm of the nation, however, Jesus was beaten upholding his highest heart, going beyond the race and nation, aspiring for the world and cosmic restoration. Looking at this situation, if there is a holy judge -- or in other words, God -- He must make a deliberation that is able to affect all future history. Therefore, even if you are persecuted and hunted down for pursuing this righteous path, you will leave a legacy of victory.