Sun Myung Moon
November 25, 1997
Washington Hilton Hotel, Washington, DC, USA
Inter-Religious Federation for World Peace Conference
US Capital Building, Washington, DC, date unknown
Respected religious leaders and distinguished scholars representing the world’s religions:
Thank you for participating in the World Culture and Sports Festival and this most important international congress of the Interreligious Federation for World Peace. I would like to reveal today the fundamental significance behind the true family movement, which I have spearheaded for all to see. This Saturday, you will observe the marriage Blessing ceremony for 39.6 million couples, which will be the amazing fruition of true love and the true family movement.
I have trod a lonely path, working single-mindedly toward the accomplishment of God’s Will, paying no heed to the misunderstanding and criticism I have received from this world. Ever since I began with the Blessing of three couples in 1960, the numbers have increased dramatically year by year until the Blessing of thirty thousand couples in 1992 and a worldwide Blessing for 360,000 couples in 1995. All the participants pledged in front of God to become husband and wife with eternal love and trust for each other and to raise their children based on a high moral standard of sexual purity. Despite the short preparation period for the marriage Blessing ceremony this Saturday, the initial goal of 3.6 million couples was surpassed by 36 million. A total of 39.6 million couples, transcending race and religion and dedicated to the creation of true families, will be participating.
Considering the purpose and size of this event, it cannot be attributed to the motivation of a single human being. It is a dispensational accomplishment in complete accord with the Will of God. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to numerous leaders from every major religion who stand arm-in-arm with us, as well as the concerned leaders from many nations who have actively cooperated with and supported the true family movement in various ways, viewing our work to revive the family as a fundamental solution to the moral degradation of our youth and an absolutely essential step toward reviving their nations.
Adam is God in substantial form
God, as the subject partner of true love, created humankind as His object partner of true love. Accordingly, God can fulfill His ideal of true love only through us. The fulfillment of God’s purpose of creation is the ideal world where God and humankind are united through absolute love. Human beings were created as the greatest object partner of God’s love. We alone in all creation embody the nature of God. We are born as the visible bodies of the invisible God. When a person grows to reach perfection, or spiritual maturity, he or she becomes a temple of God, a visible, substantial body in which God can freely and peacefully dwell. God’s overall ideal of absolute true love is realized and perfected through this vertical parent-child relationship.
God created Adam first. He was to be the son of God and at the same time God’s substantial body. Later God created Eve as the object partner of Adam, so that Adam and Eve could perfect the ideal of horizontal, conjugal love. Eve was to be the daughter of God, and also, as a bride, she was to perfect substantially the ideal of the horizontal love of God.
The place in which Adam and Eve are perfected, consummating their first love by marrying under God’s Blessing, is precisely the place where God meets His substantial bride. This is because God’s ideal of absolute love descends vertically and connects with Adam and Eve at the point where they experience the ideal of conjugal love horizontally. The true love of God and the true love of humankind join and are perfected at the same point, although they come from different directions, one vertical and the other horizontal.
God’s purpose of creation called for Adam and Eve to obey the commandment of God, who is the subject partner of true love, and perfect themselves as a true man and a true woman. Furthermore, they were to become a true couple united in the true love of God. Then, by having sons and daughters through that love, they would have become the True Parents and lived in happiness. Had Adam and Eve perfected themselves in true love, they would have fulfilled God’s desire to wear a substantial body.
By Adam and Eve having children of goodness and becoming True Parents, God would have established Himself substantially as the eternal Parent and would have achieved His ideal. Furthermore, citizenship in the kingdom of heaven would have expanded infinitely in the afterlife of the spirit world, based on myriad generations of descendants in the physical world.
Instead, Adam and Eve, our first ancestors, fell away from God. They were expelled from Eden before they had children, and God had no basis to follow behind and bless their marriage. The entire human race thus descended from our fallen ancestors.
The Fall was an immoral sin against God’s ideal of true love. The fact that Adam and Eve needed to obey a commandment shows that they fell in a stage of imperfection, that is to say, during their growth period.
The first consummated love of the human ancestors, because it was supposed to have been the perfection of the love of God, would have marked the beginning of a celebration that would have continued throughout history, filled with the never-ending intoxication of joy and blessing for God, Adam and Eve, and the universe. It ought to have been a joyous occasion in which the love, life and lineage of God would have been established within the human family.
On the contrary, however, Adam and Eve covered their lower parts and hid themselves among the trees, trembling in fear. By disobeying the loving warning of their Heavenly Parent, the children God had wanted to call His own established an immoral relationship as the basis for false love, false life and false lineage. As a result, all of us descendants of Adam and Eve are born with original sin. The Fall gave rise to the conflict of mind and body within every person, and caused our societies to be filled with tainted love and with people who do things that contradict the desire of their original mind.
If Adam and Eve had become a couple centered on the true love of God, God would have dwelt in Adam as His substantial body and loved Eve. What is more, Adam and Eve would have become True Parents who substantially embodied God, thus becoming the origin of true love, true life and a lineage of goodness.
However, due to the Fall they became the substantial body of Satan and established themselves as the original evil couple, evil parents who gave rise to evil descendants. Their union became the root of evil love, evil life and evil lineage. Humanity originated from this root descending from the adulterous Satan, the enemy of God, and inherited the lineage of evil parents.
God is an absolute being, and the ideal of creation is also absolute. He has carried out the providence of salvation even amid great sadness. God’s providence of salvation is the providence of restoration, by which He intends to recover the lost purpose of creation, centered on true love. The providence of salvation is also the providence of recreation.
Based on this point, the root of the providence of salvation is the recreation of the seed of the original child who can fulfill the ideal of creation. That which God abhors, the life and lineage that began with the false love of the adulterer Satan, must be cleansed. The essence of the providence is the task of setting up the birth of the True Parents, who come as the Savior and Messiah who will restore the true love, life and lineage of God.
Since the first ancestors of humankind did not fulfill their responsibility, and thus inherited the immoral lineage of Satan and came under his dominion, God could not directly intervene and restore human beings to their original position. Furthermore, God can neither unconditionally accept nor punish humankind, who chose to go to the side of the evil archangel. So God uses the strategy of placing a central figure on the side of the good archangel. By being struck first, that figure establishes the indemnity condition to recover what was lost. Satan strikes first and as a result must take the losing position.
Restoration of lineage through the submission of the first son
From the overall perspective of the providence of restoration, the foundation of cooperation between mother and son is very important. This was so at the time of Jacob, of Moses and of Jesus. God has been working His providence to separate people from Satan’s life and lineage by establishing the foundation of cooperation between a mother, who has to fulfill the responsibility of Eve, who initiated the Fall, and the second son of the family.
God could not directly relate to the first son, because the firstborn is in the position of having a direct relationship with Satan who, through the Fall, came to dominate humankind. God has been restoring the lineage of goodness by having the second son, who represents the side of goodness, establish the requisite condition. God’s strategy is then for the first son, who represents the side of evil, to voluntarily take a position subordinate to the second son.
The Fall was committed by three beings: Adam, Eve and the archangel. The archangel seduced Eve, causing the spiritual Fall, and later fallen Eve seduced Adam, causing the physical Fall. As a result, Adam and Eve became alienated from God, and the fallen archangel began to dominate them as Satan. Since the providence of salvation is the providence of restoration, the principle by which restoration takes place demands a 180-degree reversal of the course of events that led to the Fall.
God lost Adam, who had the seed of true love and true life. So God had to find a son with the new seed, free from satanic accusation. Just as God created Adam first at the time of the creation, God had to prepare a son who had no relationship to the Fall. Thus the providence of restoration is the providence of recreation, and this is why humanity has awaited the coming of the Messiah.
For a son to be born on earth with this seed of God’s love and life, there first must exist a mother. The mother cannot give birth to this child in a conventional way. Conception must happen through the formula of restoration. All the cooperation between mothers and sons in the providence of restoration is a preparation and condition for the son of God to be born with the seed of new life, free from satanic accusation. By making conditions to avoid Satan’s attacks and by subordinating the firstborn son, who represents evil, mother and son restore the love, life and lineage that were taken over by Satan.
The Bible, which records the providential work of God, contains many stories that are difficult to understand. For example, Rebekah deceived her husband Isaac and her first son Esau and helped her second son Jacob to receive the blessing. God took the side of that mother and son, and although they used methods that at first glance seem unjust, God still blessed them for their actions.
In Adam’s family, Cain and Abel fought each other, and their struggle resulted in the death of Abel, the second son. Then God raised up Jacob. On the merits of many godly people who made sacrifices and paid indemnity after the time of Abel, Jacob at last stood in a position to dominate
Satan, reversing the situation where the archangel first dominated humankind. At the ford of Jabbok, Jacob attained spiritual victory over the angel sent to fight him. Jacob consequently was blessed as the first victor in history and was given the name “Israel.” (Genesis 32:28) Then Jacob found a way to win over his twin brother Esau who was in the position of the archangel’s substantial body.
By the time Jacob attained his victory, he was more than forty years old. Because Satan had sown the seed of false love within the womb of Eve, which brought forth evil, God intended to purify a mother’s womb from which the heavenly Son could be born. To do this, a period of purification and separation from Satan was required to begin at the time of conception and extend to the age of forty. On the foundation of Jacob’s victory, God could prepare the way for a mother to assume the responsibility of fulfilling this condition. The woman chosen for this was Tamar.
Tamar had married Er, the eldest son of Judah. However, Er displeased God and he died. According to the custom of that time, Judah gave his second son, Onan, to Tamar so that they might bear a child for Er. Then Onan, knowing that Tamar’s child would not be his, spilled his semen on the ground. This was a sin in God’s eyes for which Onan died. Tamar was then to become the wife of Shelah, Judah’s third son. But Judah did not allow this, thinking that his two sons had died because of Tamar and fearing that his lineage would come to an end if Shelah also died.
However, Tamar had the conviction that she was to carry on the lineage of the chosen people. To do that, she disguised herself as a prostitute and slept with her father-in-law, Judah, and became pregnant with twins. While she was giving birth one of the twin sons, Zerah, stretched out his hand from the womb, as if to become the firstborn. But during her labor the babies’ positions were reversed and the second son, Perez, was born first. Thus, within the womb of Tamar, the first and second sons struggled, and their reversal of positions represented their separation from Satan. That became the condition for restoration in the womb.
Upon this condition, two thousand years later the Messiah could be conceived through the lineage of the chosen people, on the foundation of the nation of Israel that had maintained its tradition of faith even under the Roman Empire. The foundation of victory within the womb was thus taken to the national level, and Mary was chosen as the holy mother, free of satanic accusation, who was to receive the seed of the Son of God. This is how Mary emerged in the mainstream of God’s providence.
When Mary was engaged to Joseph, she received from the archangel Gabriel the surprising message that the Messiah would be born through her. In those days, if an unmarried woman became pregnant, she would be killed. However Mary accepted the Will of God with absolute faith, saying, “Here I am, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” (Luke 1:38)
Mary confided in her relative, the highly respected priest, Zechariah. In this way, God let Mary, Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth know about the birth of the Messiah before anyone else. All of them had the absolutely crucial mission of following the Will of God and serving Jesus. Zechariah and Elizabeth let Mary stay in their home, and Jesus was conceived there. For the first time in history, free of satanic accusation, the seed of the Son of God, the seed of the True Father, was planted within a prepared womb. In this way, the only begotten Son of God, the owner of the first love of God, was born.
Zechariah, Elizabeth and John the Baptist were to attend Jesus
Once the Son of God was born on earth, he needed a wall of protection in order to grow up safely within the satanic world and fulfill the Will of God. God had hoped that these three people in the family of Zechariah would establish that protective foundation. However, Jesus, lacking the protection of Zechariah’s family and deprived of the love of Joseph, was viewed as an illegitimate son. He grew up feeling indescribable loneliness.
Jesus was aware of his path as the Messiah, and he lamented his lonely circumstances and the serious obstacle they presented to fulfilling the Will of God. The Messiah is the True Parent. In order to fulfill that mission he needed a bride. If Zechariah and Elizabeth, who had received both revelations and spiritual support from God, had maintained absolute faith, they would have served Jesus as the Son of God and the Messiah, receiving God’s Will through him and following him absolutely. Also their son, John the Baptist, who was born to serve Jesus, was to have brought his followers to believe in Jesus and receive salvation.
Unfortunately, although Zechariah, Elizabeth and John the Baptist testified at first to Jesus as the Son of God, there is no evidence that they served him as such. The respected priest Zechariah was simply a spectator, and John the Baptist stood apart from Jesus. This kept the people from following Jesus and made his path very difficult. And once his family lost faith in Jesus, looking at him through human eyes, they were in no position to help him find his bride.
Faced with opposition from his mother Mary, as well as from Zechariah, Elizabeth and finally John the Baptist, Jesus gave up hope for receiving their protection as he sought to fulfill his mission. Therefore Jesus left his home in search of a new spiritual foundation to restart the providence of salvation. Without a family or a home, Jesus lamented, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man has nowhere to lay his head.” (Matthew 8:20) With his family-level foundation lost, Jesus sought to replace it. That was his three-year course. But in the end, as people disbelieved in him and the disciples lost faith, Jesus faced Satan’s attack. As his foundation crumbled, Jesus determined to go the way of the cross.
Originally, Jesus came to the earth as the Messiah to give the Blessing to his disciples and to all humankind. He was to build the sinless kingdom of heaven. But because of the lack of faith among the people around him, he could not find his bride and become, with her, the True Parents of humankind. He could not complete his mission. This is why he promised to return.
The Lord of the Second Advent comes to complete the foundation of God’s providence of restoration left undone by Jesus. That is to say, he comes as the seed of the original true child, to fulfill the ideal of creation. He comes to establish the position of True Parents, who are the origin of the true love, true life and true lineage of God. He comes on the victorious foundation of the accomplishments of all the providential central figures on God’s side, up to the time of Jesus. He also stands upon the victorious foundation of Jesus’ life and finds the bride that Jesus could not find. He and his bride become the True Parents to save all humankind.
Through the Blessing of new marriages that pass on God’s original blood lineage, the True Parents will be able to give salvation to all humanity. People will become true sons and daughters by engrafting onto the true love, true life and true lineage of God. Furthermore, the Messiah and his Bride will establish a True Family and lay the foundation for the kingdom of heaven on earth.
The marriage Blessing, a most precious gift
Esteemed religious leaders: the marriage Blessing is the most precious gift God has given to humankind. My wife and I invite each of you to participate in this historic event and hope that all of you will receive God’s Blessing. From now on, the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification will expand the true family movement with greater vigor, accomplishing the Blessing of 360 million couples by the year 2001, through three different events.
Today, traditional values are being uprooted, young people are falling into decadence and moral degradation, and the family is being utterly destroyed. As it is written, you reap what you sow. Adam and Eve sowed the seeds of illicit love while in an immature state. This phenomenon is being replicated worldwide and is bearing the fruit of our sinful history in the extreme decadence of young people. Is there anything more important than saving humanity from its free fall to destruction? My efforts to globalize and universalize the true family movement and the marriage Blessing, which provide a fundamental way to save humanity, need the active support of respected figures like yourselves. I therefore ask you to unite together in your nations and initiate the movement for saving your nation by organizing a support group for the true family movement and the marriage Blessing ceremony. I sincerely hope and ask that many leaders will take the leading role in this meaningful task of restoring humanity to its original state.
Please guide all people to establish true families as soon as possible, so that we may enter into the age of God-centered heavenly kingship on earth and in heaven, and live together in a world of victory, freedom, peace and unity.
May God bless you, your families and all your endeavors. Thank you.