Reverend Sun Myung Moon
January 1, 1977 - Morning
World Mission Center
Translator - Bo Hi Pak
Today we are celebrating the tenth God's Day. In order to have God's Day come about, history has gone through many different periods of restoration. It has gone through the servant of servant period, the servant period, the adopted son period, the direct son period and then the parent period. Only after that could God's Day be installed. Today we must fully realize that between the Unification Church and the rest of the world there are marked differences. We know the meaning of God's Day whereas the rest of the world does not.
As you know, Christianity is the religion that brings man up to the adopted son level. Judaism restores man up to the servant level, and those who do not have religion are at the servant of servant level. It is a revolutionary accomplishment that the Unification Church is celebrating God's Day today. It shows that we have not only fulfilled the servant of servant period, which is the non-religious era, but also the servant period, which is the Jewish era, the adopted son era, or New Testament era, and we have come up to the Completed Testament era where we are centered upon the True Parents, upon God's Day.
According to the Divine Principle, the fall of man came at the second level, or growth stage. Adam did not fall by himself, nor did Eve fall by herself. Together they brought about the fall of man. The fallen action took place while they were seeking the positions of husband and wife. As a couple they fell. Therefore the restoration process, which is a reversal leading to achievement, also involves the husband and wife relationship.
The history of the Unification Church reflects the entire history of restoration. If Christianity had accepted the Divine Principle and me at the outset of our movement, then we would have stood upon the foundation of the adopted son religion, and we could have gone one step further into the religion of direct sons and parents. However, because of our rejection and persecution by Christians, this foundation was broken down. I had to initiate the Unification movement from the very bottom, starting from a non-religious status, from the servant of servant position. I have been a pioneer, coming from that very bottom level all the way up to the top level of God's Day. I started this pioneering task from the very bottom and misery of human life, the servant of servant position. But I am not just walking by myself. I am leaving behind a bridge, which the rest of mankind can cross to achieve the same accomplishment.
Until 1960 my pioneering task was incredible. But after 1960 the first victorious foundation was laid: The holy wedding ceremony between Mother and myself took place. Through this, the complete foundation for the declaration of true sons and daughters could emerge. Upon that victorious foundation where God could recognize true sons and daughters, the holy wedding of True Parents could take place.
Before Adam and Eve became husband and wife, they were supposed to grow as individuals. They had to be perfected and recognized as children of God before they could move into the husband and wife relationship. Now the True Parents have the mission of restoring and purifying the position of fallen Adam and Eve.
You all know very well through the Principle that Jesus came as a restored and perfected Adam, born without any sin. At that time, there was also a restored Adam who was to support the pure, sacred Adam. That position was to be fulfilled by John the Baptist. John the Baptist was the representative of all fallen men who were to be restored into the Adam position. In other words, he was reaching toward the perfection of Adam from fallen mankind's position, while Jesus Christ was in the position of original Adam, not knowing the fall or sin. Jesus was anointed and given that position of perfected Adam. These two Adams were supposed to become perfectly united into one.
Why was this unity between perfected Adam, Jesus, and restored Adam, John the Baptist, necessary? By having John the Baptist as a representative unite totally with Jesus, all fallen mankind could have been saved by the grace of Jesus. John could have established a bridge for all mankind to cross to be perfected. Jesus Christ came from the lineage of God, as the direct heir of God. John the Baptist and the rest of mankind came from the lineage of the fallen archangel. Because their lineage was different, no matter what John the Baptist and fallen mankind did at that time, they could not have reached the position of direct heirs to God. They could be restored only up to the adopted son position.
Jesus belonged to God while the rest of the people belonged to satanic parents, and therefore had to be restored to God's side as adopted children. Since their lineage was different, they could only be adopted, but Jesus came as the Tree of Life, the true olive tree, to graft fallen mankind onto him, and to give them true life. Through him, all mankind had a way to become direct heirs of God.
If there had been no fall, there would have been no fallen men. There would not have been different lineages. All men and women would have belonged to God as direct sons and daughters. However, because of the fall of man, a different lineage was born. You must know that the Messiah, Jesus, who came 2,000 years ago, was in the position of perfected Adam, or perfected father. The rest of fallen mankind was to channel through John the Baptist and become completely one with him, to be restored as sons and daughters of God. If John the Baptist had united with Jesus, and all the Jews had completely united with Jesus as the Messiah, they would have been restored up to the growth stage and gone beyond, reaching the perfection stage, the third and final stage of growth.
Once again, because of the fall of man from the growth stage, everything was lost. There was never a celebration for God. There were no parents, no children. Even the things of creation were lost to Satan. However, once we restore ourselves up to the growth stage, within a 7 year period everything that was lost must be restored. After the installation of True Parenthood comes the restoration of the children. In the Bible we can see that there were 12 apostles, 72 disciples and 120 disciples following Jesus Christ. They were supposed to cross over the growth stage into perfection, but this was not done 2,000 years ago. After the installation of True Parenthood, however, I accomplished this in 7 years time.
You see, Jesus Christ could not become the True Parent alone. When you say parents, you are automatically talking about two persons. After Jesus Christ had reached perfection and completed his individual ministry, he had to work for the installation of True Parenthood. Therefore Jesus declared himself a bridegroom, and it clearly mentions in the Bible that he was searching for a bride. However, the crucifixion took away his chance to be installed as a parent. Then since there were no parents, no real children could come, nor could the things of creation be restored.
Therefore, in the time of Jesus, God's Day was not installed, nor was Parent's Day, Children's Day or World Day. Jesus ascended into heaven as a bachelor, remaining, in a way, in the archangel position. Therefore, since the possibility of physical salvation was lost, Christianity has been a religion of spiritual salvation. The crucifixion came about primarily because of the failure of John the Baptist. Since then Christian history has been the history of the adopted son religion, but only spiritually. Therefore, the Christian position is in a way inferior even to the position of Judaism. Judaism at least had the servant position spiritually and physically, while, even after attaining the adopted son level, Christianity does not have its own nation or integrity of territory.
At least in the time of Jesus, there was a chosen nation with integrity of territory. God could claim, "These are my people, and this is my land and my government." After the crucifixion of Jesus, however, there was no such land, which God could claim. Why is that sovereignty, that nation, needed? A sovereign nation is absolutely necessary to fulfill God's work because with it He can deal with the satanic world on an equal basis. When you have a nation, you cannot easily be attacked; you have your own ways of protecting your people. After all, power is derived from sovereignty. Each nation has its own law, defense power, political power, and economic power. Yet without having these, Christianity still had to go to the worldwide level. Therefore, everywhere Christianity landed, what happened? It suffered; the believers were martyred and put through tribulation. All kinds of suffering continued throughout the 2,000 years of Christianity.
Christians today do not know the position they have. They just blindly believe in Jesus Christ and accept the words of the Bible. They feel that some day Jesus will come on the clouds of heaven, and all Christians will be lifted up in the air. Somehow they will have a rendezvous with Jesus and have some kind of millennium up there. That is horrendous, empty, hollow. Religion is not out there, but that's where Christianity is.
Through the Divine Principle we know that the Lord of the Second Advent cannot appear in that kind of supernatural fashion. Jesus Christ could not return that way because the work of God, which was left undone 2,000 years ago was to be done here on earth. Therefore, the mission of the Messiah is a physical, realistic one. As a man he must come up from the bottom of human misery. He must come to the most miserable nation and lift the human status from the servant of servant position, to the servant position, to the adopted son position and to the direct son position by physically putting together the Kingdom of Heaven here on earth. That is the mission of the Messiah.
Christianity today is really viewed by God as the foundation upon which the Messiah can come. When Christians accept the coming Messiah, the physical living Messiah, their spiritual accomplishments shall become physical accomplishments as well. They shall become physical, adopted sons instantly and move on to become direct sons and daughters of God.
For this one world, how many Messiahs does God need to send? This one world needs only one Messiah. However, the religious foundation is not only Christianity. All the other major world religions are also preparing for one day, for one person, for the coming of the Messiah. That is the goal of their preparation. Christianity itself is not the goal. Christianity is only the preparation. The goal is to meet and accept the Messiah.
Since the Messiah who must come to restore the world in our time will come as a physical man, can he be the same Messiah who came 2,000 years ago? Can he be the same person? It is clear in our Principle that Jesus, the Messiah 2,000 years ago, and the Messiah who is to come in the 20th century, cannot be the same person, just as Adam of the Garden of Eden and Jesus Christ were not the same. Because of the failure of Adam, another person, Jesus, came in the position of Adam to restore his failure. By the same token, the Lord of the Second Advent is coming as the third Adam, to restore Adam's failure. The most important truth the Unification Church is proclaiming is this: the Messiah is the third Adam.
What is the qualification of the third Adam? The third Adam must be able to restore the failure of the Adam in the Garden of Eden. Also, the third Adam must be in a position to complete or perfect the mission of the second Adam. Where should this third Adam come? Should he stay up on a big throne in spirit world and say, "Everybody listen to me"? Is this what he should do? He must come down to the place where Adam committed the sin, where Jesus left the mission undone. Compared to this realistic truth, when you think that the Christians outside believe that Jesus is returning in glory and power on the clouds of heaven and that he will supernaturally lift up a few Christians here and there to meet him in the air, it is horrendous.
God is a God of principle, a God of logic, not a God of magic. Once Christians accept the Messiah, then where should they go? They should clean the house, like Ajax, going down where all the sins are committed. Adam's sin must be washed out; Jesus' unaccomplished mission has to be accomplished. Together with the physical Messiah here on earth Christians should build the Kingdom of God on earth. That's the Christian mission.
When the Messiah comes, everybody has to go back to the position of Adam and Eve before their marriage. We have to start life all over again; a reorganization will take place. Actually, before the Messiah comes and parenthood is established, we are like orphans. All the marriages of the world are illegal in the sight of God. Who should marry first? The parents, of course. Their holy wedding must come first. After that, the children will get a chance to be blessed by the parents. That is the most natural sequence. When people recognize the coming of the Messiah, should they still continue a husband and wife relationship? That means that they are opposing the Messiah in a way, which cannot be accepted in the sight of God. That position is not yet completely reorganized. They must return to the position of Adam and Eve before the fall.
When the Messiah comes, he is bringing an entire revolution. Therefore, the Bible teaches that he who seeks to lose his life will gain it, and he who seeks to gain his life will lose it. Those who are trying to save their own lives will be destroyed. If the Messiah were coming in a glorious manner, that kind of principle would not apply. This particular teaching of Jesus in Matthew is so wise. We have come from satanic lineage; therefore, we must kill our old selves in order to be born anew. This is the great revolution of man. When you feel your old self, the archangel still living in your heart, you have to completely empty yourself, lose yourself.
This is really the simple, ultimate truth of Christianity. Unification Church is teaching the same truth. He who is willing to lose his life for the sake of the Messiah will find it. Every day our way of life must be a process of losing our lives in order to find them. This is the secret of everything. Isn't that logical?
That does not mean you have to take a kitchen knife and chop off your head. What I am saying is that once you determine to give up even your life, there is nothing you cannot do, nothing you can complain about, nothing you cannot obey. Killing yourself, or losing yourself does not necessarily mean chopping off you head. Your head has no sin. Your inner self does. Then how should you lose your inner self? What should you eliminate? Your greediness, your false ambition, your ego. Do you have any of that?
Everybody has ego, false ambition and greediness, the "I want to make that mine" mentality. Greediness is a link to the satanic chain. If Satan pulls, you have to go. False ambition and greediness in the Garden of Eden brought about the fall of Adam and Eve. Therefore, in order to separate ourselves from that realm we have to completely liberate ourselves from greediness. Our way of life should be such that everything, which sounds good, looks good and is beautiful belongs to God, not me.
First, there is the greediness of wealth or material. Second, there is greediness of love. What is that? Between the archangel and Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, what was the fall? It was illicit love, the ambition of love. According to the Divine Principle, everything really belongs to God. If we let everything belong to God and let God give things to others as blessings, then the things can become ours, too. By the same token, love belongs to God. Then, the fall in the Garden of Eden was that they just wanted to get rid of God, to have nothing to do with God, and to have all the love for themselves. That's what the fall was.
Third, we must give our lives to God. In other words, your life must be born of God. Are you, and all mankind, originally born of God? The human souls coming to life every day in the hospitals everywhere, are they born of God? No, they are born of Satan. It's the honest truth; they are born of Satan.
Three major principles have to be restored to God's world and God's direct sons and daughters. We have to unwind the sins committed by Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. First, we must be able to return all the things we possess to God. Second, since all the love that we want to possess does not belong to us, but to God, we must return all love itself to God. Third, our lives are born of Satan, so we have to return our lives to God. God could say, "Well, I don't need it. It's really smelly, and I don't want it," but He will not. God embraces even such children because in principle all men were created by God as His children. Even though we deviated, we originally belong to God. God knows that the human fall did not come after perfection; it came during mankind's immaturity. Therefore, God knows it can be restored, and man can grow into perfection. That's why mankind has the hope of restoration, the hope of becoming whole and perfect in the sight of God.
When you give up all your things, your love, your life itself, it is really a dying process. He who seeks to lose himself for the sake of God will find himself. Your lost things will be replaced by God. He will share His love with you, and God will give you new life. Instead of losing life you will find it. Actually, in a commercial sense, this is a very good deal. Would anybody refuse to exchange an old, smelly, ragged jacket for a new silky tuxedo? Would anybody object to that'? That's the very thing we are doing with our lives.
Who is the wise man, then? The person with smelly clothing who says, "No, no I cannot give them up. Don't touch me. I need them"? Is he the wise man, or the person who says, "God, all right, I'll get rid of everything. Here is the jacket; here are the pants; here's my T-shirt; now I'm streaking to God"? Actually it's so beautiful. You go back to God naked. You don't claim anything. Then God will abundantly bless you with everything that you need.
This fallen world is trying to parallel the heavenly program in a reverse way. Satan always imitates heavenly things first. In the outside world, no matter how wealthy you are, you can't maintain that wealth generation after generation. The system doesn't allow that. There are inheritance taxes. If a person works hard and accumulates millions of dollars in this bank and that bank, when he dies, most of the money doesn't go to his children or to his family; it goes to the government. It is taken away from him. Therefore many people wonder why they should work so hard trying to accumulate wealth. After all, what good is that wealth to them? Consequently their appetite for becoming rich decreases.
Secondly, in the secular world, there is a great deal of division in love. Love is in trouble in the outside world. Human love relationships are becoming more like those of animals. A beautiful, noble relationship of love is rare to come by outside. People just marry by contract, or for convenience. Then when they get tired of it, they separate and meet someone else and separate again and so on. Who's doing that, God or Satan? In a way Satan is doing it, but God is permitting it. Because that will become an advantage. God sees that human ownership and love have to be reorganized, so He is letting them be broken down.
In the outside world, many people are losing ambition and losing their vision for their own lives. Many people are killing themselves; even young people kill themselves. They think, "Why should I live? This is a terrible world. I have no reason to live." I am sure some of you in this room at some point almost felt that you would rather kill yourselves, that you didn't have a purpose for living. Even though you may not have said it to anybody, whoever has had that kind of thought cross his mind, raise your hand. You barely escaped, didn't you! Now that you know Divine Principle and see the purpose of life, does anyone still want to kill himself? Raise your hand. No one. Then I have saved many lives!
The secular world is going in that direction, but it is not necessarily bad, or a cruel act of God. God is thinking of the total renovation of mankind. He is shaking men up so that they can transform their lives more easily into new lives, new eternal lives. Even the satanic world is doing heavenly things first. One example was the young peoples' streaking fad, but they did not know which direction to run! They were still running around in the satanic world, We should become naked spiritually and run to God.
Many years ago I predicted that people in the Western world would expose themselves, would run around naked, and that would be one sign of the end of the world. You don't even have to receive a special revelation to know that. Do you know why this phenomenon is happening? When such extreme actions happen in the secular world, that means something wonderful, positive and dramatic is happening on the heavenly side. All we have to do is ready ourselves and wait because the time will come when this wave of people searching after the truth and value will eventually knock on the door of the Unification Church. They will have to because there is no other alternative.
When you join the Unification Church, I emphasize giving everything that you have to God for three years. All the love that you enjoy, bring it to God until you have only your one life left. Then even that life itself, give it to God. However, we not only return all these things to God, we make it even more dramatic. We go down to the bottom of the misery of mankind. Why? If we penetrate down to the bottom of the satanic world, Satan has no way to approach us with any accusation.
So we give and give. In a way, we kill our own ego by going down to the bottom of the misery of man. Fund raising is one exciting way of doing this, and witnessing is another. Sometimes you even go to a beggar and ask, "Could you buy these products'? Could you buy this candy?" You couldn't bring yourselves down any further. You bow down to beggars. That's hard work, from early morning to late night. That's the way you earn fifty cents, a dollar, two dollars and so forth.
Does this go into your pockets? Not at all, this is God's money. There should be no greediness, not even a tiny bit. Everything you do, even your sweat and blood, should be offered to God. If a person would say, "Well, I work so hard. This money should belong to me. It should fill my stomach; it should buy me some warm clothes," that's a satanic string. Suppose one person earns $100 per day. Then, if $90 goes to the Church, and $10 stays in his pocket, that $10 will become a chain that Satan can hook onto. You will be pulled to Satan by $10. Do you understand? This is not my gimmick to make you work hard and give everything to the Church. You will find out how important this is. You must totally isolate yourself from Satan's accusation.
While you are doing this, you are given up by the world. Your own parents say, "Are you crazy? I can feed you; I can clothe you. Why do you act so crazy?" And your old boyfriends and girlfriends say, "I thought you were very intellectual, but I see you're really dumb. Get lost." In other words, the world completely abandons you.
Furthermore, you are not only abandoned by the world; you go a step further. You say, "God, don't worry about the rest of the world. Don't worry about my parents, or my girlfriend. If you need my life, I am ready any time. Just give me a little cable that says, "I need you.' " The person who does this is going way over the line of the fall, way beyond the satanic realm of accusation. Then Satan has no power over that person. You are eager to go that way because you are just sick and tired of the satanic influence of the world, and you want to completely cut yourself off from it. So shall we do fund raising?
Who are fundraisers? They are not too far from being beggars, maybe beggars' cousins. Master and doctoral degrees from high-ranking colleges and universities are nothing to be proud of when you become a fundraiser. You can't say, "I am a Ph.D. from Harvard. Here's a peanut. Pay me!" It doesn't work. You have to just completely humble yourself. But that's the beauty of it. Even a Ph.D. from Harvard doesn't say one word about Harvard, or about his Ph.D. He bows down, "Could you help? Could you give one dollar?" It's absolutely beautiful in the sight of God. When God sees it, He has tears in His eyes.
Our young people must know why I have pushed them into such a miserable way of life. Now from this morning on you should know clearly. This is why, even without my chasing them, all the MFT members are voluntarily working from morning to night. They have that realization. They are not working for me or anybody else. They are trying desperately to rid themselves of the shackles of the satanic world. Those who think they will do anything that can get rid of Satan's shackles are crazy in a way. But that is not their ambition, that is God's ambition. They are greedy to more dramatically give their lives to God.
Actually greediness is not necessarily bad. When it belongs to Satan it is bad. But once you are on God's side, God's things, God's love, God's life are most precious. Then you should become greedy and more ambitious to get more from God. Christians should not say, "Oh God, I am proud of my religious denomination. I am a Presbyterian elder, and I have accomplished great Christian works. I am an honorable Christian." There is no such thing as "my church," "my land" and so forth. All Christians in the world outside have the same destiny as you of getting rid of the bondage of Satan. They have to liberate themselves, totally emptying themselves. All fallen people here on earth would say, "Oh, sure, I want to go to the Kingdom of God in Heaven. When I die I want to go to heaven." But there is no way for them to do it until they pay the last penny, the last debt. They must go through the same procedure of giving up themselves as you do.
Now some people in the Unification Church say, "Why do we have to be so extreme? We will just set the condition and do things in a more gentlemanly way." That will not work because when you live in a mediocre way, there is a great area left uncovered. In that kind of area Satan can remain hidden, and he will hook you in so many different ways. The meticulous way is the only way we can go, not the mediocre way. Divine Principle teaches that you should start out at the bottom of the Principle, and even leave extra room for security. If the Principle says you must go to that pole, then go around that pole and come back. If you say, "No, I don't think I have to go all the way to the pole. Let's just circle around ten times," no matter how many million times you circle around here without going to that pole, the principle will not be accomplished. Do you know that?
If there were some shortcut in the heavenly way, I would not have waited for you to tell me. I am smart enough; I would have found it out already. But there is no shortcut available. None. When God says, "Empty yourself," that does not mean you can leave a little something in the corner. When God says, "Empty yourself, and I'll fill you up," that means you have to empty yourself completely.
The important thing is how you think. Suppose you're to meet a very important person and have only very dirty working clothes. You are in jeopardy, and you think, "What should I do'? I have to meet that person, win that man for God." Then, when you go into the center, there is a nice jacket hanging on the wall, and without even asking whose jacket it is you just take it and wear it, and go out to meet the person. In that case, if you are not doing that because you just want to look handsome, not even subconsciously, and if you were only thinking of the mission of God, then that's not a sin. In the sight of God, your state of mind is beautiful.
Later the person who owns the jacket will discover that someone else wore it. If he is truly God's son, he will say, "Great! Any time you need my jacket, take it again. After all, it's God's jacket. God asked to me keep it for a good purpose, and if you have good purpose, go ahead, use it." That's a great brother. How you think is the most important factor. When the Messiah comes, no official titles will be important, pastor, deacon, elder, whatever. Everybody has to line up behind the Messiah. People can't say, "Well, Messiah, would you wait a little bit? I have my family to take care of. I have a little baby to feed." It doesn't work.
There's one thing that I dislike very much. Sometimes elder members have come and said, "Father, this is my son; this is my daughter. Please give them the blessing." I dislike that so much because that's not God's way of thinking. Before your own sons and daughters, you should think of others, of those who really give their blood and sweat for the cause. That's the person you should bring. "Father, this man really gave his life and blood to our movement. Would you consider him for the blessing?" Then I welcome it.
When the Messiah comes, he will not come in glorious fashion, imparting light from the clouds of heaven. He will come as a man. If Christianity has the wisdom to recognize and accept the Messiah wholeheartedly, then with that foundation the Messiah could accomplish the Kingdom in seven years. Since the Messiah is coming as a man, a physical man, you can't know whether he will come as a white man, a black man or a yellow man. God will choose.
The Messiah might come as a Ph.D., or as a laborer, as a dock worker, or even a hunchback, a cripple; you have no idea. God might think that if the Messiah comes in a very miserable fashion, human sin can be eliminated or indemnified faster. Why not? God might do that. If the Messiah is so miserable and all mankind bows down to him, then perhaps the misery of mankind would be wiped out more quickly. Instead of being a superior personage, the Messiah may appear very miserable. That might be a faster way to pay off the debts of the world, the debt of sin. What if the Messiah didn't even have the ability to walk, if he had to crawl on his belly? The Christians and people of the world religions might say, "How could that man be the Messiah? Impossible." But God always does the impossible. That's why He is God. In that case, suppose Bo Hi Pak were the Messiah? He would be too good to be the Messiah!
We are men of logic; therefore all these things have to be analyzed and clearly arranged within our own minds and hearts. Now, do you know the truth or are you just going in darkness, which one? The power of the Unification Church is that you are not in darkness. You can direct yourself to the goal. Amazing, isn't it? There are so many hundreds of MFT members working this morning all over the country. They have every freedom; they could run away at any moment. Furthermore, their parents are in a position to kidnap them. But instead of our members trying to run away, and telling their parents, "Please kidnap me," they are working from morning to night, fearful that their parents might try to kidnap them. Why are they working so hard? I didn't tell them anything. However, they saw the truth. They know the direction and goal, and that gives them power to go on. Are you in truth and light? Will you go?
What would you do if I said, "Don't go any further. Let's stop right here." If you told me, "All right, but I know your truth and your secret, and I want to go ahead," and you went first and waited for me to come behind you, would you feel good? You would have beaten me in a way.
The three years after you join is the period for emptying yourself so you will be entitled for the blessing. Christians outside just do not know the true Will of God or the way the dispensation is unfolding, yet they are trying to call us heretics and devils. Once you know the truth, this is really an honorable accusation. They point fingers at you and say, "You are of the devil; we are of God." But we are the ones going forward and becoming prosperous. They are becoming smaller and smaller all the time. God has already left them.
Don't be disturbed by these people. Pity them. Do you know why? They will have to pay the full penalty of their actions. Blessing will finally come to us equal to the persecution they gave us. Actually they are losing by cursing us. Think of it. We've been accused, but we are buying up their seminaries, their colleges, their convents and monasteries. In history the true religion has always been accused by the established religion, but in the meantime it prospered. That is the way religious history has been, and we are no exception. The fact that we are being accused by all the established religions around is one sign that we really are the true religion.
Three and a half years ago when I initiated my U.S. crusade here in America, the media was scornful, writing negative things about me. They are still doing it, but in three and a half years 1, the very same person, am publishing the most dynamic, the most freedom-oriented newspaper in New York, the major city of America. Did you hear about News World?
In 1965 when I first came to America and went around establishing the Holy Grounds, many centers didn't even have a decent room to accommodate me. Many times instead of staying at the center, I just drove on. Now several years later, in 1977, we are sitting in the New Yorker Hotel, in the Grand Ballroom. You all have rooms, don't you? In the past in the Unification Church, wherever we went, there were only poor homes. We just slept close with no elbowroom, no bath, nothing. Now after several years, we have too many rooms. We have to catch up with the rooms, rather than the rooms catching up with us.
Yesterday at the Director's Conference, I instructed the state leaders to look for a Unification Church headquarters building for their states. It should be superior to any Democratic Party or Republican Party headquarters of that state. After all, it's going to be God's house. It should be the most prominent building in a superior, central location of an urban area. Do you want to have that? You may have to fund raise for that until you get very old!
In a way I am a very greedy man. I came to New York and wanted to occupy the Empire State Building, the status symbol of New York and the United States. But God wants to make it His house. Furthermore, another ambition came into my heart recently. We must buy the Trade Centers down on Wall Street because we need twin towers, one for Adam, one for Eve. With Adam and Eve standing side by side on Wall Street and the Empire State Building standing in the center as the archangel, that's very good symbolism, don't you think? Are you interested in getting them? When you say yes, are you promising me or God? Since you didn't promise me, I'll sit and watch you fulfill your promise to God.
Our concept of the Messiah is really extraordinary to the Christian world. They will be completely shocked by it. Our teaching is revolutionary. The Messiah comes as the third Adam, but he does not initiate his own task immediately. He has to go down to Adam's position and restore Adam's failure. Then he must go down to Jesus' position and restore his work. Only when God acknowledges that he has restored their positions, can he begin the work of the third Adam, his own mission.
The Messiah is coming for both spiritual and physical salvation. His victory will be a physical one, the establishment of the physical Kingdom of Heaven on earth. For that purpose the third Adam is coming. Since Judaism did not accept the Unification Church, we had to go down to that level, and taking the role of Judaism, re-establish the foundation of the Old Testament era. Since Christianity rejected us, too, we also took on its role. Upon this foundation of our own then, we are now erecting the Completed Testament era. I spent 30 years laying this foundation from the very bottom. Then I came to America for worldwide salvation. Finally in 1976 the Yankee Stadium and Washington Monument victories brought us to the worldwide level and were conditions for the physical victory of erecting the Kingdom of God on earth.
Today on this first day of 1977 we have a new beginning based on the invincible foundation I have laid. Now all we have to do is expand our victory on the horizontal level. If we had the money, nothing could stop us. How can we earn money? With our own hands, our five fingers. If you listen to me, within several years time all our dreams will become real. Each state will have a beautiful center and a newspaper company.
This morning I saw a little sign saying, "Happy God's Day, 1977." But God's Day is not yet quite happy. This world is still in the hands of Satan, and spirit world is still struggling and suffering. We have declared God's Day for sure, but our goal is to make a Happy God's Day in the future.
Our task is not going to be easy. Those who do not have an appetite for arduous, difficult tasks had better pack up now. Only a person like me, someone really persistent, committed to a foolish degree can achieve the goal. Those mere passengers who want to sightsee along the way are not needed. They will never make it to the end. Will you still go? Actually, today the United States of America is in the same position as the Roman Empire 2,000 years ago and Korea is in the same position as Israel. In Jesus' time the Roman empire and Israel crucified Jesus together. But this time, the U.S. government and the Korean government must not eliminate me.
My advice to the Korean government has been to take a strong stand. Korea must be independent, not influenced by other nations. Korea is a special nation. With a communist takeover so imminent, the government and the president have to be strong. Yet historically America does not want allies with strong governments, full of conviction and faith, but the time has come. The Korean government said they must be strong for religious freedom. They must not repeat Israel's failure of 2,000 years ago when it favored killing Jesus. There are two kinds of Americans in this country: noble, thinking, patriotic Americans, and also unpatriotic rascals. Would you want President Park to be strong in his commitment, or just a follower of the U.S. State Department, trying to do whatever they want? A strong champion may be very lonely, but he will never be truly alone because God is always on the side of the courageous person. If America is taking the wrong route, someone must tell America how to change its direction.
I want American policy makers to know that if they lose Korea, like Vietnam was lost, then America is not going to be safe. Within 3 years time, another Pacific war will be fought, but in this land, not anywhere else. The U.S. is very important to Korea, and at the same time Korea is very important to the security of the Free World. If Korea is lost, then the next target will be Japan. If Japan goes, then the Pacific Ocean will be lost. Then what? You will have to dig trenches in San Francisco and Los Angeles. This is not just my opinion. I have a God-given vision as to how the future of the world will be molded. That is the only reason I survived this far. Without having that vision, I would have been destroyed a long time ago. Now a prophet must speak out. America must change her policy and go out for the sake of the world. The confrontation between Korea and the U.S. is almost like David and Goliath. With faith, a little boy like David can win.
Spiritually speaking, however, we are all on one team. I am not America's adversary. We are on the same team. The well-being of the U.S., the well-being of Korea and of the free world are all one. I have already made a footprint in the history of America. My philosophy and ideology will remain in the history of religion in America.
In a little while, I won't have to speak out. Many eminent scholars and theologians will come out defending me, and the philosophy of the Unification Church. It has started already. Brilliant scholars all over the world have come to know us. They have discovered that my philosophy and theology are the most refreshing and revolutionary they have ever found. All the agonizing problems of theology and the world have been solved in the Divine Principle, and they are now speaking out. Do you like that? If they do too good a job, they will remove all the persecution from you! But we are not swayed by anyone else's feeling. We are moved only by the truth of God and His will. Wherever we see a need, we will go and help, regardless of whether it is appreciated or not.
This God's Day is significant because we are now adding the physical element to the foundation of spiritual Christianity, which is the adopted son's religion. Through this, the entire world is now ready to join in the adopted son's level of restoration. Because, of this physical element of victory, no one under the sun can ever be in a position to destroy our movement. No one can touch us. Furthermore, the destiny of the free world will rest upon our shoulders. People will say, "That's ridiculous. You are absolutely crazy. This handful of people doesn't have anything. You are talking about the destiny of America, the destiny of the free world." I say, "Just wait and see."
In appearance we have nothing, but we have everything. We have God, and we have the spirit world. Unification Church members consider all those in spirit world our supporters, and that makes about 1,000 times more friends than the population of the U.S. They are all my followers. They don't listen to the President of the United States. I am not in a position to be bluffing. This is a public meeting, and every word I say will be registered right here on earth and in heaven, so I must tell the truth. And this declaration is not directed only to you. It will be listened to by all the members of the Unification Church. I also want the rest of the world to hear it. From today on we must have no fear. We must march forward.
On this tenth God's Day, 1977, our determination is to unite together, to shatter all the negative forces, and to lock up the victory for the year. We are going to be spiritual bullets of God. Once a bullet is fired, does it take a spring walk and go sightseeing? No. A bullet travels straight to the goal and hits the target and achieves its purpose. In my heart, there's a great deal of grief and wrath over sin. I have endured that heavenly wrath for 30 years. God has endured His wrath for 6,000 years. Even if my hand is crippled from overwork, even if personally I don't have anything at the end of this work, at least we must build a new foundation upon which mankind will have hope. Then the world will never look down on us. We must accomplish this goal while I am living here on earth. That should be our pledge today.
Early this morning my New Year's message was on the topic of "The Kingdom of Heaven on Earth and the Ideal Family." We are the people who are going to create ideal families, ideal societies, ideal nations, the ideal world and eventually the ideal Kingdom of God. That is, God's unchanging wish. His grieving heart must be liberated. For that very purpose God Himself has always been giving His entire heart and soul. For that very purpose Jesus Christ came. However, he tasted the bitterness of the crucifixion without fulfilling it in the fullest degree. As God looks down on earth on this New Year's Day, there's no hope for Him other than the Unification Church. You are God's only hope and we are such a meager group of people. Because God is the living God, however, He will give us power; He will give us energy, and He will give us the wisdom that we need. He will make us invincible. From today there are 730 days until Dec. 31, 1978. The countdown has started. Unless we lay a sufficient foundation in these two years, the free world will decline; America will decline, and there will be no hope for mankind.
Today we must pledge and rededicate ourselves in the most solemn way that we shall become God's champion pioneers for the next two years. We aren't in darkness. We know the truth. We know the goal. We know the strategy, so all we have to do is give every single ounce of our energy, and go the heroic way. Everyone shall become a victor for the sake of God and humanity. In 1976, 1977, and 1978 we will pay the indemnity for the cosmic dispensation. We will pay the accumulated 1,000-year-old debts of mankind in these three short years. Once this is done, heaven and earth will be ours and God will dwell with us. Truly the Kingdom of Heaven shall be a living reality here on earth.
Today, let us pledge solemnly to God that no matter what the difficulty, no matter what tribulation we meet, we shall not be stopped. We shall push through until the final victory is won. Let us pledge together by raising both hands to Almighty God. Thank you.
