Damian J. Anderson
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 Posted: Fri Sep 19, 2003 10:04 am Post subject: 1977: The Dignity Of God And Man |
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http://www.unification.net/1977/770401a.html
ORDER NUMBER
77-04-01A
REVEREND SUN MYUNG MOON
SPEAKS ON
THE DIGNITY OF
GOD AND MAN
April 1, 1977
World Mission Center
Translator - Bo Hi Pak
I want to explain God's concept of creation focusing on the dignity of
God and man, His supreme creation. Through the establishment of the
dignity of God and men, certainly men would be fulfilled and
perfected, and God's ideal and purpose would be consummated. If the
perfection of men had been fulfilled in the very beginning, then with
God and men together in complete harmony the ideal world of God's love
would have prevailed.
If that had happened there would have been no sorrow for God. Instead
God would have experienced the birth of His joy, in which He would
have been praising the dignity of men. If God could treat men with
such dignity then of course men's glory would be without end, and men
would always have come to God in deepest admiration, respect and love.
In that case God and men would have become one, pursuing one common
destiny. Adam and Eve would have had the same dignity as God. The
perfection of one man and one woman was to be the perfection of God
and the perfection of the entire universe. The home of Adam and Eve
was supposed to be God's home and God's own family, and then that
family would have become the focal point of the universe, the heart of
God's world.
If that focal point had been established then the spirit world and
physical world together would have become one. But today, the spirit
world and physical world are totally separated. You know that you have
a mind, but you are not sure where that mind dwells. Nobody can
explain the mysteries of the mind because none can see the mind or
touch it. However, if I asked if you have a mind, even though you
could not show it to me you would not deny that you have a mind.
In the same way that our own minds are real to us, God would have been
a living reality to us. Your mind dictates your actions and the
relationship between God and men should have been the same. Now we
must be careful of our words before we speak, but what about a
perfected man? A perfected man is automatically a reflection of the
universal mind, which is God. No man of perfection would be able to
deny God. In addition, the dignity of true Adam and Eve would remain
for thousands of years, so that all their descendants would maintain
the same dignity that Adam and Eve enjoyed.
The relationship between God and man would have been of perfect
oneness; God and man would have walked together for eternity. You
cannot separate yourself from your own mind, and in the same way all
men would have been unable to separate themselves from God. That would
have been man's perfection. If there had been no fall and that
perfection had prevailed, such men would have become the nucleus of
the universe.
Invisible God made visible through man
The perfected home would have become a unit or model for the heavenly
society, nation and world, such that no matter how far the world of
men expanded, it would always resemble one man. Then who should be the
center of the universe? Actually the central axis of the universe is
formed by God and Adam and Eve. Why would God need Adam and Eve? Why
do they need Him? For two purposes.
First of all, God's ideal of love would be fulfilled through Adam and
Eve. Secondly, and this is very important, the invisible God would
have been made visible through men. In other words, Adam was supposed
to be the visible form of God, and through him the invisible God could
have made a relationship with the visible, physical world. God's
ultimate purpose for the creation of Adam and Eve is this: After being
perfected here on earth in oneness with God, Adam and Eve would have
passed away into spirit world. There Adam's own spirit body would be
like the body of God, and inside that spirit body God would be
dwelling as Adam's mind; God Himself would be the mind of Adam.
Today we have our mind and body, with an inseparable relationship
between the two. Similarly, when Adam and Eve were perfected here on
earth and then were elevated to the spirit world, God would have
become the mind of Adam and Eve and they would have been the spirit
body of God, so that God and men in spirit world would have been
inseparable, one body. In this world people speak about dying, but
actually there is no such thing as death. Instead of dying you just
pass into a new realm after giving up your physical body. Your mind or
spirit body becomes your body in the spirit world, and God will become
the center of that body as the mind of your spirit man.
If you go to spirit world without reaching perfection here on earth,
you will never be able to accommodate God as your mind in spirit
world. You will be like a person here on earth with a body but no
mind. It may seem impossible, but that is the situation. If your mind
were removed could you still be a man or woman? Here on earth our
supreme mission is to prepare ourselves to welcome God as our mind in
spirit world. The whole purpose of our physical lives here on earth is
to make ourselves dwelling places of God so that when we pass into the
spirit world our minds can become spirit bodies in which God can
dwell. That is the preparation we are going through here on earth.
What a supreme position we have been placed in! We are all supposed to
be the bodies of God. As the Bible says, we are made as the temples or
dwelling places of God. If Adam and Eve had initiated perfection here
on earth, becoming one with God, their children would have been the
children of God. Children always resemble their father and mother.
When we are born as children of God then we would certainly resemble
God and be in His image and likeness.
Now you can see realistically why we call God our Father: we are His
children. We are now looking for God, but if Adam and Eve had been
perfected, seeing them would have been seeing God. Adam and Eve's
position would have been God's position because they would have been
the bodies of God. In spirit world God should have been dwelling
within Adam and Eve. God indeed is the Creator and center of the
universe and if God had made His dwelling in Adam and Eve, then their
position would have been the center of the universe as well, both
physically and spiritually.
In Genesis it is written that Adam named the things God had created.
Actually Adam was the instrument God was speaking through. In other
words, God was naming every creature through Adam. God dwelled within
Adam and in that way exercised lordship over all creation.
So far men have not known the true relationship between God and men.
To repeat, there were two reasons that God created man: first as the
fulfillment and manifestation of His love, and second, as the visible
forms of God. This is a most amazing truth. Through perfected Adam and
Eve as the nucleus of the universe, God wanted to expand His Kingdom
here on earth. No matter how big man's world might become, God would
still be the center of it. Clearly the culture of mankind should have
been in one sphere, which we call the Adamic cultural sphere, truly
God's own culture here on earth.
We are living to restore the dignity of God
God's intent was to have one culture, but since the fall of man, what
has come about instead? The terrible separation between God and man
resulted from the fall. An impossible situation has occurred. The
separation took place and because we are the reflection of the spirit
world, a separation between our minds and bodies also occurred. Do you
realize that there are two persons living within you, two minds? The
conflict within ourselves came because of the fall of man.
If in the very beginning God had created you with a split personality
or two conflicting minds, we would have to conclude that God Himself
existed with a split personality, having no unity or harmony from the
very beginning. Or if that is not the case, then we would have had two
origins instead of one. But that is not so; God is one harmonized
being, and we have only one origin. This separation occurred only
because of the fall of man.
The topic of my message is "The Dignity of God and Man." Where is that
dignity God wanted to speak about? Can we restore our dignity by
ourselves? Can God restore our dignity by Himself? No, it is a joint
project; the restoration of the dignity of man can be done only by the
joint effort of God and men. Then what should we do? First of all, we
have to understand the original reason why the dignity of God and men
was lost.
The whole problem began when individual creatures-the angel, Adam, and
Eve-became self-centered, thinking about themselves first. That was
the beginning of the wrongdoing. Furthermore, they wanted to perfect
or fulfill their love with themselves at the center. In order to
restore the dignity of God and men we now know what has to be changed.
To undo the wrongdoings we have to reverse that way of life. We must
make God the center of our lives, not ourselves, and we must seek to
fulfill our love, not with ourselves in the center but with God in the
center.
What is the purpose of our lives? I want you to know that we were born
and we are living to glorify God, to put God before all. And we are
living to restore the dignity of God. Then why do our minds exist'?
They certainly exist for the sake of God, and our bodies exist solely
for the purpose of God. Could they exist for some other purpose, or
for someone else?
Our mind and body are in the position of subject and object here on
earth, and their common goal, their purpose of existence, is solely
for the sake of God. Both are dwelling at the same point and both are
focusing upon the same goal, with the mind dwelling in one dimension
and the body in another. However, when we became self-centered this
complete unity and harmony between the two was distorted; mind and
body became out of focus with each other. In order to bring them back
into focus they have to move opposite the directions in which they
have been going. Once we form perfect unity of mind and body, then we
will become the dwelling places of God, and God will come into our
houses for relaxation.
Because of the fall of man, the mind and body moved out of focus.
Actually the mind has remained God-centered, but the body moved so
that Satan has been controlling it; it has been turned around to the
point of being completely out of joint with the mind. Who will turn
this body back to its original position? Do you expect Satan to do
that? Will God come down and turn it back? If God could intervene
directly to bring man back to his original position, then God would
have done it a long time ago. Men must achieve this.
Were you born as direct heirs of Adam and Eve, or were you born among
the multitudes of the world's population? Since the beginning of human
history, countless generations have been born. To look back in search
of the starting point would be very complex and involves tremendous
distance. The American people are descended from all the races of the
world, making it simply impossible to research back to the very
beginning. As a result, here in America you have no history of some
central origin. Through many thousands of years of human history,
God's position and men's positions have been completely separated. In
addition, man's mind and body have become adversaries, going in
completely different directions.
A recent philosophy has been proclaiming that the physical body, not
the mind, is the center of man. According to the communist ideology
matter is the ultimate origin, and the mind does not really exist
except as an illusion. What they are saying is that the mind is an
outgrowth of the body and dies with the body. Is there even the
slightest hope in that ideology for man's mind and body to become one
under God?
The God-centered mind is always self-giving and public-minded, but the
body is always selfish and seeks to satisfy itself, avoiding sacrifice
or difficult situations. The body is only searching after its own
benefit. You have a conflict within you between a body with selfish
desires and a God-centered mind. If you see something pleasing, your
body says, "Get it! Grab it!" In contrast, the God-centered mind says,
" Wait a minute. You must use that for the sake of God and the world."
You feel that conflict, don't you?
You must have iron will power to say to the body, "Body! I will
subjugate you; you must obey me. Come and join me." Is there someone
besides our God-centered mind who wants that situation to occur? Our
good minds and God together want to declare war against our bodies.
However, the body has one ally which is Satan, saying, "I'm going to
hold onto this body. It is my victim, my prey."
Our ropes and anchors to Satan
Satan is always trying to create obstacles so that the body is unable
to re-join the mind. Satan has a rope around our bodies which is tied
to an anchor deep in the sea. The body is trying to float and swim to
the ship, but the anchor holds it down. Satan is saying, "You cannot
go without my permission."
What is that anchor? Self-centered love is the anchor and selfishness
is the rope. There must be some power, some sword, which can cut that
rope and send the anchor to the bottom of the sea. Once that anchor
and rope is cut off then the body is free and can automatically come
back to the mind. You are like a ship floating on the water; do you
have an anchor or not? I can see that you have many ropes and heavy
iron anchors pulling on you.
You can see then that we have to hope for God and our minds together
to become like sharp swords which can cut those ropes. That is the
role of the religions which God has been raising up throughout
history. Their purpose is to create the atmosphere where God and the
mind together can cut the rope and anchor of temptation and
selfishness. This is why Jesus taught, "He who loves father or mother
more than me is not worthy of me; and he who loves son or daughter
more than me is not worthy of me." This is a most logical statement.
Unless you completely cut off self-centered love then you have no way
to be free. The Bible does not use diplomatic language; we are taught
the naked truth in the Bible. It says that your closest family members
are your worst enemies because family ties in many cases become a
burden, another rope trying to entangle you. Is that realistic?
That is why the religious way of life is always cruel to your own
body. Religion has no sympathy for the body and is continuously
subjugating it. When we understand God's purpose and ideal then we
come to the conclusion that religious life is the arena where God has
been trying to achieve His goal. So far some people have caught
glimpses of it, but no one has completely crystallized the truth.
After hearing this, has the spirit world become more realistic to you,
as well as the true relation between the spirit world and physical
world? Do you really know what is wrong with this world and with
yourself so that you know how to restore your original godly position?
This is why the Bible says, "and you will know the truth, and the
truth will make you free." When you chop off the anchor of your fallen
body which is stained by sin, then what kind of person do you become?
You are transformed into the holy body of God, your original role. By
doing so you are not only restoring yourself and men's true position,
but more importantly you are restoring God's own position and dignity.
Do you have the courage and determination to cut the rope of Satan
away from you? Do you want to bring your body back to the original
position of oneness with a God-centered mind or not?
Why do you eat breakfast? Why do you sleep? When you go to bed and
your head is snuggled into the pillow, have you ever thought, "God is
lying down on this bed, because I am the temple of God." Have you ever
said to yourself, "God, won't You rest with me now?" And then in the
morning when you wake up and get out of bed do you think, "God, You
are already awake. Good morning, Father." That is the way you must
live, feeling God's presence with you in every action, feeling that
God is going before you.
Men and women, do you want to get married or not? Does that mean that
you are going to marry, or that God is going to be married through
you? Have you ever thought, "I am doing a favor for You, God. By my
marrying, You will meet Your better half through me." When you sisters
become brides then God can become a bride through you; the same is
true when you brothers become grooms. As you are walking down the
aisle to the wedding music, not just you and your mate but the two
essentialities of God are walking together, and in happiness they are
joined by the blessing.
In love you can climb up on top of God
You can feel that God is just tickled to death inside and does not
know how to contain Himself. You are happy by knowing that God is
happy; always God comes first. Has your life been molded as a "God
first" way of life? Would you prefer a life of putting yourself first
or God first? Which one is more dramatic? God's expectation for the
love between Adam and Eve at the very outset of His creation in the
garden of Eden, and His hope for the perfection of your love now is
the same.
How can your love become eternal and unchanging? It is possible
because God does not change; the same God who was with Adam and Eve is
with you. Even though historically speaking Adam and Eve lived many
thousands of years before you, Adam was supposed to have had the
father's role to you in the spirit world since he was supposed to be
the dwelling of God Himself. Had this occurred there would have been
no generation gap between father and son. The love that you feel and
the love that Adam and Eve feel would have been the same emotion of
love with no gap or barrier. In that love you can go anywhere, even
climb up on top of God. Love brings intimacy and complete oneness;
there is no formality in love. Therefore, even though a man becomes
President of the United States, he exercises no formality with his
wife. They do not bow and give some long greeting every time they
meet.
Do you want to dwell in that intimacy of love with God? We all agree
that we want to share that intimate level with God. Then we have to
chop off the rope; it is not going to be that easy but somehow we have
to chop it off and let the anchor plunge down to the bottom of the
sea.
You have to dominate your satanic body, always thinking about putting
God in the center of your love. Even if you have to chop off your arm
or your leg, if that is the only way you can chop off the rope of
Satan then you should do it. You will never be a loser. Speaking of it
as a commercial investment, you cannot get any better deal than this
one.
Your mouth said yes, you would like this deal, but look at yourselves
closely. Are you really in a yes position, or somewhere in between a
no and a yes? Do you really know what needs to be done to become a man
of God? You said yes, but even though now you think you understand,
when you go to spirit world you will truly know how real this problem
is. But do not wait until then; it will be too late.
Do you really want to be centered on God 24 hours a day? Aren't your
minds going in 120 different directions, thinking about past dates and
girl friends and boy friends, or wanting more education and social
standing and a little better way of life? Don't you think, " What am I
doing here! I have to go out and witness and fund raise every day!" I
am sure that many different kinds of doubts creep in. You can see from
the criteria I laid down this morning that you have been living with
doubts and suspicions, ups and downs. Is such a man really going the
fastest way to the goal or not?
You must be single-minded; just chop off temptation and do not look
back. Do you think there is some big gap between you and me and that I
am a miracle man? We have only one difference: I have completely
subjugated my body, while you are taking longer. Wherever I go and
whatever I do, during the 24 hours of a day there is not one moment,
not one split second in which I separate myself from God. This is
absolutely perfected in my way of life. That is the only difference
between us.
Let the people oppose and persecute me; I do not even have time to
listen to them because I do not want to divert my mind from God. If I
am thinking of God more intensely than they are opposing me then these
things will automatically be taken care of. You know that often
something looks impossible, but for the sake of God we must do it
every moment of the day. I am just driving myself, that is my way of
life.
I want to be extreme in my thinking
You must always love God and always feel, "God, there is nothing I
cannot do." How do you manifest your love? Love is reciprocal, needing
a circuit. I always want to be extreme in my thinking, and love to the
absolute extremity of love. Most people want to love a handsome man or
a beautiful woman, but I think the opposite. I want to love the
ugliest man and woman, the oldest man and woman, those whom society
ignores. I want to pay attention and be able to love them more than
anybody else.
God is convinced that you are capable of doing this. God knows that
you are capable of loving in an extremely different way from most
people. In America there are many overweight people. One time I saw
one huge woman pass by, weighing maybe 500 pounds. I thought, "Can I
love her as much as God loves her? Can I compete with God and win,
loving her more than God loves her?" It is an exciting challenge to
me. Put yourselves in God's position. Suppose that woman is God's only
daughter and God is looking for some good husband for her but nobody
is interested. God is very irritated, and then a man comes up, "God,
don't worry about it. Let me love her." That man has already won the
heart of God; God is absolutely melted by that man's deed.
I have been living in that fashion, but when God gave me a bride, do
you think He picked one who is very ugly or very beautiful? Because I
was thinking in one extreme, God rewarded me in the opposite extreme.
That is how this viewpoint works. Can I bear the cross of love? That
is the worst test for any person! This is why we should always ask
ourselves, "Can I love my worst enemy, and take his child to be my
spouse?" Can I love the ugliest, most impossible person? If God is
convinced that you can do it, then you are totally victorious in His
sight. This is an even greater crucifixion than the crucifixion of
Jesus.
We have all put ourselves in the position of God's adversary. We are
in the position of His enemy. From His viewpoint we are extremely
dirty, ugly and smelly; we have been rebellious traitors and are the
children of traitors. However, God has not only been forgiving these
traitors and bringing us back to be in His position, but God wants to
bestow upon us His supreme blessing and grace.
God is a pitiful God; He wants to dwell in love with His enemies, His
impossible, rebellious children. When Adam and Eve rebelled against
God they indeed broke His heart. Ever since, God has been a tragic,
sad God, but he has never given up hope. He is always searching after
treacherous and rebellious men, trying to find the slightest ray of
hope to restore them to the supreme position of His sons and
daughters. You can see how infinite and abundant the love of God has
been.
If that is the truth then even if my body turns to dust a thousand
times over I will still be grateful. I could utter no word of
complaint to God because His love is far greater than anything I can
imagine. This is the position men should take, "God, I just want to do
Your will. Anything You want I will go and do." Even after saying that
some men are most treacherous and rebellious, thinking, "God, what
about my position, honor and dignity?" How ridiculous it is in the
sight of God! He can't even think of those things.
If you really know your own position you know you have nothing to say
about God, no complaint to make. That has been man's position. All men
have been living in the dungeon of hell in complete darkness, but a
ray of light is coming down from heaven so that we can be restored
into the highest part of heaven. It is indeed the most unbelievable
grace that we can imagine. We must grab it at any price. Do you
understand God's heart?
Let us awaken to the truth of our position
Today is April 1. So far we have done our jobs in our own way. We have
been living without even thinking of man's supposed dignity, and never
thinking about the dignity of God. We have been thinking on a very
trivial level, "I'm a member of the Unification Church and I have my
position and my rights and dignity." We know now that we must shatter
that type of thinking.
Today we must revolutionize ourselves. Let us once again shatter
ourselves and awaken to the truth of our position. We want to reach
out to a new, heightened goal, and proceed there with the utmost
determination and sacrifice. The God that we know is a suffering God,
a heartbroken God. We are His sons and daughters and we must be in a
position to comfort Him. In order to do that we must understand His
heart so that we can take His burden upon our shoulders. That is the
only way we can comfort God.
We must stand in God's position where He was persecuted for many
thousands of years. No one has suffered more throughout history than
God. We will not complain but be grateful to take the worst kind of
suffering that God might have. God has been so misunderstood, wanting
to save the world but instead being cursed by the people He loved.
People have said there is no God, but they are blasphemers. Instead we
will each say, "Let the people of the world come against me, I will
pray for them and bring salvation to them as You have done throughout
history. I can die for that mission, Heavenly Father."
If God wanted to take revenge against the traitorous and rebellious
actions of men then He would have already destroyed mankind many
thousands of times over. But at each betrayal God forgave. Can you
say, "God, I know Your heart. Now let me forgive the world. Give me
Your suffering and let me suffer for You, even more than You have
suffered. Then when I return to Your throne, I will ask You to forgive
the world. After suffering so much for You I will ask You to forgive
them because of me." Silently God will nod.
We must feel that we are liberators of the sorrowful, broken heart of
God, that because of us God will say, "I suffer no more. Because of
you I do not feel anguish and sorrow in my heart." We should be able
to stand in that position.
How can we liberate God's historically suffering heart? Let me give
you an analogy in human terms. Imagine that your youngest brother was
killed in an accident, as well as your wife and son. Instead of
expressing your own sorrow at your personal tragedy you go to your
mother and say, "Mother, I know your heart is broken because of the
death of your youngest son. I think of your heart more than my own
tragedy. Can you be comforted by me?" Your mother will say, "Certainly
I can. My son, you have suffered more than 1, yet after all that you
still forget yourself and try to comfort me."
The highest possible way to comfort God is to not worry about your own
claim or reward. Forget that. Just think of going from morning to
night, think of how you can comfort God best. That is the supreme form
of loyalty.
You have a choice between two ways of life. One is the eternal secret
way in which God wins; the other is the way of temporal glory and
honor here on earth. Which one would you prefer? Would you put
yourself completely in service to God, or do you want to work for your
own sake and your own honor? As the leader of the Unification Church I
must always think how best to lead the members. Since I know the
suffering heart of God I want to bring the Unification Church through
the worst possible suffering. Under those circumstances we will say,
"God, I want You to be comforted. I have no word of complaint, nothing
but gratitude." Knowing God's own world and own heart, and really
loving you, I have to lead all of you on that route. I myself have
taken that route. Do you want to follow me?
Unless you go that route then you have nothing to do with God in the
ultimate sense. You will have no intimacy with God, no closeness.
Therefore you will not be able to lift up God to His true dignity. If
you have failed to lift up God then you can never restore your own
dignity. In this way of life alone there is hope to liberate God from
His sorrow and by doing so you can liberate yourself from sorrow. All
will be lifted up together into the ultimate dignity of God and man.
Do you want to participate in this battle?
We want to live the pattern of God's life
You must think, "I want to bear the cross of every individual man and
woman of the world." God is not in Heaven sitting on His throne,
enjoying the show. No, He wants to bear the burden of mankind. God is
always thinking, "How can I bear the cross, the burden of My family?"
God always thinks how He can bear the cross and the burden of the
nation and the world, "How can I fulfill the responsibility of heaven
and earth?"
You can say to God, "My life here on earth is short, far less than 100
years. Compared to eternity it is a spark of light, but during this
short time I will think of nothing but Your mission. Give me the cross
that You have been willing to bear." Think of it, God's suffering is
vast, persisting for so long throughout the whole span of history. Our
suffering, no matter how big, is just a spark of light, yet with it we
can set an enormous condition.
We must put ourselves in a position to comfort God, always having that
intention even though we may not always succeed. "God, I am sorry I
did not quite live up to Your expectation yesterday, but today Father,
I will do it." In our short span of life here on earth we want to live
the pattern of God's life so that God will be able to say, "My son,
you have lived precisely as I did. You suffered as I did and you
worked just like I did, thinking and agonizing over the same things.
You have fulfilled the work that I intended to fulfill. My son, I am
proud of you." We must be in that position.
We should be willing to say, "I want to live to the utmost degree, and
no matter what God's desire may be, there is nothing I cannot do.
Furthermore, I want to volunteer for the worst possible mission that
God has." Then God will say, "My child, you are very good. You were
not supposed to suffer or live like that, but for my sake you suffered
and worked so hard. For my sake you gave yourself and died in a tragic
way. My heart is filled with mercy toward you. I almost want to say,
'I am sorry,' but don't worry. I have the power to restore your honor
and your life in the greatest glory of all on earth and in heaven.
"I expected Adam and Eve to be perfected, but they failed My
expectation. You are their descendant but you deserve a far greater
position and far greater honor than was originally reserved for them.
Before heaven and earth I declare that you deserve the highest honor.
Adam and Eve were supposed to be born of God, live of God and die of
God. They did not, however, and because you did, you are greater than
Adam and Eve." That is what God will say to you.
My ambition for you
I want you to clearly know my own will. My ambition for you is not
that you become important statesmen, Senators, Congressmen, or the
President. I do not want you to be billionaires here on earth or to
receive acclamation and honor from all mankind. My intention is that
you become men and women who can live life in a God-centered way so
that you are born of God, you live for God and you die for God. Then
when you are elevated to spirit world you will absolutely receive the
honor of God and of all heaven and earth. That is the kind of men and
women I want you to become here on earth.
In external appearance your way of life may be tragic, and other
people may think that you are living miserably. But do not forget the
reason behind it: the true pride of God. You have a choice and no one
can force you. Which way will you take? It is not easy.
When an adversary comes to attack and slander you or falsely accuse,
the general human tendency is to fight back and seek revenge. But the
moment that you feel anger and the urgent impulse to attack your
opponent, think of God, "God, what do You think in such a moment? I
know; You forgive, and if I cannot forgive this enemy, then I am
eliminating all the hope of mankind. If I do just as ordinary people
have done, then I am eliminating the hope of God. I cannot do that."
God thinks this way.
If God became really angry, then would He say, "No more! I am finished
with you and done with it!" If God quits then there is no more hope
for mankind. For the same reason you must feel that if you explode in
anger, then the hope of mankind will vanish. We cannot have that kind
of heart. "If I curse someone, that curse shall become universal and
shall remain. I am responsible for that." Can you make yourself that
important?
I want you to understand that God is not a God of glory. God has been
the God of suffering, the God of heartbreak and tragedy. You cannot
comfort God in fine clothing; you cannot comfort God in a most
relaxed, comfortable situation. You cannot praise God in a position of
honor. God will not want to receive it. Instead you must come down to
be even more miserable than He is. In that way you can comfort God.
Before you search after the glory and dignity of God you must first
conquer tragedy, heartbreak and misery. In that position you can raise
God into glory and honor in His dignity. That is the route the
Unification Church is taking. Right now America truly misunderstands
me, spreading false accusations and allegations. But I am praying to
ask God's mercy and blessing upon this country. My prayer is, "God,
let me receive all the misunderstanding You have received throughout
history. Let me take all the ridicule You have taken throughout
history. Let me undergo all the pain You have undergone in history.
Otherwise I am not worthy to stand in front of You."
Now let us imagine that I died under these circumstances. Maybe
because of the misunderstanding and false image the media has created
of me in America, the American people would applaud my death, saying,
"That troublemaker is gone. That controversial Reverend Moon has
died." They might celebrate. But I want you to know that at least one
person in the universe--God--will cry. That is what counts.
I have taken up that role. Do you see that Jesus took that route and
died in precisely that way? But God bestowed upon Jesus the power to
restore His highest dignity and honor. Also in heaven God gave him the
power to lift man up from his misery, from the very bottom of hell.
Jesus has absolute power to resurrect everything under the sun. I feel
that if even one man or one woman comes forth from among you who can
live up to that standard, then my life is a success, not a failure.
One man is a universe.
Maybe every single one of you will perish. If only one person is
victorious and consummates God's way of life, then that one man shall
set the tradition of the Unification Church and on that rock God's
tradition and Kingdom shall indeed be built. Those who want to
participate in erecting this tradition of God, the Kingdom of God here
on earth, raise your hands. If you really feel that you want to
participate in that, then I want to assure you that the glory and
honor of God shall rest with you. Thank you. Let us pray.
---
Damian J. Anderson <damian@unification.net> http://www.unification.net
"God has no concept of enemy. God's way is always the loving way, not
the hating way. Finally, even Satan will obey me and naturally surrender
to me.", Rev. Sun Myung Moon, February 7, 1995 |
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