Spiritual Messages — page 3
The Age of the Prolongation of the Providence of Restoration has been to restore through substantial parallels the Age of the Providence of Restoration, the age of image parallels. As the periods of this age were to restore through indemnity
In seeking to fulfill the whole purpose of the providence of restoration, God has called upon many individuals and has apportioned to each a suitable mission. These individuals have passed down their particular missions to other individuals of similar character
At the time of the Second Advent, all life spirits who dwell in Paradise descend to the people on earth who, by believing in and attending the Lord, can attain the level of divine spirit. By cooperating with these people
As explained above, all religions, which have sought the same ultimate purpose, are gradually coalescing into one cultural sphere based on Christian ideals (cf. Eschatology 4.2). Christianity does not exist for its own sake, but has as its final
Spirits who, in their lifetime, led a conscientious life but did not believe in any religion will also return to earth at the granted time to receive the benefit of returning resurrection. They will guide conscientious earthly people to seek
According to the Principle of Creation, God’s purpose of creation is completed based upon the four-position foundation, which is established by fulfilling the three object purposes through origin-division-union action. To fulfill the purpose of creation, Jesus and the Holy
As an individual, each one of us is a product of the history of the providence of restoration. Hence, the person who is to accomplish the purpose of history is none other than I, myself. I must take up the
Jesus came as the Messiah for nothing less than the complete salvation of humanity; he was to fulfill the goal of the providence of restoration. Jesus was supposed to establish the Kingdom of Heaven first on the earth. We can
God created human beings with two components: the spirit self and the physical self. The human Fall likewise took place in two dimensions: the spiritual and the physical. The fall which took place through the sexual relationship between the angel
Having already defined good and evil (cf. Creation 4.3.2), let us further examine the nature of good and evil from the viewpoint of purpose. Had Adam and Eve loved each other as God intended and formed a four-position
Eve inherited from the Archangel all the proclivities incidental to his transgression against God when he bound her in blood ties through their sexual relationship. Adam in turn acquired the same inclinations when Eve, assuming the role of the Archangel,
What is the meaning of true freedom? In light of the Principle, three characteristics of freedom stand out. First, there is no freedom outside the Principle. Freedom requires both free will and the free actions pursuant to that will. The
God, being omniscient and omnipotent, must have known about the deviant acts of the first human ancestors which were leading to their Fall and was surely capable of preventing them from carrying them out. Why, then, did God not intervene
The Completion of God’s Purpose of Creation We have discussed how God’s purpose in creating human beings was to rejoice with them (cf. Creation 3). Thus, our purpose of existence is to bring joy to God. What must
As clarified above, God’s work of salvation is the providence of restoration. Human history can be seen as the history of the providence through which God has been trying to save fallen people and work through them to restore
The Meaning of the Last Days Due to the crime of the Fall, the three great blessings God had granted our first ancestors were not fulfilled based on God’s love and Principle, but instead were actualized in an unprincipled
When Jesus was speaking to Peter of his fate, Peter asked him about John’s future. Jesus replied, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you?” (John 21:22). Upon hearing this,
God’s second blessing was for Adam and Eve to attain True Parenthood and bear and raise good children, forming a family, society and world where goodness reigns. However, Adam and Eve fell and became evil parents multiplying evil children;
Once Adam and Eve had attained perfection, they were to fulfill God’s third blessing by gaining dominion over the natural world. Dominion over the natural world has two aspects: internal and external. Both these aspects of dominion were lost
The Last Days and the New Truth Fallen people have been overcoming their internal ignorance by enlightening their spirituality and intellect with “spirit and truth” (John 4:23) through religion. “Truth” may be divided into two types: internal truth, as
Was Jesus’ death on the cross the most desired Will of God? Let us first examine the words and deeds of the disciples as recorded in the Bible. There was one unanimous feeling evident among the disciples concerning the death
What would have happened if Jesus had not been crucified? Jesus would have accomplished both the spiritual and physical aspects of salvation. He surely would have established the everlasting and indestructible Kingdom of Heaven on earth. This, after all, had
If Jesus’ death on the cross were not predestined as necessary for the complete accomplishment of his purpose as the Messiah, why was it prophesied in Isaiah that he would suffer the ordeal of the cross? (Isa. 53). We may
There are several passages in the Gospels in which Jesus spoke of his suffering on the cross as if it were necessary for salvation. For example, when Peter heard Jesus’ prediction of his imminent crucifixion and tried to dissuade him,
Human beings are created through the Principle, and they are meant to live according to the way of the Principle. Therefore, it cannot be that the force inherent in the Principle would induce a person to deviate from the way
Why did God nurture the faith of Adam and Eve by giving them the commandment, “Do not eat of the fruit”? In their immature state, Adam and Eve could not be directly governed by God through love. Because the power
Was God’s commandment not to eat of the fruit binding forever? God’s second blessing was to be fulfilled when Adam and Eve entered God’s direct dominion of love, by joining as true husband and wife and bearing
What were the consequences of the spiritual and physical fall of Adam and Eve for the entire universe, including humankind and the angels? Let us discuss some of the most serious consequences. Satan is the name given to the Archangel
Satan is constantly accusing all people before God, as he did Job, in order to drag them into hell (Job 1:9-11). However, even Satan cannot perpetrate his evil activity unless he first finds an object partner with whom he
We use “good spirits” as a general term for God, spirits on the side of God, and good angels. The general term for Satan and spirits on his side is “evil spirits.” The works of good spirits and evil spirits,
Sin is a violation of heavenly law which is committed when a person forms a common base with Satan, thus setting a condition for give-and-take with him. Sin can be classified into four kinds. The first is the original sin.
What is the goal of the providence of restoration? It is the establishment of the Kingdom of Heaven, which in its totality is God’s good object partner and the fulfillment of His purpose of creation. The center of God’
Did Jesus’ crucifixion, which brought us redemption from our sins, fulfill the purpose of the providence of restoration? If so, we would expect that faithful believers in Jesus would have restored their original nature and built the Kingdom of Heaven
A fallen person has nothing of the value of a true person who has completed the purpose of creation. Rather, he has fallen to such a lowly status that he looks up to the angels, who were created to be
The prophet Malachi foretold that Elijah would come again: “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes” (Mal. 4:5). Jesus testified that the prophesied coming of Elijah was realized
Jesus made it plain that John the Baptist was the very Elijah whom the people were so anxiously awaiting, while on the contrary, John the Baptist himself flatly negated this claim. Whose words were the Jewish people to believe? This
Many among the Jewish leadership and people of Jesus’ day had the highest respect for John the Baptist; some even thought of him as the Messiah. Had John the Baptist announced that he was Elijah, as Jesus had testified, those
We have stated previously that John the Baptist was to inherit and complete the mission which Elijah had left unfinished on earth. As recorded in the Bible, he was born with the mission to go before the Lord, “in the
