Today is an important day, which could have been the day for which God was looking forward. I also looked forward to this day as I came forth, unfolding the Will. You must remember that this hour, when we indemnify through the number four and at the same time through a new number three, is the time of a historical act of providence.
The title of today's sermon is “Heaven's Sorrowful Heart.” I would like to honor the memory of this day with words to this effect.
God's Sorrow, Caused by Man
God created all creation to create one man. Looking at all creation from the first day to the fifth, God rejoiced in Himself with unlimited desire and hope.
God created our ancestors, Adam and Eve, as the central figures of all creation, the masters who would rule over all creation in God's place.
Bearing an immeasurably happy heart, He then blessed all for their sake. God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth." (Genesis 1:28)
That He gave such words of blessing to us means that we were created to make God happy. God blessed us for such a purpose.
However, Adam and Eve could not realize that blessing from God. You must, therefore, look back again upon the fact that a sorrowful history has flowed forth without that blessing being realized.
Heaven was immeasurably glad while Adam was growing. Through Adam, all creation returned happiness to God. Yet, Adam, not comprehending the Will of the heavenly principles, could not uphold Heaven's Will and Word. Therefore, he ended up being chained to the sorrowful restraint called “the fall.”
Because Adam and Eve fell, God, who set up the laws of heaven and earth, could not help putting them out of His bosom of love. Although all creation knew about God's sorrowful heart, as did the good spirits of the angelic world, we, the descendants of fallen man, have not known this until now. You may know this very well.
Today, we have gathered to celebrate this day.
We have gathered to celebrate Jesus' birth. What kind of figure was Jesus?
He was the existence Heaven sought and put in place of the lost Adam.
Therefore, in concurrence with the birth of Jesus, the people then should have felt and experienced the grief that penetrated the depth of God's heart and should have been able to cry in God's place, holding on to the baby Jesus. They also should have been able to rejoice in God's place, holding on to Jesus.
There should have been many people like that. However, no one took delight in holding the newborn Jesus, who also cried in God's place.
Because God's sorrow was caused by humans, God cannot dissolve it alone. Only through humans can the sorrow, which penetrated the depth of God's heart, be dissolved. You must know that because this sorrow was caused by humans, the sorrow festering in God cannot be dissolved unless humans can grieve in God's place.
Joseph and Mary were able to cry in God's place, looking at the baby Jesus lying in a manger. Yet, they did not know that God's heart was sorrowful. We must know that, even after seeing Jesus lying in a manger, Joseph and Mary did not know how to feel sincerely sad in Heaven's place.
Various people- the three wise men from the East, a shepherd, Anna, and so forth- at least had the mind to witness and take delight in Jesus. However, no one knew the sadness that sank deeply into God's mind.
What then must we do now? We have to feel and experience the sorrow of God, who lost Adam and Eve. At the same time, we must know how to take delight in the fact of Jesus' birth.
To dissolve the sorrowful shimjeong that penetrated the depths of God's heart, we must restore, through indemnity, this world of sin and evil brought about by our human ancestors.
To restore, by indemnity, a world that abounds with sin, we must have a sincere heart with which we can cry in God's place, holding on to Jesus. If Mary and Joseph had been like this, they would have followed Jesus' will.
Similarly, if the three wise men from the East had been people of such a mind, they would have followed the will of Jesus.
God's Unknown Sorrow and the Desire of Mary and Joseph
However, even Joseph and Mary, who should have toiled for Jesus and stepped forth pursuing the Will for him, could not relate to Jesus with the earnestness of God's sorrowful heart.
The three wise men from the East could not look at Jesus as Heaven looked at him, bearing a sorrowful heart.
Today, we must first look back on the shimjeong with which God grieved before Jesus' birth. You must reflect in your minds on the sorrowful heart of God when He cast out Adam and Eve because they fell in the Garden of Eden.
You must reflect on that sorrowful and pathetic scene when God watched Adam, his only-begotten son, being borne off by the enemy Satan.
To dissolve this sorrow, God came forth, unfolding the dispensation for 4,000 years after the fall of Adam and Eve. God notified all humankind of this sorrowful situation by sending numerous prophets and sages.
Yet human beings could not comprehend God's sorrow, nor could they comprehend the grief of the Heaven-sent prophets. For this reason, the Israelites went through a historical course where they betrayed Heaven. Since God will certainly attain His Will, He toiled without a moment of rest.
Eventually, for the first time after the lapse of 4,000 years, God was able to restore the lost Adam.
In what kind of position were Joseph and Mary?
Adam and Eve fell when they were in a state of engagement. Joseph and Mary were in the same situation. Having set Joseph and Mary up in such a position, God unfolded the dispensation. It took 4,000 years before God could choose and raise Joseph and Mary. You must know this.
If we think about the respective motives of Mary and Joseph in coming to stand in the presence of God, we see that although Mary was a young person, she knew God was unfolding the dispensation through her people.
Mary ardently wished for the Messiah to come to the earth, more so than anyone. Joseph also wished earnestly for the Messiah to save his people, to guide the chosen people into the Kingdom of Heaven. He wished for this more than anyone else.
In all sincerity, Mary and Joseph eagerly awaited the Messiah and believed firmly in their minds that God's Will would come to pass. They believed that if they made every effort, God would notify them beforehand of the Messiah's birth. Hoping that they made great efforts. We must know this.
Although Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden in ancient times fell because they could not trust, Joseph and Mary had trustful minds representing the people, minds that wished for the Messiah to come, the mind to make every effort, and give devoted service.
We must know that this moved God and became the motive for God to be able to send the Messiah to Israel.
Mary was confused when an angel appeared to her and forewarned her of conceiving the Messiah. Because she had not come together with any man until then, Mary denied that such a thing would occur.
However, Mary had an earnest mind toward the Father's Will, and she responded to the angel's command by saying, “Since I am the Lord's maidservant, please do according to Your Will.”
This ran counter to the Israelite law, which the Jewish people had kept for 4,000 years. For an unmarried woman to conceive was not acceptable. At that time, Mosaic Law was so strict that a pregnant, unmarried woman was to be subjected to immediate death by stoning. Nevertheless, Mary made this sort of final decision.
In that way, chosen by Heaven as a virgin and betrothed as well, Mary was placed in a position where she had to face a life-or-death situation and overcome it. What was more, she came to be placed in an important situation where she could exert influence over her blood relatives and all classes of society.
Mary's Great Determination Enabled Her to Conceive the Messiah
Mary had an immovable heart, such that even if she had to give up everything in this world, she could never give up the Father's Will. She would take on any matter with gratitude to realize the Father's Will.
We must learn that the very moment Mary sacrificed all her pride and dignity and her life on behalf of humanity, the connections for the Messiah to be born were put into place for the first time.
At the same time, we must know about Mary, who was pregnant with the Messiah, immeasurably concerned in her mind about the path she must walk after his birth. That situation closely resembled God's pitiable one.
Her state of concern closely resembled the mind of God, who worries about the evil earth. For that reason, God commanded Joseph, through an angel, to protect Mary.
Although Joseph heard the news through an angel, he found it difficult to accept that Mary, who was pledged in marriage to him, was pregnant. He suffered from a humanistic perspective.
However, knowing that God raised a man to realize His grand Will and unfold the dispensation through him, Joseph took Mary home according to the angel's command. Mary and Joseph cooperating in this manner became the base to revive Adam, lost in Eden.
If you, today, were to be placed in the position of Mary and Joseph, going back to the time of Jesus 2,000 years ago, what would you have done?
If Heaven came looking for you to communicate a heartrending situation and asked to make connections through you, what kind of attitude would you take? With what kind of heart would you relate to Heaven?
If you cannot appear before Heaven bearing a heart identical to that of Mary, a heart identical to that of Joseph, then your position today of offering best wishes to Jesus, to whom Mary and Joseph gave birth with a heart of concern for Heaven, will not be considered proper in the sight of Heaven.
For that reason, you must now think deeply about whether you are, indeed, in the position of Mary or Joseph and change your mind.
To follow the Will, believe in it, and put it into practice, regardless of what Heaven commands you to do, you must become people like Joseph and Mary, who denied all social conventions and customs, even the ethics they previously held.
You must stand in a position where you celebrate Jesus' birth in this hour with the faith to withstand this sort of problem, having laid down your lives.
Having sent Jesus, God felt concerned for things about which Joseph and Mary could not concern themselves. He thought about things that Joseph and Mary could not think.
God wished that Joseph and Mary would bring up Jesus, to whom they gave birth, embracing him with all their care and protection. God wished them to raise Jesus with all their devotion, to support him with all their sincerity, until he could step forth as the person in charge of the battle in front of the enemy's world.
Being united, Joseph and Mary were concerned about God's wishes, at least until Jesus was born. However, after Jesus was born, they could not feel concern commensurate with God's.
They looked at Jesus with their concerns at the center of their thoughts and according to the precepts of their environment.
Joseph and Mary should have become Jesus' guardians. They should have become Jesus' shields in battle.
Therefore, on behalf of God's heart, they had to support the newly appeared Jesus, irrespective of life and death. Risking their lives for the sake of God, Joseph and Mary were to support Jesus. Although she gave birth to him, Jesus did not belong to Mary.
The Sorrow of Jesus, Who Could Not Be Received as the Messiah
Had Joseph and Mary had the same determination while Jesus was growing up as they had at his conception, they would have been able to block the path of the cross for him.
We are aware that because the mother and son failed to complete the internal and external circumstances through cooperation, Jesus abandoned his home and went forth to look for disciples.
For that reason, when asked by Mary to make water into wine at the marriage feast at Cana, Jesus said, “Woman, what do you have to do with me?” (John 2:4)
When we think about this, we realize that Mary did not understand Jesus. Neither Joseph nor Jesus' brothers knew. Jesus felt concern about Heaven and the physical living environment.
We must understand that it was natural for Jesus to feel concern about God, yet it was a sorrowful fact for him to have to feel concern about the living environment.
Jesus was born and raised in a sorrowful environment. The environment in which he was to live, caring and feeling concern only for God, was lost. Therefore, we must understand the sorrowful fact that Jesus was put in a situation where he had to feel concerned about God and be concerned about his physical livelihood.
Jesus being compelled to leave his home was equivalent to having to leave his brothers and the tribe of Joseph, which had 4,000 years of history behind it. We must remember that Jesus' heart was sorrowful as he looked at all the people who did not believe in him. Yet, he could not confide in anyone.
Jesus' heart ached, not because his circumstances were sorrowful and difficult, but because his mother, brothers, and relatives did not recognize who he was. We must understand that this fact was the grief of Jesus' grief.
Therefore, today we must go back into history and restore Mary's original position, Joseph's position, the position of Jesus' brothers, his tribe, and Jesus' position as well. We must be aware that the bitter historical resentment remains. We cannot help doing this.
Feeling the thirty-plus years of Jesus' life on earth deeply in your minds, having been born and having carried the cross, you must feel to your marrow that Jesus felt sorrowful, that he was subjected to both mental pain and physical pain.
You must not celebrate Jesus' birthday without that. Only when you know about Jesus, who came and left in such a sorrowful way, can you become qualified to celebrate his birthday.
The scene in which Joseph and Mary were looking at Jesus, embracing him after his birth, may have been a condition of happiness before Heaven. Yet because they could not embrace Jesus their whole life and could not offer their best to Jesus, they concluded by not establishing a happy condition before God.
As we welcome Jesus, who was born, we must know about Jesus, who left. By going back beyond the cross and following Jesus into history, we must have the mind to offer our best wishes while holding on to the newborn Jesus.
Since Jesus had to leave under such circumstances and fought in such a manner, unless you get to know all the shimjeong Jesus felt in his lifetime and inherit that shimjeong, you must know that you are not qualified to offer your congratulations to Jesus.
Deeming Jesus' sorrow as truly your own and Jesus' pain in his life as truly your own, you must be able to embrace, in your heart, the comprehensive Will for which Jesus worked for 2,000 years until now. It must be your will.
We can congratulate Jesus only when we get to know the shimjeong of Jesus as he grew up and died on the cross in pain as an adult. We can then connect with Jesus. With Jesus as the condition, a relationship can then be formed between God and us. We must know this.
Jesus' Wish for Man
Today, we must represent those wise men from the East who went looking for Jesus. We must be able to prepare the gifts that they prepared—gold, frankincense, and myrrh—and bow down with them.
We must equip ourselves with at least such preparations as the shepherd, who happened to be walking the path and who went looking for Jesus with a respectful bow. The songs that the billions of religious people in heaven sang, taking delight in Jesus' birth, spread throughout heaven.
Even the creation responded with a song, centered on the Messiah, when this one man was born. Although humans are not aware of this, we must have the mind to offer best wishes to Jesus in the place of the whole today.
We must relate to Jesus directly, bearing in mind that we can celebrate in the place of religious believers in heaven, a mind that can celebrate in the place of those three wise men from the East, the shepherd, and all creation.
When this happens, the whole universe will shed copious tears. After shedding tears, we will be able to celebrate in joy. We must know that this is the mission of humankind today, having sent Jesus away.
What kind of heart does Jesus want you to embrace?
With what kind of heart does God wish you to commemorate this day?
If there are things Jesus calls upon us to do, they are that we give recognition to the heart to which no one gave recognition when Jesus lived on the earth, that we give recognition to the heart that has endured despite the massacres and persecution of the many religious people he sent during the 2,000 years since his death. We must know this.
We must also know that Jesus wishes us to take his place and restore, through indemnity, what he could not fulfill on this earth, the responsibility to realize the purpose of God on this earth, substituting for God.
Holding on to Jesus' impassioned mind, holding on to Jesus' bleeding body, we must seek the heart of Jesus, who shed tears for the sake of heaven and earth and humankind. He invoked a blessing upon his enemies.
We must feel his pain through our minds and feel his weariness through our bodies. Only when we can say, “Please dissolve Heaven's sorrow through us. Please dissolve Jesus' historical grief through us,” and have the feeling well up from the bottom of our hearts that God will seek us and form bonds with us.
Jesus pioneered spiritual salvation after he died on the cross. This was not accomplished on a smooth road either. Jesus pioneered a lonely path, enjoying immortality on death's path. Jesus was this kind of man. He has been going through a history of tears, without a day of rest until today.
We are now faced with a common fate whereby we die together and live together, holding on to Jesus. We must feel that Jesus' death is my death, Jesus' sorrow is my sorrow, and Jesus' vexation and mortification are my vexation and mortification.
Jesus' marrow-piercing vexation and mortification still exist on this earth. Therefore, we must not forget, even for a single moment, that the person who has to dissolve this is not Jesus, not God. It is we who must do this.
If you want to bow respectfully to Jesus and look at him with the true meaning of celebration, you must now continue toward the fortress of bitterness Jesus left behind, that bitter land.
Only when we come to congratulate Jesus, after fighting and taking responsibility, can Jesus relate to us. The objective Jesus wanted to achieve after coming to this earth was not realized as he wanted, but has remained until today, after the lapse of 2,000 years of history, as the objective yet to be accomplished ahead of numerous descendants.
We Should Become Jesus Incarnate
We must attain Jesus' objective, even if we die on the cross, even if God says He does not know us. We cannot abandon this objective even if all the people turn against us, including the person closest to us on this earth.
Having understood this, you must stand before Heaven in place of Jesus to accomplish this objective.
You must fight on, even if something turns against you and blocks you. You must stand in a position where you feel you have taken charge of what Jesus left behind in ancient times and accept it as a natural thing to do.
Unless you can do so, you cannot succeed in attaining the objective Jesus left behind, and you have no way to resolve his suffering love.
We must understand that if we do not fulfill the objective Jesus left behind and resolve the suffering love he left, we cannot attain the Will of God, who has sought us for 2,000 years. We cannot dissolve His bitterness.
God has left behind the heart that wishes us to know that although we are individuals today, “I” am not a private individual. Although “I” is an element, I am connected to the whole universe.
“I” represents the historical heart of the whole, who wishes us to represent Jesus' whole objective. Furthermore, God wants to entrust us today with the responsibility of attaining His desires for the future as well.
You must become those who can call on Jesus and God, knowing that each of us is placed in a significant situation historically. In addition, you must know that the heart of Jesus exists, born through ties that were formed between God's heart of 4,000 years and the hearts of Joseph and Mary, who ardently wished for the birth of the Messiah.
Now that the long history of 2,000 years has flowed down, these hearts are acutely making demands upon us today.
Now, do you have the mind that wishes for salvation, lifting your hands to Heaven?
Do you have a mind that repents facing Heaven by bowing your body? Do you have a mind that can run toward Heaven with all four limbs in motion?
Do you have the heart, having made all due preparation in your mind and body, to take responsibility for the magnificent fight of Jesus, who fought, having thrown down the gauntlet of the cross?
You must fully realize again in this hour that, by reflecting upon what kind of heart you have, on your own accord, you must take responsibility for the movement that dissolves the grievous historical resentment.
What would Jesus forewarn us of today?
Jesus came looking for true sons and daughters to whom he could truly unburden himself and speak about Heaven's situation. However, he could not find them.
Although he went around seeking and striving for thirty or more years, he could not meet even one person with whom he could share his fate, to whom he could pass on Heaven's unfinished business. He left without being able to do so.
By knowing the heart of Jesus, you, too, must experience calling Heaven “Father,” bearing the same responsibility as Jesus, standing in the same situation. You must experience crying out in repentance, looking at all humankind on the earth. You must have a sincere heart with which you can look at all creation and say “congratulations” aloud to Heaven.
You must think again that unless you feel this kind of impulse in your mind, you cannot save your honor in front of the numerous prophets and sages who fought in the face of death, coming through the past 2,000 years, upholding the will of Jesus, who is still trying even today.
Now we must make an earnest request and vow, lifting our hands before the Father. We must earnestly request and pledge, saying, “Father, we solicit in this hour that You will please allow us to represent the body of Jesus, who came to this earth 2,000 years ago. Please allow this body that we offer before the Father's altar to represent Jesus.”
Now you may lay down your heart and make a vow before Heaven. The heart and the will we embrace must be able to represent Jesus' heart and will. Our whole body must be able to represent Jesus' body.
We must become Jesus incarnate, who can dissolve in our generation the heart and situation of Jesus, who tried to grasp Heaven with his heart and tried to grasp the earth and all humankind with his body.
By doing so, we must become those who can fight, holding on to Heaven with our minds and holding on to humanity with our bodies.
Jesus' True Wish
Jesus did not eat for his good; he did not live for his sake. He did not feel sorrow on his behalf or fret for himself. Even during times of sadness, Jesus looked at the Father, who grieved and felt rebuked.
We must emulate the virtues of Jesus, the Son of God, who would then feel his responsibility more strongly, bowing his head, thinking that Heaven's pain was greater than his, no matter how great his own.
Jesus appeared with the responsibility to save unbelieving humankind. Therefore, even though there were many paths of tribulation, toil, lamentation, and pain during his life, Jesus did not care.
We must know the heart of Jesus today, who felt keen regret, even in his dreams, thinking how the Israelites were unable to stand before the Father.
As we become more and more sincere about the Will, we must hold on to Heaven with our minds and the earth with our bodies.
Even as he walked the path of Golgotha, even as he shed blood and felt bone- and flesh-melting agony, Jesus held on to God and comforted Him. He held on to all humankind and worried about them. We must know this kind of heart today.
Jesus was a man to be pitied. Although he had parents, he did not have true parents. Although he had brothers, he did not have true brothers. Although he had disciples, he did not have true disciples.
By restoring such historical matters, each of us should be able to become Jesus' true parent, his true brothers, and his true disciples and followers.
When young people see old people, their minds should overflow with the impulse to minister to them and support them as their true parents. In turn, when old people see young people, the mind to love them with all their heart, embracing them ardently from a parental position, willing to be sacrificial offerings for them, must spring up from within.
Although Jesus wished to have true brothers, he could not gratify that ardent wish even once: to go forward in the sight of Heaven with true brothers at his side. That was Jesus' suffering love.
If we are to dissolve this for him, we must be able to love all people from the true brother's position. Only then will Jesus' suffering love be comforted.
No one was a true disciple who could stand eternally in the position of being united into one, not separated into two, who received Jesus' love in the realm of God's love. Jesus had no disciple to whom he could give all his love.
This became Jesus' suffering love. To dissolve this suffering love for him, we must become Jesus' true disciples.
Who is the true disciple of Jesus?
He is the kind of person who is connected to Jesus' heart and is in kinship with Jesus. Although 6,000 years of history have passed, and there have been numerous followers of Jesus, Jesus could not have a follower whom he could truly love until today. We who know of such a fact must become true followers who believe in Jesus and know how to minister to him.
Going further, by realizing that there was no true tribe or race Jesus could truly love, no nation or world he could love, we must seek, for him, the race, the nation, and the world, holding hands, with minds united and situations brought together.
We must accomplish this in a position where we can truly receive Jesus' love.
We Must Realize Jesus' Wish
If all creation and the billion believers in heaven were to appeal to us on the earth, what would they ask? They would ask us to fulfill Jesus' wish. What was Jesus' wish? It was that, after coming to the earth, he could have true parents, true brothers, true disciples, a true race, a true nation, and a true world. This was Jesus' wish.
Since Jesus has been fighting until now, unable to rest, to become God's true son or daughter today, each of us must be able to become Jesus' parents, his true brothers, his true disciples, followers, and representatives.
We must become Jesus' brave soldiers who realize a true world. Only when we become like this will Jesus' wish be fulfilled for the first time.
Today we must become the throng of people who stand on the side of Jesus, embracing this kind of heart. Jesus came with this kind of heart.
Therefore, we also must become the people who feel the joy of meeting by going back to look for Jesus at the time of his birth. With a mind filled with emotion, equipped with this kind of heart, we must know how to congratulate Jesus after meeting him. Only then can we become qualified to congratulate the Lord of the Second Coming in the future.
What does Heaven demand of us now?
Heaven's happiness and the fulfillment of Heaven's wishes must be brought about by us. Each of us today is placed in this kind of important historical position.
For that reason, our words must represent Jesus' words; our activities must represent Jesus' activities. In receiving persecution, you represent Jesus taking rejection.
Therefore, even if you become lonely, without friends, you lose your brothers, your parents, and your disciples, and you must be able to feel and experience Jesus' situation. Only when you stand in such a position will you connect with Jesus beneath Mount Olives in ancient times.
Only then will you connect with the heroic heart of Jesus, who went up to the Garden of Gethsemane and prayed.
What must we do today? We must seek the true family Jesus sought. It was the wish of Jesus to have brothers who attended one set of parents, formed a trio, and then multiplied to form a state, a race, and a world.
We, too, have parents and children in our respective families today. Yet, by establishing a true order of love, we must create true brothers, true parents and relatives, a true religious order, and a race.
If you see Jesus born on this earth and have this kind of mind. Jesus will be happy, even if he lies in a manger. I ask you to celebrate this day today with this kind of heart.
