World Scripture

Part Two: Sin and Salvation

CHAPTER 10. ESCHATOLOGY AND MESSIANIC HOPE

Tribulation

Most religions anticipate a time beyond the present, when human history will be consummated by a decisive act of God. Evil will be destroyed and goodness will triumph. Millenarian teachings are most characteristic of Jewish, Christian and Islamic scriptures. Christianity began as a millenarian movement in Israel. Yet Hinduism, Buddhism and Zoroastrianism also contain teachings that the world is going through a cosmic cycle in which the decay of morals and religion presages a new Golden Age when life will be renewed and purified.

Millenarian beliefs can be a leavening influence on society, encouraging oppressed people with the hope that the evil system has finally reached its last hour and calling them to renewed faith or even to revolutionary action. From the Bar Kochba Rebellion of Jews against Roman tyranny, to the T’ai P’ing Rebellion in China and the African Independent Churches’ agitation for independence against European colonial rule, these movements have fostered political and economic self-determination. Today, Father Moon’s teachings express that same sense of urgency and possibility, proclaiming that humanity is now living in the Last Days and that the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.

However, these beliefs can also have a negative aspect if they lead people to become self-righteous and judgmental. Father Moon warns that all the judgments and tribulations of the Last Days will strike the people on God’s side earlier and more severely than non-believers, based on the principle that in the course of restoration it is for God’s people to be struck first.

Typically, teachings about the Last Days or the end of the world anticipate a course of events in three phases: First, a time of tribulation when evil and confusion will prevail; second, a Last Judgment when God intervenes decisively to destroy all evil; and third, a new age of unparalleled bliss, often called the Kingdom of Heaven.

During the tribulation phase, wars, famines, plagues, natural disasters and widespread confusion will afflict humanity. Morals will decline as people become engrossed in hedonism and materialism. Religions will decline, as the teachings of their founders will be forgotten or misused for mean ends. Father Moon affirms that humanity faces such tribulations, and traces its root to the Human Fall. The Last Days is a time when the fruits of the Fall are to be harvested, he teaches.

In some scriptures, the last tribulation will be the appearance of the Beast, the Antichrist or the Dajjal, who will deny the reality of God and deceive millions with a counterfeit truth. Identifying the Antichrist has been the subject of much speculation, most of it fruitless, often fixing on the church’s favorite opponent. Father Moon sees the activity of Satan behind the dark forces in history and identifies several of the Devil’s stratagems to attack the people of God, including the rise of materialism and atheistic communism. Nevertheless, he reminds us that the first people to oppose Jesus were his own disciples; hence we should examine ourselves to see if we are not the antichrist, rather than blame others.

1. Degeneration of Faith and Morals in the Last Days

Teachings of Sun Myung Moon

Today we face a serious youth problem. In the Garden of Eden, when Adam and Eve fell, they were teenagers. They planted the seed of free sex when they fell by engaging in an illicit sexual relationship in the shade. That is why now, during the harvest time of the Last Days, it was inevitable that free sex would become rampant throughout the world.

Satan knows that God is trying to bring all human beings to Heaven by promoting the standard of true love—absolute love without any trace of the Fall. Because Satan knows that the returning Messiah will carry out this plan, his strategy is to utterly dismantle this standard. Therefore, as there is no longer any basis for love, people today engage in all sorts of behavior, including free sex, homosexuality and lesbianism. Homosexuals and lesbians are seeds of the archangel; therefore, like angels they have no object partner of love.2

These are the Last Days, when everywhere people are stripping off their clothes and perishing. It is the end of Satan’s progeny. Now the earth has become hell, where life is in step with Satan’s world of hell. Therefore, if you seek and follow a way 180 degrees opposite the prevailing lifestyle, it will be a path connected to Heaven. (279:121, August 1, 1996)

Adam and Eve distrusted God and betrayed God; this sowed the seeds of grief throughout the cosmos. Therefore in the Last Days, parents and the children will be in conflict. Just as the first human ancestors betrayed and distrusted God their Father, their descendants in the Last Days will likewise experience children rebelling against their parents…

That is why in today’s society there is a pervasive tone of distrust, between parents and children, between husbands and wives, and between relatives. People no longer have confidence about their purpose for living, so much have those who deny its basis obfuscated the matter. As you see this happening, you should know that the Last Days are here. (2:330, July 28, 1957)

At the Fall, the archangel Lucifer acted to make Eve his enemy and Eve acted to make Adam her enemy. As a result, Adam, Eve and the archangel became enemies to one another. Therefore, in the Last Days everyone will become enemies to one another. Your children will become your enemies; mothers and fathers become enemies; brothers and sisters will become enemies. Nations will become enemies. All relationships will be torn apart, and you will not be able to trust anyone. What will become of ethics and morality? Such a hurricane of chaos will sweep the world that people will lose any sense of direction. People will not be able to tell right from wrong and good from evil. When that time comes, it is the Last Days. The Last Days are here right now!

You will see incidents where children kill their parents and parents kill their children. You will see ministers killing members of their congregation, and acrimonious battles between church members and their ministers. Everyone will be divided. Why is that? The seed of enmity sown by Adam, Eve and the archangel has resulted in the world becoming a battlefield. (50:213, November 7, 1971)

All religions have lost their footing. Because Christianity did not completely fulfill God’s will, Buddhism, Confucianism and Islam are also going through a tough course. As a result, families, societies, nations and the world have become like hell. God’s ideal realm of love is nowhere to be found on earth. Even in a vast country like America, God cannot find a true son or daughter whose mind and body are truly united. God cannot find a husband and wife who are united according to the original standard that God has desired since before the Fall. In every family, parents and children are fighting. The decline of religion has led to a world of selfish individualism in which everyone is divided. (January 13, 2001)

Without a clear vertical standard, the concepts of male and female are hazy. That is why, along with free sex, we see so much sexual confusion in the Last Days. It is neither this or that, neither man nor woman… the Devil and evil spirits cause this devastation, leading people into chaos. (189:127, April 1, 1989)

Since the Human Fall took place at the completion level of the growth stage, the completion stage remains unfulfilled.3 The period of that stage is seven years… We are indemnifying this with a seven year course. The seven-year course is what Christians call the seven years of the great tribulation. The great tribulation is when a family, which is in the domain of the Fall, receives persecution in order to be restored and rise up to become a family that has nothing to do with the dominion of the Fall. It is the great tribulation because the families receiving persecution and hardships are the families with whom God longs to dwell…

When Adam and Eve fell in the period of indirect dominion, Satan invaded the domain that had been reserved for human beings and came to dominate the entire realm of indirect dominion. To restore this, the seven-year great tribulation is not a time of suffering for those who deserve to suffer. Rather, it is a time when suffering comes to people who do not deserve it. (Blessing and Ideal Family 5.1.2)

In the free world today, many people are unwilling to marry. They live together without a legal marriage, jumping from one relationship to another… It seems like everyone is perishing, but through it God has a strategy to save them all. This trend somehow makes sense if you look at it from God’s perspective. In God’s view, our spirit and body is supposed to become one centered on true love, not on false love. Therefore, as people live together who have not found the origin of true love they will continue to be restless, with spirit and body divided. Once they pass through that stage, after awhile they will yearn for the marriage Blessing, the Blessing that only Heaven can give. (91:184, February 6, 1977)

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2. Wars, Natural Disasters, and Widespread Devastation

Teachings of Sun Myung Moon

God always strikes His beloved children first, and then He strikes Satan. (Way of God’s Will 3.4)

God cannot strike human beings even when they take Satan’s side. God has to use the strategy of being struck first and then taking the victory. Satan always strikes first, but loses in the end. Throughout history Satan takes the side of self-centered people and incites them to hatred and conflict to try to destroy Heaven’s side. Heaven, on the contrary, aims for the good of all, working to recreate the world with love and peace.

In the Last Days, when Satan is about to lose his dominion to Heaven’s side, he will suggest atheism to the world, advocating that there is no God. This will result in movements to establish humanism, materialism and communism. All over the world, these ideologies of the left are in battle with Heaven’s side on the right.

Ultimately, however, history will enter an era of a Great Revolution when Heaven’s side will win and peace will prevail throughout the world. This could have occurred already, with the victory of Christian culture at the end of the Second World War… (270:232, June 7, 1995)

The satanic world is one step ahead of God. If God has a family, Satan already has a nation. Hence despite the dispensations from Adam to Abraham, in the history of the Israelites and in the centuries after Jesus, the wrongs committed in those ages did not disappear but instead accumulated…

Even after two thousand years, the responsibility of Christianity remained unfinished. How could it be indemnified? This was the purpose of World War I and World War II; they were dispensations to make restitution according to the law of indemnity.

That is why at the end of World War II, the two sides could unite centered on Christian civilization. Germany, Japan, and Italy joined with the United States, England and France to form one global sovereignty, unified based on Christian values. (292:180, April 12, 1998)

After World War II, humankind was struggling to overcome the pain of war and find the way for all nations to live in peace. At that time, God commanded me to start a world-level movement to establish God’s Kingdom on the foundation of two thousand years of Christianity. The main point God revealed to me was the formula course to establish the True Parents and [unite humankind] as one true family.

However, to God’s great disappointment, the Korean Christian leaders did not accept this truth. As a result, I had no choice but to walk the path of hardship. Although I had committed no crime, I was persecuted, opposed and imprisoned. This mistake of Christianity became the condition and spiritual foundation for evil to gain power in Korea. Herein lay the internal and providential reason for the Korean War and the division of Korea that has persisted for over half a century. (288:166, November 27, 1997)

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3. Onslaught of Demons and Evil Spirits

Teachings of Sun Myung Moon

The age is at hand when the spirit world is attacking the earth. For this reason, many kinds of mental illnesses are appearing: neuroses, psychoses and new disorders unknown to science. Modern medicine has no cure for them. We need a new treatment, a tonic containing elements of Heaven and earth. (3:353, February 9, 1958)

Billions and trillions of spirits are on the offensive, trying to take over the physical world. They can cause mental illness. After the 1980s, and even more so in the new millennium, great numbers of people will develop some spiritual sensitivity. When they communicate with the spirit world, it could be either with good spirits or with evil spirits. Groups of people possessed by evil spirits may make war on others, causing bloodshed among people who otherwise do not want war.5 As an antenna placed high up picks up a cacophony of noises, spiritually sensitive people will suffer from mental illness.

It would be a most fearful thing if only evil spirits mobilized to attack the physical world. There are more than enough evil spirits to strike every person living on earth. Can you imagine then what would happen? To counter it, God is making preparations. By mustering His hosts of good spirits, God is expanding the foundation of the good spirit world. (55:30, April 3, 1972)

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4 The Beast or the Antichrist

Teachings of Sun Myung Moon

The world wars have resulted from Satan’s last desperate struggle to preserve his sovereignty. Since the fall of the first human ancestors, Satan has been building defective, unprincipled imitations of God’s ideal world. Aiming to restore the ideal world of His Principle, God has been in pursuit, gradually expanding His dominion by reclaiming it from the unprincipled world under Satan’s bondage. Accordingly, in the course of the providence of restoration, a false representation of the ideal appears before the emergence of its true manifestation. The biblical prophecy that the antichrist will appear before the return of Christ is an illustration of this truth. (Exposition of the Divine Principle, Preparation 4.1)

Satan knew God’s plan to unify the world through the one truth and presented a false imitation of the truth in order to unify humanity centering on him. This false truth is dialectical materialism. Dialectical materialism denies the existence of any spiritual reality, setting up an explanation of the universe based on a wholly materialistic logic. In denying the existence of God, it also denies the existence of Satan. Thus, in promoting dialectical materialism, Satan was effectively denying his own reality, even risking his own demise. Satan understood what would unfold at the close of human history and knew well that he would surely perish. Accepting that this was not the time to be worshipped, he rose in a monstrous denial of God, even at the sacrifice of himself. This is the spiritual root of dialectical materialism. As long as the democratic world lacks the truth which can overturn this evil doctrine, it will always be vulnerable and on the defensive. For this reason, someone on God’s side must proclaim the perfect truth. (Exposition of Divine Principle, Preparation 4.4.1)

Who would have known that the disciples would stand in the position of the antichrist before Jesus?
Who would have known that the chosen Israelite people and Judaism would become the antichrist?

We must be concerned about this in the Last Days, too. You must reflect on yourself whether you stand in the position of the antichrist. Now is not the time to reproach others or interfere with the affairs of others. The problem lies with you, yourselves. Other denominations that oppose us are not the problem. You must worry about the fact that you might become a satan in the Last Days.7 Throughout the course of history, those people who blamed others for their problems have all lost themselves. (2:277, June 16, 1957)

Father! The Day of Judgment now approaches for this city of death.
Faced with such a period,
struggling in this world of fear,
wandering about without knowing which way to go,
humankind has lost its center.
People do not know what troubles they will face;
they cannot find a place to rest.
Please have compassion for all humankind,
and guide them to return to Thine embrace. (5:60, December 21, 1958)

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The Last Judgment

People have viewed the prospect of Judgment Day with a mixture of hope and fear. It is a day of hope to the downtrodden, who will finally see vindication as the dominion of evil is overthrown and the guilty are punished. It is a day of fear to those who are painfully aware of their sins and in doubt about their salvation.

A last judgment of sorts comes upon every person individually at the time of death; this judgment was discussed in Chapter 5. Yet there is also a collective judgment that falls upon the entire world at the End of Days. The divine promise of the Kingdom of God requires that evil be vanquished on earth once and for all.

While many believers interpret the Last Judgment as a supernatural event at the literal end of the world, Father Moon teaches that the Last Judgment is a real process that occurs at the change of the age, when the evil traditions of the past are put away and people everywhere take up the task of building the Kingdom of God on earth. As in Jesus’ parable of the wheat and the tares, although growth of goodness occurs unnoticed for a time amidst the fallen world, there will come the moment when the distinction between good and evil is clear as day. Then, as people recognize their sins and accept the judgment of God’s Word, they will be able to root out their sins and fallen nature and begin to embody the Word in daily life, gradually transforming their character to become people of heaven.

1. Everything Evil Is Exposed and Judgment is Passed

Teachings of Sun Myung Moon

In the Last Days, evil will be judged everywhere in the world. What is evil? It is living only for oneself, self-centered individualism. The Lord will teach you how to pass the judgment: Live for something bigger than yourself. Living only for yourself will lead to your own destruction. You must live for the public good. In loving your children, you should raise them to be citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven.

In your personal life, when you take for yourself, that is evil; and when you give to benefit others, that is good. Judgment will be passed according to which side you were leaning each 24-hour day. (17:329, April 16, 1967)

We know Jesus to be full of love, but he only appears that way to those living in misery. To those who habitually commit evil and unrighteous acts, he is an unforgiving judge. Jesus was a man of love to fishermen, tax collectors and prostitutes, to the outcast and trampled upon, to those who in humility bared the sorrows of their souls. However, Jesus was the lord of judgment to the officials and Roman soldiers who used their swords against believers who were making sincere efforts to walk the path of righteousness… If Jesus were only love, how could he do the work of judgment that Christians expect him to perform in the Last Days? (14:309, January 10, 1965)

What is the meaning of the prophecy that “the heavens will be kindled and dissolved and the elements will melt with fire” (2 Pet. 3.12) in the Last Days? Malachi, prophesying of Jesus to come, spoke of a day burning with the fire of judgment. (Mal. 4.1) Jesus came into the world to cast this judgment, as he said, “For judgment I came into this world.” (John 9.39) Jesus also said, “I came to cast fire upon the earth.” (Luke 12.49) “Fire” here represents the means of the judgment for which Jesus came into the world. Nevertheless, there is no record that in his time Jesus judged the world with literal fire. The verses referring to fire must be symbolic. It is written, “Is not my word like fire, says the Lord?” (Jer. 23.29) Therefore, judgment by fire represents judgment by the Word of God…

What is the reason that Jesus judges by the Word? Human beings are created through the Word. (John 1.3) God’s ideal of creation was that the first human ancestors fulfill the purpose of the Word by incarnating the Word. Yet they did not keep the Word of God and fell; thus, they failed to fulfill the purpose of the Word. Since then, God has tried to fulfill the purpose of the Word by recreating fallen human beings through the Word. This is the providence of restoration based on truth, the Word as revealed in the Scriptures. It is written, “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father.” (John 1.14) Jesus completely realized the Word. He will come again as the standard of the judgment by the Word and judge the extent to which humanity has fulfilled the purpose of the Word. Judgment in this context contributes to the attainment of the goal of restoration, which is the realization of the purpose of the Word. Hence, in the course of the providence, the Word must be set up as the standard through which judgment can be carried out. Jesus lamented, “I came to cast fire upon the earth; and would that it were already kindled!” (Luke 12.49) As the incarnation of the Word (John 1.14), he was grieved that the people of Israel did not receive the life-giving words which he proclaimed. (Exposition of the Divine Principle, Eschatology 3.2.2)

What is the great judgment? It is to purify our entire body, beginning with our eyes, which has inherited Satan’s blood lineage. The great judgment is not to kill Satan. It means to dissolve everything inside us that arose from immoral and unlawful norms, norms contrary to the conscience, norms that Satan has been promoting and that have defiled human history. (378:149-50, May 9, 2002)

In the future, there will surely be a new world, founded on the truth. To enter, we must pass through the judgment of truth. Next, we must pass the judgment of character. Unless our character is in alignment with this new world, we could be cast out from the trend of the age. Then, after bringing our character into oneness with the truth, we will pass through a judgment of heart. In the last days, we shall have to pass through the judgments of truth, of character and of heart. (14:179-80, October 3, 1964)

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2. The Binding of Satan

Teachings of Sun Myung Moon

The Kingdom of Heaven on earth is a restored world in which Satan can no longer instigate any activity. To realize this world, it is necessary for all humanity to eliminate their common base with Satan, restore their common base with God, and engage in give and take action with Him. The prophecy that in the Last Days God will confine Satan in a bottomless pit (Rev. 20.1-3) signifies that Satan will be utterly incapable of any activity, since there will no longer be any counterpart with whom Satan can relate. In order to eliminate our common base with Satan and be capable of judging him, we must understand the identity and crime of Satan and accuse him before God.

However, God endowed human beings and angels with freedom; therefore, He cannot restore them by force. Of their own free will, human beings are to bring Satan to voluntary submission by upholding the Word of God through fulfilling their responsibility. Only in this way can we be restored to the original ideal purposed by God at the creation. (Exposition of the Divine Principle, Fall 4.2)

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3. The Transformation of This World and the Renewal of Life in God

Teachings of Sun Myung Moon

The Bible states that in the Last Days the Lord will come to judge us. Catastrophic upheavals will occur, the sun and moon will fall from the heavens, and the earth will be destroyed. The concept of the Last Days is widespread among religions. In Buddhism it is called the Age of the Extinction of the Dharma. In Christianity we call it the Last Days.

Why should there be a Last Days? The world planned by the absolute God must be an absolute world. Once it begins it should last forever. We surmise that it was not God’s original plan to bring the Last Days upon this world. Rather, because evil entered the world as a consequence of the Fall, the Last Days became necessary… God cannot abandon this fallen world. He must restore the world to its original state.

Therefore, the Last Days means one era passes and a new era arrives. If in the Last Days, because of Satan, God were to destroy the sun, the moon and the earth which He Himself created, He would be a God of failure. The sun and the moon are already resentful enough that they must shine upon evil humankind. Theirs would be a miserable fate if God destroyed them in the Last Days…

Actually, the end-times is when humanity will soar upward, after cleansing and renewing the entire course of history and setting up one victorious point as the consummation of human history. The words that promise the coming of the Last Days are words of blessing. The word “judgment” is not a bad word; it brings good news. The Last Days are the time to dissolve the thousands of years of resent­ment and sorrow buried so long in the hearts of God’s children. Therefore, the coming of the Day of Judgment is good news. (Way of Unification 1.4.1)

Despite its evil beginning, the world under the sovereignty of Satan must one day be transformed into the world where goodness reigns, where the three great blessings are fulfilled centered on God. The Messiah comes at this time of transformation.

The Last Days is this time, when the evil world under satanic sovereignty is transformed into the ideal world under God’s sovereignty. Hell on earth will be transformed into the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. Therefore, it will not be a day of fear when the world will be destroyed by global catastrophes, as many Christians have believed. In fact, it will be a day of joy, when the cherished hope of humankind, the desire of the ages, will be realized. (Exposition of the Divine Principle, Eschatology 3.1)

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New Revelation

The revelatory phenomena of the Last Days begin with a spiritual awakening. The twentieth century saw the birth of Pentecostalism, exhibiting speaking in tongues and other phenomena of the first Christian church. Throughout the world, many new sects have arisen based on special revelations to their founders. This spiritual awakening takes many forms, East and West.

Moreover, in the Jewish and Christian scriptures there are hints that God will reveal deeper aspects of His truth in the Last Days. They indicate that humankind’s current state of knowledge of God’s truth is imperfect and clouded by error. What of Islam, Buddhism and other religions? Truth is inexhaustible. Yet disputes over doctrines and teachings among the various denominations and sects have plagued each of the world’s great faith traditions. It stands to reason that in the Last Days a new expression of truth will come to clearly distinguish truth from error, put an end to religious disputes, and guide all humankind on the path to God.

It may be inevitable that many believers attached to conventional doctrines will reject the new truth when it first appears, as has happened at the birth of every religion. Nevertheless, if the truth is broad enough to embrace the essential teachings of all the world’s religions with respect and appreciation, it should attract support from all quarters and not become the basis for yet another new sect.

1. The Perfect and Complete Truth Will Be Revealed

Teachings of Sun Myung Moon

The Bible… renders important parts of the truth in symbols and in parables. Since these are open to various interpretations, there have arisen numerous disagreements among believers, causing them to divide into many denominations. The primary cause of denominational divisions lies in the character of the Bible, not in the people. The strife between denominations will only grow more intractable unless a new truth emerges which can elucidate the symbols and parables obscuring the essential truths of the Bible. Without this new truth, God’s providence, which comes through the unification of Christianity, can never reach its goal. This is why Jesus promised that in the Last Days he will give us the new Word of truth, “I have said this to you in figures; the hour is coming when I shall no longer speak to you in figures but tell you plainly of the Father.” (John 16.25)

Due to the disbelief of the people of his time, Jesus died on the cross without being able to teach all that was in his heart. As he said, “If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things?” (John 3.12) What is more, Jesus added, “I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now,” (John 16.12) disclosing how sorrowful he was about the inability of even his closest disciples to receive all that he wanted to share.

Nevertheless, the words that Jesus left unspoken will not remain forever a secret, but one day will be divulged through the Holy Spirit as a new expression of truth. As Jesus said, “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth; for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.” (John 16.13) (Exposition of the Divine Principle, Eschatology 5.1)

Because human beings fell, God’s word of promise could not appear as the word of fulfillment. That was the case in the Old Testament and the New Testament, which contain promises of a word yet to appear—the word of fulfillment. The lack of this word is a most serious matter for all humanity. Faithful believers seeking Heaven should consider this problem. It is a problem for Christianity, and it is a problem for anyone who would attempt to unify all the world’s religions.

Why is the world today full of division and strife? When Jesus appeared in the world, it also was beset with division. Jesus’ word was meant to end the division and strife. However, because the people of that time did not believe in Jesus’ word, the problems that he came to resolve were not entirely resolved. That is why today there should appear the Completed [Testament] Word: to bring order to this world filled with division and strife and to unite all doctrines and teachings. (3:326, February 2, 1958)

Amazing things occurred in the first church: speaking in tongues, spiritual works, prophesying, and more… These same spiritual phenomena will emerge in Christian history in the Last Days. Many who experience these things will be called crazy and heretics.

Yet the one upon whom the Spirit has been poured out cannot contest it. He may not know why it is happening, but Heaven will tell him. He opens his eyes and sees the spirit world. His actions are the actions of a spiritual being. He sees, thinks and behaves totally different from you. To you he may appear insane, but consider: did Jesus look like an intelligent man? In the eyes of his contemporaries he was a benighted fool.

In the future, such spiritual phenomena will sweep across the world, the peoples and the churches. (6:184, April 26, 1959)

Among the disciples of Jesus, there was not one who was overly attached to the Old Testament Scriptures. Rather, they all responded to the spiritual experiences which they sensed through their inner minds. In the Last Days, people who lead an ardent life of prayer or who live by their conscience will feel intense anxiety in their hearts. This is because in their hearts they vaguely sense a spiritual calling and want to follow the providence of the new age, yet they have not come in contact with the new truth which can guide them to act accordingly. These are the chosen ones who, once they hear the new truth, will be awakened simultaneously in their spirits and intellects by spirit and truth. They will then fully understand God’s providential needs concerning the new age and will volunteer with great enthusiasm and delight.

We who are alive today are living in the Last Days. We should cultivate a humble heart and make the utmost effort to receive divine inspiration through prayer. We should not be strongly attached to conventional concepts, but rather should direct ourselves to be receptive to the Spirit, in order that we may find the new truth which can guide us to the providence of the new age. (Exposition of the Divine Principle, Eschatology 5.2)

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2. The Truth of the New Revelation Eclipses the Truths of Former Dispensations

Teachings of Sun Myung Moon

People need religion in order to seek the Ultimate Reality and realize goodness in accordance with the inclination of the original mind. Thus, the purpose of every religion is identical. However, religions have appeared in different forms according to their various missions, the cultures in which they took root, and their particular historical periods. Their scriptures have taken different forms for similar reasons. All scriptures have the same purpose: to illuminate their surroundings with the light of truth. Yet when a brighter lamp is lit, the old lamp is outshone and its mission fades. Because religions lack the power to guide modern people out of the dark valley of death into the full radiance of life, there must emerge a new expression of truth that can radiate a new and brighter light. (Exposition of the Divine Principle, Introduction)

In the Last Days, Jesus said, “the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven.” (Matt. 24.29) How are we to understand this verse? It is written that Joseph, the eleventh of the twelve sons of Jacob, had a dream:

Then he dreamed another dream, and told it to his brothers, and said, “Behold, I have dreamed another dream; and behold, the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” But when he told it to his father and to his brothers, his father rebuked him, and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall I and your mother and your brothers indeed come to bow ourselves to the ground before you?” (Gen. 37.9-10)

When Joseph later became the prime minister of Egypt, his parents and brothers bowed down before him, as the dream had foretold. In his dream, the sun and moon symbolized the parents, while the stars symbolized their children. As will be explained, Jesus and the Holy Spirit are the True Parents who came to give rebirth to humanity in place of Adam and Eve. Therefore, in this prophecy from Matthew, the sun and moon represent Jesus and the Holy Spirit, while the stars represent the faithful believers who are their children. Elsewhere, Jesus is likened to the true light because he came as the incarnation of the Word and shone forth the light of truth. (John 1.9, 14) Here, the sunlight means the light of the words of Jesus, and the moonlight means the light of the Holy Spirit, who came as the Spirit of truth. (John 16.13)

For the sun to be darkened and the moon to lose its light means that the New Testament Word given by Jesus and the Holy Spirit will lose its luster. How can the Word as revealed in the New Testament possibly lose its light? The Old Testament Word was eclipsed when Jesus and the Holy Spirit came and gave us the New Testament Word, which fulfilled the Old Testament Word. (2 Cor. 3.7-11) Likewise, when Christ returns and gives the new truth in order to fulfill the New Testament Word and build a new heaven and new earth, (Rev. 21.1) the Word which he gave at his first coming will lose its light. It is said that the Word will lose its light because, with the coming of a new era, the period of the mission of the old truth will have lapsed.

The prophecy that the stars will fall from heaven signifies that in the Last Days many faithful Christian believers will make a misstep and fall from God’s grace. At the time of Jesus, the leaders of the Jewish people were all yearning for the coming of the Messiah, but they met their downfall when they did not recognize Jesus as the Messiah and opposed him. Likewise, Christians who have been anxiously awaiting the return of Jesus are likely to make the same misjudgment and fall when he actually returns.

Jesus asked, “Nevertheless, when the Son of man comes, will he find faith on earth?” (Luke 18.8) On another occasion he said he would declare to devout believers, “I never knew you; depart from me, you evildoers.” (Matt. 7.23) Jesus gave these warnings to the Christians of the Last Days because he foresaw that they would be likely to disbelieve and trespass against him at his Second Advent. (Exposition of the Divine Principle, Eschatology 3.2.5)

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Recognizing the Day of the Lord

How can we recognize whether the Last Days are at hand? Numerous millenarian movements have appeared in history proclaiming the Lord’s coming, often leaving their followers disappointed when the appointed hour came and went without seeing the expected event. Part of the problem turns on the nature of what is expected: will it be a supernatural cataclysm with the Lord riding in on the clouds, or a natural process occurring over months and years like a change of seasons?

Some scripture passages discourage such speculation, saying that it is not for humans to know the details of God’s plan. They caution us not to believe easily in rash claims, otherwise ‘false Christs’ might lead many credulous people astray. Other passages call for faith and patience, warning that only those who have prepared well will remain standing to greet the returning Lord.

Another group of passages have been widely interpreted as a basis for calculating the date of the Messiah’s coming. Among them, we have selected passages from Christian and Jewish sources that speak of a Seventh Millennium, a millennium of Sabbath rest, as these are in agreement with Father Moon’s teaching about the millennial age, the ‘Completed Testament Age,’ that is to begin at the end of 6,000 years of biblical history since Adam.

Finally, we look at Father Moon’s teaching about the world-historical changes of the twentieth century that presage the Second Coming, rooted in the Bible’s teaching that the end will not come until the Gospel has been preached to all nations.

1. No One Knows When the Last Days Will Arrive, Making Speculation Fruitless

Teachings of Sun Myung Moon

Some Bible verses teach that you should not believe anyone who comes with news of the Last Days. Although a preacher may sweat and pour his heart out, do not believe him. Do not even believe me, the person who stands here speaking to you. You do not know if what I say is the truth or a lie. In the Last Days you will not be able to trust even your parents, brothers or sisters, so how can you trust a stranger?

At this time you need confidence to discern these matters with your heart. Discern each message with your heart, and reject it if your heart tells you that it is wrong. Your heart knows. But what if your heart is too clouded to discern properly? Anoint your head with oil, go into an isolated room and pray seriously to find the truth.

There are countless denominations and preachers who say, “Follow me.” Who is the one whom God has prepared? Which church has created the best environment to welcome the Lord and a foundation where he can come and work? Are these people equipped to build a world filled with the Lord’s teachings? Have you prayed about these things? Most people are not even aware that they are in a rut that will kill them, and yet they go on blabbing with their mouths open. (9:265, June 5, 1960)

Although Jesus said that the Lord would come like a thief, (Rev. 3.3) it is also written that for those in the light, the Lord will not come covertly, like a thief. (1 Thess. 5.4) When we reflect upon the events at Jesus’ First Coming, we realize that he came like a thief to the priests and scribes who were in darkness, but to the family of John the Baptist, which was in the light, God plainly revealed Jesus’ birth beforehand. When Jesus was born, God divulged this secret to the three wise men, Simon, Anna and the shepherds…

The secret of the time, place and manner of his return will be revealed to the faithful people who are vigilant, that they may prepare for the day of the Second Advent. In the providence of restoration, God always revealed to His prophets what He would do before He carried it out. (Exposition of the Divine Principle, Second Advent)

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2. Unless People Prepare Well, They Will Not Recognize the Day When It Arrives

Teachings of Sun Myung Moon

In the Last Days, where can you find the Will of God? Where can you find the truth, love and life of God? Would that all people find the one at the center that Will; he is the hope of all humanity.

But how can you find him? You must rectify your mind and purify it. If you make such preparations, then even if you are not seeking him, one day he will find you.

It is your responsibility to distinguish truth from falsehood. Do not expect that God will teach you. If God were to teach the truth, He would have to turn around and say it was false.13 Accordingly, human beings must discern the truth on their own. They must be determined to seek it on their own and find it on their own. Learn from the Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins: of the ten who prepared their lamps only five could receive the Lord. (2:136, March 17, 1957)

How does the Lord come? In history, Jesus came through Judaism, the First Israel. But because it failed him, this time the Lord comes through Christianity, the Second Israel.

How, then, will he come? Many Christians believe the Bible’s teaching that the Lord will come on the clouds. They have not heard that the Lord might come as a human being. However, as the Day approaches, people moved by the Spirit will testify to his coming in the flesh. Who will testify? They will be women more than men.

This current revival began with older ladies, women over sixty and seventy years old… who testified that the Lord would come as a human being, as Heaven directed them to prepare for the Last Days. (208:306, November 21, 1990)

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3. The Seventh Millennium of Sabbath Rest

Teachings of Sun Myung Moon

In the Old Testament Age, God taught the people through His servants and angels. In the New Testament Age, He worked through His Son. From then on, He works through the Holy Spirit. (10:197, October 2, 1960)

During the two-thousand-year period from Adam to Abraham, people had not yet fulfilled sufficient indemnity conditions to receive God’s Word directly. At most, fallen people made indemnity conditions through offering sacrifices; but in doing so, they laid the foundation for the next period when God could begin to work His providence of restoration based on the Word. Hence, this period is called the age of the providence to lay the foundation for the Word.

During the two-thousand-year period from Abraham to Jesus, humanity’s spirituality and intellect developed to the formation stage based on the Word revealed in the Old Testament. Hence, this period is called the formation stage of the providence, or the Old Testament Age.

During the two-thousand-year period from Jesus until the Second Coming, humanity’s spirituality and intellect developed to the growth stage based on the Word revealed in the New Testament. Hence, this period is called the growth stage of the providence, or the New Testament Age.

During the period when the providence of restoration is to be completed after the Second Coming of Christ, humanity’s spirituality and intellect are to develop through the completion stage based on the Completed Testament Word, which will be given for the fulfillment of the providence of restoration. Hence, this period is called the completion stage of the providence, or the Completed Testament Age. (Exposition of the Divine Principle, Restoration 2.2.1)

Paul said in I Corinthians 13, “And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.” We human beings, however, lost hope and faith through the Fall. By losing hope and faith, we also lost God-centered love. The six-thousand-year history of the providence of restoration was for the sake of restoring this love…

Examining these six thousand years, in the Old Testament Age people exerted effort in hope. In the New Testament Age people made effort in search of faith. The coming Completed Testament Age is the age for making effort in search of love.

In the Old Testament Age, circumcision was the condition made by the chosen people as they lived in hope. In the New Testament Age, baptism of water and the fire of the Holy Spirit established faith before God. In the coming Completed Testament Age, you will be able to enter into a loving relationship with God by receiving His seal of love. (5:108, January 4, 1959)

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4. Signs of the Times

Teachings of Sun Myung Moon

Through the benefit of the providence, the living God has now drawn near to us. From now on, people will have many spiritual experiences that they could not have earlier. They will communicate with the transcendent world. Through these frequent spiritual experiences, directly and indirectly, the transcendent world will influence people on earth. Especially people who are moved and inspired by God and the works of good spirits will develop their spiritual senses to center on God. Their character will go through a major transformation. People whose character is thus transformed to fit the heavenly way are the true people whom God has longed to see. (February 6, 2003)

As the time of the True Parents’ advent draws near, all the nations in the world are inspired to join in brotherhood. Hence, after the Second World War the victorious countries liberated the defeated nations. They felt towards them like elder brothers. In a family, when the elder brother beats up his younger brother, afterwards he feels sorry for him and wants to deal kindly with him lest his father punish him. That is why the end of the Second World War saw events unprecedented in history. History unfolded in this way with the hope and goal of meeting the True Parents… and to prepare their way. (51:354, December 5, 1971)

The world’s cultural spheres are converging toward one global cultural sphere based on one religion. Concurrently, nations are moving toward forming an apparatus for international governance, having progressed from the League of Nations to the United Nations. Today, people are envisioning plans for a world government. In the sphere of economics, the world is moving in the direction of establishing one international market. Highly developed transportation and communication technology have overcome the separation of time and space. People today can travel and communicate with each other almost as if they were all living in the same village. People of all races, from East and West, can meet with one another as easily as if they were members of a large family. People on all six continents are crossing the oceans seeking friendship and brotherly love. However, a family can be formed only when there is a father and a mother; only then can true brotherly love arise. Only when Christ comes again as the Parent of humanity will all people join together in one great family and live harmoniously in the global village.

As these events unfold, we may know that today is surely the Last Days. There is yet one final gift that history must present to humanity: it is the universal teaching which can bind together all the strangers of the global village into one family through the love and guidance of the same parents. (Exposition of the Divine Principle, Eschatology 4.3)

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The Messiah

Scriptures of many religions speak of a coming leader who will consum­mate the fulfillment of the divine will on earth. He will manifest in his person the righteousness and compassion of God, bring about the final defeat of evil, and establish the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. The Hebrew title Messiah—Christ in Greek—means “anointed one,” that person specially chosen by God for this mission and empowered to accomplish it.

While the term Messiah is specific to only Judaism and Christianity, prophecies that a leader will come and accomplish such a mission are nearly universal. Buddhists anticipate the coming of the Maitreya Buddha, and Hindu prophecies speak of a future avatar named Kalki. Muslims expect that the second advent of Jesus will be as a Muslim Imam, and Shiite Muslims look to a future Imam Mahdi. Zoroastrian scriptures prophesy the coming of the Saoshyant, and Confucian texts speak of a True Man who will bring peace to the world by perfectly instituting the Way of Confucius. Nevertheless, as this world is growing smaller and cultures increasingly interrelated, the task of world salvation should encompass all religions. Hence it is likely that God will send one person to fulfill all these religious hopes.

The next group of passages offer some specific prophecies about the Messiah’s coming, along with samples of Father Moon’s extensive teaching on these matters. Will the Messiah come supernaturally, as it were on the clouds, or naturally, born and raised as a human being on earth? Does the Messiah come in glory, or does he take the road of suffering and humiliation as did Jesus before him? Is the Messiah uniquely divine, or does he appear as the “first fruits” of a new, God-like humanity? How is the Messiah likened to Adam, and in what sense is he a new Adam? What is the meaning of the Marriage of the Lamb? Does the Messiah have a special mission to Israel?

The final group of passages consists of prophecies by Nostradamus and Asian mystics that speak of the Messiah appearing in the East, and even specifically in Korea. Especially the Korean prophecies relate directly to Father Moon’s self-understanding of his messianic mission.

1. The Messiah and Savior Promised by All Religions

Teachings of Sun Myung Moon

Today the Jewish people long to see the Messiah and Christians also long to see the Messiah. They both wish for the Messiah. Will the Messiah of the Jews and the Messiah of the Christians be two different people? Will there be two different messiahs? No, there will be only one Messiah. Why? Because God’s Will is one. Defeating Satan and fulfilling God’s Will have to be done by one person. Hence, there can be only one Messiah. (73:206, September 18, 1974)

Christianity looks forward to the return of Christ; Buddhism hopes for the return of Buddha as the Maitreya, while Confucianism predicts the appearance of the True Man. Each religion describes in its way the return of the Lord.

When he comes, he will not simply restate the words of the Bible or repeat the words of an already established faith. The returning Lord awaited by these religions will come with a new truth of higher content. (7:198, September 6, 1959)

In God’s sight, the world is one, only one. Therefore, the time will come when God will establish one prophet for the entire world. He could be an Asian; he could be a Westerner; he could be an African; he could be anyone. Whoever he is, this prophet will have a worldwide responsibility.

Through his leadership, the diverse religions of humankind will converge… eventually forming one world religion. The four major religions existing today will unite in one line, once they have ceased emphasizing the discordant elements that have kept them apart.

This will require the efforts of a central figure to pave the path for their unification, from bottom to top, and save all people on the planet Earth. God recognizes that person as the Messiah; therefore, we on earth proclaim that he is the Messiah. He comes as a universal religious leader, bringing a teaching that connects with the teachings of all religions.

The Messiah comes with a clear mission: to complete God’s Will by fulfilling the purpose for which God created humankind. The failure of Adam and Eve broke this purpose, preventing God from establishing His Kingdom in the beginning. Therefore, the Messiah comes with the mission to attain the perfection that Adam did not attain and to complete the Will of God that Adam did not complete. Thus, the Messiah comes to consummate the Will of God on earth. (97:276, February 27, 1977)

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2. The Mission of the Messiah— to Vanquish Evil and Establish God’s Kingdom

Teachings of Sun Myung Moon

The Lord and Savior is coming! What will the Lord do when he comes? He is to rule the nation and the world. Will he rule arbitrarily, governing any way he pleases? No, he will rule with truth. Wherever in the world the Lord travels, he will govern with truth.

The Savior wants to make a world that is pleasing to God. More than that, he wants to make a world that rejoices the conscience. After all, since the human conscience originates from God, it knows what is pleasing to God and desires what God desires. In that world, there will be no racism or wars between nations. There will be no discrimination based on religion, ethnic background or cultural tradition. Instead, there will be universal agreement about what goodness is, and it will be in accord with God’s view.

The day when we can march forward to such a world is coming; it is the time of the Savior’s advent on earth. Christians call it the day of Christ’s Second Coming. (160:345, June 15, 1969)

The mission of the Messiah is to complete the will of God. He comes to destroy Satan’s evil sovereignty over this world. He comes to repair broken humanity and restore them to their original state of goodness and perfection. God sends him as the sovereign who will rule over the entire universe. (73:204, September 18, 1974)

Because the work of God is realistic and physical, the Messiah’s coming on the clouds does not make sense. Yet interpreting the Bible literally, many Christians think, “Jesus will descend on the clouds! It will be done by God’s power!” If that were true, if God could use supernatural power to do anything, then why did He need to send Jesus? Why would He call people to faith? In that case, God could simply create the Kingdom by Himself, without waiting for human beings to respond in faith… Yet, we know that even the omniscient and omnipotent God has been laboring for six thousand years and even longer to advance His providence of salvation without being able to send the [returning] Messiah until today…

Many Christians think that the Messiah will solve all the world’s problems in an instant. They do not understand that when the Christ returns he will have to plough the ground and sow the seeds again. (90:141, December 25, 1976)

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3. The Mission of the Messiah—To Restore True Human Beings and True Families

Teachings of Sun Myung Moon

The man who comes as the Second Advent of the Lord is the primary example of a true individual. He is the first true man since the beginning of creation. (15:278, October 30, 1965)

The Lord will come as the True Parent. Because the human ancestors fell, they became false parents, and all humanity from birth has inherited the blood and flesh of these false parents.

Coming as the True Parent, the Messiah will unite humanity with God’s love. Adam and Eve were supposed to marry in the love of God, but because of the Fall they could not. Now, six thousand years later, the Messiah resolves this problem by coming as the True Parent. He comes as the Bridegroom and receives his Bride. Christians refer to this as the Marriage of the Lamb. (32:266, July 19, 1970)

What is the mission of the coming Lord? He opens the path for humanity to receive God’s love. Due to the fall, we lost our True Parents. Our ancestors were not supposed to fall; rather, they should have attained perfection and been installed as humanity’s parents of goodness. Christ at the Second Advent reestablishes that position and hence enables humanity to receive the divine love they can have as members of the True Parents’ beloved family.

Which is the greater happiness: When God’s beloved sons and daughters live on earth as a family and go to heaven as a family? Or when a believing mother goes to heaven while the unbelieving father goes to hell—each family member to his or her own separate place? Truly, every human being should enter heaven, beginning with the parents and extending to all the children. That way, the whole family enters, the whole tribe enters, the whole nation enters, and the whole world enters.

Hence, these new Parents will give birth to a worldwide family. Their family relationship will be the basis for a new culture and tradition, rooted in a new teaching of love, which never before existed in human history. Once it makes its appearance on this planet Earth, this complicated sinful world will be transformed into the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. (52:324, February 3, 1972)

My teaching is that you should stand in the same position as Jesus and become a messiah to your tribe. (79:104, June 22, 1975)

The Messiah establishes the model for the ideal family of true love, which should expand to all families. All individuals are to be kings and messiahs. All individuals are to become true parents.

God is the True Parent, the True Teacher and the True Owner. Inherit the teaching of True Parents by practicing true love. Fulfill your role as a true teacher. Become like God, become the true owner. Truly, all my teachings are to enable you to fulfill the Ideal of the Three Great Subject Partners. (222:140, October 28, 1991)

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4. The Messiah’s Suffering Course

Teachings of Sun Myung Moon

Since Christ at the Second Advent must restore through indemnity the course of the providence of restoration left unfinished at Jesus’ coming, he may have to follow a similar course. Jesus encountered disbelief among the Jewish people and had to walk a course of bitter suffering. Likewise, if Christians, the Second Israel, reject Christ at the Second Advent, he will have to go through tribulations comparable to those Jesus suffered. He will have to repeat Jesus’ painful course and restore it through indemnity, but this time during his earthly life. For this reason, Jesus said, “But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.” (Luke 17.25) (Exposition of the Divine Principle, Moses and Jesus 3.3.2)

Christian leaders today, like the Jewish leaders of Jesus’ day, will probably be the first to persecute Christ at the Second Advent. Jesus came to found a new era which would fulfill the words of the Old Testament proclaimed by the prophets. He did not limit himself to repeating the words of the Old Testament, but gave new words of truth fit for the new era. The Jewish priests and scribes criticized Jesus’ words and deeds based on their narrow understanding of the Old Testament Scriptures. Their mistaken judgment led them to deliver Jesus to the cross.

Similarly, the purpose of Christ at the Second Advent is to build a new heaven and a new earth (Rev. 21.1-4) upon the foundation of the spiritual salvation which had been laid by Christianity in the New Testament Age. When he returns, he will not merely repeat the words of the New Testament given two thousand years ago, but will surely add new words of truth necessary for the founding of a new heaven and a new earth. However, those Christians of today whose minds are narrowly attached to the letter of the New Testament will criticize the words and deeds of Christ at his return based on their narrow understanding of the Scriptures. Therefore, it can be expected that they will brand the Lord a heretic and persecute him. This is why Jesus foretold that at the Second Advent, Christ would first suffer many things and be rejected by his generation. (Luke 17.25) (Exposition of the Divine Principle, Second Advent 4)

I, Reverend Moon, stood between God and Satan, always fighting to eliminate Satan. How could I proceed in this work without confronting Satan’s accusation? I took the burden of restitution on myself, taking the required indemnity as my portion of responsibility. This is the human portion of responsibility [to defeat Satan], which people were not able to fulfill until now.

Satan knows that is the responsibility of the Messiah; therefore he mobilized all of his forces to attack me. By enduring and overcoming these attacks, I could destroy Satan’s wall in the individual, the family, the tribe, the people, the nation, the world and the spirit world. It is the Messiah’s responsibility to go through the entire course of indemnity. (131:70-71, April 16, 1984)

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5. The Messiah Establishes Peace in the Middle East for Jews, Christians and Muslims

Teachings of Sun Myung Moon

Had Jesus completed the providence of restoration through indemnity, then married and formed a family, he could have established at once a foundation of marriage Blessings that would have brought the people of Israel into Heaven’s realm. Had he been able to go on to give the Blessing in Rome, he could have established the Kingdom of God on earth when he was in his forties.

Instead, Jesus was murdered. As a consequence, today the Israelis and Palestinians are fighting, although they are brothers. Originally, the world was supposed to have just one religion, one culture, one nation, and one realm of heart. Jesus came to make it so, but when he could not, then Islam came into being, Judaism came into being, and Christianity came into being. You need to know that these developments caused God much sorrow…

We have arrived at a time when Judaism, Islam, and Christianity should overcome their historical divisions and unite as one based on the Unification Principles. (August 15, 2003)

Jesus asks me, “Please, True Parents, save the people of Israel.” That is why I am telling you Christian leaders to take down the cross. Take down your crosses, and perishing Christianity will revive. The cross was the rack of punishment and death. It has no place in the religion of the resurrection. Ask Jesus what he thinks about it. (January 1, 2003)

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6. Prophecies of the Messiah’s Advent in the East

Teachings of Sun Myung Moon

The Korean people have long cherished a messianic hope, nurtured by the clear testimonies of their prophets. The First Israel believed in the testimonies of its prophets that the Messiah would come as their king, establish the Kingdom and bring them salvation. The Second Israel was able to endure an arduous path of faith due in part to their hope in the return of Christ. Similarly, the Korean people, the Third Israel, have believed in the prophecy that the Righteous King will appear and found a glorious and everlasting kingdom in their land. Clinging to this hope, they found the strength to endure their afflictions. This messianic idea among the Korean people was revealed through the Cheong Gam Nok, a book of prophecy written in the fourteenth century at the beginning of the Yi dynasty.

Because this prophecy foretold that a new king would emerge, the ruling class tried to suppress it. The Japanese colonial regime tried to stamp out this notion by burning the book and oppressing its believers. After Christianity became widely accepted, the idea was ridiculed as superstition. Nevertheless, this messianic hope still lives on, deeply ingrained in the soul of the Korean people. The hoped-for Righteous King foretold in the Cheong Gam Nok has the appellation Cheong Do Ryeong [The One Who Comes with the True Word of God]. In fact, this is a Korean prophecy of the Christ who is to return to Korea. Even before the introduction of Christianity to Korea, God had revealed through the Cheong Gam Nok that the Messiah would come to that land. (Exposition of the Divine Principle, Second Advent 3.3.4)

Just as the French prophet Nostradamus prophesied, and as is clearly recorded in one of the Orient’s greatest books of prophesies, Kyeok Am Yu Rok, Reverend Moon has come as the one who has received Heaven’s appointment. He is fulfilling the responsibilities of humanity’s True Parent and the King of Peace. (May 1, 2004)

The surprising fact is that in the spirit world, the Founders of the five major religions gathered and declared that God is the Parent of humankind. They declared that Reverend Moon is the Savior and Messiah, the Second Coming of the Lord, and the True Parent. They also affirmed that the Unification Principle is a message of peace for the salvation of humanity. They declared that its core teaching, that we live for the sake of others with love, transcends religion, nationality, and race, and that practicing its teaching of true love will complete the peaceful unification of the cosmos. They further resolved that they would attend the True Parents and unite with one accord, devoting themselves for the sake of God’s Kingdom and world peace. (July 11, 2003)

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The Kingdom of Heaven

The millennial Kingdom is an ideal world without evil or sin, a world in which God’s sovereignty is fully manifest. Hope for its advent can be found to some degree in every world religion, but it is most strongly expressed in the scriptures of Judaism and Christianity, as a firm promise of God. Sometimes the term Kingdom of Heaven denotes a spiritual ideal, a state of bliss in the afterlife (See Chapter 5: Heaven), but that sense of the term does not do justice to the most thoroughgoing eschatological visions. In this respect, Father Moon gives numerous clear teachings about the Kingdom to be established on earth. He has dedicated his life to fulfill God’s calling to build that kingdom—not as a future vision but as a realistic program of human renewal.

These passages survey the Kingdom of Heaven from several perspectives. First, it is a world of God’s absolute sovereignty. We note that this need not imply anything about the political system of such a world. No regime in history, even if it claimed to be instituting God’s theocratic rule, has come anywhere close to the Kingdom in the true sense. God’s dominion is by love, not political power. It is where goodness is vested with authority for its own sake, and God can rule through the hearts of good people.

Second, the Kingdom is a transfigured world—a new heaven and new earth—where all people live as one great human family. Giving and sharing is the norm; selfishness is unheard of. People know intimately the heart and will of God, rejoice in living by heaven’s norms, and have no inward impediments to doing good. It is a world of peace, where nations no longer make war and people enjoy a life free from crime or oppression.

Third, the Kingdom requires a transformation of the self. Even if the world were at peace, if we still felt conflicted and disturbed, we would not feel comfortable and might continue to dwell in a private hell. Likewise, even though we might live in the most delightful environment, we could not enjoy it if our family were full of conflict and strife. Father Moon teaches that the family is a fundamental unit of the Kingdom.

Fourth, the Kingdom is a very natural place, free of artificiality or the constraint of external laws, because the spontaneous promptings of the heart would all be good. It is a place of dazzling beauty, where people’s minds are like crystal, emanating divine light. Creation rejoices, as citizens of the Kingdom care for the environment with love and sensitivity to nature’s ways.

Finally, the Kingdom transcends death. When the earthly world and the spirit world are united, the barrier of death will come down, allowing people to freely communicate with their loved ones on the other side.

1. The World of God’s Sovereignty

Teachings of Sun Myung Moon

Once the sovereignty of Satan is expelled from the earth, then God, the eternal and absolute Being transcendent of time and space, will establish His sovereignty and His truth. In that day, God’s truth will be absolute, and hence the purpose which it serves and the standard of goodness which it sets will both be absolute. This cosmic, all-encompassing truth will be firmly established by Christ at his Second Advent. (Exposition of the Divine Principle, Fall 4.3)

Did you find your original homeland? You did not. Actually, you never had it. Your original homeland is the Kingdom of God on earth. Is there any nation on earth that can qualify as the nation of the original homeland? No, there is no such nation. Then, where can we expect to establish the original home nation? It should encompass the whole planet Earth. It shall be the Kingdom of God on earth and the Kingdom of God in heaven as well.

Three major elements are required to establish a country: sovereignty, land, and people. Does God have sovereignty anywhere in the world today? No! Does God have a land to govern? No! Are there any people in the world that allows itself to be governed by God? No! Therefore, we do not have our homeland. Eventually, God should have sovereignty over a nation called Earth and a people called Humanity. Until that day, this world is actually not a fit place for human beings to live. (155:26, October 6, 1964)

Father! Please bestow blessings upon this people and blessings upon all the people of the world.

Please resolve the grief of the many spirit people waiting in heaven for the day of the Second Advent.

May it quickly be realized—the world which Thou art able to govern, the Kingdom of peace on the earth, resolving Thy grief and Jesus’ grief.

Earnestly, earnestly we ask Thee: may the day quickly come when we can return glory to Thee and rejoice together with Thee, when the earth is filled with glory and victory for eternity. (16:52, December 26, 1965)

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2. A New World of Peace and Joy

Teachings of Sun Myung Moon

God had a purpose when He created human beings, and if that purpose had been fulfilled, this world would be one great human family, unified in love, where all humanity would live in peace as brothers and sisters attending God as their Parent…

In the ideal world, each individual’s mind and body would be one, families would be one with each other, all ethnic groups would be one with each other, all nations would be one, the Orient and the Occident would be one, and God and humanity would be one. That is to say, the unified world is a world that fulfills God’s purpose of creation. (81:158)

“I exist for my family, my family exists for my community, my community exists for my nation, my nation exists for the world, and the world exists for God”: This is the principle of Heaven’s sovereignty. The whole world is God’s, but since you are living for God, the world is yours as well. What is God’s—the whole world—becomes yours. Isn’t it wonderful? When you offer what is yours for your family, your family offers itself for your nation, your nation for the world, and the world for God, then God gives everything to you. The whole world is yours; the entire universe is yours.

God’s ultimate desire is for humanity to establish the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. There God and human beings will be totally united, from the True Parents at the center expanding to true children, true tribes and true peoples. God will be our Father and we will be His children in a consecrated relationship that is free from sin, according to the holy Will of God that does not allow for sin. The Kingdom of Heaven on earth will be established only when we make a world where everyone lives for the sake of others. (69:89, October 20, 1973)

In the future there will be no more wars. Wars until now were useless fights for selfish ends. People fought simply to take from others. However, in the unified world established under God’s Kingship, everyone will live for the sake of others; therefore war will no longer be necessary. People will no longer want to take from their neighbors; instead your neighbors will try to give you so much that you will have to run away from them…

Laws will disappear. In a world where people govern themselves with love, they will automatically fulfill the law. When people live for the sake of each other, there will be no problems requiring recourse to the law. Higher and lower will become one, front and back will become one, left and right will become one—all will become one. (224:173, November 24, 1991)

The age is coming when God and humankind will live as one in the ideal world of creation, the world of heart. The age is coming when everyone will realize that living for the sake of others holds greater eternal value than living for the self. The blind age of selfish life will pass away as we build an altruistic world of interdependence, mutual prosperity and universally shared values. For this purpose, all should have correct knowledge about God and the spirit world and testify to the world about the heavenly path; then we can lead humanity appropriately to establish the universal family. Therefore, let us work to establish God’s fatherland and hometown, the Kingdom of God on earth and in heaven, by investing ourselves for the sake of others with absolute love, unchanging love and eternal true love, looking to the day when we can offer all heavenly sovereignty to God. (December 27, 2002)

In the ideal society or nation, all people, transcending nationality and skin color, will cooperate with one another to live in harmony and happiness. With the awareness that they are all children of the one God, stemming from the one True Parents, they will relate as brothers and sisters in one global family. Blessed central families, who have restored their lineage, the realms of ownership and heart, and who are united with the True Parents’ language and culture, will take the lead in establishing a world of freedom, peace and unity. There, all people will live in interdependence, promote mutual prosperity and share universal values, immersed in the culture of God’s heart.26

Therefore, this world will have nothing to do with corruption, injustice, war or crime. Humankind will eliminate the sources of pollution in the global environment, and love and protect nature as its true owner. People will labor and perform their daily tasks joyfully and with a loving heart, always aiming to serve and benefit others. This will gradually equalize people’s standards of living. Education will include highly developed technological and scientific material; but before knowledge, sports or technology, priority will be given to education of the heart and norms of blessed family life, in order to raise the chosen people who can follow the way of Heaven. (269:156-57, April 3, 1995, New Hope Farm Declaration)

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3. A World of Godly People Who Possess the Kingdom within Themselves

Teachings of Sun Myung Moon

The ideal society is a place where the ideal of love is perfectly realized. It is a beautiful world, where people who have substantiated God’s love in themselves live in complete satisfaction of heart. Their faces are beautiful, radiating eternal light. All perfected human beings shine with such internal beauty. (Way of God’s Will 1.8)

If you have not ended the fighting within yourself, then even if you lived in a world where people ceased to fight and all the nations were at peace, you would still feel out of place, without any peace or happiness. The problem is in you. You must first solve the fundamental problem within yourself. Only then, when you encounter an ideal environment in the world outside of you, will you feel its peace seeping into your heart and its happiness encompassing your soul. Only when you create the foundation for the Kingdom of Heaven within yourself will you experience freedom and happiness in the world around you. Your outward circumstances may be perfect, but if you have not resolved your personal problems, you will not be able to fit in with those circumstances. You will not be fully happy. (20:167, June 9, 1968)

First, you have to establish the Kingdom of Heaven as an individual. Next, you have to establish the Kingdom of Heaven as a couple. What is the Kingdom of Heaven as a couple? It is the state of matrimony where a man and woman are totally united as one. It is not like a typical marriage where in the beginning you tell your spouse, “I love you,” but after a few years you say good-bye and divorce… A heavenly couple is inseparable; they could lose their legs by exploding dynamite but still keep embracing with their upper bodies! That is possible only with true love. To achieve that kind of love, your mind and body must be completely united. Then you can attain the Kingdom of Heaven as a couple.

After you realize the Kingdom of Heaven as a couple, would you be satisfied? No, you would want to realize the Kingdom of Heaven as a family. When father and mother become totally one and love each other, their son will think that he wants to marry a bride just like his mother, and the daughter will think that she wants to marry a man just like her father. The father and mother acting as a plus guide their sons and daughters as a minus: that family unity is the Kingdom of Heaven as a family.

Once we realize the Kingdom of Heaven in our families, finally we will be able to establish the Kingdom of Heaven on earth, which is God’s ideal. (96:29, January 1, 1978)

The original Garden was to be an ideal place. There the spirit world and physical world would be open to each other, and the feelings of siblings could be communicated freely all the way to the ends of the universe. It would not be like the present-day world, divided among ethnic sentiments, where national sovereignties clash, and where ideologies and religions are at odds with each other. In that world, people would discuss all matters from the heart. The heart does not discriminate by race, nationality, or other such things. Hence, people would easily be able to reconcile their differences, such as economic disparities and cultural misunderstandings. (7:37, July 5, 1959)

From perfected individuals and families up to the perfection of the cosmos, a beautiful world will emerge—the Kingdom of Heaven on earth and in spirit world. It will be a world of freedom. God also will be free, and He will be able to visit your family anytime He desires. Until now, there were barriers everywhere, blocking everyone from going where they wished. Now all the walls and barriers that Satan created will be torn down and everywhere will be level. Then God will form the same perpendicular connection with everyone. Around that ninety-degree axis, everything—front and back, left and right, high and low—will relate freely. All will enter the realm of liberation and unification. That is the Kingdom of Heaven. (313:243, December 19, 1999)

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4. A Kingdom Encompassing Both the Earthly World and the Spirit World, Where There Is No Death

Teachings of Sun Myung Moon

The Kingdom of Heaven that God desires is not established only in the spirit world. The Kingdom is established first on the earth and then in the spirit world. Since the spirit world is formed by spirits of people who formerly lived on the earth, the spirit world and the physical world are inextricably linked.

If you want to have a substantial foundation to realize the teaching of the Kingdom of Heaven, you must live in accordance with the principles of heaven as well as the laws of human beings. By demonstrating the principles of heaven in your daily life, you connect heaven’s laws with human laws. Furthermore, the principles of heaven do not only concern individual life; they contain the principles for families, societies, nations, the world and cosmos. You must realize these principles of heaven in yourselves. (2:226, June 2, 1957)

When as individuals we make God’s love our love, and when we extend that to families, tribes, peoples and nations, we can establish the Kingdom of God on earth and the Kingdom of God in heaven. Upon that earthly foundation of true love, a corresponding foundation will form in the spirit world. When that foundation on earth reaches the national level, then the spirit world will also have a national foundation. Then it will automatically open and become one with the earth. (134:217, July 20, 1985)

The Kingdom of Heaven on earth will not be established unless we prepare a foundation on the earth through which we can move between physical and spirit worlds, beyond the limitation of death. Without the Kingdom of Heaven on earth, there will be no Kingdom of Heaven in the spirit world. You should arrange things in such a way that after you go to spirit world, you can come back to earth at will. That is the way to live in the Kingdom of Heaven on earth and create the Kingdom of Heaven in heaven simultaneously. (146:223, July 1, 1986)

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