Things Found Most Important In Leading A Life Of Faith

Reverend Sun Myung Moon
Los Angeles, California
December 12,1971
Master Speaks
Translated by: Mrs. Won Pok Choi

We cannot deny that the first human ancestors fell somehow. Due to the fall of man, history started from a point of sadness. The saddest thing at the starting point was to have to depart from God. God was to be the center of our happiness, life and all things. Due to the fall, happiness, life and all things were cut off from mankind, and we fell into deep despair, darkness, and unhappiness. With the loss of their vision, men began to feel tears in their eyes. With those tears, human despair, in utter darkness came to be. God is our Father, or parent. Can you imagine that His sorrow was far above that which humankind felt? God could also feel tears over the loss of His children. Originally, man was created to be happy, full of life and joy before God as his parent. These people were to have existed for the glory of God. But, because man fell, the opposite world was produced, and was of great sorrow and grief to God.

Man from the beginning, when he fell, went over into the bosom of Satan and left God. God felt like beating Satan right away. Why couldn't He do that? God wanted to forgive man, but He was not in the position to forgive man. We must imagine this: suppose there was another man who did not fall; another brother of Adam, who, standing intact from the fall, would go to Father and beg Him to forgive his brother; what would have happened? For example, if that man, without having fallen, would go to God and ask Him to forgive his brother for the fall, and if he would tell Father that he would help by taking on any responsibility himself; he would be willing to be beaten or anything else for the sake of the fall of his brother, God could have forgiven him. This was supposed to be the way of forgiveness, or salvation of the fallen man.

Man, who has not fallen, in another sense, can be said to be the man who has nothing to do with Satan. If God has that kind of man, He can develop His providence of salvation with that man in the center, with him as the central figure of His providence of salvation. Our Principle tells us that this type of person is Abel, or one who is in the position of Abel. Abel is supposed to be the person who can receive perfect love from God. He must be able to be triumphant over Satan. He must be able to sacrifice himself for mankind.

We can see that even from Adam's family this kind of providence has been developed. Abel was to sacrifice without being sacrificed by Satan; his sacrifice on the altar was offered to God. He was not to be sacrificed by being killed, but he was to be a living sacrifice so that God could work through him. In Noah, we also see that he sacrificed himself while he was in the love of God; he sacrificed himself for the benefit of mankind. He was scoffed at by people, but he worked on and on for the salvation of man through his faith in God. There was a feeling of emptiness in the bosom of God when God called Abraham from the bosom of Terah, the seller of idols. Abraham was to be called out from the bosom of Satan on the foundation of his faith. He was willing to be sacrificed for the sake of mankind, and then, through him, God could change the providence of Satan, bringing it into the love of God. After Abraham had won the battle against Satan, he could perform the role of savior in the love of God. First of all, he had to leave his home, his homeland, his native place and everything else. That is the starting point of sacrifice.

Jacob did the same thing. It is the formula; Jacob also left his family, went to Haran, and went through a lot of suffering in order to be the son of God and the center of the providence. In order for him to come out of the satanic world, he had to leave everything behind him. By doing that, he could set up the condition of having won victory over Satan, and then he could enter into God's love and be given the qualifications to save the whole of mankind through his sacrifice. In this case, he is in the position of the brother who would have been intact from sin, or would have nothing to do with Satan or with sin. With him in that position, humankind, through faith and through believing in him, could be saved and come to the same position to be loved by God and to sacrifice in order to save. In that case, he would have been beaten or sacrificed in the position of, or in the place of, Adam, so he could play the role of Adam as the victor, Adam without sin. So he was in the position to be loved more than Adam was before the fall. From that point, he would get over the line of the fall and go up and up. Jacob was the man who had played the role of the savior on the family level.

From that point beyond the level of the family, the salvation on the level of race started after having won victory over Satan, and the Israelites were chosen as the nation of God's care and love. Israel, the word Israel, meant victory over Satan. Israel could liberate God from His sorrow over man's fall. For the first time, God was happy. This was how the chosen nation of the Israelites came to be. But, the Israelites, the chosen nation, were again beaten by Satan, and with that scar, God could not save mankind through that nation, so He had to sacrifice the nation in the slavery in Egypt. By going through that great slavery, God could lead the Israelites as the chosen nation again. He could liberate the Israelites, the chosen nation, out of Egypt, out of Satan's hand, and develop His providence further. Moses was in the position of Abel, representing the nation of God's choice. Moses was in the position of Abel, or in the position of the brother without fall, who would go to God and ask forgiveness for his brother. Through Moses' faith and sacrifice, God could save the nation with Moses as the central figure. As you know, he killed the Egyptian who irritated his nation. In that case, he was in the position of Adam, who could have won the victory over Satan. Moses, when he killed the Egyptian, was in the position of having liberated God's heart from sorrow, because God felt like killing the fallen man when man fell, but could not do that. With Moses doing that, God was liberated from the feeling of long cherished resentment.

Master is going to speak of how God set up Moses as the central figure, even though he killed a man. By killing a fallen man, represented by the Egyptian, Moses could liberate God's heart. Do you know what I mean? God could have killed the man of fall; He felt like killing, or just annihilating man, but He had wisdom not to do that, in order for man to develop the providence of salvation. God had cherished the feeling of resentment in His heart to kill fallen man, but by Moses' killing of the Egyptian (who represented fallen man), God was liberated from that feeling. So God, instead of hating Moses, loved Moses all the more and set him up as the central figure of that dispensation. Jacob did the same thing on the individual level when he wrestled with the angel and won victory over the angel and could develop the salvation of mankind on the family level. But Moses was doing that on the tribal or national level; by conquering Satan, by coming into the love of God, and by sacrificing himself. After God's having liberated the nation of Israel from the hand of the Egyptians, or from the satanic world, they would have stood intact from the invasion of Satan from then on. God could then work through them until the perfect salvation of man.

They were supposed to be in the position of being with God alone, but they intermarried with other tribes, the seven tribes of the satanic world, so they lost the position as the central base. If they had kept intact from Satan, having nothing to do with the outside God could have sent a leader right away in a nation who would be far better than the leaders in outside world, and through him, God could have saved the nation. The Israelites should have been completely cut off, separated from Satan and consecrated by God, so that God could work through them. By sending Jesus as the central figure, God wanted to keep the nation intact from the hand of Satan, and then through that nation, He could save the whole of mankind. But, they failed again as a nation, and they fell into the hand of Satan again, so, God lost the nation of His choice. The Israelite nation should have been in the position of Adam before the fall, but they fell again, and by doing that, by their having fallen again, Jesus had to be sacrificed on the cross in place of the brother who would have gone to God and asked the forgiveness of his brother, but who was sacrificed in place of his fallen brother.

Jesus was supposed to save mankind, both on the spiritual and physical levels. But Jesus, having failed, meant that mankind could be saved only on the spiritual level. So, he lost himself, that is his flesh on the cross, and from then on, the physical salvation was left unaccomplished, and he had to come again to do it over from that level. He lost the national level of salvation through the fall of the nation. Before being able to save a nation, he was supposed to be able to develop the providence of salvation by saving the tribe; and before being able to do that, he had to be able to save man on the family level; and he had to be able to save an individual. God sent Jesus as the central figure, and by sending him again into the world, Jesus had to do things the other way around. With him in the center, he had to save people on the family level, and then on the tribal level, the national level, and the world level.

This is the situation of the Christian world. Presently, the world of Christianity must be able to separate itself from the satanic world and come into the love of God and sacrifice itself for the sake of the salvation of other people outside Christianity. But, they also, the people of the Christian system, have failed to restore and save man. The world of Christianity is now in the position of having failed to do that, because it is relating with Satan. As God has repeatedly had to do, He is now in the position of beating the world of Christianity and finding instead another central figure. Just as Joseph was the man of God's calling among the twelve brothers, there must be one denomination of Christians who can fight against Satan and sacrifice itself to God for the sake of mankind. God can save mankind through that denomination, and by doing that, God can save a nation as the chosen one, and from then on, He can develop His providence of salvation over the whole world. When (as in the olden days) the Israelites were one with Judaism on the national level, they were prepared to receive the savior. That denomination must play the same role.

Our Master, when he looked around the world, decided that there was not any such denomination which can fight against Satan and win the victory, and come into God's love and sacrifice itself for the sake of the whole nation and world. He has decided that kind of denomination could not be found, so he started his mission. He resolved to begin again, to perform the role. That is exactly how he started the Unification Movement. We have to come out of the satanic world first. We must have a different feeling from people in the outside world. We must be able to feel the love of God. We must hate what Satan loves. We must sacrifice ourselves for the sake of the whole world. With our Master in the center, if we individually win on the individual level, on the family level, on the tribal level, on the national level, and on the world wide level, we can form the third Israel, the chosen nation of the Israelites, spiritual Israelites, again; and through us, God can save the whole of mankind, both on the spiritual level and the physical too.

You, the members of the Unified Family must remember that you are in the position of the brother having nothing to do with Satan who would go to God and ask for the forgiveness of his brother's sins, and at least he would tell God that he would do anything; he would even sacrifice himself for the sake of his fallen brother. In that case, through you, God can save the world. In that case, you are in the position of Jesus, who, on the cross, sacrificed himself and could bless even the enemy. On that point is the feeling that he could sacrifice in order to save the fallen brother. He was intact from sin. Jesus gave up everything, did he not, in his lifetime? He gave up his happiness; he gave up his earthly powers; and he gave up everything which the worldly people would take for happiness. For the sake of mankind, he even sacrificed himself on the cross; but even on the cross, he could bless the men of sin instead of having resentment towards them. You must be in his position; to be willing to sacrifice yourself for the sake of your brother, who is struggling in sin. And then, the prospect is bright that mankind can be saved through you. In that case, God could not separate Himself from you, but help you.

Remember that this is the important formula: first, we have to be able to win victory over Satan, then we must come into God's love, and we must be able to sacrifice ourselves for the sake of wider levels, for the whole of mankind. This is the very Principle and formula of how to play the central role in the salvation of mankind by God.

Until now, Christianity has done that, without knowing the Principle and the precise background of how and what God wants them to do. Apart from Christianity, those saints, prophets, or great people of the world have done things similar to this. Even in the example of man's first great leader in history we find that he was a person who would not go with the world, who would not walk as other people do, but comes out of the modest role of history and stands on the side of God, on the side of goodness. Then he was under the protection of all the love of God. It is a fact that he was willing to sacrifice himself for the sake of his nation and for the whole world. That is why Jesus said, "If you want to lose your life, you will gain a life; but if you want to gain your life, you will lose it." It's a kind of paradox. It is the truth. It is the Principle; it is the truth. It is one of the things that we have found. Those who are first will be last, and the last will be first. If you walk with the world, you are going to reach death, eternal death; but if you go apart from it, or go against the flow of fallen mankind, you will be saved and you can save the world. This sounds like a paradox, but it is so true.

The satanic world is the world of death, so by being separated from the satanic world, you will gain life. Then you are qualified enough to be in the love of God, and through you mankind can be saved; otherwise, there is no other way for mankind to be saved. If you are qualified enough to be under the love of God, you must be feeling pity for your fallen brother, and would feel like going to Father and ask forgiveness for your brother, or even tell Him that you would be willing to be sacrificed in place of your brother, in order to save him. That's why we want to sacrifice ourselves. When you sacrifice yourself for that cause, God will take you for being more than Adam before the fall, and you become the True Son of God. In that case, then, you can ask the forgiveness for your brother, who has sinned. Through you He can save mankind. Please don't forget; this is the most important formula, those three stages. You, as individuals, must be able to separate yourselves from Satan, or in other words, win victory over Satan; then you have the qualification to come under the love of God; and then you must be willing to sacrifice yourself for the sake of your fallen brother. This morning, I want to emphasize that formula and I want you to be that kind of person through whom God can save fallen mankind. We must form a nation, the third Israel. Through this formula, one individual can become the center of the family, and by joining that family, and by forming the third Israel, we can safely reach the conclusion that we can save the whole world. We must believe in God Almighty, who will work with us and through us. He is on our side. You can go on with confidence. He'll understand.