Witnessing Activities
Special Lectures
| Lecture 21 : [Restoration] The Foundation for the Messiah | |
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| Date created : 2015-01-21/ Views : 1036 | |
Lecture 21: The Foundation for the Messiah
In our last session, we learned that since it was we who did not fulfill our portion of responsibility, and rather fell under Satan's dominion, it is we who are responsible to free ourselves from Satan's dominion, and restore God’s dominion over ourselves and the world. So we it is our responsibility to set the necessary conditions of indemnity.
If it’s up to us, we’d better understand how to set up these conditions. That’s the topic of this session.
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Our wish is to find the path to happiness. We know, now, that this path is one of rebirth and resurrection. Rebirth comes through True Parents’ Holy Marriage Blessing, and resurrection—walking the path of Principle—comes by following the True Parents as a couple and family. In the last session we learned that in order to be reborn, we establish conditions of indemnity to separate from satan. With this forgiveness, we can live with true, sacrificial love to restore our relationships as brothers and sisters. When the brothers and sisters are united, they can receive their parents, and that’s how we receive True Parents.
For us fallen people to return to the state of creation and receive the True Parents, the Messiah, what forgiveness conditions do we have to establish? We have to follow the path that Adam and Eve failed to follow. We have to go on a path that is opposite of one that led to the loss of the original creation. Then what was the failure of Adam and Eve? They lost two things: first, they lost faith in God’s word by disobeying the commandment, and eating the fruit. Second, they lost their ability to love with God’s original love. We look at faith as relatively insubstantial, or spiritual, and love as something very substantial, even physical. Why? Because the love of Adam and Eve was ultimately to make them one flesh and produce children, who are very substantial. So the fall means they lost faith and love, which we refer to as faith and substance.
Therefore we must fulfill conditions of faith and substance, to restore the position Adam and Eve were at before the fall. We do this step-by-step. Adam's faith and substance became one centered on satan, so we must find these two, centered on God, taking them away from satan. We call these the foundation of faith and the foundation of substance.
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First, in order to establish the foundation of faith, we must achieve three conditions of indemnity, or forgiveness. The first is to stand in Adam's or Eve’s position, meaning, be the central figure. Since they did not establish the foundation of faith, God called Cain and Abel from Adam's family, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, the kings, and the Prophets to set up central figures. Today, that could be you, or someone close to you.
Second is to establish a 'conditional object'. Adam lost the foundation of faith by distrusting God's Word. God’s Word, the commandment, was the “conditional object” in which to have faith. His heirs could not receive God's Word directly. So God used things of creation to represent His Word, and had people offer them to God. Offerings established the Foundation of faith before the Old Testament Age. The law and the Temple were the conditional objects for the foundation of faith during the Old Testament Age, and the Gospel and sacraments were the conditional objects for the foundation of faith during the New Testament Age.
The third component is a period of time, representing Adam and Eve’s growing period, which was lost. God's creation had a time process, and so does God’s recreation. Most recorded foundations of faith in the Bible, as we will see, included numbers representing 12, for example 120 years, 21, for example, 21 days, 21 years, 210 years), and 40, for example, 40 days, 40 years, 400 years.
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From our point of view, the condition of indemnity establishes a foundation of faith, but from God's point of view, it decides that you have separated from satan and are standing in a position from which He can work with you. This means that God takes ownership of you, of your offering, and of your results, and builds from these.
Next is the “foundation of substance'. You also need a conditional object in order to establish a foundation of substance. That is the 'condition of indemnity and forgiveness in order to get rid of fallen nature.” For us to get rid of our connection to fallen nature—original selfishness, the sexual sin, establish the foundation of substance and restore our original nature, we must establish the conditions of indemnity to get rid of fallen nature. To do this, we must take a path that is opposite to what led to the fall. There are four elements.
First, because the Archangel could not love Adam, who was receiving more love from God, the inclination to see from one’s own point of view, not God's, was formed. This appears as envy, jealousy and hatred. Therefore in order to reverse this, I need to be in the position of the Archangel, feel these things, throw them off, and love the central person in the position of Adam, as God loves them.
Second, the Archangel couldn't respect Adam, who was closer to God, as his mediator to God and receive God's love through him. He fell by trying to take Adam's place. This is the inclination to leave your position; the sin of pride. To reverse this, a person, in the Archangel's position, must respect a person in Adam’s position and receive God's love through him or her as mediator.
Thirdly, because the Archangel misled Adam of Eve instead of rightly guiding them, the inclination to dominate others, based on one’s own benefit, was formed. Therefore, in order to get rid of this fallen nature, I must find the person in Adam’s position, overcome any distance I feel from them and make a strong, positive relationship.
Fourth, the Word of God was supposed to pass from God to Adam, Adam to Eve, and from Eve to the Archangel, multiplying good. But the Archangel delivered the evil words to Eve, who passed them to Adam. Thus emerged the inclination to multiply sins. To get rid of this, I must receive the good words from the central person and multiply goodness, and not multiply blame or bad words about others.
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The method for getting rid of the four selfish inclinations can be summarized, from the viewpoint of a person in the position of Adam, as: love people from God’s point of view, have a parental heart toward them, lead them to do good and overcome selfishness, and empower them to multiply this with others.
From the perspective of a person in the Archangel's position, we must love people as God does, see God’s love through them, cooperate with them, and inspire others to do the same. It’s the foundation of substance because it changes us substantially; it gets rid of fallen nature. And it’s a lot more difficult than it sounds!
The foundation of faith and foundation of substance together are the foundation for God to send the Messiah, who will come as the True Parent and give us rebirth and resurrection. The Bible shows us that the history of humankind was a journey to establish the foundation for the Messiah. We see that distrust, pride, and mistakes by chosen leaders, and the jealousy, pride, complaints, discontent, and self-centeredness of the people in the Archangel's position, caused failures and delays. So we see how these principles work in our own lives – and are not so easy to change.
So we will look at some details of the biblical history of providential salvation, and think about how to apply them.
Thanks for listening; see you next time.
