Like an artist, God first made a plan with man as the model for all of creation. When you look at the physics internally and externally of man you will see the map of all creation. God as our Parent created all of the universe for the love of man. Once we realize this fact, then the account in Genesis
takes on a more heartfelt meaning when you see God as a Parent preparing the world for His children.
And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so.
God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.
Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals,[a] and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
So God created mankind in his own image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.
Genesis 1 24-27
If humans are made in God's image, then like God as human parents we want to give everything to our children - all of our heart and possession for our children's love.
This is the parental heart of a parent. The greatest of all relationships is that between parent and child.
Parents who have given birth to and raised children all understand the desire to receive blessings and feel happiness through their sons and daughters, whom they love dearly. Also, if they have established a correct standard through which they can experience joy, they will want to bequeath this to their offspring for eternity.
Even fallen parents hope that their children will grow up as fine people who can be followed and revered by all nations and praised eternally.
The parental heart seeks to protect children from harm and is concerned about them day and night. The heart of fallen parents can even be like this.
For example, a mother ignores the diaper smells from her baby while nursing her child at her breast. Thus, if fallen parents have such a heart towards their children, how earnest must God's heart have been, longing to love Adam and Eve based on their original hearts?
You should all think about this. When you nurse and nurture your babies, you sing them lullabies and whisper to them, wishing that their lives will be a success. Any parent has such a heart.
No matter how incompetent or lacking parents may be, if one of their children suffers from a disability, the parents' hearts are devastated to the point of breaking. To God, when He looks down at humanity, he sees disfigured children crippled by sin.
If this situation is then resolved, the relief and joy are overwhelming in proportion to the original pain. If such is the heart of a fallen parent, what must be the heart of God?
Such is the unchanging and sacrificial nature of the parental heart towards the children.
Do loving parents keep an account of the times they love their children, saying: "We bought you shoes and clothes a few days ago with our hard earned money, which cost us so many dollars and cents?"
When parents love their children, they want to treat them even better than princes and princesses, and still feel sorry that they cannot give more.
Parents have the heart of wanting to give their children something better. This is why we cherish parental love. You should all know this.
No matter how much parents give they feel that it is not enough; they love and yet feel as if there is some love they have not yet given and want to give more; and even after giving, they still feel unsatisfied with what they were able to give their children.
This essence of parental love is that is what connects us to eternal love. This is the original motivation for the beginning point of love.
When it comes to children, parents always want to give the best of what they have to the children. This is the true definition of a parental hear and this heart is a reflection of the nature of God.
If this is so, what kind of being is God? God wants to share of his most precious attributes to those who truly become His children.
The unconditional nature of rue love is that it does not waver, it is eternal, does not change according to circumstances or convenience. A good friend will stay by his friend's side when the times are good and when they are bad. A husband of true love will stay with his wife forsaking all others when she is sick and old and all of her beauty has faded away. A parent whose child has run away will always look out the window every night in hopes of seeing their child return.
Constancy is the ballast of all lasting and true relationships.
When people practice true love, they are there for one another no matter what the situation even if it turns sour. God's love is unchanging and is a place of the heart where we want to return time and again for forgiveness, renewal, reassurance, wisdom and fresh determination.
A bumper sticker reads, “If you don’t feel close to God—guess who moved?” We may be sure that He didn't. The “Unmoved Mover” remains constant, the ultimately loving parent.
One parent practiced the elements of true love in her patience to win the hart of her reluctant teenage daughter. Her rebellious daughter had a "smart mouth" and was very arrogant which harmed and pain the parents.
At the height of crisis, the police called the mother to tell her they had picked up her daughter for reckless driving. The mother was so upset that she couldn't talk to the daughter for a whole night.
Then, after the mother stepped back, she knew that she had still belief in her daughter's goodness. She wanted to demonstrate this faith to her daughter. She wrapped up a little gift and handed it to her daughter with this note:
“This rock is a thousand years old. That’s how long it will take before I give up on you.”
The teenager broke down in tears at this evidence of her mother’s devotion, and the two became closer after that.
You and I should be grateful that God's heart is immensely larger than the human parent's love. He never gives up on people who have wronged Him - even when they had already given up on themselves.
People, like the teenage girl, feel worthless, hopeless, despairing, and beyond redemption when they are travelling down the wrong path. Fortunately, God's love is like a rock. He is always there, always has hope in us and waits for His child to return.
As Jesus expressed so poignantly, “Ask, and it will be given to you, seek and you will find; knock and the door shall be opened unto you.”
We can visualize that God is a True Parent that is always home and ready to open the door and answer it when His child needs Him. He always holds steadfast that His children will visit wanting Him to embrace them in a love that never wavers. God is a True and Ultimate Parent.
Reverend Moon has said:
“What made Jesus sacred was that he trusted and loved people, wanted to live with them and save them more than anything else—even though they betrayed him. He blessed his enemies. There are sixty-six volumes in the Holy Scripture, but when you condense its significant meaning, the teaching of Jesus is . . . unchangeability.”
Return for Tomorrow's Post: Don't Look For Love, Give It
This text was rewritten and is based on the teachings of the Dr. Reverend Sun Myung Moon who wrote the Divine Principle.
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