And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.
‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega,the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life. Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children.
Revelations 21 1-7
This is the telling of the age we are living currently if you have the eyes to see! The coming of Heaven on Earth will not happen automatically. If this was so, God would have restored Adam and Eve back to their original position with the snap of His finger or when Jesus arrived to earth.
Man through his actions lost Heaven, God never left His position, so it is up to man to connect back to their original position through their portion of responsibility represented through the gift of free will.
Just as God lost His children when they did not follow His word, His ideal will be rebuilt through the following and having faith in God's words.
Yesterday's post spoke about the matching of two people and the importance God placed on the unity of a man and woman through marriage had the responsibility of uniting all of heaven and earth! With an understanding of this principle, can a man and woman enter a marriage lightly?
Did you know that you are living in the Completed Testament Age? An age that has never before seen in all of human history, yet all of the saints and God have long awaited this time?
This is the time that we usher in Heaven on Earth, the fruit of God's labor of restoring man to the original position of Adam and Eve before the fall.
Looking at the world situation, does it look like men and women of the world are ready to participate in this time? A more specific question is are we in the position to bring God to dwell directly in the lives of our family - do we live such a life where our home is the lighthouse shining in the darkness for God to find us?
All people on earth have the privilege of living at this time, but are unprepared even though God and all of creation and even this age is ready. There is a gap. Don't you think that this is true that we are unprepared for the coming of God's direct and complete dominion of earth?
Father has said that a holy son or daughter is one who can follow the law of God's palace. Are we at that stage? Can any person say that he or she is perfected?
When we really think about it, we come from a perfect Parent so why do we think it is so difficult to become perfect? Upon reflection it is because we may think that it is hard to obtain coming from a lower position as a sinner.
But if we continue to think of ourselves as people born into sin we are likely to commit sinful acts. Just think of the simple concept of the law of attraction. Energy flows where our thoughts are.
What if we were to think of ourselves as holy people?
When we revolutionize our conceptual thinking as we are children of God, we are more likely to live up to that standard.
Of course we are the result of a fallen lineage and we inherit many sins and have many shortcomings, but we should still think of ourselves as God's child if we are to go forward from this treacherousness path.
"We should wake up in the morning with the concept "I am God's child," and we should continue with the concept that we can reach the stage of being a holy son or daughter."
How can we bring unity between mind and body? Father emphasizes that this takes place through True Love. But what is True Love?It is love that can sacrifice itself for the other. Therefore, the body must be able to sacrifice itself in order to follow the higher dimensions of the mind. So Father says that before one should even wish to have control of the cosmos, he must have control of himself. This means the control of one's desire.
There are different types of love for sure, but True Love is the highest form.
When it comes to the unity of husband and wife, it may seem to be difficult, but why? Because of satanic power that tries to pull everyone toward hell. Once this power is dispensed from a relationship, then beauty can emerge.
Our main task in a marriage is to remove satan through intense effort. When the founder of the Unification Church matches members, this potential beauty is what he sees in every couple that he matches for marriage.
How to Appreciate Spouse
What can we do to improve the husband and wife relationship?
First point is that spouses should pay attention to one another. This sounds basic, but with routines in a family's life over the year, a couple can begin to take one another for granted. Each partner should have concern for the other and strive to understand and forgive each other. In a relationship, there is bound to be misunderstandings and mistakes. We should forgive as God does for our mistakes.
To become a champion of love in a relationship requires repeated investment of heart, repeated acts of concern for the partner and understand and forgiveness.
Being consistent is very important. The universe itself does not get tired in its cycle and continues on the same path everyday. Olympic champions train everyday and do the same thing over and over in order to perfect their ability.
This is the first point in learning to pay attention to your partner.
The next principle is that of having a mind of yielding. One also must have a "serving mind."
Next see your spouse with the glass as half full - strive to see the greater more positive points in your spouse instead of the negative and weak points. "Look for the long points, not the short points of your spouse."
Spouses communicate mainly through word and actions. There is a saying, "good words come and good words go." When one says good words to the other, good words will come back. One needs to reexamine the definition of what makes a spouse. We should see how our idea of who our spouse is in relationship to ourselves.
Second of all, husbands and wives are co-workers together in giving birth to children and in the creation of a family.
God's ideal of creation is fulfilled through the achievement of love. If we do not have our loving spouse, we cannot achieve the ideal of God's creation.
With this in mind, since we cannot have the highest ideal of True Love without our spouse - then our spouse is absolutely necessary counterpart.
Also, spouses should be best friends. If you have the right thinking, you should think that you are going to be married to your spouse for over 50 years or more. You will be sharing your joy, pain, happiness and suffering with this one person for most of your life.
Who else will you share this much of your inner self with? An ideal spouse will be there for you through all of your tough times. Also because they will be able to know your health and be the first to know if there is a change in your body's condition.
"Next, husband and wife are teachers for each other, guiding each other to understand their good and bad habits."
Marriage at its truest sense is the truest way to unify your heart between you and your spouse. When this high-level of harmony is achieved, the husband and wife will spiritually become one body. They will become like one body with two faces.
Then the question is, while we are on the earth, how do we determine how united we are becoming spiritually to our significant other?
There are three standards that we can use as a measurement:
First, the spouse should have the level of heart that they can confront the heavenly Parent and say, "I am so grateful you gave me my spouse."
The second standard is that your heart feels that you truly love your husband or wife.
Thirdly, when your are away from your spouse, you still can feel their presence within your heart. This way you will never feel separated. You may not feel this state of heart at all times, but you will at least feel that your spouse is living or taking space within your heart.
"I will say a few words about parents and children. The first child, of course, is to receive only love from his parents. The second child should receive a father's love, a mother's love and also his elder sibling's love. So for children, it should be easy to grow to perfection."
In reality, this is a little more difficult to achieve with our fallen nature and the corrupt environment in which we all live. We should guide our children. When children know that their parents are praying for them, then the children will not go in a bad direction.
All couples want to occupy the kingdom of heaven and live a happy life.
When parents have pain toward their children who have made a mistake, how can they qualify to go to the kingdom of heaven which is a place of eternal happiness where no tears abound. Until children are liberated, parents cannot be truly happy. This is why in order to go to heaven, the whole family and God should go together in unity.
Return for Tomorrow's Post: Trust God Matches Best Person as Your Spouse
Talk given to national leaders over God's Day in Pusan, Korea
Summary of Notes from Talk by Young Whi Kim
Rev. Young Whi Kim is the former president of the Unification Church of Korea; one of the first 36 couples blessed in marriage by Dr. Reverend Sun Myung Moon, and Chairman of the Board of Sun Myung Moon University.
