Cheon Seong Gyeong: Episode 149

Cheon Seong Gyeong Book 5: True Family
Chapter 4: The Education of Children and the Kingdom of Heaven in the Family
Section 6: The Kingdom of Heaven in the Family, 26-36

(26)  Where do we expect the ideal of love first to be realized? Will it begin out in the world? Will a nation create it? The action of love is relational and not individual; it has to begin in the home. Even if someone were to unify the world, if he were unable to unite his own family he would be an unhappy person. The kingdom of heaven starts in the family. Do you think that after Jesus said, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand," he went on to say, "Singles, come here and the kingdom of heaven will be realized"? No, he did not. What did Jesus say? He referred to himself as a bridegroom, which implies a bride. He was speaking of the family. The Messiah has to return in order to find his bride. That means he is coming to make his home.  God’s ideal of a principled family had never been realized, so He intended to make Jesus' family the first model family in history. It would have been a textbook to educate all people, connecting families, and bringing about a unified world, realizing the concept of the kingdom of heaven on earth.

(27)  In our families, we can sing of happiness, of freedom, and the ideal, and we can embrace the world. This is the ideal world, the world where we can be satisfied. Nothing is lacking in that world. Within our families, we are satisfied whether in our hearts or in material things, and we offer gratitude and glory to God. In this way, we can enter the kingdom of heaven. What kind of people can enter the kingdom of heaven? It is those who attend their parents at home, share their happiness, freedom, ideals, and satisfaction with their brothers and sisters, and overcome difficulties to return glory to God, in a joyful place of dominion over the creation in heaven and on earth.

(28)  The earth is where we determine the foundation of God's ideal. Where on earth? It is in the family, where a man and a woman unite as one in love, centered on God. When we mention the kingdom of heaven, what comes to mind? It should be the place where God, my family, and I have reached unity. Even if you went to that kingdom, if God were not there, it would not be the kingdom of heaven. God's presence is absolutely required. But will God's presence alone be enough? If you do not have your own ideal partner, even God's love will have no value to you. Therefore, in the spirit world, those who have lived ideal family lives are the closest to God.

(29)  To love our parents is to love heaven and earth; to love our children is to love humankind; to love material things is to love the whole universe. We have to love our parents, children, and material things in our daily lives. These together are the microcosm of the universe. We have to set this tradition in our family. Establishing such a tradition in the family is absolutely necessary. We have to set up the tradition by reclaiming the family and seek the ideal world in our family. If there had been no Fall, we would have loved our spouse and children and would have attained total oneness. We naturally would have gone to the kingdom of heaven.

(30)  In the world today we hear many people saying, "The world should become one." They all want to see a peaceful and happy world. In religious terminology, we would say that we need to build the kingdom of heaven on earth; we need to build an ideal world. But even though people say this, and even though the whole world wants this and tries to make it happen, they have yet to learn that this can only come about through the family. For this reason, unless we actually build a worldwide foundation upon which we sing of the ideal in the family, build peace within the family, and sing songs of love and happiness in the family, no matter how much we dream of the ideal world or the kingdom of heaven on earth, that world will not come about.

(31)  How will the kingdom of heaven in the family come about? If the mother and father are united completely in love, the sons will want to have wives like their mother, and the daughters will want to have husbands like their father. With the mother and father as a plus and the sons and daughters as a minus, they will unite as one perfect family; that is the kingdom of heaven of the family. At the place where this kingdom is realized, God's ideal can settle in the four-position foundation. The Principle states that the perfection of the ideal of creation is the perfection of the four-position foundation.

(32)  The Unification Church has a clear viewpoint. Therefore, today, wherever you go, if you are equipped with the Unification Church teaching, nothing can block you. You should build the kingdom of heaven for tomorrow with this confidence. We advocate building that kingdom in our everyday lives through our own efforts. We build the kingdom of heaven of heart in our own families, in our family life, and expand it to the environment, through our own efforts. God wanted to build an eternally blessed paradise so that He could dwell on earth. In our generation, we have to build what God intended, together with Him and offer it to Him. With all material things, with our sons and daughters, with our brothers and sisters, we have to lead our lives in praise of God. Otherwise, we cannot call ourselves His sons and daughters, who live in accordance with the Principle of Creation and the principle of the four-position foundation.

(33)  What is true love? It is the combination of parents' love, husband-wife love, and children's love.  Unless we set up the tradition of making sacrifices for one another, relationships of love will not last for long; they will break down. Because parents make sacrifices for their children, this bond never breaks. Further, children who have grown up receiving genuine love from their parents can never be disloyal to them. Moreover, blessings will come to the family of the husband and wife who relentlessly strives to serve and sacrifice for each other, with each saying to the other, "You have lived for my sake." Such a family is the blessed land that God can come to visit.

(34)  Again, I am saying that we have to change our families, one by one. The organizational structure of the Unification Church is based on families; families are the center. The focus has shifted from the individual to the family. Until today you may have disregarded the importance of the family, but in fact, it is essential. Now is the time in which the family, which you have neglected, will emerge with absolute authority. For this reason, the Blessing has unsurpassed value.

(35)  Tribes will emerge centered upon blessed families, so please accomplish your mission as tribal messiahs. In the future, we will establish churches around the leaders of tribes. All blessed families are leaders of tribes. In the future, the Unification Church will not have services based on sermons; they will be based on testimony. We will focus on testimonies that can bring honor and pride to our families. Thus, all family members will participate in such services together. We will learn from the testimonies of exemplary families. Families with little to report will receive guidance. In this way, we will be able to build the kingdom of heaven in our families. Unless we do so, the kingdom of heaven will not be realized on earth.

(36)  Only a husband and wife who love each other can enter the kingdom of heaven. A couple that lives in love on earth is already living in that kingdom, Jesus said that the kingdom of heaven is within you, didn't he? But today the Unification Church says the kingdom of heaven is within your family. If we do not realize the kingdom of heaven in our families, we will not fulfill the purpose of the Unification Church. If we do realize it, we are fulfilling that purpose. With this in mind, we should walk the right way, centered on the Principle.