Cheon Seong Gyeong: Episode 3

Cheon Seong Gyeong Book 1: God
Chapter 1: God's Existence and Attributes 
Section 1: The Existence of God, 29-43
Section 2: God as the Root and Original Being, 1-3

(29) By what means can we hold on to God? It is through our sincere devotion.  Nowadays we enjoy freedom of religion, with no persecution.  God brought about this time in which we enjoy freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, freedom of the press and freedom of religion.  This is preparation for the Last Days.  That is to say, religious freedom has been bestowed thanks to God who willed it.  Thus, in this age, we can put our lives on the line and devote ourselves to God without limit and we will not be persecuted.  As the time of persecution has passed, we must become people of heart.  We must treasure within us the heart that God experienced throughout history.  God is not the God of one particular time period; He is the God of history.  He is the God who has toiled hard through countless saints and sages who represented Him throughout history.  To save all of you, to this day He has allowed many people to walk a path of persecution, even to the point of martyrdom.  That is why I say He is the God of history.

(30) When we look at our history, we see that the world's cultures are being absorbed into larger cultural spheres based on religion.  We witness the Christian cultural sphere in the democratic world, the Far Eastern cultural sphere of Confucianism, Buddhism and Zen, the Hindu cultural sphere in India, and the Island’s cultural sphere.  Over thousands of years, human cultures have been gradually absorbed by these religious spheres.  This is similar to a situation where all the component parts are gathered in a repair shop to be assembled into a whole.  Through this we can discern the presence of God and His work.

The incorporeal God

(31) There is no place in the universe where God is not present, and yet we live unaware of His presence or absence.  Air surrounds us, but ordinarily we do not feel it; it is only when we are suffocating that we realize that air exists.  Further, right inside of us, our heart beats about seventy times a minute, but we are usually unaware of it.  If we were forced to match our steps or the blinking of our eyes with the rhythm of our heart, we would collapse within three days from nervous exhaustion.  So, it is good that we are unaware of such things.  Suppose that God, who is omnipotent, omniscient, and in total control of heaven and earth, were right here with us.  With His power, He could blow away mountains and put a hole through the earth.  Seeing such things, do you think we could survive in the visible presence of such a God? It is good that God is invisible.  If He were visible, we would have a nervous breakdown and pass away within an hour.  We should therefore be grateful that God is invisible.

(32) We live every day under the rays of the sun, but we do not feel grateful.  We do not greet the sun with gratitude, saying, "Thank you, sun." We tend to take such magnificent things for granted.  What if God decided to remove all the air in the world, leaving only one gallon? If God were that mischievous, world unification would be easy.  It would be done in five minutes.  If God took away all the air and asked, "Will you unite or not?" all people would shout in unison, "We'll unite!" God could unify the world in an instant this way.  That God does not do this is something for which to be thankful, because without the air we would die.  Air is absolutely necessary for life.

(33) The wise, all-knowing and almighty God Thought it most convenient to reign as an incorporeal being who could move around freely in the midst of things.  Since God has no form, He can pass through things at will without causing any problem.  God can come to your body and pass through it without your awareness.  When you doze off", God can step onto your body and walk on it as He pleases, and you will not even notice.  How convenient! So it is logical to say that, after much consideration, God chose to remain invisible because He felt it would be most convenient.

(34) We know that air is circulating around us, but we do not feel it.  If we are unaware even of the air circulating around us, how can we expect to be aware of God's presence? For God, it is most convenient to remain without form.  At the same time.  He has to be more than big enough to govern and wrap Himself around this huge universe.  Although the incorporeal God can be as big as He wants, the universe is too small to contain His heart; He desires something even larger.

(35) You do not keep your most precious things in a place where people can just see and touch them.  You secure them in a place where no one can steal them.  If you had a most precious, prized and unique treasure, you would secure it where no one could take it.  You would keep it in the deepest part of your heart, the place to which you alone had access.  Your heart is the only place where you can meet God one-on-one.  God too does not want to meet you in an exposed place.  He seeks a unique place where He can meet you as an individual with unique character, thinking and feeling.  That is the reason God made the conscience incorporeal.

(36) Let us imagine the world contained one treasure such that, if it were lost, on that very day the world would turn upside down.  Would you keep that most precious treasure on the surface of your heart, or at the very center of your heart? I am sure you would keep it at the center of your heart.  Still you would not feel at ease, and you would wrap it up, not only once, but many times over.  You would not want just anyone to walk in and look at it, so you would cover it, layer upon layer, so that others would never set eyes on it.  The human heart has this kind of desire.  If God were visible, all the diamonds in heaven and on earth would pale into insignificance by comparison.  Where would you house this God, the Absolute Being who is unique in the universe, who is of infinite value, who is the infinite source of life, and who is priceless beyond imagination? You would keep Him in your heart.  You would hide Him where no one could find Him, even after seeking for tens of thousands of years.  So it is good that God is invisible.

(37) God is a being without form, so the question arises: how can the incorporeal and the corporeal come together? How can the incorporeal world and the corporeal world become one? Logically, this is difficult to answer.  A physical being cannot become the center that binds a spiritual self and a physical self.  Then how can there be unity between the spiritual Parent and the earthly parents, that is, between God, who is spirit, and the unfallen human ancestors of the original standard, who have substantial form? Further, the vertical and the horizontal have to unite, but how? It is through love, the true love between them, traveling by the shortest and most direct route.

The omnipresent God

(38) God's heart exists not only in the Word but also in everything He created.  God's heart is everywhere throughout heaven and earth.  Thus we say there is nowhere that God does not exist; that is, God is omnipresent.  Since God's heart is in all things of creation, if you want to be in His heart you should embrace everything that exists in heaven and on earth as your own.  Our heart desires to go beyond our people, the world and all created things and be with God.  In our heart we yearn to go to the place where we can even claim that God is ours.  A person who has such a heart is with God.

(39) How can we feel God's ubiquitous presence? We should feel the air as God's breathing, and when a storm hits, we should feel as if He were sneezing.  When we see flowing water, we should perceive it as the sweat God has shed as He overcame His course of suffering for the sake of the world.  When we look at the sun, it should bring to mind the life elements of the entire universe, and teach us God's love.  God created nature as a textbook for us, His beloved sons and daughters, to provide us deep experiences of His heart and bring us joy.

(40) The words, "In heaven and earth, I alone am the honored one" and "I am omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent, and nothing comes into existence except by me" were spoken with love.  Through love, we can be omnipresent.  In love, there is nothing to hide.  Everything is obvious.  The moment you love, everything is open.  God wants to be omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent, with love at the center.

(41) If God did not exist in the universe, the universe might as well be empty.  But since God exists, the universe is completely full.  It is full of love.  Hence, once we come to know that God exists, we feel that the universe is full even when we are alone.  God is everywhere.  We come to feel that He is everywhere.  In the midst of such love, God's omnipresence deeply moves us.  But if we do not know God, everything is empty.

(42) If you ask whether God exists, I will answer that God definitely exists.  Where is He then? He is in the place nearest to us.  That is why we cannot see Him.  He is so extremely close to us that we cannot see Him.  Can you see your eyes? They are too close to you to allow you to see them.  Likewise, we cannot see God because He is so close to us.

(43) Man and woman each represent God.  God is not somewhere else; He is in our hearts.  So prayer is a conversation with the heart.  God is the root of the heart.  As we go deeper into the heart we will find God at the deepest root of our conscience.  Next, God is the root of love, the root of life, and the root of lineage.  Thus we need to be grateful whether we are at home or out in public.  Wherever we go, in the country or in the world, we should always be grateful.  Even when we go to heaven the same principle applies; if we follow this rule, we will pass freely wherever we go.  It is the same whether in the kingdom of heaven on earth or the kingdom of heaven in heaven.

Section 2: God as the Root and Original Being

(1) If the Absolute Being created us with the intention that we practice His love, it is clear that He had a motive and a purpose in creating us.  In order to clarify that motive and purpose, we need to know the nature of this Absolute Being; that is, we first need a correct view of God.  A correct view of God will reveal is purpose and motivation for creating us.  It will also clarify why we have to practice absolute love for the sake of peace.

God the First Cause

(2) In the world there are two kinds of people, men and women.  They do not change their position.  We were born as one or the other not by our own desire.  Even Though we did not think about this or want it, and did not understand the process or the result, we were born as we are.  No matter how successful a person is, no one can deny that he or she is a resultant being, not the causal being.  This implies that there has to be a first causal being.  Whether called God or something else, that causal being must exist.

(3) Human beings certainly are not the first being, but secondary beings.  In order for a secondary or resultant being to exist, there must be a first, causal being.  Ultimately, no force can separate these two beings.  The first and second beings engage in a relationship.  They each desire to become one, as cause and effect.  If God, the causal being, becomes the center of all human beings, they, as resultant beings, need a process through which to fulfill his ideal.  That is the process of life by which they mature, and from a broader perspective, the process of history.