“God’s will in sending Jesus and Christianity’s mission for His Only Begotten Daughter.”
Rev. Kim Hong-deuk Sermon 천일국 11년 천력 11월 11일 (December 24, 2023)
Dear brothers & sisters, greetings, good to see you all! And Merry Christmas~~ Do you know what the greeting “Merry Christmas” really means? Merry Christmas is a term that contains the meaning of “holy worship in joyful praise of the birth of Jesus Christ.” In this spirit, I think not only should we say Merry Christmas once a year, but perhaps the service we hold every week should be Merry Christmas!
This is because the very fact that we have received Jesus as the Messiah and Savior and can receive salvation today while living our short life here on earth is a miracle in itself. Therefore, through this weekly worship service, we must joyfully praise the birth of Jesus, who came to this earth to save us, and give thanks and glory to heaven. In that sense, with gratitude and joy for being saved through Jesus, please say “Merry Christmas~” to the families, members, and guests sitting around you. Merry Christmas!~~ …Thank you!
Today’s worship service has already touched on God’s creation, the fall of the first human beings, Adam and Eve, and the work of God’s providence of salvation in search of his lost sons and daughters over the past 4,000 years through praise, dance, and video, and finally, after 4,000 years, they could be freed from sin. I saw poignantly the providential work of sending Jesus Christ as Messiah and Savior to our earth to save struggling mankind.
Unfortunately, due to the ignorance and disbelief of the Jewish people at the time, Jesus, who came as the Only Begotten Son, could not welcome the Only Begotten Daughter and had no choice but to go to the unjust path of death on the cross at the young age of 33. That is why Jesus said, “I will come again, surely I will come soon.” He left behind these words as His will: “When I come again, I will hold the wedding feast of the Lamb.” That is why, for the past 2,000 years, all Christians have eagerly looked forward to the second coming of Jesus, namely the appearance of the Second Coming Messiah.
At this time, I will briefly explain the main pillar of providential truth regarding the 6,000 years of providential history, including the 4,000 years till the coming of Jesus and the 2,000 years after His coming as described in the Bible. The title of the sermon is “God’s will in sending Jesus and Christianity’s mission for His Only Begotten Daughter.” First, let’s look at the “history of the providence of restoration in search of the heavenly bloodline.”
In Genesis 1:28, the Bible says, “God blessed them and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number, and fill the earth.’” In Genesis 22:17, it says, “I will greatly bless you and give you offspring.” And He blessed us all in the same breath: “I will multiply greatly and make you as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore.”
Likewise, the dream that Heavenly Parent wanted to fulfill in the Garden of Eden in the beginning was to create on this earth a man and woman who could occupy Heavenly Parent’s love as their first children, and convey to them the three great blessings to be fruitful, multiply, and dominate all things. This was for us all. He would then raise them to become True Parents, one with Heavenly Parent, and create a world of eternal joy and happiness by infinitely multiplying good descendants with Heavenly Parent’s bloodline.
Unfortunately, the first human beings fell by eating the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, hoping for “the right thing at the wrong time.” So our first ancestors lost the position of Heavenly Parent’s first son and first daughter, that is, as the only begotten son and daughter, and mankind became the fallen descendants of Satan’s bloodline.
Then in order to save fallen mankind, Heavenly Parent led the providence by electing the Israelites as the chosen people for the birth of the Only Begotten Son and Daughter who would become the true parents of mankind and for the creation of a national foundation. Thus, 10 generations and 1,600 years after the fall of Adam and Eve, God visited Noah’s family to prepare the providence, but due to Ham’s mistake, Heaven’s will could not be accomplished. Heavenly Parent once again found and established Abraham as the ancestor of faith for the first time in his teens after 400 years, and for the next 2,000 years, God has been raising expectations at the family, people, and national levels to welcome the Messiah, the True Parent, the Only Begotten Son and Daughter.
Let’s look at Jesus, the only begotten son who came to this earth, and His mission. Matthew 17:5 says, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” And John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that He sent His Only Begotten Son, so that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.”
Heavenly Parent gave birth to Jesus among the Israelites based on the providence of restoration through Israel. A new star in the sky announced the birth of Christ. When the three wise men saw the star, they prepared gifts and came to worship. Yet, though they brought gifts to Jesus, there is no record of them staying with Him after that anywhere in the Bible. In other words, they only testified to Jesus but failed to protect and serve him.
God’s dream was to find sons and daughters who inherit Heaven’s lineage of goodness, establish heaven on earth, and live in eternal joy. Jesus, the Only Begotten Son and Son of God, was intended to grow up and marry the Only Begotten Daughter of God and they would become True Parents. Heavenly Parent had long prepared all the environments for this event. If the family of Mary, Joseph and Zachariah prepared by God had known His Will and fulfilled their responsibility by uniting with Jesus, the Only Begotten Daughter would have been born at the time God would prepare. However, due to the failure of central figures and the Jewish people to fulfill their responsibility, the birth of the Only Begotten Daughter was deferred, and Jesus’ wish to become the True Parent through holy marriage was not realized at that time.
2,000 years ago the Jewish leaders distrusted and persecuted Jesus, accusing him of being a lawbreaker, a blasphemer, and a rabble rouser. The Jewish people also sided with the claims of their leaders and ended up distrusting Jesus. In particular, Mary and Joseph, the family of Zachariah, specially prepared by heaven to attend Jesus, The Only Begotten Son, and Judaism and the Jewish people failed to recognize who Jesus was and were caught up in their human perspectives and selfish desires, ultimately leading them to reject Jesus as the Messiah and Savior and negating His mission to realize God’s Kingdom on this earth. Each of us should think, “I failed because I was foolish, self-centered, neglected to fulfill my own responsibility.”
Because of the failure of the specially prepared and the disbelief of the Jewish people, Jesus had no choice but to go to death on the cross. However, Heavenly Parent’s purpose in sending the Messiah to this earth was to save all mankind, including the chosen people of Israel, and although Jesus’ body was given over to Satan, He was resurrected after three days, providing spiritual salvation for mankind. He opened the way for us.
In other words, Jesus died on the cross due to the ignorance and disbelief of the Jewish people, but was resurrected 3 days later to launch a 40-day course, pioneering the way to atone for the sins of all mankind. The disciples who denied, now accepted the resurrected Jesus, believed in Him, served Him, and followed Him. Jesus triumphed as the spiritual Messiah and became the spiritual True Parent with the Holy Spirit, creating the foundation for the work of substantial rebirth and renewal. The path of the cross Jesus walked was a holy, noble journey to restore and regenerate mankind spiritually, despite the failure of the central figures and the Jewish people in their responsibilities.
Now let’s look at the providential meaning of the 2,000 years of Christian history. On the 50th day after Jesus’ resurrection, the Holy Spirit descended on the gathering of the apostles and believers. Filled with the Holy Spirit, they went out into the world and spread the word of Jesus, and these early Christians became the center of Heavenly Parent’s providential plan on behalf of the Jewish people. Afterwards, the apostles collected the words and deeds of Jesus, wrote several gospels, and founded and developed the early church through various Epistles written for missionary activities.
Early Christianity was recognized by Emperor Constantine in the Edict of Milan (313), granting freedom of belief, and the Christian faith was finally adopted as the state religion throughout Rome by Emperor Theodosius in 392. Then, in 800, the Holy Roman Empire was established with the blessing of the Pope, forming a Western European world centered on the Christian spirit, and a society centered on Christianity took firm root through Eastern Europe and the Byzantine Empire. Afterwards, Christianity spread around the world, launching out from Europe and the Levant to become a global religion.
Yet because Christianity did not clearly understand the essence of Jesus, it began without properly understanding its mission and role. As a result, medieval Catholicism became corrupted in the absence of the Holy Spirit and truth, and so the Reformation sprung up. The Reformation asserted that the church was not the only one that held the key to salvation, and was a movement in which individuals, families, and churches all sought to serve God directly. In 1517, Martin Luther of Germany protested the sale of indulgences in the church by presenting his 95 Theses, and in 1543, Calvin of Switzerland submitted a paper, “The Necessity of Church Reform” to the Holy Roman Empire Council and the Emperor to reform church corruption. The religious reform spread.
As the Reformation spread, more and more Christians sought religious freedom. Especially in England, the so-called Puritans and were greatly influenced by Calvin. Puritans were ordered to convert to the Anglican Church of England, so on Sept. 6, 1620, 102 people boarded the Mayflower and headed to the New World in search of religious freedom. After a 65-day voyage, they settled on the North American continent and became the founders of today’s United States. About 200 years later, they came to be called the Pilgrim Fathers, or “the founders of the pilgrimage.”
Because God blessed the Puritans who pioneered North America, today’s superpower the USA was born. God prepared the U.S. to prevent a repeat of Jesus’ tragedy 2,000 years ago by creating a global environment to receive the Second Coming Christ and Only Begotten Daughter. The USA, which Heavenly Parent blessed to become the global superpower it is today, stands in the position of the Roman Empire at the time of Jesus, and has the mission to ensure that the Second Coming Messiah and Only Begotten Daughter are manifest as the True Parents and are welcomed by the whole world.
Now I’ll talk about the return of Christ. In John 14:2-3, Jesus said, “If I prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with Me, that you may be also where I am.” Revelation 19:7-9 says, “For the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His Bride has made herself ready. Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.”
2,000 years ago, dying on the cross, Jesus promised His second coming. The Bible prophesies that Jesus will return to hold the Marriage of the Lamb. The Wedding Feast of the Lamb refers to the second coming of Jesus, born as the Only Begotten Son, to meet the Only Begotten Daughter sent by Heavenly Parent as the Bride. The Lamb’s Marriage is a dream that Heavenly Parent hoped to fulfill in the Garden of Eden, and when He sent Jesus, and also at the time of the Second Coming. It is God’s greatest hope and longing.
Christians must realize that Jesus came as the Only Begotten Son and True Father of mankind. Plainly the Second Coming Messiah, returning after 2,000 years, can only fulfill his mission as the True Parent of humanity by marriage with the Only Begotten Daughter.
In this sense, the 2,000-year history of Christianity is about preparing to receive the True Mother, Only Begotten Daughter, together with the Second Coming of Christ. Christians need to realize this truth of the providence. So we must attend True Parents, manifested at the Holy Marriage of the Second Coming Messiah and the Only Begotten Daughter. Together with them let us fulfill God’s Will upon this earth, centering on our True Parents.
Over the course of 2,000 years of world history centered on Christianity, God sought to establish a new chosen people to fill the role of Israel. That people is the Republic of Korea, our Korean people. Over millennia, Heaven has raised the Korean people as a chosen race who love heaven and earth, upholding loyalty, filial piety, and zeal, preparing them for the birth of the Messiah at the Second Coming and the Only Begotten Daughter by having them accept Christianity. Thus, the Second Coming Christ and the Only Begotten Daughter sent by Heavenly Parent were born at last on our Korean peninsula. The Returned Christ is none other than Rev. Sun Myung Moon; the Only Begotten Daughter, True Mother, is none other than Dr. Hak Ja Han!! They stand as the True Parents of humanity through their Holy Wedding on March 16, 1960 by the lunar calendar!!
The mission of True Parents is to save all mankind as children of Heavenly Parent. The path our Rev. Sun Myung Moon and Hakja Han walked all their lives as True Parents was a thorny path of indescribable suffering as they restored by indemnity Jesus’ path of the cross Jesus 2,000 years ago, a way no less severe than the path of the cross. Jesus had to endure persecution and rejection from Christians and the entire world, even more than the persecution and rejection He suffered at the hands the Jews and Romans back then. Just as sinless Jesus underwent the unjust path of death on the cross, Rev. Sun Myung Moon endured six undeserved jail terms, being arrested by Japanese police and the North Korean Communist Party, tortured and beaten to the point of vomiting blood. He had to overcome death countless times. Satan, who drove Jesus to the path of death on the cross, also drove the Second Coming Christ on the path of death. Yet, overcoming so much suffering and persecution, Jesus met His Bride, the Only Begotten Daughter, True Mother, and held the Marriage of the Lamb in 1960. His long deferred dream was to establish the True Parents of mankind. Though the path of True Parents continued to be difficult, thanks to the cooperation of God and spirit world, they built a solid foundation for miraculous worldwide mission work in a short period of time, and officiated tens of thousands of international marriage blessings for hundreds of thousands of couples, imparting Heaven’s blessing. These reborn true sons and daughters of God gave birth to Blessed Families.
Even if I were to introduce you to the lives of Rev. Sun Myung Moon and Dr. Hakja Han, the True Parents of humanity, it could not suffice to explain in a few days, so I will introduce them one by one at the next opportunity. To introduce just one, 11 years ago, the Second Coming Messiah, Rev. Sun Myung Moon, ascended at the age of 93, but Dr. Hakja Han, Only Begotten Daughter and True Mother, directed that if we move forward without stopping we will surely fulfill God’s dream here on earth. With the sole intention bringing God’s dream to fruition, she ignored day and night, pouring all Her heart into it, accelerating God’s providence to save mankind. On May 7th this year, She finally dedicated the Cheonwon Palace Cheonil Sanctum, the beautiful and magnificent temple of Heavenly Parent, in Hyojeong Cheonwon Complex!!
Still more amazing providential projects are ongoing here in Seorak, sacred site of the World HQ. On into the future, unimaginable dream-like events will continue. All you attending this special Christmas service today are participating in the miraculous and amazing providence of heaven through the Second Coming Christ and the Only Begotten Daughter—not to mention the blessings you’ll receive here on earth and the blessings of Heaven in the eternal world. I sincerely hope all of you will enjoy eternal life in heaven in God’s embrace. Thank you!