Cheon Seong Gyeong Ⅱ - 046. The providence of salvation according to the Principle
66 We know that God's providence is the providence of restoration. What is the providence of restoration? It is taking actions to recover and reinstate what has been lost. In other words, it is the work of re-creating human beings through the Word. Because the human beings, whom God created, completely lost the Word, they need to be created again. We fallen people lost the Word by which we can align our mind and body and experience constant joy in our heart. Hence, we must find the Word, namely, the truth. The Word is also called the truth. The truth is the principle that governs any system. At the same time it is the root of Heaven's principles. That is why the world seeks for the truth to this day. However, the true Word in all its fullness has not yet appeared. Since there has been no true Word, there has been no one who could embody true life. Since no one has embodied true life, there has been no one who could embody true love. Since no one has embodied true love, the true cosmos, the true heaven and earth, have not emerged. (7-085, 1959.07.19)
67 God's providence of restoration is not guesswork. Since the providence of restoration is the work of re-creation, and it is the work of recovering what was lost, God must do it based on certain principles. God is carrying it out according to the principles of creation. Because God lost human beings as a result of the Fall, even though God created them, they are standing in the position as if God did not finish creating them. So God has to bring them back to the conditional position of having created them again. (48-086, 1971.09.05)
68 The providence of salvation is the providence of restoration. The providence of restoration is the providence of re-creation. How is the providence of re-creation carried out? During the creation, what did God create first? He created the world of angels first. Then He made all things. Then He created Adam and Eve. These were the three stages of His creation. History likewise has developed to this day through this three- stage principle. That is because all of history has been within the realm of the work of re-creation. In order to save fallen human beings, God has had to pursue a course based on the work of re-creation. (84-069, 1976.02.22)
69 Through the providence of salvation, God seeks to restore the form of the original ideal. Hence the providence of salvation is the providence of restoration. Then, by what sort of providence does God carry out the providence of restoration? It is by the providence of re-creation. For the providence of recreation, we must reinvest on God's behalf the same kind of love that He has invested repeatedly to form relationships of love with human beings. That is the only way we can become His ideal creations. For this reason the Bible says: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. This is the greatest and first commandment. And the second is, you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matt 22:37) There is also a third commandment: You shall love all things of creation as you love your mother and father, your spouse and your children. These are the first, second and third commandments. Practice these, and you will achieve everything. You will enter the realm of God's ideal that combines vertical love with horizontal love. This leads to the actualization of that ideal. (180-185, 1988.08.22)
70 Even as Satan strives to subvert and destroy God's Will, God strives to advance the process of re-creation with each victory He wins over him. This cannot be done randomly. Paying indemnity cannot be done in a haphazard way. God has to go back to the point where the process of creation started. This is what you learn when you study the entire providence of salvation, namely that God has been conducting the providence of salvation by the providence of restoration through indemnity. Evaluating the whole of history, we find that first it is the providence of salvation, second it is the providence of restoration through indemnity, and third it is the providence of re-creation. Accordingly, we can say that the providence of salvation is the providence of restoration. It is the providence to bring human beings back to their original position. If a patient who is hospitalized and on the verge of death is revived, he says, “I am saved!” In the same way, salvation means to return to the original position or state. Furthermore, the providence of salvation is the providence of restoration through indemnity. You cannot go back to the original point without investing; you have to pay indemnity. (264-271, 1994.11.20)
71 God's providence of salvation is the providence of restoration, and the providence of restoration is carried out through indemnity. The providence of restoration cannot be done for free. Sins that were committed must necessarily be indemnified. Paying indemnity means to separate from Satan. When you commit sin, you fall into the realm of Satan's possession. When you pay indemnity you can separate yourself from Satan and return to your original position. How much sin have fallen people committed throughout the long course of history to this day? How can we indemnify all the sins committed by all evil people? Although most people do not know it, good people have been paying that indemnity by being sacrificed. It is the same for national sins. The sins that nations committed in the past are being paid for by the sacrifice of some of its good people. Unless they make sacrifices, no indemnity is paid. Looking further, this is the path along which humankind has developed, all the way up to the world level. In the process, numerous good people sacrificially offered themselves. They paid indemnity for all the sins committed by humankind so that the world could return to its proper state. (242-229, 1993.01.02)
72 Throughout human history, it was by paying indemnity that a separation was made between good and evil, a separation was made between happiness and sadness, and a separation was made between the way that brings blessings and the way that brings punishment. It is the same throughout the world. Therefore, God's providence of restoration must also proceed by indemnity. There are no exceptions. Indemnity became necessary as a result of the Fall. Those who live their lives without realizing that they are fallen people are living as though they are on the path of the Fall every day. Because of the Fall, God became the God of sorrow, even as He leads the course of the providence of restoration. And God became the God of pain. Yet sorrow and pain were not the end of it; He lost every precious thing that He cherished. To restore that which He lost, God must go the way of pain; to recover them He must again suffer in sorrow. This is what God must endure as He strives to reclaim what He has lost. (288-291, 1998.01.01)
73 The Fall caused God to lose what was most precious to Him. It is not the case that the Fall only affected human beings, with God having nothing to do with it. God and human beings are in a parent-child relationship. That relationship is in order to realize the ideal of love—the ideal of oneness between them based on love. However, because human beings separated from God, that ideal of unity in love cannot be found. That is what God lost, and that is what He needs to recover. However, just following the course of indemnity is not enough to recover the ideal of oneness in love that God is seeking. To recover this ideal, there needs to be a program for re-creation. Human beings need to be remade based on a blueprint, just as a blueprint is needed for manufacturing a product in a factory. (288-292, 1998.01.01) |