Cheon Seong Gyeong Ⅱ - 317. Stages in a Life of Faith 1 If you look at the Chinese character for shin (信), meaning belief, you will see it is a combination of the characters for person (人) and word (言). Belief therefore means a person’s word. “Word” here signifies the means of communication that connects two people. When there is an absence of relationship, not a word is spoken. But when two people speak there is immediately an underlying giving and receiving. So, to form a relationship, we need belief. Moreover, the foundation for a relationship emerges from a connection established with love. But such a relationship cannot be established arbitrarily. A connection is possible because the necessary conditions of energy are there and somehow the levels of both parties’ objectives coincide. (20-025, 1968.03.31) The stages in establishing our faith 2 Hope always supports faith. What does faith demand? If a person has perfect faith, faith demands that he match it in value with substantial effort. Faith means standing for and believing in the person who has matched the ideal of creation, who is in accord with principled law, and who has not fallen, but has reached perfection, and then is acting accordingly. The one who is victorious in this kind of faith will realize his hope. God’s love comes naturally to the one who achieves victory in faith and hope. (14-249, 1965.01.01) 3 Since God’s formula based on principle requires absolute faith, He had no choice but to command Noah to build the ark on top of a mountain. Noah faithfully accomplished his task over 120 years. That is how the number 120 could be reclaimed. Noah invested his entire life in carrying out God’s command. After the flood, Noah’s sons realized that their father had been correct, and they respected him, saying, “We thought our father was insane. But, as he predicted, God’s judgment came to pass and only our eight family members are left. Our father’s words were true. He is a prophet and a man of God.” Nevertheless, after the flood, when Ham saw his father lying asleep naked, he felt ashamed and called his two brothers, saying, “Father is crazy. Now he’s sleeping naked.” Then they took a garment and, walking backward, covered Noah’s naked body. With this act, the brothers completely denied Noah’s God-ordained position. That they opposed him in the end is undeniable. Therefore we must practice absolute faith before God. We must devote absolute faith only to God, not to Satan. The one who dedicates absolute faith only to God will surely be blessed by God as the father of faith. God cannot help but love such a person. (054-076, 1972.03.11) 4 When we look at faith and practice, there is always a gap between the two. Faith always precedes practice, not the other way around. Only when fallen human beings have strong faith can they practice it vigorously. But God does not look at faith only. God requires faith as a bridge to a better outcome through practice. In spite of this, people neglect the practice and focus primarily on faith. This is at odds with what God desires, but this is the way people generally practice their faith. (046-070, 1971.07.25) 5 God began the creation with absolute faith. So to accomplish the providence of restoration, He also had to begin it with absolute faith. However, absolute faith must be practiced with absolute love as the center. Love is the subject partner, and faith is the object partner. This is why everyone yearns for absolute faith; this desire centers on love. The purpose of love is to give birth to the universe. Absolute faith is needed for creation. In order to create this immense universe, God has to invest His entire mind and body and continue to invest unto eternity. (403-267, 2003.01.24) 6 Absolute faith is about living for others. The absolute God lives for others. During their courtship, young men and women ask each other how much each believes in and cares for the other. In order to lay a path of living for others, the two must become one over time. Absolute faith creates an object partner. On top of that, investment is required, since unity is forged based on true love. One side must begin investing to level things out. But who should do this? A man cannot ask that a woman invest herself for his sake, just as a woman cannot demand that a man invest himself for her sake. Both parties need to invest selflessly in each other in the hope of attaining the greater goal. Practicing this is absolute faith and absolute love. (417-242, 2003.09.10) 7 Why is absolute faith needed? God Himself needs to reach the highest, ideal standard. Based on this standard, the realm of love’s object partner appears. Thus God created with absolute faith the realm of the object partner, including the animal, plant and mineral kingdoms. God also invested Himself with His absolute love. God invested Himself absolutely during the mineral era, the plant era and the animal era. After these comes the era of settlement. Unless we reach that final point where our mind and body absolutely do not fight each other, a heavenly world cannot be established. (426-276, 2003.11.27) 8 What is absolute faith? It is all about establishing the order of absolute love. It is all for love. A person who seeks absolute faith for the sake of absolute love forgets about him or herself as an individual embodiment of truth, and invests everything. And when God invests Himself completely, ignoring the internal nature and external form of His own divine character, only then can His object partner become perfect. Thereafter, God can say, “Please make me a Parent who can love His child as the Owner of love.” But it is the child who fulfills this request. Neither God nor the father and mother can do this. (461-056, 2004.07.20) |