Cheon Seong Gyeong Ⅱ - 516. Living as an Owner of CheonIlGuk and the Family Pledge
1 The Family Pledge is the greatest blessing of all the blessings that Heaven has bestowed on humanity. We received it on the occasion of the inauguration of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification on May 1, 1994. This was possible based on the declaration of the Completed Testament Age, the age that concludes and completes the Old Testament Age and the New Testament Age. Once that beacon pierced the darkness of the Era before the Coming of Heaven, the Family Pledge was given. It is a guidepost for us amid the great changes in heaven and earth that have been occurring in this new era, as we open the new heaven and new earth, the Kingdom of Cosmic Peace and Unity. (565-302, 20070613)
2 True Parents personally fought and gained victory during the forty-year course of indemnity that began with the founding of the Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity in 1954. On this foundation, we no longer recite My Pledge, on the individual level, but recite the Family Pledge instead. The Family Pledge is the pledge that a true family, the basic unit that enters the kingdom of heaven, should proclaim and practice together. It is the pledge imbued with the bitter sorrow of Heaven and True Parents, and hence it cannot be recited without tears. It sets forth the standard for liberated people, and will prevail forever. It will be recited long after traditional religions, which arose as a consequence of the Fall, have been discarded. Families who recite this pledgewill be the basic unit that enters the kingdom of heaven. (565-302, 20070613)
The background of the Family Pledge 3 From God's point of view, the era of the providence of restoration has come to an end. With the end of that era, we are moving toward the original ideal of creation. This means that the fallen world under Satan's authority has ended and we are moving into the age when God directly governs both the physical and the heavenly worlds. Because this time has come, I proclaimed the Family Pledge of the Unification Church. Not just anyone is ready to recite the Family Pledge. Each of the eight verses in the Family Pledge contains the phrase, "Our family, the owner of CheonIlGuk, pledges...by centering on true love." People who make this pledge stand on the foundation that transcends Satan's world. Due to the Fall, people have been connected to false life and false lineage through false love. In order to overcome this, we have to abide in true love, true life and true lineage. Otherwise we cannot overcome their false counterparts. Why do we make true love a premise of the Family Pledge? It is so we can proclaim that we are entering the original world, as if the Fall in the garden of Eden had never occurred. (263-194, 19941004)
4 In a family that is restored to God, individuals must be united in mind and body, husband and wife must be united, and parents and children mustbe united. The family must learn the Family Pledge by heart. You should not recite the Family Pledge when your mind and body are in conflict or when husband and wife are fighting. Also, you should not recite it if you do not yet have children. You are to recite the Family Pledge after forming a realm of unity in true love. This is because to enter the kingdom of heaven you must be true children who have achieved unity of mind and body, unity between husband and wife, and unity between parents and children. It is a place where families fulfill the maxim, "Where there is harmony in the family, everything goes well." (264-340, 19941120)
5 The Family Pledge endows you with the full authority of an original family. You of the fallen lineage must return to the original position before the Fall before you can recite the Family Pledge. In addition, you must work to build Heaven's tribe, people, nation and world. This will establish the kingdom of heaven on earth. Individuals whose mind and body are not united should not recite the Family Pledge. Unless husband and wife are united, they should not recite it. Unless parents and children are united, they should not recite it either. If you do not understand this, the whole point of the Family Pledge loses its significance. (264-340, 19941120)
6 The Family Pledge contains the meaning that we should wipe all thingsclean. The third pledge of the Family Pledge teaches us that we are to perfect the four great realms of heart, the three great kingships and the Realm of the Royal Family. So who can recite the Family Pledge? Those who have inherited false love and false life from the false parents are not supposed to recite it. Those who recite the Family Pledge have to be united with God and True Parents, who have no relationship with the Fall, and return to the original world. They also have to be united in mind and body. Husbands and wives have to be united, and parents and children as well, in true love. Only those who stand on this foundation have the right to recite the Family Pledge. (264-213, 19941103)
7 The Family Pledge is composed of content drawn from the Principle that is essential to the establishment of true families. That is why you should recite it before you pray. First you need to check your own internal state and that of your family members. If you find something amiss, you must correct it. You must put the Family Pledge into practice. (260-308, 19940519)
8 The Family Pledge is the absolute standard for establishing the Kingdom of Cosmic Peace and Unity that lies beyond the Completed Testament Age. It is like a constitution. Families that rise to the position to lead the world mustbe true, model families that all people can recognize and respect. These families are Heavens greatest and supreme blessing. Yet in reality, creating such a family is a most fearsome task. The family is the cornerstone for building CheonIlGuk. Hence, building a true family is the way to becoming a citizen of Cheon IlGuk. (565-303, 20070613)
9 The Family Pledge is evidence of True Parents' complete victory. It bestows the teachings of the Completed Testament Age, the age of justification by attendance. The Family Pledge connects your lives to God, with true love as its bones and true families as its heart. It is a nuclear bomb of true love that can encompass even God. The energy and wisdom of the Family Pledge triggers an eternal spherical motion, with true love at its core, which connects vertical and horizontal, north and south, and front and back. The Family Pledge is the key that opens the gates to the kingdom of heaven. Even keys made of gold or silver cannot open the gates to the kingdom of heaven. Only a true family perfected in true love has the key to open them. (565-304, 20070613)
10 The Family Pledge is the creed of the Unification Church. It is like the bones. Fulfilling even one pledge of the Family Pledge is more than enough to make you a citizen of the kingdom of heaven. For instance, the eighth pledge states that the kingdom of God on earthand the kingdom of God in heaven will be liberated when we are united with God in love through absolute faith, absolute love and absolute obedience. Neither God alone nor the Savior alone can liberate the heavenly realm. That liberation can be completed only when God and the Savior join together and all members of the Unification Church join with them to give the Blessing to all people of every nation. (388-050, 20020729)
11 The teaching of the Family Pledge takes a universal perspective, not an individualistic one. You should not try to avoid the various difficulties the real world presents. You must be valiant to break through that reality and gain victory. Your weapon for this is the family armed with the tradition of the Family Pledge. I am not talking about the family centered only on the first generation, you and your spouse. You need to establish Heaven's firm and unwavering tradition through a family of at least three generations. Hence, your mission is to establish your household as a family where the true lineage of the chosen people flows from generation to generation.(565-318, 20070613)
12 God is now the Parent of the substantial world, having assumed the physical bodies of the True Parents. The entire process of accomplishing this is finally finished. The victory that True Parents have achieved is the foundation that brings order to heaven andon earth, where everything had been in disarray. True Parents are then setting up God's kingdom and opening the way for us to register our marriages and report the births of our children. This is analogous to resurrecting three generations for the building of His kingdom. You have inherited the full authority to do that, and that is why the phrase "owner of Cheon Il Guk" appears in the Family Pledge. (407-042, 20030511)
13 You participated in True Parents' Holy Wedding ceremony. You received the Blessing together with us, and you participated in the event where we, the True Parents, recorded your marriages and births. Now all of you, as our successors whose marriages and births are recorded, will enter the kingdom of heaven together with us. This is something amazing. You are not entering the kingdom of heaven as individual members of Adams family; instead, you are climbing up the hill to the place where heaven and earth become one, in order to uphold CheonIlGuk. You are going beyond this point together with True Parents. You stand with us, having the right of equal position. That is why you can say, "Our family, the owner of CheonIlGuk..." It is a privilege. (409-151, 20030623)
14 CheonIlGuk's citizens represent heaven and earth. Therefore, wherever you are, you should always live for the sake of the entire planet. If there is a problem at the North Pole, all of youshould be concerned about how to resolve it. You should view any problem as your responsibility, whether it is at the South Pole, in the East or in the West. When you say, "owner of CheonIlGuk," remember that there is a crucial difference between a leader and an owner. The person in the leader's position may change from time to time, but an owner s position is eternal. You cannot be the owner of your family as an individual; your ownership should be as husband and wife. Even that is not enough; you need to complete the four-position foundation and become owners through three generations. Your grandfather and grandmother, your father and mother, you and your spouse, and your children make four generations, but in terms of stages they are reckoned as three. This is how you can become the owners of Cheon IlGuk. (400-011, 20021225)
15 On April 10, 1992,1 declared the liberation of women. When CheonIlGuk reaches its twelfth year, it will be twenty years since that proclamation. That was the day that my wife made her public appearance on the earth. It corresponds to the time when Adam would have been twenty-one years old and ready to receive the Blessing. Until then, there was no foundation for True Mother to stand with me as my partner. Hence, the kingdom had not yet come into existence. From the time of proclaiming the liberation of women to the twelfth year of Cheon IlGuk, allblessed families are in the position that Adam and Eve would have been in had they passed the age of twenty and prepared themselves to receive the Blessing at the age of twenty-one and then created the heavenly kingdom. It is on that basis that the phrase "Our family, the owner of Cheon IlGuk" could appear in the Family Pledge. (443-123, 20040322)
16 The wedding ceremony of True Parents that took place sixty years ago was at the level of Adam's family within Satan's realm. After that, True Parents went beyond the tribe, people, nation and world to establish the victorious foundation for the emergence of God's homeland. That is why they could hold the Enthronement Ceremony for the Kingship of God on January 13, 2001. In February 2003, on the day True Mother turned sixty, a Holy Wedding took place in God's homeland by which God and True Parents became one in body. On that foundation, on July 13, 2003, the central authority of the universe was changed from Satan to God. That was the day when the history of restoration through indemnity shifted and God could take His place at the center. It is on this basis that you and your spouse are called the "owner of Cheon IlGuk" in the Family Pledge. (437-306, 20040213) |