Fall - Morning Devotion in July 2024

The Fall

Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons..
Genesis 3:7

Original Sin

3:1 Now the serpent was more subtle than any other wild creature that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God say, You shall not eat of any tree of the garden?"

2 And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden;

3 but God said, 'You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.

In the Bible we read that a serpent tempted Eve to commit sin. (Gen. 3:4-5) What does the serpent symbolize? Let us investigate the true identity of the serpent, based on the Genesis account.

The serpent described in the Bible was able to converse with people. It caused the Fall of humans, who are spiritual beings. Furthermore, the serpent knew the will of God, which strictly forbade human beings to eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. This is compelling evidence that the being which the serpent symbolizes was a spiritual being. It is written: This ancient serpent is the very serpent which tempted Eve in the Garden of Eden.

Having lived in heaven before being thrown down, this Devil or Satan must be a spiritual being. In fact, ever since the time of the human Fall, Satan has been continually turning the hearts of people toward evil. Since Satan is a spiritual being, the serpent which symbolizes him must also represent a spiritual being. These strands of biblical evidence confirm that the serpent that tempted Eve was not an animal but a symbol for a spiritual being.

The question arises whether the spiritual being symbolized by the serpent existed before the creation of the universe or was created as a part of the universe. If this being existed before the creation of the universe and had a purpose contrary to that of God, then the conflict between good and evil in the universe would he unavoidable and perpetual.

God's providence of restoration, then, would be in vain Moreover, monotheism, which holds that everything in the universe was created by one God, would be unfounded We are left with the conclusion that the spiritual being represented by the serpent was originally created with a good purpose, but later fell and became Satan.

What kind of spiritual being in Gods creation could have conversed with people, understood the will of God, and lived in heaven? What kind of being, even after it had fallen and become degraded to an evil being, could transcend time and space to dominate the human soul?

There are no beings endowed with such characteristics other than angels. The verse "God did not spare the angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of nether gloom" (II Pet. 2:4) supports the conclusion that the serpent, which tempted human beings and sinned, is an angel.

A serpent has a forked tongue. It depicts someone who utters contradictory things with one tongue and lives a two-faced life with one heart. A serpent twists its body around its prey before devouring it, a metaphor for someone who ensnares others for his own benefit. For these reasons the Bible likened the angel who tempted human beings to a serpent.

Exposition of the Divine Principle

Chapter 2.1.2

The great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent. who is called the Devil and Satan. the deceiver of the whole world -- he was thrown down to the earth.

Rev. 12:9

Why do men and women have to wait and discipline themselves instead of just jumping into love whenever they feel like it? We know that the creation is bounded by a certain period of growth. Therefore, a child's love cannot be consummated as soon as he is born; he must grow into the fullest realization of love.

Some accident occurred during the period of growth, an accident of love. We have an explanation of the whole process of that accident of love. We know that love is the supreme power, and therefore the consequences of the accident have been so grave. God gave the man and woman a commandment during their growth period, specifying that they should not do certain things.

In unlocking the problems of the universe, I realized that the greatest discovery was the truth about the Fall of man. If the forbidden fruit was a literal apple or pear which God placed right in the middle of the Garden of Eden, then God's plan must have been imperfect. This was not the case.

Rather, I have brought a revolutionary declaration to the world that the forbidden "fruit" was a symbol of love between man and woman. From love can spring either good or evil fruit: therefore, the tree was described as one of the knowledge of good and evil.

Love is the judgment point for mankind. What is the love that God can relate with? God warned Adam and Eve to grow into the full sensation of love -- for Adam to discover all of a sudden that Eve was not just a sister but a woman, and for Eve to discover that Adam was not just a brother but a man. In the sensation or love, Adam and Eve's mind and body could work together and experience the electricity of touching each other.

Once Adam and Eve realized the explosion of their love, the entire universe would have been like one beautiful, fragrant flower garden. They would see everything echoing their love. When that electrifying sensation came to God, then He would be pulled to them and His entire creation would have been activated with love. God was supposed to be the matchmaker, bringing Adam and Eve together in the explosion of love.

In the ensuing explosion of love, all three of them would be consumed! The important thing is that there he no foreign element there, that men and women be pure when they consummate their first love Then they become the core of the universe.

This core would be so powerful that everything else would be pulled into it, even God. Children would be multiplied from that core, and it would continue to grow and grow From a family the core would grow into a tribe, then a nation and a world. How wonderful a world it is when the universe echoes the love of the core. That is the Kingdom of Heaven on earth -- that is the true world.

At this time in history Reverend Moon is declaring to the world that the Fall of man was an accident of love. This is the greatest declaration because it hits the core of evil. It is also a most logical and correct diagnosis, making possible the correct prescription for treatment.

Analyzing an event from 6,000 years ago was not easy, so it had to be done step by step. The love core was not achieved, and the opposite, evil result came into being, bringing division and perverted love.

This resulted in not only denial of God, but denial of parents, of men and women. Human civilization has sunk below that of animals. In this world there has been no ideal because no individual has had the correct diagnosis and could not find the proper prescription to achieve a cure.

Parents, Children and the World Centering on Oneself

June 5, 1983

3:4 But the serpent said to the woman. "You will not die..."

God created human beings to grow old and return to dust; physical death was allotted to human beings regardless of whether or not they fell. Adam died at the biblical age of 930 years and his flesh returned to dust; but this was not the death caused by the Fall.

According to the Principle of Creation, the flesh is the clothing of the spirit. Just as one discards worn-out clothes, the flesh is to be discarded when it has grown old and weak. Only the unclothed spirit self then enters the spirit world and lives there eternally.

Nothing material can live forever. Human beings are no exception, our bodies cannot live eternally. If human beings were to live on earth forever in the flesh, why did God create the spirit world as our final destination?

The spirit world was not created after the Fall as a place for fallen spirits to abide. Rather, it is part of the original creation, created as the place where individuals who fulfill the purpose of creation will enjoy eternal life as spirits after their life on earth has come to an end.

Most people are attached to their earthly life. They regret its passing because, due to the Fall, they are ignorant of the fact that after they discard their clothes of flesh, they are meant to live forever in the beautiful and eternal spirit world.

The transition from physical life to life in the spirit world may he compared to the metamorphosis of a caterpillar into a butterfly. If the caterpillar had self-awareness, it might feel the same attachment to its limited existence climbing about the leaves of a plant as people do to their earthly life. It, too, would probably be reluctant to end its existence as a caterpillar, unaware that it is destined to enter a new phase of life as a butterfly; when It will enjoy fragrant flowers and symbol of love between man and woman. From love can spring either good or evil fruit; therefore, the tree was described as one of the knowledge of good and evil.

Love is the judgment point for mankind. What is the love that God can relate with? God wanted Adam and Eve to grow into the full sensation of love -- for Adam to discover all of a sudden that Eve was not just a sister but a woman, and for Eve to discovery that Adam was not just a brother but a man. In the sensation of love, Adam and Eve's mind and body could work together and experience the electricity of touching each other.

Once Adam and Eve realized the explosion of their love, the entire universe would have been like one beautiful, fragrant flower garden. They would feel everything echoing their love.

When that electrifying sensation came to God, then He would be pulled to them and His entire creation would have been activated with love. God was supposed to be the matchmaker, bringing Adam and Eve together m the explosion of love.

In the ensuing explosion of love, all three of them would be consumed! The important thing is that there is no foreign element there, that men and women be pure when they consummate their first love. Then they become the core of the universe.

This core would be so powerful that everything else would be pulled into it, even God. Children would be multiplied from that core, and it would continue to grow and grow. From a family the core would grow into a tribe, then a nation and a world. How wonderful a world it is when the universe echoes the love of the core. That is the Kingdom of Heaven on earth -- that is the true world.

At this time in history Reverend Moon is declaring to the world that the Fall of man was an accident of love. This is the greatest declaration because it hits the core of evil. It is also a most logical and correct diagnosis, making possible the correct prescription for treatment.

Analyzing an event from 6,000 years ago was not easy, so it had to he done step by step. The love core was not achieved, and the opposite, evil result came into being, bringing division and perverted love. This resulted in not only denial sweet nectar to its heart's content.

If there had been no hell, earthly people would he able to relate with spirits just as naturally as they relate among themselves. They would know that death is not the final departure from their loved ones on earth. If people knew what a beautiful and happy world they will enter after they attain perfection on earth and die a natural death, they would look forward eagerly to the day they enter that world.

Since the Fall did not cause death in the sense of the expiration of physical life, we can surmise that what it brought was the other type of death. Let us examine this further. God told Adam and Eve that on the day they ate of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil they would surely die.

Since God so warned them, it must be that when Adam and Eve ate of the fruit, they did in fact die. Yet Adam and Eve after the Fall continued their earthly life and bore children, who multiplied to form today's corrupt human society.

We can conclude that the death caused by the Fall does not mean the end of physical life, but rather the descent from the good dominion of God into the evil dominion of Satan.

Exposition of the Divine Principle

Part I, Chapter 5, Section 1

3:5 knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened. and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.

6 So when the woman saw that the free was good for food. and that it was a delight to the eves. and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate.

What is the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil that God told the original ancestors, Adam and Eve, not to eat? It is not the real fruit of a tree. It is a way of expressing the husband and wife love relationship that the first ancestors were to have in the future.

Due to the temptation of a third being, while still in an imperfect state, the first man and woman entered into an immoral sexual relationship. Actually; in the Garden of Eden, the third party besides Adam and Eve was the Archangel. In the Bible it is revealed that Lucifer was the Archangel who tempted Eve and committed an immoral sexual sin. This was the Fall of man, the original sin which planted the root of sin in the world.

Man and woman committed the sexual sin before their Father God, the Lord and Master of heaven and earth. The first ancestors had children out of this immoral love. The world of evil was realized. In other words, they married centered on Satan and by planting false love, false life and a false lineage, they became ancestors of evil.

As human society expanded from the individual, family, tribe, race, and nation to the world level, due to this immoral relationship between man and woman the root of the evil blood lineage was established everywhere, at all times, and this world became hell on earth.

It became a false world filled with sin, war and fear. The fallen ancestors, Adam and Eve, should have established the position of True Parents as the eternal good ancestors of humanity; but they fell to become false parents leaving a blood lineage of evil.

This is the first cause of all the tragedy and misery of humankind. What could be more tragic or cause greater indignation than becoming the descendants of false parents and all humankind losing their True Parents? And how great must be the suffering and sorrow of God, the Father of humanity, whose purpose of creation -- to establish the true ancestors of humankind and to multiply people of goodness -- was stolen by the blood lineage of sin through the immoral fall of the first human ancestors.

Just as the cause of a disease must he discovered and treated in order to save a person suffering from it, in order to liberate human society from the suffering of such sin and misery, the fundamental cause of this sin and misery must be revealed and corrected.

The fundamental cause is the Fall of the human ancestors, the original sin, Accordingly, unless the cause of the disease called original sin is eliminated, we cannot pull up the root of misery and sin from the world.

No matter how many great men, heroes, scholars, politicians or philosophers appear and try to straighten out the world through the reform of the laws and systems or through the education of moral principles, unless the original sin and the content of the Fall is clarified it will be impossible. All remedies will prove useless. That is because the original root of sin and misery is still alive, and it will continue to sprout buds.

Exposition of the Divine Principle

Part I, Chapter 2, Section 2

3:6 ...and she also gave some to her husband, and he ate.

The Fall of Adam and Eve was immoral conduct against the ideal of the True Love of God. The fact that Adam and Eve needed to obey the Commandment shows that they fell in a stage of Imperfection, that is to say, during their period of growth, The Archangel, who is symbolized by a serpent, tempted Eve to cat of the fruit of good and evil, and she fell spiritually.

She later tempted Adam (who was also too immature to eat of the fruit), and they then fell physically The only possible sin that could have been fatal in the Garden of Eden, where Adam and Eve were in communication with God and living in joy, was the sin of illicit love.

View of the Principle of the Providential History of Salvation

April 16, 1996

When the angel, created as God's servant, beheld Eve, the daughter of God, it was only natural that she looked beautiful to his eyes. Moreover, when Lucifer saw that Eve was responding to his temptation, the angel felt the stimulation of her love to be deliciously enticing.

At this point, Lucifer was seducing Eve with the mind to have her, regardless of the consequences. Lucifer, who left his proper position due to his excessive desire, and Eve, who wanted to open her eyes and become like God before the time was ripe, formed a common base and began give and take action. The power of the unprincipled love generated by their give and take led them to consummate an illicit sexual relationship on the spiritual plane.

 

3:7 When the eves of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons

All beings are created based on the principle that when they become one in love, they exchange elements with each other. Accordingly, when Eve became one with Lucifer through love, she received certain elements from him.

First, she received feelings of dread arising from the pangs of a guilty conscience, stemming from her violation of the purpose of creation.

Second, she received from Lucifer the wisdom which enabled her to discern that her originally intended spouse was to be Adam, not the angel. Eve was in the position to receive wisdom from the Archangel because she was immature and her wisdom was not as seasoned as that of the Archangel, who was already in a state of angelic maturity.

Perfect Adam and Eve were supposed to have become an eternal husband and wife in God's love, But Eve, who in her immaturity had engaged in the illicit relationship with the Archangel, joined with Adam as husband and wife. Thus, Adam fell when he, too, was still immature. This untimely conjugal relationship in satanic love between Adam and Eve constituted the physical fall.

Exposition of the Divine Principle

Part I, Chapter 2, Section 2

It is human nature to try to hide our defects. A child caught stealing a cookie by his mother will instinctively hide his hands or cover his mouth. In the same way, If Adam and Eve had taken a piece of fruit and put it into their mouths, then they would have hidden their hands or covered their mouths when God called them.

The fact that they hid their lower parts instead demonstrates that their crime was committed through the lower parts of their bodies.

God Is Our King and True Parent

May 8, 2001

3:8 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

9 But the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, "Where are you?"

10 And he said. "I heard the sound of thee in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was

naked and I hid myself"

11 He said. "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?"

Fathom the painful heart of God who called, "Adam, Adam!" after Adam and Eve fell. God was in the position to abandon Adam and Eve, who had abandoned Him, the Creator; but God looked for Adam, calling out. "Adam, Adam!" We must realize that God was not just calling for the two people, Adam and Eve. He was calling out to the history of humankind.

Until today, people on earth have been ignorant of the internal heart of God who called out to Adam after the creation. The voice that called out to Adam, at that time, became words of sorrow that represent the 6.000-year history of grief today.

God called Adam with the sorrowful heart that represented all the grief inside the fallen realm after the creation of the world. Although 6000 years of long history have passed since Adam, God is connecting the event of that time to the present era and is calling out to us, the second Adam and Eve, in the same manner.

We should realize the distressed heart of God, who was calling for Adam and Eve after the Fall, this was the heart of the Father who felt indescribably heartbroken when He saw that Adam had entered the forbidden place and had fallen.

When we grab onto that heart and mourn with the same heart, God can continue again in His dispensation of restoration toward people on the earth. Never forget that God has been calling out to you by setting up countless prophets and saints throughout the course of history. The voice calling out to fallen Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden is still heard today.

Heaven Is Calling Us

January 5, 1958

3:12 The man said. "the woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate...

13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, "What is this that you have done? The woman

said, "The serpent beguiled me, and I ate."

14 The Lord God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, cursed are you above all cattle, and above all wild animals; upon your belly you shall go and dust you shall eat all the days of your life.

15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he shall bruise your head, and yon shall bruise his heel."

16 To the woman he said, "1 will greatly multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children, yet your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.

The person who complains or tries to make excuses will never go over the mountain into heaven. After the Fall, Adam and Eve blamed each other in explaining to God what happened, and to this world everyone tries to escape taking responsibility for their mistakes. But that is not the tradition of heaven.

You should not become persons of excuse or complaint, even though you are in a position to justifiably complain. God pushes you into positions where you want to complain and you could gripe about a thousand things a day, but it is your greatness to go over the difficulty with gratitude and not complain like everyone else in the world.

The Desire of All Things

June 17, 1977

Even after the Fall of man, Adam added many different excuses: "Oh God, I fell because of Eve." Eve's excuse was: "God, Adam whom you created, didn't fulfill his responsibility so we failed." They didn't admit their own mistake, nobody did.

Usually we have a tendency to think: "Oh well, I did what I could and I was right, but because of somebody else or because of some circumstances, the mistake took place."

Leaders' Meeting

December 22, 1994

God cursed the fallen angel, saying, "Upon your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life."(Gen. 3:14) "Upon your belly you shall go" means that the angel would become a miserable being, unable to function properly or to perform its original service. To "eat dust" means that ever since the angel was thrown down from heaven. (Isa, 14:12); he has been deprived of life elements from God. Instead, he has had to subsist on evil elements gleaned from the sinful world. (Rev. 12:9)

Exposition of the Divine Principle

Part I, Chapter 2, Section 1

3:17 And to Adam he said, "Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commended you, 'Thou shall not eat of it.' cursed is the ground because of on in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life;

18 thorns and thistles it shall bring forth to you and you shall eat the plants of the field."

3:22 Then the Lord God said. "Behold, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil; and now, lest he put forth his hand and take also of the Tree of Life, and eat, and live forever.

23 Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the Garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken.

This world we are living in is the world of result, but what did it result from? The human Fall. Thus it is far removed from the original world. This fallen world is certainly not the world in which we long to live; it is the culmination of thousands of generations of fallen ancestors. Looking back upon history, we find that our ancestry is not what we would have desired.

This is not the world that God planned, but rather the fallen world. Each generation has multiplied the results of the Fall, thousands upon thousands of fallen generations have brought the world to its present state. Each segment of history was terrible. When you think deeply about fallen history, can't you feel how shockingly horrible it has been`...

God has suffered far more than any human being; otherwise, He would not be qualified to teach suffering people. Parents can educate their children and the children listen because parents have endured more. The teacher who has experienced and suffered a lot is a better-qualified instructor. If a student has endured more suffering than the teacher, the teacher does not know how to guide him.

The world of creation exists for human beings, and it is pleading with us to be used for a good purpose. Even the fallen world will say, "Please apply the law of restitution and use me through it." Restitution is necessary everywhere.

We must understand clearly what we are living for. The direction in which we are headed is the path of restitution for the sake of the world. This is the path that leads directly to the center of the whole. This is our daily direction.

Wherever we go -- whether a family, a company, a nation or the world -- we must show a good example. Our task is to overcome the payment due on all those levels. Do you understand?

What happened because of the Fall? By falling Adam and Eve were separated from God and cut off from the angelic world. They lost everything. They were expelled from the Garden, which means they lost the standard of true human beings, the true family standard, and the true national standard. Who was responsible for that? It wasn't God, nor was it the angelic world, nor the world of creation. It was the responsibility of humankind.

Therefore, we are destined to follow the course of the providence of restoration. A person cannot go this path alone. He or she needs the help of God and the spirit world Therefore. God and the spirit world have been mobilized to help fallen man on earth complete the history of re-creation

People in the Old Testament Age made offerings to God using things from the creation. Such offerings united God, the sprit world and the creation into a substantial foundation. Through these successful offerings, the foundation to restore a substantial Adam was begun.

This foundation of offering was supposed to be established worldwide. To do that, a particular nation, Israel, was elected. It was God's hope that Israel would become the most important nation in the world, so that when the foundation was completed there, it would represent the entire world. On that kind of foundation, perfected Adam and Eve would be able to stand.

A person who cannot live up to the absoluteness of God's law cannot cross the absolute barrier which God erected after the Fall. When Adam and Eve united with Satan and died spiritually, God set cherubim with a flaming sword to guard the way so no one could re-enter the Garden of Eden.

When we give the Blessing of marriage, we are aiming to harvest the fruit in this springtime of the providence, being admitted past the cherubim with the flaming sword to consummate the goal. When kingship and queenship is sealed in you, then even if you march to the gates of hell, the door will open. There will be no place you cannot conquer and nowhere you cannot go. Everywhere you go you shall bring springtime.

Spring Season of the Providence

April 1, 1979

Sunday Service on July 21, 2024

Triangle Family Church Sunday Service on July 21, 2024

Musical Offering

Sermon

A sermon reflecting on National Parents Day, the importance of family, and finding solace in Christ and the Holy Spirit. Key Insights:

• Family as a Foundation: The sermon emphasizes that families should be a source of love and happiness, influencing children positively. A strong family unit is vital for nurturing faith.
• Navigating Blessings: The complexity of the blessing process is acknowledged, indicating a need for ongoing support and simplification, reflecting the evolving dynamics within families.
• Community Support: The workshop brought together leaders and parents, showcasing the importance of community in supporting second-generation blessings and understanding their unique challenges.
• Diverse Paths to God: Recognizing that people can find God in various faiths highlights the inclusive nature of spirituality and the need for openness in understanding different beliefs.
• Repentance and Healing: The call to repent to children suggests a pathway to healing and rebuilding trust, encouraging parents to reflect on their actions and their impact on their children.
• The Role of the Holy Spirit: The sermon emphasizes the Holy Spirit’s comforting presence, suggesting that finding solace in spirituality is essential for overcoming life’s struggles and fostering family bonds.
• Love as a Priority: Ultimately, loving families and prioritizing relationships over missions and hobbies can lead to healthier dynamics and inspire children to embrace similar values.

Parents' Day Cerebration report

Parents' Day celebration emphasized teamwork, gratitude for volunteers, and the importance of community in honoring parents.

• Community Spirit: The event showcased the power of community involvement, demonstrating that collective efforts lead to successful outcomes.
• Volunteer Appreciation: Acknowledging volunteers fosters a supportive environment, encouraging future participation and collaboration.
• Event Logistics: Proper planning and communication are crucial for event success; addressing challenges can strengthen teamwork.
• Family Engagement: Involving families in presentations promotes unity and fosters relationships among community members.
• Peace Advocacy: Highlighting the importance of peace initiatives reflects the organization's commitment to global harmony and understanding.
• Personal Growth: The speaker's reflections on personal challenges show how community service can lead to self-awareness and improvement.
• Government Support: Recognition from local officials elevates the event's importance and encourages community engagement in future initiatives.

Parents' Day 2024

North Carolina 2024 National Parents Day Celebration 

One of this year’s celebration of National Parents Day in North Carolina took place at the Triangle Family Church in Durham, N.C. about two miles down the road from Duke University. Mrs. Sharon Pace, the Universal Peace Federation Executive Director for SR2 in North Carolina, was the MC for the event. Pastor Bob Huneycutt was on hand to play guitar with the “Triangle Family Church Band” and entertained everyone with great live music.

Pastor Bob played music outside in the parking lot where we had games for the kids to play. Although it started raining, we got to have some serious playtime. Two representatives from “Planet Fitness” were on hand to share about their local gym. They gave away some “goody bags” and stayed for the entire program. Pastor Davetta Morgan had a table inside and guided the children in several arts and crafts projects.  All together about 50 guests came to the event. Inside, in the main sanctuary, we enjoyed a delicious Chicken dinner as our main meal. Six large pizzas were donated to the celebration from “Randy’s Pizza” just down the street. Also, the local Panera Bread gave 6 large bags of fresh bagels. At the end of the evening our guests took home bagels and also a fresh sunflower. 

While everyone was enjoying their meal, the Triangle Church Band played and some entertaining Parents Day themed videos were shown on the big screen. Some were funny and others were more serious about good parenting. 

As part of the program, Ann Nilson read some of the proclamations and the congratulatory letters that came from North Carolina government officials. Governor of North Carolina Roy Cooper had made a “Parents Day Proclamation for 2024”. Lt. Governor Mark Robinson also made a proclamation and sent a Parents Day letter. Congresswoman Valerie Foushee of Durham, Mayor Leonardo Williams of Durham and Dr. Scott Lassiter, Wake Soil and Water District Chairperson, sent letters. Representative Erin Pare and Catherine Truitt, the Superintendent of Public School in North Carolina, both sent congratulatory letters. Mayor Crawley of Morrisville apologized that he just could not make it this year. He had attended the last five years in a row.

We listened to a beautiful song written and performed by Chelsea Nayrcom. She was attending the event with 12 of her Vietnamese family members, including 5 grandchildren. Reverend Linda and George Riddick, the “Parents of the Year” for last year’s event, attended with 6 of their children and family members.

After the reading of the proclamation and letters, Chloe Kempf (10 years old) and her sister Claire Kempf (8 years old) gave a power point presentation about the importance of parents. For two young girls they did an excellent job of sharing about why God gives us our parents.

Their grandfather, John Pace, a former Pastor of the Triangle Family Church, spoke about how God created us through our parents and how we grow our ability to love God and others through the four realms of heart we experience in our family. Four generations of the Pace family were present at this Parents Day celebration, including John’s 92 year old mother, Elaine Pace and his brother Jim.  John and Sharon’s 2 daughters and 5 grandchildren were present. Tobias and Shawna Kempf , with Chloe, Claire, Charlie, John and Blake and Kieva Matthews with Stella Rose. (Shawna’s family came from South Carolina to support our Parents Day)

We all took a group picture and then ended our evening by singing along with the video of sister sledge singing “We are Family”. The entire event was a happy and meaningful way to honor National Parents Day.

Music Offerings

Messages for Parents' Day from Lt. Governor Mark Robinson, Congresswoman Valerie Foushee of Durham, Mayor Leonardo Williams of Durham, Dr. Scott Lassiter, Wake Soil and Water District Chairperson, Representative Erin Pare and Catherine Truitt, the Superintendent of Public School in North Carolina

Messages celebrate National Parents Day, recognizing the vital role parents play in shaping children and communities, as expressed through various proclamations.

Key Insights:

• Importance of Recognition: National Parents Day serves to highlight the often-overlooked contributions of parents, allowing them to gain the recognition they deserve in society.
• Foundational Role of Parents: Parents are children’s first teachers, shaping their values and beliefs, which have lasting impacts on their futures and society.
• Valuable Life Lessons: The message emphasizes that through their actions, parents teach essential life skills such as kindness and resilience, guiding children in navigating life’s challenges.
• Community Impact: Celebrating parents fosters community bonds and encourages positive change, showcasing the integral role of families in building strong societies.
• Lifelong Learning: Parents’ support enables children to become lifelong learners, which is crucial for personal and communal growth in a rapidly changing world.
• Challenges of Parenting: Acknowledging the challenges parents face highlights their resilience and dedication, emphasizing the demanding yet rewarding nature of the parenting journey.
• Building Strong Families: Strong families are the backbone of strong communities; by investing in children, parents contribute to a brighter future for all.

Kempf family presentation

Claire and Chloe Kempf celebrate Parents’ Day, highlighting the importance of having parents for emotional support, conflict resolution, and overall well-being.

Key Insights:

• Importance of Family Structure: Children with two parents often have better emotional and social outcomes, underscoring the need for a supportive family unit.
• Thriving in Life: Research indicates that children raised in dual-parent households tend to excel in various life areas, emphasizing stability and security.
• Conflict Resolution Skills: Parents play a crucial role in teaching children how to resolve conflicts, preparing them for adult challenges in professional settings.
• Basic Needs and Care: Parents fulfill fundamental needs like shelter and food, highlighting their vital role in children’s health and safety.
• Value of Family Love: The emotional support and love in a family environment are essential for children’s development and happiness.
• Role Models for Life: Parents shape children’s values and behaviors, helping them grow into kind and responsible adults.
• Parental Guidance in Life: Parents act as guardians and providers, creating a sense of security and nurturing children’s growth while on Earth.

The speaker reflects on the journey of love through parenthood, emphasizing the importance of receiving, giving, and learning to appreciate the roles of parents and grandparents.

Key Insights:

• Identity Formation: The process of recognizing one’s existence starts at birth, shaped by parental love and care. Understanding this foundation is crucial for personal development.
• Evolution of Love: Love transitions from a one-sided experience of receiving to a shared exchange, teaching us vital relational skills that prepare us for future connections.
• Romantic Relationships: The attraction to others signifies a deeper understanding of love, leading to meaningful commitments and the creation of new families.
• The Role of Parenthood: Becoming a parent shifts one’s responsibilities, emphasizing the importance of nurturing and supporting the next generation.
• Generational Perspective: Watching children become parents provides fresh insights into one’s own upbringing, deepening appreciation for parental sacrifices.
• Gratitude to the Creator: Recognizing a divine design in family dynamics fosters a sense of purpose and connection to a greater existence beyond our earthly lives.
• Eternal Existence: Life on Earth is a preparatory phase for eternal life; the love and care given during this time hold everlasting significance.

Weekly Update on June 26, 2024

Join us this Sunday, June 30 at 11:00 a.m. for our Family Room service.  Reverend Mamoru Uyama will give a brief message and Benjy and Hitoe will perform a song.  Anne Nilson is preparing icebreakers.  TFC is providing pizza and salad; please bring a side dish to share. 

On Monday, July1, participants of the 2075 couples Blessing are invited to celebrate the 42nd anniversary at the home of Mark and Carol Anne Nilson at 400 Brierridge Drive, Apex.  Arrive at 5:00 if you want to swim in the pool.  Burgers are served between 6 and 6:30.  Please bring a dish to share.  Cake and board games afterward.     

President Demien Dunkley is coming to TFC on July 13 - 14, as part of the Pure Water tour.  On Saturday at 10:00 a.m. he will meet with second gen and young members to talk about the 2025 Blessing, True Mother's role in the Providence and the initiative to find young leadership, followed by Q+A.  After lunch there will an afternoon session. On Sunday, July 14, he will join our picnic at Jordan Lake, starting at noon.  Help us to mobilize our young people and young families to welcome President Dunkley.  

We will celebrate National Parents Day on Saturday, July 20, from 3:00 to 5:30 p.m. at TFC. There will be volleyball, games for the kids, face painting, crafts, picnic dinner and inspired musicians and speakers.  Contact Sharon Pace for more info or to volunteer to serve.  Please consider nominating a deserving family you know as Parents of the Year.  Visit this website for more info: https://parentsday.com/. 

Dr. Achille is looking for 50 Matching Supporters to help prepare for the 2025 Blessing in Korea.  Contact your local pastor for more information.   

Create A Life You Love is a great way to introduce your guests to Divine Principle, Saturdays from 10:30 - 11:30, facilitated by Henri Schauffler.  Register here. 

Statewide ACLC outreach meetings are the first and third Mondays at 7:00 p.m. The next meeting is Monday, July 8 at 7:00p.m. Here is the link to join the meeting.

Please join us for Morning Devotion from Monday to Friday at 6:00 a.m.
Here is the link.

We will join Dr. Achille and Capitol Family Church on the weekend.
Here is the link.  Passcode: 2027

Please feel free at any time to use the Cheon Shim Won (Prayer Room) at TFC to pray or meditate.  

Adam And Eve - Morning Devotion on June 26, 2024

The Book of Genesis - Sun Myung Moon

Chapter Two - Adam And Eve

"Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth."

Genesis 1:28

After Our Own Likeness

1:26 Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth."

God created all things for the sake of Adam and Eve. Flowers could be their jewels, leaves could be their spoons, too. Today we are touching the same things of nature that Adam and Eve touched in the Garden of Eden: the same grass, the same flowers, the same trees.

If I asked the flowers whether they saw Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, they would reply, "No. I don't go back that far, but at least my great, great, great, great grandfather did, and I am connected to them in that way; there is a giant line linking us all the way back to Adam and Eve." And if I ask the flowers what Adam and Eve said to them, they would reply, "They told us we were so beautiful!" So even this very flower is part of Adam and Eve's legacy to us. The important thing is the heart which created those first flowers in the Garden of Eden for Adam and Eve. That same unchanging heart has been handed down, throughout the generations, to us today

They had not a moment to be bored; there was so much to look at and explore: birds, rivers, fish, rocks, mountains, fruit, flowers, etc. Suppose they came upon a frog. "What an odd creature a frog is!" When they tried to catch it, the frog immediately jumped into the water. "Boy!" Adam thought, "I should learn some jumping, too."

I want you to understand that God gave Adam and Eve a textbook to learn from, and that textbook was nature and all its creatures. All things were created to be a manual from which Adam and Eve could learn. But today, many people forget the benefits of learning from nature. They don't care about trees and plant life; they get bored to death! They aren't concerned about their neighbors; they just stay in their houses.

We need to fulfill the ideal standard of love. The love of Adam and Eve should have set the standard of love for the entire universe. They were the core, the center.

Watching nature, Adam found out that sometimes the male goes first and the female follows him, and other times the female goes first and the male follows her. But wherever they looked, they found that male and female somehow cooperate. When the male finds good food, he signals the female to join in the meal. Did Adam and Eve invent the signals they used for each other, or did they learn them from other creatures? Each morning, birds call out to one another; the male hard sings and the female responds in harmony Actually, Adam and Eve learned from nature; nature was their best teacher.

The Day of All Things

June 21, 1982

1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

Each man represents the entire masculine world; each woman represents the entire feminine world. When they come together, they represent the universe and the total image of God.

Marriage is not just the unity of one man and one woman but of the male character and the female character. In other words, by loving your spouse, you are loving the realm of masculinity or femininity. Thus the woman seeks to understand the man and the man seeks to understand the woman. The unity between the male and female world takes place in marriage. Each couple represents the harmony of the entire universe. That kind of couple is what God has been longing to see here on earth.

A loving elderly couple is beautiful to behold. They can look forward to an even greater fulfillment of their love in the spiritual world. They will be rejuvenated into the state of permanent youth when they are elevated into the next world.

As people live in this world and unite with each other horizontally, they practice becoming the objects to Gods love. Then the day of departure from this world comes, which we call death, but it is not really death. Rather, it is the point of transformation and elevation into the permanent world. That is where the love of God is complete. There you become grafted into the vertical love of God.

The Divine Principle teaches about the dual essentialities of God. When a man and woman representing the dual essentialities unite totally in love, they totally represent the dual image of God. How wonderful and dramatic that is!

When you are totally united in love, even though you grow old, you will be elevated into the realm of the love of God: then that vertical love will come into you, and you will be rejuvenated to the point of teenagers again! That is the point of vertical youth.

This is a beautiful truth. You are born as the princes and princesses of love. You can become kings and queens of love and create the kingdom of love. That is God ideal and that is the true purpose for your being born.

The Historically Highest Career

November 1, 1983

1:28 And God blessed then, and God said to them. 'Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth."

These are the three great blessings: to be fruitful (mature and ready to bear fruit), multiply and have dominion over the creation. Had Adam and Eve obeyed this divine mandate and built the Kingdom of Heaven, there is no doubt that God would have left the greatest joy as His sons and daughters rejoiced in the world of His ideal.

How can God's three great blessings be fulfilled?

The key to God's first blessing is the perfection of individual character. An individuals mind and body are discrete projections and object partners of Gods dual characteristics. In order for an individual to perfect his character, he must form a four position foundation within himself whereby his mind and body become one through give and take action with God as their center.

Such individuals become the temples of God, (I Cor. 3:10), achieve complete oneness with Him, (John 14:20), and acquire a divine nature. They experience the heart of God as if it were their own. Hence, they understand His will and live fully attuned to it.

God's second blessing was to be fulfilled by Adam and Eve after they had achieved individual perfection as object partners to God, each manifesting an aspect of God's dual characteristics. In order to construct the four position foundation in their family, Adam and Eve should have joined in loving oneness as husband and wife and raised children. This would have been the fulfillment of the second blessing...

The meaning of God's third blessing is the perfection of a human being's dominion over the natural world... Therefore, when human beings realize Gods third blessing, the entire universe becomes yet another good object partner giving joy to God. Had God's purpose of creation been realized in this way, an ideal world without even a trace of sin would have been established on the earth. We call this world the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. When life in the Kingdom of Heaven on earth comes to a close. people are to enter the spirit world and naturally enjoy eternal life in the Kingdom of Heaven there.

Exposition of the Divine Principle

Part 1, Chapter 1, Section 4.1

1:29 And God said, "Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed which is upon the face of all the earth, and every one with seed in its fruit: you shall have them for food.

30 And to even beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food." And it was so.

31 And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, a sixth day.

Only after the creation of a man and a woman did God call His handiwork very good. He must have been wide awake and totally thrilled that day. He must have shouted with jubilation, loud enough for the whole universe to hear: "It is very good!"

What inspired such a response? Did God say, "very good!" when He looked at Adam's face? Or was it Eve that excited Him so much? No, it was the unity and harmony of Adam and Eve that God called supreme goodness.

The content of harmony and unity is love. So the history of supreme goodness began when love entered the picture. Adam alone was not yet very good. Eve by herself did not meet the standard. But when God brought the two together and the current of love sparked between them, then He pronounced it very good.

Let us imagine two kinds of love scenes. In the first, a man and a woman are deeply in love, gazing at each other, holding one another to close embrace, not even knowing how to separate themselves.

The second scene is like the first, except that someone else enters the picture. God joins the man and the woman, and the three together unite and rejoice in love. The center of goodness is two beings in love. But the center of supreme goodness is God.

The ideal is for a man and a woman of goodness to unite with God in supreme goodness and become totally one. Once you achieve that, you are totally free for the first time in your life because you can relate to everyone and everything.

Original World and Present World

May 29, 1983

The Seventh Day

2:1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.

2 And on the seventh day God finished his work which he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had done.

3 So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it. God rested from all his work which he had done in creation.

God decided upon the seventh day as the Sabbath and told man to rest. But did you know that God has not been able to rest on a Sabbath day -- even now, after 6,000 years of history?

Jesus emphasized the Word of God and came forth, inheriting the vicissitudes of 2.000 years of providential history, during which the Sabbath was upheld as most important. However, has the day of triumphant glory come when Jesus could vaunt himself to the Father and ask Him to take a rest, together with humankind? No, there has not. Since God and Jesus are not in a situation where they can rest, neither can we.

Before the time of rest comes, there will be a war, before the time of rest comes, there will be suffering and death. When we steel ourselves and pass over this, we will then enable ourselves to taste rest for the first time.

God's Possession and Our Possession

November 9, 1958

2:4 These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created. In the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens,

5 when no plant of the field was yet in the earth and no herb of the field had yet sprung up -- for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was no man to till the ground;

6 but a mist went up from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground

7 then the Lord God formed part of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.

Man is made of animal essence, vegetable essence and mineral essence. Suppose you have prepared all the material necessary to build a house. It doesn't take long to build the house itself. To collect the material may take time, but once you have the materials the building itself doesn't take much time.

Likewise, the animal, vegetable, and mineral kingdoms were all created over perhaps millions of years. All the materials were there. Out of those essences, it wouldn't take long to create a man. ...

All the creations of the mineral, vegetable and animal kingdoms have developed through the evolutionary process. According to the theory, there have been sudden changes at certain times to develop to a higher stage. Darwin recognized that change. He said there was motive and purpose for those changes, and some energy or power caused them. He could not see the cause, but he could see the evolutionary result.

This, of course, does not include man's creation. Evolutionary change is possible within a certain formula or plant or animal, but there is no evolutionary development from one family to another family, for instance, from rose to chrysanthemum. But within the family of chrysanthemums, change is possible.

Question: "Were Adam and Eve, then, an actual physical creation as it says in the Bible; or did their physical bodies evolve and their spirits evolve?"

Answer: Adam and Eve were produced by exactly the same process as we produce a child. By strong love and energy of father and mother, a child is conceived and grows, first within the womb, then outside of it. In the same way, God created Adam and Eve. By His love and energy, a little thing was created which grew and grew and became Adam.

It is all an evolutionary process... Through the power of God, Adam and Eve were created as a baby is created by humans today. But man was a special creation.

On the whole, the process of creation was evolutionary. It took a long time to have plants, animals and minerals on earth. There may have been animals very like man. It is probably these skeletons which have been discovered.

Master Speaks on Creation

March-April 1965

2:8 And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east; and there he put the man whom he had formed.

According to Charles Darwin's theory of evolution and the survival of the fittest, only the strong survive. The weak will he demolished and only strong species will continue. Purely from an external point of view, evolution describes this upward movement of life we were talking about.

Thus there is nothing really wrong with the theory of evolution on the external level. But where does the theory of evolution come to a deadlock? Darwin didn't consider the aspect of love.

God's Providential Course and the Course of Human Life

January 11, 1987

When you lie down on the grass without any blanket, you can tell yourself, "I am lying on God's blanket, in the special bedroom, adorned with His handiwork." Isn't God's green carpet more precious than any man-made blanket? Which would you prefer to sleep on?

Once the ideal world of unification becomes a reality, nobody will want to live in high-rise apartments; they will want to go back to nature, resting on God's green carpet, climbing the mountains, exploring the rivers, etc.

Animals, far more than people, recognize the original value of all things. Animals live in nature as their home. When you think this way, nature will become very intimate with you; it will become closer than your own jacket or clothes.

If you become absolutely quiet and listen to nature's music, you can hear singing going on even right now. This is truly the most beautiful, original music. God's living masterpieces, the birds, are singing.

Can anybody create that kind of music? If you sold the entire United States of America, you could not raise enough money to buy such music. Can you listen to nature's music with an angry face? You automatically find yourself relaxing and responding with joy.

When you roam the valleys, climb the mountains, and enjoy the tiny flowers, plants and animals, will God accuse you of wasting time and tell you to get back to work? No, I am sure He would be happy to see you appreciate His handiwork and say, "Bravo! I am proud of you."

Each tree has its own history. One tree might tell you, "My ancestor was in the Garden of Eden, and one night Adam and Eve climbed up in its branches and slept there. We must become men and women who can value God's living museum better than any man made museum. If you express such appreciation, wont heaven be your ultimate destiny?

You should wake up each morning with this heart of gratitude. Look around at nature and open up your spiritual eyes; you will see all nature bowing down to you, greeting you and pleading with you to caress it. It will invite you, just like a little puppy begging its master to pet it. Trees, flowers and all plants long to be touched by their true masters.

People who can appreciate this true museum as a gift from God are close to perfection. Such people are entitled to receive God's love and Gods bounty. Can you feel what I am talking about?

Some people might wonder why the omnipotent and almighty God created poisonous snakes. They think the world could do without them. Furthermore, rose bushes have lots of thorns, and when you go to cut the blossoms, you may get pricked by the thorns. Thus you wonder why God created roses with thorns.

Actually, thorns are necessary to educate people. If the roses had no protection, people would try to ruin them, and some greedy person would pick them all. But since the bush has thorns, only appreciative hands can take the flowers.

Roses have sweet fragrance as well as thorns; the two come together. Whenever there is something precious, God creates some security devices to protect it! God thought about everything.

Then what about the snakes? Poisonous snakes love sunny spots, just the kind of place where everybody would like to go for a nap. The poisonous snake says, "Well, I was here first; when you come here to take a nap, you have to be careful. You should be very courteous and humble when you ask me to relinquish the spot!"

Too much indolence is not good. When people find a spot with good water, they should be careful because there might be a snake nearby. So is the snake God's mistake, or is it acceptable as part of God's creation?

From another point of view, it has been discovered that the venom of some snakes can be used as a curative. When venom enters your bloodstream, it endangers you and may kill you; but taken through the digestive system it can become a powerful healing agent! In the Orient, snake poison is a very precious medicine. People catch poisonous snakes, extract the venom, and put it in a kind of liquor; it can be preserved for several years and used as a strong curative drink.

So all creation has a purpose and reason for existence. The overall reason is that God created the world for men and women to enjoy. Look around in all four directions. Look at the trees, plants, river, sun. For who was the sun created? For you and me.

What about the moon? God created it for you and me. When you say "me," don't just think of yourself, but think about God who created the sun and moon for all things of creation; think about God who created the mountains, rivers and plants for Adam and Eve.

That "me." is the center of all creation. All the gifts of the universe are given to "me" You are the recipient of all this bounty, but what a pity if the recipient doesn't care about accepting it, doesn't even look at it, and spends all his time preoccupied with trivial affairs! You should open your arms wide like a receiver. Practice it. You are about to welcome the entire universe between your arms. Say, "Thank you. Father." Doesn't it feel good? Just to think about it makes you feel good, but when it truly happens to you, how much more joy you will feel!

Therefore, I really love nature. The birds are my dear, good friends. I have pursued birds for many, many miles. Sometimes when a very friendly bird which has been singing to you every day flies away, you feel even sadder than when your parents leave, because your parents don't sing for you every morning like the bird does!

Look at a butterfly visiting one flower after another. Try feeling like a butterfly and join it in its tour. One time I got so caught up in that feeling that I became exhausted. Then, lying down on a flower bed, I fell asleep and went immediately to the spirit world.

In my dream, I was flying like a butterfly or honeybee, and all the other butterflies and honeybees were following me like a flock of birds. It was an incredible scene. Looking at us, God smiled and laughed with great joy and exclaimed, "My son, you really understand what I have created!"

The Day at All Things

June 21, 1982

2:9 And out of the ground the Lord God made to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, the tree of life also in the midst of the golden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Genesis says there were two trees in the Garden of Eden. One was the tree of life, the other one was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. What are the two trees? They symbolize the true man and the true woman that God has been seeking.

The Tribal Messiah

Chapter 2, Section 1

What was the hope of Adam during the time he was immature and growing toward perfection? He must have hoped to become a man who would realize God's ideal of creation by growing to perfection without falling. The tree of life in fact symbolizes a man who has fully realized the ideal of creation. Perfected Adam was to be this ideal man. The tree of life thus symbolizes perfected Adam.

God did not create Adam to be alone. He also created Eve to be Adam's spouse. Just as there was a tree in the Garden of Eden that symbolized a perfected man, there also should have been a tree that represented a woman who fully realized the ideal of creation. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil, standing beside the tree of life, was this tree which, by fulfilling its good purpose, represents the ideal woman, perfected Eve.

Exposition of the Divine Principle

Part I, Chapter 2, Section 1.1

2:10 A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it divided and became font rivers.

11 the name of the first is Pishon; it is the one which flows around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold;

12 and the gold of that land is good; bdellium and onyx stone are there.

13 The name of the second river is Gihon; it is the one which flows around the whole land of Cush.

14 And the name of the third river is Tigris, which flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.

You probably know a lot about the original garden of creation, the Garden of Eden. Moreover, you also probably know well that before the Fall, Adam and Eve related with God freely, consulting with each other.

However, we also know that because of the Fall of Adam and Eve, the Garden of Eden of hope, which the Creator God wanted to achieve through Adam, could not be realized at all. Consequently, the original Garden of Eden that we must pursue now has nothing to do with the Fall, and that world is both our world of hope and the world of hope that God wanted and has sought since the creation of the world...

What is the purpose of the unity that God has been working toward by raising us? It is none other than building the Garden of Eden again centering on you. We need to feel this. We need to understand that God has been fighting against Satan for 6,000 years, longing not for the Garden of Eden in which only He can rejoice, but for the Garden of Eden where He can obtain joy through each of us.

Because we have lost this garden of hope due to the Fall, we are at the fateful road of having to yearn for that garden of hope and go in search of it again. This path is the fateful road of the heavenly principles and of humanity, which must be traveled... That garden is the place where both God and man can rejoice, and all things can also be glad together. So, that garden was the garden of joy.

God created Adam and Eve as the masters of all things. Adam and Eve were to have dominion over all things in God's ideal garden of creation in His place. At the same time, they could enjoy God's glory.

They were the center of glory, the center of victory and the locus of happiness, able to be in harmony before heaven and earth... That is Gods hope, humankind's hope, the hope of the people, and our hope today

The Ideal Kingdom of Heaven, Our Hope

February 22, 1959

2:15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to till it and keep it.

Suppose (this place) were the Garden of Eden, and Adam and Eve were created was right here on the grounds. What would they enjoy? Very likely the trees; they would touch them, run around them, look at their blossoms, etc.

The trees would give Adam and Eve a lot of things to talk about For example. Adam, being a boy would probably claim all the big trees for himself and Eve would reply, "Well, you can have them, but all the cute little trees are mine."

But perhaps Adam became greedy and wanted all the trees for himself! Then Eve might claim all the grasses, plants and flowers. They might talk among themselves, arguing and joking about the things of nature.

What if one day Adam got a little nasty and told Eve, "All the trees -- pine trees and oak trees, big trees and small trees -- are mine, how can you enjoy the grass when it is so dirty?" And Eve might reply. "I have something even beyond your trees: all the birds flying over the treetops are mine!"

What I am trying to describe is that in order to enjoy life, people need some surroundings, the beauty of nature. Adam, being a little greedy and thinking on a large scale, would claim all the big things and love them, while Eve would be attracted to the tiny things, finding than so cute and fascinating.

She might say to Adam, "You don't have any pretty little things, do you?" And Adam would reply, "Where are your pretty little things? Show them to me." Then Eve would point and say: "Look at this ant, this little black dot," and Adam would have to agree that nothing like that ant existed among his big things and admit that the ant is a very wonderful creature. So the ant would bring dignity to Eve.

Then one morning Adam might abruptly announce, "Among all the birds, the mighty eagle a mine." Eve might reply, "Your eagle may be large, strong and swift, but I take the swallow, it is also fast, but more than that, it is beautiful."

This bird is a symbol of femininity and beauty. It is a unique bird; it seeks fellowship with people, arriving each spring with a beautiful song and building its nest in people's houses- This bird's appearance brightens the entire house; it's almost like being visited by a beauty queen!

Adam would marvel at the power, dignity and masculinity of the eagle, but Eve would point out that even though it looks so vigilant and powerful, it takes the qualities of love, beauty, peace and femininity. She wouldn't like the eagle as much.

So the behavior of the two children, Adam and Eve, would be different. Adam would be very masculine and impetuous, always running around doing wild things, while Eve would be very feminine, charming, kind and tender. While Adam would be out racing with the deer, Eve would lie down against a big rock and play with some little flowers!

So far, I have been describing how all things were created for men and women to enjoy. Through their give and take with nature, Adam and Eve must have found much stimulation for their thoughts, conversation and, ultimately, joy. These examples can help you visualize the purpose for the creation of all things.

The Day of All Things

June 21, 1982

2:16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, "You may freely eat of every tree

of the garden;

17 but of the tie of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die.

The Bible states that the Fall originated when the first human ancestors in the Garden of Eden ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. This is one of many important passages that the Bible expresses in parables and symbols. It does not refer to a literal fruit. As Jesus says in Matthew 15-11, "What goes into a man's mouth does not make him unclean, but what comes out of his mouth, that is that makes him 'unclean' "

The commandment given in Genesis 2:17, "You mist not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die," was a strong warning about Eve's love. Eve had to protect her sexual purity until she achieved maturity with a God-centered character and entered into a blessed marriage with God's permission. Had she succeeded, she would have multiplied God's eternal love, life and lineage...

I repeat: the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil represents Eve's reproductive organ, and God gave the commandment to protect her chastity. When He created us, God invested His entire heart and soul in our reproductive organs. He created them as the palace of true love, the palace of true life, and the palace of true lineage.

The story places the fruit in the context of good and evil in order to tell us that if Eve were to have a relationship with a king, she would give birth to a prince, and if she were to have a relationship with a Mafioso, she would give birth to a villain. The quality of the harvest depends upon the seed that is planted. It was called the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil because it could manifest good or evil.

Gal Is Our King and True Parent

May 8.2001

2:19 So out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air; and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called every living creature that was its name.

20 The man gave names to all cattle and to the birds of the air; and to every beast of the field; but for the man there was not found a helper fit for him.

In Genesis it is written that Adam named the things God had created. Actually, Adam was the instrument God was speaking through. In other words, God was naming every creature through Adam. God dwelled within Adam and in that way exercised lordship over all creation.

So far human beings have not known the true relationship between God and men. To repeat, there were two reasons that God created man: first, as the fulfillment and manifestation of His love, and second, as the visible forms of God.

This is a most amazing truth. Through perfected Adam and Eve as the nucleus of the universe. God wanted to expand His Kingdom here on earth. No matter how big man's world might become, God would still be the center of it. Clearly the culture of mankind should have been in one sphere, which we call the Adamic cultural sphere, truly God's own culture here on earth...

The whole purpose of our physical lives here on earth is to make ourselves dwelling places of God so that when we pass into the spirit world, our minds can become spirit bodies in which God can dwell. That is the preparation we are going through here on earth.

What a supreme position we have been placed in! We are all supposed to be the bodies of God. As the Bible says, we are made as the temples or dwelling places of God. If Adam and Eve had initiated perfection here on earth, becoming one with God, their children would have been the children of God. Children always resemble their father and mother. When we are born as children of God, then we would certainly resemble God and be in His image and likeness.

Now you can see realistically why we call God our Father: we are His children. We are now looking for God, but if Adam and Eve had been perfected, seeing them would have been seeing God.

Adam and Eve's position would have been God's position because they would have been the bodies of God. In spirit world God should have been dwelling within Adam and Eve. God indeed is the Creator and center of the universe, and if God had made His dwelling in Adam and Eve, then their position would have been the center of the universe as well, both physically arid spiritually.

The Dignity of God and Man

April 1, 1977

Humankind is the visible form of God, manifesting the masculine and feminine characteristics of God. Together, men and women are the total visible form of God. We read in Genesis that God told Adam to name the animals of creation. Adam had little understanding of the creation, but because God was dwelling with him he was able to name the animals.

When does the Kingdom of God start to exist? Heaven can exist only when God and man are together. God and humankind together create the Kingdom of God, and without humankind there is no heaven.

Happy Unification Church Members

May 22. 1977

One man and one woman are the substantial object of the invisible God, His son and His daughter. Man represents God's masculine nature and woman represents God's feminine nature. God -- the harmonized body of the dual characteristics -- is divided into two entities formed separately, and these separate bodies are to be united again to resemble God.

This is the principle of creation. The unity of one man and one woman represents the original unity of Gods plus nature and minus nature. This is the harmonized body resembling God. Therefore, two human beings, husband and wife, symbolize the whole of God.

Man is the Incarnation of a True Father and woman is the incarnation of a True Mother. They are also representatives of God. Therefore, when they become one in love, they are embracing the universe. They become the central point of the entire cosmos.

A husband represents all men, so he is father and older brother as well as husband: a wife represents all women, so she is mother and older sister as well as wife. That's why husband and wife should naturally respect each other.

Blessing and Ideal Family

Chapter 7, Part 1

2:21 So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh;

22 and the rib which the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man.

23 Then the man said, "This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman because she was taken out of Man."

24 Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and cleaves to his wife, and they

become one flesh.

The Bible says God stole one rib out of man's side and molded it into a woman. What does it actually mean that God pulled a rib out of man? It means that God molded woman by His own hand, using man as the example, staking her slightly different so they would complement each other.

For example, because God gave man a beard, He made woman with smooth skin. Even their voices are different, with men's voices capable of loud volume, while women's are lighter and sort of fragile.

If a choir could only sing in one unison tone it could not make good music, but men's and women's voices together create the harmony and beauty of music, Since Adam was masculine and strong, God made Eve as beautiful as the flowers and very feminine. Imagine if God had made both men and women muscular, heavy and broad-shouldered. God knew the needs of each and made them to complement each other.

God's Day

January 1, 1978

When we talk about man and woman, love immediately comes to mind. But think about Adam and Eve, were they created in an instant? Did they suddenly experience love? Can love he savored in a moment?

According to the Principle, everything passes through a growth period in order to reach perfection. Did God create Adam and Eve as adults or as infants? [Infants] As babies, were they able to shout out, "I am in love," or did they merely coo and smile?

Well, nobody can be sure, because we weren't then in the Garden of Eden! But it is logical that God created them as babies, in the formation stage, with the destiny to grow into perfection.

So there were two babies: Adam and Eve. Imagine them growing day by day and learning to walk. However, even Adam and Eve could not experience total joy by themselves; they needed support, an appropriate environment, things to touch, look at and enjoy.

Did Adam and Eve suddenly discover that love is to be expressed by kissing and then start kissing each other, or was their discovery stimulated by the things of nature! What do you think? Did they learn it or invent it? I say that they observed the animals, that nature was their teacher.

Watching nature, Adam found out that sometimes the male goes first and the female follows him, and other times the female goes first and the male follows her. But wherever they looked, they found that male and female somehow cooperate.

When the male finds good food, he signals the female to join in the meal. Did Adam and Eve invent the signals they used for each other, or did they learn them from other creatures? Each morning, birds call out to one another; the male bird sings and the female responds in harmony.

Actually, Adam and Eve leaned from nature; nature was their best teacher.

The Day of All Things

June 21, 1982

How do we come into being in this world? The father and mother become one through their love, and bring together their lives and ideals. Their love precedes our birth. Love is the force which unites. Husband and wife become one in love.

This means the husband's love, life, and ideal become the wife's, and the wife's love, life, and ideal become the husband's. This is the way that two live as one, and two become "one flesh." Upon this foundation of oneness in love, a new life can be generated.

When a child is born, that child is the manifestation of his parents' love, life and ideal. When you look at your own child, you are actually seeing another you. You are looking at the fruit of your love, the fruit of your life, and the fruit of your ideal. You are looking at your second self -- another visible form of yourself.

God's Skill and the World

October 20, 1973

Adam and Eve are in the eternal objective love position to God. He created them that way. God used absolute love to create Adam and Eve. Adam is in the subject partner position and Eve is the object partner. They are convex and concave. What is the function of this? To look at each other? To fit each other? When do they love each other? How can we love each other? Through true love.

Man and woman alone cannot be perfect. Each is only half-perfect. Man and woman exist not just for their own generation. They are to connect to the next generation through true love activity That is why man's love and woman's love are not two different things; they are connected to one true love, and centering on that, unity comes.

So man and woman meet each other centered on God and create one blood lineage. Both sides connect to the other. Mrs. Han here has ten thousand generations connected to the cells of her body. These ancestors are related bodies. My ancestors are connected to my body, so I connect the past and future. Blood lineage never disappears, never dies. It connects to thousands of generations of ancestors.

On the Lunar New Year

January 24, 2001