My Reflections on the Origin of God and Man from the Bosom of True Love

I.      Introductory HDH Reading:

“God is the great King of truth, goodness, trueness, and love. Did He exist from the beginning, or did He come into being? Even God has grown. We must know this. How can we know it? We can know it from the principle that causes everything that resembles God’s original nature to start as a small cell and grow. So what has made God grow? He has grown because of love, an absolute love wherein God is the subject partner of love and human beings are His object partners.” CSG p.2233, Rev Dr. Sun Myung Moon

Figure 1: The historical search for God as the origin of Man has only led to religious diversity and global warfare

 

2.  My Reflection on the Origin of God:

a. Religious diversity as the root cause of global conflicts:

There are many views of God in the hearts and minds of human beings. This has led to a great diversity of views amongst the religious group. While we must respect all religions from the perspective of human rights, we also cannot overlook a simple truth … without a clear singular understanding of GOD as ONE being,[1] there is no way for humankind to find the pathway to true peace on Earth nor understand our collective purpose as citizens of planet earth.  In this reflection, I wish to introduce and discuss a new origin-story of God and Man as the fruit of true love. This origin-story is based on a new view of God called Godism. It is part of the core teachings of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (FFWPU) founded by Rev Dr. and Mrs. Sun Myung Moon.

According to this new view which I shall refer to as Godism, religious diversity came about because of human alienation from our Creator whom we call God. This alienation took place just after the appearance of Adam and Eve as the progenitor of all humankind. This alienation resulted in a widespread ignorance of God as our heavenly parents. We gradually became materialistic and self-centered instead of being spiritual and centered on our heavenly parents. From the book of Genesis 2:15 we are told that Adam and Eve walked and talked with God in the Garden of Eden while they existed on earth in the flesh. Yet the same bible later explains how they were kicked out of the presence of God due to their disobedience to His parental guidance. With time God grieved to his heart for making the human being (Gen 6:6) when he saw how far we had deviated from His wisdom and parental guidance. So human civilization started and has developed without the creative wisdom of God, accounting for our perpetual state of conflicts and suffering.

It was from that point forward religion gradually developed through heavenly inspiration, with the singular mandate to progressively lead mankind back to the creator. In figure 2 below I show the progressive development of religion over four ages as follows:

i.                    The Pre-Old Testament Age (? - ~2000BC): This first period lasted from the time of Adam’s family to Abraham’s family. This Age covered a very long-time period. While the bible talks about two thousand years, science tells us this period lasted more than a million years, thus we refer to this time as a 2000-year symbolic period. The concept of God during this period was diverse with the development of multiple Gods linked to multiple cultures (see also fig 1 above).

ii.                   The Old Testament Age (~2000BC - ~04AD): This second period covered the historical period from Abraham to the coming of Lord Jesus Christ[2]. It was also a 2,000 year period but during this period time was counted backward, thus the name image period was used in the Divine Principle’s[3] study of religious history. During this period, the concept of God was monotheistic with regards to Judaism and later Christianity but the global view expanded as polytheistic from the perspective of not having a clear singular view of God as ONE.

iii.                 The New Testament Age (~4AD to 2004): This third period covered the historical period from the appearance of Lord Jesus Christ to the recent crossing of the 21^st century. This has also been a 2,000-year period but with the proper counting of time since the birth of Christ. During this period, our collective view of God continued to expand with the rise of Islam and the diverse mystical and spiritual views arising. All during this historical period, there have been atheist and agnostics.

Figure 2: The historical development of religion towards Godism

 Yet during the historical course of religious development, we find the continuous escalation of violence, suffering, and pain. From the first crime against humankind at the family-level, depicted in the holy books as “Cain Killing Abel”, to the ongoing potential signs of global warfare today, humanity has not been able to find the right path to peaceful co-existence. With all of our spiritual, technological and economic development, we are still alienated from our true selves as people of one origin. It is very easy to conclude that this alienation from each other is part of the direct consequence of being alienated from our creator, the proverbial “Heavenly Parents” or the ONE and ONLY Almighty GOD. I predict that until we can restore this lost connection there will be no end to human suffering. The rich will simply get richer, while the poor will get poorer. In time, this gap will lead periodically to violent revolutionary struggles like my native Liberian civil conflict. In the next section, I would like to discuss our collective hope for peace and harmony.

b. The need for Godism as a unifying thought for global peace and harmony:

The above natural conclusion of religious history is confirmed in the Bible as follows:

 “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.  And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.” Rev 21:1-5 KJV of Holy Bible 

In Rev 21:1-5 we are told about how religious history will end with the physical appearance of God on earth.  He is referred to as “the Man on the White Horse” in Rev 6:2 and 19:11-15. His mission is clear:  ”…in righteousness he doth judge and make war”. Why would He need to go into battle to save humankind? The answer to this is linked to the death of Lord Jesus Christ. Why did Lord Jesus die when he came to save us? He died because those who should have protected him failed their responsibility. Here lies the issue of forces of GOOD and EVIL. When we lost our spiritual link to the creator we fall under control of evil forces ( as slaves to Selfish.Individual.Nature....greed, lust, power, etc.). These forces keep us in captivity and are the source of all human suffering and pain. Our only hope to escape this state of slavery is to separate from EVIL. Just as the first man was put here by the force of GOODNESS that same force has been trying to bear another Adam on earth as a vessel for its consciousness and heart. This is the origin of the Messiah as the savior of humankind.

Notice the bible ends with Rev 22, so if we don’t understand the mysteries of GOD depicted in this final book, then Christianity will have no guidance for the future. In my personal prays and reflections on the topic of God’s will for humanity, I have come to believe absolutely in the value and power of God’s words in the holy bible. But I also recognize that in its present form as a book written in parables and symbols very few people can penetrate the veil covering its inner secrets. For example, the secret of the Messiah. The bible itself states in Rev 10:7, that not until the “7^th Trumpet is Blown” will mankind finally understand the true mysteries of God. I have come to believe this verse and Rev 21 above are referring to this 21^st century as the time when our Creator and Heavenly Parents will walk on earth again in the flesh. This time[4] He will restore His complete tabernacle, as a worthy man and a woman working together in the image of Lord Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Their prime mission as stated above will be to end these long years of painful struggle between the forces of GOOD and EVIL; also via these two-withnesses, I believe God will reveal the final secrets of His true origin and our true purpose for being placed on this planet.

In 1979 I heard the Divine Principle for the first time. Through the teaching revealed in this single book, I was elevated gradually, as was John the apostle in the book of Revelation, to the throne of GOD. With shock and amazement, I came to realize that whoever wrote the Divine Principle was the living presence of our creator God on earth. With time, I came to accept that Rev Dr. and Mrs. Sun Myung Moon were the fulfillment of Rev 21: 1-5. They were the living tabernacle of God on earth. Over the past 38 years, I have come to the gracious understanding that Godism, the collective understanding of Father Moon’s teachings, has the content to resolve all the mysteries of religion concerning the identity and origin of GOD beyond FAITH. Also in their capacity as the True Parents of Heaven, Earth and Humankind, Rev Dr. and Mrs. Moon have the power and authority to resolve the alienation between our heavenly parents and humankind, thus making “all things new” as prophesied in Rev 21:5.

What they cannot do is to force us to believe in them. From the viewpoint of Human Rights, it is the "human responsibility" to recognize their True Parents. It can not be forced upon anyone, and only in this way can we be finally separated from EVIL. This is also the inner meaning of JUDGEMENT DAY.  But unlike the time of Lord Jesus Christ, who was forced to bear the cross and thus unable to physically save humanity from self-destruction, Lord Moon and His Bride have been able to plant the seed for the physical salvation of humankind. Let us conclude by talking a bit about their planted seed... Godism.

c.  Towards a New View of God as the Creator of Everything.

“True love is God’s fundamental motivating force by which He creates…The depth of love incorporates everything going all the way back to the beginning when God was born.” CSG, P. 2233, Rev Dr SMM

Figure 3: Conceptual diagram of the birth of GOD and the WORD (Adam) from the bosom of True Love

The bible starts with the simple statement Gen1:1: ”In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth”. Gradually through Gen1-31 the narrative of the creation process is given. But nowhere in the bible have I been able to find the answer to the question: “…who made God?”. Neither have I found the narrative of His origin. The current state of religion with its extreme diversity and lack of unity has brought the world to a state of near self-destruction instead of the expected state of unity and peace. Every few years we hear of eminent people receiving the Noble Peace Prize for their contribution towards world peace, yet the violence, wars, suffering and pain continues. I believe all of this will stop when mankind awakes to the truth of our origin story. Thus, through this reflection series on the origin of GOD and MAN I wish to contribute to our collective speedy awakening as true children of GOD.

In fig 3 above I have attempted to show that both GOD and MAN were born from the bosom of true love. They were both conceived from the same origin. Father Moon calls this origin-point the heart of True Love. He describes it as an unquenchable desire to give and to live for the sake of others (a type of Good parental heart), unlike its opposite, the desire of taking and using others for one’s selfish purpose (the heart of Evil parents). I conceive of these twin forces like the…   

Figure 4: A conceptual view of the cosmos prior to the creative process as outlined in Gen 1.2

black and white hole recently discovered in modern physic. One takes-in everything, while the other gives or pushes everything out. The true beauty of GODISM is the way it describes these two chaotic seemingly blind forces as being controllable by a higher power with a self-creative force called LOVE.  Godism introduces an intelligence behind the creation of everything, and this intelligence works through the complimentary forces of GIVE and TAKE action, not GOOD and EVIL. Today many scientists have begun to research the nature of this intelligence and have called it consciousness. But they are foolishly searching for the origin of consciousness in the human brain.

In figure 4 above I have attempted to conceptualize this cosmic consciousness base on the biblical narrative in Gen 1:2. My conclusion is that LOVE and LIFE co-exist in the same complementary relationship as GOD and MAN. Thus, the original man that appeared on this planet as the progenitor of all humankind was in fact the object partner and Cosmic Form (BODY) of True Love; while what we call GOD today was the subject partner and Cosmic Mind of True Love. Another way of viewing this is through the duality of MIND and BODY. Love having the power to create life, did so in a wholistic way via the Cosmic Logos. The Cosmic Logos is like an egg with the potential to manifest everything through a multidimensional process of growth and development. It was this Cosmic Logos that initiated the Big Bang at the beginning of the creation process.  

Allow me to end this first part of my reflection on the origin of God and Man. In part two I will dwell deeper into the mission of True Parents as the first substance of the complete WORD made flesh, John 1:14. Lets end with a final quote from Father Moon on the origin of God:  

“Even God has grown and developed. To the very depth of His beginning, He has had the same origin as true love. At the point of origin, God was not first, love was first. We say God has dual characteristics. Why dual characteristics? Dual characteristics are cherished because of love” Cheon Seong Gyeong (CSG) p.2233 Rev Dr SMM

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[1] Rev 4:2-3… Here in revelation a symbolic image of the throne of God is described, with God introduced as “The ONE’.

[2] It embraced the various Asian views of God as in Buddhism, Confucianism, Hinduism, etc.

[3] Divine Principle refers to a book written by Rev Dr. Sun Myung Moon, Exposition of Divine Principle is the official name of the book and a PDF copy is available freely on the internet

[4] As a Christian, I believe that Lord Jesus Christ was the first appearance of God in the flesh. Regrettably in ignorance we killed Him.