Message to the Youth

Did Jesus Have to Die?

Jesus' murder was a most heinous crime. But, did God want Jesus to die?

No. This was the ultimate sin of rebellion against God.

An example of how it could have gone:
Due to Abraham's act of faithlessness, he was told by God to sacrifice his son; but because Abraham showed his faith by making the offering of his son, Isaac was spared and rose from the sacrificial alter. Together Isaac and Abraham offered the lamb that God provided as an acceptable offering.

Prophecies of the Lord of suffering - if the people had no faith
Prophecies of the Lord of Glory - if the people had faith.

There are many prophecies in the Bible that show that it could have gone either way. However, all those prophecies ended with John. "For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John." (Matthew 11:13 )

Even though the crucifixion was not God's hope, we received the grace of salvation through the cross; and as absolutely gloriously wonderful and precious the Resurrection is, it is plan B. "I am the way the truth and life. Follow me". He didn't ask us to nail him to the cross. Jesus told Judas that it would have been better if he had never been born. Not that Judas had fulfilled his mission well.

Jesus said "Forgive them for they know not what they do". He didn't say thank you very much, you did a good job.

Yet even God's plan B allows us to spiritually connect to God through our rebirth through Christ and the Holy Spirit, But it doesn't end there... Christ said he must return for the Marriage of the Lamb. Even though Jesus said "It Is Finished" Christ must return to finish what wasn't done in the Garden. The perfection of Adam and Eve must be accomplished physically and spiritually on Earth.

What then can we do at this time?

Moving from Personal Salvation to Family Salvation

Salvation through the Holy Marriage Blessing

All people are fallen due to original sin, and it is True Parents' fundamental mission to save them. The centerpiece of this mission is the providence of the marriage Blessing, which eradicates original sin and fallen lineage. The marriage Blessing is the ceremony through which the evil lineage stained by Satan, is converted to the lineage of goodness rooted in God. It is the important ceremony that restores the order of love with God at the center, and eradicates the disordered love engendered by Satan through the Fall. The providence of the marriage Blessing, under the auspices of the True Parents, is the starting point for realizing the ideal of one family under God.

The reparation to receive the Blessing of marriage is perhaps best done by using the tools Jesus gave us to liberate ourselves from Satan. Jesus taught us The 3 Great Human Virtues for the fallen world to use to liberate us from Satan.

“Love, Forgive & Repent"

Jesus' teachings placed us perfectly at the foot of The Tree of Life. He opened the door to the 1st blessing of individual perfection.
This lifestyle should be pursued by both the man and woman preparing to be blessed in marriage.
It is best if blessing candidates be admired by all people as people of good character. Additionally, they must fulfill basic requirements, such as maintaining purity, receiving education, testifying, fasting and offering devotions. True Parents have also said that a couple should commit to one another only after obtaining parental consent.

Originally, if Adam and Eve had reached the perfection stage of the 1st Blessing in the Garden of Eden, they would have received the marriage Blessing from God. However, due to the Fall, the marriage Blessing centered on God was not realized. Therefore, God had to work through 4,000 years of history to raise up the Israelites, to whom He sent the Messiah. He intended to give the marriage Blessing at the time of Jesus. Unfortunately we had to wait until the present day for the “Marriage of the Lamb”

Rev Sun Myung Moon, as a young 15 year old praying on a Korean mountain-top on Easter morning in 1935, was asked by Jesus, to take on the mission of bringing God's 2nd Blessing, the Blessing of Marriage, to humankind. After a long difficult road, he and Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon were victorious in assuming the mantle as the True Parents of Humankind.

In 1960 True Parents opened the new chapter in the history of human salvation through the marriage Blessing. The marriage Blessing is of great significance, because it replaces Satan's lineage with God's, and recovers the order of love rooted in God. The Blessing benefits society by offering the opportunity for people to enter into cross-cultural marriages, which contribute to the realization of one world under God by breaking down barriers between nations, races and religions.

The marriage Blessing ceremonies began with 3 couples on April 16,1960. Then the 36 Couples, 72 Couples, 124 Couples and 430 Couples were blessed on the tribal and national levels. Through the next several ceremonies, including the Blessings of 777 Couples, 1,800 Couples, 2,075 Couples and 6,000 Couples, the holy marriage Blessing became an international event. At the 6,500 Couples Blessing, largely between Korean and Japanese spouses, for the first time the majority of the couples were international. From the time of the 30,000 Couples Blessing, the Blessing expanded to a global scale, with the inclusion of simultaneous international satellite Blessing ceremonies.

Hand in hand with the marriage Blessing, True Parents carried out the pure love movement and the true family movement on an extensive scale. These seek to offer fundamental solutions to the global problems of youth immorality and family breakdown. The ideal world of creation can be realized only when the pure love tradition sets the standard for the order of love among young people and then expands to transcend religion, nation and race. In other words, God's Will can be realized when the marriage Blessing expands, gains popularity and takes root.

True Parents have made it clear that blessed families need to be concerned about and live for their tribe, their people, their nation and the world before their own family. When a blessed husband and wife honor each other as the person who stands in the position of God, they set the example for those around them. As such, blessed families are to take the lead in the restoration of their tribe, their nation, the world, and all of heaven and earth. They need to live together experiencing the love of brothers and sisters. They are to establish the tradition of community life through which all people can live together and love one another, transcendent of nation, race and religion.

True Parents said that through the marriage Blessing, we need to establish the traditions of true husband and wife, true parents, true children and true siblings, with true love at the center. They particularly emphasized that true love incorporates the rights of inheritance, equal status and shared participation. So the ideal of the kingdom of heaven can be realized when people inherit the tradition of the true love of God.

When a Tree is Not just a Tree

Creae A Life You'll Love

Why I Joined the Unification Movement