The Meaning of the Trinity
Former Church Headquarters
Seoul, Korea
January 3, 1958
I formed trinities, but you probably do not really understand their heavenly value. You understand the meaning of the word "restoration" through the Divine Principle. What are you going to restore? What did Jesus have to restore on the earth? What was the central responsibility of Jesus in the dispensation of restoration? It was restoring the number which was lost in Adam's family. Jesus came to the earth with the mission to restore this.
The Meaning of the Number Which Appeared in the History of the Dispensation of Restoration
In Adam's family there were three sons and their spouses, eight people in all. God had to carry on the dispensation for 1,600 years to restore these eight members of the family. Moreover, He chose Noah and raised eight members of Noah's family to continue the will of the dispensation for 120 years.
God raised Noah through the ten generations after Adam. When Noah could no longer serve the will because of the mistake of Ham, God prolonged His will ten more generations and came upon Abraham. However, because Abraham made another mistake while making the offering, it was extended two more generations. In this way, in the time of Jacob, one stage of the 2,000-year dispensation was finally concluded. You must be aware of this.
The twelve sons of Jacob symbolized the time from Adam and Noah. They symbolized the number that restores this, the number that horizontally restores the vertical history. Jacob had to raise twelve children who possessed this kind of significance.
As you understand the history of restoration through indemnity, on the day the 6,000-year history of the dispensation comes to a conclusion, all the contents of God's dispensation during the 6,000 years will be manifested horizontally. If the 66 books of the Bible are the records of the 6,000-year history of the dispensation of restoration, then the realities inside the 66 biblical books will be unfolded at once on the earth. Consequently, there are those who are responsible for indemnifying the first chapter of Genesis. There are other people who are responsible for indemnifying the second chapter. In this manner, many people are in charge of different parts of the 66 books of the Bible.
What kind of time then is the Last Days? It is when the whole dispensation that emerged during the vertical historical course manifests itself all at once and becomes completed on the earth. The dispensation of the restoration of God must be completed on the earth. Therefore, the vertical history of the dispensation must manifest itself throughout the world on the horizontal sphere.
What does this show? On the whole, it shows the conflict between Cain and Abel inside Adam's family. Historically, it shows the entire history of conflict. What kind of person must you be if you want to become a victor by completing the will of the dispensation in the midst of this? You must find and establish the central standard for which Jesus hoped when he came to the earth. Otherwise, there is no way you can stand as the victorious bride before Jesus, the bridegroom, in the Last Days.
Jesus lived thirty-three years. He resolved the three stages of the historical course through the thirty-year preparation period, the three-year period of practice, and the three-day period of perfection. Moreover, when we look at his three-year public life, we see that, when he started to serve the will, he passed through three great tests. In the Garden of Gethsemane, he prayed three times before he bore the cross. When he was offering the three prayers, he did not pray alone but brought along three disciples: Peter, James and John.
While Jesus was desperately praying with his life on the line, the three disciples should have stayed up the whole night and prayed with the same mind-set as Jesus. Instead, they fell asleep. Therefore, their bond with Jesus was cut off. This is where heavenly sorrow was left behind. You have to understand this.
What then is the mission of each of us? We must make a breakthrough in our fate of restoration. What must we do? We must become Peter, James and John in the Garden of Gethsemane. Someone must cope with the responsibility. You have to keep in mind that you are in the position to take charge of this responsibility.
God Is Trying to Establish the Will on the Unchanging Foundation
The sorrow of Jesus is that the twelve disciples did not receive his will. The three disciples, who represented the twelve, did not understand Jesus' heart. You have to understand that Jesus' distress as he was facing death still remains today as a source of grief.
What then must you do today? You must become Peter, James and John. Based on unity before the Lord, you must form a model no one can divide. Only then can you finally stand qualified before the sorrowful heart of Jesus Christ, who was praying in the Garden of Gethsemane. Because we seek to restore this will, we must create this structure of trinities.
Why did Jesus bring the three disciples along? In respect to Adam's family, Jesus represented Adam. His three disciples represented the three sons of Adam. Peter, James and John represented Cain, Abel and Seth. Jesus came to the earth, found three disciples and carried on the mission of restoring the form of the eight members of Adam's and Noah's families. He was to find a spouse and create a family with eight members, yet he died a bachelor without accomplishing that will.
Therefore, he has been toiling for 2,000 years with the idea of the bride and bridegroom left unfulfilled. From that time to the present, the last will of the dispensation on earth is to establish this basic standard on earth. In other words, the standard of the three sons centering on Adam in Adam's family must be established.
In our church today, we have formed trinities with three men and three women. The reason is that those of us who must attend the Lord in the future need a model to represent the couple of Adam and Eve, the three sons and the three daughters-in-law in Adam's family.
Therefore, if these three people do not become one, it might be shattered again. The three men especially must become one. Dead or alive, you must become one in spirit and body. In this way, you must build one subjective form that transcends time, a foundation that is not constrained by the limits of time. You have to understand that otherwise there is no way you can proudly stand before the Lord who is to come again.
If three people become one and make the foundation that can represent the will, if you form a trinity determined to remain unchanging even if Heaven changes, then on this foundation, God will accomplish His will.
I have formed trinities, centering on you, to fulfill this. In forming the trinities, ten of you must become united centering on three trinities. The reason is that the trinity represents the three disciples who prayed with the Lord in the Garden of Gethsemane. At the same time, it is the basic form that establishes the form of the three sons centering on Adam. Moreover, the meaning behind forming a group based on the trinities is that this vertically represents the ten generations from Adam to Noah. Because the leader of the group has the responsibility of two people, they can be seen as having completed the form of twelve people.
This is the form that can represent the twelve generations from Noah to Jacob. On the historical sphere and on the vertical sphere, they can represent ten and twelve generations. Because the horizontal twelve forms that can represent the 2,000 years of vertical history have been completed, as long as people who represent the twelve sons of Jacob become one, the family of Noah, which sought the purpose of God's dispensation, and the family of Jacob can both be restored. In this manner, three groups combine to form one larger group. This larger group represents the number thirty-six, thirty-six people.
This represents the 12 sons of Jacob, the 12 tribes of Moses and the 12 apostles of Jesus. The number 36 symbolizes the combination of the representatives of the 6,000 -year history.
This is the reason that if 36 men become one, we can complete the vertical and horizontal forms of the central figures God tried to find throughout the 6,000-year course of the dispensation. This important mission and responsibility rest with the 36 people. There is great significance in this.
If 36 men and 36 women join, they become 72 people. There were 70 followers centering on Jesus, 70 elders centering on Moses, and 70 members of Jacob's family. Accordingly, if Jesus and his spouse and the 70 followers join, they number 72 people. The mission to match this number of Heaven and earth lies with us. We must climb over this hill.
The Course of Faith in Which We must Be Tested More than Three Times
The three people that belong to the trinity must become one in heart. If not, you cannot enter Heaven. The idea of unification begins from this point. If three people cannot become one in heart, they cannot enter Heaven. They cannot even go past the door. They cannot even catch sight of Heaven. Using the united three people as one unit, twelve people must become one in heart and unite. If the three groups come together to form a larger group, and the thirty-six people in this larger group become united, Satan will become powerless. No one can break it apart.
Even in the world, if three people come together, there is nothing they cannot do. In our church, eight members must move. No matter how much persecution the church might receive, if the leader and his wife and three men and three women, all together, eight members, become one, no one can break it apart. This is an ironclad rule. I have made the trinities because each of us has the mission to create this form of restoration.
Heaven's work is also performed in this way. God does not work by raising one person. After raising more than three people, He strikes two. When the works of grace begin in Korea in the Last Days, God will base them upon this principle.
Heaven always raises three people and picks one person out to use him. Is not this the way the situation in Korea is unfolding? In the Last Days, there will emerge people who are like Peter, James and John, who are to fulfill the mission of the three disciples. If one is absent, the remaining two can easily be dismantled. However, if three become one, it cannot be shattered. This is the main reason spiritually-open people are easily shattered today.
We must eradicate Satan. To alleviate the grief of God, we must become united thoroughly, down to the new members. Satan cannot bear it. In the historical formation, this will match the operating number of Heaven and earth. The four directions come into being centering on one point: there are east, west, south, north. There are four seasons of spring, summer, fall and winter. If we divide the four directions into twelve directions again, then there will be three directions in the east, three in the south, three in the north, and three in the west. If the number twelve is established centering on Jesus, then we can complete the shape of the four directions of east, west, south and north as well as spring, summer, fall and winter.
Looking at it centering on Jesus, Peter, James and John symbolize the spring. They represent January, February and March. If they had passed through the twelve months and drawn an even circle centering on Jesus on one track, Jesus would not have died.
Behind the three disciples, corresponding to the spring, are October, November and December. This shows that there is space for Satan to invade. This is the ground for the three great tests.
When ten people try to become one, there will always be three people who interfere. There will be a group of people who hate and poke for no reason. Accordingly, you must be tested at least three times. Because this kind of phenomenon takes place in the Last Days, there will be this kind of test and trial in an individual's faith. There will be this kind of test when one develops from individual faith to the family unit. When moving from the society to the nation and from the nation to the world, there will also be these three great tests. Therefore, in the worldwide Last Days today, humanity must step over the three tests of Heaven and Satan. These are the First, Second and Third World Wars. The same is true for individuals.
Today we each have the responsibility to develop our standard so that it will match this essential, central form. Even in the spirit world, there are 24 elders for spiritual beings and countless spirit men centered on the 12 apostles. When we examine the movement of the subdivisions of the seasons on earth, indeed in a year there are also 4 seasons, 12 months and the 24 solar terms. There are 3 months in each season. Similarly, Heaven and earth are revolving according to the laws of movement, but human beings are revolving in the opposite direction. This is the fall. Jesus came to the earth to fulfill this mission because he had the responsibility to rectify this. The people of faith today must also fulfill this mission. Because the people of faith have this mission, the history of Christianity shows that it also passed through the form of 3 stages.
For example, Protestantism came out of Catholicism. A new religion must come forth from Protestantism. When we examine the division of denominations, 3 denominations divided into 12, and they again expanded into 36 denominations. They will divide until they reach the number 360. You have to understand that when this takes place it is the Last Days.
Moreover, when we look at nations, the world is divided into three blocs centering on the three great nations. This is passing through and crossing over the end of history. This is not only true for the democratic camp; it is also true for the communist camp. It is divided into three blocs too.
The Christian View of Ethics
When we look at the way Christianity is divided into three denominations and is again divided into many more denominations, the most principled bridge at the present position is uniting the minds of twelve people centering on the trinity. The time has come when this work has to be done.
What did Jesus offer through the 33 years of his life? For 33 years, Jesus poured out all of his heart and energy and exerted himself to become the hero who can unite the hearts of 12 people.
Who then are the people qualified to alleviate the grief of Jesus now? It is the bride who can solve this by understanding the essence of what Jesus was trying to do. Obtaining the qualifications of this bride is the way of the truth in the Last Days. The course of the truth is becoming one in heart with more than twelve people. God cannot directly reveal this kind of principle. He simply taught without elaboration, "You must believe and worship Me without questioning; You must strike your body to comply with the truth; you must unconditionally serve and sacrifice." This is the foundation for the Christian view of ethics.
The reason is that one must be able to wish blessing even upon one's enemies. Only when this is done can one step over and rise above those enemies. Similarly, Christianity has set the standard of truth by which it can rise from January to December and rise above it.
People who have been searching for the truth have been ignorant of this until now. They only knew that persistence with patience was the way of the truth, so even on the path of suffering, they unconditionally obeyed, sacrificed and served. Beginning from January, they united with the hearts of all the other people and soon they could pass through all of the twelve months.
There are people who were born with the forms of the spring, summer, autumn and winter. Because of the principles of the heavenly way that require people to pass through many different forms of people, human beings whose fate it is to move forward on this foundation must begin in January. Passing through February and March, they must pass through the autumn and winter seasons. They then must pass through the judgment.
Consequently, the Christian truth is one of sacrifice and service. You have to understand that under this principle of crossing over infinite numbers of Heaven and earth, God has introduced this content to humankind.
If we have come searching for the direction of Heaven and earth with the right frame of mind, we must not see those opposing forces as our enemies. They are fulfilling the mission of driving you toward the right path. If you were left alone, you would deviate to the side path. You have to become the people who can welcome Satan. God has hope even for Satan.
Although today the Unification Church is being persecuted, I am grateful for it. If we did not receive opposition, where would the Unification Church be diverted to? Even when constructing a building, one must dig deep and lay down concrete. If one digs shallow and puts in the concrete, one cannot build a strong building. Because Jesus understood this situation, he could join his hands and pray for the sake of Satan.
Therefore, this year's direction from Heaven to you is to train you rigorously. This year is a year of training, a year of hardships. It must become a year when you can courageously overcome suffering, and you must quickly find more than twelve people with whom you can become united in heart.
The Life of Achieving Unity, Centering on the Trinity
Those who can become members of Heaven on behalf of the ideology of Heaven will be great in number. Many billions of spirits are dwelling in the spirit world. The ideology that all of those spirits can raise their hands to welcome is the original ideology by which we must abide. You cannot enter Heaven if today ten people cannot become one on the earth.
From now on, let us become the historical representatives who can become united in heart with other people. Until now, God helped unite your hearts. God had the responsibility to serve you.
Knowing this principle, on this day of January 3, you must make an especially firm determination. When we change the trinity once every three months, you must become one with each other, regardless of with whom you are put together. You must think that it is a historical and fateful meeting: "Due to what karma in the long 6,000-year history do I meet you now?" In this manner, three people must become one, ten people must become one, and thirty-six and seventy people must become one.
Therefore, this organization must not deviate from the principles and rules. Organizations cannot exist outside rules. They are the life of an organization. The center of Heaven and earth and the center of our minds must become one and revolve according to the numbers of this form of Heaven and earth. We must revolve according to the laws of the revolution of the world of creation.
Each day our hearts must revolve around the heavenly principles. For a year or for a lifetime, we must revolve centering on the heavenly principles.
When we wake up in the morning, for whom must we circle around? Are we going to circle for the sake of the heavenly principles? Moreover, when leaving, you must ask yourself, "For whom did I move? Was it for the sake of the heavenly principles?" The foundation for that movement is the trinity and the trinity group. Outside these, there is no foundation of life. This is the reason that we formed the structure of the trinity anew this time. The question here is to what extent we think about the will of Heaven and act as if it were our life.
All the members of our church are equal and members of the same family. Therefore, all that is needed is that we set the condition of basic principles and become one according to the laws. From this year on, you must make a new determination and carry on a new movement.
We must begin an offensive. In this regard, you must march forward. The amazing fact is that as you lay down this kind of foundation through your actual life in the heavenly principles, the shape of one universal unit begins, centering on you. This is your source of joy. Please think that as you walk the path of the will during the 6,000- year history, you are the most tragic actor. We are trying to accomplish tasks no one else can do. We are trying to walk the path that others cannot walk. Satan cannot bear this.
We have put together the manuscript kept inside the office for the compilation of history, but the number is not written on it.