09. Blessed Family

Chapter one

True Parents and the Blessing

Section 1. The Meaning and Value of the Blessing

1.1. What is the Blessing?

1.1.1. The meaning of the Blessing

The Blessing signifies the True Parents and true children coming together to fulfill the purpose of creation. (19-73, 1967. 12.27)

God exists with dual characteristics. These dual characteristics are positive and negative, the former represented by the man, Adam, and the latter by the woman, Eve. The children are thus a combination of the two of them. In this way, according to God’s ideal, the first, second and third generations are formed. Out of the three generations, it was the generation of Adam and Eve, the second generation, where the problem occurred.

Adam and Eve did not become one in God’s love. If they had, they would have formed a love relationship in which God could dwell. They also would have established the standard of love through which God could have naturally formed a relationship with Adam and Eve’s children. This would have been the Blessing. (32-239, 1970.7.19)

The Blessing Ceremony of the Unification Church is not simply a wedding through which a man and a woman come together and form a family. Until now, all weddings were solely for the sake of the people getting married. But our wedding ceremony is significant and necessary to set a condition to indemnify the past and return joy to God. Therefore, we conduct our ceremonies in a sacred and splendid manner. Divine Principle clearly explains to us that our wedding ceremony alleviates God’s bitter grief that was caused by the Fall of Adam and Eve. It goes beyond the standard of husband and wife, which Jesus was unable to attain. (22-212, 1969.2.4)

You should know that the concept of the Blessing did not begin with the Unification Church. Rather, it has been the hope of God in His innermost heart, something He has pursued and striven to fulfill throughout history since the time of creation and the Fall. To see this dream come true, God has been walking a path of suffering until this day, but the day of its fulfillment has not yet come.

That is why the day that God’s hope is fulfilled will be the day of the liberation of the world, and the day His historical wish is fulfilled. Knowing this, you should understand why the Blessing is so significant. (30-164, 1970.3.22)

Since the Fall of the human ancestors, Adam and Eve, human beings have waited eagerly for the day when God could bless them. (19-23, 1967.11.14)

The Blessing can resolve all the grief from history, up until the present, renew God’s hope, as yet unfulfilled, and be the basis for a new beginning for the future of humanity. (30-166, 1970.3.22)

In the present era, we are heading towards the completion stage, having passed through the formation and growth stages. This is the era in which history has to move horizontally after developing vertically. In other words, it is the era in which the boundary of the six-thousand-year long history of indemnification is crossed. That is why you need to escape from the dominion of Satan. Then what is the Blessing? It is the gate you have to pass through to leave the realm Satan has dominated throughout history. (18-209, 1967.6.8)

The Blessing means we can inherit a relationship with the True Parents. I have offered devotions and fought many battles for this cause. That is why the True Parents conduct the Blessing under the same banner they used while fighting against the satanic world. (19-23, 1967.11.14)

What is the most precious thing in my life? It is the Blessing. Even for you, the greatest gift in all of history has been the Blessing. (23-317, 1969.6.8)

Even today, you have not formed a complete connection to the True Parents. The Blessing of the Unification Church is held to forge that relationship. (23-333, 1969.6.15)

True Parents take eternal responsibility for those who have received the Blessing, even when they pass on to the spirit world. I will guide and lead them. The Blessing establishes an eternal relationship between those who receive it and me. (God’s Will - 538)

The full authority of Heaven is passed on when the Blessing is bestowed. (17-328, 1967.4.16)

The Blessing opens the gates of the Kingdom of Heaven. The Kingdom of Heaven is a place where only families with children enter. (12-266, 1963.5.25)

The Blessing is an eternal treasure. It is a pledge to begin a lineage that will span ten thousand generations. That is why when you defile the Blessing, your whole clan will be affected, just as the whole nation of Israel was affected by the crucifixion of Jesus. (God’s Will - 550)

The Blessing is the key that opens the door to the liberation of all humanity, which has been pursued throughout the history of the providence. (22-206, 1969.2.4)

It is truly significant to receive the Blessing. Those who receive the Blessing should be able to think of themselves as God’s representatives and conduct themselves as such. They should think, “If I do not move, then heaven and earth do not move.” God can establish a living ideology for the sake of humankind only when this position is reached. (13-14, 1963.10.1)

God’s Blessing is absolutely public in nature. It is not just for an individual, family, nation, or even the world. God’s Blessing is for the whole universe. (15-67, 1965. 2.13)

The literal meaning of the word “blessing” is “praying for blessings.” If you break down the word Chookbok (blessing), chook means to pray or wish for something. When you are praying for blessings, what is it that is most precious? It is none other than the blessing of love. The Unification Church uses the word blessing with this meaning. The blessing of love is the greatest, because the fundamental origin of life begins with man and woman coming together in a holy wedding. It represents the most precious commitment of the universe. When praying for blessing, the best blessing you can ask for is the blessing of love, and so the Unification Church refers to marriage as the Blessing.

The people who come to our church for the first time must understand this. When we say we have received the Blessing in the Unification Church, we don’t mean we have received just any blessing. When we speak of the Blessing, what  we actually mean is we have been joined in holy matrimony by True Parents in the presence of God. (83-226, 1976.2.8)

The British royal household’s 518-carat diamond was nothing but a shiny stone to the native people. Who would have known then that diamonds would one day become the most precious jewels in the world? People saw it shining and reflecting light, and thought it was a piece of glass. It is the same in the case of the Blessing. In one way or another, you have received the Blessing. Though it is as precious as a diamond, all of you are thinking that it is merely a piece of glass, of no particular value. You do not know the true value of it until I explain it to you. Then everyone will realize and say, “Oh! It is that precious!” (83-240, 1976.2.8)

What is the most important thing when it comes to receiving blessings? It is neither money, nor honor. It is not having power. The most important blessing is for your sons and daughters to receive good fortune in life. You must understand this. What did I say is the best blessing out of all the blessings you can receive? It is none other than giving birth to sons and daughters who can be loved by God. That is the best blessing. Then, what would happen next? If your son receives more love from God than you do, then you will also benefit from it. Isn’t that how everything works?

When you see power lines extending to remote parts of the land, you can see that they hang loosely between poles. Nevertheless, if you pull from one end, the lines become taut. In the same way, when your children receive great love from Heaven, even if you’re sagging, you’ll be pulled up just like the power lines. You receive benefit in this way. (78-42, 1975.5.1)

If you have the opportunity to attend a Blessing Ceremony, you should not go thinking you are just a man or a woman and there is nothing else to it. When you attend the ceremony, you are there representing men and women who have come and gone in the world over the past six thousand years. You must understand that you have been invited as such. You should experience this reality deep in your heart. (30-169, 1970. 3.22)

What era is this, now that the Blessing is finally being given? It is the time when God’s wishes can finally be fulfilled and His grief of the past six thousand years can be alleviated. The wishes of Jesus, who came to earth as the son of God for all humankind, can also be fulfilled. Moreover, it is the moment when human beings can start to truly love for the first time since creation began, and receive respect, honor and joy from the creation.

Can you imagine how happy God will be on this day? On the day every evil disappears and we usher in a new era with the bright rays of the rising sun, nature will rejoice, everything in the universe will dance with joy, and we will finally celebrate the dawn of victory. (19-106, 1967.12.31)

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