The Following are E-Lectures #9, 10
The Mission and Purpose of the Messiah The Messiah comes to complete God's work of salvation. Salvation is needed because of the fall. The fall thwarted God Purpose of Creation, which was to establish the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth.
The Purpose of Jesus Coming as the Messiah People who are restored through the Messiah, and are able to be perfected on earth would become the sinless, holy sons and daughters of God, and citizens of the Kingdom of God on Earth. Why then was Jesus crucified? And, was his crucifixion able to realize God's original purpose on earth? Has there been any Christian, throughout the two millennia, after Jesus, who were able to live in absolute oneness with God as a perfected person? Are Christian parents able to bring forth sinless children? St. Paul, one of the most devout of the early followers, lamented the turmoil of sin in his members (Rom.7:24-25), calling himself a “wretched man.” The conclusion drawn from the above, is that, redemption through the way of the cross did not restore man’s original nature and neither did it resolve the problem of the original sin, it was only able to give man “spiritual salvation.” Not complete salvation (spirit and body). We therefore, must examine why Jesus was crucified.
Jesus’ Death on the Cross Jesus did his utmost. He pleaded for the Jews to believe and follow him as the promised Messiah.(e.g. Jn.5:39, 43-46; 8:24). He also performed many miracles with the intention of convincing them that God was working through him.(10:38). He gave great love to the people, forgiving them of their sins ( Jn.8:3-11;Lk.7:48 ), encouraging them to be hopeful, comforting them and teaching them to love God and each other. Unable to win the hearts of the stubborn, hard-hearted Pharisees and Scribes, Jesus began to criticize them harshly. He judged them of blocking the way of the people to the Kingdom of God and told them that it will be worse for them in the time of judgment than it will be for Sodom and Gomorrah. He accused them of having Satan as their father, because of their desire to kill him.(Jn.8:37-44). The confrontation between Jesus and the Pharisees, the Scribes and the unbelieving Jews, took many turns. Jesus foreseeing the end result, saw his crucifixion, and the resultant judgment of God on Israel as a whole.(Lk.19:42-44).
John the Baptist
Initially, John proclaimed Jesus at the Jordan, as “the Lamb of God who comes to take away the sins of the world.”( Jn.1:29). A few who were present at Jesus’ baptism by John heard him. But, John himself, did not follow Jesus, he did not become his disciple, did not testify before the leaders of Israel about Jesus, did not take instructions from Jesus. Due to the disunity between John and Jesus, and the eventual murder of John, by King Herod, Jesus had to take on John’s role to prepare his own way. With no one to prepare his way and announce him as the Messiah, he told his disciples “not to tell anyone that he was the Christ.” (Matt.16:20). As the Bible states; “From that time onwards he began to speak of his rejection and death.”(vs.21).
Two Kinds of Prophecies Concerning the Messiah 2) If the central person sent by God is rejected by the people, and /or he lacks the faith to accomplish the mission, then there is failure in the providence and the mission has to pass on to another, at a later time. (examples: Moses and Elijah). The main point has to do with the “fulfillment of man’s portion of responsibility before God.” It is not God who decides on man’s behalf, but man himself. In the Book of Deuteronomy, God laid out the resultant blessings in obeying His will, and the consequences (curses) of disobeying His will. (Deut.28:1,15; 30:15-19). The prophecies concerning the Messiah (anointed one), in the Old Testament, were predominantly victorious (Is.9:6-7; 11; 60, and others). And, in the New Testament, prior to Jesus' birth, Lk.1:31-33, is a victorious prophecy of the regal Lord over Israel- one whose Kingdom has no end. The "Suffering Servant" prophecy of Isaiah. 53 is based on the condition of the people rejecting the Messiah. That is, "if they do not believe in him, they will inflict suffering on him." The prophet said: “They did not believe his report (his message) ….They despised and rejected him….“ (vs. 1, 3). Had the Jews showed faith and believed in Jesus, as the promised Messiah, they would not have had him crucified. Jesus would then have the foundation of acceptability to fulfill each step of his messianic responsibility: his royal marriage (Ps.45), kingship over Israel (Lk.1:32-33), and the Kingdom of God on Earth.(Ps.22:27)
E-Lecture #10
"The Purpose of History and Restoration Through Human History"Prominent historians such as Vico, Spengler and Toynbee have explained that there are certain laws working in human history. There are, however, differing opinions as to the nature of these laws and how they affect history. Views such as: the rise and fall of civilizations, the linear, cyclical or spiral nature of history, and the general consensus in modern historical thought that the many cultural spheres of the past have been merging to form one global community, are but a few. The philosopher Hegel explained that the Absolute Spirit (Welt Geist-God) is guiding history in order to manifest Himself. Marxism-Leninism presented historical materialism as a development of its dialectic, and declared to the world that history was on an inevitable path of violent revolutions to realize world communism - a totalitarian state, epitomizing the dictatorship of the proletariat (the working class). What is the true purpose of human history? Where is it headed? And, what are some of the laws guiding it?
The Unification Principle sees a history of re-creation and restoration of man and creation. God is working through His Principle of Restoration in order to accomplish His original Purpose of Creation. Because Christianity was not able to fully develop a constructive and systematic historical perspective, Marxism-Leninism was able to seize the moral-intellectual high ground by producing historical materialism. The Unification view, based on God’s original ideal (previously described in the Principle of Creation), shows that, because of the Fall of man, God had to work to reverse the mistakes of Adam and Eve in order to build a foundation for the Messiah (the new Adam) to be born. For the Messiah to come, a “Foundation of Faith” and a “Foundation of Substance” must be accomplished by a special “central figure” chosen by God (e.g., Noah, Abraham, David). Also, central to this dispensation, God desires that His “chosen people” create a secure national base for the Messiah. Further, the chosen people must fully receive the Messiah, unite with him, and build the eternal Kingdom of God. The intricate dynamics of history are therefore interwoven and governed by these and other restoration principles. In Adam’s family, Cain and Abel were to have united, fulfilling both the Foundation of Faith (making good offerings to God) and Foundation of Substance (unity in love). Instead, Cain killed Abel (Gen.4:1-12) creating a base for bloodshed (warfare), and prolonging the providence of God. In Noah’s family, his wife and sons should have fully united with him after the flood. Because of their mistakes (9:20-27), Satan was able to invade their families. Noah successfully accomplished the Foundation of Faith (he built the ark), but could not realize the Foundation of Substance in his family.
In Abraham’s family (the third foundational family of God’s providence), God established his covenant to bless him and his seed (12:1-3). However, failure in Abraham making his offering (15:10-13), disunity in Jacob’s family, and the overwhelming threat of the pagan civilization of Egypt, which represented Satan’s national foundation, caused further prolongation in the providence to send the Messiah in Abraham’s immediate family. In his course (the third attempt) however, he was able to succeed in compensating for his initial failure, by offering his son, Isaac (22:2,11-18). The history that ensued after Jacob’s family, showed God’s efforts to create a secure national foundation on which he would send the Messiah. This is called the central providence of God as compared to the peripheral providence of God carried out in other nations and cultures of the world (e.g., China, India and others). In the reign of King David who was anointed and exalted as God’s preeminent Messiah in the Old Testament age, God told him that he would send another Messiah, from his lineage to unify Israel and establish His eternal Kingdom (2Sam.7:12-16). These prophecies pointed to Solomon, but mistakes in his course (1Ki.11:1-8,11) caused further prolongation in God's will for a truly victorious Messiah. It took approximately one thousand years after David, in which the Israelites traversed many difficulties and hardships caused primarily by their failures to unite with God’s directions (see chart), that God sent His Messiah, in the person of Jesus of Nazareth (Lk.1:31-33).
The History of Restoration did not, however, conclude with the coming of Jesus, because, as we explained in “The Mission of the Messiah”, he was rejected and killed. As shown in the history of Christianity, the events and time periods bear parallel patterns to the time periods of the Old Testament history (Abraham to Jesus). These are due to the fact that the mistakes made in each period of the Old Testament had to be indemnified through the New Testament history so that a successful foundation can be made for the Second Coming of the Messiah, on earth. The last 400 years of the New Testament history is therefore called, “Preparation for the Second Coming”. This period was concluded 400 years after Martin Luther’s Reformation (1517), and providentially coincided with the end of WWI (1918). According to God's timetable, the foundation for the birth of the returning Lord ("Son of Man" according to Jesus -Mt.24:36; Lk.17:30)was firmly established.
#11 Second Coming |
God sent the Messiah in the person of Jesus (Lk.1:31-33).
Later, he doubted that Jesus was really the Messiah. (Matt.11:3). To Jesus’ disappointment, John became totally separated from him. ( Jn.3:26; 4:1;Matt.11:6,12).
The numerical time periods laid out in our charts, represent special mathematical formulations based on the Principle of Creation. God is also working to restore the significance of these numbers (to be explained in the advanced UP lectures)as they were originally constituted.
Likewise, Jacob and Esau successfully united as brothers (33:1-11). God then gave a messianic prophecy to be fulfilled in Judah’s (Jacob’s fourth son) lineage (49:10).
Due to this great mistake by the chosen people, God had to further prolong the History of Restoration in order to indemnify the mistake of rejecting Jesus,(Jn.15:26; 16:9) and further, He has to rebuild the substantial foundations (sovereign nation and people) established through the Old Testament periods, but were lost, due to Satan's invasion (Mt.24:2,15-16). The 2,000-year history of Christianity, as the new Israel (Second Israel), was therefore set in motion.