The purpose of the creation of the universe

Chapter The Principle of Creation

Section III

The purpose of creation

1. The purpose of the creation of the universe

Whenever God made a new species of creation, He saw that "it was good" (Gen. 1:4-31). This indicates that God wanted all of His creation to be good objects. This is because He wanted to feel happiness whenever He looked at His creation.

What, then, should His creation be like in order to make God happiest?

After having created the universe, God finally created man in His image, after the pattern of His own character, with tremendous potential. Man was intended to enjoy and appreciate his position as an object to God. Therefore, when God created Adam and Eve, He gave them three great blessings: to be fruitful, to multiply and fill the earth, and to subdue it and have dominion (Gen. 1:28). Had man followed the words of this blessing and become happy in the Heavenly Kingdom of God, God also would have felt much happiness.

How should God's three great blessings have been fulfilled?

This could have been possible only when the four position foundation, the basic foundation of creation, had been fulfilled. God's purpose in creating the universe was to feel happiness when He saw the purpose of goodness fulfilled in the Heavenly Kingdom, in which the whole creation including man could have established after completing the four position foundation centered on God and fulfilling His three great blessings.

Consequently, the purpose of the universe's existence centered on man is to return joy to God, the Creator.

Every being has a dual purpose

As already explained, every existence has both character and form; accordingly, its purpose is two-fold. One purpose pertains to internal character and the other to external form. The relationship between the two is exactly the same as that between character and form in any individual being. The purpose pertaining to the internal character is for the whole, while the purpose pertaining to the external form is for the individual. In other words, the former and the latter relate to each other as cause and effect, internal and external, and subject and object. Therefore, there cannot be any purpose of the individual apart from the purpose of the whole, nor any purpose of the whole that does not include the purpose of the individual. All the creatures in the entire universe form a vast complex linked together by these dual purposes.

2. Object of Goodness for the joy of God

In order to understand more precisely the questions concerning God's purpose of creation, let us first examine how joy is produced. Joy is not created by the individual alone. Joy comes when we have an object, whether invisible or visible, in which our own character and form are reflected and developed, thus enabling us to feel our own character and form through the stimulation derived from the object.

For example, man feels joy as a creator only when he has an object; that is, when he sees the product of his work, whether it be a painting or sculpture, in which his plan is substantiated. In this way, he is able to feel his own character and form objectively through the stimulation derived from the product of his work. When the idea itself remains in the objective position the stimulation derived from it is not substantial; therefore, the joy derived from it cannot be substantial either. God's joy is produced in the same manner as man's. Therefore, God feels joy when He feels His original character and form objectively through the stimulation derived from His substantial object.

We have explained that, when the Kingdom of Heaven is realized through the fulfillment of the three great blessings on the foundation of four positions, the perfect object through which God can feel joy is formed. Let us study how the perfect object for God's joy is formed.

God's first blessing to man was the perfection of his individuality. In order to man to perfect his individuality, his mind and body, which are the divided form of God's dual essentialities, must become united through the give and take action between them. Thus they form an individual four position foundation centered on God. The man whose mind and body have formed a four position foundation of the original God-centered nature becomes God's temple (I Cor. 3:16) and forms one body with Him (John 14:20). This means that man attains deity. Feeling exactly what God feels and knowing God's will, he would live as God would want. A man with his individuality thus perfected would have perfect give and take between his mind and body. In uniting together, his mind and body would form a substantial object to God. In that case, God becomes happy because He can feel His own character and form objectively through the stimulation coming from such a substantial object. Man's mind as subject feels the same way in relationship to his body. Therefore, when man has realized God's first blessing, he becomes a good object for the joy of God. A man with perfected individuality feels all that God feels, as if God's feelings were his own. Consequently, he cannot do anything which would cause God grief. This means that such a man could never fall.

In order for man to realize God's second blessing, originally, Adam and Eve, the divided substantial objects of God, after having perfected their respective individualities and thus fully reflecting God's dual essentialities, should have become husband and wife, forming one unit. They should have multiplied through having children, and established the four position foundation on a family level centered on God. Any family or society in which such a four position foundation centered on God is established would resemble a man of perfected individuality. Thus, a family or a society becomes the substantial object of man centered on God, and man and his object together become the substantial object of God. God and man would then be happy, for they would feel their own dual essentialities reflected in such a family or society. When man has actualized the second blessing, this also becomes a good object for God's joy.

Let us now learn why man becomes a good object for God's joy when he has actualized God's third blessing. First, we must discuss the relationship between man and the universe from the viewpoint of "character and form".

Before creating man, God made all things in the image and likeness of man's character and form. Therefore, man is the encapsulation of all things.

God began His creation with animals of a lower order, then created animals with a more complicated function; and finally He created man, who has the highest function. Therefore, man contains the structure elements and essential qualities of animals. For example, man's vocal cords are so sophisticated that they are able to imitate the sounds of all the animals. The human shape and line are the most delicate and graceful, so that they often become a trying subject for student artists to draw.

Men and plants are of different structures and functions, but are similar in that they both consist of cells. Man contains the structure, elements, and essential qualities of plants, also. For example, a plant's leaf, seen from its function, corresponds to the human lung. Just as a leaf absorbs carbon dioxide from the air, the human lung absorbs oxygen. The trunk, stem, or branches of a plant correspond to the human heart in supplying nutriments to the whole body. The root of a plant corresponds to the stomach and intestines of a man, which absorb nutriments. Further, the shape and function of the xylem and the phloem of a plant correspond to that of the human artery and vein.

Man is also composed of earth, water, and air; consequently, he also contains mineral elements. The structure of the earth, too, is similar to that of the human body. The earth's crust is covered with plants, underground waterways exist in the substrata, and beneath all this lies molten lava surrounded by rocks. This closely corresponds to the structure of the human body: the skin is covered with hair, blood vessels exist in the musculature, and still deeper lies the marrow within the skeleton.

God's third blessing to man signifies man's qualification to dominate the whole creation. In order for man to actualize this blessing, he must first establish the four position foundation with the universe as his object, centering on God. Then, with man as the visible object in the image of God and the universe as the symbolic object in His indirect image, man's love and the beauty of creation perform give and take action to form one body in unity centering on God (cf. Part I, Ch. 1, Sec. V, 2.3--56).

The universe is the object in which man's character and form are manifested in substance. Therefore, man whose center is fixed upon God, would feel immense joy when he objectively feels his own character and form through all things as his substantial objects. In like manner, God would enjoy utmost happiness by feeling His essential character and form through the world of His creation, which consists of man and all things in harmonious oneness.

When man has thus actualized God's third blessing, this also becomes an object of good for God's joy. If God's purpose of creation had been actualized in this way, an ideal world, in which no trace of sin could be found, would have been established on this earth. We may call this world the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. Man was created in the beginning to live in the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. At the moment of his physical death, he was to automatically transmigrate into the spirit world where he could enjoy an eternal life in the spiritual Kingdom of Heaven.

From all the facts explained thus far, we can understand that the Kingdom of Heaven is the world resembling a man with his individuality perfected in accordance with the essential characteristics and form of God. Just as in man, where the mind's command is transmitted to the whole body through the central nervous system, thus causing the body to act toward one purpose, so in the Kingdom of Heaven, God's command is conveyed to all His children through the True Parents, causing all to work toward one purpose.