Unification of religions by Resurrection through Second Coming

Chapter Resurrection

Section III

Unification of religions by Resurrection through Second Coming

1. Unification of Christianity by resurrection through Second Coming

As stated in Section II, 3.2 of this chapter, the spirit men of the life-spirit stage, Paradise, descend to the earthly saints who are capable of attaining the divine-spirit stage by believing in the Lord of the Second Advent and ministering to him. They can finally enter the Kingdom of Heaven with the same merit as earthly saints by cooperating with them in accomplishing the will of the providence of restoration. Accordingly, in the days of the Second Advent, all the spirit men in Paradise will descend to the earthly saints and cooperate with them.

The time of this visitation may differ according to the individual's faith, his natural disposition, and his ancestors' accomplishments for the will of God. In this manner, earthly saints are sooner or later destined to attend the Lord of the Second Advent and devote themselves to the will of God, through the cooperation of the spirit men descending to them from Paradise. Therefore, Christianity is destined to realized its unification.

2. Unification of all other religions by Resurrection through Second Coming

As discussed in the "Consummation of Human History", we cannot deny the historical fact that all religions, which in fact have an identical purpose, are being absorbed gradually into the cultural sphere of Christianity. Therefore, Christianity is not a religion for Christians alone but has the mission of accomplishing the ultimate purpose of all the religions that have appeared in the past. Naturally, the Lord of the Second Advent, who comes as the central figure in Christianity, will also play the role of Buddha, whom Buddhists believe will come again, as well as the role of the "True Man" whose appearance Confucianists anticipate, and "Chung Do Ryung" ("Herald of the Righteous Way") whom many Koreans expect to come. In addition, he will also play the role of the central figure whom all other religions await.

For this reason, the spirit men who believed in religions other than Christianity while on earth will have to come again, like the spirit men of Paradise, in order to receive the same benefit of resurrection through the Second Advent, though the time of their visitation may differ according to their spiritual positions. In this manner, they are destined to descend to the earthly men who belong to their religions and lead them to the Lord of the Second Advent, cooperating with them to believe in and serve him for the accomplishment of the will of God. Therefore, all religions will finally be unified, centering on Christianity.

3. Unification of non-religious men by Resurrection through Second Coming

The spirit men who in their lifetime did not believe in any religion but lived conscientiously, also come again at permitted times in order to obtain the benefit of resurrection through second coming. In this way, they cooperate with earthly men of conscience to find and serve the Lord of the Second Advent and participate in accomplishing the will of God. The story of the three wise men coming from the East and worshipping the infant Jesus (Matt. 2:1-16) is one such example.

The ultimate purpose of God's providence of restoration is to save all mankind. Therefore, it is God's intention to abolish Hell completely, after the lapse of the period necessary for the full payment of all indemnity. If Hell remains eternally in the world of creation even after the fulfillment of God's purpose of goodness, it would result in the contradiction of an imperfect God, not to speak of the resultant imperfection in His idea of creation and His providence of restoration.

If the hearts of parents in fallen families are saddened by the unhappiness of even one of their children, how much more would it be so with God, as the Heavenly Parent! In II Peter 3:9 we find, "The Lord...is forbearing toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.".

Accordingly, Hell cannot remain forever in the ideal world, which is to be realized in accordance with the will of God. Even the forces of Satan testified to Jesus' being the son of God (Matt. 8:29). When the Last Days come, even evil spirits will descend to earthly men of the same level, and by cooperating with them will take part in the fulfillment of God's will. Finally, after a due period of time, the unified purpose of creation will be attained.