The Principle of Creation
The Principle of Creation
- Throughout history, people have anguished over the fundamental questions of human life and the universe without arriving at satisfying answers.
- This is because no one has understood the root principle by which humanity and the universe were originally created.
- The fundamental question is that of the causal reality.
- Problems concerning human life and the universe cannot be solved without first understanding the nature of God.
- How can we know the divine nature of the invisible God?
- One way to fathom His deity is by observing the universe which He created.
- Just as we can come to know the character of an artist through his works, so we can understand the nature of God by observing the diverse things of creation.
- Every entity possesses dual characteristics of yang (masculinity) and yin (femininity) and comes into existence only when these characteristics have formed reciprocal relationships.
- Both within the entity and between it and other entities.
- Every entity possesses both an outer form and an inner quality.
- The visible outer form resembles the invisible inner quality.
- The inner quality, though invisible, possesses a certain structure which is manifested visibly in the particular outer form. The inner quality is called internal nature, and the outer form or shape is called external form.
- Since internal nature and external form refer to corresponding inner and outer aspects of the same entity, the external form may also be understood as a second internal nature. Therefore, the internal nature and external form together constitute dual characteristics.
- Probing deeper still, we search for the Ultimate Cause which brought this energy, with its elements of internal nature and external form, into existence. This being would be the First Cause of all the myriad things in the universe.
- We call this First Cause of the universe God, and we call God’s internal nature and external form the original internal nature and original external form.
- It is only natural to surmise that God, the First Cause of all things, also exists based on the reciprocal relationship between His dual characteristics of yang and yin.
- What is the relationship between the dual characteristics of internal nature and external form and the dual characteristics of yang and yin?
- God’s original internal nature and original external form each contain the mutual relationship of original yang and original yin.
- Therefore, original yang and original yin are attributes of original internal nature and original external form.
- The relationship between God and the universe can be summarized thus.
- The universe as a whole is a substantial object partner to God.
- It is composed of individual embodiments of truth, each a unique manifestation of the dual characteristics of God at either the level of image or of symbol, as governed by the Principle of Creation.
- God, the Creator of all things, is the absolute reality, eternal, self-existent and transcendent of time and space.
- The fundamental energy of God’s being is also eternal, self-existent and absolute.
- It is the origin of all energies and forces that allow created beings to exist.
- We call this fundamental energy universal prime energy.
- Through the agency of universal prime energy, the subject and object elements of every entity form a common base and enter into interaction.
- This interaction, in turn, generates all the forces the entity needs for existence, multiplication and action.
- The interaction generating these forces through this process is called give and take action.
- The process – in which out of God, the Origin, two entities are separately manifested.
- And reunited in oneness.
- Is called origin-division-union action.
- When each of the four then acts as the subject partner and enters into give and take with the other three revolving around it, they fulfill the three object purpose.
- When through origin-division-union action.
- The origin, the subject partner and object partner projected from the origin, and their union all fulfill the three object purpose.
- The four position foundation is established.
- The four position foundation is the root of the number four. It is also the root of the number three.
- The four position foundation is realized by God, husband and wife, and children; they complete the three stages of origin-division-union action. Hence, the four position foundation is the root of the principle of three stages.
- Each of the four positions in the four position foundation takes on three object partners in fulfilling the three object purpose. In total there are twelve object partners; hence, it is the root of the number twelve.
- The four position foundation is the fundamental foundation of goodness. It is the realization of God’s purpose of creation.
- It is the fundamental foundation for the life of all beings, providing all the forces necessary for their existence and enabling God to abide in them.
- Therefore, the four position foundation is God’s eternal purpose of creation.
- Just as all beings have internal nature and external form, there is a type of spherical motion that corresponds to internal nature and a type that corresponds to external form.
- Likewise, there is a center of motion that corresponds to internal nature and a center that corresponds to external form. These two centers have the same relationship as that between internal nature and external form.
- After God completed each day of creation, He saw that it was good (Gen. 1:4-31).
- This suggests that God wanted His creations to be object partners embodying goodness that He might take delight in them.
- Therefore ultimate purpose of the universe, with human beings at its center, is to return joy to God.
- To understand more precisely the issues concerning God’s purpose of creation, let us first examine how joy is produced.
- Joy is not produced by an individual alone. Joy arises when we have an object partner in which our internal nature and external form are reflected and developed.
- Our object partner helps us to feel our own internal nature and external form through the stimulation it gives. This object partner may be intangible or it may be substantial.
- For example, an artist’s object partner may be an idea in his mind, or the finished painting or sculpture which substantiates that idea.
- When he visualizes his idea or beholds his work, he is stimulated to feel his own internal nature and external form reflected in it and feels joy and satisfaction.
- The key to God’s first blessing is the perfection of individual character.
- In order for an individual to perfect his character, he must form a four position foundation within himself whereby his mind and body become one through give and take action with God as their center.
- Such individuals become the temples of God, (I Cor. 3:16) achieve complete oneness with Him, (John 14:20) and acquire a divine nature.
- They experience the Heart of God as if it were their own. Hence, they understand His Will and live fully attuned to it.
- When a person abides in the state of individual perfection, he lives as the substantial object partner to his mind. Because the center of his mind is God, he also lives as the substantial object partner to God.
- Sharing all the feelings of God as their own, they would never commit any sinful acts that would cause God grief. This means they would never fall.
- God’s second blessing was to be fulfilled by Adam and Eve after they had achieved individual perfection as object partners to God.
- In order to construct the four position foundation in their family, Adam and Eve should have joined in loving oneness as husband and wife and raised children.
- The meaning of God’s third blessing is the perfection of a human being’s dominion over the natural world.
- To fulfill this blessing, the four position foundation of dominion must be established centered on God.
- Human beings and the natural world, must share love and beauty to become completely one.
- What sets the standard by which the original value of an entity is determined?
- Since its original value is determined when it participates in a four position foundation, and since the center of this four position foundation is God, it is God who sets the standard for its value.
- Since God is absolute.
- The original value of an object partner determined in relation to this standard set by God must also be absolute.
- The universe did not suddenly spring forth complete, without regard to the flow of time.
- In fact, its origin and development took an enormous length of time.
- Therefore, the biblical period of six days for the completion of the universe is not to be reckoned by the number of literal sunrises and sunsets.
- It symbolizes six ordered periods of time in the creation process.
- When the first day of creation was completed, it states, “There was evening and there was morning, one day” (Gen. 1:5).
- This is because all creation are designed to reach completion only after passing through a set growing period.
- Human beings could not fulfill the purpose of their existence because they fell without completing the three stages of the growing period.
- Hence, in their renewed efforts to realize their purpose, human beings must pass through these three stages.
- God has regard only for the fruits of their growth which are based on the Principle. In this way, He governs all things indirectly.
- We call this growing period the realm of God’s indirect dominion or the realm of dominion based on accomplishments through the Principle.
- All things reach perfection after passing through the growing period by virtue of the autonomy and governance given by God’s Principle.
- Human beings, however, are created in such a way that their growth requires the fulfillment of their own portion of responsibility, in addition to the guidance provided by the Principle.
- What is the realm of God’s direct dominion and what is its purpose?
- Human beings abide in the realm of direct dominion when, as subject partner and object partner, they unite in the love of God to form a four position foundation and become one in heart with God.
- In this realm they freely and fully share love and beauty according to the will of the subject partner, thus realizing the purpose of goodness.
- The realm of direct dominion is the realm of perfection.
- The universe was created after the pattern of a human being, who is in the image of God’s dual characteristics.
- Corresponding to the human mind and body, the universe consists of the incorporeal world and the corporeal world, both of which are real and substantial.
- The incorporeal world is so called because we cannot perceive it through our five physical senses.
- The incorporeal and corporeal worlds together form the cosmos.
- The position of human beings in the cosmos has three aspects.
- God created human beings to be the rulers of the universe.
- Mediator and the center of harmony of the cosmos.
- Encapsulation in a substantial form the essences of everything in the cosmos (microcosm).
- The physical self consists of the dual characteristics of the physical mind and the physical body.
- Good or evil in the conduct of the physical self is the main determinant of whether the spirit self becomes good or evil.
- Our spirit self consists of the dual characteristics of spirit mind (subject partner) and spirit body (object partner).
- The spirit grows through give and take action between two types of nourishment: life elements of a yang type that come from God, and vitality elements of a yin type that come from the physical self.
- The spirit self not only receives vitality elements from the physical self.
- The spirit can grow only while it abides in the flesh.
- Sinful conduct during earthly life aggravates evil and ugliness in the spirit of a fallen person, while the redemption of sins granted during earthly life opens the way for his spirit to become good.
- It is not God who decides whether a person’s spirit enters heaven or hell upon his death; it is decided by the spirit himself.