Aim to review the three parts of the Principle – Ideal, Fall, Restoration
Aims
* to review the three parts of the Principle – Ideal, Fall, Restoration
* to learn more about the three stages of Restoration History
Materials
* Restoration chart
* worksheet
* Moses’ 10 Commandments
* Jesus’ 2 Commandments
Lesson Outline
1. Three parts of the Principle
2. Three stages of Restoration History
3. Activities – worksheet, Simon Says
4. Review the aims
5. Prayer
1) Three Parts of the Principle
* God’s Ideal – A world of true love, happiness, peace and freedom
* The Fall – Adam and Eve lost God. The world became a place of suffering and evil
* Restoration History – God has worked through chosen people to restore His ideal
1) God’s Ideal
The most important part of God’s nature is His heart, that seeks an object partner to love. He created all things in creation as His objects partners of love, but human beings are God’s children and we are meant to be the closest to God’s heart. Love is a relationship of giving and receiving and God’s wants a relationship with us. When we learn to love as God loves and build loving families, we become good object partners to God. This brings great joy to God and to us.
A world filled with such families is a world of true love, happiness, peace and freedom – the kingdom of Heaven on earth. After leaving the physical body we are meant to live in the kingdom of Heaven in the spirit world, eternally.
In the beginning Adam and Eve should have grown in heart through three stages – formation, growth
and completion. They would have lived in a world filled with God’s love – the ideal world
2) The Fall
Adam and Eve were growing in their relationship with God. They were teenagers and had reached the top of the growth stage. They had a brother and sister relationship. God gave them the commandment to obey. They had to mature their hearts, and wait before having a love relationship as husband and wife.
But the Archangel Lucifer was jealous of Adam and Eve, because they were God’s children. He was only God’s servant. Feelings of lack of love and jealousy controlled him. Gradually, he drew Eve closer to himself and they fell in love, completely against God’s commandment. Then Eve drew Adam to herself and they fell in love.
Because of Adam and Eve’s disobedience, they lost their relationship with God completely. Their spiritual senses were dulled and they became confused. Lucifer, became Satan, the fallen archangel. He dominated their minds and hearts. They were blind and deaf to God. Their hearts were twisted into a self centered love, unable to overcome the power of Satan. They were in a place without love, called hell
To make matters worse, their eldest son, Cain, killed his brother Abel in a fit of anger and jealousy. God’s ideal was destroyed and He was heart-broken. And the world became a place of darkness, suffering, evil and hatred far from the love of God.
3) Restoration History
From the moment Adam and Eve fell, God has been working to bring His children back and restore His ideal. but it has taken such a long time, because Satan has controlled fallen people very effectively.
Disobedience
How has God worked? Fallen man must reverse the mistakes that were made. What were Adam and Eve’s first mistake? Disobedience. They disobeyed God’s commandment. Therefore to restore the relationship with God fallen man must be obedient to God’s commandments. God chose special people, such as Noah and Abraham, who could absolutely obey him and separate themselves from Satan.
Through these chosen people God has worked to expand his influence in the fallen world.
It is the same today. In order to restore our relationship to God we must learn the way of obedience. That is why children must be obedient to their parents. The tendency of teenagers to rebel against parents comes from the fall. How do we physically express obedience? Some examples: bow as in front of a king, hand on your heart and nod, salute as in the army. Obedience, however, is more a matter of heart than a physical expression.
2) Three stages of Restoration History
Use the chart to explain the three stages of restoration, the Old Testament, the New Testament and the Completed Testament. Restoration History shows step by step how God has worked through chosen people to restore the failure of Adam and Eve.
OLD TESTAMENT AGE
The Old Testament age is the formation stage. From Abraham, the chosen people of Israel came. God wanted the Israelites to obey his word, so they could be restored back to the ideal. God gave words of truth to Moses called the 10 commandments to teach people God’s way. Which ones can the children remember?
1. You shall have no other gods before me.
2. You shall not make any idols or pray to other gods
3. You shall not misuse the name of God
4. You shall keep the seventh day as a holy day and a day of rest
5. Honor your father and your mother
6. You shall not murder.
7. You shall not commit adultery.
8. You shall not steal.
9. You shall not lie
10. You shall not be jealous of other people
NEW TESTAMENT AGE
The New Testament age is the growth stage. God prepared the chosen people of Israel to receive the Messiah. Jesus came as the Messiah. Through Jesus God gave new words of truth. God wanted Jesus’ followers to obey his word, so they could be restored back to the ideal. He gave two commandments;
1. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
2. Love your neighbor as yourself
But Jesus was crucified and he could not fulfill his mission. The New Testament age has lasted 2,000 years in order to restore this failure.
COMPLETED TESTAMENT AGE
The Completed Testament age is the completion stage. God prepared the the followers of Jesus (Christians) receive a new Messiah. Today Sun Myung Moon is the new chosen person. He is the second coming of the Messiah. He comes at the top of the growth stage, the point where Adam and Eve fell. His mission is to finish what Jesus started, restore the failures of Adam and Eve and build the ideal world.
He brings new words from God; The Divine Principle. To restore the ideal, God wants all people to obey His word. Sun Myung Moon teaches one commandment that puts all the other commandments together:
1. Live for others, which is way of true love
3) Activities
* Complete the worksheet
* Test knowledge of the commandments (Moses, Jesus, Sun Myung Moon)
* Play “Simon Says” as an obedience game, linking it to obeying the commandments
4) Review the aims
to review the three parts of the Principle – Ideal, Fall, Restoration History
to learn more about the three stages of restoration history
5) End with a prayer
