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The Two Foundations – Faith and Substance
The foundation for the messiah is the sum of two components – a ‘foundation of faith’ and a ‘foundation of substance’.
Faith
The foundation of faith consists of a selected individual showing extraordinary faith, in a certain way, for a certain period of time. The details are unknown to the individual, that’s why it requires faith.
The person is selected according to certain rules outlined in the Principle. When the time has come God puts that person faith to a test. In Adam’s family Abel was the person selected for the test. The Principle says nothing about the type of test or the duration. It just quotes the Bible where the two brothers – Cain and Abel – offered sacrifices. Abel’s offering was acceptable. That was the foundation of faith in Adam’s family.
Usually, the condition for proving faith is spelled out in more detail, together with a time period. Noah, for example, had to build a huge ship on a mountain, not a reasonable thing to do. The time period – 120 years – added to the challenge. Abraham had to offer three kinds of animals (condition) for which he had one day (period). He fell asleep in the process and failed.
Later God told him to kill and sacrifice his only son. The time period was three days. This time he showed unwavering faith and God stopped him from killing his son in the last moment.
The Principle uses the details given in the Bible. These are often sparse. The important aspect in the foundation of faith is that a specific person is selected by God – no volunteers are accepted. Then the condition is a real challenge to faith. Finally, faith has to be maintained for a period of time, not just for a moment.
Substance
The foundation of faith is an issue between God and man. Next, the foundation of substance has to be established between people. To accomplish this, one person is put into the position of ‘good’ and another one into the position of ‘evil’. That’s on the individual level. On higher levels, one or both of the positions can be occupied by groups of people.
If the person or group that stands in the position of evil, can submit to the ‘good’ position and accept that person or group as its subject, the foundation of substance is established. In reality, numerous and formidable challenges arose in laying this foundation of substance. When the people fail to accomplish the task, it has to be repeated at a later time, often hundreds of years.
The Principle explains the historical details in great length. The foundation for the coming of Jesus took 2000 years to accomplish. Similarly, the foundation for his second coming took another 2000 years due to repeated failures of human beings.
The following case study on Adam’s family explains the principle how the foundation of substance is established.
It should be noted that in the movement the creation of the foundations of faith and substance is considered a responsibility of each human being in front of God. In fact, people may notice events similar to those of the providential Biblical figures in their own lives, even independent of the movement.
I know a woman, for example, not a member of the movement, who during a difficult period in her marriage faced the possibility of having to give up her only daughter. She related that experience to the struggle of Abraham who had to face the imminent death of his son, only to be spared in the last moment. Like in the case of Abraham, her ‘sacrifice’ was not required in the end, resulting in an awareness of true, spiritual accomplishment.
The path a member takes in the movement is designed in such a way that he/she can lay a foundation of faith in the early time. That is usually done through fundraising activities, which are simple in itself and allow focus on internal aspects. This is is seen in preparation for more substantial work in outreach, whose purpose is to establish a foundation of substance.
Well, it should be mentioned that some people experience real shit during that time and I am not going to condone every nutty idea that a leader came up with to ‘test the faith’ of the people under him/her.
However, even given ideal circumstances and great leadership, the laying of these foundations is an issue between God and the individual and are always a challenge specific to the individual.
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