Kyoshu-sama’s Message
Beginning of Spring Service
Tenshu Hall, Hotel Nagoya Castle, Japan
February 4, 2019
Congratulations, everyone, on the Beginning of Spring Service.
I would first like to acknowledge and offer my most sincere gratitude to President Shirasawa, all the members of Izunome Group in Japan and all members overseas who are connected to Izunome Group. I am standing here today and delivering my speech owing to Meishu-sama of course but also because of all of you. Overcoming numerous difficulties and hardships, each and every one of you has made a firm decision to seek and follow the true message Meishu-sama left for us, and I am very grateful for your decision and support. Thank you very much!
From now on, as I always have done, I will communicate everything I feel and think to God through Meishu-sama, ask for his guidance and move forward steadily, step by step, being united with all of you.
I would also like to extend my gratitude to Hotel Nagoya Castle. The service today could be held thanks to the cooperation and understanding of the staff here, and I am grateful for that. Thank you.
Now, in deep awe and fear of God, I say that God’s purpose of creation is to bear children in His own image and likeness. It is to make all humanity turn into His children – Messiahs. To this end, God first prepared heaven before starting the work of creating the whole universe. God then bore innumerable spiritual children – us – in this heaven and named each one of us “Messiah” in the same manner. This does not mean that we were divided or separate from God. We were together and one with the body of God.
In fact, even after we came to the earth, we, within us, still carried the body of God and were one with Him. God’s body is still within us and is our true self – it bears the name of Messiah. God and the name of Messiah are, thus, one. God entrusted His will to the name of Messiah, and it is through this holy name that God creates everything and governs both heaven and earth. God is now carrying out His work of creation within each one of us with absolute and unyielding authority, according to the divine plan He determined a long time ago, at the very beginning.
We have forgotten who our true Parent is and what His will is. Instead of seeking God, we have lived our lives tirelessly wanting to possess power and utilize it as our own. In this way, it was as if we had fallen into a long sleep. But Meishu-sama awoke us. He made us realize that God is the source of all power and light and that the name of Messiah, the spiritual light and power of God, and the eternal breath of God exist within each one of us.
If we so wish, we could receive the forgiveness that is embedded in the name of Messiah, return to heaven, be born once again as God’s children and be granted eternal life. How immense is the love of God! We are now being nurtured both spiritually and physically by this bountiful love, and I believe it is our duty to respond to His love and serve in His work of making all humanity be born anew, together with all ancestors and all things.
Meishu-sama said that he was “born anew,” and became our example to follow. But what does it mean “to be born anew”? Does it mean that we need to turn into someone great and achieve greatness that ordinary people cannot? Or, does it mean that we must become a saint-like person who is filled with virtue and righteousness and never commits any wrongdoing? It does not mean any of those things.
In the announcement made on the 5th of June, 1954, at Hekiun-so, Meishu-sama first said that “a Messiah was born.” Following those words, he said he was born anew. So who is it that bore a Messiah? Isn’t it clear from the words of Meishu-sama that he was assuming the existence of the one who gave birth to a Messiah? And of course, the one who bore Meishu-sama was no other than God – the one and only God who is our true Father.
Our souls are not ours; they belong to God. God has let pass our sin of treating our souls as if they are ours in order to nurture us. We must be awakened to this love of God, repent for our misunderstanding and receive God’s forgiveness. We must return our souls to whom they truly belong – God. And I believe Meishu-sama did just that. As our representative and for our sake, Meishu-sama repented, received God’s forgiveness through the name of Messiah and committed his soul to God. I am convinced that God accepted the heart of Meishu-sama, endowed him with His everlasting soul named Messiah and made him be born once more as His true child. That is why Meishu-sama said, in 1954, that “a Messiah was born” and that he was “born anew.” We must acknowledge that Meishu-sama served in and accomplished the true will of God as a pioneer and on behalf of all humanity! Don’t we also need to follow in his footsteps, aim to accomplish what he did and become pioneers and models of being born anew so that all humanity can be awakened to this true salvation of God? Of course, we do! God is wishing for us to become that kind of person, because He wants to share the joy of bearing a child with us and with everyone.
At the time when Meishu-sama announced the aforementioned birth of Messiah, he also left the following words: “The rank of Messiah is the highest rank one can attain. In the West, Messiah is called the King of Kings. For humanity to be saved, Messiah has to appear, so this is a historic incident.” God unites everyone and everything to the name of Messiah, and through this most powerful name, He reigns over all that exist in heaven and on earth. He even rules the deepest part of each one of our hearts and minds! We sometimes cannot believe nor sense that God is in control of everything that happens in our lives. This feeling of ours, too, is in the hands of God who atones, forgives, saves and welcomes us into His heaven through the name of Messiah – the name Meishu-sama treasured so greatly. Isn’t this why Meishu-sama taught us that “Messiah” possesses the highest rank of the “King of Kings”?
As you might already know, the term “King of Kings” can be found in the Bible and is also in the lyrics of the “Hallelujah Chorus” from Handel’s oratorio Messiah – the chorus Meishu-sama loved so much and listened to repeatedly in his final years on earth. After my message, this Hallelujah Chorus will be offered to God and Meishu-sama by the Hallelujah Chorus instructors. Through this offering, let us praise God who has the power and authority to impart the grace of forgiveness of sins to all humanity. In the name of Messiah, which is one with Meishu-sama, let us extol Him who reigns over us and accomplishes all.
For the upcoming Paradise on Earth Service, I hear that the Hallelujah Chorus will be offered to God on a much larger scale with members from all over Japan. My wish is that not only women but also many men will take part in it. I am sure that Meishu-sama will be pleased if both men and women participate in the chorus, help each other and offer the song as one with great joy. I am truly looking forward to praising the glory of God together with all of you at the coming Paradise on Earth Service.
To close, I praise God for allowing us to serve in the entirely new work of salvation that Meishu-sama is showing to us. I praise Him for allowing us to become pioneers in His true divine work. With Meishu-sama leading the way, let us unwaveringly serve God whose divine work is progressing with ever greater pace!
This message is available in pdf form: 20190204 Beginning of Spring_Kyoshu-sama
