Kyoshu-sama’s Message
Paradise on Earth Service
Numazu, Japan
June 15, 2019
Congratulations, everyone, on today’s Paradise on Earth Service.
By the will of Meishu-sama, we were able to hold today’s service with members of all three groups: Su no Hikari Church, Izunome Group, and Toho no Hikari Group. I am truly grateful for this.
Today is the 15th of June. 88 years ago on this very day, in 1931, Meishu-sama climbed Mt. Nokogiri with 28 of his disciples. At the break of day, Meishu-sama, leading at the front of his disciples, offered the Amatsu Norito prayer toward the east, toward the sun that was rising from the vast expanse of ocean. At this time, Meishu-sama received a divine revelation from God – the revelation of, in his own words, “the Transition from Night to Day in the spiritual world.” Throughout the remainder of his life, Meishu-sama frequently wrote about and mentioned the Transition from Night to Day in his teachings – an indication that it is the most vital and fundamental element for the divine work of establishing Heaven on Earth. What, then, does the “divine revelation of the Transition from Night to Day” mean for us – the revelation that God communicated to us through Meishu-sama?
From the expression “Transition from Night to Day,” we tend to imagine the transition from night to day as we usually experience on earth. The dawn breaks, night is over, and day arrives – this is what we normally associate with the above expression. But I believe we should not understand this only as a kind of earthly phenomenon. This is because Meishu-sama is saying that it is the Transition from Night to Day in the spiritual world. Where, then, does the spiritual world exist?
To start with, of course, the spiritual world of Meishu-sama is that of ours, too. There is only one spiritual world – the one that the Lord God governs. As Meishu-sama taught us that “the spiritual world is a world of sonen,” the spiritual world refers to our sonen, that is, the world of our consciousness. What exactly does the Transition from Night to Day in the world of our consciousness mean?
At the center of our consciousness, the world to create all things exists. In other words, within us, there is heaven – the world of the origin of all things. Heaven, needless to say, is the world of light, shining brilliantly without day or night. In this heaven, God, in order to bear His own children, first divided parts of Himself, giving birth to divine spirits. God then named each one “Messiah” impartially, and with the light existing within the name of Messiah, God began His work of creating the whole universe. Each and every single one of us was born from God who is Light Itself.
This being the case, we humanity have forgotten the heart of God, who is our true Father, and have been living our life not knowing that we within us possess the light of God. We have been living our life prioritizing our own will and wishes, and making judgements of ourselves and others with our own yardsticks. We have been conceited, living our life as we see fit.
Living like this, we are deemed sinful in the eyes of God. And so, God cannot welcome us back into His heaven, make us His very own children, and live with us in heaven. In short, God cannot fulfill His will of saving humanity and establish Heaven on Earth. That is why, out of His deep and unfailing love, God looked upon our helpless state, forgave us through the name of Messiah, and made us sinless and spotless in His eyes.
We were, truly, in a helpless state in which we continued to boast about or regret our actions in life, not really knowing what the right answer was. But God one-sidedly decided to put an end to this and, with His saving hand, brought us into the world of new creation. To save us, God prepared the name of Messiah – the path through which we can return to God, to heaven that is the source of God’s Light.
How great is the forgiveness of God! How wonderful is His grace! It is my firm conviction that the divine revelation of the Transition from Night to Day meant this forgiveness and grace of God. Through Meishu-sama, through the Transition from Night to Day, God wanted to let humanity recall His deep love as well as the fact that we were born on earth with the light of God.
What I am trying to convey to you here is this: as the Transition from Night to Day has been accomplished and as the era of “day” has arrived, a light is shining forth. This light is the light of God and is the light that has the power to forgive the sins of all humanity.
Now, what does Meishu-sama say about that? He wrote, “Our sins will disappear immediately and easily once the great light illuminates them.” “When the sun comes out, all the other kinds of lights will fade away, and the whole world will be bright all at once.” “At the moment you realize that the sun is already out, you just need to obediently push the door wide open. Then, you can easily receive this great light.”
As I said earlier, at the summit of Mt. Nokogiri, Meishu-sama offered his prayer toward the sun that was rising in the east. At this time, I believe Meishu-sama returned to the heaven existing within him and realized that the “Spiritual Sun” shone within him – the light that has the power to forgive the sins of all humanity and the light that bears the name of Messiah. While offering his prayer at Mt. Nokogiri, Meishu-sama must have relayed his realization to God on behalf of all humanity and expressed his deepest gratitude to Him for the enormous blessing God was giving to us all.
Through the Transition from Night to Day, Meishu-sama wanted us to know the following: “Living in darkness, we humanity have long sought for light and believed that sins had to be atoned for. But God has allowed us to be saved from the world of darkness – He has delivered us from it. And now, we are living in the world of day that is full of light and we are serving in heaven, in God’s work of making all things new.” We are the ones who have received this great blessing of God. God has made us know it through Meishu-sama.
Meishu-sama had full conviction that he, within him, carried the light of God that bore the name of Messiah – the light that forgives, saves, and welcomes all into heaven. Meishu-sama also called this light the “Light from the East.”
In his hymns, he wrote,
“O God, humanity has waited for the Light from the East to arrive for such a long time. / We have longed for it to shine forth for tens of thousands of years! / But I know this, God: / That the Light from the East is the work of the Messiah Itself!”
“Everyone, know this. / The Light of the East refers to the power of salvation / That I have been entrusted with by God.”
We must be aware that the “East” of the “Light from the East” does not refer only to the east as in the geographical location, or as in the direction that the sun rises. In fact, the “Light from the East” refers to the Spiritual Sun that Meishu-sama taught us about – the light that is shining brilliantly in heaven, in the world of beginning where we originally came from.
This Spiritual Sun, this Light of God, shines within each one of us.
The teaching we just heard in the service was Meishu-sama’s “Inaugural Statement” at the time he founded World Church of Messiah (Sekai Meshiya Kyo) in 1950 on the day of Risshun (beginning of spring), the 4th of February. In it, he wrote, “We are finally entering the period of the Transition from Night to Day in the spiritual world – something we have always advocated. … As the spiritual world turns into day, its light will project itself onto the material world.” Meishu-sama knew that without the forgiveness of God embedded in the Transition from Night to Day, the establishment of World Church of Messiah would not have been possible.
Also, what did Meishu-sama want to teach us through the words, “We are finally entering the period of the Transition from Night to Day” and “its light will project itself onto the material world”?
When we hear these words, our tendency is to find or wait for signs in the outside world. We tend to say things like, “Aha. Since we are entering a period of great transition, this and this happened in this country.” Or “Since the light has become stronger in the age of day, this and this has become like that.” But I do not think this is the correct attitude we should take. I believe that God is speaking to us through those words of Meishu-sama and saying, “My Light from the world of day is within you – you who live in this material world, and it penetrates all the cells of your body. Can you admit this fact?”
We should not regard the divine revelation Meishu-sama received at Mt. Nokogiri as a historical incident, something that took place in the distant past, nor should we assume that it was only Meishu-sama who received it. Through the divine revelation of the Transition from Night to Day, God wants everyone and everything to know that all sins have been forgiven and that all humanity can now return to His glorious heaven. Each one of us, therefore, must decide for ourselves whether, following Meishu-sama, we want to repent, return to heaven, and receive the forgiveness of God that is embedded in the Transition from Night to Day. It is up to each one of us whether we want to realize and accept that the light of God bearing the name of Messiah exists within all humanity, all ancestors, and all things in the whole universe.
It depends on each one of us whether or not we can finally enter the period of the Transition from Night to Day. It is left to us whether or not the light of the world of day can be projected onto this material world. It is only when we, with our own will, admit that the light of God exists within us and we communicate that to God that the above words of Meishu-sama in his “Inaugural Statement” can be concretized.
Together, let each one of us communicate our realization to God now.
“Your light, God, certainly exists within me.”
Afterwards, the “Hallelujah” chorus from Handel’s Messiah that Meishu-sama loved so dearly will be performed and offered to God by members from all corners of Japan. The word “hallelujah” is a Hebrew word, meaning “praise God.” Before, when we were in heaven, we were serving God with many others who were there and, together, were praising God. And now, God is allowing us to praise Him here on earth, too. He is allowing us to praise Him with the word, “hallelujah.”
Meishu-sama left us the following two hymns.
“The one who possesses the almighty power is God. / He is the one and only, absolute and unique God. / He is known to us as Jehovah, / And there is no other God besides Him!”
“Jesus Christ preached God the Father. / I preach the Lord God. / My followers, know this as I do: / Jesus and I are preaching the same God!”
The God of Jesus Christ, God the Father, and the God of Meishu-sama, the Lord God – the God that Meishu-sama also referred to as Jehovah or the Heavenly Father – are the same one and only God.
It is this God who is making all things new and thus making all humanity be born anew as His children, as Messiahs. So let us, in the name of Messiah, which is one with Meishu-sama, offer our gratitude to Him for His work and let us, together with everyone and everything, praise God, the one and only Lord God.
Thank you very much.
PDF File: 20190615 Paradise on Earth Service_Kyoshu-sama ENG
