In the last few years, I visited many of you and asked you a very simple question – simple but a question that is very important for us, and that was: who is Jesus Christ? Who is Jesus Christ for us followers of Meishu-sama?
I say it’s important because Meishu-sama said he was born anew as the Messiah, when almost everybody in the world believes that Jesus is the only Messiah. So we have to ask this question, I mean, how can we avoid it? How can we avoid asking this question?
And to answer this, I said that we need to address something else and that was: do you want to follow Meishu-sama a hundred percent or not? As a follower of Meishu-sama, do you want to follow him a hundred percent and be born anew as the Messiah?
If you say “no” and say that you are not going to be born anew and that Meishu-sama is the only Messiah, it means that you are going to deny Jesus and all Christians. Because Christians believe that Jesus is the only Messiah. And if you believe that Meishu-sama is the only Messiah, for the world to be saved, all Christians must abandon Jesus. Do you really think this kind of thing will happen?
But maybe you want to say, “no, we are not denying Jesus.” Maybe you want to say, “Jesus was a Messiah in the past and Meishu-sama is a Messiah in the present age, so we are not denying Jesus.” But what this means is that, possibly, in the future, another Messiah may appear, fitting for its era and replace Meishu-sama. Is this what we want? Are we going to abandon Meishu-sama when another Messiah appears? I don’t think so.
Or maybe you want to say that “I don’t want to have these arguments.” And that “I was saved by Meishu-sama and that’s enough. He is my Messiah, our Messiah.” But this doesn’t solve any of the problems regarding the salvation of Christians, does it?
My answer to the question is very simple: yes. Yes, we need to follow Meishu-sama a hundred percent. Yes, we need to follow him to the end. Just like Meishu-sama, we need to be born anew as children of God, as Messiahs.
So here, I believe you have a choice to make. Do you want to say that Meishu-sama is the only Messiah, or that he is a Messiah in the present age, or that he is “our Messiah”? But I have to tell you that choosing any of these options would be denying Jesus and Christianity.
And you know what? We are actually not in a position to choose, because no matter how much we deny or reject it, God lives within us! His soul named Messiah exists within us! All of us are destined to become one with this soul and be born anew as children of God.
We don’t have any choice, because this is the truth. The will of God will never change no matter how we think or what we believe. If God is one, His will is one. If God is one, there is only one truth. One God, one will, one truth.
But do not be surprised in hearing that you have to be born anew as children of God, as Messiahs. Meishu-sama said that we need to become gods. He said that “humans become animals when they fall and become gods when they rise.” (“Good and evil”) And I need to say this: Jesus also pointed out that we are gods! (John 10:34) Both Meishu-sama and Jesus are saying that we have to become gods. They are saying that we have to become divine humans.
So hasn’t Meishu-sama achieved this? Didn’t he rise to heaven, meet God, become one with Him and become a god, a divine human? Meishu-sama and Jesus are both saying that a human being can become a god, not just some people who are special.
And I don’t think this is something impossible, because a child of a human parent is a human, and if that is so, a child of God should also be a god.
Now, I don’t want you to make the mistake of thinking that you are already children of God. We are not, yet. If we already are, why did Meishu-sama say that he was born anew? Why did Jesus say that unless one is born anew, you cannot see the kingdom of God? (John 3:3) For Meishu-sama to say that he was born anew implies that there was someone who bore him. Could it be his physical parents? No, it couldn’t be. It must have been God – His true parent and Father in heaven. By saying that he was born anew, Meishu-sama was telling us that he became a child of God.
So, if you haven’t been born anew, you are not yet a child of God. We are not yet children of God! We still haven’t met God, our true Father, face to face.
Meeting with your true Father – isn’t this what true happiness is? We all want to be happy, don’t we? Every day, every moment, we want to be happy. But we can be. If we rise to heaven, just like Meishu-sama did, and meet God, we can be! And this is not an imaginary story because God lives within us. He lives within all of us.
So, who is Jesus Christ? Today, I tell you that Jesus is the Messiah. He redeemed our sins – the sins of all humanity – through his blood and changed the world forever. But he is also someone who said that you have to be born anew to see God’s kingdom. And Meishu-sama, after 2000 years, inherited what Jesus wanted and was born anew as the Messiah. Nobody has achieved this for 2000 years. As I always say, Jesus is the Messiah, forever. Meishu-sama is the Messiah, forever. And you can be. You can also be the Messiah.
You may want to say: how can Meishu-sama be the Messiah when Jesus also is the Messiah? God is one, but He lives within all of us, and we have to be one with Him. The soul named Messiah is one, but it exists within all of us, and we have to be one with it. God is one, but He is in everyone. The soul named Messiah is one, but it is in everyone.
To those who say that what we say sounds like a Christian church, go and find a Christian who believes that their mission is to be born anew as children of God, as Messiahs.
We are different. We are much more than a Christian church. By being born anew as God’s child, Meishu-sama showed us the truth of God, the truth of Jesus, and we are bringing this truth to the world! We are going to truly complete the work Jesus started 2000 years ago. How grave is our mission! How immense is our salvation!
And it was Kyoshu-sama who showed us the way. He showed us what the true will of Meishu-sama is. Engraving this deep into my heart, I am determined to move forward with all of you.
Thank you. God bless you and may God bless the church of Messiah existing within each one of us.