Mother of Sacrifice and Love
The Bible says that God is love (1 Jn 4:8). Until we have got where we are today, there have been God the Father who established the new covenant-the truth of life-through His sacrifice and God the Mother who spares no effort to lead us to the eternal kingdom of heaven even at this moment.
Father's love is unmeasurable, and Mother's love is even more unfathom-able, so we cannot grasp the depths of Her love for us. From Mother comes the power that enables the members of Zion to help one another and to become united in love. The endless sacrifice and love of Mother are defeating all the hindrances of Satan in the invisible spiritual world and are leading us, Her children, to victory. Now, let's take some time to confirm this fact through the Bible.
A lavish love
A long time ago, a teacher and his students made a long journey in order to obtain enlightenment. While walking along the road, they discussed about what the greatest love in the world is. When they arrived at a village, many human bones were found heaped up together. A sudden accident or disaster had probably overtaken the whole village.
Looking at so many human bones laying twisted and tangled up together, the teacher seemed suddenly struck by a thought, and asked his students if they could find a woman's bone among those bones. His students just looked at one another's faces, unable to select a woman's bone easily.
Then the teacher picked up one of the bones, and said it was the bone of a woman. His students asked how he could recognize a woman's bone so easily among those numerous bones. The teacher explained the reason to them as follows:
"Think about a woman's life first. When she is young, she is always treated as less than a man just because she is female. When she gets married and becomes pregnant, she provides all the nourishment in her body to her unborn baby. When she gives birth to her child, she has to shed blood. Moreover, when she breast-feeds her baby, all the nutrients in her body are passed on to her child through her breast milk. Since she does so, how can the nutrients remain in her bones? Such a bitter and sacrificial life of a woman has made her bone light and dark like this."
Listening to the teacher, his students were all reminded of their mothers. ‘Such is the life of a mother. She only gives her children everything, but there is nothing she can do for herself.' As they realized this, they became solemn for a while. They were deeply moved to hear their teacher say that a mother gives her children everything-even the marrow of her bones-in the process of being pregnant, giving birth to them and raising them. Thinking of their mothers, they all shed tears.
A mother is the one who gives unconditional love to her children. She only gives her children everything she has. Why is the life of every mother on this earth so devotional? Why did God make a mother into such a sacrificial being?
A mother continuously tries to give everything to her children with careful concern for them, wishing them to succeed and prosper in life, even though she herself suffers a lot. This love and sacrifice is the nature of a mother. I believe that God has put the spirit of love and sacrifice in the hearts of mothers on this earth because it is the spiritual nature of our Heavenly Mother.
Those who love Jerusalem, and those who do not serve Jerusalem
Like the disciples in the above story, who obtained realization from what their teacher said and were moved to tears, thinking of their mothers, we shall also realize the sacrifice and love of our spiritual Mother and engrave it deep in our hearts.
Isa 66:10-14 『"Rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad for her, all you who love her; rejoice greatly with her, all you who mourn over her. For you will nurse and be satisfied at her comforting breasts; you will drink deeply and delight in her overflowing abundance." For this is what the LORD says: "I will extend peace to her like a river, and the wealth of nations like a flooding stream; you will nurse and be carried on her arm and dandled on her knees. As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you; and you will be comforted over Jerusalem." When you see this, your heart will rejoice and you will flourish like grass; the hand of the LORD will be made known to his servants, but his fury will be shown to his foes.』
In Galatians it is written, "But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother" (Gal 4:26). So, "those who love Jerusalem" means "those who love their spiritual Mother." Mother has given us everything-Her flesh and blood and even Her bones, until She has nothing left to give and Her bones become very light. We must realize how much Mother gives us and how much pain and sorrow She endures behind the scenes.
God bestows His blessings on those who realize the love of Jerusalem Mother, and He pours out His wrath upon those who do not realize Her love and turn away from Her.
Isa 60:1-12 『"Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you. See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the LORD rises upon you and his glory appears over you. Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn. Lift up your eyes and look about you: All assemble and come to you; your sons come from afar, and your daughters are carried on the arm. . . . Who are these that fly along like clouds, like doves to their nests? Surely the islands look to me; in the lead are the ships of Tarshish, bringing your sons from afar, with their silver and gold, to the honor of the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, . . . For the nation or kingdom that will not serve you will perish; it will be utterly ruined."』
The above prophecy of Isaiah 60 sings the glory of Jerusalem that is to appear in the future. It also proclaims God's warning that on the last day He will judge all peoples and nations that do not serve Jerusalem.
Proclaim the glory of Jerusalem to the whole world
In order for God's people, who were small and weak, to become a mighty nation, they should display the glory of Jerusalem throughout the world. God our Father told us to proclaim Jerusalem's glory to the whole world without rest.
Isa 60:21-22 『"Then will all your people be righteous and they will possess the land forever. They are the shoot I have planted, the work of my hands, for the display of my splendor. The least of you will become a thousand, the smallest a mighty nation. I am the LORD; in its time I will do this swiftly."』
Isa 62:6-7 『I have posted watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem; they will never be silent day or night. You who call on the LORD, give yourselves no rest, and give him no rest till he establishes Jerusalem and makes her the praise of the earth.』
The Bible repeatedly urges us not to stop spreading the glory of Jerusalem all over the world. If we understand Mother's boundless sacrifice, love and pain, we should proclaim Her glory to the ends of the earth.
Through mothers on this earth, we can understand the sacrifice and love of Heavenly Mother even a little bit. Every earthly system, everything done on this earth, is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven, and God created all things by His will (Heb 8:5; Rev 4:11).
If the love of a father is an invisible fence that surrounds us and keeps us safe, the love of a mother works more directly and closely with her children. Suppose an urgent situation where children are caught in a fire. When this happens, fathers tend to judge the situation rationally, but mothers judge it sensitively. Fathers are likely to make a rational judgment: ‘Since the fire has become this big, if I fail to get them out of the fire within a few seconds, both of us will die.' On the other hand, mothers run into the fire first in order to save their children. A mother's love is so unconditional.
Victory given through Mother's sacrifice and love
Thus, we are growing in the love of Mother who lavishly sacrifices everything to save us, Her children. That's why we, the offspring of the woman, can win the spiritual war against Satan in the end.
Ge 3:15 『"And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel."』
God said that He would put enmity between the serpent and the woman. The woman is described as the "mother of all the living" (Ge 3:20). The woman (Mother) and the serpent (Satan) are enemies to each other. The offspring of the woman and the offspring of the serpent are also enemies to each other.
The devil our enemy sets all sorts of traps and snares in order to tempt us to disobey the holy will of our heavenly Mother. He devises many schemes to make us waste our time on earthly things that are meaningless and transient.
In order to resist the temptations of Satan and to win victory over him, we absolutely need to make efforts to obey Jerusalem Mother and put Her words into practice, with love for Her. Heavenly Mother is working even at this moment, sparing no pains, for us Her children. How about us? What are we doing now? Are we not absorbed in things for physical comfort and pleasure and wasting our time on such worthless things? Or, are we trying to save souls while giving and sharing, along with Mother? We need to reflect on ourselves.
Rev 12:9 『The great dragon was hurled down-that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.』
Rev 12:17 『Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to make war against the rest of her offspring-those who obey God's commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus.』
The great dragon was hurled down, and the identity of the dragon was discovered to be the serpent in the Garden of Eden. The serpent was expelled from heaven, and is opposing the woman on this earth.
In the Bible, the dragon or the serpent refers to Satan the devil. Satan was enraged at God the Mother and went off to make war against the rest of Her offspring-those who obey God's commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus. Although Satan is reigning over numerous people like the sand of the sea, he is destined to lose every war.
Rev 20:7-10 『When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth-Gog and Magog-to gather them for battle. In number they are like the sand on the seashore. They marched across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of God's people, the city he loves. But fire came down from heaven and devoured them. And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.』
The spiritual warfare between the serpent and the woman-between the offspring of the serpent and the offspring of the woman-is to end with the punishment of the dragon in an unquenchable fire where he will be tormented forever and ever.
Satan can never triumph over Mother. Since Mother has "love" the greatest power, how can Satan win?
The power that enables God's children to be victorious is the endless love of Mother who protects Her children, even at the risk of Her own life. So, those who love Jerusalem display Her glory wherever they are, and proclaim Her holy sacrifice and love to the ends of the earth.
Salvation achieved through sacrifice
Satan is doomed to be tormented in the eternal fire of hell. Now, let's see where God our Mother is leading us, Her children.
Rev 22:1-5 『Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.』
God our Mother has continuously guarded and protected us, Her loving children, from every evil scheme of Satan to lead us to the way of eternal life and to ultimately raise us as the heavenly royal priesthood who will reign forever and ever. Until She has done that, spiritually Her flesh and bones have become so weak and frail. Everything good has been taken by Her children. She has given Her children all things that can help them. The six thousand year long period has been a series of such spiritual struggles. We can fully understand it even though we do not hear the explanation regarding how light and frail a woman's bone is.
Those who do not realize the love of Jerusalem our heavenly Mother cannot stand at the position of the heavenly royal priesthood. They cannot resist and overcome the power of Satan. Only when we cherish the love of Mother and put it into practice, we will be able to become "those who overcome" (Rev 3:12), just as Mother has won eternal victory.
Preaching without love is lifeless. It is only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. Only when we fill our hearts with God's holy love, we can preach sincerely and practice true love. Mother's love that works within us enables us to take care of one another, to correct someone if he or she has a wrong thought and to help another out if he or she goes astray, so that we will all be able to enter the kingdom of heaven together.
Let's share the love we have received from Mother with our brothers and sisters and with our neighbors and all people around the world, who have not received the truth yet, so that the glorious way can be opened for them all to fly into the arms of Heavenly Mother like clouds, like doves to their nests, according to the prophecy of Isaiah. As children of Mother, we should also care about many people around us with love for them, always remembering that the source of love is Heavenly Mother, and should repay Mother for the love we have received from Her. I earnestly hope that all our brothers and sisters in Zion will follow Mother wherever She leads us and give glory, praise and thanks to Her all the time.
Heavenly Father and Mother want us all to become a royal priesthood in heaven. Elohim have told us not to lose the glorious position but hold on to it, so that no one will take our crowns (Rev 3:11). Serving Heavenly Mother and receiving Mother's abundant love, let us preach the gracious love of life-the heavenly love-to all people around the world and provide the love to them as much as we can, so that we will all go to the eternal kingdom of heaven together.
