“In the Old Testament Age, all things were offered; in the New Testament Age, the offering was the sons and daughters. In the Completed Testament Age, it is our own couples; and next it is God. Through the Fall, we could not be with God on earth. We separated from God and served Satan, so now we should bring God in and connect everything back together.” (CSG 211-352, 1991.1.1)
The statement is sequential, cumulative, and ends with a claim that should stop the reader: next it is God.
The three-age sacrificial sequence:
| Age | What is offered | What is restored |
|---|---|---|
| Old Testament | All things — creation, livestock, grain, possessions | A foundation of faith; connection at the level of creation. Paves the way for chosen people and sons/daughters to emerge |
| New Testament | Sons and daughters — the lives of those who follow the Word | A foundation of substance; connection at the level of persons. Jesus as God’s son is offered; humanity receives adopted-son relationship |
| Completed Testament | Couples — husband and wife, the Blessing | A foundation of heart; connection at the level of the True Family. The first family centered on God’s love; the original sin broken at the root |
| Next | God enters | Full reunion — God is brought to earth through true love; the separation caused by the Fall is complete reversed |
Why the escalation?
Each level of offering corresponds to what was most precious at that stage of the restoration. In the OT, God could only ask for what humanity could legally offer — created things, which were external. In the NT, the offering escalated to persons — sons and daughters, including the Messiah himself. In the CT, the offering is the couple: the unit from which the original sin came. This is the precise level at which the Fall occurred — through a man and a woman — and restoration requires an offering at that same level.
The remarkable ending — “next it is God”:
This phrase quietly overturns a common assumption about the direction of spiritual movement. We typically think in terms of humans ascending toward God — being lifted up, drawn in, saved, brought to heaven. Moon reverses the direction in the final stage: we bring God in.
“Through the Fall, we could not be with God on earth. We separated from God and served Satan, so now we should bring God in and connect everything back together.” (CSG 211-352)
The goal is not humans ascending into God’s presence. It is God descending into a world fully prepared to receive Him. The CT offering — the Blessing of couples — is what clears the ground. When true couples appear who provide no condition for Satan to accuse, the world becomes a place where God can actually dwell. The restoration is complete when God is no longer excluded from the earth He created.
What this does to how members understand the Blessing:
The Blessing ceremony is often understood as a personal milestone — a marriage celebrated with community and spiritual significance. The sacrificial-sequence frame expands this: the Blessed couple is the CT offering. They are not just getting married. They are participating in the specific providential offering that opens the door for God’s full entrance into the world.
This gives the Blessing an almost impossible weight — and also a remarkable dignity. The couple who maintains the standard of the Blessing (no condition for Satan’s accusation) is not just living a good marriage. They are holding the offering.
The OT parallel — possessions:
“Your possessions are not really your own. Things correspond to the Old Testament Age.” (CSG 211-352)
The OT pattern of offering all things was not arbitrary — it was training the heart to release what feels most external (property, wealth) as a condition for receiving what is more internal (persons). The CT pattern does not eliminate the OT offering; it includes it and goes further. Members who practice giving of possessions are practicing the OT pattern in preparation for the CT offering of self.
Sermon use
This frame answers the question most people never think to ask: why does the Bible track history through a series of sacrificial systems that seem to escalate rather than resolve? The animal sacrifices of Leviticus, the Passover lamb, the cross — each is the offering of its age, opening access to the next level. The escalation is not cruelty — it is the systematic restoration of what was lost, level by level.
The culminating claim — “next it is God” — is a profound inversion of the typical salvation frame. We are not trying to get into heaven. We are trying to make the earth a place God can live. The gospel is not evacuation. It is invitation: come, Lord, come dwell with us.