Lesson 5: Intro to the Divine Principle

Aim

1. To learn what the Divine Principle is and its three parts
2. To understand that restoring mistakes takes a long time

Key Words

Revelation
Divine Principle
Ideal
Fall
Restoration

Materials

a copy of the Divine Principle and the Bible
Visual aids showing the ideal, fall and restoration
Story – The Gossip (also “Yettle’s Feather’s” by Joan Rothenberg)
wooden blocks, paper, scissors, sellotape, shoelaces

Lesson Outline

1. The Bible and the Divine Principle. Explain why we need a new message from God
2. Three parts of the Principle; ideal, fall & restoration
3. Restoring mistakes – discussion, story, activity
4. Worksheet
5. Conclusion
6. Prayer

1) The Bible & the Divine Principle
What is the Bible and what is the Divine Principle?

Show the children the Bible and the Divine Principle.
Ask them what they know about them.

The Bible is a book teaching God’s word and a history of God’s chosen people. It has two parts.
The first is called the Old Testament, starting with the first man and woman, Adam and Eve. There are stories of Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, etc.
The second part is called the New Testament and tells stories about Jesus life and how the church started after he died.

But what is the Divine Principle?
This is a new book teaching God’s word. It is a revelation from God, given to Sun Myung Moon. Revelation means it is given directly by God,

Why do we need a new book?
The Bible doesn’t explain everything about God. There are many things Jesus did not say. It is time for a clearer understanding. We live in a world that is very different from the world Jesus lived in.
Because Christians don’t agree about what is written in the Bible, many different churches have developed. The Divine Principle will help churches to come together with the same understanding.
It will help bring the whole world together as one family.

2) Three Parts of the Principle
The Divine Principle is divided into three parts:

God’s ideal
The Fall
The History of Restoration

God’s ideal
The first part explains what God is like and why He created the world. He wanted to see a world of true love, happiness and peace, in which all people can feel God’s love for each other and to build one family under God.

The Fall
This tells the story of Adam and Eve’s disobedience and separation from God’s love and how the world became a world of suffering and evil. Instead of learning God’s love, they developed a selfish
love from the archangel Lucifer. This was passed onto their children and to all their descendants.

History of Restoration
The is the story of God’s work in history to restore His ideal. Restore means to put things back the way they were in the beginning. It has taken a long, long time for this to happen. He chose people such as Noah, Abraham, Moses and Joshua to teach people God’s way. But the people didn’t want to listen.

For example, Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt. They could have reached Canaan in 40 days, but because they complained about how hard their life was and turned against Moses, it took 40 years instead.
The Israelites were chosen by God to receive Jesus, as the Messiah. He was the restored Adam, the one who came to build God’s kingdom. But the people didn’t understand who Jesus was
and he was crucified.
Because of this it has taken 2,000 years before a new Messiah could be chosen.

This is Father. He must now finish what Jesus started. Today we are close to building the ideal God wanted in the beginning, a world of happiness, peace and true love – one big family under God. But once again the people must listen, otherwise it will take longer.

3) Restoring Mistakes
a) Discussion
Talk about restoring mistakes and how much time and effort it takes.

cleaning paint off clothes, because you were careless
piecing together a broken vase or toy
cleaning up a broken glass of water from the floor
fixing a puncture on a bicycle
trying to remember what you said when you told a lie and repeat exactly the same details
healing a broken arm
searching for a lost jacket, because you didn’t put it in the right place

b) Story

Read the story of “The Gossip,” to illustrate how difficult it is to restore the mistake of spreading bad words about others.

c) Activities

Make a tower from wooden blocks. Time how long it takes to build. Then destroy it. Can you rebuild it exactly as it was in the same time.
Tear paper into a few pieces. Can you stick them together again without any gaps.
Take a shoelace and make some knots. How long did it take? How long does it take to untie one knot?

4) Complete worksheet
Write the text
1) GOD’S IDEAL – God wants to see a world of happiness, peace and true love
2) THE FALL – Adam and Eve were separated from God’s love.
3) HISTORY OF RESTORATION – God has worked through chosen people to restore His ideal
Draw a picture of the restored world – to show happiness, peace and true love

5) Conclusion
Ask each child what they could learn from today’s lesson. Refer to the lesson aims.

To learn what the Divine Principle is and its three parts
It is a new book teaching God’s word. It is a revelation from God, given to Sun Myung Moon.
It is divided into God’s Ideal, The Fall and the History of Restoration.
To understand that restoring mistakes takes a long time
Creating something takes time and effort. A mistake can take one moment, but to restore the mistake takes much longer time and much more effort than it took in the first place. That’s why we should follow God’s way. Then we make less mistakes.

6) End with a prayer