“If there had been no Fall, earthly people would be able to relate with spirits just as naturally as they relate among themselves.”
Are we supposed to dwell forever on earth? Well, are we supposed to grow forever? I believe that we are, and that spiritual growth comes through engagement with people on earth, primarily our descendants. This is another sense in which we dwell forever on earth.
“Principle distinguishes between growth and resurrection. “
Spiritual growth differs somewhat from resurrection. The need for resurrection, like restoration and salvation, is an outcome of the Fall. We are resurrected “when we return to the lineage of God through Christ.” Spiritual growth, on the other hand, is part of the original creation.
But growth and resurrection have one thing in common: “Spirits can neither grow nor be resurrected apart from a physical self.”
Principle implies that spiritual growth continues forever. Growth enhances value, and “the value of an entity intended at its creation [including human beings] is not fixed as an inherent attribute.” Rather, “the value of an entity [is] determined by the relationship between its purpose of existence and the desire that a human being has for it.”
Human desire is infinite. Everyone, including God, desires that their object partner exceed them in value. True Father once said that in Heaven, one can gaze at a flower for a thousand years. What about gazing into the eyes of your blessed spouse? Human value continually increases. This means that we grow forever.
“Exaltation is a state of extreme happiness, an act of elevation.“
Spirits grow by returning to earth: “The spirit grows through give and take action between two types of nourishment: life elements of a yang type that come from God, and vitality elements of a yin type that come from the physical self”—your own, or your descendant’s. Since this is not “returning resurrection,” let’s call it, “returning exaltation.” Exaltation is a state of extreme happiness and an act of elevation.
The engagement is symmetrical: “When a subject partner and object partner become one in a circular movement, the subject partner sometimes acts as an object partner, and the object partner sometimes acts as a subject partner.” The ancestor is mentoring and energizing the descendant. In the context of the Fall, the descendant is liberating the ancestor. In the context of Creation, s/he is exalting the ancestor.
(References: Exposition of Divine Principle Creation 4.3.1, Creation 6.3.2, Res 1.3, Creation 4.1, Creation 6.3.2, Res 1.2, Creation 4.3.1.)
– TH
