Congratulations, everyone, on today’s World Church of Messiah Grand Ancestor Service. First, I would like to thank all the staff at Grand Nikko Tokyo Daiba hotel for their understanding and cooperation as well as their tremendous support. They made this service possible, and for that, I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to everyone at the hotel. Thank you very much. In deep awe and fear of God, I say that the purpose of creation of the one and only God is to bear His own children. To accomplish this purpose, before starting His work of creation, God bore us in heaven as the spiritual children who were joined to the name of Messiah. God then created all creation, that is, the universe and everything in it, through us who were in heaven. And finally, God sent us to the world. For us who are one with God, God’s purpose of creation is something that we can never take lightly. And now, God’s work of creation has moved from the first phase where God created each one of our consciousnesses, that is, each one of our hearts, through using all creation, to the second phase where God welcomes each one of us into His heaven as one who is atoned for and forgiven and where God merges His consciousness with our consciousness, thus making us His children. About two months ago, on June 15, we held the Grand Ceremony to Celebrate the Birth of the Messiah. On that day, I told you that 68 years ago, Meishu-sama announced the forgiveness of sin for all humanity and that this forgiveness came from God who received the blood of atonement that Jesus offered. I also told you that heaven and earth have already turned into a new heaven and a new earth through the Holy Spirit that descended on Pentecost after Jesus’s resurrection and that Meishu-sama informed us of this transition by expressing it as the Sacred Word of the Transition from Night to Day. To this day, we have lived our lives not knowing this grave fact. Waking up from a long sleep, we now have been made into ones who know that a new heaven, a new earth and a new world exist within us. We must never forget that this great transition was able to take place only by the sacred blood of atonement that Jesus offered two thousand years ago. Because of Jesus, God had mercy on us and atoned for our sins—we humanity who disregarded the purpose of creation and were trapped in the notion of death. In place of us humanity and all of our paternal and maternal ancestors, Jesus offered his very own blood. That is, for me, in place of me, for us, he offered his blood. If so, don’t you think that the blood Jesus offered to God was also my blood, our blood? The blood that runs within our bodies is no longer ours. Our blood now belongs to the one who atoned for our sins, that is, the one who paid the price for our sins. What an enormous blessing this is. We therefore actually owe an obligation to God to tell Him the following: the blood that runs in my body has always been Yours, O God! Now, do all our paternal and maternal ancestors know this blessing of God? Our ancestors also belong to heaven. That is, just like us, they also have received the forgiveness that came from the atoning blood of Jesus and have received the reviving breath of God that made Jesus resurrect. Just like us, they have received the Holy Spirit that descended on the day of Pentecost after Jesus’s resurrection. However, they were sent to earth just like us, and for that, they were caught up in this visible world and forgot the most important thing that they had to know, that is, the grace they initially received in heaven. These ancestors are alive within our consciousness, within the cells of our whole body. As Meishu-sama says, we are the sum total of our ancestors. If so, it is inevitable that the thoughts of our ancestors affect our thoughts, too. If our ancestors have forgotten the grace they received in heaven and are as if asleep, not realizing the truth, it would be really difficult for us to remember that grace, too. But think: why do we need to assume the role of being the sum total of our ancestors? It is for us to bring salvation to our ancestors. It is for us to bring salvation to humanity that is one with our ancestors. We are not here in this world to receive salvation. Our true self, that is, our spiritual body, belongs to heaven. In other words, we are here in this world to deliver salvation. Don’t you now know that redeemed and purified blood runs within you? If so, you need to inform that fact to every single one of your bodily cells through the outgoing and incoming breaths, as if you were talking to yourself. You need to vitalize all your bodily cells and awaken all the ancestors within you who have fallen asleep. In this way, we not only assume the role of being the sum total of our ancestors but also of being a holy member of God’s Church. That is why we need to serve in the sacred work of imparting the grace and salvation that exist in the name of Messiah to everything and everyone. That is why we are sent here from heaven. So let us return to heaven, the origin of creation, and recall the mission and grace we initially were granted in heaven. Our duty is to serve in the work of creation of God who governs the new heaven and the new earth. Meishu-sama repeatedly said that from now on, we enter the world of sonen. What does this mean? It means that the time has come for us to turn our hearts to heaven existing within the world of our sonen, that is, to turn our hearts to our spiritual bodies, and fulfill the mission God initially granted to those spiritual bodies. We have our physical bodies. But we also have spiritual bodies within us. Within us exists a body that never decays, is never consumed by fire nor ever perishes. This spiritual body is our true body that bears the name of Messiah. Whenever it is, wherever we are and no matter what kind of thoughts arise within us, both our spiritual and physical bodies are being used to fulfill the purpose of God’s creation. Unless there are visible changes, we tend to think that God is not working. Also, since we are tied down to the standards of judgment we have created on our own until today, it is very difficult for us to think that our minds are being used in the work of God’s creation. In one of his hymns, Meishu-sama wrote, “Even though unseen by human eyes, / A great transformation of the world / Is taking place day by day!” Meishu-sama says “a great transformation of the world.” Everyone, this “world” refers to our hearts. Even though no change seems to have taken place in appearance and even though our hearts seem to be stuck in one place, God has already put an end to our old ways of using our hearts and is welcoming us into His heaven so that we can be one with Him and be used in the work of new creation. He is doing this all the time and without our noticing it, just as it is written in the hymn of Meishu-sama. Meishu-sama also wrote the following hymn. “Open up your eyes! / Look and realize what divine work is! / Can you not see a hammer of creation being swung / Just behind the destruction?” In terms of the divine work of God’s creation, Meishu-sama does not differentiate between destruction and construction. He says that there is creation just behind the destruction. Meishu-sama is telling us that through the things that appear to be destructive to us, God is advancing His creation. In his Sacred Word, Meishu-sama praises God’s work of creation through various words: creation, create, construct, establish, initiate, be born and so on. I believe that Meishu-sama wants us to firmly believe that God is the One who creates and, as His holy members, move forward courageously according to the purpose of creation. So let us live with courage, following in the footsteps of Meishu-sama, trusting in God no matter what and never losing sight of the purpose of creation that God predetermined. God is the Lord of creation. Everything God does is a work of creation. This God is our true parent and lives within each one of us. He knows about each one of us more than anyone else. When we are in agony and are suffering, when we are weak and miserable, God is always encouraging us and trying to open up our stubborn hearts. He is always trying hard so that we can be honest with Him and return to where He is. Let us express our gratitude to God for doing that for us and serve, truly, in the divine work that creates a brilliant future filled with hope and glory together with all ancestors and all creation. O God, through the name of Messiah, I attribute all authority, glory and blessings to You, who are one and only and who allow us to serve You in this way. Thank you very much.