TCR 81 - knowledge of the Lord surpasses in excellence all other kinds of knowledge

TCR 81
The previous chapter dealt with God the Creator,
and at the same time with creation;
this chapter will deal with the Lord the Redeemer,
and at the same time with redemption. . .

We say 'the Lord' and not 'Jehovah'
because the Jehovah of the Old Testament
is called the Lord in the New Testament,
as can be established from the following passages . . .:

Hear, O Israel, Jehovah our God is one Jehovah;
you shall love Jehovah God
with your whole heart and your whole soul.
Deuteronomy 6:4, 5

but in Mark:

The Lord our God is one Lord;
you shall love the Lord your God with your whole heart
and your whole soul.
Mark 12:29, 30

Also in Isaiah:

Prepare the way for Jehovah,
make smooth in the desert a path for our God.
Isaiah 40:3

but in Luke:

You shall go before the face of the Lord
to prepare the way for Him.
Luke 1:76

and in other passages.
The Lord too ordered His disciples to call Him Lord . . .
The reason was that the Jews did not dare
to name Jehovah on account of His holiness,
and because 'Jehovah' means the Divine Being (Esse),
which existed from eternity,
while the Human, which He took upon Himself in time,
was not that Being. . .
For this reason, here and in what follows
by the Lord we understand Jehovah in His Human.

[2] Now since knowledge of the Lord surpasses in excellence
all other kinds of knowledge known to the church, or even in heaven,
I shall adopt an ordered arrangement
to bring that knowledge to light, as follows:

(i) Jehovah, the Creator of the Universe,
came down and took upon Himself human form,
in order to redeem and save mankind.

(ii) He came down as the Divine Truth, which is the Word,
yet He did not separate the Divine Good from it.

(iii) He took upon Himself human form
in accordance with His Divine order.

(iv) The Human by which He brought Himself into the world
is what is called the Son of God.

(v) The Lord by acts of redemption made Himself righteousness.

(vi) By the same acts He united Himself with the Father,
and the Father with Him. This too was in accordance with Divine order.

(vii) Thus God became man, and man God, in one person.

(viii) His progress towards union was His state of exinanition,
and the union itself is His state of glorification.

(ix) From this time on
no one from Christian countries can come into heaven,
unless he believes in the Lord God the Saviour,
and approaches Him alone.