AC 3475-3476, AC 3484 - Representatives, Correspondence & Life

AC 3475-3476

Inhabitants of the first heaven
see within their representatives
such things as manifest themselves
within the inner sphere of the kingdom.
And within these they see things more interior still,
and so, though remotely,
things that are representative of the Lord.
Inhabitants of the second heaven
see within their representatives such things
as exist in the inmost sphere of the kingdom;
and within these
they see representatives of the Lord more closely.
Inhabitants of the third heaven however
see the Lord Himself.

From all this
people may know how the case is with the Word;
for the Word has been given by the Lord
to man and also to the angels
in order that by it they may be with Him;
for the Word is the medium
that unites earth with heaven,
and through heaven with the Lord.
Its literal sense is that which unites man
with the first heaven;
and as within the literal
there is an internal sense
which treats of the Lord's kingdom,
and within this a supreme sense
which treats of the Lord;
and as these senses are in order one within another,
it is evident what is the nature
of the union with the Lord
that is effected by means of the Word.

AC 3484

. . . there is but one life - the Lord's.
This life flows in and gives life to man,
to both good and evil alike.
To that life
the forms which consist of material substance
correspond,
and those forms -
by means of a constant inflow of the Divine -
receive life in such a way
that they seem to themselves to live independently.
This correspondence is a correspondence
of the organs of life with life itself.
Yet the nature of the recipient organs
determines the kind of life they have.
In those people
who have love and charity within them
that correspondence is present,
for the life itself is received by them as it should be.
But that correspondence is not present in those
who have the reverse of love and charity within them,
for the life itself is not received by them as it should be.
Consequently the nature of the life received by them
depends on what they are like themselves.
This may be exemplified from the natural forms
on to which the light of the sun falls -
the nature of the forms receiving it
determines the variations of the light reflected in them.
In the spiritual world the variations are spiritual,
and therefore
the nature of recipient forms in that world determines
that of the intelligence and the wisdom they have.
This is why good spirits and angels
are seen as embodiments of charity themselves,
while evil and hellish spirits
are seen as embodiments of hatred.