EU 113, 114-232 - Tthe Lord Pleased to be Born on This Earth

EU 113, 114-121

There are many reasons . . .,
why it pleased the Lord to be born
and to assume the human on our earth,
and not on another.

That the principal reason was because of the Word,
is because the Word is the Divine truth itself,
which teaches a person that there is a God,
that there is a heaven and a hell,
and that there is a life after death;
and teaches moreover
how a person ought to live and believe,
in order to come into heaven,
and thus into eternal happiness.
All these things would have been
altogether unknown without a revelation,
thus on this earth without the Word;
and yet a person is so created that,
as to his interiors, he cannot die.

That the Word might be written on our earth,
is because the art of writing has existed here
from the most ancient time,
first on the bark of trees,
next on parchment,
afterwards on paper,
and lastly published by types.
This was provided by the Lord
for the sake of the Word.

That the Word might afterwards be published
through out the whole earth,
is because there is commerce here
between all nations, both by land and water,
to all parts of the globe;
so that the Word once written
might be conveyed from one nation to another,
and be taught everywhere.

That the Word once written
might be preserved to all posterity,
consequently for thousands and thousands of years,
and that it has been so preserved is well known.

That thus it might be made clear
that God became Man;
for this is the first and most essential,
for the sake of which the Word was revealed.
For no one can believe in God, and love God,
whom he cannot comprehend
under some appearance;
wherefore they who acknowledge
what is invisible and thus incomprehensible,
in thought sink into nature,
and thus believe in no God.
So it pleased the Lord to be born on this earth,
and to make this manifest by the Word,
that it might not only be known on this globe,
but also might as a result
be made clear to spirits and angels
even from other earths,
and likewise to the Gentiles from our own earth.

It is to be known that the Word on our earth,
given through heaven from the Lord,
is the union of heaven and the world;
for which end there is a correspondence
of all things contained in the letter of the Word
with the Divine things in heaven;
and the Word in its supreme and inmost sense
treats of the Lord,
of His kingdom in the heavens and the earths,
and of love and faith from Him and in Him,
consequently of life from Him and in Him.
Such things are presented to the angels in heaven,
when the Word of our earth is read and preached.

In every other earth Divine truth is manifested
by word of mouth through spirits and angels . . ..
But this manifestation is confined within families;
for the human race in most earths
live distinct according to families;
wherefore the Divine truth
so revealed through spirits and angels
is not conveyed far beyond the limits of families,
and unless a new revelation constantly succeeds,
truth is either perverted or perishes.
It is otherwise on our earth,
where the Divine truth, which is the Word,
remains for ever in its integrity.

It is to be known that the Lord
acknowledges and receives all,
of whatsoever earth they be,
who acknowledge and worship God
under the human form,
inasmuch as God under the human form is the Lord.
And because the Lord appears
to the inhabitants in the earths
in an angelic form, which is the human form,
therefore when the spirits and angels from those earths
are informed by the spirits and angels of our earth
that God is actually Man,
they receive that Word, acknowledge it,
and rejoice that it is so.