TCR 167, 169 - It's Easy to Understand the Divine Trinity

TCR 167

Everyone acknowledges that those three essentials, 
namely, soul, body and activity, 
were and are in the Lord God the Savior. 
. . . So the Father's Divine is His first essential, 
as the soul is in a person. 
It follows from this that the Son born to Mary 
is the body of that Divine soul, 
for what grows in the mother's womb 
is simply the body 
conceived and derived from the soul. 
So this is the second essential. 
Activities make up the third essential, 
since they are produced 
by the soul and the body working together; 
and anything so produced 
is of the same essence as the productive agents. 
The three essentials, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, 
make one in the Lord, 
as the soul, body and activity do in a person.

TCR 169

. . . the Divine Trinity ought to shine like a lantern 
in the minds of the people who make up the church, 
since God in His Trinity 
and in the oneness of the Trinity 
is the ultimate of all holiness 
in heaven and the church.

 

TCR 165 - Reading the Word and Approaching the Lord

TCR 165 [2]

Everyone who does not 
read the Word under His guidance 
must do so 
under the guidance of his own intelligence; 
and this is as blind as an owl 
in matters illuminated by spiritual light, 
as are all the essential doctrines of the church. 
When such a person reads
 about the Trinity in the Word 
and is led by this to think 
that although there are three Gods 
they are none the less one, 
he finds this as enigmatic 
as a reply from the Delphic oracle.
Since he does not understand it, 
he rolls it round his teeth, 
for if he put it before his eyes, 
it would be a riddle, 
which becomes the more obscure 
the more he strives to solve it, 
until finally he begins to think about it 
without using his understanding, 
which is like seeing without using one's eyes. 
In brief, reading the Word 
under the guidance of one's own intelligence, 
as all do who fail to acknowledge 
the Lord as the God of heaven and earth 
and do not approach Him and worship Him alone, 
can be compared to children 
who in play tie a bandage over their eyes, 
and then try to walk in a straight line; 
they even think they are walking straight 
when step by step they turn to one side 
and end up walking in the opposite direction, 
so that they trip over a stone and fall down.

 

TCR 163 - The Divine Trinity

TCR 163

I have discussed God the Creator, 
and at the same time the creation, 
and then the Lord the Redeemer, 
and at the same time the process of redemption; 
and now finally the Holy Spirit, 
and at the same time how God works. 
So having discussed God the Three-in-one, 
I must now also discuss the Divine Trinity, 
a subject familiar to Christian people, 
yet actually one they know nothing about. 
For this is the only way 
of acquiring a correct idea of God; 
and a correct idea of God is to the congregation 
like the sanctuary and altar in a church, 
or like a crown on the head 
and a scepter in the hand of a king, 
as he sits upon his throne.
From this hangs the whole body of theology, 
like a chain from its anchor-point. 
If you are prepared to believe me, 
the idea everyone has of God 
determines his place in the heavens. 
It is like the touchstone 
used to test gold and silver, that is to say, 
it tests the nature of 
the good and truth a person has. 
For he cannot have any good 
which leads to salvation except from God, 
nor any truth which does not get its quality 
from the good deep within it.

TCR 162 [6] - When the Word is Opened, [8] - The Lord in His Word, a Simple Truth

TCR 162 [6, 8]

The angelic spirits . . . entered a room, 
the walls of which shone as if made of gold, 
and there too they saw a table 
on which was laid a copy of the Word, 
surrounded by precious stones in a heavenly pattern. 
The custodian angel said: 
'When the Word is opened, 
a light shines out from it of indescribable brightness, 
and at the same time 
the precious stones give a rainbow effect 
above and around the Word. 
When an angel from the third heaven comes near, 
the rainbow appears above and around the Word 
on a red background; 
when an angel comes from the second heaven 
and looks at it, 
the rainbow appears on a blue background; 
when an angel from the lowest heaven 
comes and looks, 
the rainbow appears on a white background. 
When a good spirit comes and looks, 
there is a variegated effect of light like marble.' 
They were given 
a visual demonstration of these effects. 
The custodian went on to say: 
'If anyone approaches who has falsified the Word, 
first of all the radiance disappears; 
and if he comes close 
and fixes his gaze on the Word, 
the surroundings change to the color of blood. 
Then he is warned to go away, as it is dangerous.'

For the Lord in His Word 
lays the duty on everyone 
who wants to be saved 
of loving his neighbor 
and doing good to him from love. 
It is the same with the other truths.
__________

A personal thought:  At some point,
wanting to be saved should evolve 
into wanting to serve the Lord
and our fellows in this world and the next.

 

TCR 156 - A Person's Spirit ; TCR 158 - When the Holy Spirit First Existed

TCR 156

A person's spirit, 
regarded as an object, 
is nothing but his mind. 
It is this which lives on after death, 
and it is then called a spirit; 
if he is good, an angelic spirit and later an angel, 
if wicked, a satanic spirit and afterwards a Satan. 
Everyone's mind is his internal person, 
which is the real person 
and resides within 
the external person composed of his body. 
So when the body is cast off as the result of death, 
the internal person has a fully human form. 

TCR 158

Since this chapter has dealt with the Holy Spirit, 
it is of importance to note that the Holy Spirit 
is nowhere named in the Old Testament Word, 
but only 'the Spirit of holiness' in three passages . . .. 
The reason is 
that the Holy Spirit first existed 
when the Lord came into the world, 
for it came out of Him from the Father; 
for 'the Lord alone is holy' (Revelation 15:4)
. . . The reason why we read 
'The Holy Spirit was not yet, 
because Jesus was not yet glorified' (John 7:39), 
although it was said earlier 
that the Holy Spirit filled Elizabeth (Luke 1:41)
and Zechariah (Luke 1:67), 
as well as Simeon (Luke 2:25), 
was that it was the spirit of Jehovah the Father 
which filled them; 
and it was called the Holy Spirit 
because the Lord was already at that time in the world.

 

TCR 154 - The Lord and His Word Inside of Everyone

TCR 154 [1, 5]

All the angels in the heavens are full of the Lord, 
for they are in the Lord and the Lord is in them; 
but still each speaks and acts in accordance 
with his own mental state, 
some simply, some wisely, 
and so with infinite variety, 
yet each one speaks of himself from the Lord.

The Lord's Word is like an ocean,
a flower-bed and a garden. 
When the Word is present 
in considerable fullness in a person's internal, 
then he speaks and acts of himself from the Word, 
but the Word does not act by his means. 
It is the same with the Lord, 
since He is the Word, 
that is, the Divine truth and Divine good it contains. 
The Lord of Himself or from the Word 
acts in and on people, 
but not by their means, 
since everyone 
freely acts and speaks from the Lord 
when he does so from the Word.

 

TCR 149, 150-151 - Believing In the Lord Jesus Christ

TCR 149

The Lord confers these benefits, 
which are meant by the sending of the Holy Spirit, 
on those who believe in Him. 
That is to say, He reforms them, regenerates them, 
renews, quickens, justifies 
and cleanses them from evils, 
and so eventually saves them.

TCR 150

Those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ 
are to receive those spiritual benefits, 
because He Himself is salvation and everlasting life. 
He is salvation, because He is the Savior, 
for this is the meaning of His name Jesus; 
He is everlasting life, 
because those in whom He is, 
and who are in Him, 
have everlasting life. 
. . . Now since He is salvation and everlasting life, 
it follows that He is also every means 
which leads to salvation and everlasting life. 
Thus He is the whole of reformation, regeneration, 
renewal, quickening, sanctification and justification, 
cleansing from evils, and finally salvation. 
In the case of every single person 
the Lord confers these benefits, 
or rather, He attempts to impart them; 
and when a person makes himself ready 
and suitable to receive them, 
He does impart them. 
The activity of readying and making oneself suitable 
comes from the Lord too, 
but if the person does not receive them 
with spontaneity of spirit, 
then the Lord cannot go beyond 
the attempt to introduce them, 
and this attempt is constantly kept up. 

TCR 151

Believing in the Lord 
is not just a matter of acknowledging Him, 
but includes keeping His commandments. 
Merely to acknowledge Him 
only demands some thought 
on the part of the understanding, 
but to keep His commandments 
requires acknowledgment too on the part of the will. 
The human mind is made up of 
the understanding and the will. 
It is the function of the understanding to think, 
of the will to act. 
So as long as 
a person's acknowledgment is merely in thought 
on the part of the understanding, 
he approaches the Lord 
with no more than half his mind; 
but when he acts, 
then he does so with his whole mind, 
and that is what believing is.

 

TCR 144 - A Dove

TCR 144

We read that when Jesus was baptized, 
the heavens were opened 
and John saw the Holy Spirit coming down 
in the form of a dove
(Matthew 3:16; Mark 1:10; Luke 3:21; John 1:32-33). 
This was because baptism stands for 
regeneration and cleansing, and so does a dove. 
How can anyone fail to see 
that the dove was not the Holy Spirit, 
nor was the Holy Spirit in the dove? 
In heaven doves are often to be seen, 
and the angels know that, 
when they are, 
they are correspondences of affections 
and consequently of thoughts about regeneration 
and cleansing in the minds of some bystanders. 
So as soon as they approach them 
and engage them in conversation 
about any subject other than what they were thinking 
about when they appeared, 
the doves immediately vanish.
 

TCR 142 - The Divine Power and Activity of the Holy Spirit

TCR 142

The Divine power and activity 
meant by the Holy Spirit are, 
generally speaking,
reformation and regeneration,
which lead to renewal, quickening,
sanctification and justification;
and these lead to purification from evils
and the forgiveness of sins,
and ultimately to salvation.

This is the series of virtues 
which the Lord produces in those 
who believe in Him, 
adapting and making themselves suitable 
for Him to be received and dwell in them. 
This is done by means of the Divine truth, 
and in the case of Christians by the Word; 
for this is the one and only means 
which allows a person to approach the Lord, 
and allows the Lord to come in to him. 
For, as stated before, 
the Lord is Divine truth itself, 
and so is whatever proceeds from Him. 
But it must be understood 
as Divine truth acting from good, 
which is the same as faith inspired by charity; 
for faith is nothing but truth, 
and charity is nothing but good. 
It is by means of Divine truth acting from good, 
in other words by means of faith 
inspired by charity 
that a person's reformation and regeneration 
is effected, 
and by this means too he is renewed, quickened 
and made holy and righteous. 
As all these processes advance and increase, 
he is cleansed from evils, 
and this cleansing is what is meant 
by the forgiveness of sins.

 

TCR 139 - The Holy Spirit - the Way God Works

TCR 139

The Holy Spirit means properly the Divine Truth, 
so also the Word; 
and in this sense the Lord is Himself 
also the Holy Spirit. 
But the present-day church 
uses the term 'Holy Spirit' to describe 
the way God works, that is, 
the actual process of making a person righteous, 
so this is the meaning given here to the Holy Spirit, 
and this will be the principal subject discussed. 
Another reason is that the activity of God 
takes place by means of the Divine Truth 
which proceeds from the Lord; 
and that which proceeds 
is of one and the same essence 
as He from whom it proceeds. 
This is like the trio of soul, body 
and what proceeds making up a single essence, 
which in the case of a human being is purely human, 
but in the case of the Lord 
is Divine and human at the same time, 
these essences after His glorification 
being united as what is prior is with 
what follows from it, 
or like essence and the appropriate form. 
So the three essentials 
called the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit 
are one in the Lord. 
 

TCR 137 - Between Spirits and People

TCR 137 [8]

'. . . everyone here is paired with someone like him 
in the natural world . . .
he does not understand what I say,
while I have a clear understanding 
of everything he says.'
This was because the spiritual world
enters into the natural world
and perceives the thoughts of people there,
but not the reverse.
This is the nature of the association 
between spirits and people.

 

TCR 135 - Why Are Mediation, Intercession, Expiation and Propitiation Important?

TCR 135 [4, 5]

. . . what is meant in the Word by 
mediation, intercession, expiation and propitiation. 
These are the four things predicated 
of the grace of the one God in His Human. 
God the Father could under no circumstances
be approached, nor can He approach any person,
because he is infinite and in His Being (esse), 
which is Jehovah. 
If He approached anyone in that form, 
He would destroy him, 
as fire does wood, reducing it to ashes. 
This is plain from His reply 
when Moses desired to see Him: 
that no one can see Him and live (Exodus 33:20). 
The Lord too said that no one has ever seen God, 
except the Son who is in the Father's bosom 
(John 1:18; Matthew 11:27); 
and again, that no one 
has heard the Father's voice 
or seen His appearance (John 5:37).
We do read that Moses saw Jehovah face to face, 
and spoke personally with Him; 
but this was done through an angel, 
and the same happened in the cases 
of Abraham and Gideon. 
Now because such is God the Father in Himself, 
He was pleased to take upon Himself human form, 
and in this 
to allow people to approach Him, 
so as to hear them and speak with them. 
It is this Human which is called the Son of God, 
and this it is which 
mediates, intercedes, propitiates and makes expiation. 
I shall tell you therefore 
what is the meaning of those four actions 
attributed to the Human of God the Father.

-- Mediation means that the Human 
is the intermediary by means of which 
a person can approach God the Father, 
and God the Father can approach him, 
and so teach and guide him to salvation. 
This is why the Son of God, 
meaning the Human of God the Father, 
is called the Savior, 
and on earth Jesus, which means salvation. 
-- Intercession means continual mediation; 
for love itself, 
to which mercy, clemency and grace belong, 
continually intercedes, 
that is, acts as intermediary for those 
who obey His commandments, 
and whom He loves. 
-- Expiation means the removal of the sins 
into which everyone would rush, 
if he were to approach Jehovah without mediation. 
-- Propitiation means the working 
of clemency and grace,
to prevent anyone consigning himself 
to damnation through sins; 
likewise, protection against profaning what is holy. 
This was the meaning of 
the Mercy Seat above the Ark in the Tabernacle.

 

TCR 130 - What the Details of the Passion of the Cross Mean

TCR 130 [3]

The details of the Lord's passion show clearly 
that as the Prophet 
He represented the state of the Jewish church 
with regard to the Word.

-- His betrayal by Judas 
meant that He was betrayed by the Jewish nation, 
which possessed the Word, 
since Judas represented that nation. 
-- His arrest and conviction 
by the chief priests and elders 
meant that the whole of that church so behaved. 
-- His being beaten, being spat upon in the face, 
being flogged and having His head 
struck with a reed 
meant their similar treatment of the Word 
as regards the Divine truths it contains. 
-- The crowning with thorn 
meant that they falsified and adulterated these truths. 
-- The dividing of His garments 
and throwing lots for His tunic 
meant that they threw to the winds 
all the truths of the Word, 
but not its spiritual sense, 
which is what the tunic meant. 
-- The crucifixion meant 
that they destroyed and profaned the whole Word. 
-- Their giving Him vinegar to drink 
meant that they offered only falsified truths, 
which is why He did not drink it. 
-- The piercing of His side meant 
that they utterly extinguished 
all the truth and all the good of the Word. 
-- His burial meant the rejection 
of all He had left from His mother. 
-- His resurrection on the third day 
meant His glorification, 
or the union of His Human with the Father's Divine. 
From this it is now plain that 'carrying iniquities' 
does not mean removing them, 
but representing the profaning of truths in the Word.

TCR 126, 127 - Redemption and Glorification; TCR 127 - Redemption and the Passion on the Cross

TCR 126

The Lord had two purposes in coming into the world, 
redemption and the glorification of His Human; 
and by these He saved both people and angels. 
These two purposes are quite distinct, 
but still they are combined in effecting salvation. 
The nature of redemption was . . . 
a battle against the hells, 
their subjugation and afterwards 
the ordering of the heavens. 
Glorification, however, is the uniting 
of the Lord's Human with His Father's Divine. 
This took place by stages 
and was completed by His passion on the cross. 
. . . The reason why the actual union 
was fully achieved by the passion on the cross 
is that it was the last temptation 
which the Lord underwent in the world; 
and temptations create conjunction. 
In temptation it looks as if a person is left to himself, 
but he is not, 
since God is then 
most closely present in his inmost,
and secretly gives him support. 
When therefore 
anyone is victorious over temptation, 
he is most inwardly conjoined with God, 
and in this case 
the Lord was most inwardly united 
with God His Father.

TCR 127

Redemption and the passion on the cross 
must be thought of as two distinct events; 
otherwise men's minds will . . . 
go astray in all matters 
which concern salvation from the Lord. 
. . . But although redemption 
and the passion on the cross 
are two distinct events, 
still they are combined in effecting salvation, 
since the Lord by His union with the Father, 
the result of His suffering on the cross, 
became the Redeemer for ever. 

 

TCR 124 - How the Lord Battles the With Hells

TCR 124 [2]

But it needs to be known 
that the Lord's battle with the hells 
was not a battle of words, 
like people arguing a point 
or disputing in a court of law. 
That sort of battle is quite ineffectual here. 
It was a spiritual battle, 
Divine Truth fighting 
with the strength of Divine Good, 
that is, the very life force of the Lord. 
No one in the hells can stand its effects 
when made visible. 
Its power is such 
that at a mere glance 
the spirits of hell take to their heels, 
hurl themselves into the depths 
and force themselves underground to hide from it.  

TCR 120 - The Company One Keeps

TCR 120 [2]

If a person spends his time with thieves or pirates, 
he ends up by becoming like them; 
if he lives with adulterers and whores, 
he ends up by thinking adultery of no consequence. 
Again if he mixes with terrorists, 
he ends up by thinking nothing 
of using violence on anyone. 
All evils are contagious, 
and can be likened to a plague 
which infects people 
simply by their being exposed to the victims' breath; 
or to a cancer or gangrene which spreads, 
and makes first the surrounding parts, 
and then those further and further away, rot, 
until the whole body is destroyed. 
It is the pleasures of evil, 
to which everyone is prone from birth, 
that cause this.

TCR 118, 119 - What Is Redemption?

TCR 118

But for that redemption
no person could have been saved,
nor could the Angels have remained unharmed.

It must first be stated what redemption is. 
To redeem means to free from damnation, 
to reclaim from everlasting death, 
to snatch from hell, 
and to release the captives 
and those in bondage 
from the hands of the devil. 
The Lord performed this 
by conquering the hells 
and founding a new heaven. 
The reason why people could not 
by any other means be saved 
was that the spiritual world 
is so closely integrated with the natural world 
that they are inseparable. 
This principally affects people's interiors, 
what is called their souls and minds; 
those of the good 
are linked with the souls and minds of angels, 
those of the wicked 
with the souls and minds of the spirits of hell. 
Their union is such 
that if a person were deprived of them, 
he would fall lifeless, like a block of wood. 
Likewise neither could angels and spirits 
remain in existence, 
if human beings were taken away from them.
This will make it plain 
why redemption took place in the spiritual world, 
and why heaven and hell 
had to be brought into order 
before a church could be established upon earth. 
This is clearly stated in Revelation, 
where it is said 
that after the creation of a new heaven, 
the New Jerusalem, which is the new church, 
came down from that heaven.

And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: 
for the first heaven and the first earth 
were passed away; 
and there was no more sea.

And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, 
coming down from God out of heaven, 
prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
(Revelation 21:1-2)

TCR 119

The reason why, but for redemption by the Lord, 
neither could the angels have remained unharmed 
is that the whole heaven of the angels 
together with the church on earth 
forms in the Lord's sight a single person. 
The heaven of the angels makes up his internal, 
the church his external; or in more detail, 
the highest heaven makes up His head, 
the second and lowest heavens 
His chest and the middle region of His body, 
and the church on earth His loins, legs and feet. 
The Lord Himself is the soul and life 
of this whole person. 
So if the Lord had not 
performed the act of redemption, 
this person would have been destroyed. 
The eclipse of the church on earth
entails destruction of the feet, legs and loins, 
that of the lowest heaven the gastric region, 
that of the second heaven the chest, 
and then the head, 
having no correspondence with the body, 
loses consciousness.

TCR 115 - The Real Redemption

TCR 115

The real redemption was:
-- the conquest of the hells
-- and the ordering of the heavens,
-- and preparation by this means
for a new spiritual church.

I can assert with complete certainty 
that these three events constitute redemption, 
since the Lord is today too 
carrying on the process of redemption, 
which began with the accomplishment of 
the Last Judgment in 1757. 
This redemptive process has continued 
from that time down to the present. 
The reason is that today 
the Second Coming of the Lord is taking place, 
and a new church is to be established, 
something which could not happen 
unless the conquest of the hells 
and the ordering of the heavens 
had taken place first. 
Since I have been permitted to witness 
all that has happened, 
I am able to describe how the hells were conquered 
and how a new heaven 
has been founded and arranged, 
but it would take a whole book to do so. 
However, I did reveal 
how the Last Judgment was carried out, 
in a small book published in London in 1758.
(The Last Judgment)

Redemption consisted in 
the conquest of the hells, 
the ordering of the heavens 
and the establishment of a new church, 
because without them 
no one could have been saved. 
This is their proper order: 
the hells had first to be conquered, 
before a new heaven of angels could be formed, 
and this had to be formed 
before a new church could be established on earth. 
For people in the world are so conjoined 
with the angels in heaven and the spirits in hell, 
that in the interiors of their minds 
they are identified with one party or the other. 
This subject will be discussed in detail 
in the last chapter of this book, 
dealing with the Ending of the Age, 
the Lord's Coming and the New Church.

TCR 114 - Two Functions of the Lord - Priest and King

TCR 114

It is well known in the church 
that the Lord has two functions, 
the priestly and the kingly; 
but since few are aware 
of what distinguishes either of them, 
this needs to be stated. 
The Lord in His priestly function is called Jesus, 
in His kingly function Christ; 
and in the Word He is also called 
in His priestly function 
Jehovah and Lord, 
and in His kingly function 
God and the Holy One of Israel, as well as King. 
The distinction between them 
is like that between love and wisdom, 
or, what is the same, between good and truth. 
Therefore whatever the Lord did or performed 
from Divine love or Divine good, 
He did in His priestly function; 
whatever He did 
from Divine wisdom or Divine truth, 
in His kingly function. 
In the Word too priest and priesthood 
mean Divine good, 
king and royalty Divine truth, 
and this same pair were represented 
by priests and kings in the Israelite church. 
Redemption concerns both functions, 
but in what respects it concerns one or the other 
will be revealed in what follows.

TCR 110 - Our Idea of God and Becoming Conjoined with Him

TCR 110 [2, 4, 5]

. . . it is a person's idea of God
which determines everyone's place in the heavens.

The Lord in the world 
prayed to the Father as if to another, 
and humbled Himself before the Father 
as if before another, 
because this was to conform with the order 
established from creation; 
for this is the immutable order 
which controls everyone's progress 
towards being conjoined with God. 
This order lays down 
that as a person conjoins himself to God, 
which he does by living according to 
the rules of order or God's commandments, 
so God links Himself to him, 
and makes him spiritual instead of natural. 
In the same way 
the Lord united Himself with His Father, 
and God the Father united Himself with the Lord. 
Was the Lord not a child like any other,
a boy like any other boy? 
Do we not read 
that He advanced in wisdom and grace, and later, 
that He besought the Father to glorify His name, 
that is, His Human? 
To glorify is to make Divine by union with Himself. 
This shows plainly why 
the Lord in His state of exinanition, 
which was His state 
while advancing towards union, 
prayed to the Father.

To prepare oneself 
to receive and be conjoined to God 
is to live in accordance with Divine order, 
and the laws of order 
are all the commandments of God. 
The Lord fulfilled these down to the last comma, 
and so made Himself a receiver 
of the Divinity in all its fullness. 
Therefore Paul says that in Jesus Christ 
all the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily, 
and the Lord says 
that all things of the Father's are His.

 

TCR 109 - The Churches Before and After His Life on Earth

TCR 109

All churches which existed 
before the Lord's coming were representative, 
unable to see Divine truths except in shadow. 
But since the Lord's coming into the world, 
a church has been founded by Him 
which has seen, or rather has been able to see, 
Divine truths in broad daylight. 
It is the same difference 
as between evening and morning. 
In fact the state of the church 
before the Lord's coming 
is called in the Word evening; 
and its state after His coming is called morning. 
Before He came into the world, 
the Lord was certainly present 
with the people of the church, 
but through the mediation of angels 
as His representatives; 
however, since His coming 
He is present with the people of the church 
without any intermediary. 
For in the world He put on the Divine Natural too, 
in which He is present with human beings. 
The Lord's glorification 
is the glorification of His Human, 
which He took upon Himself in the world; 
and the glorified Human of the Lord 
is the Divine Natural. 
The truth of this is clear from the fact 
that the Lord rose from the tomb 
with His whole body which He had in the world, 
and left nothing of it behind there. 
It follows that He took with Him from there 
the Human Natural itself from first to last. 
That is why He said to His disciples 
after the resurrection, 
when they thought they saw a spirit:

Look at My hands and My feet to confirm that it is I; 
touch Me and see, 
for a spirit does not have flesh and bones.
as you see Me have.
(Luke 24:37, 39)

It is plain from this that His natural body 
was made Divine by glorification.

 

TCR 105 - The Process of Divine Order

TCR 105

The Lord had to undergo these two states 
of exinanition and glorification 
because progress towards union 
is not possible by any other way, 
since it is in accordance with Divine order, 
and this is immutable. 
Divine order requires 
that a person should adjust himself to receive God, 
and prepare himself 
as a receiver and dwelling-place 
for God to enter into and live as in His temple. 
This a person must do of himself 
while still acknowledging that it is from God. 
He must make this acknowledgment, 
because he does not feel 
the presence and working of God, 
although it is God 
who by His intimate presence 
performs all the good of love 
and all the truth of faith in a person. 
Every person must and will advance 
in accordance with this order, 
if he is to become spiritual instead of natural. 
The Lord advanced in the same way 
in order to make His natural human Divine; 
it was for this reason that He prayed to the Father, 
did His will, 
attributed to Him all that He did and said, 
and on the cross uttered the words 
'My God, my God, why are You abandoning me?' 
For in that state God appears to be absent. 
But after this state comes another, 
which is a state of being conjoined with God. 
In this state a person behaves in the same way, 
but then does so from God;
nor does he then need, 
as he did previously, 
to attribute to God all the good 
which he wills and does, 
and all the truth which he thinks and speaks, 
because this acknowledgment is written on his heart, 
and consequently is inwardly in every action he does 
and every word he utters. 
In the same way the Lord 
united Himself with His Father, 
and the Father united Himself with Him; 
in short, the Lord glorified His Human, 
that is, made it Divine, 
in just the same way as He regenerates a person, 
that is, makes him spiritual.

 

TCR 104 - Why the Lord Had to Cry Out on the Cross - the Process of Exinanition and Glorification

TCR 104

It is well known in the church 
that when the Lord was in the world 
He underwent two states, 
which are known as exinanition and glorification. 
The earlier state, that of exinanition, 
is described in many passages of the Word, 
especially in the Psalms of David, 
and also in the Prophets, 
in detail in Isaiah chapter 53, 
where we read that He emptied His soul 
to the point of death (Isaiah 53:12). 
This same state 
is that of His humility before the Father, 
for in that state He prayed to the Father, 
and says that He is doing the Father's will, 
and He ascribes all 
that He did and said to the Father. 
His praying to the Father 
is evident from these passages: Matthew 26:39, 42; 
Matthew 26:39, 42; Mark 1:35; 6:46; 14:32-39; 
Luke 5:16, 6:12; 22:41-42; John 17:9, 15, 20.
His doing the Father's will: John 4:34, 5:30.
His ascribing to the Father all that He did and said:
John 8:26-28; 12:49-50; 14:10.
Indeed, He cried out on the cross: 
'My God, my God, why are you abandoning me?'
(Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:34)
Moreover, if He had not been in this state, 
He could not have been crucified.

The state of glorification is the state of being united. 
He was in this state when He was transfigured 
before His three disciples, 
and when He performed the miracles, 
and each time He said 
that the Father and He were one, 
that the Father was in Him and He in the Father, 
and that all things of the Father's were His. 
After their complete union 
He said that He had power over all flesh 
(John 17:2); 
and all power in heaven and upon earth 
(Matthew 28:18)
and much besides.

 

TCR 100 - A Fixed Law

TCR 100

For it is a fixed and immutable law
that the Lord approaches a person
to the extent that he approaches the Lord.
 

TCR 95, 96 - By Acts of Redemption, the Lord Made Himself Righteousness

TCR 95

The Christian churches today say and believe 
that merit and righteousness 
belong to the Lord alone 
through the obedience He showed 
to God the Father, 
while He was in the world, 
in particular by His passion on the cross. 
But they have assumed that suffering the cross 
was itself the act of redemption; 
yet that was not it, 
but the act of glorifying His Human . . .. 
The acts of redemption 
by which the Lord made Himself righteousness 
were His carrying out of the last judgment, 
which took place in the spiritual world. 
He then separated the wicked from the good . . .. 
From the worthy He founded a new heaven, 
from the unworthy a new hell; 
and by stages 
He brought everything everywhere back into order, 
and in addition He established a new church. 
These were the acts of redemption 
by which the Lord made Himself righteousness; 
for righteousness consists in doing everything 
in accordance with Divine order, 
and restoring everything 
which had slipped out of order. 
Divine order itself is righteousness.

TCR 96 [1, 2]

. . . the Lord's righteousness, 
being of such a nature and origin 
that it is purely Divine, 
could not be linked with any person, 
so that it could not cause anyone to be saved, 
any more than the Divine life can, 
which is the Divine Love and the Divine Wisdom. 
The Lord enters into every person with these, 
but unless that person lives 
in accordance with order, 
though he has that life within him, 
it contributes nothing to his salvation, 
giving him merely the ability 
to understand truth and to do good. 
Living in accordance with order 
is living in accordance with God's commandments. 
When a person so lives and acts, 
he acquires righteousness for himself, 
not the righteousness 
that comes from the Lord's redeeming, 
but the Lord Himself as righteousness.

Righteousness itself, 
which by His redeeming acts the Lord became, 
cannot be ascribed to, impressed on, 
fitted on or conjoined with a person . . .. 
But righteousness is acquired 
the more a person applies it, 
and he applies righteousness, 
the more the love of what is right and true 
inspires his dealings with his neighbor. 
Righteousness dwells in the actual good, 
or the actual service, 
which he performs. 

 

TCR 89 - As a Child, He Was a Child Like Any Other

TCR 89

Now since God came down, 
and He is order . . . He had, 
so as to become really man, 
to be conceived, be carried in the womb, 
be born, be brought up 
and learn items of knowledge one by one, 
and by their means 
be brought into a state of intelligence and wisdom. 
Therefore in His Human 
He was a child like any other child, 
a boy like any other boy, and so on, 
the only difference being
that He achieved that progress more quickly, 
fully and perfectly than others. 
It is evident from this passage in Luke 
that He advanced thus in accordance with order:

The boy Jesus grew and was strengthened in spirit; 
and He advanced in wisdom, years and favor 
with God and men.
(Luke 2:40, 52)

It is plain that He did this 
more quickly, fully and perfectly than others . . .
as for instance that, when He was a boy of twelve, 
He sat and taught in the Temple 
in the midst of the teachers, 
and all who heard Him were astonished 
at His intelligence and His answers
(Luke 2:46-47, and Luke 4:16-22, 32).
This was done because Divine order prescribes 
that a person should prepare himself to receive God; 
and as he prepares himself, 
so God enters into him 
as into His dwelling and home. 
That preparation is accomplished by 
acquiring knowledge about God 
and the spiritual matters which concern the church, 
thus by means of intelligence and wisdom. 
For it is a law of order 
that in so far as 
a person approaches and comes near to God, 
which he should do entirely as if of himself, 
so far does God approach and come near to him, 
and conjoin Himself to the person in his midst2

 

TCR 86 - What Is Redemption?

TCR 86 

The reason Jehovah God came down 
into the world as the Divine Truth 
was so that He could effect redemption. 
Redemption was the conquest of the hells, 
the ordering of the heavens, 
and afterwards the establishment of a church. 
To achieve these aims 
the Divine Good is not powerful enough, 
but the Divine Truth coming from the Divine Good is. 
. . . There was no other way 
in which the falsities and evils, 
in which the whole of hell 
was and perpetually is plunged, 
could be attacked, defeated and conquered 
except through the Divine Truth 
coming from the Word. 
There was no other way in which a new heaven 
could be founded, formed and set in order, 
as was then done. 
There was no other way in which a new church 
could be established on earth. 
Moreover, 
all the strength, all the might and power of God 
belongs to the Divine Truth 
coming from the Divine Good. 
This was the reason why Jehovah God 
came down as the Divine Truth, 
which is the Word.


 

TCR 81 - The Lord the Redeemer

TCR 81 [1]

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. 
The following chapter will deal with the Holy Spirit, 
and at the same time with the way God works. 

By the Lord the Redeemer we understand 
Jehovah in the Human; 
for the following pages will prove 
that Jehovah Himself came down 
and assumed human form 
in order to effect 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; we read in Moses:

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, 
and He was therefore so called 
by the Apostles in their Epistles, 
and later by the Apostolic Church. 
This is plain from its creed, 
the so-called Apostles' Creed. 
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.

 

TCR 76, 78 - Creation

TCR 76 [2]

. . . the universe was created by Jehovah God 
by means of the sun in the midst of which He is; 
and because love cannot exist 
except together with wisdom, 
that the universe was created by Jehovah God 
from His love by means of His wisdom.  

TCR 78 [2. 3]

For God has no extension,
but is everywhere in space;
so He fills the universe from first to last.

Natural objects have been created 
to serve as clothing for spiritual one,
just as layers of skin clothe the bodies 
of men and animals . . ..

 

TCR 74 - Why God Doesn't Force Us

TCR 74 [3]

But it should be known 
that God is constantly present, 
continually striving and acting on the person, 
and touching his free will 
but never forcing it. 
For if God were to force a person's free will, 
his dwelling in God would be destroyed, 
and he would be left 
only with God's dwelling in him. 
This is something which all enjoy 
on earth as much as in heaven, 
and so do those in hell. 
For this is the source of 
their ability, will and understanding. 
The reciprocal dwelling of a person in God 
only occurs with those 
who live in accordance with the laws of order 
enacted in the Word; 
and these people become 
images and likenesses of Him, 
paradise is given them to possess, 
and the fruit of the tree of life to eat.