Commentary

 

249 - Newness of Life

By Jonathan S. Rose

Title: Newness of Life

Topic: Salvation

Summary: What the Bible calls newness of life is not just a matter of changing our behaviors but of gaining a new heart and a new spirit.

Use the reference links below to follow along in the Bible as you watch.

References:
Romans 6:1, 4
Isaiah 65:17; 66:22
Jeremiah 31:31
Leviticus 3:1, 14, 17, Leviticus 3:23, Leviticus 3:26, Leviticus 3:33, Leviticus 3:40-41
Ezekiel 11:16; 18:30; 36:25
John 3:3
Romans 12:1-2
2 Corinthians 4:16; 5:17, 10
Galatians 6:12
Ephesians 4:17, 24
Colossians 3:5, 9-11
Titus 3:1-5
Revelation 21:1-5
Isaiah 62:1-2

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Spirit and Life Bible Study broadcast from 12/30/2015. The complete series is available at: www.spiritandlifebiblestudy.com

The Bible

 

Revelation 21:1-5

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1 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.

2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.

4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

5 And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.

      

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Apocalypse Revealed #845

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845. 20:4 And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was entrusted to them. This symbolically means that the Word's truths were laid open, in accordance with which all people are judged, and those in the lower earth were then raised up, who had been hidden away by the Lord to keep the dragon and its beasts from leading them astray.

This is the symbolic meaning of these words because the thrones on which they sat do not mean thrones, but judgment in accordance with the Word's truths. That thrones seen in heaven represent judgment may be seen in no. 229 above. That nothing else is meant by the thrones on which the twenty-four elders sat, 1 and on which the twelve apostles would sit, 2 and that all people are judged in accordance with the Word's truths, may be seen in no. 233 above. It is apparent therefore that the judgment entrusted to them symbolizes a judgment given to the Word's truths.

[2] The people are those who were raised by the Lord from the lower earth into heaven, who in the meantime were hidden away there to keep the dragon and its beasts from leading them astray, because the reference is to the souls of those who had been beheaded, and to the dead, as mentioned next. Not that they seemed dead to themselves, but that they so appeared to others.

The place where they were hidden away is called a lower earth, which exists just above the hells, below the world of spirits, and there, by a communication with heaven and by a conjunction with the Lord, they lived in safety. There are many such places, and the people there live happily with each other and worship the Lord. Nor do they have any knowledge of hell. After a last judgment the people who are there are from time to time raised by the Lord into heaven, and when they are being raised, those meant by the dragon are removed.

I have often been given to see them raised into the company of angels in heaven. This is what is meant in the Word by graves being opened and the dead rising again.

Footnotes:

  
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Many thanks to the General Church of the New Jerusalem, and to Rev. N.B. Rogers, translator, for the permission to use this translation.