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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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 #886

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886. 21:5 Then He who sat on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new." And He said to me, "Write, for these words are true and faithful." This symbolizes the Lord's speaking about the Last Judgment to people about to enter the world of spirits, or die, from the time He was in the world to the present, saying that the former heaven together with the former earth, and the former church, with every single thing in them, will perish; that He will create a new heaven with a new earth, and a new church, which will be called the New Jerusalem; and that they may know this of a surety and remember it, because the Lord Himself has declared it.

The words in this and the following verses to the end of verse 8 were addressed to people in the Christian world who were about to enter the world of spirits - an event which takes place immediately after death - in order to keep them from being led astray by adherents of Babylon and followers of the dragon. For, as we have said before, all people after death are brought together in the world of spirits, and they form associations with each other like those in the natural world, where they were together with adherents of Babylon and followers of the dragon, who continually burn with a desire to lead others astray. It was also granted the latter to establish for themselves seeming heavens by using fanciful and illusory arts, and these, too, enabled them to lead people astray.

It was to prevent this from happening that the Lord spoke the words in these verses, that the people might know of a surety that those heavens would perish along with their lands, and that the Lord would create a new heaven and a new earth, when people who had not allowed themselves to be led astray would be saved.

It should be known, however, that these words were addressed to people who lived from the time of the Lord's advent to the time of the Last Judgment, which took place in the year 1757, because they could be led astray. But that is not the case with people since, because the adherents of Babylon and followers of the dragon have been isolated and cast out.

[2] But now for the exposition: He who sat on the throne means the Lord (see no. 808 toward the end). The Lord here spoke on the throne, because He said, "Behold, I am making all things new," which symbolically means that He would execute a last judgment and then create a new heaven and new earth, including a new church, with every single thing in them. That the throne is a form representative of judgment may be seen in nos. 229, 845, 865, and that the former heaven and former church will perish at the time of the Last Judgment, in nos. 865, 877. His saying to John, "Write, for these words are true and faithful," symbolically means that people might know this of a surety and remember it, because the Lord Himself has declared it. The Lord's using the verb "said" a second time symbolically means that they might know it of a surety. The command to write symbolizes that it is to be remembered, or that people should remember it (no. 639). And saying that these words are true and faithful symbolically means that the declaration is to be believed, because the Lord Himself has declared it.

  
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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.