307. In the celestial sense father means our Lord Jesus Christ, and mother means the communion of saints, that is, His church scattered throughout the world. It is clear from the following passages that the Lord is father:

A child is born for us, a son is given to us, whose name is God, Hero, the everlasting father, the Prince of peace, Isaiah 9:6.

You are our father. Abraham does not know us, and Israel does not acknowledge us. You are our father, our Redeemer from eternity is your name, Isaiah 63:16.

Philip said, Show us the Father; Jesus says to him, He who sees me sees the Father. Why then do you say, Show us the Father? Believe me, that I am in the Father, and the Father is in me, John 14:8-11; 12:45.

It is clear from the following passages that mother in this sense means the Lord's church:

I saw the holy city the New Jerusalem arrayed like a bride adorned for her husband, Revelation 21:2.

The angel said to John, Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb; and he showed me the city, the holy Jerusalem, Revelation 21:9-10.

The time has come for the wedding of the Lamb, and his wife has made ready; blessed are those who are invited to the wedding-feast of the Lamb, Revelation 19:7, 9. (See further Matthew 9:15; Mark 2:19-20; Luke 5:34-35; John 3:29; 19:25-27.)

On the New Jerusalem meaning the new church now being established by the Lord, see Apocalypse Revealed (800, 881). It is this church, not the earlier one, which is wife and mother in this sense. The spiritual offspring born of this marriage are the various kinds of good which constitute charity, and the truths which constitute faith; and those whom the Lord puts in possession of these are called 'sons of the wedding,' 'sons of God,' and 'born of God.'