33. The Lord made His humanity Divine through temptations or trials that He underwent and by continual victories then. This we discussed in nos. 12–14 above. To that we need only add the following:

Temptations or trials are nothing but battles against evils and falsities, and because evils and falsities originate from hell, they are also battles against hell. Moreover, present in people who are undergoing spiritual trials are evil spirits from hell, who induce those trials. No one is aware that it is evil spirits inducing the temptations or trials. Yet that such is the case is something I have been given to know from a good deal of experience.

[2] That is why, when a person by the Lord’s power overcomes in temptations or trials, he is withdrawn from hell and raised into heaven. It is why through trials or battles against evils a person becomes a spiritual being, thus an angel.

The Lord, on the other hand, fought against the hells by His own power, and completely subdued and overcame them. And by at the same time glorifying His humanity, He kept them subdued and overcome to eternity.

[3] In fact, before the Lord’s advent, the hells had risen to such a height that they began to harass even the angels in heaven, and likewise every person coming into the world and departing from the world. The hells rose to such a height because the church was completely destroyed, people in the world were by their idolatries caught up in nothing but falsities and evils, and the hells are composed of people. As a consequence, if the Lord had not come into the world, no mortal could have been saved.

Regarding these battles of the Lord, much is said in the Psalms of David and in the Prophets, but little in the Gospels. These battles are those meant by the temptations and trials that the Lord endured, the last of which was the suffering of the cross.

[4] It is because of those battles that the Lord is called the Savior and Redeemer. This is so well known in the church that people say that the Lord conquered death or the devil, that is, hell, and that He rose victorious. Moreover, that without the Lord there is no salvation.

That He also glorified His humanity and thereby became the Savior, Redeemer, Reformer and Regenerator to eternity, will be seen hereafter.

[5] That the Lord became the Savior through battles or trials is apparent from the numerous passages cited in nos. 12-14 above, and from this one as well in Isaiah:

...the day of vengeance is in My heart, and the year of My redeemed has come.... I have trodden (them) down in My anger..., and brought down their victory to the earth.... So He became their Savior. (Isaiah 63:4, 6, 8)

The Lord’s battles are the subject in this chapter. And in Psalms:

Lift up your heads, O you gates! And be lifted up, you doors of the world, that the King of glory may come in! Who is this King of glory? Jehovah strong and a hero, Jehovah a hero of war. (Psalms 24:7-8)

This, too, refers to the Lord.