1. True Christianity

Containing a Comprehensive Theology of the New Heaven and the New Church

The Faith of the New Heaven and the New Church

THE faith of the new heaven and the new church is stated here in both universal and specific forms to serve as the face of the work that follows, the doorway that allows entry into the temple, and the summary that in one way or another contains all the details to follow. I say "the faith of the new heaven and the new church" because heaven, where there are angels, and the church, in which there are people, act together like the inner and the outer levels in a human being. People in the church who love what is good because they believe what is true and who believe what is true because they love what is good are angels of heaven with regard to the inner levels of their minds. After death they come into heaven, and enjoy happiness there according to the relationship between their love and their faith. It is important to know that the new heaven that the Lord is establishing today has this faith as its face, doorway, and summary.

114. Redemption

It is known in the church that the Lord has two roles, a priestly one and a royal one. Few know, however, what each role consists of; therefore they will be described. In his priestly role the Lord is called Jesus; in his royal role he is called Christ. In the Word, in his priestly role he is called Jehovah and the Lord; in his royal role he is called God and the Holy One of Israel, as well as King.

The two roles are differentiated from each other, just as love and wisdom are, or their equivalents, goodness and truth. Therefore whatever the Lord did from divine love or divine goodness, he did from his priestly position. On the other hand, whatever the Lord did from divine wisdom or divine truth, he did from his royal position. In fact, in the Word "priest" and "priesthood" mean divine goodness, and "king" and "royal" mean divine truth. The priests and kings in the Israelite church represented these two roles.

As for redemption, it relates to both roles. Which aspect of it relates to which role will be disclosed in what follows. In order that the details may be clearly perceived, the explanation will be broken up into topics or points. They will be the following:

1. Redemption was actually a matter of gaining control of the hells, restructuring the heavens, and by so doing preparing for a new spiritual church.

2. Without this redemption no human being could have been saved and no angels could have continued to exist in their state of integrity.

3. The Lord therefore redeemed not only people but also angels.

4. Redemption was something only the Divine could bring about.

5. This true redemption could not have happened if God had not come in the flesh.

6. Suffering on the cross was the final trial the Lord underwent as the greatest prophet. It was a means of glorifying his human nature, that is, of uniting that nature to his Father's divine nature. It was not redemption.

7. Believing that the Lord's suffering on the cross was redemption itself is a fundamental error on the part of the church. That error, along with the error about three divine Persons from eternity, has ruined the whole church to the point that there is nothing spiritual left in it anymore.

I will discuss these matters point by point.

265. The works of Moses make it clear that there was a Word among earlier people. Moses cites it and quotes something from it (Numbers 21:14-15, 27-30). The historical part of that Word was called The Wars of Jehovah, and its prophetical part was called The Pronouncements.

From the historical part of that Word, Moses quoted the following:

Therefore it says in the Book of the Wars of Jehovah: "I was going to Suphah and the brooks of the Arnon, and the channel of the rivers of water that sloped down where Ar is living and then appears by the border of Moab. " (Numbers 21:14-15)

The "wars of Jehovah" in that Word, like the wars in ours, meant and depicted the Lord's battles with the hells and victory over them when he would come into the world. The same battles are meant and depicted in the historical portions of our Word - for example, Joshua's wars with the nations in the land of Canaan and the wars waged by the judges and the kings of Israel.

[2] The following is a quotation from the prophetic parts of that Word:

Therefore the Makers of Pronouncements say: "Walk to Heshbon. The city of Sihon will be built and reinforced. For a fire went out from Heshbon, a flame from the city of Sihon; it consumed Ar of Moab, the possessors of the heights of the Arnon. Woe to you, Moab. You have perished, O people of Chemosh. He has given his sons as fugitives and his daughters into captivity to Sihon, king of the Amorites. We killed them with arrows. Heshbon has perished all the way to Dibon, and we devastated [it] all the way to Nophah, which [stretches] all the way to Medeba. " (Numbers 21:27-30)

Translators have rendered the name here as "the Makers of Proverbs," but it ought to be "the Makers of Pronouncements" or "the Prophetic Pronouncements. " This is clear from the meaning of the word meshalim in Hebrew: it means not only proverbs but also prophetic pronouncements. For example, in Numbers 23:7, 18, it says that Balaam gave his pronouncement, which was in fact a prophecy about the Lord. His pronouncement is called a mashal, which is the singular. For another thing, the material that Moses quotes from that Word is in fact prophecies, not proverbs.

[3] That Word was just as divinely inspired. This is clear from Jeremiah where we read almost identical words:

A fire went out from Heshbon and a flame from the midst of Sihon that consumed the corner of Moab and the top of the children of tumult. Woe to you, Moab. The people of Chemosh have perished. For they have taken your sons into captivity and your daughters into captivity. (Jeremiah 48:45-46)

Both David and Joshua also mention a prophetic book of the ancient Word called the Book of Jasher ("Book of the Upright Person"). David refers to it thus:

David lamented over Saul and over Jonathan and wrote to teach the children of Judah the bow; look at what was written in the Book of Jasher. (2 Samuel 1:17-18)

And Joshua refers to it thus:

Joshua said, "O sun, stand still in Gibeon. O moon, stand still in the valley of Aijalon. Is this not written in the Book of Jasher?" (Joshua 10:12)