41. (Verse 8) I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. That this signifies that He rules all things from primaries by means of ultimates, and consequently all things of heaven to eternity, is evident from the signification of the Alpha and the Omega, as denoting the first and the last, or in primaries and in ultimates; and he who is in primaries and in ultimates also rules the intermediates; thus all things. These things are said concerning the Divine Human of the Lord, because they are said concerning Jesus Christ, by which names is meant His Divine Human (as shown above, n. 26). By means of this the Lord is in primaries and in ultimates. But that He rules all things from primaries by means of ultimates is a mystery not hitherto perceived by man. For man knows nothing concerning the successive degrees into which the heavens are distinguished, and into which also the interiors of man are distinguished; and little concerning the fact that man, as to his flesh and bones, is in ultimates. Neither does he perceive how intermediates are ruled from primaries by means of ultimates, when nevertheless the Lord came into the world that He might put on a Human and glorify it, that is, make it Divine, even to ultimates, that is, even to flesh and bones, in order that He might thus rule all things. That the Lord put on such a Human, and took it with Him into heaven, is known in the church from the fact that He left nothing of His body in the sepulchre; and also from His words to His disciples:

"Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself; [handle me] and see, for a spirit hath not flesh and bones as ye see me have" (Luke 24:39).

It is by means of this, therefore, that the Lord is in ultimates; and because He made these things also Divine, He thus entered into the Divine power of ruling all things from primaries by means of ultimates. If the Lord had not done this, the human race on this earth would have perished in eternal death. But this mystery cannot here be further enlarged on, because many things must be known in order that an idea may be formed and obtained concerning the Divine government from primaries by means of ultimates. (Some light, however, may be obtained on the subject from the following things shown in Arcana Coelestia:- That interior things flow successively into external things, even into what is outermost or ultimate, and that they also exist or subsist there, n. Arcana Coelestia 634, 6239, 6465, 9216, 9217. Concerning the order of influx, that internal things not only flow in successively, but also form what is simultaneous in the ultimate, n. 5897, 6451, 8603, 10099. That therefore all interior things are held together in connection, from what is primary by means of the ultimate, n. 9828, and in the work, Heaven and Hell 297. That consequently in ultimates there is strength and power, n. Arcana Coelestia 9836; that hence also the ultimate is more holy than interior things, n. 9824; that consequently the first and the last signify all things, n. 10044, 10329, 10335. Concerning the successive degrees into which the heavens are distinguished, and into which also the interiors of man are distinguished, see the work, Heaven and Hell 38.) It is said also, that the Lord is the beginning and the end, by which is meant that He is from eternity to eternity; but this cannot be more fully explained than has been done above (n. 23, which see).