1. Teachings for the New Jerusalem on the Lord

The Entire Sacred Scripture Is about the Lord, and the Lord Is the Word

WE read in John,

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and nothing that was made came about without him. In him there was life, and that life was the light for humankind. And the light shines in the darkness, but the darkness did not grasp it. And the Word became flesh and lived among us; and we saw his glory, glory like that of the only-begotten child of the Father. He was full of grace and truth. (John 1:1-3, 5, 14)

In the same Gospel,

Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. (John 3:19)

And elsewhere in the same Gospel,

While you have the light, believe in the light, so that you may become children of the light. I have come into the world as a light so that anyone who believes in me will not remain in darkness. (John 12:36, 46)

We can see from this that the Lord is God from eternity and that he himself is that Lord who was born into the world. It actually says that the Word was with God and that the Word was God, as well as that nothing that was made came about without him, and then that the Word became flesh and that they saw him.

There is little understanding in the church of what it means to call the Lord “the Word.” He is called the Word because the Word means divine truth or divine wisdom and the Lord is divine truth itself or divine wisdom itself. That is why he is also called the light that is said to have come into the world.

Since divine wisdom and divine love are one with each other and have been one in the Lord from eternity, it also says “in him there was life, and that life was the light for humankind.” The life is divine love, and the light is divine wisdom.

This oneness is what is meant by saying both that “in the beginning the Word was with God” and that “the Word was God.” “With God” is in God, since wisdom is in love and love is in wisdom. This is like the statement elsewhere in John, “Glorify me, Father, together with yourself, with the glory I had with you before the world existed” (John 17:5). “With yourself” is “in yourself.” This is why it adds “and the Word was God.” It says elsewhere that the Lord is in the Father and the Father is in him [John 14:10], and that the Father and he are one [John 10:30].

Since the Word is the divine wisdom of the divine love, it follows that it is Jehovah himself and therefore the Lord, the one by whom all things were made that were made, since everything was created out of divine love by means of divine wisdom.

4710. 'Go, and I will send you to them' means that it would teach Divine spiritual forms of good. This is clear from the representation of 'Joseph' as the Lord's Divine Spiritual, dealt with in 4669, 4708. When this Spiritual is said 'to be sent', the teaching of Divine spiritual forms of good is meant. In the internal sense 'being sent' means coming out and going forth, 2397, and also at the same time means teaching; here therefore Divine spiritual forms of good which go forth from the Lord's Divine Spiritual are meant Divine spiritual forms of good are attributes of love and charity, whereas Divine spiritual truths are attributes of faith derived from love and charity. Anyone who teaches those forms of good also teaches these truths, for these truths derive from and have reference to those forms of good. The fact that 'being sent' means going forth and teaching may be seen from many places in the Word. It may be seen in the phrase used many times, that the Lord 'was sent from the Father', meaning that He came forth from Him, that is, from Divine Good. It may also be seen in references to the Lord sending the Paraclete or the Spirit of truth, meaning that holy truth goes forth from Him. The prophets too 'were sent', and by this is meant that they were to teach that which goes forth from the Lord. Anyone may confirm these matters from the Word, for they occur frequently there.