2854. 'Because you have hearkened to My voice' means through the union of the Lord's Human Essence with His Divine Essence. This becomes clear from all that has gone before and to which these words form a conclusion. 'Hearkening to the voice' means that He underwent the final degree of temptation and in so doing united the Human Essence to the Divine Essence. The fact that the Lord united the Human to the Divine, and the Divine to the Human, by means of constantly occurring temptations and victories, see 1737, 1813, and that by means of that union He saved the human race, 1676 (end), 1990, 2016, 2025. The entire state of salvation in which the human race is kept is due to that union. It is commonly supposed that the Father sent the Son to endure the harshest sufferings, even to death on the Cross, and thus that by seeing the passion and merit of His Son would be merciful to the human race. But anyone may recognize that Jehovah is not merciful to the human race on account of what He may see the Son to have done, for Jehovah is mercy itself, but that the arcanum regarding the Lord's Coming into the world is that within Himself He united the Divine to the Human, and the Human to the Divine, which union could not have been effected except through the very bitter experiences brought about by temptations. And from this anyone may also recognize that by means of that union it was possible for salvation to come to the human race among whom no celestial or spiritual good, not even natural good, remained any longer. It is this union which saves those who possess the faith that is rooted in charity. It is the Lord Himself who shows mercy.

1737. 'Who has delivered your enemies into your hand' means victory. This becomes clear without explanation. The joining of the Human Essence to the Divine Essence was brought about and effected by the Lord by means of constant conflicts that constitute temptations, and by victories; and He did all this from His own power. Anyone who conceives the manner of conjunction and union to be different from that is much mistaken. This was the way in which He became Righteousness. The conjunction or union was effected with the celestial element of love, that is, with Love itself, which, as has been stated, is Jehovah. The joining of men to the Lord is also effected by means of temptations and by the implanting of faith in love. Unless faith is implanted in love, that is, unless a person by means of things that belong to faith receives the life of faith, which is charity, conjunction is not possible. This alone is what 'to follow Him' implies, namely to be joined to the Lord, even as the Lord as regards His Human Essence was joined to Jehovah. For the same reason all such people are called sons of God - from the Lord who is the only Son of God - and become images of Him.