294. For Thou hast created all things, signifies that from Him are all existence and life, and heaven also for those who receive. This is evident from the signification of "to create," as being not only that all things came into existence from the Lord, but also that all life is from Him; and as the spiritual sense of the Word treats only of heaven and the church, therefore "to create" signifies primarily here to reform, thus to give heaven to those who receive, for this is to reform. That the existence of all things is from the Lord, see in the work on Heaven and Hell 7-12, 137); and that all life is from the Lord (n. 9); and in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 278). But here "to create" does not signify natural existence and life, but spiritual existence and life; and this is what is everywhere signified in the Word by "creating;" and for the reason that the existence of heaven and earth is not the end of creation, but a means to the end; the end of creation is that the human race may exist so that from it there may be an angelic heaven; and as this is the end, "to create" signifies to reform, which is to give heaven to those who receive. In the spiritual sense of the Word ends are meant, but in the sense of the letter only the means that involve the ends are spoken of; in this way the spiritual lies hid in the letter of the Word.

[2] That "to create" signifies to reform and regenerate men, and thus to establish the church, can be seen from the passages in the Word where this term occurs, as in the following. In Isaiah:

I will give in the wilderness the cedar of Shittah, and the myrtle, and the oil tree; that they may see and know, and consider and understand together, that the hand of Jehovah hath done this, and the Holy One of Israel hath created it (Isaiah 41:19, 20).

This treats of the establishment of the church among the Gentiles; "wilderness" signifies the absence of good, because of the ignorance of truth, for every good into which man is reformed is given only through truths; "the cedar of shittah" signifies genuine truth; "the myrtle and the oil tree" signify spiritual good and celestial good; whence it is clear what is signified by, "I will give in the wilderness the cedar of shittah, and the myrtle, and the oil tree," when the Gentiles that are not in the good of heaven and of the church, because in ignorance of the truth, are treated of; "that they may see and know, and consider and understand together," signifies the knowledges, understanding, perception, and affection, that are of the love of good and truth; from this signification it is clear that "the Holy One of Israel hath created it" signifies reformation, the that "to create" is to reform.

[3] In the same:

Thus said Jehovah thy Creator, O Jacob, and thy Former, O Israel, for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art Mine. Bring My sons from far, and My daughters from the end of the earth, everyone that is called by My name; into My glory I have created, I have formed, and I have made him. I am Jehovah your Holy One, the Creator of Israel, your King (Isaiah 43:1, 6, 7, 15).

This also treats of the establishment of a church among the Gentiles; and with reference to their reformation Jehovah is called "Creator" and "Former;" therefore it is said, "I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name, thou art Mine." "Bring My sons from far, and My daughters from the end of the earth," signifies the Gentiles that are outside of the church, but that receive the truths and goods of the church from the Lord; "from far" and "from the end of the earth" signify those who are outside of the church, "earth (or land)" meaning the church, "sons" those who receive truths, and "daughters" those who receive goods. These are said to be "created, formed, and made into glory," "glory" meaning the Divine truth that they receive.

[4] In David:

Create for me a clean heart, O God, and renew a firm spirit in the midst of me (Psalms 51:10).

"To create a clean heart" signifies to reform in respect to the good of love; "to renew a firm spirit in the midst of me" signifies to reform in respect to the truth of faith; for "heart" signifies the good of love, and "spirit" a life according to the Divine truth, which is the faith of truth.

[5] In the same:

Wherefore hast Thou created in vain the sons of man? where are Thy former mercies? (Psalms 89:47, 49).

"To create the sons of man" signifies to reform through Divine truth; "the sons of man" are those who are in Divine truths, thus, abstractly, Divine truths.

[6] In the same:

The nations shall fear the name of Jehovah, and all the kings of the earth Thy glory, because Jehovah hath built up Zion. This shall be written for the generation to come; and a people that shall be created shall praise Jah (Psalms 102:15, 16, 18). This treats of reformation; "the nations that shall fear the name of Jehovah" mean those who are in good; and "the kings of the earth" those who are in truths from good; "to build up Zion" signifies to establish the church, "Zion" meaning the church "the people that shall be created and shall praise Jah" signifies all those who are reformed.

[7] In the same:

Thou givest to them, they gather; Thou openest Thine hand, they are satisfied with good. Thou sendest forth Thy spirit, they are created; and Thou renewest the faces of the earth (Psalms 104:28, 30).

It is plain here that "to create" means to reform; for "Jehovah giveth to them, they gather," signifies that they receive the truths that are given by the Lord; "Thou openest Thine hand, they are filled with good," signifies that they receive the good that flows in from the Lord; "Thou sendest forth Thy spirit, they are created," signifies that in respect to the life they are reformed according to Divine truth; "and Thou renewest the faces of the earth" signifies the establishment of the church.

[8] In Isaiah:

Lift up your eyes on high, and see; who hath created these? He that bringeth out their host in number, that calleth them all by name: God from eternity; Jehovah, the Creator of the ends of the earth, wearieth not (Isaiah 40:26, 28).

This also treats of reformation, which is signified by "creating;" "the host that Jehovah doth bring out" signifies all truths and goods; "to call by name" signifies reception according to each one's quality; "to create the ends of the earth" signifies to establish the church, thus to reform those who are therein.

[9] In Ezekiel:

Thou hast been in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering; in the day that thou wast created they were prepared. Thou wast perfect in thy ways in ¹ the day that thou wast created, until perversity was found in thee (Ezekiel 28:13, 15).

This is said of the king of Tyre, by whom those who are in truths and through truths are in good are signified; of such it is said that they "have been in the garden of God, and that every precious stone was their covering;" "garden of God" signifies intelligence, and the "precious stones" here named signify the knowledges of truth and good; these are called a "covering" because they are in the natural man, and the natural man covers the spiritual; these are said to have "been prepared in the day that they were created," that is, in the day that they were reformed. This makes clear what is signified by "thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day thou wast created."

[10] In Isaiah:

Jehovah will create over every dwelling place of Mount Zion, and over her assemblies, a cloud by day, and the brightness of a flame of fire by night; for over all the glory shall be a covering (Isaiah 4:5).

"Zion" signifies the church in respect to the Word; the internal or spiritual sense of the Word in respect to good is meant by its "dwelling place;" the external or literal sense in respect to truths is meant by "the cloud by day," and in respect to good by "the brightness of the flame of fire by night." Because this sense covers and hides the spiritual sense it is called "a covering over all the glory," "glory" meaning the spiritual sense; these are said to be "created" because they are the truths of heaven and the church.

[11] In Malachi:

Hath not one God created us? wherefore do we act perfidiously? (Malachi 2:10).

Here "hath created us" signifies hath reformed that they might be a church; therefore it is said, "wherefore do we act perfidiously?"

[12] In Isaiah:

Thus said God Jehovah, He hath created the heavens, and spreadeth them out; He that stretcheth out the earth; He that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein (Isaiah 42:5).

"Creating the heavens and spreading them out" and "stretching out the earth" signifies to reform; "the heavens" signify both the heavens and the internals of the church; for the internals of the church are the heavens with the men that are in them; "the earth" signifies the external of the church, which is said to be "spread out" and "stretched out" when truths from good are multiplied. It is plain that reformation by truths is signified, for it is said, "He that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein. "

[13] In the same:

Jehovah, creating the heavens, forming the earth and making it; He hath not created it a void. He formed it to be inhabited (Isaiah 45:12, 18).

"The heavens," "the earth," and "to create" have a like signification here as in the passage adduced above; "He hath not created it a void" signifies that it is not without truth and good, in which those are that have been reformed; lack of these is a void; "He hath formed it to be inhabited" signifies that they should live according to good and truth and from them, for "to inhabit" signifies to live.

[14] In the same:

Behold, I create a new heaven and a new earth. Rejoice and exult for ever in that which I create; behold, I will create Jerusalem an exultation, and her people a joy (Isaiah 65:17-18).

"To create a new heaven and a new earth" does not mean a visible heaven and a habitable earth, but a new church, internal and external; "heaven" meaning the internal of the church, and "earth" its external. (What the internal of the church is, and what the external, see in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 246.) It is therefore said, "Behold, I will create Jerusalem an exultation, and her people a joy;" "Jerusalem" is the church, "exultation" its delight from good, and "joy" its delight from truth.

[15] "The new heavens and the new earth" in the same prophet (Isaiah 66:22), and in Revelation (Revelation 21:1) have a like signification; also the following in the first chapter of Genesis:

In the beginning Jehovah created heaven and earth. And the earth was void and empty; and darkness was upon the faces of the deep. And the spirit of God moved upon the faces of the earth. ² And God said, Let there be light; and there was light. And God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them (Genesis 1:1-3, 27).

This treats of the establishment of the first church on this earth; the reformation of the men of that church in respect to their internal and their external is meant in this chapter by the creation of the heaven and the earth. That previously there was no church, because men were without good and truth, is signified by "the earth was void and empty;" and that they were previously in dense ignorance and also in falsities, is signified by "darkness was upon the faces of the deep;" their first enlightenment is signified by "the spirit of God moved upon the faces of the waters," and by "God said, Let there be light, and there was light;" "the spirit of God" signifies Divine truth proceeding from the Lord, and "to move upon the faces of the waters" signifies illustration; the like is signified by "light;" "and there was light" signifies the reception of Divine truth; "God created man into His own image" signifies so that man might be in the love of good and truth, and might correspond to heaven as a likeness of it, since the love of good and truth is "an image of God;" therefore also the angelic heaven is "an image of God;" consequently the angelic heaven in the Lord's sight is as one man (See in the work on Heaven and Hell 59-67, 68-72, 73-77, 78-86, 87-102).

"Male and female created He them" signifies that He reformed them in respect to truth and good, "male" means truth, and "female" good. This makes clear that this and the following chapter describe not the creation of heaven and earth, but the new creation or reformation of the men of the first church, and that like things are meant by "the new heaven and the new earth" and their "creation" in the passages cited just above.

[16] That "creation" in the Word signifies the reformation and establishment of the church, which is effected by means of the Divine truth that proceeds from the Lord, is plain from the following. In John:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and God was the Word. All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that hath been made. In Him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in the darkness, and the darkness apprehended it not. That was the true Light, which lighteth every man coming into the world. The world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory (John 1:1-5, 9-10, 14).

"The Word" means here the Lord in respect to Divine truth; that all things were created by Divine truth is meant by "All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that hath been made;" also by "the world was made by Him." Since "the Word" means the Lord in respect to Divine truth it is said, "In Him was life, and the life was the light of men; that it was the true light," "light" signifying Divine truth, and "life" all intelligence and wisdom from Divine truth; for this constitutes man's very life, and eternal life also is in accordance therewith. The Lord's presence with everyone with His Divine truth, from which are life and light, is meant by "the light shineth in the darkness, and lighteth every man coming into the world;" but that those who are in the falsities of evil do not perceive it, thus do not receive it, is meant by "the darkness apprehended it not," and by "the world knew Him not;" for "darkness" signifies the falsities of evil. It is very plain that it is the Lord in respect to the Divine Human that is here meant by "the Word," for it is said, "And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory," "glory" also signifying the Divine truth. (That all things were created by Divine truth proceeding from the Lord, which is here meant by "the Word," see in the work on Heaven and Hell 137[1-4], 139; and in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 263.) This also makes clear that "to make" or "to create" here also signifies to make man new, or to reform him; for here, like as in the book of Genesis, "light" is immediately mentioned, which signifies Divine truth proceeding, by which all are reformed (See in the work on Heaven and Hell 126-140; and in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 49).

Footnotes:

The first book of the Bible is "Genesis", which means "creation". It's a very, very ancient story - one of the oldest stories of humankind, and it's full of symbolic meaning that - still - gets to the core of what it is to be truly human.

The first three days of creation describe the development of the natural degree of man's life. They come first as a preparation for the opening of the spiritual degree of our minds. The creation of the grass, herbs, and trees took place on the third day, and constitutes the third step in regeneration. The creation of the fowl and fish was on the fifth day. Between these on the fourth day the sun, moon, and stars were created.

From the beginning man had light, for all light is from the Lord, but it was not direct light. He was not at first in the clear light of the sun, moon, and stars, which are set in the firmament. The firmament is the internal man. There is a preparation that has to be made before the internal man is opened. At first we think we see the truth and do good from ourselves. Hence only inanimate things are produced. All truth and good are from the Lord who alone is truth and goodness, and only when we come to acknowledge this can we have true love from him, true faith in Him, and true knowledge of spiritual things. These are not seen from the external or natural degree of life.

Again we should note a change of language. It was said, "Let the earth bring forth" the grass, herb, and fruit trees. Now and through the remaining days it is said that "God created." Man has a part to play in his regeneration. There must be in his mind forms into which the warmth of love and the light of faith and of spiritual truths can flow.

When the mind is so prepared, influx from the Lord can be received, with greater power. "And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven." It should be noted that it is the waters that are commanded to bring forth the moving creature that hath life, and that it is not the seas but the waters which are to produce the living creatures. The seas represent the gathering together of knowledges, but by the "waters" are meant the spiritual truths in the mind. So in the Lord's words to the woman of Samaria, "Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst" (John 4:14). In Ezekiel it is the "waters" issuing from the sanctuary that give life (Ezekiel 47:1). The Psalmist writes, "Who layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters" (Psalm 104:3). It is not in natural waters that the Lord lays the beams of His chambers. His chambers are the interior principles of His church; the beams give them support and strength. These are said to be laid in the waters because they rest and have their foundation in the genuine truths of the Word. So in Revelation the Word itself is described as a pure river of water of life.

The will faculty in man embraces all his affections and is the internal man. When the sun, moon, and stars—love, faith, and knowledges of spiritual truth—are set in this heaven and begin to impart their warmth and light to the external man, enabling him to think and act from these higher and purer principles, then the external man is gifted with a new life. There may be no apparent change in his outward conduct—he may already be living a moral life—but the motives that direct his acts will be wholly different. And it is the motive that gives character to the act as well as to the actor. He no longer thinks of the truths that he has learned, either natural or spiritual, as the product of his own mind nor of the good, that he does as the result of his own efforts, but thinks of them as wholly from the Lord, who alone is the source of all true light and life.

Before one recognizes clearly that all good and truth come from the Lord, he can bring forth only inanimate things, the grass, herb, and fruit tree, however good and useful these may be. But when he is enlightened by genuine love and faith, his knowledges become the basis for the development of spiritual life and God can create in him the living creatures that have life. First the fishes are created; then the fowl of the air. There is a difference between fishes and birds. The fishes, living in water, represent our affections for natural truths. The great whales, the largest of living creatures, are affections for the great general principles that control the mind. The principle may be either true or false. Of Pharaoh or Egypt it is written, "Thou art as a whale in the seas: and thou earnest forth with thy rivers, and troubledst the waters with thy feet, and fouled at their rivers" (Ezekiel 32:2) Here is pictured a ruling false principle from the natural degree of the mind — Egypt. That is, when the ruling principle is false, it will be a monster making the truths in the mind obscure like filthy or muddy waters.

Another example of the meaning of the whale in a bad sense is in the story of Jonah. When the principle is false it swallows up for a time all the truths that are in the mind. This is the whale swallowing Jonah the prophet. But Divine truth cannot be used by a false principle so as to become a part of its organic structure. Nor can the Divine truth perish. So the whale could not digest Jonah, nor could the prophet perish, but the whale vomited him up.

Spiritually there are whales trying to swallow prophets today, evil principles that try to use Divine truths to attain their ends. In the creation story, however, the whales are affections for the principles of natural truth for the sake of uses to the spiritual man. There is one source of genuine love. The creatures of the fifth day are living because they are animated by this love. Birds fly in the air above the earth. They have the power of flight and enjoy broader views. They represent affections for truth that rise above the natural. They are the thoughts that look at life from the heights of spiritual perception, ideas about the Lord, heaven, and spiritual things. Isaiah writes, "They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles" (Isaiah 40:31). Birds represent spiritual intelligence, the power to lift us up to understand spiritual truth in heavenly light, through which truth the Lord can impart to us something of the Divine intelligence. So at the baptism of the Lord "The heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him" (Matthew 3:16). So a new knowledge of heavenly life is given, a new perception of our possibilities, and in this higher intelligence a basis for further development is laid. This further development is pictured in the creation of the living creatures upon the earth. These are symbols of the affections. Here, too, it is said, "Let the earth bring forth" and also "And God made the beast of the earth." The creation of living animals on the earth and of man in the image and likeness of God marks the completion of the six days of creation—the six stages in regeneration. Man has first to learn what is to be believed and done and then to do it.

It is the office of the understanding to hear the Word and of the will to do it. In this way the truths are made our own, and the will and understanding make one mind. And when one begins to act from love as well as from faith, he becomes a spiritual man, who is called an image of God, and is given dominion over all things. Thus all things natural and spiritual come to be a delight to him and serviceable to him. To be an image and likeness of God one must act from impulses similar to those of God. This he cannot do until he comes into the final state of regeneration. Then he will not act from selfish motives, as does the natural man, nor from mere obedience to truth, but from love to the Lord and the neighbor. When these loves are developed and rule, to them is given the dominion over all subordinate affections and the fruits of all the growths of intelligence. These are what make man to be a man and cause him to be in the image and likeness of his Maker. Each step in the formation of a truly human character the Lord saw and pronounced good, but of the work of the sixth day it is said, "God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good."