The Bible

 

Genesis 1

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1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.

5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first Day.

6 And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.

7 And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.

8 And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.

9 And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.

10 And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.

11 And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.

12 And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

13 And the evening and the morning were the third day.

14 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:

15 And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.

16 And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.

17 And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,

18 And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good.

19 And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.

20 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.

21 And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

22 And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.

23 And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.

24 And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.

25 And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

29 And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.

30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.

31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Doctrine of the Lord #33

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33. The Lord made His humanity Divine through temptations or trials that He underwent and by continual victories then. This we discussed in nos. 1214 above. To that we need only add the following:

Temptations or trials are nothing but battles against evils and falsities, and because evils and falsities originate from hell, they are also battles against hell. Moreover, present in people who are undergoing spiritual trials are evil spirits from hell, who induce those trials. No one is aware that it is evil spirits inducing the temptations or trials. Yet that such is the case is something I have been given to know from a good deal of experience.

[2] That is why, when a person by the Lord’s power overcomes in temptations or trials, he is withdrawn from hell and raised into heaven. It is why through trials or battles against evils a person becomes a spiritual being, thus an angel.

The Lord, on the other hand, fought against the hells by His own power, and completely subdued and overcame them. And by at the same time glorifying His humanity, He kept them subdued and overcome to eternity.

[3] In fact, before the Lord’s advent, the hells had risen to such a height that they began to harass even the angels in heaven, and likewise every person coming into the world and departing from the world. The hells rose to such a height because the church was completely destroyed, people in the world were by their idolatries caught up in nothing but falsities and evils, and the hells are composed of people. As a consequence, if the Lord had not come into the world, no mortal could have been saved.

Regarding these battles of the Lord, much is said in the Psalms of David and in the Prophets, but little in the Gospels. These battles are those meant by the temptations and trials that the Lord endured, the last of which was the suffering of the cross.

[4] It is because of those battles that the Lord is called the Savior and Redeemer. This is so well known in the church that people say that the Lord conquered death or the devil, that is, hell, and that He rose victorious. Moreover, that without the Lord there is no salvation.

That He also glorified His humanity and thereby became the Savior, Redeemer, Reformer and Regenerator to eternity, will be seen hereafter.

[5] That the Lord became the Savior through battles or trials is apparent from the numerous passages cited in nos. 12-14 above, and from this one as well in Isaiah:

...the day of vengeance is in My heart, and the year of My redeemed has come.... I have trodden (them) down in My anger..., and brought down their victory to the earth.... So He became their Savior. (Isaiah 63:4, 6, 8)

The Lord’s battles are the subject in this chapter. And in Psalms:

Lift up your heads, O you gates! And be lifted up, you doors of the world, that the King of glory may come in! Who is this King of glory? Jehovah strong and a hero, Jehovah a hero of war. (Psalms 24:7-8)

This, too, refers to the Lord.

  
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Published by the General Church of the New Jerusalem, 1100 Cathedral Road, Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania 19009, U.S.A. A translation of Doctrina Novae Hierosolymae de Domino, by Emanuel Swedenborg, 1688-1772. Translated from the Original Latin by N. Bruce Rogers. ISBN 9780945003687, Library of Congress Control Number: 2013954074.

The Bible

 

John 12:46

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46 I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness.