The Bible

 

Genesis 1:14

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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:

From Swedenborg's Works

 

True Christian Religion #20

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20. (ii) THE ONE GOD IS SUBSTANCE ITSELF AND FORM ITSELF, AND ANGELS AND MEN ARE SUBSTANCES AND FORMS DERIVED FROM HIM; TO THE EXTENT THAT THEY ARE IN HIM AND HE IN THEM, SO FAR ARE THEY IMAGES AND LIKENESSES OF HIM.

Since God is Being, He is also substance, for unless being is substance, it is an imaginary entity, for substance is a subsisting entity. One who is substance must also be form, for substance without form is an imaginary entity. Both can therefore be predicated of God, but on condition that He is the sole, very and prime substance and form. It was proved in THE WISDOM OF THE ANGELS ON THE DIVINE LOVE AND THE DIVINE WISDOM (published at Amsterdam in 1763) that this form is the very form of man, that is, God is very man, and all of his attributes are infinite; and likewise that angels and men are substances and forms created and ordered so as to receive the Divine influences reaching them through heaven. In the Book of Creation they are therefore called images and likenesses of God (Genesis 1:26-27); elsewhere they are called His sons and begotten of Him. It will be proved at length in the course of this book that in so far as a man lives under Divine guidance, that is, allows himself to be led by God, so far does he become, more and more inwardly, an image of God.

[2] If the minds of men did not form the idea that God is prime substance and form, and that His form is the very form of man, they would easily fall into fantastic, ghost-like, ideas about God Himself, the origin of man and the creation of the world. They could not avoid thinking of God as the primeval nature of the universe, and consequently as its expanse, or as it were a void or nothingness. They would think of the origin of man as if it were a fortuitous concourse of atoms to make such a form; of the creation of the world as owing its substances and forms to geometric points and lines, which since they lack attributes are in themselves non-existent. In the case of such people everything relating to the church is like the river Styx or the thick darkness of Tartarus.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.

Commentary

 

#65 Jesus the Creator, Jehovah the Redeemer: Understanding the Holy Trinity

By Jonathan S. Rose

Title: Jesus the Creator, Jehovah the Redeemer

Topic: Trinity/Unity

Summary: We explore the unity and trinity in God--how the "Father" relates to the "Son," the "Word," and the "Holy Spirit." Fairly absurd concrete analogies are brought to bear on these important but mystical truths.

Use the reference links below to follow along in the Bible as you watch.

References:
Deuteronomy 30:11-14
Matthew 28:19
1 John 5:7-8
Genesis 1:26-27
Job 19:25
Psalms 19:14; 78:35; 130:7-8
Isaiah 43:1, 3, 11; 44:6
Revelation 1:11, 17; 22:13
Isaiah 44:22-24; Isaiah 48:17, Isaiah 48:20; 49:7, 26; 54:5, 8; 59:20; 60:6; 63:16
Jeremiah 50
Hosea 13:14
Micah 4:10
John 1:1, 3, 14
Ephesians 3:9
Colossians 1:15-17
Hebrews 1:1-2
Revelation 4:11; 11:8
Isaiah 9:6

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Spirit and Life Bible Study broadcast from 11/2/2011. The complete series is available at: www.spiritandlifebiblestudy.com