Divine Love and Wisdom #358
358. Angelic Wisdom about Divine Love
Part 5
The Lord has created and formed within us two vessels and dwellings for himself called volition and discernment. Volition is for his divine love and discernment for his divine wisdom. I have already discussed the divine love and wisdom of God the Creator, who is the Lord from eternity, and I have discussed the creation of the universe. Now I need to say something about our own creation.
We read that we were created in the image of God and according to his likeness (Genesis 1:26). In this passage "the image of God" means divine wisdom and "the likeness of God" means divine love, since wisdom is nothing more than the image of love. Love actually presents itself to view and to recognition in wisdom, and since that is where we see and recognize it, wisdom is its image. Then too, love is the reality of life and wisdom is its consequent manifestation. This "image and likeness" of God is strikingly visible in angels. Love shining from within is their faces and wisdom in their beauty, with beauty as the form of their love. I have seen this, and I have come to know it.
Arcana Coelestia #1373
1373. Verse 31 And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot, the son of Haran, his son's son, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, the wife of Abram his son; and they set out together from Ur of the Chaldeans to go into the land of Canaan. And they came as far as Haran and remained there. These words mean that people whose worship was idolatrous received instruction in the celestial and spiritual things of faith in order that from them a representative Church might come into being.