29. Verses 11-12 And God said, Let the earth cause tender plants to spring up, seed-bearing plants, fruit trees bearing fruit, each according to its kind, in which is its seed, upon the earth; and it was so. And the earth brought forth tender herbs, seed-bearing plants, each according to its kind, and trees bearing fruit, in which is their seed, each according to its kind; and God saw that it was good.

Once the earth or the individual has been made ready in such a way that he can receive from the Lord heavenly seeds and produce some measure of good and truth, the Lord first of all causes something tender to spring up, which is: called 'a tender plant', then something more useful which reproduces itself and is called 'a seed-bearing plant', and finally something good which bears fruit and is called 'a tree bearing fruit' in which is its seed, 'each one according to its kind'. The person who is being regenerated is at first such as imagines that any good he does comes from himself, and that any truth he utters comes from himself; but the fact of the matter is that all good and all truth come from the Lord. Consequently anyone who imagines that these originate in himself does not as yet have the life that belongs to true faith, though he is able to receive it later on. Indeed he is not yet able to believe that they come from the Lord because his state is one of preparation for receiving the life inherent in faith. That state is represented in these verses by plant life, the subsequent state, when the life inherent in faith is present, by living creatures.

[2] The Lord Himself saw fit to tell us that He is 'the sower', that 'the seed' is His Word, and that 'the earth' is man, Matthew 13:19-24, 37-39; Mark 4:14-21; Luke 8:11-16. He describes the matter again in a similar way,

The kingdom of God is like a man casting seed into the ground, and sleeping and rising night and day, and the seed sprouts and springs up, he knows not how; for the earth bears fruit of itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full corn in the ear. Mark 4:26-28.

In the universal sense, 'the kingdom of God' is used to mean the whole of heaven, in the less universal sense the Lord's true Church, and in particular every individual who has true faith, that is, who has been regenerated by means of the life that inheres in faith. For that reason the individual is also called 'heaven', for heaven is within him, and 'the kingdom of God', since that too is within him. This the Lord Himself teaches through Luke,

Jesus was asked by the Pharisees, When is the kingdom of God coming? He answered them and said, The kingdom of God is not coming with observation, nor will people say, Behold, here it is! or, Behold, there! for behold, the kingdom of God is within you. Luke 17:20-21.

This is the third stage of a person's regeneration, a state when he is repentant. It is like passing from shadow into the light, or from evening to morning, and this is why it is said in Verse 13, And there was evening, and there was morning, a third day.

4931. CORRESPONDENCE WITH THE GRAND MAN - continued

IN THIS SECTION THE CORRESPONDENCE OF THE HANDS, THE ARMS, THE FEET, AND THE LOINS WITH IT

It has been shown already that the whole of heaven bears resemblance to a human being, together with each of his organs, members, and viscera. It has been shown too that this is so because heaven bears resemblance to the Lord; for the Lord is the All in all of heaven, so much its All that, properly speaking, heaven is essentially Divine Good and Divine Truth received from the Lord. For this reason heaven is distinguished into many so to speak separate provinces, as many as there are in a person's viscera, organs, and members, with which also there is a correspondence. Unless such a correspondence existed of the human being with heaven, and through heaven with the Lord, he could not remain in existence for even a single moment, all things being held in connection with one another by means of influx.

[2] But all those provinces are linked to two kingdoms - the celestial kingdom and the spiritual kingdom. The first of these - the celestial kingdom - is the kingdom of the heart within the Grand Man; the second - the spiritual kingdom - is the kingdom of the lungs there. And in the same way as in the human being, the heart reigns, and so do the lungs, in every single part of the Grand Man. These two kingdoms combine in a marvellous way. Their combination likewise is represented in the combination of the heart and lungs in the human being, and in the combined workings of the two within each member and interior organ.

[3] While a person is an embryo, that is, while still in the womb, he is in the kingdom of the heart. But once he has struggled out of the womb he enters the kingdom of the lungs. Then, if he allows the truths of faith to lead him into the good of love, he returns from the kingdom of the lungs within the Grand Man to the kingdom of the heart. For thereby he enters the womb a second time and is born again. Once again those two kingdoms become combined in him, but the order has been turned around. Previously the kingdom of the heart in him was under the control of the lungs, but now the kingdom of the lungs comes under the control of the heart. That is, first of all the truth of faith has dominion in him, but afterwards the good of charity does so. For the correspondence of the heart with the good of love and that of the lungs with the truth of faith, see 3635, 3883-3896.