50. What the Most Ancient Church understood by 'the image of the Lord' exceeds everything one can say about it. Man is totally unaware of the fact that the Lord is governing him by means of angels and spirits, and that at least two spirits and two angels are present with everyone. By means of the spirits he is in communication with the world of spirits, and by means of the angels with heaven. Without this communication with the world of spirits by means of the spirits, and with heaven by means of the angels, and so by means of heaven with the Lord, a person cannot exist at all. His entire life depends upon that link, and if the spirits and angels were to withdraw he would perish instantly.

[2] As long as a person remains unregenerate he is governed in an entirely different way from when he is regenerate. As long as he is unregenerate, evil spirits reside with him, who have such dominion over him that angels, though present, can accomplish little more than simply distract him from plunging into utter evil and so divert him towards something good. Indeed they use his own unregenerate desires to divert him towards good, and his illusions of the senses to do so towards truth. At that point he is in communication with the world of spirits by means of the spirits who reside with him, but not in the same way with heaven, for the reason that evil spirits have dominion and angels simply forestall them.

[3] When however he is regenerate it is the angels who then have dominion, and they breathe into him every kind of good and truth, as well as a horror and dread of evils and falsifies. Angels do indeed lead, yet they are but servants, for it is the Lord alone who, by means of angels and spirits, governs a person. Now because this is done through the ministry of angels, it is said here, in the plural first of all, 'Let Us make man in Our image'. Yet because it is still He alone who rules and disposes, it is said in the following verse, in the singular, 'God created him in His image'. This the Lord also states plainly in Isaiah,

Thus said Jehovah, your Redeemer, He who formed you from the womb, I Jehovah make all things, stretching out the heavens Alone, spreading out the earth by Myself. Isaiah 44:24.

Angels themselves also profess that no power at all resides with themselves but that they act from the Lord alone.

3720. 'This is nothing other than the house of God' means the Lord's kingdom as it exists in the ultimate degree of order. This is clear from the meaning of 'the house of God'. In the Word 'the house of God' is referred to in many places, and in the external sense, that is, literally, it means a building where holy worship takes place. But in the internal sense it means the Church, in the more universal sense it means heaven, and in the most universal the Lord's kingdom. In the highest sense however it means the Lord Himself as regards the Divine Human. But in the Word sometimes the expression 'House of God' is used and sometimes 'Temple'. The two are similar in meaning, the difference being that the expression 'House of God' is used when the subject is good but 'temple' when the subject is truth. From this it is evident that 'the House of God' means the Lord's celestial Church, and in the more universal sense the heaven of celestial angels, in the most universal the Lord's celestial kingdom, and in the highest sense the Lord as regards Divine Good; whereas 'the Temple' means the Lord's spiritual Church, and in the more universal sense the heaven of spiritual angels, in the most universal the Lord's spiritual kingdom, and in the highest the Lord as regards Divine Truth, see 2048. The reason why 'the House of God' means that which is celestial and the dwelling-place of good, while 'the Temple' means that which is spiritual and the dwelling-place of truth, is that 'a house' in the Word means good, see 710, 2233, 2559, 3128, 3652, and among the most ancient people used to be built of pieces of wood for the reason that 'wood' meant good, 643, 1110, 2784, 2812, whereas 'the Temple' means truth because it was built of stones - 'stones' meaning truths, see 643, 1296, 1298.

[2] These meanings that 'pieces of wood' and 'stones' possess are clear not only from the Word where they are mentioned but also from representatives in the next life. For people who assume that merit lies in good works seem to themselves to be cutting wood, and those who assume that it lies in truths, that is to say, people who have believed that they knew more truths than anybody else and yet have lived wickedly, seem to themselves to be breaking up stones. I have often seen such people wood-cutting or stone-breaking, from which the meaning of 'wood' and of 'stone' was made clear to me - that good is meant by 'wood' and truth by 'stone'. It has in like manner been made clear to me from the fact that when I have seen a wooden house the concept of good has instantly presented itself, and when I have seen a stone house the concept of truth has done so. And I have also learned from angels about this matter. This is why, when in the Word 'the House of God' is mentioned, the concept of good presents itself to angels, the kind of good depending on the nature of the subject that is being dealt with. And when 'the Temple' is mentioned, the concept of truth presents itself, the kind of truth depending on the subject that is being dealt with. From this one may also deduce how deeply and inwardly concealed the heavenly arcana lie in the Word.

[3] The reason 'the House of God' here means the Lord's kingdom as it exists in the ultimate degree of order is that the subject is Jacob who, as often shown already, represents the Lord's Divine Natural. The natural exists in the ultimate degree of order, for the natural encompasses all interior degrees and includes them all together within itself. And since they are included all together within the natural, and so countless things are beheld as a single whole, obscurity exists there compared with other degrees. This obscurity too has been dealt with frequently.