293. (Verse 11) Saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power. That this signifies merit and justice pertaining to the Divine Human of the Lord, and that from it is all Divine truth, Divine good and salvation, is evident from the signification of thou art worthy, O Lord, as being the merit and justice pertaining to the Lord's Divine Human, concerning which we shall speak presently; and from the signification of glory and honour, when said of the Lord, as being Divine truth and Divine good which are from Him (concerning which see above, n. 288); and from the signification of power as being salvation. The reason why power here signifies salvation is that all Divine power respects salvation as an end; for a man is reformed, and afterwards introduced into heaven, and is there withheld from evil and falsity and held in good and truth, from the Divine power; and this no one can do but the Lord alone. Those who claim that power to themselves, are entirely ignorant of what salvation means, for they do not know what reformation is, nor what constitutes heaven with man; and to claim to themselves the Lord's power, is to claim power over the Lord Himself, which power is called the power of darkness (Luke 22:53).

[2] That power, when said of the Lord, has chiefly respect to salvation, is evident from the following passages, as in John:

Jesus said, "Father thou hast given" to the Son "power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him" (17:2).

Again:

"As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name" (1:12).

Again:

"I am the vine, ye are the branches; he that abideth in me and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit; for without me ye can do nothing" (15:5).

In Mark:

"They were astonished at his doctrine; for he taught them as one having authority" (1:22).

And in Luke:

"With authority and power he commandeth the unclean Spirits, and they come out" (4:36).

The same may be seen in many other passages.

The Lord also has power over all things, because He is God alone; but the salvation of the human race is the principal object of power, because for the sake of that the heavens and all worlds were created, and salvation is the reception of the Divine proceeding.

[3] The reason why by thou art worthy, O Lord, is signified the merit and justice which pertain to the Lord's Divine Human is that the words signify that He merited; and the merit of the Lord consists in the circumstance that when He was in the world He subjugated the hells and reduced to order all things in the heavens, and that He glorified His Human, and this from His own power, and thus saved all the human race who believe in Him, that is, who love to do His precepts (see John 1:12, 13). This merit is also called justice in the Word, and the Lord as to His Divine Human is thence called Jehovah our Justice (Jeremiah 23:5, 6; 33:15, 16). (Concerning this merit, or this justice of the Lord, more may be seen in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 293, 294; and in the references to Arcana Coelestia there, n. 300-306).

294. The Lord tells us in John that he gained control over the hells: as his suffering on the cross was impending, Jesus said, "Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out" (John 12:27, 28, 31); and again, "Take heart! I have overcome the world" (John 16:33); and in Isaiah, "‘Who is this who is coming from Edom, approaching in the immensity of his strength, and having the power to save?' ‘My own arm brought about salvation for me. ' Therefore he became their Savior" (Isaiah 63:1-19; 59:16-21).

He also tells us in John that he glorified his human nature and that the suffering on the cross was his last crisis of the spirit and the complete victory that brought about his glorification:

After Judas went out, Jesus said, "Now the Son of Humanity is glorified, and God will glorify him in himself and glorify him immediately. " (John 13:31, 32)

And again,

Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, so that your Son may also glorify you. (John 17:1, 5)

And again,

"Now my soul is troubled. Father, glorify your name. " And a voice came from heaven, saying, "I both have glorified it and will glorify it again. " (John 12:27, 28)

Also in Luke,

Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer this and enter into his glory? (Luke 24:26)

He made these statements concerning his suffering on the cross. To "glorify" is to make divine. ¹

This now shows that unless the Lord had come into the world and become human and in this way had freed from hell all who believe in him and love him, no human being could have been saved. That is how to understand the statement that there is no salvation apart from the Lord [Acts 4:12].

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