33. (vi) EVERY CREATED OBJECT IS FINITE, AND THE INFINITE IS CONTAINED IN FINITE OBJECTS AS IN RECEIVERS, AND IN HUMAN BEINGS AS IMAGES OF IT.

Every created object is finite, because it is from Jehovah God that all things exist by means of the sun of the spiritual world, which most nearly surrounds Him; and that sun is composed of a substance which has emanated from Him, the essence of which is love. From that sun by means of its heat and light the universe, from first to last, was created; but this is not the place to expound the order of creation. A sketch of this will be given later. Here it is only important to know that one was formed from another, and that thus the three degrees were established: three in the spiritual world, and three corresponding to these in the natural world, and three more in the inert substances of which the terrestrial globe is composed. The origin and nature of those degrees have been fully expounded in my ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING THE DIVINE LOVE AND THE DIVINE WISDOM (Amsterdam, 1763) and the booklet ON THE RELATIONSHIP OF THE SOUL AND THE BODY (London, 1769). It was these degrees which made all subsequent things receivers of earlier ones, and these of yet earlier ones, and so eventually a receiver of the primordial substances which compose the sun of the heaven of angels; thus they are finite receivers of the infinite. This too is in agreement with the wisdom of the ancients, who held that everything is infinitely divisible. It is generally thought that because the finite cannot contain the infinite, finite things cannot be receivers of the infinite. But it has been established by what I have written about creation in my books that God first limited His infinity by means of substances emanating from Him, and this was the origin of the circuit most nearly surrounding Him which constitutes the sun of the spiritual world, and that by means of that sun He made the remaining circuits down to the last, which is composed of inert matter; and thus by degrees He made the world more and more limited. These remarks are made so as to satisfy the human reason, which is not happy unless it sees the cause.

2803. As regards Divine Truth being meant by 'son' and Divine Good by 'father', this becomes clear from the meaning of 'son' as truth, dealt with in 489, 491, 533, 1147, 2623, and of 'father' as good, and also from the conception and birth of truth as taking place from good. As has been shown many times, truth cannot have being or manifest itself except from good. The reason 'son' here means Divine Truth, and 'father' Divine Good, is that the union of the Divine Essence with the Human Essence, and of the Human Essence with the Divine Essence, is the Divine Marriage of Divine Good to Truth, and of Truth to Good; and from that marriage comes the heavenly marriage. For within Jehovah or the Lord there is nothing but that which is infinite, and this being so, no other idea can be conceived of Him than that He is the Being and Manifestation (Esse et Existere) of all good and truth, that is, He is Good itself and Truth itself. Good itself is the Father, and Truth itself the Son. Now because the Divine Marriage, as has been stated, is a marriage of Good and Truth, and of Truth and Good, the Father is in the Son, and the Son is in the Father, as the Lord Himself teaches in John,

Jesus said to Philip, Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? Believe Me that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me. John 14:10-11.

And elsewhere in the same evangelist,

Jesus said to the Jews, Even though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father. John 10:36, 38.

And elsewhere,

I pray for them - for all things that are Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine - that they may all be one, as You, Father, are in Me and I in You John 17:9-10, 21.

And elsewhere,

Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God glorified in Him. If God is glorified in Him, God will also glorify Him in Himself. Father, glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You. John 13:31-32; 17:1.

[2] From these places one may see the nature of the union of the Divine and of the Human within the Lord - that each is linked mutually to the other and responds to the other - that is, it is a reciprocal union. This is the Union which is called the Divine Marriage, from which the heavenly marriage comes down, which is the Lord's kingdom itself in heaven and is referred to in John as follows,

On that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. John 14:20.

And elsewhere,

I pray for these, that they may all be one, as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be one in Us, I in them and You in Me, that the love with which You have loved Me may be in them, and I in them. John 17:21-23, 26.

[3] As regards this heavenly marriage being a marriage of good and truth, and of truth and good, see 2508, 2618, 2728, 2729 and following paragraphs. And since Divine Good cannot possibly have being or manifest itself without Divine Truth, and Divine Truth cannot possibly do so without Divine Good, but one is always reaching out to and responding to the other, it is therefore plain that the Divine Marriage has existed from eternity, that is, the Father in the Son, and the Son in the Father, as the Lord Himself teaches in John,

Now, Father, glorify Me in Your Own Self with the glory I had with You before the world was. John 17:5, 24.

But the Divine Human that had been born from eternity was also born in time, and what was born in time is the same as that which was glorified. This is what accounts for the Lord's saying many times that He was going to the Father who sent Him, that is, He was returning to the Father. And in John,

In the beginning was the Word (the Word being Divine Truth itself), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made. Furthermore the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, glory as of the Only Begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:1-3, 14.

See also John 3:13; 6:62.