The Bible

 

John 5:25-29 : The End is the New Beginning

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25 Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.

26 For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself;

27 And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man.

28 Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,

29 And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.

Commentary

 

The End is the New Beginning

By Junchol Lee


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We use a calendar that has 12 months and 365 days in it. As it nears December 31st, we feel as though something is getting close to an end, and yet on January 1st it feels like a new beginning. Our life is composed of many endings and beginnings. We may live one life, but within this one life we have many different journeys.

(References: Habakkuk 3:17)

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Apocalypse Explained #49

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49. And the [patient] expectation of Jesus Christ, signifies where there is knowledge of the Lord's Divine in His Human. This is evident from the signification of "the expectation of Jesus Christ," as being the coming of the time when the church shall know the Lord; and the church knows the Lord when it acknowledges the Divine in His Human. That by "Jesus Christ" is meant the Lord in respect to the Divine in His Human, see above n. 26. The church of which this is said is the church that is to come after the present one, for it is said "in the expectation. "

The church that is at this day knows, indeed, that the Divine is in the Human of the Lord; for it knows that according to the accepted doctrine, the Divine and the Human are not two but one person; also that they are like soul and body in man (See above, n. 10, 26). And yet it does not know that the Lord's Human is Divine, for it separates the one from the other, as is clear from this, that those who are of the church do not admit the expression "Divine Human;" also that they approach the Father, that He may have compassion for the sake of the Son when yet the Divine Itself in heaven is the Divine Human (See the work on Heaven and Hell 78-86). And because this knowledge and acknowledgment have thus perished, and yet it is the chief thing of all things of the church, as it is the chief thing of all things in heaven, therefore a new church is being established by the Lord among the nations, where this is not only known but also acknowledged. This, then, is what is signified by "the expectation of Jesus Christ."

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Foundation for their permission to use this translation.