The Bible

 

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

Study

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


To continue browsing while you listen, play the audio in a new window.

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 Revealed #93

Study this Passage

  
/ 962  
  

93. "'Who was dead, and is alive.'" This symbolically means that He has been disregarded in the church and His humanity not acknowledged to be Divine, even though in respect to it, too, He alone is life and the only source of eternal life.

That this is the meaning may be seen in nos. 58-60 above, where these words have been explained.

This statement and the one immediately preceding it are made because the primary falsity of the people described by this church is their failure to acknowledge the Lord's Divine humanity, and therefore they do not go to Him.

  
/ 962  
  

Many thanks to the General Church of the New Jerusalem, and to Rev. N.B. Rogers, translator, for the permission to use this translation.