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

 

Arcana Coelestia #4523

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4523. THE CORRESPONDENCE OF THE EYE AND OF LIGHT WITH THE GRAND MAN - continued

Everyone who has any knowledge about air and sound may know that the formation of the ear is determined wholly and completely by the nature of the modifications of these, so that the actual physical and material ear corresponds to such modifications. And everyone who has acquired any knowledge concerning the atmosphere and light knows that the actual physical and material eye is formed in such a way that it corresponds to the modifications of these. So perfectly do the ear and the eye correspond to them that any arcanum hidden within the natural existence of air and sound is inscribed on the organism of the ear, and any arcanum hidden within the existence of the atmosphere and light is inscribed on the organism of the eye.

[2] Consequently anyone who has studied anatomy and at the same time physics may know by investigation that other physical and material organs - not merely the sensory but also the motor ones, as well as the internal organs - correspond to things that are part of the natural world. Thus the whole body is an organ composed of the deepest arcana belonging to everything which exists within the natural world, and its formation is determined by the hidden forces by which all things act and the wonderful manner in which they flow. This was why the ancients called the human being a little world or microcosm.

[3] One who knows these things may also know that whatever exists in the world and in the natural system does not come into being of itself but from something prior to itself; and that this something prior cannot come into being of itself but from something even more prior; and so on back to Him who is the First, from whom in their ordered sequence things come into being. And because they come into being from Him they are also kept in being from Him, for being kept in being is constant coming into being. Consequently all things without exception, right down to the last that belong to the natural order, have not only come into being from the First but are also being kept in being from the First. For if every single thing were not constantly coming into being, and if this continuous connection extending from the First and so linked to the First did not exist, it would instantly fall to pieces and perish.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.