39. (iii) SINCE GOD IS LOVE ITSELF AND WISDOM ITSELF, HE IS LIFE ITSELF, OR LIFE IN ITSELF. 1
We read in John:
The Word was with God, and the Word was God; in Him was Life, and the Life was the light of men, John 1:14.
'God' means there the Divine Love, and 'the Word' means the Divine Wisdom; and the Divine Wisdom is truly life, and life is truly the light radiated by the sun of the spiritual world, in the midst of which is Jehovah God. The Divine Love gives shape to life, just as fire shapes light. Fire possesses two properties: that of burning and that of shining. Its burning radiates heat, its shining light. In the same way love has two properties: the one to which the burning of fire corresponds is something which acts intimately upon a person's will; the other, to which the shining corresponds, is something which acts intimately upon a person's understanding. This is the source of human love and intelligence. For as I have said several times before, the sun of the spiritual world radiates heat which in its essence is love, and light which in its essence is wisdom. These two forms of radiation impinge on every single thing in the universe and affect them intimately. In the case of people they affect their will and their understanding, which were created to receive this radiation, the will to receive love and the understanding to receive wisdom. Hence it is clear that a person's life resides in his understanding and is in accordance with his wisdom, and that the love of the will modifies it.
Footnotes:
