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Arcana Coelestia #2803

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2803. That the Divine Truth is the “son,” and the Divine Good the “father,” is evident from the signification of a “son,” as being truth (see n. 489, 491, 533, 1147, 2633); and of a “father,” as being good; and also from the conception and birth of truth, which is from good. Truth cannot be and come forth [existere] from any other source than good, as has been shown many times. That the “son” here is the Divine Truth, and the “father” the Divine Good, is because the union of the Divine Essence with the Human, and of the Human Essence with the Divine, is the Divine marriage of Good with Truth, and of Truth with Good, from which comes the heavenly marriage; for in Jehovah or the Lord there is nothing but what is infinite; and because infinite, it cannot be apprehended by any idea, except that it is the being and the coming forth [esse et existere] of all good and truth, or is Good itself and Truth itself. Good itself is the “Father,” and Truth itself is the “Son.” But because as before said there is a Divine 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 saith unto Philip, Believest thou not 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 again in the same Evangelist:

Jesus said to the Jews, Though ye believe not Me, believe the works; that ye may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father (John 10:36, 38).

And again:

I pray for them; for all Mine are Thine, and Thine are Mine; and that they all may be one, as Thou Father art in Me, and I in Thee (John 17:9-10, 21).

And again:

Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in Him; if God be glorified in Him, God shall also glorify Him in Himself. Father, glorify Thy Son, that Thy Son also may glorify Thee (John 13:31-32; 17:1).

[2] From this may be seen the nature of the union of the Divine and the Human in the Lord; namely, that it is mutual and alternate, or reciprocal; which union is that which is called the Divine Marriage, from which descends the heavenly marriage, which is the Lord’s kingdom itself in the heavens—thus spoken of in John:

In that day ye shall know that I am in My Father, and ye in Me, and I in you (John 14:20).

And again:

I pray for them, that they all may be one, as Thou Father art in Me and I in Thee, that they also may be one in us, I in them and Thou in Me; that the love wherewith Thou hast loved Me may be in them, and I in them (John 17:21-23, 26).

That this heavenly marriage is that of good and truth, and of truth and good, may be seen above (n. 2508, 2618, 2728, 2729 and following numbers).

[3] And because the Divine Good cannot be and come forth without the Divine Truth, nor the Divine Truth without the Divine Good, but the one in the other mutually and reciprocally, it is therefore manifest that the Divine Marriage was from eternity; that is, the Son in the Father, and the Father in the Son, as the Lord Himself teaches in John:

And now O Father, glorify Thou Me with Thyself, with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was (John 17:5, 24).

But the Divine Human which was born from eternity was also born in time; and what was born in time, and glorified, is the same. Hence it is that the Lord so often said that He was going to the Father who sent Him; that is, that He was returning to the Father. And in John:

In the beginning was the Word (the “Word” is the Divine Truth itself), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God; the same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, the glory as of the Only-begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:1-3, 14; see also John 3:13; 6:62).

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

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Apocalypse Explained #309

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309. Behold, the Lion hath overcome, signifies that the Lord from His own power subjugated the hells, and reduced all things there and in the heavens to order. This is evident from the signification of "overcoming," when predicated of the Lord, namely, that when He was in the world He subjugated the hells, and reduced all things there and in the heavens to order, and this by temptations admitted into His Human, and then by continual victories (of which see in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 293, 294, 301-302). This therefore is signified by "overcoming," when predicated of the Lord; and as the Lord had done these things from His own power, He is called a "Lion;" for "lion" signifies power (See above, n. 278). That the Lord did these things from His own power is known from the Word; but as few are aware of this, I wish to say something respecting it. The Lord did this from the Divine that was in Him from conception; this Divine He had as a man has a soul from his father; and the soul of everyone works by means of the body, for the body is the soul's obedience. The Divine that was in the Lord from conception was His own Divine, which in the Athanasian Creed is said to be equal to the Divine that is there called "the Father;" for it is said that:

As is the Father so also is the Son, infinite, uncreate, eternal, omnipotent, God, Lord, and that neither of them is greatest or least, nor first or last, but altogether equal.

It is also said that:

The Divine and Human of the Lord are not two, but one person, and that as the soul and body make one man, so the Divine and the Human are one Christ.

From this also those who have faith in Athanasius may know that the Lord did these things from His own power, because from His Divine. From this it can clearly be seen what is meant by what the Lord says in John:

The Father that abideth in Me, He doeth the works. Believe Me, that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me (John 14:10-11).

And elsewhere in the same:

Verily I say unto you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, except what He seeth the Father doing; for whatever things He doeth, these also the Son doeth in like manner. As the Father raiseth up the dead and quickeneth them, even so the Son quickeneth whom He will. As the Father hath life in Himself, so also gave He to the Son to have life in Himself (John 5:19, 21, 26).

As the Divine, which the Lord calls "the Father," was His Divine, and not another Divine, it can be seen that whatever He did from the Father, as well as whatever He did from the Human which He calls "the Son," He did from Himself; and thus that He did all things by His own power, since He did them from what was His.

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