1. Teachings for the New Jerusalem on the Lord

The Entire Sacred Scripture Is about the Lord, and the Lord Is the Word

WE read in John,

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and nothing that was made came about without him. In him there was life, and that life was the light for humankind. And the light shines in the darkness, but the darkness did not grasp it. And the Word became flesh and lived among us; and we saw his glory, glory like that of the only-begotten child of the Father. He was full of grace and truth. (John 1:1-3, 5, 14)

In the same Gospel,

Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. (John 3:19)

And elsewhere in the same Gospel,

While you have the light, believe in the light, so that you may become children of the light. I have come into the world as a light so that anyone who believes in me will not remain in darkness. (John 12:36, 46)

We can see from this that the Lord is God from eternity and that he himself is that Lord who was born into the world. It actually says that the Word was with God and that the Word was God, as well as that nothing that was made came about without him, and then that the Word became flesh and that they saw him.

There is little understanding in the church of what it means to call the Lord “the Word.” He is called the Word because the Word means divine truth or divine wisdom and the Lord is divine truth itself or divine wisdom itself. That is why he is also called the light that is said to have come into the world.

Since divine wisdom and divine love are one with each other and have been one in the Lord from eternity, it also says “in him there was life, and that life was the light for humankind.” The life is divine love, and the light is divine wisdom.

This oneness is what is meant by saying both that “in the beginning the Word was with God” and that “the Word was God.” “With God” is in God, since wisdom is in love and love is in wisdom. This is like the statement elsewhere in John, “Glorify me, Father, together with yourself, with the glory I had with you before the world existed” (John 17:5). “With yourself” is “in yourself.” This is why it adds “and the Word was God.” It says elsewhere that the Lord is in the Father and the Father is in him [John 14:10], and that the Father and he are one [John 10:30].

Since the Word is the divine wisdom of the divine love, it follows that it is Jehovah himself and therefore the Lord, the one by whom all things were made that were made, since everything was created out of divine love by means of divine wisdom.

13. That the Lord fully conquered the hells by His suffering of the cross is something He Himself teaches in John:

Now is the judgment of this world; now the prince of this world will be cast out. (John 12:31)

This the Lord spoke when the passion of the cross was imminent. Again in John:

The prince of this world is judged. (John 16:11)

Again:

...have faith, I have overcome the world. (John 16:33)

And in Luke:

(Jesus) said..., “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.” (Luke 10:18)

The world, the prince of the world, Satan and the devil, all mean hell.

[2] That the Lord also fully glorified His humanity by His suffering of the cross is something He teaches in John:

After (Judas) had gone out, Jesus said, “Now the Son of man is glorified, and God is glorified in Him. If God is glorified in Him, God will also glorify Him in Himself, and glorify Him immediately.” (John 13:31-32)

Again in John:

Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You.... (John 17:1, cf. 17:5)

Again:

“Now My soul is troubled....” (And He said,) “Father, glorify Your name.” And a voice came from heaven..., “I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.” (John 12:27-28)

In Luke:

“Ought not the Christ to have suffered this and to enter into His glory?” (Luke 24:26)

These statements are made regarding the suffering of the cross. The Lord’s glorification is the uniting of His Divinity and humanity, which is why we are told, “God will also glorify Him in Himself.”