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.

8864. I am Jehovah thy God. That this signifies the Lord as to the Divine Human universally reigning in each and all things of good and truth, is evident from the fact that in the Word no other than the Lord is meant by “Jehovah” (see n. 1343, 1736, 2921, 3023, 3035, 3448, 5663, 6280, 6281, 6303, 8274), in like manner by “Jehovah Zebaoth,” by “the Lord Jehovih,” by “Jehovah God” (n. 2921, 3023, 3448, 6303); and that the Lord is called “Jehovah” from the Divine good, which is the Divine Being, but “God” from the Divine truth, which is the Divine Coming-forth (n. 6905, also n. 709, 732, 1096, 2586, 2769, 2807, 2822, 3921, 4402). That it is the Divine Human of the Lord which is here meant by “Jehovah God,” is because the Lord as to this is meant in the Word both by “Jehovah” and by “God”—the Divine good, which He is even as to the Human, by “Jehovah;” and the Divine truth, which He is because it proceeds from Him, by “God.”

[2] That the Divine Human of the Lord is meant by “Jehovah God,” is because the Divine Itself which is in the Lord cannot be seen in heaven, and not even perceived, thus cannot be received in faith and love, but the Divine Human only. That the Divine Itself cannot be communicated to the angels in heaven, and still less to men on earth, except through the Divine Human, is known in the churches from the words of the Lord in the Evangelists, where He says that He is the “door,” that He is the “mediator,” that “no one can come to the Father but through Him,” that “no one knoweth the Father but He,” and that “no one hath seen the Father,” not even any “shape” of Him. From this it is plain that it is the Lord who is here meant by “Jehovah God.” That it is He also who redeemed the human race and liberated it from hell is likewise known. This is signified by the words which follow: “who brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of servants.” From all this it is now plain that Jehovah God who spoke from Mount Sinai denotes the Lord as to the Divine Human.

[3] That this is the first thing which is said by the Lord from Mount Sinai, is because this ought to reign universally in each and all things that follow; for what is said first must be kept in the memory in the things that follow, and must be regarded as the universal thing that is in them. What is meant by “universally reigning” shall be seen in what follows. The things said by the Lord are all of this nature, namely, that the things said first are to reign in the things which follow, and are to involve them, and so successively the things that follow in the series. The things which follow in this chapter are the commandments of the Decalogue, which are internal truths, and then the statutes, which are external truths. In both of these the Lord must reign as to the Divine Human, for they are from Him, and are Himself, because all truths that are truths proceed from Him, and the things which proceed from Him are Himself. That the Lord as to the Divine Human must reign in each and all things of faith, is also known in the churches, for it is there taught that without the Lord there is no salvation, and that all the truth and good of faith are from Him. Thus as He is the source of faith, He is the faith with man, and if the faith, He is also every truth that is contained in the doctrine of faith, which is from the Word. From this also it is that the Lord is called “the Word.”

[4] That the things which precede must reign in the things which follow, and thus in the series, as said above, is evident from everything which the Lord spoke, especially from His prayer, which is called “the Lord’s Prayer.” In this prayer all things follow on in such a series that they constitute as it were a column that grows larger from top to bottom, in the interiors of which are the things which precede in the series. What is first therein is inmost, and what succeeds in order adds itself to the inmost successively and thus grows. That which is inmost reigns universally in those things which are round about; that is, in each and all things; for from this is that which is essential to the existence of all things.