1. 1장. 보편적 성경은 주님을 다루고 있으며 주님은 말씀이시다.

요한복음에는 다음과 같은 말씀이 있다.

태초에 말씀이 계시니라 말씀이 하나님과 함께 계셨으니 하나님은 말씀이시라 말씀이 태초에 하나님과 함께 계셨고 만물이 그로 말미암아 지은바 되었으니 지은 것이 하나도 그가 없이는 된 것이 없느니라 그 안에 생명이 있었으니 이 생명은 사람들의 빛이라 빛이 어두움에 비취되 어두움이 깨닫지 못하더라. (요한복음 1:1-5)

말씀이 육신이 되어 우리 가운데 거하시매 우리가 그 영광을 보니 아버지의 독생자의 영광이요 은혜와 진리가 충만하더라(요한복음 1:14)

빛이 세상에 왔으니 사람들이 자기 행위가 악하므로 빛보다 어두움을 더 사랑한 것이니라(요한복음 3:19)

너희에게 아직 빛이 있을 동안에 빛을 믿으라 그리하면 빛의 아들이 되리라 나는 빛으로 세상에 왔나니 무릇 나를 믿는 자로 어두움에 거하지 않게 하려 함이로다(요한복음 12:36, 46)

이 구절들로부터 주님은 영원 전부터 하나님이신 것과 이 하나님 세상에 오신 주님과 같은 분이라는 것이 분명하다. 말씀이 하나님과 함께 계셨고 하나님은 말씀이셨으며 지은 것이 하나도 그가 없이는 된 것이 없다고 했기 때문이다. 그뿐 아니라 말씀이 육신이 되어 우리가 그를 보았다고 했기 때문이다. 주님을 왜 말씀이라고 하는지 교회 안에서는 거의 모르고 있다. 그것은 말씀이 신적 진리 또는 신적 지혜를 뜻하며 주님은 신적 진리 자체 또는 신적 지혜 자체이시기 때문이다. 이런 이유 때문에 주님을 빛이라 하고 빛이 세상 에 왔다고 한 것이다.

신적 지혜와 신적 사랑은 하나를 이루며 영원부터 주님 안에서 하나였기 때문에 말씀에 이르기를, “그 안에 생명이 있었으니 이 생명은 사람들의 빛이라” 하였다. 생명은 하나님의 사랑이요 빛은 하나님의 지혜이다. “태초에 말씀이 하나님과 함께 계셨으니 하나님은 말씀이시라”고 한 것은 바로 이 하나를 뜻한다.

하나님과 함께라는 것은 하나님 안에 라는 뜻이다. 지혜는 사랑 안에 있으며 사랑은 지혜안에 있기 때문이다. 그래서 요한복음의 다른 곳에서는 이렇게 말했다.

아버지여 창세전에 내가 아버지와 함께 가졌던 영화로써 지금도 아버지와 함께 나를 영화롭게 하옵소서(요한복음 17:5)

나는 아버지 안에 있고 아버지는 내 안에 계신 것을 네가 믿지 아니하느냐 ? 내가 너희에게 이르는 말이 스스로 하는 것이 아니라 아버지께서 내 안에 계셔 그의 일을 하시는 것이라(요한복음 14:10)

나와 아버지는 하나이니라(요한복음 10:30)

“아버지와 함께”는 아버지 안에 있는 것을 뜻한다. 그래서 “하나님 말씀”이라고 한 것이며 다른 곳에서는 주님은 아버지 안에 있고 아버지는 주님 안에 있어 주님과 아버지는 하나라고 한 것이다. 말씀은 신적 사랑에서 비롯한 신적 지혜이기 때문에 말씀은 여호와 하나님 자신이시며 지어진 모든 것을 만드신 주님이시다. 만물은 하나님의 지혜를 수단으로 하나님의 사랑으로부터 창조되었기 때문이다.

1066. The other is not yet come, and when he cometh, he must continue but a short space. That this signifies the profaned truth, that the Lord's power over heaven and over earth, assumed by them, is said not to be Divine, when nevertheless it is Divine, is evident from the signification of the other king of the two who were remaining after five of the seven were fallen, as denoting here the other truth profaned, but still one with the former; with this difference, that the Lord's power over heaven and earth, which they have transferred to themselves, is not Divine, when, nevertheless, it is Divine. And because it is Divine, and yet is denied to be so, it is said that that king, that is, that truth profaned, is not yet come; and that when it shall come, it must continue but a short space; by which is signified that that power is Divine, although it is said that it is not Divine. Why this is signified by that other king is, because he acts as one with the former king; only with this difference, whether that power is Divine or not. That he acts as one with the former with this difference, is evident from the verse following, in which the beast is said to be the eighth king, and yet of the seven. Therefore, when the beast is said to be a king of the seven, it follows that those two who remain after the five of the seven who are fallen, and who are called the one and the other, have respect to one thing, or to one truth profaned; and that the other truth profaned is what is signified by the beast, so far as that is said to be one king of the seven.

[2] As to the thing itself, it is known that they say that the power over heaven, and over the souls of men to save them, is not Divine, because it was the power of the Lord's Human transferred to Him from God the Father, and from the Lord to Peter. But these things they say for fear the common people should withdraw from them. That still that power is Divine clearly appears from this, that after God created the universe, the primary [object] of the Divine power is to liberate men from hell, and to save them. For a man is not saved in a moment, because he is reformed and regenerated by the Lord by successive degrees, from infancy even to the last period of his life in the world, and afterwards to eternity, and no human power can contribute to this at all.

That a man is thus reformed and regenerated by the Lord they do not know, because they do not desire to know. Therefore they persuade themselves that salvation is instantaneous, and only admission into heaven; this, however, is absolutely false. But upon this subject more will be said elsewhere.

Continuation concerning the Word:-

[3] In brief, the Word is Divine truth itself which gives wisdom to angels and enlightens men. Because Divine truth proceeds from the Lord, and what proceeds from Himself is Himself, just as light and heat proceed from the sun, and are the sun, or of the sun outside of it; and because the Word is Divine truth, it is also the Lord, as it is called in John (1:1-3, 14). Because the Divine truth, which is the Word, in its descent into the world from the Lord, has passed through the three heavens, therefore it has become accommodated to every heaven, and lastly also to men in the world. It is from this that, in the Word, there are four senses, one outside the other from the highest heaven even to the world; or one within the other from the world even to the highest heaven. Those four senses are called the celestial, the spiritual, the natural from the celestial and spiritual, and the merely natural. This being for the world, that for the ultimate heaven, the spiritual for the second heaven, and the celestial for the third.

These four senses differ much from one another, so that when one is beside the other they are not recognised [as the same Word]; but still they make one when one follows the other. For one follows from the other as the effect from the cause, and as what is posterior from what is prior. Therefore, as the effect represents the cause and corresponds to the cause, so does the posterior sense to the prior. Hence it is that all four senses make one by correspondences.

[4] From these things it follows that the ultimate sense of the Word, which is the literal sense, and the fourth in order, contains in itself the three interior senses, which are for the three heavens; that these three senses are unfolded and shown in the heavens, while a man upon earth reads the Word with reverence; that hence it is the literal sense of the Word, from which and by which communication is effected with the heavens; also, from which and by which a man has conjunction with the heavens; that the literal sense of the Word is the basis of the Divine truth in the heavens, and that Divine truth without such a basis would be as a house without a foundation; and that the wisdom of the angels without that foundation would be like a house in the air; that it is the literal sense of the Word in which the power of Divine truth consists; that it is the literal sense of the Word by which man receives enlightenment from the Lord, and by which answers are made when man desires enlightenment; that it is the literal sense of the Word from which everything of doctrine on earth is to be confirmed; that Divine truth in the literal sense of the Word is in its fulness; that Divine truth in the literal sense of the Word is in its holiness.