1. True Christianity

Containing a Comprehensive Theology of the New Heaven and the New Church

The Faith of the New Heaven and the New Church

THE faith of the new heaven and the new church is stated here in both universal and specific forms to serve as the face of the work that follows, the doorway that allows entry into the temple, and the summary that in one way or another contains all the details to follow. I say "the faith of the new heaven and the new church" because heaven, where there are angels, and the church, in which there are people, act together like the inner and the outer levels in a human being. People in the church who love what is good because they believe what is true and who believe what is true because they love what is good are angels of heaven with regard to the inner levels of their minds. After death they come into heaven, and enjoy happiness there according to the relationship between their love and their faith. It is important to know that the new heaven that the Lord is establishing today has this faith as its face, doorway, and summary.

260. It is important to know as well that the literal meaning is a protection to prevent harm to the genuine truths that lie inside it. The nature of this protection is that the literal meaning can be turned this way and that and explained to different levels of comprehension without damaging or violating what is inside. It does no harm if one person takes the literal meaning one way and another takes it another way. It is harmful, however, if people bring in false ideas that go against divine truths. Only people who are adamant about falsities do this. Doing so does violence to the Word. The literal meaning offers protection to prevent this from happening. It also offers protection to people who have been given false ideas by their religion but have not become adamant about them.

The angel guardians in the Word both stand for and portray the protecting role of the Word's literal meaning. This protection is the meaning of the angel guardians who were placed at the entrance of the garden of Eden after Adam was thrown out with his wife. About this we read,

When Jehovah God expelled the human, he made angel guardians dwell on the east side of the garden of Eden and made the flame of a sword turning this way and that to guard the pathway to the tree of life. (Genesis 3:23-24)

[2] No one could see what these details mean without knowing the meaning of "angel guardians," "the garden of Eden," the garden's "tree of life," and "the flame of a sword" turning this way and that. These details have been explained in the relevant chapter of Secrets of Heaven, published in London [Secrets of Heaven 305-313]. To be specific, the "angel guardians" mean protection. The "pathway to the tree of life" means the access to the Lord available to people through the truths in the Word's spiritual meaning. The "flame of a sword turning" means divine truth on the outermost level, which is like the Word in its literal meaning; it is similarly capable of being turned this way and that.

The same thing is meant by the angel guardians made of gold that were placed on the two ends of the mercy seat that was on top of the ark in the tabernacle (Exodus 25:18-21). The "ark" meant the Word because the Ten Commandments are the most basic thing in the Word. The "angel guardians" meant protection, which is why the Lord spoke with Moses from between the angel guardians (Exodus 25:22; 37:9; Numbers 7:89). Further, the Lord spoke to Moses in the earthly meaning because he does not speak with us unless he speaks in a complete way, and divine truth has its complete form in the literal meaning (see 214-224 above).

The angel guardians on the curtains and the veil in the tabernacle (Exodus 26:31) had a similar meaning. The curtains and the veil in the tabernacle meant the outermost aspects of heaven and the church; therefore they meant the outermost aspects of the Word as well (see 220 above).

The same applies to the angel guardians carved on the walls and doors of the Temple in Jerusalem (1 Kings 6:29, 32, 35); see 221 above. Likewise, the angel guardians in the new temple (Ezekiel 41:18-20).

[3] Angel guardians mean the protection that prevents people from going directly to the Lord, heaven, and the divine truth in the form it takes inside the Word, and steers them instead to go indirectly through the [Word's] outermost level. For this reason we read the following statements about the king of Tyre:

You who seal up your measurement; full of wisdom and perfect in beauty, you were in the Garden of Eden. Every precious stone was your covering. You, O angel guardian, were the stretching out of a covering. I lost you, O protecting angel guardian, in the midst of the stones of fire. (Ezekiel 28:12-14, 16)

"Tyre" means the church's knowledge of goodness and truth. "The king of Tyre" means the Word where that knowledge exists and originates. The king clearly means the Word on its outermost level and the angel guardian means protection, because it says, "You who seal up your measurement, every precious stone is your covering, you, O angel guardian, were the stretching out of a covering," and "O protecting angel guardian. " On the precious stones listed in that passage as referring to aspects of the literal meaning, see 217, 218 above. Since "angel guardians" mean the Word at the outermost level and protection as well, therefore we read the following phrases in David:

Jehovah bowed down the heavens and came down. He rode upon an angel guardian. (Psalms 18:9-10)

Shine forth, O Shepherd of Israel who sits upon angel guardians. (Psalms 80:1)

Jehovah sitting upon angel guardians. (Psalms 99:1)

Riding and sitting "upon angel guardians" refers to the Word's outermost meaning.

The Word's divine truth and the qualities of that truth are portrayed by four creatures that are also called angel guardians (Ezekiel 1:9-10), and by four creatures in the middle of the throne and next to it (Revelation 4:6-7). See Revelation Unveiled (which I published in Amsterdam) 239, 275, 314.

262. The fact that the Lord fulfilled everything in the Word is clear from passages where it says that he fulfilled the law and the Scripture, and completed all things. For example,

Jesus said, "Do not think that I came to dissolve the Law and the Prophets. I did not come to dissolve them but to fulfill them. " (Matthew 5:17-18)

Jesus went into the synagogue and stood up to read. He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, "The spirit of Jehovah is upon me; this is why he anointed me. He sent me to preach the good news to the poor, to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim release for the bound and sight for the blind, to preach the welcomed year of the Lord. " Afterward he rolled up the scroll and said, "Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. " (Luke 4:16-21)

To fulfill the Scripture that said, "The one who eats bread with me has lifted up his heel against me. " (John 13:18)

Not one of them was lost except the son of perdition, so that the Scripture would be fulfilled. (John 17:12)

To fulfill the Word that said, "Of those whom you gave me, I did not lose one. " (John 18:19)

Jesus said to Peter, "Put your sword away in its place. How then would the Scripture that this must occur be fulfilled? This has happened in order to fulfill the Scripture. " (Matthew 26:52, 54, 56)

The Son of Humankind is leaving as it was written of him, so that the Scriptures would be fulfilled. (Mark 14:21, 49)

In this way the Scripture was fulfilled that said, "He was reckoned among the unholy. " (Mark 15:28; Luke 22:37)

They divided his clothes among themselves, so that the Scripture would be fulfilled: "On my inner garment they cast lots. " (John 19:24)

After this, Jesus knew that all things were now completed so that the Scripture would be fulfilled. (John 19:28)

When Jesus had received the vinegar he said, "It is complete," that is, fulfilled. (John 19:30)

These things happened to fulfill the Scripture that "You will not break a bone in him;" and furthermore another line in Scripture says, "They will see the One whom they pierced. " (John 19:36-37)

Before the Lord left, he taught his disciples that the whole Word was written about him and that he had come into the world to fulfill it, as the following words indicate:

He said to them, "You are foolish and slow at heart to believe all the things that were spoken by the prophets. Was it not fitting for Christ to suffer and enter into glory?" Then beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted [points] regarding himself in all the Scriptures. (Luke 24:25-27)

Further, Jesus said,

It was right for all the things written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and Psalms to be fulfilled. (Luke 24:44-45)

The following words of the Lord make it clear that in the world he fulfilled everything in the Word down to the least detail:

Truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one little letter or the tip of one letter will pass from the law until all of it is fulfilled. (Matthew 5:18)

From the statements just made you can now clearly see that the Lord's fulfilling everything in the law does not mean that he fulfilled everything in the Ten Commandments; it means that he fulfilled everything in the whole Word. You can see that "the law" means everything in the Word from the following passages: "Jesus said, 'Is it not written in your law, "I said, 'You are gods'"?'" (John 10:34; the passage quoted is written in Psalms 82:6). "The crowd replied, 'We have heard from the law, Christ remains forever'" (John 12:34; the passage quoted is written in Psalms 89:34-37; 110:4; and Daniel 7:14). "To fulfill the Word that is written in their law, 'They hated me for no reason'" (John 15:25; the passage quoted is written in Psalms 35:19). "It is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for the tip of one letter of the law to fall" (Luke 16:17). The "law" in these passages means the whole of Sacred Scripture, as it does a number of times elsewhere.