76. Verse 17. And when I saw Him, signifies the presence of the Divine majesty. This is evident from the things that precede relating to the Son of man, all of which are of the Divine majesty, as is clear from the explanation of them in the internal sense; as that "He was clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about at the paps with a golden girdle," signifying that Divine truth and Divine good proceed from Him; that "His head and His hairs were white as white wool, as snow," signifying the Divine in firsts and in ultimates; that "His feet were like unto burnished brass, as if glowing in a furnace," signifying that His Human, even in ultimates, is full of Divine love; that "His voice was as the voice of many waters," signifying that all Divine truth is from Him; that "He had in His right hand seven stars," signifying that all goods and truths of heaven and the church are therefrom; that "out of His mouth a sharp two-edged sword went forth," signifying that by Him all falsities are dispersed; that "His face was as the sun shineth in his power," signifying that from His Divine love were all things of heaven. It is clear that these things are Divine, and that they appeared full of Divine majesty. That to "see" signifies here the presence, now most interior, of these things, is evident from this, that it was also said before that John saw them (verse 12), and according to that seeing also they were described; and now again it is said "I saw Him," and on account of this seeing he fell at His feet as dead; therefore it is that by "seeing" is here signified the presence of the Divine majesty. This presence came to John, when he saw "His face as the sun in his power," for from this he was illustrated and filled with awe, in the presence of the Divine; for all Divine light is from the Lord as a sun, and Divine light passes into the interiors; from this comes such presence and such filling with awe (as can be seen in the work on Heaven and Hell, on the Lord as a Sun, n. 116-125; on Light and Heat therefrom in Heaven, n. 126-140; and on Turning to Him, n. 17, 123, 144, 145, 151, 255, 272, 510, 548, 561). It is to be known, moreover, that man has two kinds of sight, one from cogitative faith, the other from love: when he has sight from cogitative faith only, his sight is unattended with awe before the Lord's Divine majesty; but when this sight is from love, it is attended with awe at the Divine majesty; this is because man is then turned to the Lord, for love turns him, but cogitative faith apart from love does not (as can be seen from the passages cited above from the work on Heaven and Hell, about turning). That this is so is well known in the spiritual world. It is clear, therefore, that by "I saw him," stated a second time, is signified the presence of the Divine majesty.

101. (vii) THUS GOD BECAME MAN, AND MAN GOD, IN ONE PERSON.

It follows that Jehovah God became man and man became God in one person as the consequence of all the previous propositions in this chapter, and particularly these two: Jehovah the Creator of the universe came down and took upon Himself human form, in order to redeem and save mankind (see above 82-84); and the Lord by redeeming acts united Himself with the Father, and the Father reciprocally and mutually united Himself with the Lord (see above 97-100). That reciprocal union makes it obvious that God became man and man God in one person. The same consequence follows from the union of each resembling the union of soul and body; this is in agreement with the faith of the church to-day as stated in the Athanasian Creed (98 above). It is also in agreement with the faith of the Evangelical churches as stated in their leading book of orthodoxy known as the Formula of Concord. In this the doctrine is strongly supported both from Holy Scripture and from patristic literature, as well as by arguments, that Christ's human nature was raised to Divine majesty, omnipotence and omnipresence; also that in Christ man is God and God is man (see pp. 607, 765 of that book).

[2] Moreover it has been proved in the present chapter that Jehovah God in respect of His Human is called in the Word Jehovah, Jehovah God, Jehovah Zebaoth ¹ , as well as the God of Israel. Therefore Paul says that in Jesus Christ all the fulness of the Godhead dwells bodily (Colossians 2:9); and John says that Jesus Christ the Son of God is the true God and everlasting life (1 John 5:20). The Son of God in its true sense means His Human (92ff above). Moreover Jehovah God calls both Himself and His Son Lord, for we read:

The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, Psalms 110:1.

and in Isaiah:

A child is born for us, a son is given to us, whose name is God, the everlasting Father, Isaiah 9:6-7.

Son also means the Lord in respect of His Human in the Psalms of David:

I will bring news of a decree, said Jehovah. You are my son, to-day have I begotten you. Kiss the son, so that he may not be angry and so that you do not perish on the way, Psalms 2:7, 12.

This does not mean a Son from eternity, but the Son born in the world, for it is a prophecy of the Lord's coming. This is why it is called a decree, news of which Jehovah gave to David. Earlier in that Psalm it says:

I have anointed my King over Zion, Psalms 2:6.

and later:

I will give him the nations for an inheritance, Psalms 2:8.

This proves that 'to-day' does not mean from eternity, but in time, for with Jehovah the future is present.

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