33. 4. The Lord made his human nature divine by the trials to which he made himself vulnerable and by then constantly being victorious. This was discussed in above (12-14). I need add only the following.
Trials are battles against what is evil and false, and since what is evil and false comes from hell, they are also battles against hell. For us too, when we are subjected to spiritual trials, it is evil spirits from hell who are inflicting them. We are not aware that evil spirits are behind the trials, but an abundance of experience has taught me that they are.
[2] This is why we are rescued from hell and raised into heaven when the Lord enables us to be victorious in our trials. This is how we become spiritual individuals by means of our trials or battles against our evils-how we therefore become angels.
The Lord, though, fought against all the hells with his own power and completely tamed and subdued them; and by doing so, since at the same time he glorified his human nature, he keeps them tamed and subdued to eternity.
[3] Before the Lord’s Coming the hells had risen so far that they were beginning to trouble even angels of heaven, and with them, everyone who was entering the world and leaving the world. The reason for this rise of the hells was that the church was in utter ruins, and the people of our world were wholly devoted to evil and falsity because of their idolatrous practices; and it is people on earth who make up hell. That is why no one could have been saved if the Lord had not come into the world.
There is a great deal in the Psalms of David and the prophets about these battles of the Lord, but little in the Gospels. These battles are what we refer to as the trials that the Lord underwent, the last being his suffering on the cross.
[4] This is why the Lord is called the Savior and Redeemer. The church is sufficiently aware of this to say that the Lord conquered death or the Devil (that is, hell) and that he rose from death victorious, as well as that there is no salvation apart from the Lord. We shall see shortly that he also glorified his human nature and in this way became the Savior, Redeemer, Reformer, and Regenerator to eternity.
[5] We can see from the ample supply of passages cited in above that the Lord became our Savior by means of battles or trials; and there is also this from Isaiah:
“The day of vengeance is in my heart and the year of my redeemed has arrived. I have trodden them in my wrath; I have driven their victory down into the earth.” Therefore he became their Savior. (Isaiah 63:4, 6, 8)
This chapter is about the Lord’s battles. There is also this in David:
Lift your heads, gates! Be raised up, doors of the world, so that the King of Glory may come in! Who is this King of Glory? Jehovah, strong and heroic, Jehovah, a hero in war. (Psalms 24:7-8)
This too is about the Lord.
