865. These were bought from among men, firstfruits to God and the Lamb, signifies those received in the new church by the Lord. This is evident from the signification of "those bought by the Lord," as being those who receive instruction from the Word, especially respecting the Lord, and who live according to it (See above, n.860). The same are meant by those called "redeemed by the Lord;" and "the redeemed" are those who have been regenerated by the Lord and these are those who follow the Lord, that is, are led by Him (of whom just above). Also from the signification of "firstfruits of God and the Lamb," as being those who have given themselves to the Lord and have been adopted by Him. That those who are of the new church are meant is evident from their being called "firstfruits to God and to the Lamb," since those who are received in that church acknowledge the Lord's Divine Human and live according to His commandments. No others are received in the new church which is called "the New Jerusalem," because those who do not believe this and live thus are not in accord with the life of heaven, nor with the light there, nor with the heat there: for the light there is the Divine truth, which is the source of all intelligence and wisdom; and the heat there is the Divine good, which is the source of all love and charity. All man's affection and thought therefrom not only is within him and constitutes his life but is also outside of him and constitutes the sphere of his life. This is why heaven is divided into societies according to the varieties of the affections and their thoughts; consequently unless the affections and the thoughts therefrom are spiritual, which are formed solely by the acknowledgment of the Lord and a life according to His commandments, they cannot be admitted into any society of heaven, for they are repugnant thereto; and this is why those who do not acknowledge the Lord's Divine Human and do not live according to His commandments in the Word cannot be consociated with the angels of heaven. That this is so has been proved to me by much experience. There were some who had the same idea of the Lord as of any other man, and had lived in the faith of the present day, which is cogitation (or thought) without any good of life. As these believed that eternal life is merely being admitted into heaven, so according to their wish they were admitted into a certain society; but as soon as the light of heaven struck their eyes, their sight, and at the same time their understanding, began to be wholly darkened, and they began to fall into a stupor and into foolishness; and when the heat of heaven breathed upon them they began to be tormented in a direful manner, and their head and limbs began to writhe like serpents; consequently they cast themselves downwards, swearing that admission to heaven, unless they were in the light and heat of heaven, was hell to them, and that they had not known that everyone has heaven from love and its faith, or from a life according to the Lord's commandments in the Word, and from faith in the Lord, and not at all from faith without the life of faith, which is charity.

[2] It shall now be told briefly what "firstfruits" signify in the Word. The signification of firstfruits is similar to that of "firstborn;" but "firstborn" is predicated of animals, and "firstfruits" of vegetables; thus "the firstborn" are such as are born first, and "firstfruits" are from the first products; and both of them signify the spiritual good that is first formed, which in itself is truth from good which is from the Lord. This has its origin in the fact that there are two minds in man, a natural mind and a spiritual mind. From the natural mind alone nothing is produced but evil and its falsity; but as soon as the spiritual mind is opened, good and its truth are produced; and that which is first produced is meant by the "firstborn" and the "firstfruits." And as all things that are born and produced from the spiritual mind are from the Lord and not from man, these were sanctified to Jehovah, that is, to the Lord, because they were His, and thus were holy. And as that which is born or produced first signifies all things that follow in their order, as a leader is followed by his people, or a shepherd by his flock, so "the giving of the firstborn and the firstfruits to the Lord" signified that all the rest were also His.

[3] But that this may come yet more clearly into the understanding it is to be known that the merely natural mind is formed to the idea or image of the world, but the spiritual mind to the idea or image of heaven; also that the spiritual mind is not opened to any man, except by the acknowledgment of the Lord's Divine and by a life according to His commandments; and until this mind has been opened no good and no truth therefrom are produced; but as soon as it is opened these are produced, and what is produced is from the Lord. Therefore the first thing that is produced is called holy, and signifies that all things that are afterwards produced are holy. This makes clear that the opening of the womb or matrix signifies the opening of the spiritual mind. This signification of opening the womb or matrix is from correspondence, the womb corresponding to the good of celestial love. (On this correspondence see above, n. 710, and in the Arcana Coelestia 4918, 5050-5062)

[4] Because this is what is signified by "firstfruits," and because the things pertaining to the harvest, as wheat, barley, and the rest, and also wool, signified the goods and truths of heaven and the church, and the clean and useful beasts had a similar signification, so the firstborn of the latter and the firstfruits of the former were given to the Lord; and as the high priest represented the Lord as to His priestly function, which is the good of love, these things were given to that priest, and thus all things that were products of the corn, wine, and oil were made holy. But respecting these firstfruits see the statutes for the sons of Israel in the law of Moses; as respecting the first of the products of all corn, of oil, of wine, of the fruit of the tree, also of the fleece, likewise of the firstborn of the herd and the flock; and that these were given as holy to Jehovah, and by Jehovah to Aaron, and after him to the high priest (Exodus 22:29; Numbers 13:20; 15:17-22; 18:8-20; Deuteronomy 18:4; 26 the end): also concerning the feast of the first fruits of harvest and of the first fruits of bread (Exodus 23:14-16, 19, 26; Leviticus 23:9-15, 20; 23:20-25; Numbers 28:26-31).

[5] From all this it can now be seen that "firstfruits to God and to the Lamb" mean those who will be of the new church which is called "the New Jerusalem," who acknowledge the Lord's Divine Human and live a life of love, that is, a life according to the Lord's commandments in the Word. In such and in no others is the spiritual mind opened; therefore no others are led by the Lord, or "follow Him whithersoever He goeth." That "God and the Lamb" means in Revelation the Lord as to the Divine Itself, and at the same time as to the Divine Human, may be seen above (n.297, 314, 343, 460, 482).

3573. 'And kiss me, my son' means as to whether union is possible. This is clear from the meaning of 'kissing' as a uniting and joining together resulting from affection. Kissing, which is an external activity, is nothing else than the desire to become joined together, which is an internal activity; the two activities also correspond. The subject here, as is evident from what has been stated above, in the highest sense is the glorification of the Natural within the Lord, that is, how the Lord made the Natural within Him Divine. But in the representative sense the subject is the regeneration of the natural present in man and so the joining together of the natural and the rational; for the natural is not regenerate until it has been joined to the rational. This joining together is effected by means of both direct and indirect influx of the rational into the good and the truth of the natural; that is to say, by means of influx from the good of the rational directly into the good of the natural, and through the good of the natural into the truth of the natural, and by means of influx indirectly through the truth of the rational into the truth of the natural and from there into the good of the natural.

[2] These instances of a joining together are the subject here. They cannot possibly be achieved except through the means provided by the Divine. Indeed they are effected by means such as are quite unknown to man and of which he can gain scarcely any idea through the things which belong to the light of the world, that is, which belong to the natural light with him, but rather through the things belonging to the light of heaven, that is, to rational light. Nevertheless all those means have been disclosed in the internal sense of the Word, and are evident to those who know the internal sense, and so to angels who see and perceive countless details relating to this subject, of which scarcely one can be drawn out and explained adequately for man to grasp it.

[3] Yet from effects and the signs of those effects this joining of the rational to the natural is to some extent evident to man, for the rational mind, that is, the inward areas of will and understanding with a person ought to present themselves in his natural mind. Just as the natural mind presents itself in the face and facial expressions, so much so that the face is the outward expression of the natural mind, so ought the natural mind to be the outward expression of the rational mind. When rational and natural are joined together, as they are with those who are regenerate, whatever a person wills and thinks inwardly within his rational makes itself evident in his natural; and this in turn makes itself evident in the face. This is what the face is to angels and what it was to the most ancient people who were celestial. Indeed they were never afraid that others might know their ends and intentions, for they willed nothing but good. For anyone who allows himself to be led by the Lord never intends or thinks anything else. Where a state such as this exists the rational as regards good joins itself to the good of the natural directly, and through the good of the natural to the truths of the natural. It also joins itself indirectly through the truth there in the rational to the truth in the natural, and through this to the good there. All this effects an indissoluble joining together.

[4] But how far mankind is removed at the present day from this state, and so from the heavenly state, may be seen from the belief that practical wisdom requires one, in the world, to use words, also to perform acts, as well as to adopt facial expressions which are other than what one in fact thinks and intends. Indeed it is believed that one should so control the natural mind itself that in unison with its face it acts in quite an opposite way from inward thoughts and desires that flow from an evil end in view. To the most ancient people this was utterly abominable, and people who behaved in that way were expelled as devils from their community. From these considerations, as from effects and the signs of those effects, one may see what the joining together of the rational or internal man as regards good and truth with his natural or external man implies. One may thus also see what one who is an angel is like and what one who is a devil is like.