137. It says in John,

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and God was the Word: all things were made by means of him, and without him nothing was made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of humankind. He was in the world, and the world was made by means of him. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw his glory. (John 1:1, 3-4, 10, 14)

It is clear that the Lord is the one who is meant by "the Word," since it says that the Word was made flesh. Precisely what is meant by "the Word," though, is not yet known and must therefore be stated. The Word in this passage is the divine truth that is in the Lord and from the Lord, ¹ so here it is also called the light, which is divine truth, as has been shown earlier in this chapter. Now we need to explain the statement that all things were made and created by means of divine truth.

[2] In heaven, it is divine truth that possesses all power, and apart from it there is no power whatever. ² All angels are called "powers" because of divine truth, and are powers to the extent that they are recipients or vessels of it. Through it they prevail over the hells and over all who oppose them. A thousand enemies there cannot bear one ray of heavenly light, which is divine truth. Since angels are angels because of their acceptance of divine truth, it follows that all heaven is from this source and no other, since heaven is made up of angels.

[3] People cannot believe that this kind of power is inherent in divine truth if the only concept of truth they have has to do with thought or speech, which have no power in them except to the extent that other people concede it by being obedient. There is an intrinsic power within divine truth, though, power of such nature that by means of it heaven, the world, and everything in them was created.

We can illustrate the fact that this kind of power is inherent in divine truth by two comparisons - by the power of what is true and good in us, and by the power of light and warmth from the sun in our world.

By the power of what is true and good in us: Everything we do, we do out of our discernment and intent. Out of our intent, we act by means of what is good, and out of our discernment by means of what is true. In fact, all the elements of our volition are related to what is good, and all the elements of our discernment are related to what is true. ³ On this basis, then, we set our whole body in motion and a thousand things there rush to do our bidding of their own accord. We can see from this that our whole body is formed for obedience to what is good and true and therefore from what is good and true.

[4] By the power of light and warmth from the sun in our world: Everything that grows in our world - things like trees, shrubs, flowers, grasses, fruits, and seeds - arises only by means of the warmth and light of the sun. So we can see what kind of productive power is inherent in that warmth and light. What about the divine light that is divine truth, then, and the divine warmth that is divine good, the source from which heaven comes into being and consequently the world as well, since as we have shown above, it is through heaven that the world comes into being?

This enables us to determine how to understand the statement that all things were made by means of the Word, and that without him nothing was made that was made, and further that the world was made by means of him, namely that this was accomplished by means of divine truth from the Lord. ⁴

This is also why in the book of creation it first mentions light and then the things that arise from light (Genesis 1:3-4). It is also why everything in all heaven and earth has to do with what is good and true and to their union if it is to be anything at all. ⁵

Imibhalo yaphansi:

269. And there was a rainbow round about the throne in aspect like unto an emerald. That this signifies the appearance of Divine truth in the heavens surrounding the Lord is evident from the signification of a rainbow in aspect like unto an emerald, as denoting the appearance of Divine truth in its circumference; for a rainbow round about the throne signifies Divine truth around it, and in aspect signifies appearance. The reason why the appearance of the rainbow was like that of an emerald, is that it indicated the Last Judgment, for the colour of this stone is green, and green signifies truth obscured. Divine truth in its splendour appears either of a sky-colour, or of various colours disposed in beautiful order, as those of the rainbow; but when it is obscured it appears of the colour of an emerald. The heaven which is called the former heaven was that on which judgment was to be executed, and which was about to perish (see Apoc. 21:1) which caused the obscurity. This is why mention is made of a rainbow, and its aspect like that of an emerald. The reason why the rainbow signifies Divine truth in the heavens in its order, and thence in its beauty, is that there are infinite varieties of truth from good in the heavens; and when they are represented by colours, they present the appearance of a beautiful rainbow. This is why the rainbow was made a sign of the covenant after the flood (Genesis 9:12-17). (That there are infinite varieties in the heavens may be seen in the work, Heaven and Hell 56, 405, 418, 486, and in the small work, The Last Judgment 13; and in Arcana Coelestia 684, 690, 3744, 5598, 7236, 7833, 7836, 9002. That colours in heaven appear from the light there, and that they are its modifications and variegations, n. 1042, 1043, 1053, 1624, 3993, 4530, 4742, 4922; and that the colours appear various according to the varieties of the states of truth from good, and thence of intelligence and wisdom, n. 4530, 4677, 4922, 9466. That rainbows appear in heaven, and whence and what they are, n. 1042, 1043, 1623, 1624, 1625.)