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113. There are several reasons, about which I have received information from heaven, why it pleased the Lord to be born, and to assume the Human, on our Earth, and not on any other. THE PRINCIPAL REASON was for the sake of the Word, that it might be written on our Earth; and when written might afterwards be published throughout the whole Earth; and that, once published, it might be preserved for all posterity; and that thus it might be made manifest, even to all in the other life, that God did become Man.
114. That the principal reason was for the sake of the Word, is because the Word is the Divine Truth itself, which teaches man that there is a God, that there is a heaven and a hell, that there is a life after death; and which teaches, besides, how man ought to live and believe in order that he may come into heaven, and thus may be happy to eternity. Without revelation, and thus, on this Earth, without the Word, all these things would have been entirely unknown; and yet man has been so created, that as to his interiors he cannot dienn.
Footnote nn: (^)By natural light (lumen) alone, nothing can be known concerning the Lord, heaven and hell, the life of man after death, and the Divine truths, by means of which man has spiritual and eternal life, nos. 8944, 10318-10320. This may appear from the consideration that many, and amongst them the learned, do not believe these things, although they are born where the Word is, and where there is instruction by means of the Word concerning them, no. 10319. Therefore it was necessary that there should be a revelation from heaven, because man was born for heaven, no. 1775.
115. That the Word might be written on our Earth, is because the art of writing has existed here from the most ancient time, first on tablets, next on parchment, afterwards on paper, and lastly publication by printing. This was provided by the Lord for the sake of the Word.
116. That the Word might afterwards be published throughout the whole of this Earth, is because here there is an intercourse of all nations, not only by journeys on land, but also by navigation to all parts of the entire globe; hence the Word, after it had once been written, could be conveyed from one nation to another, and be taught everywhere.
[pg 61]117. That the Word, after it had once been written, might be preserved for all posterity, consequently for thousands and thousands of years, and that it has also been so preserved, is known.
118. That thus it might he made manifest that God has become man; for this is the first and most essential purpose for which the Word was given; since no one can believe in a God, and love a God, whom he cannot comprehend under some form; wherefore, they who acknowledge an invisible and thus incomprehensible [principle], sink in thought into nature, and consequently believe in no God. Wherefore, it pleased the Lord to be born on this Earth, and to make this manifest through the Word, so that it might not only be made known on this globe, but might also by this means be made manifest to spirits and angels from other earths, and likewise to the gentiles from our ownoo.
Footnote oo: (^)The gentiles in the other life are instructed by angels, and they who have lived well according to their religionism receive the truths of faith and acknowledge the Lord, nos. 2049, 2595, 2598, 2600-2603, 2861, 2863, 3263.
119. It should be known that the Word on our Earth, which was given by the Lord through heaven, effects the union of heaven and the world, for which end there is a correspondence of all things in the letter of the Word with the Divine things in heaven; and that the Word in its supreme and inmost sense treats of the Lord, of His kingdom in the heavens and on earth, and of love and faith from Him and towards Him, consequently of life from Him and in Him. Such things are exhibited to the angels in heaven when the Word of our Earth is read and preachedpp.
Footnote pp: (^)The Word is understood by the angels in the heavens in a different manner from what it is understood by men on Earth, and the internal or spiritual sense is for the angels, but the external or natural sense for men, nos. 1769-1772, 1887, 2143, 2333, 2395, 2540, 2541, 2545, 2551. The Word is what unites heaven and earth, nos. 2310, 2495, 9212, 9216, 9357, 10375. The Word, therefore, was written by strict correspondences, nos. 1404, 1408, 1409, 1540, 1619, 1659, 1709, 1783, 8615, 10687. In the inmost sense of the Word the Lord alone and His kingdom are treated of, nos. 1873, 2249, 2523, 7014, 9357.
120. In every other earth, Divine Truth is manifested by word of mouth through spirits and angels, as was stated in the foregoing pages, in treating of the inhabitants of the earths in this solar system. But this takes place within families; for in most earths the human race dwell distinct according to families; wherefore, Divine Truth thus revealed through spirits and angels is not conveyed far beyond the families, and unless a new revelation constantly succeeds, it is either perverted, or perishes. It is otherwise on our Earth, where the Divine Truth, which is the Word, remains in its integrity for ever.
[pg 62]121. It should be known that the Lord acknowledges and receives all, from whatever earth they may be, who acknowledge and worship God under the Human Form, since God under the Human Form is the Lord: and as the Lord appears to the inhabitants in the earths in an angelic form, which is the Human Form, therefore, when the spirits and angels from these earths hear from the spirits and angels of our Earth that God is actually Man, they receive that Word, acknowledge it, and rejoice that it is so.
122. To the reasons that have been adduced above, may be added, that the inhabitants and spirits of our Earth, in the Grand Man, have relation to natural and external sense; and natural and external sense is the ultimate in which the interiors of life close, and on which they rest, as on their common [basis]. The case is the same with the Divine Truth in the letter, which is called the Word, and which for this reason also was given on this Earth, and not on any otherqq. And as the Lord is the Word, and the First and Last of it, therefore, in order that all things might exist according to order. He also willed to be born on this Earth, and to become the Word, according to these words in John, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and God was the Word. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made through It, and without It was not anything made that was made.... And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw Its glory the glory as of the Only-begotten of the Father.... No one hath seen God at any time; the Only-begotten Son, Who is in the bosom of the Father, Himself hath manifested Him" (i. 1-3, 14, 18). The Word denotes the Lord as to the Divine Truth, consequently the Divine Truth from the Lordrr. But this is an arcanum which enters into the understanding of only a few.
Footnote qq: (^)The Word in the sense of the letter is natural, no. 8783; by reason that what is natural is the ultimate, in which spiritual and celestial things close, and on which they subsist as on their foundation, and that otherwise the internal or spiritual sense of the Word without an external or natural sense would be as a house without a foundation, nos. 9430, 9433, 9824, 10044, 10436.
Footnote rr: (^)The Word is the Lord as to the Divine Truth, consequently the Divine Truth from the Lord, nos. 2859, 4692, 5075, 9987. Through the Divine Truth all things were created and made, nos. 2803, 2894, 5272, 7835.
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