Basic Ideas
“The Lord from eternity, who is Jehovah, came into the world to subdue the hells and to glorify His Human. Without this no mortal could have been saved, and those are saved who believe in Him”
(True Christian Religion 2).
The Lord from eternity…
“Verily I say unto you, before Abraham was, I am” (John 8:58John 8:58
English: World English Bible - WEB
58Jesus said to them, Most assuredly, I tell you, before Abraham came into existence, I AM.).
People of the New Church worship the Lord Jesus Christ, the one God of Heaven and Earth. He is from eternity, to eternity; He always has existed and always will exist as the Lord Jesus Christ.
Who is Jehovah…
“No one is able to pluck the sheep out of My Father’s hand; I and the Father are one” (John 10:29, 30John 10:29, 30
English: World English Bible - WEB
29My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all. No one is able to snatch them out of my Fathers hand.
30I and the Father are one.).
“I am Jehovah; and besides me there is no Saviour” (Isa. 43: 11).
The Lord that we worship is both Jehovah of the Old Testament and Jesus of the New Testament. Within this one person is the Divine Trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. These three names are three different aspects of one person. Just as each of us has three parts that we call our soul, our mind, and our activity, so the Lord has the Divine Itself (Father), the Divine Human (Son), and Divine Activity (Holy Spirit). These are one is both person and essence.
Came into the world…
“I know the Father: For I am from Him, and He hath sent me” (John 7:29John 7:29
English: World English Bible - WEB
29I know him, because I am from him, and he sent me.).
Jesus Christ was born with both Divine inner parts (from His own soul) and finite human outer parts from Mary. He took on the complete human condition, inheriting through Mary all of the inclinations to do evil that all people inherit. He was raised and educated exactly as every human being is, only faster and perfectly because His soul was Divine.
To subdue the hells and to glorify His Human…
“Jehovah shall go forth, and fight against the nations, as when He fought in the day of battle…. And Jehovah shall be king over all the earth; in that day there shall be one Jehovah, and His name one” (Zech. 14:3-6, 9).
“Ought not Christ to have suffered this, and to enter into His glory?“ (Luke 24:26Luke 24:26
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26Didnt the Christ have to suffer these things and to enter into his glory?).
Jesus took on our condition for two immediate and complimentary purposes. First, by inheriting inclinations to do evil from Mary, He allowed the evil spirits of hell to attack Him. Filled with nothing but hate and rage, the forces of hell saw this as an opportunity to destroy the Lord and rule in His place. But throughout His life, the Lord overcame the evil spirits by facing and overcoming every single temptation the evil spirits could induce.
At the same time, with each victory in the combat of temptation, the Lord replaced some of the outer, finite human parts with something Divine from His own soul. Through this process of glorification (or making Divine), Jesus became both God and Man, or Divine Human.
Without this no mortal could have been saved…
The day of vengeance is in Mine heart, and the year of My redeemed is come; I have trampled them in Mine anger, I have brought down their victory to the earth; so He became their Savior (Isa. 63:4, 6, 8).
The reason the Lord did this was to save every person of the human race. At that time in our spiritual history, people had lost the ability to understand their spiritual lives and so could no longer make choices that would lead them towards heaven. The Lord chose to be born on earth so He could re-educate people about the difference between right and wrong and demonstrate living a life of religion. Without these new ideas, no one could live the life that leads to heaven.
And those are saved who believe in Him.
Jesus said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God from all thy heart, and in all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with thy thought (Matt. 22:37; Mark 12:30, 32Mark 12:30, 32
English: World English Bible - WEB
30you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. This is the first commandment.
32The scribe said to him, Truly, teacher, you have said well that he is one, and there is none other but he,; Luke 10:27Luke 10:27
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27He answered, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.).
A saving faith is a genuine acknowledgment that the Lord is God. But a genuine acknowledgment means more than merely an intellectual or emotional faith. A person who genuinely believes that the Lord is God will do the things that He commands. Believing in God really means living a life of religion, shunning evils as sins against the Lord and doing good things as a service to Him and your neighbor.
“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for without Me you can do nothing. If a man does not abide in Me he is cast forth as a branch and is withered. As the Father has loved Me so I have loved you; abide in My love. This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you” (John 15: 5, 6, 9, 12John 15: 5, 6, 9, 12
English: World English Bible - WEB
5I am the vine. You are the branches. He who remains in me, and I in him, the same bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
6If a man doesnt remain in me, he is thrown out as a branch, and is withered; and they gather them, throw them into the fire, and they are burned.
9Even as the Father has loved me, I also have loved you. Remain in my love.
12This is my commandment, that you love one another, even as I have loved you.).
