True Christian Religion (Ager) n. 121

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121. (3) In this wise not only men, but the angels also, were redeemed by the Lord. This follows from what has been said in the preceding section, that without redemption by the Lord the angels could not have continued to exist. To the reasons above mentioned these may be added: (1) At the time of the Lord's first coming the hells had increased to such a height as to fill the whole world of spirits, which is intermediate between heaven and hell, and thus had not only thrown into disorder the heaven that is called the lowest, but also had attacked the middle heaven, which they infested in a thousand ways, and which would have gone to destruction if it had not been upheld by the Lord. Such an uprising of the hells is meant by the tower built in the land of Shinar, the head of which was to reach to heaven. But the attempt of its builders was frustrated by the confusion of tongues; and they were dispersed, and the city was called Babel (Gen. 11:1-9). What is there meant by the tower and by the confusion of tongues is explained in the Arcana Coelestia published at London. [2] The hells had increased to such a height because at the time when the Lord came into the world the whole earth had completely alienated itself from God by idolatries and magic; and the church which had existed among the children of Israel and afterwards with the Jews, had been utterly destroyed by the falsification and adulteration of the Word. All these, both Jews and Gentiles, had after death streamed into the world of spirits, where at length their number was so increased and multiplied that they could be driven out only by a descent of God Himself and then only by the strength of His Divine arm. How this was done has been described in the little work on the Last Judgment (London, 1758). This task was accomplished by the Lord when He was in the world. A like work has been done by the Lord at the present time, because, as has been said before, this is the time of His second coming which is foretold through the Apocalypse, and in Matthew (24:3, 30), Mark (13:26), Luke (21:27), Acts (1:11), and elsewhere. The difference is, that at the Lord's first coming this increase of the hells was the work of idolaters, magicians, and falsifiers of the Word; while at His second coming it was the work of so called Christians, both those who had imbibed naturalism, and those who had falsified the Word by confirmations of their fabulous faith in three Divine persons from eternity, and in the passion of the Lord as itself constituting redemption; for it is these who are meant by "the dragon and his two beasts" (Apoc. 12 and 13). [3] (2) The second reason why the Lord also redeemed angels is, that not only every man but also every angel is withheld from evil and held in good by the Lord; for no one, angel or man, is in good from himself, but all good is from the Lord. Therefore when the footstool of the angels, which they have in the world of spirits, is plucked away, they become like one seated upon a throne when its pedestals are removed. That in God's sight the angels are not pure is evident from the prophecies and also from Job; and again from the fact that there can be no angel who has not previously been a man. This confirms what has been stated in the Faith of the New Heaven and the New Church in its universal and in its particular form, at the beginning of this work, namely, "The Lord came into the world to remove Hell from man, and He did remove it by means of combats with it and victories over it, thereby subduing it and reducing it to obedience to Himself." And further, "Jehovah God came down and took upon Him the Human for the purpose of reducing to order all things in heaven and all things in the church; because at that time the power of the devil, that is, of hell, prevailed over the power of heaven, and upon earth the power of evil over that of good and in consequence a total damnation stood threatening at the door. This impending damnation Jehovah God removed by means of His Human, thus redeeming angels and men. From this it is clear that without the Lord's coming no one could have been saved. It is the same today; and therefore without the Lord's coming again into the world no one can be saved" (see above, n. 2, 3).


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