bible

The love of Christ

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“The love of Christ controls and urges and impels us, because we are of the opinion and conviction that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, so that all those who live might live no longer to and for themselves, but to and for Him Who died and was raised again for their sake. Consequently, from now on we estimate and regard no one from a human point of view.” (2 Corinthians 5:14-16a)

7 days of creation

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Spiritual awareness and insight


Introduction

From the literal meaning of the first chapters of Genesis, no one realizes that it refers to anything besides the creation of the world, the Garden of Eden which is called “Paradise,” and Adam, the first human to be created. Who thinks anything else? However, these things contain details that have never been revealed until now. . . . In this inner meaning, the first chapter of Genesis is about new creation of a human being.
In other words, it is about our rebirth.

It is a wonderful story to start out with in the Bible. You know how there is often a preface in a book, and the preface will tell you what the book is going to tell you. They always told us that in school: when you write a paper, first you tell them what you’re going to tell them, then you tell them, then you tell them what you told them. The Creation story is God telling us what he’s going to tell us in the whole Bible. He is summarizing the entire Bible, which is really, Swedenborg tells us, about our own spiritual growth. It’s about our process from when we first start to awaken spiritually to the time when we become angels in heaven. The Creation story is a wonderful summary, in just a little over one chapter, of the whole Bible story.

Briefest Summary:

Stages: External representation

Spiritual State: Internal

Initial state: without form and void Prior to rebirth: no spiritual form

First state: light and darkness Knowing that the good and the true are something higher.

Second state: heavens and earth Distinguishing those spiritual things from God (in the internal man), from those of oneself (in the external)

Third state: tender grass, tree bearing fruit Acting from knowledge, not from the heart

Fourth state: sun and moon Love and Insight begin in the internal

Fifth state: whales of the sea, birds of the heavens Actions to confirm oneself in truth and good: deep principles & rising thoughts

Sixth state: living soul, beast, ‘image of God’Actions from insight, and hence from love: alive at last – ‘spiritual

’Seventh state: day of rest Actions from love, and hence from insight: ‘celestial’

Site Map; Site Information7 Days of Creation ~ Spiritual Rebirth ~ The Word of God

Most of the Bible’s storie’s don’t exist in space-time

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When we read the Lord God’s Holy Word with our terrestrial eyeballs we only see the tip of the iceberg of what it is trying to tell us. The reason is, that the most meaningful parts of Scripture are hidden in other dimensions (how else could the multi-dimensional universe have been created from the Word if it did not Itself have multiple levels?).

This notion would blow the minds of even the most pioneering and forward-thinking theoretical physicists today. But it is true. And thanks to the theological writings of Emanuel Swedenborg, I have been given a glimpse of these special inner levels of sacred meaning.

Mostly, these hidden (non-material) dimensions of biblical comprehension and exegesis are enjoyed by God’s heavenly angels. Angels have this deeper theological understanding of Scripture because they live, think and love in a non-physical and spiritual realm—beyond spacetime.

Since men and women on earth are—inwardly—spirits clothed with material bodies, they all have the potential mental capacity to discover the deeper layers of sacred communication within the pages of Scripture as well. In fact, there is nothing more important to the Creator of the universe than to grant each of us this rarefied mental ability.

This augmented mental ability actually represents our personal experiencing of the Lord’s Second Coming “in the clouds.” The “clouds” represent our mental obscurity concerning the deeper levels of communication within Scripture.

God is simply waiting for each of us to be open to such new revelations. If you want to see a big change in the world (for the better) this is what will do it!

Love is the ultimate science

Spiritual awareness and insight

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There is a curious passage in Holy Scripture (Rev. 2:11) that states, “He that overcometh shall not be hurt by the second death.”

Are we to suffer two deaths? Isn’t one enough?

We all worry about our physical death, so why does the Bible say that it is another death that we are to be more concerned about?

Actually our common language shows an intuitive acknowledgement that we can indeed experience two kinds of death.

We can also die internally if some idea or passion we cling to is proven wrong. In that case we see ourselves as “goners” even though our physical bodies may be quite healthy.

The Bible merely acknowledges that we have both a physical or outer life and a deeper inner life and that our inner lives are the most important. Unfortunately our inner lives often carry negative baggage, which must be removed so that new life can take root. When individuals say they are “reborn,” they are referring to the fact that something old has died within them and that something more important and vital has grown out of this “death.” A new inner life is the key to enjoying eternal happiness.

It is this same other death that Adam and Eve were warned about when they ate the Forbidden Fruit (swallowing whole a deluded worldview). Although they remained physically alive after that event (and thought they had dodged a bullet) something much deeper inside them was killed off.

If one doesn’t become more spiritual (overcome one’s inner flaws) this second death will be eternally hurtful because nothing noble has replaced it.

Verse of the day

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“A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.” Ephesians 6:10-12