122. In addition to the reasons just given, there is this: In the universal human the inhabitants and spirits of our planet relate to the external, physical senses, 1 and these senses are the outermost limit, in which the deeper planes of life find completion, and on which they come to rest as their shared foundation. It is much the same with the presence of divine truth in the writing that we call the Word, which for this reason too was given on this planet rather than on any other. 2 Since the Lord is the Word and is the first and the last of it, 3 he chose to be born and to become the Word on this planet so that everything would be done in accord with the divine design. This aligns with the following statements in John:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and nothing that was made came about without him. And the Word became flesh and lived among us; and we saw his glory, glory like that of the only-begotten child of the Father. No one has ever seen God. The only-begotten Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, has made him visible. (John 1:1, 2, 3, 4, 14, 18)
The Word is the Lord as divine truth, so it is divine truth from the Lord. 4 This, though, is a mystery that only a few will grasp.
Fotnoter:
1. The “external, physical senses” mentioned here could be any of the five senses: hearing, sight, and so on. See Secrets of Heaven 4404, 5077, 7038:2, 10236:2; Divine Love and Wisdom 41; True Christianity 461:5. However, Spiritual Experiences (= Swedenborg 1998-2013) §1741 suggests that the external sensory function that most of the spirits from our planet are associated with is the sensory function of the various skins membranes of the body. See also note 1 in Other Planets 10 on the association of mental functions with specific locations in the body. [LSW]
2. [Swedenborg note] In its literal meaning, the Word is earthly: 8783. This is because what is earthly is the outermost limit, in which spiritual and heavenly realities find completion and on which they stand as on their foundation; and because otherwise the Word’s inner or spiritual meaning, lacking an outer or earthly meaning, would be like a house without a foundation: 9430, 9433, 9824, 10044, 10436.
3. The statement that “the Lord is the Word” draws on John 1:1, 14. Christ is referred to as the First and the Last in Revelation 1:17; 2:8; 22:13. Compare Isaiah 44:6; 48:12. For further discussion of why the Lord is considered “the first and the last” of the Word, see Sacred Scripture 98; there the Lord is said to be the “first” of the Word because he was the Word on the innermost level, and its “last” because he became flesh and in so doing became the Word on the outermost level. [SS, LSW]
4. [Swedenborg note] The Word is the Lord as divine truth, so it is divine truth from the Lord: 2859, 4692, 5075, 9987. Everything was created and made by means of divine truth: 2803, 2894, 5272, 7678.
