the world not one mortal could have been saved. It is universal to the
faith to believe that the Lord came into the world to separate hell from
the human race, and that he accomplished this by repeatedly doing battle
with hell and conquering it. In this way he gained control over it, forced
it back into the divine design, and made it obey him. It is universal to the
faith to believe that he came into the world to glorify the human nature
he took on in the world, that is, to unite it to its divine source. This is
how he keeps hell eternally in its place and in obedience to himself. Since
this could not have been accomplished except by allowing his human
nature to be tested, including even the ultimate test, the suffering on the
cross, therefore he underwent that experience. These are universal points
of faith regarding the Lord.
[ 3 ] For our part, it is universal to the faith that we believe in the
Lord, for our believing in him gives us a partnership with him, and
through this partnership comes salvation. To believe in him is to have
confidence that he saves; and because only those who live good lives can
have such confidence, this too is meant by believing in him. In fact, the
Lord says in John: “This is the will of the Father, that everyone who
believes in the Son has eternal life” (John 6 : 39 – 40 ). And in another pas-
sage, “Those who believe in the Son have eternal life. But those who do
not believe the Son will not see life; instead the anger of God remains on
them” (John 3 : 36 ).3 The faith of the new heaven and the new church in a specific formis this:
Jehovah God is love itself and wisdom itself, or goodness itself and truth
itself. As divine truth, or the Word, which was “God with God,” he came
down and took on a human manifestation for the purpose of forcing
everything in heaven, everything in hell, and everything in the church
back into the divine design. The power of hell had become stronger than
the power of heaven, and on earth the power of evil had become stronger
than the power of goodness; therefore total damnation stood threatening
at the door. By means of his human manifestation, which was divine
truth, Jehovah God lifted this pending damnation and redeemed both
people and angels. Afterward, in his human manifestation, he united
divine truth to divine goodness, or divine wisdom to divine love. In this
way he returned to the divine nature that he had had from eternity,
together with and in the human manifestation, which had been glorified.
These things are meant by this statement in John: “The Word was with
God, and the Word was God. And the Word became flesh” (John 1 : 1 , 14 ).