These in turn were vessels for things earlier still, which were vessels for
the primary substances that constitute the sun of the angelic heaven.
This is how finite vessels that could receive the Infinite came about.
(This process squares with ancient wisdom: every single thing can be
divided without end.)
There is an idea in circulation that finite things are not large enough
to hold the Infinite and therefore they could not be vessels for the Infi-
nite. On the contrary, points that I made in my works on creation show
that God first made his infinity finite in the form of substances put out
from himself. The first sphere that surrounds him consists of those sub-
stances, and forms the sun of the spiritual world. By means of that sun,
he then completed the remaining spheres even to the farthest one, which
consists of inert elements. He increasingly limited the world, then, stage
by stage. I lay this out here to appease human reason, which never rests
until it knows how something was done.
In people, the Infinite Divine is present the way something is present 34
in an image of itself. The Word shows this, when we read the following:
Finally God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, according
to our likeness.” Therefore God created human beings in his own
image; in the image of God he created them. (Genesis 1 : 26 – 27 )From this statement it follows that human beings are organisms that are
open to God, and organisms whose quality depends on their response.
[ 2 ] The human mind—the source and determiner of our humanness—
has been formed into three areas to match three levels. On the first level the
human mind is heavenly; angels of the highest heaven are on that level. On
the second level it is spiritual; angels of the middle heaven are on that
level. On the third level it is earthly; angels of the lowest heaven are on
that level.
Organized as it is to accommodate these three levels, the human
mind is a vessel for receiving divine inflow. Yet what is divine does not
flow in beyond our smoothing of the way [Isaiah 40 : 4 ] or our opening of
the door [Revelation 3 : 20 ]. If we smooth the way and open the door all
the way to the highest level, the heavenly one, then we truly become an
image of God. After death we will become an angel of the highest
heaven. If we smooth the way or open the door only to the middle or
spiritual level, then we still become an image of God, but one that is not
as complete. After death we will become angels of the middle heaven.
But if we smooth the way or open the door only to the lowest or earthly
level, then we become an image of God at the lowest level, provided we
§34 god the creator & creation 47