new church life : november / december 2016
themselves were affected in the same way that they were affected by the symbolic actions of the Israelites .
The miraculous correspondential relationship between the land itself and the heavens dissipated after the Lord ’ s coming . We are told that “ after the Lord had come into the world those representations vanished .” ( True Christianity 109 ) The reason they vanished was that by His coming into the world the Lord restored love itself on a large scale to the world . He brought a light into the world that did not exist before and that leads people clearly to His goodness . The angels therefore no longer draw near to the symbols so much as to the genuine love to the Lord and charity to the neighbor that they perceive in the human race .
For when a person worships the Lord in faith and love for Him , which are internal things , he has no need of the external things serving to mean them ; for then those internal things themselves reside with him , and not types and shadows of them . ( Arcana Coelestia 10637 )
Still , the blessings that the presence of heaven brought to Israel have not vanished . The mechanism that made Israel a “ land of milk and honey ” still operates worldwide . But rather than applying in an openly miraculous manner immediately to the specific symbolic actions of the “ Chosen People ” in the “ Holy Land ” they apply in much subtler long-term ways to everyone in every part of the universe . Simply put , when heaven is more closely joined to the human race , everything works better .
Many of us have concerns about climate change and other aspects of the welfare of our planet and its population . The message here is that everything is affected in a positive way by the Lord ’ s coming . As we read above :
“ This vast system called the universe is a work connected as one thing from beginning to end because God had a single purpose in creating it : an angelic heaven populated by the human race . All the things that make up the world are means of fulfilling that purpose .” ( True Christianity 13 )
This applies to climate change , to our efforts against disease and hunger , to every aspect of human life . It is not just that better people will be better stewards of the world and more conscientious players in these struggles , although that is part of it . The closer presence of heaven will literally change the face of the earth – not in any obviously miraculous way , but slowly , according to the laws of nature and the miracles that go on silently and continually everywhere on earth . The universe is a work connected as one thing from beginning to end . The light and love that the Lord brought into the world changes everything .
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