Page:Arcana Coelestia (Potts) vol 1.djvu/19

N. 13] . Those who are being regenerated do not all arrive at this state. The greatest part, at this day, attain only the first state; some only the second; others the third, fourth, or fifth; few the sixth; and scarcely any one the seventh.

. In the following work, by the name is meant the Saviour of the world, Jesus Christ, and Him only; and He is called "the Lord" without the addition of other names. Throughout the universal heaven He it is who is acknowledged and adored as Lord, because He has all sovereign power in the heavens and on earth. He also commanded His disciples so to call Him, saying, "Ye call Me Lord, and ye say well, for I am" (John xiii. 13). And after His resurrection His disciples called Him "the Lord."

. In the universal heaven they know no other Father than the Lord, because He and the Father are one, as He Himself has said:—

. Verse 1. In the beginning God created the heavens (coelum) and the earth. The most ancient time is called "the beginning." By the prophets it is in various places called the "days of old (antiquitatis)" and also the "days of eternity." The " beginning" also involves the first period when man is being regenerated, for he is then born anew, and receives life. Regeneration itself is therefore called a "new creation" of man. The expressions to "create," to "form," to "make," in almost all parts of the prophetic writings signify to regenerate, yet with a difference in the signification. As in Isaiah:—