Page:Swedenborg, Harbinger of the New Age of the Christian Church.djvu/22

 Word and then in its fulfilment in the flesh, our ever present Lord. The maternal office was not more real materially than it was spiritually. It was foretold to Eve with reference to her seed. It was repeated to Abraham who rejoiced to see the day coming. Its fulfilment was the theme of the prophets and was voiced in the Psalms of David. Abraham's obedience, repeated in Mary's Behold the handmaid of the Lord: be it unto me as thou hast said, furnished the fit germ for the human life of our Lord. And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God, my Saviour.

Our Lord's coming in the flesh bringing the light of the Divine presence down among men caused a judgment on those to whom the light came, both in this world and in the world of spirits where the evil were assaulting the gates of heaven itself. His resistance to their assault upon His human nature at the same time cast them down in the spirit world to their home beneath, even as He declared—I beheld Satan as lightning fallen from heaven. But the Lord came not merely for judgment. He came also for a light to enlighten the Gentiles. The Gentiles were all people