Explanation of John 1:4
By Brian David
“Life” in the Bible has reference to what we love, to our affections, because what we care
about actually makes us who we are. “Light” has to do with our thinking, our intellect –
which is not life itself, but defines and guides our lives. This verse, then, in saying “in
him was life,” reveals that it is divine truth that inspires our feelings, that makes us want
what is good. And when we want what is good, that will be “the light of men,” inspiring
us to seek and understand true ideas that can help us actually be good and do what is
good.
So divine truth – the exquisite expression of the Lord’s love – is not only the driving
force behind creation, it is also the agent that creates our own internal lives, inspiring our
desires for good and through them our understanding of what is true.
(References: Apocalypse Revealed 200; Arcana Coelestia 2894, 4687 [2-3]; Teachings about the Lord 1; True Christian Religion 39)
The New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Teachings #303
303. When the Lord was in the world his human nature was divine truth. When he was in the world, the Lord made his human nature divine truth from the divine goodness that was in him: 2803, 3194, 3195, 3210, 6716, 6864, 7014, 7499, 8127, 8724, 9199. The Lord then arranged everything within himself into the form of heaven in accord with divine truth: 1928, 3633. As a result, heaven was then in the Lord and the Lord was like heaven: 911, 1900, 1928, 3624-3631, 3634, 3884, 4041, 4279, 4523, 4524, 4525, 6013, 6057, 6690, 9279, 9632, 9931, 10303. The Lord spoke from the divine truth itself: 8127. So in the Word, the Lord used correspondences when he spoke: 3131, 3472-3485, 8615, 10687. As a result, the Lord is the Word and is called the Word, which is divine truth: 2533, 2813, 2859, 2894, 3393, 3712. In the Word, "the Son of Humanity" means divine truth and "the Father" means divine goodness: 2803, 3704, 7499, 8724, 9194. Since the Lord was divine truth, he was also divine wisdom: 2500, 3382. Only the Lord's perception and thinking came entirely from himself, and they transcended all angelic perception and thinking: 1904, 1914, 1919. His divine truth was susceptible to spiritual assault; his divine goodness was not: 2824.
