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870. Having an eternal gospel. That this signifies concerning His Advent, and concerning the salvation of those who believe in Him, is evident from the signification of gospel, as denoting the Advent of the Lord, and, in such case, the salvation of those who then believe in Him. That the Advent of the Lord has taken place, and also is about to take place, at the Consummation of the Age, that is, at the end of the old church and the beginning of the new; and that at the same time, also, the Last Judgment, may be seen above (n. 24:3).
And after the Lord had foretold to them the states of the church, successively decreasing even to its devastation and consummation, He said,
"Then shall appear the sign of the Son of man; and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. Watch therefore, because ye know not the hour in which your Lord will come" (John 5:30, 39, 42). Also in John (21:22).
His Advent does not there mean His Advent in person; but that He will then reveal Himself in the Word, that He is Jehovah, the Lord of heaven and earth; and that He alone is to be worshipped by all who shall belong to His New Church, which is meant by the New Jerusalem. To this end also He has now opened the internal or spiritual sense of the Word, in which sense the Lord is everywhere treated of. This is also what is meant by His coming in the clouds of heaven with glory;
See Matthew 24:30; 26:64; Mark 13:26; 14:62; Luke 21:27.
That the clouds of heaven signify the Word in the letter, and the glory its spiritual sense, may be seen above (n. 1:1, 2, 14); therefore the revelation of Himself in the Word is His Advent.
870. Having the eternal gospel, signifies respecting His coming and the salvation of those who believe in Him. This is evident from the signification of "gospel," as being the Lord's coming and the salvation at that time of those who believe in Him. (That there has been a coming of the Lord, and that He is yet to come at the time of the consummation of the age, that is, at the end of the old church and the beginning of the new, and at the same time will be the Last Judgment, may be seen above, n. 612.) Also from the signification of "eternal," as being the Divine as to its existence [existere]. There are two universals through which the Divine is expressed, namely, the infinite and the eternal. The infinite is the Divine as to its being [esse]; and the eternal is the Divine as to its existence [existere]; each of which must be understood in a supereminent sense, namely, without space and without time. Anyone who thinks about the infinite and the eternal from space and time falls into errors; for space and time belong to nature, and man's ideas are in these so long as he lives in the natural world, but are not in them when he leaves this world and comes into heaven. Spaces and times indeed appear in heaven exactly similar to those in the world; but they are only appearances of the states with angels, for the states of their affection and consequent thought are presented in appearance before their external senses as spaces and as times, and yet they are not spaces and times like those in the natural world. (What these are can be seen in two articles in the work on Heaven and Hell, which treat of Space and Time in Heaven. ) Because the Divine is infinite and eternal the infinite and eternal is in each and every thing that comes from the Divine; and this is why "the gospel," which signifies the Lord's coming and the salvation of the faithful, is called "eternal." That the infinite and eternal are predicated of the Lord alone may be seen above (n. 23, 286). That "the gospel" signifies the Lord's coming and the salvation of the faithful at that time can be seen from the passages where it is mentioned in both Testaments which have been quoted above n. 612.
[2] In respect to the Lord's coming it is believed by some that the Lord will come again in person, and indeed, to accomplish the Last Judgment; and this because it is said in Matthew:
The disciples drew near, saying unto Jesus, Tell us what shall be the sign of Thy coming and of the consummation of the age (Matthew 24:3).
And after the Lord had foretold to them the states of the church declining step by step even to its devastation and consummation, He said:
Then shall appear the sign of the Son of man; and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and glory. Watch, therefore, for ye know not in what hour your Lord will come (verses Matthew 24:30, 39, 42; also in John 21:22).
But His coming does not mean here His coming in person, but that He was then to reveal Himself in the Word that He is Jehovah the Lord of heaven and earth, and that all who will be in His New Church which is meant by the New Jerusalem will adore Him alone; and to this end He has now opened the internal or spiritual sense of the Word, in which sense the Lord is everywhere treated of. This is the meaning also of:
His coming in the clouds of heaven with glory (Matthew 24:30; 26:64; Mark 13:26; 14:62; Luke 21:27).
That the "clouds of heaven" signify the Word in the letter, and "glory" its spiritual sense, may be seen above (n. John 1:1, 2, 14), therefore the revelation of Himself in the Word is "His coming."
870. "Habentem Evangelium aeternum." Quod significet de adventu Ipsius, et de salvatione credentium in Ipsum, constat ex significatione "Evangelii", quod sit adventus Domini, et tunc salvatio credentium in Ipsum; (quod adventus Domini fuerit, et quoque futurus, quando consummatio saeculi, hoc est, quando finis ecclesiae veteris ac principium novae, et quod tunc etiam ultimum judicium, videatur supra, n. 612); et ex significatione "aeterni", quod sit Divinum quoad Existere. Bina sunt universalia per quae exprimitur Divinum, nempe infinitum ac aeternum: infinitum est Divinum quoad Esse, ac aeternum est Divinum quoad Existere, ac utrumque supereminenter intelligendum est, nempe absque spatio et absque tempore; qui ex spatio et ex tempore cogitat de infinito ac aeterno, is in errores labitur; spatium enim et tempus sunt propria Naturae, in quibus est homo quoad ideas suas quando in naturali mundo vivit, at non in illis est quando relinquit mundum ac venit in caelum; apparent quidem spatia et tempora in caelo plane similiter ut in mundo, sed sunt modo apparentiae statuum apud angelos; status enim affectionis et inde cogitationis illorum sistuntur apparenter coram sensibus illorum externis sicut spatia et sicut tempora, at usque non sunt spatia et tempora sicut in mundo naturali. (Qualia itaque sunt, constare potest ex binis articulis in opere De Caelo et Inferno, in quibus De Spatio et Tempore in Caelo actum est.) Quia Divinum est infinitum et aeternum, ideo in omnibus et singulis quae a Divino fiunt, est infinitum et aeternum; inde nunc est quod Evangelium, per quod significatur adventus Domini et salvatio fidelium, dicatur "aeternum": quod infinitum ac aeternum dicatur de solo Domino, videatur supra (n. 23, 286).
Quod "Evangelium" significet adventum Domini, et salvationem fidelium tunc, constat ex locis in utroque Testamento, ubi Evangelium dicitur, quae supra (n. 612) allata sunt.
[2] Quod autem adventum Domini attinet; creditur a quibusdam quod Dominus in persona rursus venturus sit, et quidem ad ultimum judicium faciendum, et hoc quia dicitur apud Matthaeum,
Accesserunt discipuli, dicentes ad Jesum, "Dic nobis.... quodnam signum tui adventus, et consummationis saeculi" (24:3):
et postquam Dominus praedixit illis status ecclesiae successive decrescentis usque ad devastationem et consummationem ejus, dixit,
"Tunc apparebit signum Filii hominis, .... et videbunt Filium hominis venientem in nubibus caeli cum virtute et gloria..: vigilate ergo, quia non scitis qua hora Dominus vester venturus est" (vers. 30, 39, 42; tum etiam apud Johannem, cap. 21:22):
sed per "adventum" Ipsius ibi non intelligitur adventus Ipsius in persona, sed quod tunc revelaturus sit Se in Verbo, quod Ipse sit Jehovah, Dominus caeli et terrae, et quod adoraturi sint Ipsum solum omnes qui in Nova Ipsius Ecclesia, quae per Novam Hierosolymam intelligitur, erunt; ob quem finem etiam nunc aperuit sensum internum seu spiritualem Verbi, in quo Sensu ubivis agitur de Domino: hoc quoque est, quod intelligitur per
Adventum Ipsius in nubibus caeli cum gloria (Matthaeus 24:30; cap. 1
26:64; Marcus 13:26; 14:62; Luca 21:27).
Quod "nubes caeli" significent Verbum in littera, et "gloria" sensum spiritualem ejus, videatur supra (n. 36, 594). Quoniam Ipse est Verbum, ut vocatur apud Johannem (1:1, 2, 14), ideo revelatio Ipsius in Verbo est adventus Ipsius.
Footnotes:
1. The editors made a correction or note here.