"Jesus said to Simon Peter, 'Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me more than these?'" (John 21:15)

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THE DIVINE HUMAN

by the Rt. Rev. Thomas L. Kline

It is interesting how often the Heavenly Doctrine for the New Church uses the word human when they describe the Lord. In the book, The Doctrine of the Lord we are told that "the Lord came into the world in order to glorify His Human..." (3). This is just one of the countless passages that ties the simple word human to the whole relationship between the Lord and His creation. The Heavenly Doctrine often refers to the Lord as the Divine Human. What a tremendous significance this one word must have. Just what is meant by the word human, and why is this one concept so important in seeing the Lord?

We sometimes have a problem understanding what the Heavenly Doctrine means by human because of our common usage of this word. When we use the word human in our daily conversations, we often give it a negative meaning. If someone makes a mistake or blunders, we call that mistake human. We say, "He is only human", meaning that he is fallible or able to err. There could be nothing further from the meaning of human when used to describe the Lord's Divine Human. Nothing negative can be attributed to the Lord, as He now reveals Himself in fullness.

Sometimes we use the word human in a positive way. If we meet someone warm and friendly, we sometimes call that person human, and we use the term as a compliment. If we find a person we can talk to, someone who takes time to listen to our problems, someone who cares, we call that quality human, meaning compassionate, loving, and warm. We say, "He is human," and we mean it in a positive sense. This approaches what the Heavenly Doctrine means when it speaks of the Divine Human of the Lord.

We can define the word human as the presence of genuine love and the ability to express that love to others. For example, an animal has something like love (motivation or instinct), but he lacks the ability to develop and express that love in a full way. An animal is not human. In the same way, a machine can have something like the expression of ideas - a computer can retain and express countless facts and statements, but it has no love or motivation. A machine is not human. Only to the extent that we, as potential human beings, have genuine loves and the ability to express those loves, are we actually human.

We can see that the Heavenly Doctrine has a special message to tell us when it speaks of the Divine Human. It is telling us that the Lord has genuine love (His Divine love) and He has the ability to express that love (His Divine wisdom). The Lord is truly Human; in fact, the Lord is the origin of all that is truly human within our minds. The Lord is a Divine Man.

Think what a difference this makes as we picture the Lord. We know that the Lord has infinite love. This means that He loves each one of us and is concerned about what we do in our lives. Because He loves each one of us, He continually wishes to bring us closer to His heavenly kingdom. Because of His great love, He is not off in some distant part of the universe; He is ever present in the most personal parts of our lives.

We know that the Lord has infinite wisdom. This means that He can lead us in the most amazing ways. The Lord knows more about our lives than we do. From the very day we were born, we have been in the best of all possible hands, with the Lord gently leading us toward heaven. There is not one thing the Lord has done in our lives that He could do better. And because the Lord has infinite wisdom, we can speak to Him, and He will hear us. The Lord knows our inmost thoughts, and He answers every spiritual prayer.

The Lord is the Divine Human - Divine love and wisdom. This is the reason why the Lord was born on earth, so that people could see His love and wisdom in fullness. And do we not see that the Divine Human is indeed Jesus Christ our Lord? Do we not see the Lord's love when we read how He healed the sick, how He raised the dead, and how He blessed the little children? And can we not see His Divine wisdom when we read of how He taught the multitudes and gave the Sermon on the Mount? The Lord is Divine love and Divine wisdom. And this Divine Human is Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.


Text: Doctrine of the Lord 3

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