89. (iii) HE TOOK UPON HIMSELF HUMAN FORM IN ACCORDANCE WITH HIS DIVINE ORDER.

It was shown in the section on the Divine omnipotence and omniscience that together with creation God introduced order both into the universe and into all its parts, and that God's omnipotence therefore functions and works in the universe and all its parts in accordance with the laws of its order; these points were discussed in their proper sequence above (49-74). Now since God came down, and He is order, as was proved in that section, He had, so as to become really man, to be conceived, be carried in the womb, be born, be brought up and learn items of knowledge one by one, and by their means be brought into a state of intelligence and wisdom. Therefore in His Human He was a child like any other child, a boy like any other boy, and so on, the only difference being that He achieved that progress more quickly, fully and perfectly than others. It is evident from this passage in Luke that He advanced thus in accordance with order:

The boy Jesus grew and was strengthened in spirit; and He advanced in wisdom, years and favour with God and men, Luke 2:40, 52.

It is plain that He did this more quickly, fully and perfectly than others from the description the same Evangelist gives of Him, as for instance that, when He was a boy of twelve, He sat and taught in the Temple in the midst of the teachers, and all who heard Him were astonished at His intelligence and His answers (Luke 2:46-47 and later Luke 4:16-22, 32). This was done because Divine order prescribes that a person should prepare himself to receive God; and as he prepares himself, so God enters into him as into His dwelling and home. That preparation is accomplished by acquiring knowledge about God and the spiritual matters which concern the church, thus by means of intelligence and wisdom. For it is a law of order that in so far as a person approaches and comes near to God, which he should do entirely as if of himself, so far does God approach and come near to him, and link Himself to the person in his midst. It will be shown in the following pages that the Lord advanced in accordance with this order until He reached union with His Father.

126. (vi) THE PASSION ON THE CROSS WAS THE LAST TEMPTATION WHICH THE LORD UNDERWENT AS THE GREATEST PROPHET; THIS WAS THE MEANS BY WHICH HE GLORIFIED HIS HUMAN, THAT IS, UNITED IT WITH HIS FATHER'S DIVINE; SO THIS WAS NOT IN ITSELF THE REDEMPTION.

The Lord had two purposes in coming into the world, redemption and the glorification of His Human; and by these He saved both men and angels. These two purposes are quite distinct, but still they are combined in effecting salvation. The nature of redemption was shown in the preceding paragraphs to be a battle against the hells, their subjugation and afterwards the ordering of the heavens. Glorification, however, is the uniting of the Lord's Human with His Father's Divine. This took place by stages and was completed by His passion on the cross. For every person ought for his own part to approach God, and the more nearly he does so, the more closely does God on His side enter into him. It is similar to the building of a church: its construction by human hands must come first, and then afterwards it must be consecrated, and finally prayers must be said for God to be present and unite Himself with its congregation. The reason why the actual union was fully achieved by the passion on the cross is that it was the last temptation which the Lord underwent in the world; and temptations create a link. In temptation it looks as if a person is left to himself, but he is not, since God is then most closely present in his inmost, and secretly gives him support. When therefore anyone is victorious over temptation, he is most inwardly linked with God, and in this case the Lord was most inwardly united with God His Father.

[2] The Lord's being left to Himself, when He suffered on the cross, is evident from His cry then:

O God, why have you abandoned me? [Matthew 27:46]

as well as from these words of the Lord:

No one takes my life from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have the power to lay it down, and I have the power to take it back; this charge I received from my Father, John 10:18.

These passages then can prove that the Lord did not suffer in His Divine, but in His Human, and then a most inward and complete union took place. An illustration of this might be the fact that while a person is suffering physical pain, his soul feels nothing but is merely distressed. But when the victory is won, God takes away that distress, wiping it away as one does tears from the eyes.