December
5

Bring Forth a Son.

And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the name of the virgin was Mary.... And the angel said to her, Fear not, Mary; for thou hast found grace with God. And behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and shalt bring forth a Son, and shalt call His name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest, and the Lord God shall give to Him the throne of His father David. And He shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever, and of His kingdom there shall be no end. (Luke 1:26-33)

In the internal sense “to bring forth”:

• denotes the things of the spiritual birth…
• denotes such things as pertain to the church, which are doctrinals, here those concerning love to the Lord and charity towards the neighbor...
• denotes to acknowledge in faith and act…
• has respect to good and truth, and in this sense it means to come into existence, to make truths fruitful by doing them, from which comes reformation. (Arcana Coelestia 4586; Apocalypse Explained 721:16 AC 3298, 4070; AE 721:17)

When truth, which is of faith, passes into good, which is of charity, and when it is in the will, it is in its womb, and is then first produced. And when man is in good in act, that is, when he produces good from the will, thus from delight and freedom, it then goes forth from the womb or is born—which also is meant by being reborn or regenerated. From this it is evident what is signified in the spiritual sense by “being with child.” (Arcana Coelestia 4904)

As to its being said, “Bring forth abundantly in the earth, and be ye multiplied therein,” the case is this. Nothing is multiplied with the regenerate man in his external man, that is, nothing of good and truth receives increase, except as the effect of charity. Charity is like heat in the time of spring or summer, which causes grass and plants and trees to grow. Without charity, or spiritual heat, nothing grows, and for this reason it is here said in the first place, “Bring forth abundantly in the earth,” which is predicated of the goods that are of charity, by means of which there is multiplication of good and truth. (Arcana Coelestia 1016)

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