It may seem a little strange to ask this question. Surely many, if not most of the people in the world today could answer "Jesus Christ." But thinking in terms of New Church teachings, the answer may not be so obvious - or at least the meaning of the obvious answer may not be so clear.

Whom do we mean when we speak of Jesus Christ? When the Lord came into the world He took on a weak and mortal humanity from Mary. Is this the person to whom we refer when we use the names "Jesus Christ"? In the Heavenly Doctrine we are taught that the Lord put off everything that He has from the mother. Does this mean that the person who died on the cross simply is no more?

In trying to come to terms with the Divinity of Jesus Christ, some early Christians concluded that it was, in some sense, God the Father Who suffered and died on the cross. This was considered a heresy by the mainstream of Christianity. But what are we to make of this idea in the New Church? Even in New Church teaching this is not quite right. The Lord, as to what is called "the Father" could not, we are told, be tempted and suffer.

The Lord's purpose in coming into the world was so that we might know Him and be joined to Him. It is of fundamental importance to our spiritual life then, to be able to answer the question: Who is the visible God with whom we are to be conjoined? The question here is one of personal identity. The Lord's Human is now glorified. Is the Lord that we now speak of the same person who was tempted and suffered? How can the contemplation of the Lord in temptation console us if the person who so suffered is gone?

To understand this requires the recognition that there is, as it were, a something in between, something called at times in the Arcana Coelestia the "Human Divine." This Human Divine may be thought of as the Lord's character, consciousness, or personality while in the world, partaking both of the strength of the Divine soul within, and of the weakness taken on by means of Mary. The significance of the Human Divine is that it provides the continuity of identity that is needed. The maternal human is gradually put off, dissipated, and at length gone. But the Human Divine was not put off; it is not gone. It was transformed and remains the person of the Lord. It is because of this that we can feel the bond of empathy with the Lord. The Divine Person to Whom we pray, to Whom we look for strength in times of trouble, is the same person as He Who suffered temptation, although He has been transformed.

Could we believe that an infinite Divine Being, Who has never experienced a moment of doubt, of trial, or of temptation, could really understand the difficulties that we sometimes endure? An essential part of the Lord's mission in coming into the world was actually to experience, and also been seen to experience a spiritual strife such as that we undergo. We read of the Lord's process in the Gospel stories. We see a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And the Heavenly Doctrine, especially in the Arcana Coelestia, infills this picture by giving us glimpses of the Lord's inner life and trials. One of the keys to our relationship with the Lord is the recognition that our Lord and Saviour remains this very same Man, now fully Divine, but having all of the experience of His incarnation with Him still.

The Lord who appeared to His disciples Easter evening was fully glorified. And yet He still manifested His wounds! Obviously the Lord in His glorified Human does not always appear with wounds. This appearance is one accommodated to certain people in certain states. But it must also have some foundation in reality.

It is probably not quite right to say that the Lord still suffers. His temptations ended on the cross. TCR 127 compares the Lord's suffering in the world with our suffering. It is said: "When a man suffers in body, his soul does not suffer, but only grieves." To choose the words carefully, then, we might say by comparison that the Lord's suffering ended with His glorification, but that He grieves even now.

"Mercy," we are told, "is love grieving."(AC 5480) The very word used for mercy in the Heavenly Doctrine, "misericordia," means "grief of heart". And the Lord's mercy, we know, is everlasting, is forever. The Lord grieves with everlasting grief. How could He forget even one lost sheep who has chosen hell? And in some sense these missing angels, those who have chosen not to take their places in heavenly society, constitute wounds in the Grand Man. Every human being who turns away from the Lord and from a potential use in heaven leaves a gap, a hole, a wound.

So we can come to see not only that the Lord knows our burdens and shares our trials, but also our choices not to avail ourselves of the Lord's help and to cut ourselves off from Him also injure the Lord in some real sense.

But the central message is that the Lord is not some abstract force or entity. He is a Person, who Himself lived a life on earth, whom we can come to know more and more closely as we take His yoke upon us and He shoulders our burdens.

Perhaps this line of thinking provides a way of seeing the continuity of the Person of the Lord in the world with the Person of the Lord Whom we would approach. It is when you see this continuity and so perceive the presence of the Lord, that He can come to you as the Comforter. "And your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no one taketh from you." (John 16:23)

The New Church Life directory of ministers says the following. Stephen Dandridge Cole was ordained on June 19, 1977 and to the 2nd degree on October 15 1978. He serves as Assistant Professor of religion and philosophy in the Bryn Athyn College and of theology in the Academy of the New Church Theological School. He is also Head of Religion and Sacred Languages Division in the Bryn Athyn College. He serves as a visiting pastor for the General Church where needed.

To this we can add that Stephen has served as a pastor for 22 years in Ohio, Michigan and California before spending 10-11 years working at the Bryn Athyn College. He is married to Jennifer for 31 years and they have eight children, five of whom are married. They have twelve grandchildren the most recent addition to the tally arriving in the last few days in Kitchener Canada, an event that has delayed Jennifer's arrival in Australia until 13th April. The parents are Rev Nathan Cole and his wife Vera (nee King). The baby is a healthy girl who will be named at her baptism.

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.

Reprinted from New Church Vineyard

A "Numbers from the Word" puzzle found recently on Baringa Vale farm by the editor's wife, comes from the clever mind of David Horner who created it in the 1980s. It is reproduced here for readers to try their hand at working out the result. In our next issue we will publish all the references and the answer. An interesting and worthwhile study. Thank you David for your permission to publish it.

Instructions
Numbers used in the Word often have a special meaning. Some meanings and references are given below. Fill each lettered row of squares with a number, using these as clues. Then add all the numbers up and write the total in the top row of answer squares. Finally, use the code box at the bottom to replace the figures with letters. This will give the answer to the puzzle, which is - a topic to think about!

A What is holy (Arcana Coelestia 813) B The state and quality of doctrine (Exodus 7:7; Arcana Coelestia 7285) C The state and quality of the life of scientifics from internal (Genesis 50:22; Arcana Coelestia 6582) D Few (Genesis 5:23; Arcana Coelestia 520) E The end and the beginning (Revelation 11:3; Apocalypse Revealed 491 F Fullness (Genesis 23:1; Arcana Coelestia 2905) G All who acknowledge the Lord as the God of heaven and earth (Revelation 7:4; Apocalypse Revealed 348) H Holy things of combat (Genesis 14:14; Arcana Coelestia 1709) I Falsities of evil (Revelation 14:20; Apocalypse Revealed 654) J Those in the faith of charity (Arcana Coelestia 3325) K All the things of truth and good of faith (Exodus 12:37; AC 7973) L All the truth of the Word falsified (Revelation 13:18; AC 10217:8) M All truths and goods (Revelation 21:16; Arcana Coelestia 9603) N First state of temptation (Genesis 7:6: Arcana Coelestia 737) O Time before external man is joined with the rational (Genesis 17:1; Arcana Coelestia 1988) *Trademark by David Horner

Note: You may find that printing the PDF version of the Newsletter may be the best way to do the puzzle

Bill Hall from Rockhampton sent this wonderful quote from Helen Keller which "I got from Seniors On Line".

"Self-pity is our worst enemy and if we yield to it, we can never do any good in the world."

The following events on the April calendar are.

Friday 10th April		7.30 p.m		Good Friday Service (Holy Supper)
Sunday 12th April		10.00 a.m.		Easter Service
Friday 17th April		7.00 p.m.		Dinner and Class (Book of Psalms)
Sunday 19th April		10.00 a.m.		Worship followed by Society Meeting
Sunday 26th April		10.00 a.m.		Worship followed by Farewell Luncheon (see below)

After church on Sunday 26th April there will be a Pot Luck Luncheon in Baringa to farewell our visiting pastor Rev Stephen Cole and his wife Jennifer. Please bring a savoury and sweet to share. Drinks will be provided.

Although the finer details of Stephen's travelling are yet to be finalised we can advise that he will be in Perth from Thursday 2nd to Monday 6th April. Following Easter Stephen and his wife Jennifer will be visiting Canberra returning to Sydney in time for a dinner and class on 17th April. In their final week in Australia there are tentative plans for a trip to Brisbane travelling north via Tamworth and returning south via Coffs Harbour.

Stephen has a mobile phone number so if he is away from the Hurstville office you can contact him on 0422 977 545.

Gail and George Markou are at present visiting New York to see their first grandchild. Anders Nicholas Norville was born Feb 28 to Xandree (Markou) and Todd Norville in Jersey City. The baby weighed in at a healthy 7 pounds.

A most enjoyable engagement party was held at the home of Mike and Kerry Lockhart for their daughter Karen and fiancée Michael. This was held on the evening of 14th March.

Farewell to Carolyn Heldon who gave us some delightful music and singing on Sunday 22nd. We will miss her contributions to our services. At the time of printing she is now enjoying a stay in San Francisco with Sarah and Julian Ralls. And who should come to dinner during her visit with Sarah and Julian but Stuart Heldon who was in the USA for a week investigating expanding his water tank business. Carolyn is spending a couple of months visiting lots of friends in the USA before heading off to Sweden to do an 8 week international course at the University of Uppsala on learning to speak Swedish. The course includes some fascinating side trips to places like Lappland! Before returning home Carolyn plans to visit Rev Alain and Jeanne Nicolier in France.

Carolyn left Sydney on Saturday 28th March, the same date that Maddy and Tim Johnson also left for the USA. Many will remember Maddy and Addy (Adriane Junge) who were a couple of our first interns during the time of Rev Dave Ayers. Maddy and Tim visited Cairns and Uluru before spending a week in Sydney.

Murray Heldon was recently in the USA on business but managed to attend the wedding reception for Sara Schnarr and Matt Wheeler. Sara is the daughter of Rev Terry Schnarr and Gretchen Schnarr. Terry was a former pastor of the Hurstville Society.

Those who attended the Summer Camp in 2008 at Mangrove Mountain will remember the showing of the movie As It Is In Heaven by the Swedish film producer Kay Pollak. Owen Heldon was surprised to get a phone call from England from John Cunningham (who has attended the camps for many years making the trip each year to Australia) to say that he had arranged the first public screening of the movie in England in his home town of Hadleigh with an audience of over 100 people who burst into spontaneous applause when the movie ended.

Talking of performances Norman Heldon is to perform his poetry reading act that he gave at this year's summer camp at Phillip Island, for a social group at the Cochlear Implant Centre on 5th April. Norm continues to amaze us at age 91 and recently bought a brand new Hyundai Getz.

Margaret Heldon is spending three weeks in Sydney with her family while her mother is in respite in Tamworth. Thank you to Margaret for filling her old role of providing music for our church services while she is here which includes Good Friday and Easter Sunday. Owen and Margaret are looking forward to spending a few days away together at Hawks Nest on Port Stephens during the week before Easter.

Thanks for the stamp donations which continue to arrive. We even received an envelope full from Bill Hall in Rockhampton!

From the Manual of the Roseville New Church we learn that Rev Henry Kalo, President of the New Church in Southern Africa will be visiting Sydney from Friday 24th to Wednesday 29th April and preaching at Roseville on Sunday 26th. Whilst this clashes with the farewell to Rev Stephen Cole in Hurstville on that date, the following day Monday 27th may provide an opportunity to meet Rev Kalo. There will be an "At Home" at the manse between 10 am and 12 noon and if attending you might like to bring some refreshments with you.

Happy Birthday to Donna Heldon (5th), Gaye Heldon (15th), Merv Kennedy (17th), Huiling Sun (20th), Kerry Horner (22nd) and David Horner (25th)

Note: All events are located at the church at 22 Dudley St, Penshurst 2222 (off Hillcrest Ave) unless otherwise stated. Contact the Hurstville New Church on (02) 9580 1589 for more information or email us at newchurch@optusnet.com.au All are welcome and refreshments are served after church each Sunday.
Sunday	5th April	NO CHURCH AT HURSTVILLE Service at Roseville
Friday	10th April	7 30 p.m. Good Friday Service (Holy Supper)
Sunday	12th April	10. 00 a.m. EASTER SERVICE
Friday	17th April	7 00 pm Dinner and Class "Book of Psalms"
Sunday	19th April	10. 00 a.m. Worship followed by Society Meeting
Sunday	26th April	10. 00 a.m. Worship followed by Pot Luck Luncheon (Farewell to Coles)