In the Biblical parable of Creation in Genesis, God refers to Himself as "Us" (Gen. 3:22), and we are told that when His Image is reflected, the result is both masculine and feminine: "So God created man (humankind) in His own Image, in the Image of God He (God) created him (humankind); male and female created He them" (Gen. 1.27). NB. There is a deeper parabolic meaning of Gen.1:27 which is beyond the scope of this essay.
When mankind was brought into being, it was in the Image of God, and therefore there could neither be just the masculine nor could there be just the feminine, for that would not be a true representation of the Image of God: The Nature of God dictated that the Image of God manifested in mankind had to be both masculine and feminine.
While in the Godhead there is exists no absolute divide, yet there exists both the completeness of the qualities of masculinity and the completeness of the qualities of femininity. One should not be too disturbed by this apparent paradox, for there is little which we, as limited humans, are able to realize of the actuality of Divinity.
The all-pervading Spiritual Christ is the Soul, as it were, of the great Eternal Spirit of Love. The Spiritual Christ is the Soul of the Godhead, and this Soul took on a human body for the purpose of the raising up, guidance and comforting of mankind. He was called Jesus and was subject to all of the physical and spiritual laws to which any other human being is subject while in the fleshly casket. Jesus the Man was the perfection of the Godhead in a human body: "For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily" (Col.2:9).
At the time of Christ Jesus of Galilee, and for the next few millennia, we see the culmination of the converging forces of masculinity and femininity. While the evolutionary tendency has, until this particular aeon of time, been masculine, the transition is towards the feminine. The lead had been masculine and the feminine seeks to guide. The difference of leading and guiding should be noted. As the masculine tendency of the evolutionary forces pushes outward from the great Source of Life and wends its way further and further - manifesting into matter at one stage and then beyond - so the feminine tendency of the evolutionary impulses is to gather together and return to the Source.
It is masculine to take and it is feminine to give. Man has been associated with dominance and strength, and woman has been attributed with the characteristics of subservience and passivity. This feminine passivity has been unnaturally emphasized by the human interpretation of masculinity over the ages by the masculine element of humanity.
While man has, in the past, assented to the notion of giving, he has still taken. But woman does not take without feeling that she must return in kind many times over. Man has sought perfection for his race through dominance and has found his happiness and fulfilment lacking; and so, having wandered into every avenue of masculine dominance that he could try, he has come to a certain realization that he must also attribute to himself something of the gentler aspects of the human race, those which are normally associated with the feminine characteristics such as sacrifice, tender care, compassion and unconditional forgiveness.
While in this age some men will honour woman and give to her her rightful due, there are others who seek to dominate her and be her ruler. Likewise, there are refined nations which will help weaker ones with their strength, while there are brutal and gross people who seek to capture, dominate and assimilate the weaker peoples. This culmination of diverging streams of evolution is emphasized in the last Great World War, and the resulting lesser attempts at dominance since - this in contrast to attempts at a united stance made by mankind against the tyrannical and aggressive side of humanity (for instance, the original reason for the introduction of protection afforded by safeguards such as the European Law of Human Rights and the USA's Bill of Rights).
With the development of the ages, the expression of strength - both bodily and intellectual - are seen to have been the targets of mens' arrows of aspiration. All earthly progress up to date has been based on the combination of these two expressions of strength, as can be seen in politics, social definition, religion and science.
When Christ came as Man, this was because of the age which we are in and out of which we emerge. His body and physical make-up was masculine but that is only part of the overall picture. The guiding motive of self-assertion was the principle of the race to which He came, so He came as male and initially took and claimed everything in the masculine sense. But then, having stated that He was in the Father and the Father in Him, and that He had conquered the world, He then gave it all away to whoever would have it - most definitely the attribute associated with the motherly instinct.
Christ gave His life for His enemies (a parallel to this characteristic has be seen time and again in the human race in lesser degree when the woman is abused yet stubbornly clings to her male abuser through love). This characteristic is shown again by Christ's announcement that it is more blessed to give than to receive. Again the same characteristic is seen in Christ's feeding of the multitudes, and again when He metaphorically likens Himself to the mother bird who has always unconditionally sought to gather together her wayward chicks under her wings (Matt. 23:37).
It is true that human nature has mistaken the guiding path and the result has been confusion, pain and a diversion from the intended direction (a misdirection on all levels of evolution). Man is meant to look at the higher qualities of the woman (sacrifice, selflessness, tenderness, patience and devotional love), and seeing their wonder, desire to emulate the reflection of such qualities and draw nearer to the Divine-ideal. Similarly, the woman, ignoring the lesser characteristics associated with the lower side of man, can catch the reflection of the higher qualities (stability and strength, courage and the executive power to act in times of need) thus also drawing nearer the God-ideal. That is one of the main blessings of having the two, man and woman, together - an extra gift to speed along the spiritual evolution of the countless souls who come this way - to grow nearer to the Divine-Ideal.
Humanity shall be complete in experience when the other side of the coin is fully illuminated. First, woman seems to want to do as man has done - to dominate - but this she will realize quickly is not the way forward, but rather to complement the leader as a guide. We have seen in the ages as concerns the Earth (as far as recorded history shows), mainly one aspect of the whole, and one aspect alone - the masculine; and we have seen the results of this unbalanced aspect. It is now a powerful era of transition where Spirit is concentrated in a more intense way, and we shall see another aspect of the whole emerge and take its rightful and balanced place in humanity, and then - and only then - man shall draw as close to Paradise as this plane will permit before emerging into the vibrations of a higher Sphere. A "time" is not set, but rather, conditions must be met by the spiritual preparedness of mankind. True spiritual happiness awaits mankind's desire and willingness to achieve it.
NB: There is a parallel view to the spiritual progress of this age for mankind which can also be considered. It is the trinity of progress:
Firstly, the Father, the Great Ruler; this stage was to show an ignorant and wayward people (involved in all kinds of dangerous practices which involved allegiance to spirits from the dark regions), that there was a Creator to Whom they all belonged and to Whom they should owe their allegiance.
Secondly, there was the Christ, the Saviour, Who demonstrated the Divine Love of God which, previously, was almost an unthinkable thing; thus, where previously attrition existed, there now existed contrition, in other words, where fear of punishment had existed, there now existed compunction for wrongdoing because of the realization of God's love. Indeed, this change was to "write the law on their hearts and into their minds" (Jer.31:33, Heb.10:16, Rom.10:4). This was a huge transition which would revolutionize mankind's spiritual evolution. (Please note that this is a spiritual process of consciousness, it is one of contrition and conscience worked by the Spirit due to the birth, life and death of Christ Jesus; this is not - as many who miss this wonderful point entirely have claimed - the introduction of the Bible into the affairs of humankind).
And thirdly, there is the stage that mankind is now in, and that is the powerful working of the Holy Spirit amongst mankind for his purification and spiritual development.
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