I have been married 42 years at this writing and have made many observations based on personal experience. I have also regularly studied scholarly works, the opinions, and the teachings of living prophets as well as the theological conclusions of mainstream Christianity.
Each of us as individuals and those that are married has uniqueness in our relationships, and yet generally speaking our commonalities are much greater than our individual situations. We do see many patterns in creation. Are they eternal or temporary?
As we look at the narrative in Genesis some questions come up. Many Christian scholars, philosophers, and apologists conclude that that man (and woman) being created in the image of God has nothing to do with how we look. Yet, they say a man is the "image bearer" of God in their effort to maintain scriptural continuity.
The reason the concept of an incorporeal, and therefore genderless triune deity exists, stems from the acceptance of ancient creeds formulated by debates in politically orchestrated theological councils. Other philosophical conclusions also worked their way into the concept of God's nature. Information about these historical councils of the early Catholic church is easy to learn about from documents on the internet.
The doctrines of these theologians have questionable authority from God. The church founded by the Savior with apostolic authority had ceased to exist after the apostles were killed. The remaining bishops carried on becoming politicized at the time of Constantine. The creeds backed by the political authority of the church at the time became the foundational beliefs and teachings in Christianity and remained so as the church developed without divine direction or revelation.
Many things changed in Christianity with the Protestant reformation. The doctrines of an invisible, mysterious and incomprehensible God did not change, however.
The word image is to suggests the concept of vision and seeing. The Genesis narrative clearly demonstrates that Adam was in the image of God, in the same manner, that Adam's son was in his image. In Genesis 5 we see it mentioned that Adam was created in the image and likeness of God and the same language is used to describe the way his son Seth was created in the image and likeness of Adam.
After creating Adam, what caused God to say that it was not good for man to be alone? Was this a moment of enlightenment, an epiphany, or an eternal truth God held sacred even before descending to Eden in order to create the man? Had God done this before or not?
Where does the wonder and concept of womanhood originate? Is it eternal or something new 6000 years ago? Are the divine attributes of life creation and nurturing of souls eternal. Do we see a pattern in the union of man and woman? How is this idea of two founded in eternal truth?
Why does God's plan have an obvious component of creating souls that experience mortality and living in a fallen physical world? If our existence as mortals is not God's will, then whose is it? The creedal theologians decreed that God was not like man. Humans are mere creations of sovereign incorporeal power, a genderless universal force that consists of three beings referred to by male pronouns in the scriptures.
Why did such a force create men and women and give them the opportunity to join together in love or lust with the ability to create life in their own image? The biblical account establishes marriage as a pattern. God instituted the concept. It obviously came from a heavenly perspective as did the sexual union.
Christian scholars, philosophers, and apologists have described God as a genderless, celibate triune force or power and as the only self-existent being. This mainstream doctrinal theological foundation contradicts the essential nature of the pattern of creation. With biblical quotes and philosophical conclusions, the concept of motherhood and womanhood were removed by celibate monks or corrupt clergy.
Every person on the earth has a mother. This is an undeniable fact. There are no exceptions. Even Jesus Christ, the Son of God was born of a mortal woman. The connection of a mother to a child never ends even when disrupted by death. There is a connection. Each person has a father. These two facets of our existence complement each other as essential to the creation of new life. And yet the dogmas of classical Christian theology declare that men and women no longer share their love in the eternities. This falsehood also comes from uninspired conclusions by early theologians and carried into modern Christendom.
Was marriage and the creation of family a new thing, a random transitory spur-of-the-moment institution developed in the Garden of Eden, or is it patterned after the order of heaven and given to mankind to achieve happiness?
When it comes to our physical creation it requires a father and a mother. The science is well understood. Whether this happens naturally from a relationship, or under the scrutiny of scientific manipulations, the seeds of creation are carried separately in human beings, male and female, and most other creatures of the earth.
Womanhood is eternal and its powers were not a new creation or invention starting in the Garden of Eden. God's love, eternal love is manifest in the power of motherhood.
To be created in the image of God is an ideology that has not escaped the fascination of theologians and self-help gurus. It is a powerful concept used to attempt to instill in their listeners and congregations that divine power and the potential to progress exists within them. They just don't understand how powerful is really is.
If a man is created in the image of the eternal Father, in whose image is the woman? Is the nature of God really incorporeal and without gender? Philosophical and theological conclusions have given God the attributes of an Omni-god shrouding him in genie-like mysticism.
Eternity and the cosmos are infinite, and yet a finite body of knowledge, principles, and powers exist that pertain to it. This constitutes the fullness of all truth. The body of extant knowledge that pertains to the never-ending realms of time and space dictates everything that happens. God is bound inextricably to eternal immutable truth and laws. There is no new truth. It never changes and yet change occurs inside its bounds on a continuous basis.
Simple observations are often overlooked or ignored. There is no creation without a mother. The creation of life cannot occur without a mother and father. The symbolic ideology of these terms is used to describe relationships in traditional Christian teachings.
When classical mainstream biblical professors use the term father it is figurative or metaphorical, not literal. Scholars and professors of traditional theology use these familial terms as metaphors. They claim they are necessary because mankind is unable to relate to something as powerful as God is. Why would a being with perfect love and all power not be capable of providing the means to understand who he is?
What is real power? It is the existence of processes of creation that pertain to real eternal beings existing in the natural universe. Why have the philosophers imagined a single mystical being that can only be identified using metaphors? Isn't the nature of God manifest in creation itself? If there is a being identified as a father of all creation, there must also be a mother who is a co-creator. Fatherhood does not exist without motherhood unless you change the actual definitions.
God the Father is a being of truth, He comprehends all things. He is omniscient and omnipotent and perfect in every characteristic, but he did not invent the truth. He is not a single parent. To be God is to be a rational, natural eternally existing being that exists inside of all truth, not outside of it. Our eternal parents are God. The Godhead of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost is God. They are supernatural because they are natural, not unnatural beings. Their unions exist after a divine eternal order.
The motive for the creation of life by our Eternal Father and Mother comes from their love for one another. They have the power to produce offspring the image of which is the literal image of God, male and female. We are their literal spirit children. Their power is not some form of magic. We don't know how they as exalted beings of light and truth share their respective powers to bring about the spirits and souls of their children. They give their children life, mobility, and agency which is the power to choose their direction in eternity, even to become as they are.
The doctrinal misunderstandings of philosopher theologians have produced a God of limited capacity, one that creates by some magical force and yet cannot liberate its creatures to an exalted state. In other words, the traditional Trinity cannot create after its own kind.
The teachers and professors of Christian doctrine consider mankind to be mere creatures that God fabricated mysteriously from nothing. These beings have inborn limitations that God cannot remove. This concept of salvation developed by the doctrines and philosophies of men provides for a limited atonement as well. The God of traditional creedal Christianity does not have the power to offer increase and perfection to its creations.
Faith in Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, provided a way so that we, his fellow brothers and sisters can be lifted to a state of godliness. When resurrected with perfected bodies, capable of eternal creation, men and women can achieve their highest potential as sons and daughters of our Eternal Parents. Nothing we accomplish or do is outside of their power and grace. We are created in their image to have eternal increase and participate with them in a fullness of joy.
Those that love God and covenant to follow Christ can through his grace inherit all that the Father and the Mother have, and live in the dynamic celestial realm. Husbands and wives sealed together in eternal covenants have the potential to live in a state of perfect love, where creation, salvation, and happiness never end.
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