We are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This is a great mystery, but I [emphatic] am speaking about Christ and the Church. (Eph.5:31-32)
Paul was quoting from Genesis 2:23-24. Adam said: “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.
On the surface there is no “great mystery” here. From the foundation of the world men have been leaving their parents and joining with their wives, and “becoming one flesh”. What therefore was Paul talking about? What great mystery?
I believe Paul was referring to Christ leaving His heavenly Father and Mother, to seek His Bride from amongst humankind. But most only see the mystery as referring to Christ and His Bride, failing to include the former part of the verse, because they have not appreciated that the Holy Spirit is the Mother Figure in the Godhead.
See how Luke records His conception in his Gospel (1:35). And the angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.” Both Father and Mother are present at the conception of Jesus in Mary’s womb. This is why the angel said that He would be called the Son of God. The unfallen Son of God is planted in the womb of Mary, a fallen woman.
A child might understand the Godhead as the Divine Family if he is taught the identity of the Holy Spirit. He knows from his earliest years there cannot be “Father” or “Son” unless there be a “Mother”, but on asking questions he is usually told that the Trinity is a mystery we cannot understand. So he goes away puzzled. That is sad.
Footnote.
The Roman Church has misunderstood this for centuries. In order to make Jesus unfallen, they have had to create a story wherebyJoakim and Anna conceive, and have an unfallen baby girl, whom they name Mary. This is because they have not recognised the identity of the Holy Spirit as the Mother figure in the Godhead, and that both Father and Mother were present at Jesus’ conception. Had they known that, the “immaculate conception”, Mary’s “perpetual virginity”, and the ensuing mariolatry might never have arisen. Furthermore, according to Gibbon the Roman Catholic Church derives its doctrine from Islamic teaching. In volume 5 of his Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, published in 1788, Edward Gibbon wrote: “The Latin Church has not disdained to borrow from the Koran the immaculate conception of His virgin mother.”
