d to the life and teachings of the Manifestation
of God Who is the Revelation's focal point. Though not understood, these
effects increasingly permeate human affairs, revealing the contradictions
in popular assumptions and in society, and intensifying the search for
understanding.

The succession of the Manifestations is an inseparable dimension of
existence, Baha'u'llah declares, and will continue throughout the life of
the world: "God hath sent down His Messengers to succeed to Moses and
Jesus, and He will continue to do so till 'the end that hath no
end'..."(54)

THE DAY OF GOD

What does Baha'u'llah hold to be the goal of the evolution of human
consciousness? In the perspective of eternity, its purpose is that God
should see, ever more clearly, the reflection of His perfections in the
mirror of His creation, and that, in the words of Baha'u'llah:

...every man may testify, in himself, by himself, in the station of the
Manifestation of his Lord, that verily there is no God save Him, and that
every man may thereby win his way to the summit of realities, until none
shall contemplate anything whatsoever but that he shall see God
therein.(55)

Within the context of the history of civilization, the objective of the
succession of divine Manifestations has been to prepare human
consciousness for the race's unification as a single species, indeed as a
single organism capable of taking up the responsibility for its collective
future: "He Who is your Lord, the All-Merciful," Baha'u'llah says,
"cherisheth in His heart the desire of beholding the entire human race as
one soul and one body."(56) Not until humanity has accepted its organic
oneness can it meet even its immediate challenges, let alone those that
lie ahead: "The well-being of mankind," Baha'u'llah insists, "its peace
and security, are unattainable unless and until its unity is firmly
established."(57) Only a unified global society can provide its children
with the sense of inner assurance implied in one of Baha'u'llah's prayers
to God: "Whatever duty Thou hast prescribed unto Thy servants of extolling
to the utmost Thy majesty and glory is but a token of Thy grace unto them,
that they may be enabled to ascend unto the station conferred upon their
own inmost being, the station of the knowledge of their own selves."(58)
Paradoxically, it is only by achieving true unity that humanity can fully
cultivate its diversity and individuality. This is the goal wh