Do Mormons Believe God was Once a Man?
Among the questions that have rarely been addressed by the professors of religion, but which we hunger for answers, are these:
- Where did God come from?
- If God has always existed, but we only just came into existence a few thousand years ago as a race, what did He do before creating us?
- What will God do after His work with us on earth is complete?
- What does He do today?
- Does he just create beings to worship him? Or is there a loftier purpose?
Many people in the Christian faith’s reject the idea that God was once a man because they largely believe in a trinity concept wherein Jesus and the Father are the same being. Yet they believe Jesus was born into this world so obviously He was a man. All of Christianity believes God was once a man! The difference with the LDS faith is we do not believe the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost to be the same being, but separate beings who are one in purpose. That is what the Bible teaches. This article will explain our beliefs about the origin of God the Father. Follow this link for more information on the Godhead being separate beings.
God’s Purpose
To begin, we first need to understand God’s purpose in what his work is all about. What motivates Him? Among the scriptures that members of the LDS faith quote most is this passage in the book of Moses. Specifically verse 39. In this experience as Moses converses with the Lord, the Lord has just told him about the vastness of creation and Moses asks to see it all. The Lord answers with a declaration of why he does what he does.
Moses 1:36-39
36 And it came to pass that Moses spake unto the Lord, saying: Be merciful unto thy servant, O God, and tell me concerning this earth, and the inhabitants thereof, and also the heavens, and then thy servant will be content.
37 And the Lord God spake unto Moses, saying: The heavens, they are many, and they cannot be numbered unto man; but they are numbered unto me, for they are mine.
38 And as one earth shall pass away, and the heavens thereof even so shall another come; and there is no end to my works, neither to my words.
39 For behold, this is my work and my glory-to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.
It is God’s purpose to create and exalt his creations. He wants them to have immortal bodies and enjoy the blessings of eternal life in His presence. He created us for this purpose and he labors to achieve this objective, within the bounds of eternal law.
Premortal Life
In order to better understand why we are here on earth, we need to understand that we were created by God prior to life in this mortal realm, and there existed as his spirit children. There are a number of scriptures which illustrate this.
God is the father of our spirits.
Heb 12:9
Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?
In Job 38:1-7 the Lord asks Job where he was when the foundations of the earth were laid “and all the sons of God shouted for joy?” We were there. We are the children of God as Paul explained in Romans 8:16-17.
The disciples understood the doctrine of a pre-mortal life and here asked Jesus if one individual had done something there to warrant being born blind. The Savior doesn’t correct any false understanding of the notion of living before mortal birth, but instead declares the man innocent of sin before being born.
John 9:1-3
1 And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth.
2 And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?
3 Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.
This one very clearly illustrates that Jeremiah lived prior to this life and was in God’s presence.
Jeremiah 1:4-5
4 Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
5 Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.
Purpose of Life
If you will look back up at verses 24 and 25, you will see that the purpose of this life is to be tested to see if we will keep the commandments. In our pre-mortal state, we did not have a physical body, but our Heavenly Father did (Jesus did not until he came to earth to be born and then resurrected). We wanted to be like our Heavenly Father and enjoy the blessings that a perfect immortal body would afford us. We, as children of God, wanted to be like our loving Father (and naturally a Mother as well though she is not discussed openly in scripture).
Paul taught in Hebrews 9:23 that things on Earth are created after the pattern of heavenly things. We also know that the word “God” as used in Genesis 1:1 is the Hebrew word Elohim and the -im on the end makes it a plural word. There are a couple ways to comprehend what this means, but one is that we don’t just have a Father in Heaven. Whenever did a child exist who had a father but not a mother? God has declared us His children and we are. In Genesis 1:26-27 we see this borne out when the Lord declares, “let US make man in OUR image…after our likeness…male and female created he them.” Who is the “us” and “our” if not a Heavenly Mother to pattern Eve after?
Our purpose in coming to earth was two-fold.
First to gain a body so that it would someday be resurrected and glorified and we would physically become like our Heavenly Parents.
Second, to be tested to see if we would obey the Lord’s commandments and be able to return to His presence.
Successfully passing the test of life does not mean one is saved by works. The prophet Nephi in the Book of Mormon said it best when he declared:
2 Nephi 25:23 For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God; for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do.
We know that it is only through the grace and mercy of God, wrought by the blood of Christ through his atonement, that we can have hope to be saved in the kingdom of God. We also know that declaring a belief in God without actually keeping the commandments, will not be sufficient to bring us into heaven. As Jesus declared,
Matt 7:21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
Post-Mortal Life
There is much that could be said here about the spirit world and preparation for judgment. To save space in this post, I will direct the reader to another article I recently posted which explains our beliefs in the kingdoms of glory that await us (Do Mormons believe everyone else is going to hell?). As Jesus said,
John 14:2 In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
If you will read the article just referenced, you will see the scriptural case for what we term “degrees of glory.” In short, Paul makes the case that in the resurrection there are varying degrees of resurrected bodies, some as glorious as the sun, some likened to the moon, and others like the stars “for one star differeth from another star in glory” (1 Cor. 15:40-42). He also speaks of being caught up to the third heaven in 2 Cor. 12:2. We believe these kingdoms of glory are what Jesus referred to as the “many mansions,” or places where we would be comfortable living for eternity, according to the light and truth we were willing to follow in this life. The highest degree of glory is termed the Celestial kingdom and it is the place where God dwells.
Are we God’s Children?
So now to get to the heart of the matter. Does the reader accept that we are God’s children and that we have Heavenly Parents? If not, why do we call God our Heavenly Father? How can we have a Father without a Mother? What do children do but learn and grow and move toward becoming parents? What greater joy is there for a parent in seeing their children succeed in life, marry, and produce grandchildren for them to love and nurture as part of their family. Does it diminish the parent or grandparent to see the child or grandchild attain the title of “adult”? No. Parents build an inheritance for their children and try to prepare a better world for them to inhabit. This was taught by Paul in Romans 8:16-17.
16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
What does it mean to be an heir of God and a joint-heir with Christ? What does it mean that glory will be revealed in us? Again Paul responds in Philippians 3:13-14.
13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
What is Paul saying? Put the past behind you and push on toward our final objective. The prize to which we seek is to become perfect through Christ and arrive at the stature of a spiritual adult and attain the calling of God. To be an heir of God and inherit all things. To acquire the power of creation. This does not diminish God, it exalts Him. Recall that his work and his glory is “to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.” Immortality is living forever with a resurrected body. Eternal life is God’s life. It is to become “like” God, but never replace or diminish Him. He experiences joy in watching his children create, just as kindly parents experience joy watching their children create. He wants us to have what he has. This is what John the Revelator taught when he said in Revelation 1:5-6:
5 And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,
6 And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
What does it mean to be a king and priest unto God through Christ? It means to have our sins washed away through the atoning sacrifice of Christ, grow from grace to grace, line upon line, in this life and the next, until we become as perfect in our attributes as God himself, and he is then comfortable bestowing upon us powers and kingdoms to rule over in the same way He Himself would, with love and perfection.
When the Psalmist wrote “I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High” (Psalms 82:6), the Lord later confirmed in John 10 when the Jews took up stones to kill him.
34 Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?
35 If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken;
36 Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God?
In other words, “if the word of God calls you gods and children of the most High, why would you call me a blasphemer for saying I am the Son of God?”
To me, this is a comforting doctrine. It explains our grand purpose in life, the reason for which God created us, and gives us hope that by living by God’s word, we may in fact become like God, not to diminish Him, but to further exalt and honor Him. To reject this concept wholesale means that one would have to provide an alternate set of explanations to all the questions that could be asked. Where did God come from? What did he do before creating us? What will he do after the millennium? What did Paul mean by explaining there are 3 different types of bodies in the resurrection? How was Jeremiah ordained a prophet before he was born unless he lived prior to birth? And what does it really mean to be a child of God?
God the Father was Once a Man
With this foundation laid, the LDS doctrine is that God the Father was also once a spirit child of loving Heavenly parents who placed him in a mortal realm to be tested and tried and eventually exalted. He lived a mortal life on an earth just like this experience we are having. He was exalted to be a God and our Father is the only God whom we worship. It doesn’t take away from God that there are other Gods throughout the eternities. God the Father is the object of our adoration and love and we worship none other. We desire to be like Him. Jesus said:
John 5:19 “Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.”
What did Jesus do? He came down to earth, took upon himself a body, experienced death, was resurrected, and has received eternal glory.”
Don’t take my word for it
In my life I have heard no compelling argument to explain these scriptures away in any logical fashion contrary to what I have expressed here. On the other hand, I have a witness by the Holy Ghost that these things are true and I know that anyone who opens their heart and asks God with sincerity and real intent, can come to know these things are true as well. The key is, asking God with sincerity and intent to act on the knowledge. Let God tell you if it’s true. You don’t need my testimony or someone trying to explain these things away. Joseph Smith received his call to be prophet simply because he followed the counsel given in James 1:4-5.
5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
6 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.
I do know these things are true and that anyone who asks God with an open heart to know if these things are true, can in fact come to the same knowledge that you are a literal child of God, he loves you, he created you in his image, he created this world for you, he sent his Son to die for you, that you might return and live with him forever. I will love and praise my Heavenly Father and his Son forever for what they have done for me.
Miscellaneous Quotes from LDS Prophets
“We are destined and foreordained to become like God, and unless we do become like Him we will never be permitted to dwell with Him. When we become like Him you will find that we will be presented before Him in the form in which we were created, male and female.”
Joseph F. Smith, Gospel Doctrine, p. 276, June 12, 1898“The fact that we receive the Holy Ghost is proof that the Spirit in warring with the flesh has overcome, and by continuing in this state of victory over our sinful bodies we become the sons and daughters of God, Christ having made us free, and whoever the Son makes free is free indeed. Having fought the good fight we then shall be prepared to lay our bodies down to rest to await the morning of the resurrection when they will come forth and be reunited with the spirits, the faithful, as it is said, receiving crowns, glory, immortality and eternal lives, even a fullness with the Father, when Jesus shall present His work to the Father, saying, “Father, here is the work thou gavest me to do.” Then will they become gods, even the sons of God; then will they become eternal fathers, eternal mothers, eternal sons and eternal daughters; being eternal in their organization, they go from glory to glory, from power to power; they will never cease to increase and to multiply, worlds without end. When they receive their crowns, their dominions, they then will be prepared to frame earths like unto ours and to people them in the same manner as we have been brought forth by our parents, by our Father and God.”
–Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses 18:259“As man now is, God once was-even the babe of Bethlehem, advancing to childhood-thence to boyhood, manhood, then to the Godhead. This, then, is the “mark of the prize of mans high calling in Christ Jesus.” We are the offspring of God, begotten by Him in the spirit world, where we partook of His nature as children here partake of the likeness of their parents. Our trials and sufferings give us experience, and establish within us principles of godliness.”
-Lorenzo Snow, Journal of Discourses 26:368, January 10, 1886“It is for the exaltation of man to a state of superior intelligence and Godhead that the mediation and atonement of Jesus Christ is instituted; and that noble being, man, made in the image of God, is rendered capable not only of being a son of man, but also a son of God, through adoption, and is rendered capable of becoming a God, possessing the power, the majesty, the exaltation and the position of a God.”
-John Taylor, The Mediation and the Atonement-John Taylor, p. 140-141“If I improve upon what the Lord has given me, and continue to improve, I shall become like those who have gone before me; I shall be exalted in the celestial kingdom and be filled to overflowing with all the power I can wield; and all the keys of knowledge I can manage will be committed unto me. What do we want more? I shall be just like every other man-have all that I can, in my capacity, comprehend and manage.”
-Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses 6:276, August 28, 1852“You have got to learn how to be Gods yourselves, and to be kings and priests to God, the same as all Gods have done before you, namely, by going from one small degree to another, and from a small capacity to a great one; from grace to grace, from exaltation to exaltation.”
–Joseph Smith, Jr., Times and Seasons August 15, 1844
Interesting stories.
I have asked God and no God did not reveal that the Mormon story is true. Likewise, all modern “Christian” sects are also not true. And the reason for all of this is that Christians as well as Mormon christians put their faith in the writings of men who proclaimed to be writing “THE word of God” when actually they were writing their own interpretations of what they thought God said, or wants, or is. The same holds true for Mormons through Smith. Smith, just as other mortal writers proclaimed that only he knows the true word of God through an angel. That story by Smith’s own story and admission should tell you that what Smith proclaim is NOT the actual word of God, but stories proclaimed to be given to him by a third party.
From all of these stories written by mortal men, the Christian and Mormon churches were created. And thus, all churches, of Jews, Christians, Mormons, and Muslims, are created from the minds and hands of mortal men and not God.
The stories and teachings may have been “inspired” by God, but they are clearly NOT “THE” word or words of God.
The Mormon story is quite interesting I must say. It’s quite colorful and eventful and gives new and more modern connections to the people it wanted to sway. And, because it was new and interesting it did and has swayed a lot of people to it’s stories and faith.
However, the faith of Mormon’s is no more real or unreal than the faiths of Christians, Jews, or Muslims or any faith that originates in the Middle East.
You may be convinced of your beliefs, but such is the nature and want of belief. You WANT to believe that when you asked God that God would reveal the “truth” to you. And thus, the “answer” you received you though came from God, and that that answer fulfilled your previous choice, acceptance, and belief in the stories and faith of Mormonism. You were not pure, clean, nor innocent when you asked your question/s to and of God.
Many think that God will answer them if only they ask. Unfortunately, we can not know the true and actual rules of engagement with God. And as no mortal man has ever come back from a visit with God, regardless of some human’s claims, all we then have is again the words, thoughts, and conclusions of man telling us what God wants, asks, or is.
TT
Hi Tome,
Thanks for posting. It seems you believe there is a God, but I’m not sure how far that goes for you based on your answer. I’m not certain if you believe the Bible or some other faith that professes a belief in God.
I’d like to address your last paragraph wherein you state that no mortal man has ever come back from a visit with God and that no one can know the true rules of engagement. I believe there are “rules of engagement” that God has lined out and that, in fact, there are individuals who have seen and communicated with God and shared those experiences with man.
If you believe the Bible, then you would accept that numerous individuals have seen God as a corporeal being. Moses spake with God face to face on Sinai (Exo. 33:11), Stephen being stoned looked into heaven and saw Christ on the right hand of the Father (Acts 7) showing us they are two distinct beings, John the Revelator saw God sitting upon his throne in his recorded apocalyptic vision (numerous references such as Rev. 5:6; 7:11 and others) and others. If you don’t believe the Bible and argue that these are not valid in some way, then we can point to a modern day prophet, Joseph Smith, that made the claim that God the Father and his Son Jesus Christ both appeared to him in answer to a prayer of faith where he wanted to inquire as to which church he should join.
Joseph’s event started as the Holy Ghost worked upon him while reading in James 1:5-6 which says “if any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God that giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not and it shall be given him.” Joseph testified to the force this verse had upon him and resolve to go and pray. Now he either had the experience or he did not. He was either a prophet of God, or he was not. God either chose to reopen the lines of communication with man in our day as he did in olden times, or he did not. When Amos 3:7 says “surely the Lord God will do nothing but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets” the prophet either meant God works through prophets or not. When Jesus Christ said he would establish his church on a foundation of apostles and prophets with himself as the chief cornerstone, he either meant he would call apostles and prophets, or he lied.
I do not believe a person can merely ask God on a whim if something is true and expect an answer. At the end of the Book of Mormon, which is a book of scripture from the ancient Americas that Joseph translated, there is a promise that states if a person will read the book and ask God if it is true, having real intent and a sincere heart, God will manifest the truth of it to that person. A person can’t expect an answer without an actual study of the material, and a truly sincere heart asking God with real intent to act on if an answer is given. A person has to have a heart that witnesses to God if he will give the answer that person will follow the prophet that restored the Book of Mormon. That’s how you can know just as I know that the Book of Mormon is a true book of scripture, and that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God.
God wants his children to ask him questions. He wants to communicate with us. If you will take these steps to read and pray with real intent, no deception, I know God will answer you.
This is really the critical point of this article that you’ve made:
“God the Father was Once a Man. With this foundation laid, the LDS doctrine is that God the Father was also once a spirit child of loving Heavenly parents who placed him in a mortal realm to be tested and tried and eventually exalted. He lived a mortal life on an earth just like this experience we are having. He was exalted to be a God and our Father is the only God whom we worship. It doesn’t take away from God that there are other Gods throughout the eternities. God the Father is the object of our adoration and love and we worship none other.”
Now, my question to you is why should we worship this version of God? If I was to grant, for the sake of argument, your scriptural justification, the reasoning is still unsupported by common sense because it means God is just like any created being. What really makes your God superior to any other being? Why should we worship him? It just seems totally arbitrary. Your God has no attributes that make him sole being that is worthy of worship (that can’t also be attributed to some other being).
Hi Alex, thanks for reading the article and asking your question. Let me list a few points.
1) Jesus Christ is our Savior and he commanded us to worship God our Father.
2) The word worship means “To adore; to pay divine honors to; to reverence with supreme respect and veneration.” When we worship a being, we seek to emulate them. We seek to become like them in every way. Our heart and mind study their attributes and perfections and seek to model our lives after them.
3) Lets assume there are an innumerable quantity of Gods throughout the dimensions of time and space. We still just have one being that created us as his children. That being would be pretty worthy of our love for creating us and providing a Savior for us.
4) Paul taught the Corinthians this exact lesson you’ve brought up.
1 Corinthians 8
4 As concerning therefore the eating of those things that are offered in sacrifice unto idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is none other God but one.
5 For though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, (as there be gods many, and lords many,)
6 But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.
In verse 4 Paul acknowledges there is only one God we have anything to do with and that worship of idols is worthless. Verse 5 he declares that there are many idols people worship as gods whether in heaven or earth, and then adds a parenthetical expression that there are in face many gods and lords, but in verse 6 declares that “to us” there is but one God the Father AND one Lord Jesus Christ who are the two beings we are eternally tied to.
In the last chapter of C.S. Lewis’ “Mere Christianity,” he explains how God intends to make us “New Men” in a complete transformation and not merely an evolution. He lists several points and then this one. Note the middle section where he also shares the view that God intends to take us right out of our human nature and turn us into “gods”. Not equal to God, but an heir.
“(5) The stakes are higher. By falling back at the earlier steps a creature lost, at the worst, its few years of life on this earth: very often it did not lose even that. By falling back at this step we lose a prize which is (in the strictest sense of the word) infinite. For now the critical moment has arrived. Century by century God has guided nature up to the point of producing creatures which can (if they will) be taken right out of nature, turned into “gods.” Will they allow themselves to be taken? In a way, it is like the crisis of birth. Until we rise and follow Christ we are still parts of Nature, still in the womb of our great mother. Her pregnancy has been long and painful and anxious, but it has reached its climax. The great moment has come. Everything is ready. The Doctor has arrived. Will the birth “go off all right”? But of course it differs from an ordinary birth in one important respect. In an ordinary birth the baby has not much choice: here it has. I wonder what an ordinary baby would do if it had the choice. It might prefer to stay in the dark and warmth and safety of the womb. For of course it would think the womb meant safety. That would be just where it was wrong; for if it stays there it will die.”
I’ll conclude with a few questions.
If this collection of scriptures from the Bible is incorrect, what is the correct interpretation?
What is an heir and a joint-heir?
Why did God call us “gods”?
If God created this earth and the surrounding universe, for what purpose?
How long ago did he create this universe?
If he has always existed, what was he doing 1,000,000 years ago?
One billion years ago?
One trillion?
One trillion trillion?
Is it so hard to entertain the idea that a perfect being so filled with love for his creations, wants them to be filled with the joy and perfections that are his, and that he would devise a plan for them to become like him? If we are in his image, he called us children, and meant to be his heirs, shouldn’t we be considering the full ramifications of those statements?
I accept that the Bible says those things (although our understanding of those scriptures seems to be very different) and I believe in the Bible. But if God is the same as you describe him – the words of the Bible that indicate he is worthy of worship and that we should worship him seem to be just arbitrary assertions. God, according to your understanding of who he is, simply demands our worship but yet lacks any objective qualities that make him worthy of worship. Why not just worship those who created him? Why not worship the creators of those who created him (and back to infinity)? Why not worship the angels as they too were created (just like your understanding of who God is)?
You made an interesting point here: “Lets assume there are an innumerable quantity of Gods throughout the dimensions of time and space. We still just have one being that created us as his children. That being would be pretty worthy of our love for creating us and providing a Savior for us.”
My answer to this: I love my parents and I am their child, but I don’t see why that means I should worship them. To me this seems comparable to the point you’ve made as our lives aren’t ultimately attributable to this God, but really to those who created him… and back to infinity. The only God who is worthy of worship is the one who is the creator of absolutely everything.
I appreciate the dialogue.
Alex, before I respond to a couple of your points I’d like to understand your current beliefs.
What qualities of worship do you see in God?
What does the word worship mean to you?
In what way do you worship God?
Do you believe we are God’s only children in all the universe?
Where did God come from?
You said: “What qualities of worship do you see in God?”
My answer: To me what makes God worthy of worship is that the Bible identifies him as the greatest conceivable being – being uncreated and eternal, all-powerful, all-knowing, all-loving etc. That is the picture of God that I get when I read the Bible.
You said: “What does the word worship mean to you?”
My answer: I suppose worship refers to the giving reverence and devotion. Now obviously we show reverence to powerful people, like the President or Queen, but we don’t give them devotion. Likewise, a mere powerful being that is limited and created may be worthy of reverence just like any angel, but I don’t see why it would be worthy of any particular devotion.
You said: “In what way do you worship God?”
My answer: By my devotion to doing God’s will and by endeavouring to draw closer to him.
You said: “Do you believe we are God’s only children in all the universe?”
My answer: No, I believe God also created angels. But that there is nothing greater than or equal to him.
You said: “Where did God come from?”
My answer: God is eternal and uncreated. He has always been. My understanding is that you attribute eternality and uncreatedness to the universe. So it’s a short step from them to say that it is actually God that possesses these attributes.
I appreciate you sharing your thoughts Alex. I’ll reply briefly to your answers and try to tie in a couple other thoughts.
You mentioned that God is worthy of worship because he’s the greatest conceivable being (all-knowing, powerful, loving, etc…). I would add that God is worthy of worship not simply because he exists in this state, but also because of the great opportunities he has provided to us through the atonement of Jesus Christ. He sent his Son into the world to show us how He Himself would live if he walked among us, full of love and compassion. Through the example of His Son, we gain a more tangible understanding of God the Father’s characteristics which make him worthy of emulation, devotion, and worship.
You mention God created angels as well as mankind. Do you think God has populated other worlds though, with other children? I mean he’s been around a very long time and if this world was populated with Adam & Eve roughly 6,000 years ago, what was God doing 100,000 earth years ago? Do you think it possible he was taking another set of children through a similar experience to what we are going through? Do you suppose that God just suddenly decided that after billions or trillions of years of existence that he would have offspring and create a world for them and never had done it before and never would after? That would seem very limiting on God in my estimation. After this earth period of life ends, what then for God? Just pause in the heavens and experience the bliss of billions of his children and angels singing praises to Him? Or will he not do it again in another act of love and bring more beings into existence?
I believe so. In one of our modern day scripture sections revealed to Joseph Smith, a modern-day prophet, we read about a visionary experience Enoch had:
Moses 7:30 “And were it possible that man could number the particles of the earth, yea, millions of earths like this, it would not be a beginning to the number of thy creations; and thy curtains are stretched out still; and yet thou art there, and thy bosom is there; and also thou art just; thou art merciful and kind forever;”
So part of my faith is that I can have confidence in God’s ability to save and exalt his children, because he’s quite practiced at it. He goes through endless rounds of creation.
Now to Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Do you believe in the divinity of Jesus Christ? I assume so. The key I think to seeing what I’m talking about that we really are God’s children and he intends for us to become something divine like Himself is along these lines.
-He sent his Son into the world as “the way, the truth, and the life” to show us how He lives and what he desires us to live like.
-Jesus Christ, Paul tells us, was equal to God. (Phil. 2:6 “Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God”)
-Jesus Christ and His Father in Heaven are two separate beings. I understand the mainline concept of the 3 in 1 trinity, but a careful reading of the New Testament will reveal numerous passages that indicate the oneness of God is being one in purpose, not one in being. For example, in John 17 he prays to the Father:
11 “And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, *that they may be one, as we are*.”
22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; *that they may be one, even as we are one*:
How else is this to be understood except that Jesus and his Father are separate beings, otherwise there would need to be a doctrine that in the end, the trinity isn’t 3 in 1, but all of Christ’s disciples-in-1? Jesus didn’t mean to assimilate his disciples in a physical sense, but in a spiritual. He wants us unified as he and his Father are.
Also the story of Stephen being stoned in Acts 7:55-56 he clearly states he sees two persons in the heavens with Jesus standing on the right hand of God. By this we also understand that as God created man in his image, God is in the image of a man. Jesus and God look like men, which also means, when God created Adam & Eve, there must be a template for a woman in heaven which is how “let US create man(kind) in OUR image.” The Hebrew word Elohim as used in Genesis 1:1 for the word God is a plural word. The -im ending makes it so. The Bible clearly states there is some type of plurality present in “God” creating all things.
One more comment related to your comment before the last.
Why worship God our Father if he has a Father who has a Father and so on back forever?
#1) Because we are commanded to
#2) Because He is the God that created us
#3) Because He is the God that loved us so much he sent His Son into the world to atone for our sins and die for us so that we might be redeemed
I encourage you to pray about these things and ask God yourself if what I’ve been sharing with you is truth. I know they are true and I love God with all my heart and want to be just like Him. He wants me to as well. He doesn’t want to hold his children back from their full potential. The scriptures are full of this message that we lived with him before coming to earth, he prepared this earth for us to dwell and be tested on, and has prepare mansions for us in heaven. Jesus Christ revealed that:
Revelation 3:21 “To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.”
What does it mean to sit in Christ’s throne or the Father’s throne, except to rule with them in the heavens as children grown to become spiritual, holy adults?
Jesus Christ is going to be the “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.” (Rev. 19:16). That’s not earthly kings and lords he is King and Lord of.
The author of this article has misrepresented the true meaning of the trinity by confusing modalism otherwise known as Sabellianism with the Biblical understanding of the trinity. Your article states – The difference with the LDS faith is we do not believe the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost to be the same being, but separate beings who are one in purpose.
Christians do not believe that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are the same being / person. We believe they are distinct but they share the same divine essence / nature. When the teaching of the whole Bible is considered you will find that while have different ranks, roles and functions the Father, Son and Holy Spirit share the same divine nature by sharing divine attributes, names / titles and workings that confirm they share the same divine nature. This is the only way you can reconcile the distinction of personhood but union in nature and remain Monotheistic.
Thanks for commenting John. I believe as you wrote that the Godhead share the same divine nature and have different roles and functions. The question is, are they 3 separate beings, each a God? Does Jesus stand on the right hand (side) of the Father? Do the Father, and the Son, both have bodies as tangible as ours, separate and distinct from each other?