1. God in heaven, the ruler of all that concerns us, is your Father. More real than any earthly father, our Heavenly Father is aware of us, our needs, our situations, our past. He knows us, and our eternal welfare is his constant concern. This is not just a cute phrase or a nice warm fuzzy thought designed to help us in dark moments. This is a statement of doctrinal import that literally rearranges the cosmos (or at least, lets us know that since the days of Augustine/Athanasius/Plotinus our view of the cosmos was seriously flawed). Not only is He our Father, but He is flesh and bone, as tangible as man, simply perfected. There is no religious philosophy on earth that dares make such a statement (which I've always casually thought leant it more weight). In addition, this places family firmly at the center of the structure of the universe. Family just became everything. Everything.
2. God sent his oldest son, Jesus Christ, to atone for our sins and die for us ALL. Because we are flawed, we could not return to God without help. This is the core of Christianity, but general Christianity is missing several important pieces. Christ died for ALL. This means that everyone makes it to heaven. Yep, everyone. Hitler will be there, so will Stalin, and so will that crazy kid at school that you make fun of (but obviously shouldn't). Everyone who has every lived will receive Christs' grace to an extent, and live in eternal happiness well beyond what the various religions of the world dare to talk about in their views of heaven. The trick is, there is more. Again, the family comes into play. Everyone will be saved, but not to the same extent--those who truly believe, exercise faith in Christ, enter into covenant relationships with God, and endure (or enrich) to the end, will be saved as families. There is an open invitation to all who have ever lived (indeed, we all received this invitation before we agreed to come to this mortal life on earth) to come unto Christ. This invitation is currently being extended to those already in the afterlife. Indeed, in the end, everyone will have an equal chance to develop faith in Him and follow him. Christ is not building up a country club or personal entourage, but is working hard, even desperately, to rebuild his fractured family.
3. God revealed His Plan of Salvation, including Christ, to prophets in ancient times. Some of these revelations, but not nearly all, were written down in various books, letters, etc, that were eventually collected into distinct volumes--the Old and New Testaments. Beginning with Adam, God revealed His truth, covenants, and gave personal advice to many. He has not abandoned us, though the story of man's history is mostly us abandoning Him.
4. God has spoken to Prophets again in our day. In 1820, Joseph Smith saw God the Father and Jesus Christ, ushering in the Dispensation of the Fulness of Times. God rebuilt His Church and organized revelation, ordinances, etc, began again. This obviously means that the world lost God's truth for a while, but it was not His doing, it was ours. The world often pictures a God who can do anything, but this is not the case. He does not override our agency--our free will. The Hebrews and then Jews rejected their prophets, as people in the pre-diluvian times had, and as the early Christians later did. Man is constantly in danger of apostasy, and God allows us to make our own choices. His design is that we become free and independent beings, as capable as He is. This does not happen through force. Luckily, when the time and circumstances were right, foreordained men and women rebuilt His Church under His direction.
5. Proof of God's modern revelation and Restoration is found in the Book of Mormon. Just as the life, death, and resurrection of Christ, or the miracles of Moses, the translation of the Book of Mormon provides us with physical evidence of God's interaction with man. We know God lives because He speaks. In less than a college semester, Joseph Smith dictated, under divine guidance, over 500 pages of holy scripture. It proves the Bible true, it proves Christ's resurrection, it proves revelation, and it proves God's love for us. When in doubt, go to that book and read. Read it over and over and over. Pray about it--force God to prove it to you, for the book actually tells us to do just that. If you want to know if the Book of Mormon is revealed from God, then the amazing thing is, He has promised that He will give you personal revelation to prove that very thing. (Moroni 10) No other book contains this same promise, or challenge.
6. God has restored His Priesthood to man. The Holy Priesthood is one of the greatest blessings He has given to us. Through it we enter into covenant relationships with Him in His specific way. Through it we, both men and women, serve each other and the world. It gives us power to lead and direct His Church, and to bless all the world. It provides validity and order to our actions and revelations and ordinances.
I am so grateful every day that my mother and father raised me with a knowledge of God and His Son and Spirit, and the prophet Joseph Smith. I am grateful that to this point, I haven't messed it all up through pride and worldliness. I know that almost daily, the world thinks less and less of all of these 6 beliefs and many others, but who cares? If God be with us, then who can be against us? He has revealed His truths and clarified His gospel.
What else matters?
Nothing.
No comments:
Post a Comment