Long Post On Religion

"Believe in God; believe that he is, and that he created all things, both in heaven and in earth; believe that he has all wisdom, and all power, both in heaven and in earth; believe that man doth not comprehend all the things which the Lord can comprehend." (Mosiah 4:9)

I have not met many people (some, but not many) who do not believe in God in some form or another. However, these same folk who profess the existence of God do not (in my opinion) fully understand who God is and how He works. The phrase, "God is unknowable" is unacceptable to me. While it is true that I cannot understand all that God understands, I believe it is possible to understand and know at least a little about God Himself.

So, for the sake of argument, I will "believe in God; believe that he is." But WHO is He? One of the most valuable passages of scripture is found in the very first chapter of the Old Testament (going on the premise that the Bible is true and the actual word of God):

"And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own aimage, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them." (Genesis 1:26-27)

The scriptures teach that man was created in the image and likeness of his Creator. This brings up a very important question. If I have a physical body of flesh and bones and I am created in God's image, does that mean God has a body of flesh and bones also?

I have heard some people explain that this creation was only in the spiritual image and likeness of God, but a few chapters later it reads:

"And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth:" (Genesis 5:3)

Moses, who wrote the book of Genesis, used the same words to describe the relationship between God and man as he did to describe a father and his son. I am not an exact replica of my father - I look different (well, a little different), act different, and see things differently. Neither are my children carbon-copies of my wife or myself. I believe that the point Moses was getting at is humanity has one form, namely a body; two arms and legs, a face, and all the other physical things which makes us human. Moses is showing us that God is the "father" of the human race and he created us with his physical traits just as Adam created Seth with his physical traits.

Was Moses just making this up? How did he know about the physical nature of God? When Moses went up to Mount Sinai after freeing the Children of Israel from slavery in Egypt, he saw God:

"And the Lord spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend." (Exodus 33:11)

Does anyone need to know how a man speaks to his friend? There is only one thing that made this possible, and that is the fact that God did create man in his own image and likeness.

It is my belief, therefore, that the purpose of man's whole existence is to grow into the likeness and image of God. Because I know that He is like me with body, parts, and passions (although He is perfect, unlike me) I can quite literally strive to achieve the Savior's mandate:

"Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." (Matthew 5:48)

The Apostle Paul also supported this idea of the "fatherhood" of God:

"God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us: For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring. Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device." (Acts 17:24-29)

"Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone..." If we are truly the offspring of God, the He should be recognizable as human in form, or more accurately, humanity should be recognizable as God-like in form. That brings up another interesting and important point - that of the potential of the human race. A child, the offspring of adults, eventually grows to become an adult himself. If we are the offspring of God, what does that say about what we may become?

Again, the Apostle Paul addresses this issue:

"The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: 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." (Romans 8:16-17)

And what does it mean, "heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ"? What is Christ heir to?

"GOD, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;" (Hebrews 1:1-2)

Christ is the heir of all things and we, being children of God and joint-heirs with Christ, can see our true destiny. We now see ourselves in an entirely new light - not just as descendants of ape-like creatures (as an anthropologist I have some thoughts on this as well - but it doesn't come into the topic of the moment) living an aimless existence, but as descendants of Almighty God, with the possibility of becoming like Him! Now we can understand the true place and dignity of man. Now we can see our infinite potential.

Why have we been given such an infinitely grand birthright? Jesus hints at the reason:

"If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love. These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full." (John 15:10-11)

Two words: Love and joy.

God, our Heavenly Father, loves each one of us because each one of us is one of His children. He wants us to be happy and full of joy and has given us rules to follow whereby we can find that happiness. A prophet by the name of Nephi in the Book of Mormon stated:

"Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy." (2 Nephi 2:25)

Without going too deep into the implications of that statement right now, I'm going to focus on the last part, "men are, that they might have joy." That is the core purpose for our existence - to have and be full of joy, every one of us. How absolutely wonderful to think of a God whose ultimate goal is to see that we are filled with joy and happiness when we keep his commandments.

Again, a Book of Mormon prophet-king named Benjamin stated in his final address to his people:

"And moreover, I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God. For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness. O remember, remember that these things are true; for the Lord God hath spoken it." (Mosiah 2:41)

---

Previous
Next