These past few weeks have been super tough for me. I don't have much to say but I was reccomended by my mission president to find, read, and analyze "Our Identity and Our Destiny" and while searching for it I found the latter talk by Elder Holland.
Our Identity and
Our Destiny
Tad R. Callister
Tad
R. Callister was a member of the Presidency of the Seventy of The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints when this devotional address
was delivered on 14 August 2012 during Campus Education Week.
In
keeping with the theme of this week, I would like to discuss with you a
vision of who we are and what we may become. At a recent training
session for General Authorities, the question was asked: “How can we
help those struggling with pornography?”
Elder Russell M. Nelson stood and replied, “Teach them their identity and their purpose.”
That
answer resonated with me, not only as a response to that specific
question but as an appropriate response to most of the challenges we
face in life. And so today I speak of the true nature of our identity
and a correct vision of our divine destiny.
First, our identity.
There is a sentiment among many in the world that we are the spirit
creations of God, just as a building is the creation of its architect or
a painting the creation of its painter or an invention the creation of
its inventor. The scriptures teach, however, a much different doctrine.
They teach that we are more than creations of God; they teach that we
are the literal spirit offspring or children of God our Father.
1
What difference does this doctrinal distinction make? The difference is
monumental in its consequence because our identity determines in large
measure our destiny. For example, can a mere creation ever become like
its creator? Can a building ever become an architect? A painting a
painter? Or an invention an inventor? If not, then those who believe we
are creations of God, rather than His spirit offspring, reach the
inevitable conclusion that we do not have the capacity to become like
our creator, God. In essence, their doctrine of identity has defined and
dictated a diminished destiny.
On the other hand, as members of
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we believe that we are
the spirit offspring of God with inherited spiritual traits that give us
the divine potential to become like our parent, God the Father. As to
this identity, President Packer has written:
You are a child
of God. He is the father of your spirit. Spiritually you are of noble
birth, the offspring of the King of Heaven. Fix that truth in your mind
and hold to it. However many generations in your mortal ancestry, no
matter what race or people you represent, the pedigree of your spirit
can be written on a single line. You are a child of God!2
It
is this doctrine of identity that defines our potential destiny of
godhood. If one does not correctly understand his divine identity, then
he will never correctly understand his divine destiny. They are, in
truth, inseparable partners.
What, then, has God revealed to us
about our destiny? He has spoken clearly and frequently and forthrightly
on this subject from the very beginning. When Adam and Eve were in the
Garden of Eden, they lived in a state of innocence—meaning they only had
a limited knowledge of good and evil. Lehi described their condition as
follows: “Wherefore they would have remained in a state of innocence,
having no joy, for they knew no misery; doing no good, for they knew no
sin” (2 Nephi 2:23).
Suppose for a moment my wife and I invited
one of you good Saints from California to drive to our home in Utah.
Further suppose I asked you to drive in neutral.
You might smile and respond, “That’s not possible.”
What
if I further replied, “Just push the accelerator all the way to the
floor—you know, as they say, ‘Push the pedal to the metal.’”
You might respond, “That would make no difference. I cannot reach your destination until I put my car in gear.”
So
it was with Adam and Eve. They were in a state of spiritual neutral and
could not progress toward their divine destiny until they were cast out
of the garden and thus put in spiritual gear.
When Adam and Eve
were cast out of the Garden of Eden, they traded their innocence,
meaning a lack of knowledge of good and evil, for the prospect of
perfection—that was the deal. Innocence and perfection are not the same.
An infant may be innocent but certainly not perfect in the sense that
he or she has acquired all the attributes of godliness. Once Adam and
Eve were cast from the garden, we read in the book of Genesis that God
Himself said, “Behold,
the man is become as one of us [meaning
like the gods]” (Genesis 3:22; emphasis added). How could that be? God
then tells us why this new destiny was possible—because men now “know
good and evil.” Being immersed in a world of good and evil, having the
capacity to choose, and being able to draw upon the powers of the
Atonement resulted in man having unlimited opportunities to progress
toward his destiny of godhood.
We learn a great doctrinal truth
in these series of events surrounding the Garden of Eden: unfallen man
would have remained in a state of innocence—safe, but restricted in his
progress. On the other hand, fallen man ventured into a heightened arena
of risk, but, blessed with the Atonement of Jesus Christ, he gained
access to unlimited possibilities and powers and potential. Speaking of
the effect of the Atonement on fallen man, C. S. Lewis remarked:
For God is not merely mending, not simply restoring a status quo. Redeemed humanity is to be something more glorious than unfallen humanity would have been,
more glorious than any unfallen race now is. . . . And this super-added
glory will, with true vicariousness, exalt all creatures.3
Through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, God can exalt all His children—meaning empower them to become like Him.
But
one might ask, “Why does God want us to become like Him?” In order to
answer that question, one must first understand why man exists. Lehi
gave the short and simple answer: “Men are, that they might have joy”
(2 Nephi 2:25). President David O. McKay confirmed that fundamental
doctrinal truth: “Happiness is the purpose and design of existence.”
4
If I were to ask you who is the happiest being in all the universe—the
one with the most joy—you would no doubt respond, “God.” Accordingly,
God wants us to become perfect like Him so we can experience His quality
of joy and thus best fulfill the measure of our existence. That is why
His plan for us is sometimes called “the plan of happiness” (see Alma
42:8, 16).
Our Quest for Godhood
In spite of God’s
altruistic aims on our behalf, perhaps no doctrine, no teaching, no
philosophy has stirred such controversy as has this: that man may become
a god. It is espoused by some as blasphemous, by others as absurd. Such
a concept, they challenge, lowers God to the status of man and thus
deprives God of both His dignity and divinity. Others claim this
teaching to be devoid of scriptural support. It is but a fantasy, they
say, of a young, uneducated schoolboy, Joseph Smith. Certainly no
God-fearing, right-thinking, Bible-oriented person would subscribe to
such a philosophy as this.
5 While some of these advocates are
hardened critics, others are honest and bright men who simply disagree
with us on this doctrine. So wherein lies the truth? Hopefully the
following will invite the Holy Ghost to whisper the quiet but certain
truth to all those who honestly seek it.
For our search of truth,
we will turn to five witnesses—first and foremost to the testimony of
the scriptures; second, to the witness of the early Christian writers;
third, to the wisdom of those poets and authors who drink from the
divine well; fourth, to the power of logic; and fifth, to the voice of
history.
Scriptures
First, the scriptures. Did not
an angel appear unto Abraham and extend to him this heavenly mandate:
“Walk before me, and be thou perfect” (Genesis 17:1)?
“That is
true,” interjects the critic. “Perfect as compared to other men, other
mortals—certainly not perfect as compared to God. The word was used in
its relative, not absolute sense.”
“Is that so?” comes the reply. “Let us then pursue the use of the word
perfect as used by the Savior Himself.”
It was in the Sermon on the Mount when the Savior declared, “Be ye therefore perfect,
even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:48; emphasis added).
6
Was the Savior inviting men to be perfect as compared to other
men—other mortals—or as compared to God Himself? This command was
consistent with the Savior’s high priestly prayer. Speaking of the
believers, He petitioned the Father:
That they may be one, even as we are one:
I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one. [John 17:22–23]
In
accord with that request for perfection, Paul taught that a critical
purpose of the Church was “for the perfecting of the saints . . . till
we all come . . . unto a perfect man,
unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ”
(Ephesians 4:12–13; emphasis added). Note the measuring rod: not man,
not some form of mini-Christ or quasi-God, but rather that we should
become “a perfect man, [and then he gives us the standard we should
strive for] unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.”
Does that sound relative to you?
The critic is momentarily quiet. Sheepishly he responds, “Certainly those scriptures must mean something else.”
The
scriptures supporting this doctrine, however, continue to roll forth
with repeated and powerful testimony. At one point the Savior was about
to be stoned by the Jews for blasphemy. He reminded them of His good
works and then asked, “For which of those works do ye stone me?”
They replied that they were not stoning him for good works “but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man,
makest thyself God.”
To
this He readily acknowledged that He was and declared that they should
be likewise: “Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?” (John
10:32–34; emphasis added). In other words, He said not only am I a god,
but all of you are potential gods. He was referring to His own Old
Testament declaration, with which the Jews should have been familiar:
“Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High” (Psalm
82:6). The Savior was merely reaffirming a basic gospel teaching that
all men are children of God, and thus all might become like Him.
Paul
understood this principle, for, when speaking to the men of Athens, he
said: “Certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his
offspring” (Acts 17:28). Paul knew the consequences of being the
offspring of God, for, while speaking to the Romans, he declared:
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. [Romans 8:16–17; emphasis added; see also 1 Corinthians 3:21–23 and Revelation 21:7]
Not
subordinate heirs, not junior, not contingent, but joint, equal heirs
with Christ Himself, to share in all that He shall share. After all, is
not that the same promise made by the Lord to the Apostle John? “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” (Revelation
3:21).
Is it any wonder that Paul should write to the Saints of
Philippi, “I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of
God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:14). Paul, who understood so very
well our destiny, was striving for the reward of godhood. Peter, who
also understood this doctrine, pled with the Saints that they might
become “partakers of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4), meaning
recipients of godhood. That is exactly what Jesus ordered when speaking
to the Book of Mormon Saints: “Therefore, what manner of men ought ye to
be? Verily I say unto you, even as I am” (3 Nephi 27:27; see also 1
John 3:2). And it is exactly what the Savior promised in this
dispensation for all faithful Saints: “Then shall they be gods, because
they have all power, and the angels are subject unto them” (D&C
132:20; see also verse 19; see also D&C 76:58–60).
The
critic, still shaking his head, responds, “But such a concept lowers God
to the status of man and thus robs Him of His divinity.”
“Or, to the contrary,” comes the reply, “does it elevate man in his divine-like potential?”
Paul
well knew this argument of the critic and silenced it once and for all
ages ago. Speaking to the Saints of Philippi, he said:
Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God. [Philippians 2:5–6; emphasis added]
The
Savior knew that for Him to be a god and for us to be thus minded would
not rob God of His divinity. That makes good sense. After all, who is
greater: that being who limits or that being who enhances man’s eternal
progress?
One might ask, Who can give greater honor and glory to
God—a creature of lower or more exalted status? Can an animal offer the
same honor or worship with the same passion and intensity as a human?
Can a mere mortal express the empyreal feelings or exercise the
spiritual fervency of a potential god? One’s capacity to honor and
worship is magnified with one’s intellectual, emotional, cultural, and
spiritual enlightenment. Accordingly, the more we become like God, the
greater our ability to pay Him homage. In that process of lifting men
heavenward, God simultaneously multiplies His own honor and glory and
thus is glorified more, not less.
Brigham Young addressed this issue:
[Man’s godhood]
will
not detract anything from the glory and might of our heavenly Father,
for he will still remain our Father, and we shall still be subject to
him, and as we progress, in glory and power it the more enhances the
glory and power of our heavenly Father.7
That is
the irony of the critic’s argument—godhood for man does not diminish
God’s status; to the contrary, it elevates it by producing more
intelligent, more passionate, more spiritual Saints who have enlarged
capacities to understand, honor, and worship Him.
The Savior’s
soul-stirring and thought-provoking injunction to “be ye therefore
perfect” was more than the sounding of brass or tinkling of cymbals (see
1 Corinthians 13:1). It was a divine-like invitation to rise up to our
full potential and become like God our Father. C. S. Lewis, as a rampant
advocate of this simple but glorious truth, wrote:
The command Be ye perfect
is
not idealistic gas. Nor is it a command to do the impossible. He is
going to make us into creatures that can obey that command. He said (in
the Bible) that we were “gods” and He is going to make good His words.
. . . The process will be long and in parts very painful; but that is
what we are in for. Nothing less. He meant what He said.8
Could it be any clearer?
Early Christian Writers
Second, early Christian writers likewise wrote of our divine destiny.
9
As early as the second century, Irenaeus (A.D. 115–202) noted: “We have
not been made gods from the beginning, but at first merely men, then at
length gods.”
10 On another occasion Irenaeus clarified that
exalted man would not be relegated to some type of glorified angel but
literally become a god: “Passing beyond the angels, and be made after
the image and likeness of God.”
11
Clement of
Alexandria (A.D. 160–200), a contemporary of Irenaeus, spoke of the
reward of godhood that followed long preparation: “Being destined to sit
on thrones with the other gods that have been first put in their places
by the Saviour.”
12 This same Clement of Alexandria then
added this unequivocal statement about the man who lives a righteous
life: “Knowing God, he will be made like God. . . . And
that man becomes God, since God so wills.”13
Hippolytus
(A.D. 170–236), bridging the second and third centuries, spoke of the
unlimited potential of faithful Saints in this life: “And thou shalt be a
companion of the Deity, and a
co-heir with Christ. . . .
For thou hast become God: . . . thou hast been deified, and begotten unto immortality.”
14
Cyprian
(A.D. 200–258), a well-known Christian leader of the third century,
reaffirmed that men can become like Christ: “What Christ is, we
Christians shall be, if we imitate Christ.”
15
Origen
(A.D. 185–255), also of the third century, wrote: “The true God
[referring to the Father], then, is ‘The God,’ and those who are formed
after Him are gods, images, as it were, of Him the prototype.”
16
And
in the fourth century St. Athanasius of Alexandria (A.D. 295–373)
explained that “[God] was made flesh in order that we might be enabled
to be made gods.”
17
For several centuries this
doctrinal truth survived, but eventually the Apostasy took its toll, and
this doctrine in its purity and expansiveness was lost. The doctrine of
man’s potential for godhood as taught by the Prophet Joseph Smith was
not his invention—not his creation, not conjured up by some fertile
mind. It was simply and solely a restoration of a glorious truth that
had been taught in the scriptures and by many early Christian writers of
the primitive Church.
Poets and Authors
The third
witness—inspired poets and authors. We may look to the wisdom of
selected poets and authors who are men of integrity and spiritual
insight. It was C. S. Lewis who again and again reaffirmed this divine
proposition:
It is a serious thing to live in a society of
possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most
uninteresting person you talk to may one day be a creature which . . .
you would be strongly tempted to worship. . . . There are no ordinary
people.18
How right he was. There are no ordinary people, only potential gods and goddesses in our midst.
It was Victor Hugo, that masterful author, who said, “The thirst for the infinite proves infinity.”
19
What a powerful and sublime thought. Perhaps the thirst for godhood
likewise proves godhood. Would the God you and I know plant the vision
and desire for godhood within a man’s soul and then frustrate him in his
ability to attain it? Shakespeare had a flash of this insight, for,
when speaking through the lips of Hamlet, he said:
What a
piece of work is a man! How noble in reason! how infinite in faculty! in
form, in moving, how express and admirable! in action how like an
angel! in apprehension how like a god!20
Robert Browning’s vision that so often pierced the mortal veil did so once again in these lines from his poem
Rabbi Ben Ezra:
Life’s struggle having so far reached its term.
Thence shall I pass, approved
A man, for aye removed
From the developed brute—a god, though in the germ.21
This insightful poet saw the seeds and germ of godhood in every man.
Logic
The
fourth witness is the power of logic. Do not the laws of science teach
us that like begets like, each after its kind? Science has taught us
that a complex genetic code transferred from parent to child is
responsible for the child attaining the physical attributes of his
parents. If this be so, is it illogical to assume that spirit offspring
receive a spiritual code giving to them the divine characteristics and
potential of their parent—God—thus making them gods in embryo? No, it is
but a fulfillment of the law that like begets like. This is the same
truth taught by the prophet Lorenzo Snow:
We were born in the image of God our Father; He begat us like unto Himself. There is the nature of Deity in the composition of our spiritual organization.
In our spiritual birth, our Father transmitted to us the capabilities,
powers and faculties which He possessed, as much so as the child on its
mother’s bosom possesses, although in an undeveloped state, the
faculties, powers and susceptibilities of its parent.22
President
Boyd K. Packer told of coming home one day and helping his children
gather new chicks in the barn. As his little four-year-old daughter held
a baby chick in her hands, he said something like, “Won’t that be a
beautiful dog when it grows up?”
His daughter looked at him in surprise.
And then he said something like, “Or perhaps it will be a cat or even a cow.”
His
little daughter wrinkled her nose, as if to say, “Daddy, don’t you know
anything? It will grow up exactly like its parents.”
Then he
observed how this little four-year-old girl knew, almost instinctively,
that the chick would grow up to follow the pattern of its parentage.
23
The
Gospel of Philip, an apocryphal book, makes this simple statement of
logic: “A horse sires a horse, a man begets man, a god brings forth a
god.”
24 The difference between man and God is significant—but
it is one of degree, not kind. It is the difference between an acorn
and an oak tree, a rosebud and a rose, a son and a father. In truth,
every man is a potential god in embryo, in fulfillment of that eternal
law that like begets like.
Voice of History
Fifth,
and finally, the voice of history will likewise verify this truth. I
recall the story of the large milk truck that drove past the pasture of
cows. Written on the side of the vehicle in large letters were the words
“Homogenized, Pasteurized, Vitamins A and D Added.”
One cow looked at the sign, turned to the other, and said, “Makes you feel kind of inadequate, doesn’t it?”
I
admit that is how I feel when I look at the distance between God and
me, but I take comfort when I contemplate what is accomplished in the
short space of a mortal life. I paraphrase these thoughts of
B. H. Roberts: From the cradle have risen orators, generals, artists,
and workers to perform the wonders of our age. From a helpless babe may
arise a Demosthenes or Lincoln to direct the destinies of nations. From
such a babe may come a Michelangelo to fill the world with beauty. From
such a beginning may come a Mozart, a Beethoven to call from silence the
powers and serenity of music. From such a helpless babe may arise a
Joseph Smith to give light in a world of darkness.
25
Contemplate
for a moment what can be accomplished in the short space of a mortal
life. Suppose now that you were to remove from man the barriers of death
and grant him immortality and God for his guide. What limits would you
then want to ascribe to his mental, moral, or spiritual achievements?
Perhaps B. H. Roberts expressed it best when he said:
If
within the short space of mortal life there are men who rise up out of
infancy and become masters of the elements of fire and water and earth
and air, so that they well-nigh rule them as Gods, what may it not be
possible for them to do in a few hundreds or thousands of millions of
years?26
A glimpse beyond the veil tells us that
the records of history do not end at death but continue to mark man’s
unlimited achievements. Victor Hugo, with an almost spiritual X-ray, saw
the possibilities after death:
The nearer I approach the end,
the plainer I hear around me the immortal symphonies of the worlds
which invite me. . . . For half a century I have been writing my
thoughts in prose and verse; history. . . . I have tried all. But I feel
I have not said a thousandth part of what is in me. When I go down to
the grave, I can say, like so many others, “I have finished my day’s
work,” but I can not say, “I have finished my life.” My day’s work will
begin again the next morning. The tomb is not a blind alley; it is a
thoroughfare. . . . My work is only beginning.27
Perfection
is a quest on both sides of the veil. The scriptures remind us,
“Wherefore, continue in patience until ye are perfected” (D&C
67:13).
The Divine Possibility Becomes a Divine Reality
The
scriptures, early Christian writers, poetry, logic, and history testify
not only of the divine possibility but of the divine reality that man
may become as God. The Doctrine and Covenants refers to Abraham, Isaac,
and Jacob, declaring, “And because they did none other things than that
which they were commanded, they have entered into their exaltation, . . .
and sit upon thrones, and are not angels but are gods” (D&C
132:37). For these men the divine possibility became the divine reality.
This does not mean they became gods who replaced our Father in Heaven
but rather exalted men who have enlarged capabilities to honor and
glorify Him. Our Father in Heaven will forever stand supreme as our God,
whom we will love and revere and worship, worlds without end.
But
how is it possible that you and I, with all our faults and weaknesses
and shortcomings, could ever become a god? Fortunately, a loving
Heavenly Father has given us resources to lift us above our mortal
restraints and propel us to divine heights. I mention but two such
resources, both made possible because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ,
whose crowning aim is to assist us in our pursuit of godhood—so that we
might be “at one”—not only with Him but also “at one” like Him. First, I
mention the saving ordinances of the kingdom.
Joseph Smith received a revelation that explained the relationship between ordinances and godhood:
Therefore, in the ordinances thereof, the power of godliness is manifest.
And
without the ordinances thereof, and the authority of the priesthood,
the power of godliness is not manifest unto men in the flesh. [D&C 84:20–21]
In
other words, participation in the saving ordinances unlocks and
unleashes certain powers of godliness in our lives that are not
available in any other way. These powers help refine us and perfect us.
The five saving ordinances and the corresponding powers of godliness are
as follows:
First, baptism by immersion (and the corollary ordinance of the sacrament).
Because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ, this ordinance cleanses us
from our sins and helps make us holy, thus aligning our life more
closely with the Savior’s.
Second, the gift of the Holy Ghost.
This gift helps us know “the will of the Lord [and] the mind of the
Lord” (D&C 68:4) and thus makes possible our acquisition of a more
godlike mind.
Third, the priesthood. This ordinance
transfers to a mere mortal the power to act for God on earth as though
He Himself were present. In essence, it is a spiritual power of attorney
to be God’s agent and to invoke His power, thus helping us learn how to
exercise divine powers in righteousness.
Fourth, the endowment.
This ordinance is a gift of knowledge from God as to how we might
become more like Him, accompanied by covenants to inspire us in that
endeavor. There is an old saying, “Knowledge is power.” Accordingly, the
righteous use of this knowledge received in the endowment ordinance
results in more godly power in our own lives. That is why the Doctrine
and Covenants says, “I design to endow those whom I have chosen with
power from on high” (D&C 95:8).
Fifth, the sealing ordinances.
Death, with all its mighty power, cannot destroy those relationships
sealed in a temple—which relationships can now continue beyond the grave
and allow us, like God, to have eternal increase.
The saving
ordinances are much more than a checklist of actions we must satisfy to
gain entrance to the celestial kingdom—they are the keys that open the
doors to heavenly powers that can lift us above our mortal limitations.
The
second resource to assist us in our pursuit of godhood is the gifts of
the Spirit. What are the gifts of the Spirit? We know them as love,
patience, knowledge, testimony, and so on.
28 In essence, each
gift of the Spirit represents an attribute of godliness. Accordingly,
each time we acquire a gift of the Spirit, we acquire a potential
attribute of godliness. In this regard Orson Pratt taught:
One object [of the Church]
is declared to be “For
the perfecting of the Saints.” . . . The . . . plan . . . for the
accomplishment of this great object, is through the medium of the
spiritual gifts. When the supernatural gifts of the Spirit cease, the
Saints cease to be perfected, therefore they can have no hopes of obtaining a perfect salvation. . . .
. . . In every nation and age, where believers exist, there the gifts must exist to perfect them.29
No
wonder the Lord commands us to “covet earnestly the best gifts” (1
Corinthians 12:31); “seek ye earnestly the best gifts” (D&C 46:8);
and to “lay hold upon every good gift” (Moroni 10:30).
President
George Q. Cannon spoke of man’s shortcomings and the divine solution.
Recognizing the link between spiritual gifts and godhood, he fervently
pleaded with the Saints to overcome each manifested weakness through the
acquisition of a countermanding gift of strength known as the gift of
the Spirit. He spoke as follows:
If any of us are imperfect, it is our duty to pray for the gift that will make us perfect. . . . No
man ought to say, “Oh, I cannot help this; it is my nature.” He is not
justified in it, for the reason that God has promised to give strength
to correct these things, and to give gifts that will eradicate them. . .
. He wants His Saints to be perfected in the truth. For this purpose He
gives these gifts, and bestows them upon those who seek after them, in
order that they may be a perfect people upon the face of the earth,
notwithstanding their many weaknesses, because God has promised to give
the gifts that are necessary for their perfection.30
What
was the Lord’s response to Solomon’s prayerful request for the gift of
an understanding heart? The scriptures record, “The speech pleased the
Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing,” and then the Lord noted,
“Behold, I have done according to thy words: lo, I have given thee a
wise and an understanding heart” (1 Kings 3:10, 12).
When was the
last time we prayed for a gift of the Spirit that would lift us above
our mortal weakness and further our pursuit of godhood? Again and again
the Lord has both invited and promised, “Ask, and it shall be given you”
(Matthew 7:7).
Why is it so critical to have a correct vision of
this divine destiny of godliness of which the scriptures and other
witnesses so clearly testify? Because with increased vision comes
increased motivation. Elder Bruce R. McConkie wrote, “No doctrine is
more basic, no doctrine embraces a greater incentive to personal
righteousness . . . as does the wondrous concept that man can be as his
Maker.”
31 And why not possible? Do not all Christian churches
advocate Christlike behavior? Is that not what the Sermon on the Mount
is all about? If it is blasphemous to think we can become as God, then
at what point is it not blasphemous to become like God—90 percent, 50
percent, 1 percent? Is it more Christian to seek partial godhood than
total godhood? Are we invited to walk the path of godhood—to “be ye
therefore perfect,
even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect”—with no possibility of ever reaching the destination?
As
we better understand our potential destiny, our level of self-worth and
confidence and motivation is greatly heightened. Youth will understand
that it is shortsighted at best to take easy classes and easy teachers
rather than ones that will stretch them toward godhood. They will catch
the vision that it is godhood, not grades, for which they are striving.
And
what of our more elderly members? They will understand there is no such
thing as a retirement farm, no day when the work is done. Like Victor
Hugo, they know their work has only begun. There are yet thousands of
books to read and write, paintings to enjoy, music to score, and service
to render. They understand the Lord’s revelation to the Prophet Joseph:
“Whatever principle of intelligence we attain unto in this life, it
will rise with us in the resurrection” (D&C 130:18).
What
about those of us who feel weaknesses in our life? We can take renewed
hope in the words of the Lord to Moroni: “For if they humble themselves
before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become
strong unto them” (Ether 12:27).
And what about those who believe
they have sinned beyond Christ’s redeeming grace? They can take comfort
in His promise: “Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white
as snow” (Isaiah 1:18). Or perhaps there are some who believe their
lives are shattered beyond repair. Can they not have renewed hope in
these words of the Savior: “[I will] give unto them beauty for ashes”
(Isaiah 61:3)? There is no problem, no obstacle to our divine destiny,
for which the Savior’s Atonement does not have a remedy of superior
healing and lifting power. That is why Mormon said, “Ye shall have hope
through the atonement of Christ” (Moroni 7:41).
How could we not
have increased faith in God and in ourselves if we knew He had planted
within our souls the seeds of godhood and endowed us with access to the
powers of the Atonement? “
Godhood?” If not, the critic must answer, “Why not?”
Perhaps
we could suggest three answers for the critic’s consideration: Maybe
man cannot become like God because God does not have the power to create
a divine-like offspring. It is beyond his present level of
comprehension and intelligence.
“Blasphemous,” responds the critic. “He has all knowledge and all power.”
Perhaps then He has created a lesser offspring because He does not love us.
“Ridiculous, absurd,” is his reply. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son” (John 3:16).
Well,
perhaps God has not planted within us the divine spark because He wants
to retain godhood for Himself; He is threatened by our progress. He can
only retain His superiority by asserting man’s inferiority.
“No,
no,” laments the critic. “Have you ever known a loving, kindly father
who didn’t want his children to become all that he is and more?”
And so it is with God, our Father.
I
testify there are no ordinary people, no ciphers, no zeros—only
potential gods and goddesses in our midst. While many witnesses testify
of this truth, the most powerful of all are the quiet whisperings of the
Spirit that confirm both to my mind and to my heart the grandeur and
truth of this glorious doctrine. As Jacob so taught, “The Spirit
speaketh the truth and lieth not. Wherefore, it speaketh of things as
they really are, and of things as they really will be” (Jacob 4:13).
I
pray we will recognize our true identity as literal sons and daughters
of God and grasp a vision of our divine destiny as it really may be. I
pray we will be grateful to a loving Father and Son who made it so. In
the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Broken Things to Mend
Jeffrey R. Holland
Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
When He says to the poor in spirit, “Come unto me,” He means He knows the way out and He knows the way up.
The
first words Jesus spoke in His majestic Sermon on the Mount were to the
troubled, the discouraged and downhearted. “Blessed are the poor in
spirit,” He said, “for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
1
Whether you are members of The Church of
Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints or among the tens of thousands listening this
morning who are not of our faith, I speak to those who are facing
personal trials and
family
struggles, those who endure conflicts fought in the lonely foxholes of
the heart, those trying to hold back floodwaters of despair that
sometimes wash over us like a tsunami of the soul. I wish to speak
particularly to you who feel your lives are broken, seemingly beyond
repair.
To
all such I offer the surest and sweetest remedy that I know. It is
found in the clarion call the Savior of the world Himself gave. He said
it in the beginning of His ministry, and He said it in the end. He said
it to believers, and He said it to those who were not so sure. He said
to everyone, whatever their personal problems might be:
“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
“Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.”
2
In
this promise, that introductory phrase, “come unto me,” is crucial. It
is the key to the peace and rest we seek. Indeed, when the resurrected
Savior gave His sermon at the temple to the Nephites in the New World,
He began, “Blessed are the poor in spirit who
come unto me, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
3
When
Andrew and John first heard Christ speak, they were so moved they
followed Him as He walked away from the crowd. Sensing He was being
pursued, Jesus turned and asked the two men, “What seek ye?” They
answered, “Where dwellest thou?” And Christ said, “Come and see.” The
next day He found another disciple, Philip, and said to him, “Follow
me.”
4
Just a short time later He formally called Peter and others of
the new Apostles with the same spirit of invitation. Come, “follow me,”
5
He said.
It
seems clear that the essence of our duty and the fundamental
requirement of our mortal life is captured in these brief phrases from
any number of scenes in the Savior’s mortal ministry. He is saying to
us, “Trust me, learn of me, do what I do. Then, when you walk where I am going,” He says, “we can talk about where you
are going, and the problems you face and the troubles you have. If you
will follow me, I will lead you out of darkness,” He promises. “I will
give you answers to your prayers. I will give you rest to your souls.”
My
beloved friends, I know of no other way for us to succeed or to be safe
amid life’s many pitfalls and problems. I know of no other way for us
to carry our burdens or find what Jacob in the
Book of Mormon called “that happiness which is prepared for the saints.”
6
So
how does one “come unto Christ” in response to this constant
invitation? The scriptures give scores of examples and avenues. You are
well acquainted with the most basic ones. The easiest and the earliest
comes simply with the desire of our heart, the most basic form of faith
that we know. “If ye can no more than
desire to believe,” Alma says, exercising just “a
particle of faith,” giving even a
small place for the promises of God to find a home—that is enough to begin.
7
Just believing, just having a “molecule” of faith—simply hoping
for things which are not yet seen in our lives, but which are
nevertheless truly there to be bestowed
8
—that simple step, when focused on the Lord Jesus Christ, has
ever been and always will be the first principle of His eternal gospel,
the first step out of despair.
Second,
we must change anything we can change that may be part of the problem.
In short we must repent, perhaps the most hopeful and encouraging word
in the
Christian vocabulary. We thank our Father in Heaven we are
allowed to change, we thank Jesus we
can
change, and ultimately we do so only with Their divine assistance.
Certainly not everything we struggle with is a result of our actions.
Often it is the result of the actions of others or just the mortal
events of life. But anything
we can change we
should
change, and we must forgive the rest. In this way our access to the
Savior’s Atonement becomes as unimpeded as we, with our imperfections,
can make it. He will take it from there.
Third,
in as many ways as possible we try to take upon us His identity, and we
begin by taking upon us His name. That name is formally bestowed by
covenant in the saving ordinances of the gospel. These start with
baptism and conclude with temple covenants, with many others, such as partaking of the
sacrament,
laced throughout our lives as additional blessings and reminders.
Teaching the people of his day the message we give this morning, Nephi
said: “Follow the Son, with full purpose of heart, … with real intent, …
take upon you the name of Christ. … Do the things which I have told you
I have seen that your Lord and your Redeemer [will] do.”
9
Following
these most basic teachings, a splendor of connections to Christ opens
up to us in multitudinous ways: prayer and fasting and meditation upon
His purposes, savoring the scriptures, giving service to others,
“succor[ing] the weak, lift[ing] up the hands which hang down, …
strengthen[ing] the feeble knees.”
10
Above all else, loving with “the pure love of Christ,” that gift
that “never faileth,” that gift that “beareth all things, believeth all
things, hopeth all things, [and] endureth all things.”
11
Soon, with that kind of love, we realize our days hold scores of
thoroughfares leading to the Master and that every time we reach out,
however feebly, for Him, we discover He has been anxiously trying to
reach us. So we step, we strive, we seek, and we never yield.
12
My desire today is for all of us—not just those who are “poor in spirit” but all
of us—to have more straightforward personal experience with the
Savior’s example. Sometimes we seek heaven too obliquely, focusing on
programs or history or the experience of others. Those are important but
not as important as personal experience, true discipleship, and the
strength that comes from experiencing firsthand the majesty of His
touch.
Are you battling a demon of addiction—tobacco or drugs or gambling, or the pernicious contemporary plague of
pornography?
Is your marriage in trouble or your child in danger? Are you confused
with gender identity or searching for self-esteem? Do you—or someone you
love—face disease or depression or death? Whatever other steps you may
need to take to resolve these concerns, come
first to the gospel
of Jesus Christ. Trust in heaven’s promises. In that regard Alma’s
testimony is my testimony: “I do know,” he says, “that whosoever shall
put their trust in God shall be supported in their trials, and their
troubles, and their afflictions.”
13
This
reliance upon the merciful nature of God is at the very center of the
gospel Christ taught. I testify that the Savior’s Atonement lifts from
us not only the burden of our sins but also the burden of our
disappointments and sorrows, our heartaches and our despair.
14
From the beginning, trust in such help was to give us both a
reason and a way to improve, an incentive to lay down our burdens and
take up our salvation. There can and will be plenty of difficulties in
life. Nevertheless, the soul that comes unto Christ, who knows His voice
and strives to do as He did, finds a strength, as the hymn says,
“beyond [his] own.”
15
The Savior reminds us that He has “graven [us] upon the palms of [His] hands.”
16
Considering the incomprehensible cost of the Crucifixion and
Atonement, I promise you He is not going to turn His back on us now.
When He says to the poor in spirit, “Come unto me,” He means He knows
the way out and He knows the way up. He knows it because He has walked
it. He knows the way because He
is the way.
Brothers and sisters, whatever your distress,
please don’t give up and
please
don’t yield to fear. I have always been touched that as his son was
departing for his mission to England, Brother Bryant S. Hinckley gave
young Gordon a farewell embrace and then slipped him a handwritten note
with just five words taken from the fifth chapter of Mark: “Be not
afraid, only believe.”
17
I think also of that night when Christ rushed to the aid of His
frightened disciples, walking as He did on the water to get to them,
calling out, “It is I; be not afraid.” Peter exclaimed, “Lord, if it be
thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.” Christ’s answer to him was as
it
always is
every time: “
Come,” He said.
Instantly, as was his nature, Peter sprang over the vessel’s side and
into the troubled waters. While his eyes were fixed upon the Lord, the
wind could toss his hair and the spray could drench his robes, but all
was well—he was coming to Christ. It was only when his faith wavered and
fear took control, only when he removed his glance from the Master to
look at the furious waves and the ominous black gulf beneath, only then
did he begin to sink into the sea. In newer terror he cried out, “Lord,
save me.”
Undoubtedly
with some sadness, the Master over every problem and fear, He who is
the solution to every discouragement and disappointment, stretched out
His hand and grasped the drowning disciple with the gentle rebuke, “O
thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?”
18
If
you are lonely, please know you can find comfort. If you are
discouraged, please know you can find hope. If you are poor in spirit,
please know you can be strengthened. If you feel you are broken, please
know you can be mended.
In Nazareth, the narrow road,
That tires the feet and steals the breath,
Passes the place where once abode
The Carpenter of Nazareth.
And up and down the dusty way
The village folk would often wend;
And on the bench, beside Him, lay
Their broken things for Him to mend.
The maiden with the doll she broke,
The woman with the broken chair,
The man with broken plough, or yoke,
Said, “Can you mend it, Carpenter?”
And each received the thing he sought,
In yoke, or plough, or chair, or doll;
The broken thing which each had brought
Returned again a perfect whole.
So, up the hill the long years through,
With heavy step and wistful eye,
The burdened souls their way pursue,
Uttering each the plaintive cry:
“O Carpenter of Nazareth,
This heart, that’s broken past repair,
This life, that’s shattered nigh to death,
Oh, can You mend them, Carpenter?”
And by His kind and ready hand,
His own sweet life is woven through
Our broken lives, until they stand
A New Creation—“all things new.”
“The shattered [substance] of [the] heart,
Desire, ambition, hope, and faith,
Mould Thou into the perfect part,
O, Carpenter of Nazareth!”
19
May
we all, especially the poor in spirit, come unto Him and be made whole,
I pray, in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, amen.
