First off, I'd like to make note that as a member of the Church (hereafter shortened form of Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; church will refer to all other 'churches') I have the obligation to make known my testimony, to be explained, yet, also, I make no attempt to be taken as an official representative of the Church at this time, and therefore, this is MY personal belief, (all of which I will make as doctrinally accurate at possible) but be it known this is not the official representation of the Church itself.
Jesus Christ. Historical figure, positively. An influence that changed the course of human history as we know it? Absolutely. Son of God, Savior, Redeemer, Elder Brother, Teacher, Guide, and Friend? I definitively affirm with all my heart, might, and soul that He is. He was the Only Begotten of the Father. The Father is our Heavenly Father, to whom we are His literal children, and as such have divine characteristics incident thereto. We were born to our Heavenly Father in His mansions prior to our existence in this mortality we now know. He developed a plan, like any wise father we would know on this earth, a method and means that we (His children) could learn, grow, develop, and BECOME as He is. This is what is meant by the terms 'Life Eternal', 'Eternal Life', or 'Exaltation'. The term is due to a few facts of definition. Eternal leads to an understanding meaning of 'without beginning and without end'. It is one of the many names of our Father in Heaven. To have Eternal Life is to have 'the life that Eternal lives' or layman terms 'the life God lives'. Therefore, that is our potential. Nothing short, and nothing less. (And there is no such thing as anything more!) This is our unique and divine heritage. Unique as human beings, not as races, classes, ethnic groups, or societies. We are all siblings in a literal sense. Children of Deity, inhabiting within us the same spirit (a conscious being that exists without a physical/tangible body) that was taught in the Eternal courts on high. As God's children we learned, grew and made decisions to do so. Never being forced, yet always electing to progress. Our progress was/is based upon obedience. Obedience is an act of faith. Faith is a hope for things which are not seen which are true. Truth is things as they really are, really have been, and really will be, not our perception of the things before us. Hope is an assurance of things to come, and is made sure through experiences which have lead us to have faith.
That was a long paragraph. I apologize. An example: You go to bed. You wake up in the morning. You go to bed. You wake up in the morning. Lather, rinse, repeat. You've done this for several years. If you're 14 years old you've done this more than a thousand times! This is ingrained in you. Is there a question in your mind if tomorrow will be there!? (for most of us no, and if there is, we probably need to see someone about our condition; no offense to anyone, but that's a sign of something abnormal) Why is this not a question in our mind? It's because our faith has been verified in this instance time and time and time again. What then is the proof that we have faith in this concept. Evidence of faith is our action taken. Without action we have no faith. (This is due to the fact that if we didn't have faith, we wouldn't do the action because we wouldn't have the hope that our action would provide a desirable result) Therefore, if you do an action, you have just exercised your faith! Congratulations! When you breathe, you exercise faith that it's safe to breathe, that it'll provide life. When you hold your breath in water you exercise faith that you can't breath in water (and that's a quickly verified truth if you ever want to try to second guess it...). You show your faith in tomorrow by making a schedule, a plan, a calendar. Setting events in the future, or making a goal to accomplish, all of these things are an exercise of faith that has developed over years of trying the concept. Another evidence is that you can sleep without duress of worrying if you'll wake up tomorrow. That's not the normal thing to worry about for any healthy person, and that's because our faith, which is opposite to fear, puts that concept out of our mind, and therefore out of our actions, and out of our life. Remember this principle. Faith is the essence of power in the gospel of Christ. Faith is fundamental. Faith is obtained through obedience. Faith is lost through disobedience. Faith is a gift from God, given as a reward undeserved for our obedience. Faith without action is not faith, but a false concept; an oxymoron to the extent of the definition. There is no such thing as someone who believes tomorrow will come that is a nervous wreck that tonight is their last night; that's completely opposite, and the actions of an individual are the true sign of faith--and no other substitute is adequate.
While in our existence prior to this mortality we were given the plan known in scripture as the 'Plan of Salvation', 'Plan of Mercy', 'Plan of Happiness', and 'Plan of Redemption'. There may well be other titles. This plan illuminates the process by which we as spirit sons and daughters of God obtain the heir of our Father. He designed it, and could only do so because He has experienced it, and therefore knows that a)it works, and b) not following it won't work, and c) that it may not always be a gladsome experience, and is always there to help us on the way. He isn't some third party observer designing a being that has no relation to Him or that is simply an experiment, we are His children, and He is fully invested in our behalf. We are His top priority, His happiness is gained by His aid in our behalf, and this is because He is full of charity, a selfless love that is felt only in the aid of those around us. He loves us as His children because as such we are! Nothing less, and there is no such thing more grand (than what our potential will become!).
The plan laid out a method for us to develop faith, the means by which the elements and all things are controlled and handled, and for us to obtain an immortal (perfect and invulnerable to the affects incident to mortal conditions such as sickness, ailments, or death)physical/tangible body. These two attributes are the greatest difference between our Father and ourselves. The third attribute our Father has that is a differentiating fact from ourselves, is that He is perfect. Flawless, without error. Now that we have a body, the things we need are faith, immortality, and of course the one seemingly impossible; perfection. These were involved in the plan from the beginning.
Adam and Eve, acting under inspiration and revelation, bootstrapped (forgive the term) the plan with their fall in the Garden of Eden. Within this great occurrence, both great as in it's affects, but also in its blessings, we became mortal, and as such Adam and Eve were able to procreate and begin humanity's life on Earth. This put us in a state of mortality, subject to pain, hurt, and sin. Sin was unavailable in the Garden of Eden due to the innocence of Adam and Eve. Sin is only possible for someone discernible of truth and error, right and wrong, and can make an effort to act on that knowledge. This is why Adam and Eve could not sin before they knew right from wrong, and is the same reason why children cannot sin until they come of an age where they too understand right from wrong. (This has been revealed by modern prophets to be the age of 8). All actions that are not in line with the will of God antecedent to the coming of cognition of right and wrong are consumed in the grace of Christ, an action made in complete innocence, and where there is no cognition of right/wrong, there can be no consequences incurred. This is why persons are not properly baptized until at least the age of 8.
This mortality we exist in will end in death. This would remain in full effect without the Atonement of Jesus Christ. As mortals we also sin, or error, or in direct translation 'miss the mark'. This is what is known as imperfection, or unclean, or impure. We cannot return to our Father in this condition. Dead and filthy is not accepted into the kingdom of heaven, just as none of you would accept a dirty corpse into your perfect mansion. To overcome this Jesus Christ came, planned from the beginning, before Adam and Eve were placed on Earth and before Earth herself. Jesus was the firstborn of the Father in the spirit form and life before this mortality. He learned and grew and obtained the rank of Godhood with His Father. This is something we do not fully understand. It is known that he was God(referring to the rank/office/title/position [not the same individual as Heavenly Father]) (omnipotent(all powerful), omniscient(all knowing), and perfect). Perfect has a few meanings, a)without flaw, and b)complete. He was perfect in the first instance, and yet the latter was yet to come. In Matt. 5:48 He says "be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in Heaven is perfect'. While as a resurrected Being with an immortal body in 3 Ne. 11:48 states 'old things are done away, and all things have become new. Therefore I would that ye should be perfect even as I, or your Father who is in heaven is perfect'. He was now complete. In all senses, and all ways He was exalted like unto His father; Perfect.
Jesus Christ performed what is known as the Atonement. Atonement as commonly translated in the New Testament is 'reconciliation' or 'propitiation', all of which have the same basic meaning. Atonement means 'to take what was once together, that came apart, and put it back together'. In our sense, it's the 'being with our Father, being separated from our Father (in both mortality's sense as well as sin[spiritual sense]), and being reunited with our Father'. This Atonement is referred to as an action by Christ, as well as a means by mortals, to obtain this Atonement as defined. The completion of the Atonement (action by Christ) consisted of four basic parts. a)His living a sinless life, b) His suffering for our sins in Gethsemane and on the cross, c)His death on the cross, and d)His resurrection from the dead. These were all essential parts, that if any part were excluded the sacrifice He made on our behalf would not be infinite and eternal. It'd be futile. Luckily for us we need not spout off conjecture of would've beens, and could've beens, and what ifs, because He did accomplish it, and therefore all that worry of such has been consumed in His achievement! How wonderful that is! He must've lived perfect to be the mediation and interposition between us (imperfection), and our Father in Heaven (perfection). He had to suffer in Gethsemane to know each of our sorrows that He can succor us. He also had to suffer to fulfill justice's necessary punishment of sin and iniquity. To erase our punishment for our sins He had to take that punishment upon Himself that we might be able to escape the inevitable consequence for our disobedience. To be able to endure this He was born as the Only Begotten of the Father. So, He was the Son of an Immortal Father and a mortal mother, making Him susceptible to death, but only upon His giving up His life, for it could not be taken from Him. His death was necessary to fulfill His understanding of our death, as well as to overcome the grave through resurrection. You can't be resurrected if you don't die, so that is an almost obvious necessity. His resurrection was where His body, now perfected in immortal glory, was reunited with His spirit, and thus He became fully immortal and the exemplar to us in the same regard.
The Atonement of Jesus Christ overcomes two types of 'death'. Death means 'separation'. Physical death 'separation from our physical body and our intangible spirit'. Spiritual death 'separation from God/ perfection'. Christ's sacrifice on our behalf fully cleared the physical death for us as was promised for our decision to take the chance of living in a mortality to progress in the Plan of Salvation. This is automatic and completed on behalf of all persons. As scripture testifies so aptly; 'as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive'. The spiritual death is only overcome by our acceptance of His efforts, and this is done by living what is called the gospel. The gospel is known as the 'good news'. This is due to the fact that the 'good news' is that there is a method of redemption to return back to our Father. This gospel can be simplified into five basic steps. 1)Faith in Jesus Christ [to trust that He was who He claimed He was and performed what He said He did] 2)Repent [change our ways and 'return back to God'. Stop doing wrong and start doing right. This is the action in result to our faith. Because we have faith that Jesus really did do what He did, and we have hope that His Atonement will affect us we repent. If we do not repent, we do not have faith in Christ] 3)Baptism [to be immersed in water as an ordinance of making a covenant with our Father that we'll keep the laws of the gospel to allow the Atonement to have effect in our life. Without this covenant we don't accept the blessings of the saving from spiritual death. Without this acceptance, there is no real salvation except physical resurrection. Baptism, as with all other covenants, is only entered into by ordinance, and is only administered by authorized representatives of Deity. This authorization comes by personal delegation from one who has been ordained and set to this position. 4)Receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost [ this is the acceptance of the Holy Ghost into our lives. It is a gift as promised in the covenant of baptism that if we remain worthy of the Holy Ghost He will be with us continually to guide, comfort, protect, teach, and aid. This is an indescribably wonderful gift. To remain close to Him is to remain on the mark, and to leave Him is to 'miss the mark' or sin. This is an easy way to recognize our direction in life. If the Holy Ghost leaves us, we have left Him, because He only leaves when we sin. This is a time to repent. The faster the better, the longer off course, the longer it will take to fix, and the more misery we will endure until it is resolved. 5) Endure to the End [to maintain firm in the faith wherewith you have entered into. To continually renew our baptismal covenant by partaking of the ordinance of the Sacrament, and to enter into all covenants available for our happiness. To maintain all of those covenants]
Once completing this system, (which only ends at death) for you must endure all the way to the end, judgement will take place dependent upon our works and desires of our hearts. Our desires dictate our actions anyhow, so it'll be a simple judgement, and we'll know where we should go. I won't discuss possibilities, because I don't care that much. I just care about one. Eternal Life. My motto is Eternal Life or bust. I don't focus on anything else, because you get what you focus on, so I don't care about the other things, I focus my tunnel vision to the one true target.
I've gone very long. I do apologize, but this is the most important doctrine the world has, because it's not the world's doctrine. It's the doctrine and layout of the God of this Earth. The only design and implementation that can return us to our Father.
This alone cannot save you. This information is inadequate by itself. It must be implemented. It is only utilized by the proper method. The method authorized by Deity. That is His Church.
Quickly I'll wrap it all up. Christ in the meridian of time came and established His Church. As officers therein He set up Apostles. These men held the Priesthood (the power of God given to His children for the salavation of man), which was conferred upon them by the laying on of Jesus' hands. They were given keys, or authorization to direct the power of the Priesthood on Earth. These keys allowed those under them to hold the Priesthood, but only acted in those subordinate offices under their direction. Once these Apostles were killed, and not being able to come together to establish more as they had done, the keys of the Priesthood of God on Earth were removed. With this the Priesthood held within the main body of the church was unusable and made invalid without authorized direction. This is where the Church of Jesus Christ officially left the Earth. For several hundred years the doctrines of Christ were contorted, manipulated, and misconstrued throughout time. They were changed inadvertently, changed to benefit the needs of the heads of power, changed to fit the lifestyles of the times. Whatever the case of change, it was changed, and the Great Apostasy, a time of darkness without the gospel, ensued. Men and women inspired of God began great periods and eras of bringing the truth closer to the surface. The Enlightenment to study and the Reformation of the religious sects lead to the desire for freedom and peace. A new land (absolutely not coincidentally kept remote from imperialism's iron fist of tyranny) where a people were able to start a new nation with religion free to flourish. This is the America of 1820. The America where a young boy in his 15th year and for a time before that, greatly contemplated the truths of God and life. The boy was Joseph Smith, and his story is miraculous, but more importantly than how fantastic it is, the most important part is that it's true. I know it is true. I have inquired Deity for myself, and Joseph Smith's story is not just a story. It is a history. It is fact. It was truly the Restoration of the only true Church of Jesus Christ, and there was no other, and will be no other.
In his search Joseph sought out the opinions of those around him, and the many churches in revivals and sects were of no shortage of opinion on who was right. They all claimed to be Christ's. He however could not understand how such divergent views on one topic could be the united Church described in the Bible. He searched the scriptures of the Bible to find answers. In James a scripture poured a feeling into his heart more powerfully than any other feeling prior. It filled every fiber of his being. James 1:5 reads 'If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.' Upon reading this, and pondering for some time, he selected a quiet wood in which to pray. On a Spring morning in 1820 this farm boy went to offer the first verbal prayer alone in his life. With nothing but faith in the God of Heaven and Earth and a question as to which church to join, he ventured into that grove of trees. When he prayed he recounts the following experience, which, due to its sacred nature I shall not paraphrase it. It is here:After I had retired to the place where I had previously designed to go, having looked around me, and finding myself alone, I kneeled down and began to offer up the desires of my heart to God. I had scarcely done so, when immediately I was aseized upon by some power which entirely overcame me, and had such an astonishing influence over me as to bind my tongue so that I could not speak. Thick bdarkness gathered around me, and it seemed to me for a time as if I were doomed to sudden destruction.
16But, exerting all my powers to acall upon God to deliver me out of the power of this enemy which had seized upon me, and at the very moment when I was ready to sink into bdespair and abandon myself to destruction—not to an imaginary ruin, but to the power of some actual being from the unseen world, who had such marvelous power as I had never before felt in any being—just at this moment of great alarm, I saw a pillar of clight exactly over my head, above the brightness of the dsun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me.
17It no sooner appeared than I found myself adelivered from the enemy which held me bound. When the light rested upon me Ibsaw two cPersonages, whose brightness and dglory defy all description, estanding above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other—This is MyfBeloved gSon. Hear Him!
18My object in going to ainquire of the Lord was to know which of all the sects was right, that I might know which to join. No sooner, therefore, did I get possession of myself, so as to be able to speak, than I asked the Personages who stood above me in the light, which of all the sects was right (for at this time it had never entered into my heart that all were wrong)—and which I should join.
19I was answered that I must join none of them, for they were allawrong; and the Personage who addressed me said that all their creeds were an abomination in his sight; that those bprofessorswere all ccorrupt; that: “they ddraw near to me with their lips, but their ehearts are far from me, they teach for doctrines thefcommandments of men, having a form of godliness, but they deny the gpower thereof.”
20He again forbade me to join with any of them; and many other things did he say unto me, which I cannot write at this time. When I came to myself again, I found myself alying on my back, looking up into heaven. When the light had departed, I had no strength; but soon recovering in some degree, I went home.
This is no fictional story. No imaginary hallucination. This is not some delusional wacko making stuff up. This was a young boy who in that grove on that morning was visited by the God of all things and His Son, Jesus Christ, and was given a commission and direction as a prophet of God to usher in the Dispensation of the Fulness of Times. I know this is true, because I've taken the direction of James, and have found for myself that Joseph was called of our Father, and that this doctrine is not of this world.
My invitation to all is to have them find out for themselves what I know for myself. For more information...ask me. I have to rest now. I have an addiction to the gospel that I have no desire to give up. I could go all day and all night had I not need to sustain my mortality! Take care my brothers and sisters. Seek and ye shall surely find. I promise you that. For I have done it myself. With love, and in the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ, I bid thee adieu. Amen.
