This article was published previously on Mormon Basics
The Godhead consists of three people, God the Father (our Father in Heaven), his son, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost or Holy Spirit. We say they are one, as in one in purpose, because they work in perfect harmony, having no personal agendas or personal motives other than to save every one of God’s children that can be saved from our own disobedience. All three of them understand perfectly that we have our agency to chose whom we will follow, Satan, who was cast out from our Father’s presence for rebellion, and seeks to destroy all of God’s children in retribution, or God himself, who seeks to elevate us to his status that we might enjoy the happiness and power that he enjoys. He has promised openly in the scriptures that all that he has will be given to Christ, and Christ has promised openly in the scriptures that all that God gives him he will, in turn, give to those who faithfully follow him (Christ).
As discussed in Part 1, God is a resurrected and glorified man who is the father of our spirits. He has but one physical son, and that is Jesus. God is generally referred to as God, Elohim, the Father, or Heavenly Father/Father in Heaven. As our Father we look to him for guidance, forgiveness, direction, and we worship him and only him, because that is what we have been commanded to do by Christ, his son. Our goal in this life is to become worthy to return back to His presence and live with him forever.
It is important to understand that God calls the shots. It is the Father who directs the work of Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost. It is God’s plan everyone is following to get us back into his presence. Even Christ will not return again until the Father tells him it is time for his second coming. In all things the Father is in control. It is He who mapped out the whole history of the world, who would live when and where, and how far their influence would be felt. He knows us perfectly, and wholly. We are his children, and humanity is His family. We pray to him, and to him alone. Our desires are to be worthy to return to be with our Father once again.
The law giver
We need to remember that God controls all things in the universe through the laws he created before he made anything. Nothing is made without being put into a sphere in which it has a purpose and goal. All things are made to either be acted upon or to act for themselves. The laws made to govern the existence of each thing determine how it acts and what can happen to it. In our case the laws that govern our lives are referred to as the gospel. All the laws of obedience, service, prayer, tithing, etc. are all spelled out in what we refer to as the gospel. The rewards for obeying this code of law is exaltation with God, our Father. Failure to obey these laws results in lesser degrees of glory in the eternities.
In 2 Nephi 2:5 Jacob is taught by his father that God made sure that men were sufficiently instructed between right and wrong that He will be able to judge them by the choices they make.
5 And men are instructed sufficiently that they know good from evil. And the law is given unto men. And by the law no flesh is justified; or, by the law men are cut off. Yea, by the temporal law they were cut off; and also, by the spiritual law they perish from that which is good, and become miserable forever.
In the next article of this series we will look at Jesus Christ. Christ is all about mercy, but God is all about justice. These are the parts they play in our salvation. God is the great law giver and has to hold us to the standard of the law. Without that standard in place chaos would run amok in the universe, and God would cease to be God. Because he is the great defender of the law, the only way He can extend us mercy is through someone else. That someone else is Jesus.
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As valuable and as necessary as the mercy of Christ is, we still need the strict standard of behavior required by the laws of God. The laws are hard to live up to, and we fail often. But through Christ we are able to rise to the occasion and eventually will be able to live God’s laws perfectly (just not while we are in mortality). When that happens we will finally become like Him. This is the goal. This is our hope. This is our destiny. Our Father holds out the standard, and Christ, His perfect son helps us achieve that standard. Godhood is possible when we seek to become united with God and Christ as they are united with each other in their efforts to bring us home to live with our Father.
Click the title of the video to see a talk by
Dallin H. Oaks on the Apostasy and Restoration
Click on the title of the video to see a talk by
Marion G. Romney – Man-A Child of God
Kelly Merrill is semi retired and writes for https://gospelstudy.us. He lives with his wife in Idaho. His strength is being able to take difficult to understand subjects and break them down into understandable parts. He delights in writing about the gospel of Christ. Writing about the gospel is his personal missionary work to the members of the Church and to those of other faiths who are wanting to know more about Christ's gospel and His Church.
