Having wrestled on and off for years with the interrelatedness of light, truth, intelligence, and law and the role they must play in our individual eternal progression, I took the opportunity some years ago while teaching an Institute class on the Doctrine and Covenants to formulate for my own purposes a possible answer on this subject.
I believe that Godhood is a state or condition of being (See D&C 132: 19-24 and Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation 2:35-36). When an individual becomes a God, he has come into the possession of all the attributes we ascribe to a true God namely, being all-knowing (omniscient) and all-powerful (omnipotent), a supreme intelligence. There are Gods who provided the way for our Father in Heaven (Elohim) and his son, Jesus Christ (Jehovah), to become Gods, thus necessarily preceding them. More recently, at least several of our mortal brothers, Elohim’s spirit sons, have become Gods. “[A]nd because they [Abraham, Isaac and Jacob] did none other things than that which they were commanded, they have entered into their exaltation, according to the promises, and sit upon thrones, and are not angels but are gods” (D&C 132:37).
In that portion of the universe under the control of Elohim, countless worlds have been created and have passed away through the power Jehovah exercises under the direction of his Father. This Light of Christ fills the immensity of space and is the power that governs it and provides to it light, life, and law. In other words, such is the impact of an all-powerful God upon his creations.
Truth, the “knowledge of things as they are, and as they were, and as they are to come” (D&C 93:24), as revealed by the Holy Ghost (D&C 79:2), is the power of knowledge that fills the immensity of His creations because He is all-knowing. Thus from the time we were born as spirit offspring of Elohim in the pre-mortal existence, light and truth have provided us the direction by which we progressed (matured) toward becoming as our heavenly parents are.
An understanding of the intelligence must go beyond just the realization that this “light and truth” (D&C 93:36) element of our being is co-eternal with God, and that when “this intelligence [is] combined with the spirit [it] constitutes a spiritual identity or individual” (Joseph Fielding Smith, Progress of Man 11). An infant intelligence possesses the capacity to grow in understanding, power, and light through obedience to law until it becomes like unto our Heavenly Father, the Supreme Intelligence (Mormon Doctrine 387). Joseph Smith taught that “God himself, finding he was in the midst of spirits and glory, because he was more intelligent, saw proper to institute laws whereby the rest could have a privilege to advance like himself” . . . [i.e., gaining in] “knowledge, power, glory and intelligence” until they are as He is (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith 354).
So how do I understand these pieces work together? Truth and light emanating from the presence of God provide us direction at all stages of our progression enabling us to return to our Heavenly Father, if we so desire, and eventually become as He is. Like a directional beacon for an aircraft, we can find our way through the trials and circumstances of the pre-mortal, mortal, and post-mortal phases of our existence if we but follow God’s light and truth.
Because we did so in heaven, we received an opportunity to come to earth as opposed to being cast down to Hell with Satan. In this world, we are responsible to find light and truth and cling to their direction as opposed to following the ways of the world that are really the ways of the devil. If we fail to recognize and follow the correct path, we will be condemned (D&C 93:31-32). How is this fair? Our intelligence, that is light and truth, recognized light and truth while we were in Elohim’s presence. With that experience, we should be able to detect light and truth even in this darkened existence. However, our Father has not left us entirely alone in this pursuit of his “way.” The Light of Christ seeks to direct all men toward doing what is righteous as opposed to that which is sinful. If we respond to the promptings of his Spirit, we can find the gospel and receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. The latter will serve as a powerful ally in our efforts to remain on course. If we are worthy when we leave this world, we will have the benefit of Christ’s presence, the Second Comforter, to provide us even more potent assistance in our pursuit to become as our Father in Heaven is.
In mortality, God’s law manifests itself in the form of commandments, revelations, ordinances, covenants, judgments, etc. (Mormon Doctrine 149). These are the steps we are to follow in the “way” that light and truth delineate for us. The degree to which we are obedient to God’s law will determine the nature of our resurrection (D&C 88:28-45). In addition, we will be resurrected with a body that is materially consistent with the degree of glory (celestial, terrestrial, telestial) or non-glory (hell) we have earned in this life as a result of our obedience or disobedience to God’s law. The Savior said, “He that keepeth his commandments receiveth truth and light, until he is glorified in truth and knoweth all things” (D&C 93:28). Having progressed to that end by means provided by a loving Father and a loving Savior, we will have fulfilled the full measure and purpose of our creation.
No comments:
Post a Comment