A Doctrinal Exposition by the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
From Improvement Era, Aug. 1916, 934-42; capitalization, punctuation, paragraphing, and spelling standardized.
“The
Father and the Son,” Ensign, Apr. 2002, 13
In the early 1900s, some discussion arose among Church members about the
roles of God the Father and Jesus Christ. The First Presidency and Quorum of
the Twelve Apostles issued the following in 1916 to clarify the meaning of certain
scriptures where Jesus Christ, or Jehovah, is designated as the Father.
It is
thought that a printing of this statement will be helpful to members as they
study the Old Testament this year.
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In the early 1900s, some discussion arose among Church members about the roles of God the Father and Jesus Christ. The First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles issued the following in 1916 to clarify the meaning of certain scriptures where Jesus Christ, or Jehovah, is designated as the Father. | ||
The scriptures plainly
and repeatedly affirm that God is the Creator of the earth and the heavens
and all things that in them are. In the sense so expressed, the Creator is
an Organizer. God created the earth as an organized sphere; but He certainly
did not create, in the sense of bringing into primal existence, the ultimate
elements of the materials of which the earth consists, for “the elements are
eternal” (D&C 93:33). So also life is eternal,
and not created; but life, or the vital force, may be infused into organized
matter, though the details of the process have not been revealed unto man.
(For illustrative instances see Gen. 2:7; Moses 3:7; Abr. 5:7.) Each of these scriptures states
that God breathed into the body of man the breath of life. See further Moses 3:19 for the statement that God
breathed the breath of life into the bodies of the beasts and birds. God
showed unto Abraham “the intelligences that were organized before the world
was”; and by “intelligences” we are to understand personal “spirits” (see Abr.
3:22-23);
nevertheless, we are expressly told that “Intelligence,” that is, “the light
of truth, was not created or made, neither indeed can be” (D&C
93:29). The term “Father” as
applied to Deity occurs in sacred writ with plainly different meanings. Each
of the four significations specified in the following treatment should be
carefully segregated. |
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1.
“Father” as Literal Parent
Scriptures embodying the
ordinary signification—-literally that of Parent—-are too numerous and
specific to require citation. The purport of these scriptures is to the
effect that God the Eternal Father, whom we designate by the exalted
name-title “Elohim,” is the literal Parent of our Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ and of the spirits of the human race. Elohim
is the Father in every sense in which Jesus Christ is so designated, and distinctively He is the
Father of spirits.a Thus we read in the Epistle to the
Hebrews: “Furthermore
we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them
reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of
spirits, and live?” (Heb. 12:9). In view of this fact we are
taught by Jesus Christ to pray: “Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be
thy name” (Matt. 6:9). Jesus Christ applies to
Himself both titles, “Son” and “Father.” Indeed, He specifically said to the
brother of Jared: “Behold, I am Jesus Christ. I am the Father and the Son” (Ether 3:14). Jesus Christ is the Son of
Elohim both as spiritual and bodily offspring; that is to say, Elohim is
literally the Father of the spirit of Jesus Christ and also the body in which
Jesus Christ performed His mission in the flesh, and which body died on the
cross and was afterward taken up by the process of resurrection, and is now
the immortalized tabernacle of the eternal spirit of our Lord and Savior. No
extended explanation of the title “Son of God” as applied to Jesus Christ
appears necessary. |
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1.1a Elohim is the Father in every sense in which Jesus Christ is so designated The Son gives all glory to the Father. And thus every title of 'Father' which the Son does bare is also attributed unto the Father, as the Son does according to the will and command and direction of the Father. Yet it is important to understand that Jehovah, who is the same as Jesus Christ, does stand as the God of this second estate, being so anointed and appointed by the Father to that position. Jesus Christ is, as the Book of Mormon so testifies, the Father of Heaven and Earth, the Father of the Creation of both the temporal heaven and earth and all things that in them are. This includes temporal or physical man, for he did take the spirit of man, which was born of 'The Father', and did so place it in the temporal tabernacle of clay of this second estate realm. |
Elohim is Father is every way including the Father of our spirits. Jehovah, who is the Firstborn Son in the spirit, is also the Father in every way as he does stand in the stead of the Father in all things as though he were the Father as our Ministering God under the direction the Father — 'except' Jehovah is not the Father of spirits as Elohim is the Father of our spirits. In fact through out the Old Testament, the Father, Elohim, of Spirits is almost exclusively represented by Jehovah as our Ministering God of the Old Testament. And not until the New Testament, as Jesus Christ, does Jehovah begin to reveal unto us the Father, Our Father Who are in Heaven as he teaches us to pray to Our Father in Heaven and so forth. |
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2.
“Father” as Creator
A second scriptural
meaning of “Father” is that of Creator; e.g., in passages referring to any
one of the Godhead as “the Father of the heavens and of the earth, and all
things that in them are” (Ether 4:7; see also Alma
11:38-39; Mosiah
15:4). God is not the Father of
the earth as one of the worlds in space, nor of the heavenly bodies in whole
or in part, not of the inanimate objects and the plants and the animals upon
the earth, in the literal sense in which He is the Father of the spirits of
mankind. Therefore, scriptures that refer to God in any way as the Father of
the heavens and the earth are to be understood as signifying that God is the
Maker, the Organizer, the Creator of the heavens and the earth. With this meaning, as the
context shows in every case, Jehovah, who is Jesus Christ the Son of Elohim,
is called “the Father,” and even “the very Eternal Father of heaven and of
earth” (see passages before cited and also Mosiah 16:15). With analogous meaning Jesus
Christ is called “The Everlasting Father” (Isa. 9:6; compare 2 Ne. 19:6). The descriptive titles
“Everlasting” and “Eternal” in the foregoing texts are synonymous. That Jesus Christ, whom
we also know as Jehovah, was the executive of the Father, Elohim, in the work
of creation is set forth in the book Jesus the Christ, chapter 4 [by
James E. Talmage]. Jesus Christ, being the Creator, is consistently called
the Father of heaven and earth in the sense explained above; and since His
creations are of eternal quality He is very properly called the Eternal
Father of heaven and earth. |
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3.
Jesus Christ the “Father” of Those Who Abide in His Gospel
A third sense in which
Jesus Christ is regarded as the “Father” has reference to the relationship
between Him and those who accept His gospel and thereby become heirs of
eternal life. Following are a few of the scriptures illustrating this
meaning. In fervent prayer offered
just prior to His entrance into Gethsemane, Jesus Christ supplicated His
Father in behalf of those whom the Father had given unto Him, specifically
the Apostles, and, more generally, all who would accept and abide in the
gospel through the ministry of the Apostles. Read in our Lord’s own words the
solemn affirmation that those for whom He particularly prayed were His own, and
that His Father had given them unto Him: “I have manifested thy
name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and
thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word. “Now they have known that
all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee. “For I have given unto
them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have
known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou
didst send me. “I pray for them: I pray
not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine. “And all mine are thine,
and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them. “And now I am no more in
the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep
through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one,
as we are. “While I was with them in
the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept,
and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might
be fulfilled” (John 17:6-12). And further: “Neither pray I for these
alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; “That they all may be
one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in
us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. “And the glory which thou
gavest me I have given them; 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; and that the world may know that
thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me. “Father, I will that they
also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my
glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of
the world” (John 17:20-24). To His faithful servants
in the present dispensation the Lord has said, “Fear not, little children,
for you are mine, and I have overcome the world, and you are of them that my
Father hath given me” (D&C 50:41). Salvation is attainable
only through compliance with the laws and ordinances of the gospel; and all
who are thus saved become sons and daughters unto God in a distinctive sense.
In a revelation given through Joseph the Prophet to Emma Smith, the Lord
Jesus addressed the woman as “my daughter” and said, “For verily I say unto
you, all those who receive my gospel are sons and daughters in my kingdom” (D&C 25:1). In many instances the Lord had
addressed men as His sons (e.g., D&C 9:1; D&C 34:3; D&C 121:7). That by obedience to the
gospel men may become sons of God, both as sons of Jesus Christ, and, through
Him, as sons of His Father, is set forth in many revelations given in the
current dispensation. Thus we read in an utterance of the Lord Jesus Christ
to Hyrum Smith in 1829: “Behold, I am Jesus
Christ, the Son of God. I am the life and the light of the world. “I am the same who came
unto mine own and mine own received me not; “But verily, verily, I
say unto you, that as many as receive me, to them will I give power to become
the sons of God, even to them that believe on my name. Amen” (D&C
11:28-30). To Orson Pratt the Lord
spoke through Joseph the seer, in 1830: “My son Orson, hearken
and hear and behold what I, the Lord God, shall say unto you, even Jesus
Christ your Redeemer; “The light and the life
of the world, a light which shineth in darkness and the darkness
comprehendeth it not; “Who so loved the world
that he gave his own life, that as many as would believe might become the
sons of God. Wherefore you are my son” (D&C 34:1-3). In 1830 the Lord thus addressed
Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon: “Listen to the voice of
the Lord your God, even Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, whose
course is one eternal round, the same today as yesterday, and forever. “I am Jesus Christ, the
Son of God, who was crucified for the sins of the world, even as many as will
believe on my name, that they may become the sons of God, even one in me as I
am one in the Father, as the Father is one in me, that we may be one” (D&C
35:1-2). Consider also the
following given in 1831: “Hearken and listen to
the voice of him who is from all eternity to all eternity, the Great I Am,
even Jesus Christ— “The light and the life
of the world; a light which shineth in darkness and the darkness
comprehendeth it not; “The same which came in
the meridian of time unto mine own, and mine own received me not; “But to as many as
received me, gave I power to become my sons; and even so will I give unto as
many as will receive me, power to become my sons” (D&C
39:1-4). In a revelation given
through Joseph Smith in March 1831 we read: “For verily I say unto
you that I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the light and the life
of the world—-a light that shineth in darkness and the darkness comprehendeth
it not. “I came unto mine own,
and mine own received me not; but unto as many as received me gave I power to
do many miracles, and to become the sons of God; and even unto them that
believed on my name gave I power to obtain eternal life” (D&C
45:7-8). A forceful exposition of
this relationship between Jesus Christ as the Father and those who comply
with the requirements of the gospel as His children was given by Abinadi,
centuries before our Lord’s birth in the flesh: “And now I say unto you,
who shall declare his generation? Behold, I say unto you, that when his soul
has been made an offering for sin he shall see his seed. And now what say ye?
And who shall be his seed? “Behold I say unto you,
that whosoever has heard the words of the prophets, yea, all the holy
prophets who have prophesied concerning the coming of the Lord—I say unto
you, that all those who have hearkened unto their words, and believed that
the Lord would redeem his people, and have looked forward to that day for a
remission of their sins, I say unto you, that these are his seed, or they are
the heirs of the kingdom of God. “For these are they whose
sins he has borne; these are they for whom he has died, to redeem them from
their transgressions. And now, are they not his seed? “Yea, and are not the
prophets, every one that has opened his mouth to prophesy, that has not
fallen into transgression, I mean all the holy prophets ever since the world
began? I say unto you that they are his seed” (Mosiah 15:10-13). In tragic contrast with
the blessed state of those who become children of God through obedience to
the gospel of Jesus Christ is that of the unregenerate, who are specifically
called the children of the devil. Note the words of Christ, while in the
flesh, to certain wicked Jews who boasted of their Abrahamic lineage: “If ye
were Abraham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham. … Ye do the deeds
of your father. … If God were your Father, ye would love me. … Ye are of your
father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do” (John 8:39,
41-42, 44). Thus
Satan is designated as the father of the wicked, though we cannot assume any
personal relationship of parent and children as existing between him and
them. A combined illustration showing that the righteous are the children of
God and the wicked the children of the devil appears in the parable of the
tares: “The good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the
children of the wicked one” (Matt. 13:38). Men may become children
of Jesus Christ by being born anew—-born of God, as the inspired word states: “He that committeth sin
is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose
the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. “Whosoever is born of God
doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin,
because he is born of God. “In this the children of
God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not
righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother” (1 Jn.
3:8-10). Those who have been born
unto God through obedience to the gospel may by valiant devotion to
righteousness obtain exaltation and even reach the status of godhood. Of such
we read: “Wherefore, as it is written, they are gods, even the sons of God” (D&C
76:58; compare D&C
132:20, and
contrast D&C 132:17 in same section; see also D&C
132:37). Yet
though they be gods, they are still subject to Jesus Christ as their Father
in this exalted relationship; and so we read in the paragraph following the
above quotation: “And they are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s” (D&C
76:59). By the new birth—-that of
water and the Spirit—-mankind may become children of Jesus Christ, being
through the means by Him provided “begotten sons and daughters unto God” (D&C
76:24). This
solemn truth is further emphasized in the words of the Lord Jesus Christ
given through Joseph Smith in 1833: “And now, verily I say
unto you, I was in the beginning with the Father, and am the Firstborn; “And all those who are
begotten through me are partakers of the glory of the same, and are the
church of the Firstborn” (D&C 93:21-22). For such figurative use
of the term “begotten” in application to those who are born unto God, see
Paul’s explanation: “For in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the
gospel” (1 Cor. 4:15). An analogous instance of
sonship attained by righteous service is found in the revelation relating to
the order and functions of priesthood, given in 1832: “For whoso is faithful
unto the obtaining these two priesthoods of which I have spoken, and the
magnifying their calling, are sanctified by the Spirit unto the renewing of
their bodies: “They become the sons of
Moses and of Aaron and the seed of Abraham, and the church and kingdom, and
the elect of God” (D&C 84:33-34). If it be proper to speak
of those who accept and abide in the gospel as Christ’s sons and
daughters—-and upon this matter the scriptures are explicit and cannot be
gainsaid nor denied—-it is consistently proper to speak of Jesus Christ as
the Father of the righteous, they having become His children and He having
been made their Father through the second birth—-the baptismal regeneration. |
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4.
Jesus Christ the “Father” by aDivine
Investiturea
of Authority
A fourth reason for
applying the title “Father” to Jesus Christ is found in the fact that in all
His dealings with the human family Jesus the Son has represented and yet
represents Elohim His Father in power and authority. This is true of Christ
in His preexistent, antemortal, or unembodied state, in the which He was
known as Jehovah; also during His embodiment in the flesh; and during His
labors as a disembodied spirit in the realm of the dead; and since that
period in His resurrected state. To the Jews He said, “I and my Father are
one” (John 10:30; see also John
17:11, 22); yet
He declared, “My Father is greater than I” (John 14:28), and further, “I am come in my
Father’s name” (John 5:43; see also John 10:25). The same truth was declared by
Christ Himself to the Nephites (see 3 Ne. 20:35; 3 Ne. 28:10), and has been reaffirmed by
revelation in the present dispensation (D&C 50:43). Thus the Father placed His name
upon the Son; and Jesus Christ spoke and ministered in and through the
Father’s name; and so far as power, authority, and godship are concerned His
words and acts were and are those of the Father. We read, by way of
analogy, that God placed His name upon or in the angel who was assigned to
special ministry unto the people of Israel during the exodus. Of that angel
the Lord said, “Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not; for he
will not pardon your transgressions: for my name is in him” (Ex. 23:21). The ancient Apostle John
was visited by an angel who ministered and spoke in the name of Jesus Christ.
As we read, “The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew
unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and
signified it by his angel unto his servant John” (Rev. 1:1). John was about to worship the
angelic being who spoke in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, but was forbidden: “And I John saw these
things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship
before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things. “Then saith he unto me,
See thou do it not; for I am thy fellow-servant, and of thy brethren the
prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God” (Rev. 22:8-9). And then the angel
continued to speak as though he were the Lord Himself: “And, behold, I come
quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work
shall be. “I am Alpha and Omega,
the beginning and the end, the first and the last” (Rev.
22:12-13). The resurrected Lord,
Jesus Christ, who had been exalted to the right hand of God His Father, had
placed His name upon the angel sent to John, and the angel spoke in the first
person, saying, “I come quickly,” “I am Alpha and Omega,” though he meant
that Jesus Christ would come and that Jesus Christ was Alpha and Omega. |
4.0a Divine Investiture The doctrine of 'Divine Investiture' not only applies beyond Jesus Christ to angels, but to all who are called, ordained, authorized and sanctioned to act in the Father's name. This is the order of the Priesthood of God. The distinction between such autoritative delegation to man and that to Jehovah lies in the fact that Jehovah received the fulness of the Father's power, where others under their priesthood delegations of investiture, recieve only specific rights under their priesthood endowment. Yet, we all are endowed by our Temple Priesthood endowment, that we are heirs to the fulness of the Father and may obtain that same 'fulness' bestowed upon the Son and become Gods, Kings and Priests and one with the Father and the Son in the fulness of that Godly power, even AS GOD IS. Relative to this Second Estate, however, only Jesus Christ holds the fulness of the keys of the Power of God. The rest of our divine investiture is so limited to the order of Christ's administration as sanctioned by ordination, the rights of priesthood keys and the guiding direction and sanction of the Holy Spirit. All is thus done in the name of God according to the mind and will of God. No man takes this honor unto themselves but by that proper order and operation of the priesthood of God. |
4.0a
(TPJS p. 206) ~ "And how were Apostles, Prophets, Pastors, Teachers and
Evangelists chosen? By prophecy [revelation] and by laying on of
hands—by a divine communication, and a divinely appointed
ordinance—through the medium of the Priesthood, organized according to
the order of God, by divine appointment." D&C 1:20; D&C 1:38 Num. 11:29; Ps. 82:6; John 10:34; Mosiah 5:3 Man, Potential to Become like Heavenly Father |
None of these
considerations, however, can change in the least degree the solemn fact of
the literal relationship of Father and Son between Elohim and Jesus Christ.
Among the spirit children of Elohim the firstborn was and is Jehovah or Jesus
Christ to whom all others are juniors. Following are affirmative scriptures
bearing upon this great truth. Paul, writing to the Colossians, says of Jesus
Christ: “Who is the image of the
invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: “For by him were all
things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and
invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or
powers: all things were created by him, and for him: “And he is before all
things, and by him all things consist. “And he is the head of
the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that
in all things he might have the preeminence. “For it pleased the
Father that in him should all fulness dwell” (Col. 1:15-19). From this scripture we
learn that Jesus Christ was “the firstborn of every creature,” and it is
evident that the seniority here expressed must be with respect to antemortal
existence, for Christ was not the senior of all mortals in the flesh. He is
further designated as “the firstborn from the dead,” this having reference to
Him as the first to be resurrected from the dead, or as elsewhere written
“the firstfruits of them that slept” (1 Cor. 15:20; see also 1 Cor.
15:23); and “the
first begotten of the dead” (Rev. 1:5; compare Acts 26:23). The writer of the Epistle to
the Hebrews affirms the status of Jesus Christ as the firstborn of the spirit
children of His Father and extols the preeminence of the Christ when tabernacled
in flesh: “And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world,
he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him” (Heb. 1:6; read the preceding verses). That
the spirits who were juniors to Christ were predestined to be born in the
image of their Elder Brother is thus attested by Paul: “And we know that all
things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the
called according to his purpose. “For whom he did
foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son,
that he might be the firstborn among many brethren” (Rom.
8:28-29). John the Revelator was
commanded to write to the head of the Laodicean church, as the words of the
Lord Jesus Christ: “These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true
witness, the beginning of the creation of God” (Rev. 3:14). In the course of a revelation
given through Joseph Smith in May 1833, the Lord Jesus Christ said, as before
cited, “And now, verily I say unto you, I was in the beginning with the
Father, and am the Firstborn” (D&C 93:21). A later verse makes plain the
fact that human beings generally were similarly existent in spirit state
prior to their embodiment in the flesh: “Ye were also in the beginning with
the Father; that which is Spirit, even the Spirit of truth” (D&C
93:23). There is no impropriety,
therefore, in speaking of Jesus Christ as the Elder Brother of the rest of
humankind. That He is by spiritual birth Brother to the rest of us is
indicated in Hebrews: “Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like
unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in
things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people”
(Heb.
2:17). Let it not
be forgotten, however, that He is essentially greater than any or all others,
by reason (1) of His seniority as the oldest or firstborn; (2) of His unique
status in the flesh as the offspring of a mortal mother and of an immortal,
or resurrected and glorified, Father; (3) of His selection and foreordination
as the one and only Redeemer and Savior of the race; and (4) of His
transcendent sinlessness. Jesus Christ is not the
Father of the spirits who have taken or yet shall take bodies upon this
earth, for He is one of them. He is The Son, as they are sons or daughters of
Elohim. So far as the stages of eternal progression and attainment have been
made known through divine revelation, we are to understand that only resurrected
and glorified beings can become parents of spirit offspring. Only such
exalted souls have reached maturity in the appointed course of eternal life;
and the spirits born to them in the eternal worlds will pass in due sequence
through the several stages or estates by which the glorified parents have
attained exaltation. |
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The First Presidency and
the Council of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints |
Gospel topics: Jesus Christ, Godhead, premortal existence, plan of salvation