| How Great Shall Be Your Joy [message #350] |
Tue, 25 October 2011 09:14  |
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Dragon
Messages: 499
Registered: June 2010
Location: Earth
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Senior Member |
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When we pray, it is more common to address God as Heavenly Father than as O God. Father is truly the greater title. (The only title greater is Mother.) It is established church doctrine that Heavenly Father is the Father of all our Spirits. More than merely bringing our spirits from the mote of a being into fully formed spiritual children, He taught us all that we could learn while still in His presence. He sent us down to Earth so we could learn more.
Jesus Christ is the Son of our Heavenly Father, but He is also a Father to us. How is this possible? Jesus Christ has saved us all from the permanent physical death, and saved those who repent and follow His will from spiritual death. Thus He becomes the Father of the resurrection, being the first that rose, and the Father of our spiritual life. What's more, it is through His teachings we are saved, and by looking to Him, we learn and grow. We become as children, subjecting ourselves to everything Jesus teaches us to do, or else we will never learn to follow Him. As we become like children, He becomes our Father.
In the days of Moses, the righteous children of Israel looked to Moses as a father. He led them out of Egypt, and through the wilderness of sorrow. He plead with God to spare their lives, and the result was that their children were spared. He taught them the gospel, rewrote the scriptures and the history, and set them on a course that could have prepared them to learn of Christ and His teachings. He was a God to them in the same way that Pharaoh had been a God to them. However, Moses was ordained of God unto this calling. All the Israelites from Moses to Christ, and all the non-Christian Jews from Christ till today still live by the Law of Moses. He was and is the Law to many, and thus a Father to many.
Enoch lead a group of people to establish a city of righteousness amidst a world of wickedness. The city followed his teachings so closely they were all translated. He was a Father to them as he brought their souls to Christ. As leader of the city, and commander of the armies, he too acted in the role of God to the people of the City of Enoch. His word was law, and his words were words of righteousness. He defended the city with great power. Thus he was Father and God to the people of his city.
There are three others who are at the very least physical fathers to many or all. Adam, Noah, and Abraham. We know these were all men of great righteousness. Adam is the father of all mankind. Some accounts say he was a resurrected and perfected being before he became Adam. If the terms Father and God are synonymous, truly Adam is a God to all the Earth. Noah could say the same thing of everyone after the flood. He is a great Father to us all, having saved mankind from extinction. Abraham is the physical father of many people on the earth, and it is only through being adopted into the lineage of Abraham that those not of his lineage can obtain the blessings of Eternal Marriage. Thus Abraham is the Father of all who are saved in this dispensation. It is a common phrase to call him Father Abraham. These three men are also Fathers to us, and Gods unto us.
Based on these examples, I believe being a Father is the greatest training one can receive towards becoming like God. All those who we physically father and bring unto Christ, and all those who are brought to Christ through our efforts are our children in the gospel. Additionally, those for whom we serve as proxy to ensure their chance to accept the gospel will look upon us in the same way. Just as the men above did these things for those they served.
- Dragon
- Dragon
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