The Nature of God: Church Talk on May 21, 2023

This talk arose from a worry--that applies to any organization: namely, I fear sometimes that basic doctrines are getting lost in the pursuit of jargon. That is, people within an organization know what to say or what to object to or what to tell other people to think or do, not necessarily what they actually believe, their organization/church's belief system/theology. 

I didn't start my talk with the above passage. Rather, my talk was an attempt to address basic doctrines regarding beliefs about God. The more I worked on the talk, the more I appreciated why any theology basically starts here. The nature of God determines to a degree--though not absolutely--the nature of worship and belief. 

The statements in the talk are ones that I converted to in my early twenties--and my beliefs on that score haven't changed much, though, in truth, I slightly toned them down. And I didn't quote from C.S. Lewis this time around though I included the quote below. 

Talks in my church are typically 10-20 minutes. I was the final speaker, what my father calls the "accordion" speaker: the speaker who has to expand or contract to meet the time. In this role, I often have to either slow way down when I talk or desperately add in remarks. This time, I cut a great deal, including extra examples and the "Practical How" section (it is after all another talk). 

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Introduction

The first Article of Faith states, “We believe in God, the Eternal Father and in his Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost.”

This talk will address God, the Eternal Father.

Human beings have thought and spoken and written about God for millennia. Two common approaches are to turn God into an abstract theory or to turn God into a series of rules. Neither approach is correct.

LDS doctrine teaches 4 truths about God.

Nature of God

1. God is a person.

Moses and Abraham both spoke to the Lord face-to-face. In Doctrine & Covenants 130, Joseph Smith states emphatically that both the Father and the Son can make personal appearances. In addition, “The Father has a [tangible] body of flesh and bone” (22), which the vision of Joseph Smith confirms. Joseph Smith saw the Father and the Son as two separate entities.

2. God loves us.

 Moses 1:39 states that God’s “work and glory is to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of [humans].”

 God’s work and glory is accomplished through the Plan of Salvation.

Overview—

1. In the pre-mortal existence, we were intelligences whom God organized to be spirits.
2. We wanted to be like God—that goal required a physical body.
3. God created the world through Jesus Christ, so we could become mortal and gain a physical form.
4. God also made possible an Atonement through Jesus Christ. The Atonement provides grace, and it provides for a universal resurrection. Grace gives us the ability to start over when we make mistakes. Resurrection reunites our spirits with our bodies. Everyone will be resurrected.
5. At death, we separate temporarily from our bodies and enter the spirit world.
6. Many will be resurrected, reunited with their bodies, at the first resurrection, which occurs before the Millennium at the time of Christ’s Second Coming.
7. The final resurrection takes place before the Final Judgment, which is God’s Judgment.
8. We then enter one of three kingdoms of glory.

We are not told anything beyond this point because it is not necessary for us to know. Mortal life is a time of preparation, specifically preparation for the Second Coming. But we should remember—

3. God is eternal.

In Doctrine & Covenants 19, Joseph Smith reveals that God’s justice is endless and eternal because Endless and Eternal are God’s names. 

Truth #3 leads to Truth #4—

4. God is more intelligent than us.

Isaiah 55:8-9 states, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts” (also Abraham 3:19).

The passage refers to intelligence. Intelligence in the scriptures is not learning or IQ—it is the “light of truth.” In Doctrine & Covenants 88, we are told this light “quickens our understanding.” It comes to us through God’s presence (88:11,12).

Doctrine & Covenants 88 also tells us that “God comprehendeth all things and…is above all things and in all things and is through all things” (41).

In mortality, we can only comprehend God in part. Moses saw the Lord face to face but stated, “[None] can behold all [His] glory [in mortality]” (Moses 4:5, my emphasis).

The hymn “If You Could Hie to Kolob” includes the following lines in verses 4 and 5 regarding the home of God: “There is no end to virtue/there is no end to might/there is no end to light/there is no end to union/there is no end to youth/there is no end to priesthood/there is no end to truth/there is no end to love/there is no end to being/there is no end to glory.”

God, Heavenly Father, is more than us. My favorite example of God’s majesty comes from the Book of Job. Job is irritated at the unfairness of his life and calls to the Lord for aid. In the end, the Lord arrives. He says to Job, “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?” (Job 38:4). After a few more verses in which the Lord speaks of “things too wonderful…to know,” Job says, in sum, “Okay, okay. Sorry. I am unworthy. I beg pardon. Please listen to me” (Job 42:1-6). And the Lord listens and blesses him.

So how do we reach God, who is so far beyond us?

Reaching God through Love

Reaching God is a lifelong journey that can only be accomplished through the exercise of faith. In 1 Corinthians chapters 11-14, Paul warns against imagining that the gap between us and God can be bridged by a checklist. (As C.S. Lewis would say, “God is not a tamed lion.”)

Paul writes, “Whether there be prophecies, they shall fail. Whether there be tongues, they shall cease. Whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away…and now abideth faith, hope, charity but the greatest of these is charity” (13:8,13).

The word “charity” is a translation of the word agape, which is the highest love, specifically God’s love for us and our reciprocal love for Him.

Jesus stated, “And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy mind and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment” (Mark 12:29-30).

In the Book of Mormon, this love flows outwards from God through parents to their offspring: “Believe in God; believe that he is, and that he created all things, both in heaven and in earth; believe that he has all wisdom, and all power, both in heaven and in earth; believe that [humans] do not comprehend all the things which the Lord can comprehend…if ye have known of his goodness and have tasted of his love…if ye do this, ye shall always rejoice, and be filled with the love of God…And ye will not have a mind to injure one another, but to live peaceably, and to render to [all people] according to that which is their due” (Mosiah 4: 9-13).

So the best way to grow closer to God is to love God!

We can learn HOW to love God through Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ, the Bridge

In the New Testament, the letters of Paul continually remind us that God loves us so much, he sent his Son, who is our bridge to God. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians, “For now, we see through a glass darkly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then, shall I know even as I also am known” (13:12).

I am known is the powerful message of the gospel. It is possible for God to know us and for us to grow closer to God—to love God more—because of Jesus Christ.

Understanding God Better Through the Example of Jesus Christ

First, Jesus Christ instructs us to pray. The template for prayer that he provides starts, “Our Father who art in Heaven.” The prayer expresses respect for God and forgiveness of others. It also includes petitions.

Remember Job. He continued to petition despite his awe of the Lord. Likewise, there are several parables that refer to people never giving up on their desires, such as the woman who searches for a coin and the widow who pleads with a judge. They cared so much, they didn’t give up. Likewise, we can demonstrate to God how much we care through continual prayer.

Jesus also models for us God’s character—after all, we came to Earth to learn to be like Him.

What Jesus models most is the value God gives each person.  

The New Testament is full of examples of Jesus Christ caring for an individual. One great example is Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus was a tax collector, not everyone’s favorite person. He was a short guy—I can relate!—who climbed into a tree to watch Jesus Christ pass. Jesus looked up into the tree and called, “Come down. I’m eating at your house today.”

Zacchaeus was thrilled. He climbed down and took Jesus and his apostles to his home. After feeding them, he promised to pay back any money he had collected improperly.

Jesus didn’t listen to what we moderns would refer to as Twittering. There were people at the time who muttered about Jesus eating with Zacchaeus because of who Zacchaeus was (his role or identity). They were very critical. He paid no heed. He reached out to Zacchaeus for Zacchaeus’s sake.

Other examples of Jesus focusing on the individual: The woman with health problems who touched Jesus’s robe in a crowded street. He immediately turned, spoke to her, and healed her. He also spoke to the woman at the well about her life circumstances and her beliefs. Many parables told by Jesus emphasize the rescue of an individual: individual sheep, the individual prodigal son, the individual saved by the Good Samaritan.

Practical “How”

At the day to day level, we can grow closer to God through prayer and valuing others. Both practices are more basic and more complex than they sound. Finding time to pray involves deliberately setting aside time and pondering what one needs to communicate. Valuing others involves patience and tolerance and many qualities that take time to master.

A good starting point is gratitude. Remembering what we have, the benefits that enhance our lives, the beauties that surround us can help us appreciate God’s blessings, the wonder of God, and God’s perspective [Note: I considered but would likely not have included recent studies that indicate that when people’s mental health improves, they are less likely to look at others in terms of “identity” but rather as layered individuals--the insight straddles the line between doctrine and my personal libertarian politics].

A great hymn about gratitude is “How Great Thou Art” (Hymn 86 in the LDS Hymnal, [the linked version falls into the category of "Go big or go home!!"]).   

Final Thoughts

Jesus Christ represents his Father. Like Jesus Christ, God cares for each of us individually. We can become closer to God by praying to Him in Christ’s name and by following Christ’s example to value the individual.

As we make the effort to grow closer to God, our souls will cleave to the light that emanates from (through) God and blessings will follow.