(cont'd) And this is life eternal...

Continuing with Elder Holland's talk from my previous post

Elder Holland continues with further examples from the New Testament of the fact that Jesus Christ and God the Father are two separate beings:

With these New Testament sources and more ringing in our ears, it may be redundant to ask what Jesus meant when He said, “The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do.” On another occasion He said, “I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.” Of His antagonists He said, “[They have] . . . seen and hated both me and my Father.” And there is, of course, that always deferential subordination to His Father that had Jesus say, “Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God.” “My father is greater than I.”

To whom was Jesus pleading so fervently all those years, including in such anguished cries as “O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me”and “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me”?

1. “The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do.” (John 5:19)
2. “I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.” (John 6:38)
3. “[They have] . . . seen and hated both me and my Father.” (John 15:24)
4. “Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God.” (Matt. 19:17)
5. “My father is greater than I.” (John 14:28)
6. “O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me” (Matt. 26:39)
7. “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me”? (Matt. 27:46)

There are countless more examples, as Elder Holland points out. It is hard to imagine reading the New Testament and coming away with anything other than the idea that Jesus Christ and God the Father are two separate beings. Anything else greatly diminishes Jesus Christ and all that he accomplished for us and for his Father.

Elder Holland adds one more quote from the New Testament to his list:

“Christ Jesus . . . being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God.” (Philippians 2:5-6)

An interesting verse which makes sense when you understand God the Father and Jesus Christ are separate beings, but seems a bit pointless otherwise, nor does it have quite the same meaning for the believer.

Elder Holland moves on from his argument that God and Jesus Christ are separate beings, to argue that God has a glorified body. That we really are made in the image of God! After all, what does Genesis mean when it states in chapter 1:

26 ¶ And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

You really have to scratch your head over these verses if you think God the Father does not have a body. I really have to research the trinitarian interpretation of these scriptures. It should be interesting. And what does the Genesis writer mean by saying in "our" image? Who is the "our"? That only makes sense if God is speaking to someone else.

Here is Elder Holland's argument:

A related reason The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is excluded from the Christian category by some is because we believe, as did the ancient prophets and apostles, in an embodied—but certainly glorified—God. To those who criticize this scripturally based belief, I ask at least rhetorically: If the idea of an embodied God is repugnant, why are the central doctrines and singularly most distinguishing characteristics of all Christianity the Incarnation, the Atonement, and the physical Resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ? If having a body is not only not needed but not desirable by Deity, why did the Redeemer of mankind redeem His body, redeeming it from the grasp of death and the grave, guaranteeing it would never again be separated from His spirit in time or eternity? Any who dismiss the concept of an embodied God dismiss both the mortal and the resurrected Christ. No one claiming to be a trueChristian will want to do that.

Elder Holland asks some tough questions for those who don't believe God has a glorified body.

I can't end without providing Elder Holland's testimony of God and Jesus Christ:

Now, to anyone within the sound of my voice who has wondered regarding our Christianity, I bear this witness. I testify that Jesus Christ is the literal, living Son of our literal, living God. This Jesus is our Savior and Redeemer who, under the guidance of the Father, was the Creator of heaven and earth and all things that in them are. I bear witness that He was born of a virgin mother, that in His lifetime He performed mighty miracles observed by legions of His disciples and by His enemies as well. I testify that He had power over death because He was divine but that He willingly subjected Himself to death for our sake because for a period of time He was also mortal. I declare that in His willing submission to death He took upon Himself the sins of the world, paying an infinite price for every sorrow and sickness, every heartache and unhappiness from Adam to the end of the world. In doing so He conquered both the grave physically and hell spiritually and set the human family free. I bear witness that He was literally resurrected from the tomb and, after ascending to His Father to complete the process of that Resurrection, He appeared, repeatedly, to hundreds of disciples in the Old World and in the New. I know He is the Holy One of Israel, the Messiah who will one day come again in final glory, to reign on earth as Lord of lords and King of kings. I know that there is no other name
given under heaven whereby a man can be saved and that only by relying wholly upon His merits, mercy, and everlasting grace can we gain eternal life.

My additional testimony regarding this resplendent doctrine is that in preparation for His millennial latter-day reign, Jesus has already come, more than once, in embodied majestic glory. In the spring of 1820, a 14-year-old boy, confused by many of these very doctrines that still confuse much of Christendom, went into a grove of trees to pray. In answer to that earnest prayer offered at such a tender age, the Father and the Son appeared as embodied, glorified beings to the boy prophet Joseph Smith. That day marked the beginning of the return of the true, New Testament gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and the restoration of other prophetic truths offered from Adam down to the present day.

I testify that my witness of these things is true and that the heavens are open to all who seek the same confirmation. Through the Holy Spirit of Truth, may we all know “the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom [He has] sent.” Then may we live Their teachings and be true Christians in deed, as well as in word, I pray in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.