January- Article of Faith #1

We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in his son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost. 

 

One of the main differences between my faith and the beliefs of the majority of the Christian world is that the Church of Jesus Christ believes that God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost are three separate and distinct personages.  One of the main revelations on this subject came from Joseph Smith's First Vision when Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ appeared to him.  He later wrote, "I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other- This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!" (JSH 1:17) The first vision also proves that our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ have bodies of flesh and bone and that we, as Heavenly Father's children, were made after his likeness. 

This knowledge gained in the first vision gave me the idea to study Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost  separately and I chose to study Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ 'in OUR likeness'- meaning in a 'human' way that I understand. 

Heavenly Father: One of my favorite quotes, referring to the character of God, is by one of our latter-day Prophets, Heber C. Kimball, who said," I am perfectly satisfied that my Father and my God is a cheerful, pleasant, lively, and good-natured Being. Why? Because I am cheerful, pleasant, lively, and good-natured when I have His Spirit." 

Jesus Christ:  I am studying Christ, as my Savior, in more detail later this year.  To study Christ's character I read and compared the gospels (Mathew, Mark, Luke and John) in the Bible.  The well known stories and accounts of Jesus Christ's life on this earth are good accounts of his character. In church and conference we often hear about Christ-like attributes that we should implement in our lives. 

 While studying some conference talks I found some other interesting quotes.  A talk given by a latter-day apostle, Jeffry R. Holland, titled The Grandeur of God, he said "In all that Jesus came to say and do, including and especially in His atoning suffering and sacrifice, He was showing us who and what God our Eternal Father is like, how completely devoted He is to His children in every age and nation. In word and in deed Jesus was trying to reveal and make personal to us the true nature of His Father, our Father in Heaven."  

Holy Ghost: This was by far the hardest topic of my study this month and the one I spent most time on.  The Holy Ghost is a member of the Godhead and therefore I want to group him in with God and the Savior  in 'human likeness' but that is incorrect.  Doctrine and Covenants 130:22 says, " The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man's; the Son also; but the Holy Ghost has not a body of flesh and bones, but is a personage of Spirit.  Were it not so, the Holy Ghost could not dwell in us." The Holy Ghost is also referred to as the Holy Spirit and the Comforter. 

The Spirit is often described as a feeling of peace, warmth, love and hope and is described as a warmth or 'tingle' in ones heart, often brings tears of joy and/ or a clarity of mind.  These feelings and the presence of the Holy Ghost helps to guide and prompt us to follow God's will in our lives. We are taught that the gift of the Holy Ghost ("right to have, whenever one is worthy, the companionship of the Holy Ghost"- Bible Dictionary, "Holy Ghost") is given, through a priesthood blessing, to members of the church following baptism.  This confused me because I know that people not baptized into the church have felt and received spiritual guidance.  This lead my studies to the 'Light of Christ.'

The Light of Christ is similar to a conscience it "is given to every man, that he may know good from evil" (Moroni 7:16).  In the Bible Dictionary is says that the influence of the Light of Christ is to prepare and lead people to the influence of the Holy Ghost.  The influence, or 'power', of the Holy Ghost (again not the Gift) is then a witness/testimony of the truth of the gospel.

I liked studying about the Godhead in January.  I thought it was interesting that by getting to know Christ (which is what we usually focus on) we are in turn getting to know our Heavenly Father.  And in order to get to know Christ we need to utilize the Holy Ghost in our lives.