Christ: A Brother, A Father, But Most Importantly A God.

So this week I was studying about our Savior Jesus Christ and his "saving grace". As I was studying this I realized how much He loved Heavenly Father. Christ did perform the Atonement for us but he did it for the Father as well. He was being obedient to the commandment that was given to Him. As I pondered about the Atonement I thought about the relationship that Christ has between me/us. In my class we talked about it. I first initially thought that Jesus Christ is our brother was an important role. I felt that that title of brother made is sacrifice more personal to me. As we discussed this in class, we talked about how Christ is our Father as well. How can this be if he is the Son of God the Eternal Father? How can he be both our Brother and Father? There are two ways that I have learned. First, he created this earth under the direction of God the Father. Therefor, as the creator if this earth he is the Father of this earth. The other way is through spiritual rebirth. When we are baptized, we are "born" again unto Christ spiritually. So this title of Father is pretty big. But what I have found, Christ is more than that. Christ is a god. I don't fully understand the role of a god, but I feel that it is greater than being a brother or a father. I feel that as a god, you get to know your "children" in more depth. You will be able to understand them even more than being a brother, or a father. I feel that as a god, your capacity of love increase infinitely! That is our relationship with Christ. He is our God. Our savior. He is one with his Father, as we should be one with Him.  This week I am going to continue studying the scriptures and try to learn and understand what I can do to change and become more unified with my Savior Jesus Christ. He is the one who can give us salvation. He is the one who has paid for my sins. All I can do is give him my life by living the Gospel and following his commandments.

The Divinity of the Book of Mormon

I am going to start a weekly post. I haven't posted many things sense my last post of two years ago. I want to post more and I have the opportunity to do so with one of my classes that I am taking this semester at college. So this week I have been reading and studying the Book of Mormon. I am in a Book of Mormon class at BYU Idaho. I have been learning a lot, mainly how I can get more out of my study. First off, most of us who read the Bible, The Book of Mormon, or any other scripture, don't slow down and ponder on what we are reading. We don't study! We just read. Just in this first week of class I have a better understanding of the importance of the Book of Mormon. As I read the title page of the Book of Mormon it hit me that this book of scripture really is sacred scripture from God. When you read the title page, introduction, and the testimonies at the beginning the book, you can begin to see that it was by the power God that this book came to be. Pondering on the divinity of the Book of Mormon, I realized that one huge difference between the Bible we have today and the Book of Mormon is this: The Bible was translated by a few men who were not prophets, therefore didn't have the power of God. They translated it through the knowledge that they had. The Book of Mormon was translated by God through his Prophet. So in short the Bible was translated by Man, and the Book of Mormon was translated by God. This is why Joseph Smith said, "I told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, it is the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts than by any other book." That is a really bold statement and I now understand why he said that. I know that the Bible contains the gospel of Christ but I do know that it's not whole because of the many translations of man. God knew that the Bible would be corrupted by man, and he provided additional scriptures to come forth at certain times. The Book of Mormon is one of those scriptures. It is an account of the people of ancient americas who were taught the same Gospel that was taught in jerusalem. God loves us and wants us to be happy and living the Gospel brings lasting happiness and joy into our lives. I want to end this week's post with my testimony of the Book of Mormon. I have found out for myself the truthfulness of it's divinity and know that it is the word of God. I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God and that he translated the Book of Mormon through the power of God. The Book of Mormon contains the Gospel of Jesus Christ and by living by the principles found therein, we can find peace and joy and love from our Heavenly Father. Some of you might not know how I know of these things. You might be asking yourself, "How do you know it's true?" or, "How can I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God?" For those who have that question I will close with this quote from the Book of Mormon in Moroni chapter 10 verses 3-5(Pg. 529.) "Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall read these things, and ponder it in your hearts. And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost. And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things."