The Godhead

At the end of a Sunday School course when I was a youth, we had a competition between the boys and the girls to answer questions about what we'd learned in the Old Testament. I prided myself on listening and learning and knowing a lot about the gospel. Can you imagine that? We were beating the boys and got all our questions right until one of the last. I still remember this because there haven't been many times I've been wrong. The question was, "Who was the God of the Old Testament?" I said, "God or Heavenly Father." "Wrong," said the teacher." "Are you sure?" I asked. The right answer was Jehovah or Jesus Christ. I couldn't believe I'd been learning from the Old Testament that entire year and didn't understand that doctrine.

This year in adult Sunday School class we are studying the Old Testament. In addition to the King James version of the Old Testament which begins with Genesis and ends with Malachi, we also study some of Moses and Abraham in The Pearl of Great Price. If you want to know more about The Pearl of Great Price, you can click on the link. Briefly, it is a book of scripture that is short but of much worth and obtained through Joseph Smith's translation of the Bible, his translation of Egyptian papyri, an extract from his translation of Matthew, a bit of the history of Joseph Smith, and our Articles of Faith. In the book of Moses, God talks to Moses and shows him how the world was created. My father-in-law mentioned that the God speaking to Moses is actually Jesus Christ and that the only time that God or our Heavenly Father speaks is to introduce his Son, Jesus Christ. This happened when Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph Smith (Josephs Smith History 1:17) and when Jesus appeared to the Nephites in ancient America after His death and resurrection (3 Nephi 11:7). So I looked up the LDS Institute manual for the book of Moses, and my father-in-law was right. Jesus Christ is the God speaking to Moses.

As members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day-Saints "We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost" (Article of Faith 1:1). We believe that they are three separate beings. Heavenly Father is the father of our Spirits. He is also called Elohim. He has a body of flesh and blood. We were created in His image. Jesus Christ is Heavenly Father or Elohim's first born son in the spirit. He is also called the Messiah, the Redeemer,  Emmanuel, Jehovah, the Prince of Peace, and many more. He is our older brother. He does the work of His Father, Elohim. Under the direction of His Father, he created the world--the earth we live on. Jesus Christ was a spirit until he was conceived through the power of the Holy Ghost by Mary. He is the mortal son of Mary and Elohim, thus being the Only Begotten of the Father because he was born of a mortal woman and of our Heavenly Father. As the son of a mortal woman and eternal being, he was able to die and take up his life again, conquering death, so that we can be resurrected. During his life on earth and since His resurrection, Jesus Christ also has a body of flesh and blood. The Holy Ghost is a spirit. He does not have a body. He witness of Jesus Christ and truth.

Elohim, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost are separate beings but with the same purpose. Sometimes in the scriptures it says that they are one. They want the same things for us. They want us to keep the commandments, follow Jesus Christ's example, and return to our Heavenly Father.

I love that I am continually learning more about the gospel. There may even be a time in the study of the Old Testament this year that I find out I've been wrong. That will never happen around my house, though.