THE FATHERHOOD OF GOD & THE DIVINE SONSHIP OF CHRIST

In the Book of Mormon Lehi’s vision of the tree of life teaches us doctrine that is commonly overlooked. The doctrine that it teaches is the pure doctrine of Jesus Christ which separates us and makes us very distinct from other religions. In 1 Nephi 11:1 we learn a valuable truth that pondering leads to having the spirit with you. Nephi then is lead to a mountain. When the word mountain is used in the scriptures it is symbolic for temple. In this instance this temple may have been a heavenly temple because Nephi had never seen this temple before. So what we have in actuality is a temple story and Nephi’s experience in the temple.

We see the temple recommend interview that Nephi had beginning in verse four of this same chapter. The first question that the angel asks Nephi is if he believes in the tree which is the Son of God. When Nephi answers yes the angel becomes very excited in verse six by saying, “Hosanna to the Lord, the most high God…” The angel then draws a conclusion from Nephi’s testimony that he believes in the Son of God and because of his testimony Nephi is blessed with the following teaching moment from the angel.

In verse seven the angel shows Nephi the tree or the Son descending from heaven. In the following verse the angel says, “Look!” which he will say many times throughout Nephi’s temple experience. When the angel says look what the angel wants Nephi to do is watch all at once like looking in a panoramic view. Men tend to do this with the remote control trying to watch every show on television at once where women tend to watch only one show at a time.

After experiencing this vision Nephi then asks the angel in verse eleven to tell him in plain language what the tree represents. In order to grant Nephi his request the angel says again, “Look!” to show him a different vision, the vision of the mother of Christ found in verse 13 which is commentary to Nephi on why there is a tree. The angel then asks Nephi a find out question in verse 16 to know if Nephi understands and has learned sufficiently the condescension of God. Nephi then gives a basic and incorrect answer in verse 17 before stating that he doesn’t know the answer. Nephi can’t interpret the vision on his own. We know that Nephi’s answer was wrong not only because the condescension of God is not love, but also because the angel would not have continued teaching Nephi.

To interpret the vision and to teach Nephi the condescension of God the angel begins to teach Nephi a critical doctrine to explain the divine sonship of Christ. As he teaches Nephi he says in verse 18 that Jesus was born of Mary in the flesh. We learn that there is a God, that he had a son and that the son had a mother. This mother was a virgin and gave mortal birth after conceiving with God. Christ was conceived and born like all men being born in the flesh. The term “after the manner of the flesh” refers to the delivery of the Son. The word virgin in the scriptures when referring to Mary means she knew not a mortal man. The doctrine taught here is very distinct to us. This separates us from other religions.

We learn in verse 19 that Mary was carried away in the spirit like Nephi was carried earlier in the chapter to a temple.

In verse 21 the angel asks Nephi if he understands now what the meaning of the tree is. Nephi understands that it is the Son of God that is depicted as the tree. Why is the Son of God depicted as a tree? To answer this question we need to look at what a tree is and if we follow the angels teaching patterns on how the mortal body of Christ was created then we should ask more importantly how do we get trees.

The Book of Mormon teaches that trees come from seeds. To learn about seeds and how they become trees we begin with Alma 32:28-32, 37-43. A metaphor is made in verse 28 of the word being compared to a seed. If we allow a true or good seed to be planted in our hearts and if we do not deny the spirit that seed will swell and grow. The phrase “begin to say” is an indicator of a process taking place. With that knowledge we can then say that once the seed begins to grow a process will happen within us. That process is that we will be able to identify it for ourselves that it is a good seed. We will give testimony to its truthfulness due to the seed enlarging our souls and enlightening our understanding. Alma 32:31 teaches that we will be able to confirm our testimonies of the seed in our hearts by knowing the fruits of that good seed “for every seed bringeth forth unto its own likeness.”

We learn more about the characteristics of the seed in verse 37 where it says that the seed is tender and needs nourishing with great care. If the seed is taken care of in this way then it will take root and produce fruit of its own likeness.

An important principle is taught in verse 40. It teaches that if we do not have the faith or the vision to take care of the seed so that the seed will produce fruit then we will never be able to know the tree. We must have faith to know the tree.

Most of those who study the scriptures end their study here at the end of chapter 32, however, we should continue our study thru to chapters 33 and 34. The beginning of chapter 33 poses the following question, should we believe in one God? The answer is given in verses 3 – 11 which is the psalms of Zenos. Alma chose to quote the teachings of Zenos because he talks about God’s Son, that there is a God and that he has a son.

Not wanting to leave the answer to just one verse Alma then teaches the law of witnesses in verse 15 to give support to the teachings of Zenos. The second witness is Zenock and then mentions Moses being a third witness in verse 19.

In verse 22 we learn that the Son of God is the Redeemer by an atonement. Verse 23 talks about the word. The word “it” is referring to the word. If this word or seed is planted and nourished in our hearts by our faith it will become a tree bringing us everlasting life. God will then make our burdens light through his Son.

Alma 34:4-8 is the following block of scripture. In verse six we learn that this same message of the Son of God has been taught in many instances. We received two instances in chapter 33 and they are mentioned again in this chapter in verse 7 along with a mentioning of a third name, Moses, but we did not learn of Moses’ teachings in either chapter.

As we can see this allegory teaches that the word is equivalent to a seed which is equivalent to the Son of God which then is equivalent to the tree of everlasting life. If you plant a seed and if it is true and if you nurture it, it will grow into a tree. The tree is the Son of God. This tree has fruits, not just a fruit. The text doesn’t state what the fruit is but we do know that the seed is the word which is the doctrine of Christ. We know that the fruits are the results of the true doctrine of the divine sonship of Christ. We have learned that if God is the Father, if the son is his Son, if the virgin is the mother, than the Son would have a body and a spirit. Man will eventually die which means a resurrection is needed for his salvation. That resurrection will be an inseparable union of body and spirit. If a man is a real man and if a woman is a real woman then they will desire a real man and a real woman. They will not desire spirits or entities. Eternal marriage is real and literal as well as the gift of eternal increase and men and women being eternal heirs.

The doctrines of resurrection, manhood, womanhood, eternal love, eternal marriage, continuance of seed, joint heirs with God and become as God is are all fruits of the seed. This seed brings joy and happiness – eternal fathers and mothers, eternal life, bearing of children, being as god is. This is the divine sonship of Christ because only due to that true seed are all these truths possible. Without Christ none of these doctrines would be true and would not exist. They would be as false as the many other teachings that the world has to offer but because Christ is the Son of God we are blessed with these doctrines and blessings.

If we do not recognize and honor the divine sonship of Christ and the doctrines from it as being true and unique to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints than we might as well be in one of the other religions that do not understand and recognize these truths but do overemphasize the only things they do know and understand to fill in the holes that are found in their mostly false doctrines. This is where you have to decide if you are a Mormon or not. All is made possible because the Son was born in the flesh. The Holy Trinity is not possible because that alone eliminates all truths of eternal increase. We should not be embarrassed by the condescension of God.

This is the doctrine of divine sonship. It offends all of the other religions. The story of Eden is about gaining power of creation. So if that power has been obtained, which it has, then why would we lose that power? Not believing in the true Godhead is destroying the doctrine of the family. It is a divine plan to have a Father, a Mother, and in this case a Son. These are the fruits which are the results of the true doctrine of the divine sonship of Christ.

Doctrine and Covenants 20:17-19 testifies that we know these truths for ourselves because of the Book of Mormon. To help answer the question in Alma 33:1 we learn in verse 19 that the Father is the only being that we should worship. In Doctrine and Covenants 93:19 we learn what and how to worship. We worship a divine Father who literally had a divine Son. We only worship the Father in the name of Christ. Christ came to lead us to the Father through the atonement. All has been done under the direction of the Father. We do not worship Christ and we do not have special relationships with him. Christ is our Savior and Master. We worship the Father by receiving grace which we obtain through righteousness. Worship is anything we do to be worthy of the Spirit of God and is pleasing unto him. We follow Christ’s example. We strictly keep to only worshiping the Father in the name of Jesus Christ. This also is very unique to our church.

To know more about our Father we turn to Doctrine and Covenants 88:36-42. When we see the word “He” in these verses it is in reference to God the Father. We learn here that God is the author of all law, not some law but all law. With this being the case, can God do all things? The answer is no. He cannot be stupid, immoral, forgetful, dishonest, mean, stinky, etc. He cannot do all things. He cannot be God and get sick and die. He cannot do anything that is ungodly. When there is mention that God would seize to be God it is only meant to say that it is not possible for God to do these things.

In verses 6 – 13 of the same section we learn of the glory of God. It is taught that all life, light and law come from God. Nothing exists anywhere without God. When we are exalted these laws will become our laws and we will author them. They will not be only our Fathers just like the testimony that we have is not only our earthly father’s. This section 88 teaches the knowledge of God and who God and Christ are.

We have learned how the actual and literal seed has fruits and what they consist of. We have learned how and what to worship. We have the knowledge of who Christ is and we know more about our Heavenly Father. We understand the power and glory of God and that he is the author of all light, life and law. These rare fine doctrines of the Fatherhood and the divine sonship of Jesus Christ cannot be found in any other religion. We must believe in this God and in this Son because it is due to their divine character that gives us these gospel truths.