Born to Become
>> And God formed mankind, in the likeness of gods he created [them]; male and female He created them. << (Gen 1:27 own translation)
When we were created in the beginning, God made a decision to create us in a way that resembles Him. Now, let us not too much focus on how literal the events from Genesis were, but instead let us try to see behind the words and understand the symbology. To put it in the way of the Jewish scholars, we want to discover the white fire while studying the black fire. The black fire is the words of the scripture, the white fire is the blank space between the lines that carry the actual message. May the Holy Spirit help us to fill these spaces with wisdom.
First of all, if we were made in God's image, why are we in such a miserable state of mortality and being plagued by pain and sickness?! The reason for this is an event that most people know as "the fall". While Adam and Eve, the first human beings created in the story of the Book of Genesis, lived in the Garden of Eden, Satan tempted them to eat of the forbidden fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Don't get me wrong, having knowledge is not the sin here, it is that they broke on of the few laws given to them by God. He told them not to eat fruit of that tree, but they did. As a consequence of that, they both were cast out of the garden. Nonetheless, they were not abandoned by God; He was still with them as the Holy Ghost. Unfortunately, there is one problem now because >> Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life. << (Rev 21:27 NIV)
Well then, how do we get out of this impure state to finally be able to return to God and become like Him?! >> Wherefore, redemption cometh in and through the Holy Messiah; for he is full of grace and truth. Behold, he offereth himself a sacrifice for sin, to answer the ends of the law, unto all those who have a broken heart and a contrite spirit; and unto none else can the ends of the law be answered. << (2 Nephi 2:6-7) If only the law, namely the law of Moses, would exist, we would all fall short of what is asked of us. This would eventually mean that we will be separated from God eternally. The good news is that there is a messiah. Messiah, what is that supposed to mean?! Messiah is the English transliteration from the Hebrew "mashiach" which is the equivalent to the Greek "christos" meaning the Christ. A messiah therefore is someone who is anointed to a certain office like a priest or a certain duty like being sacrificed. In the case of our messiah, it means both because the Holy Messiah has been called to be our High Priest and has been sacrificed for the remission of our sins. With His death, Jesus cleared our records and made us clean. The heavy law of Moses has been taken from our shoulders and has been replaced with the Higher Law of Christ.
What does that mean for our life now?! We can finally return to our Heavenly Father. We do no longer have to fear to be cut off from God's presence if we live by Jesus' law. What exactly this will mean for our eternity is material enough for another time. One las thing I want to mention: As we now know that we are made in God's image, shouldn't we start treating each other that way? Shouldn't we see our fellow human beings as daughters and sons of God? Let that sink in.
I know that we have a divine origin, that we are made by a god who cares, and that He wants us to do well in life. It is therefore that He has sent us prophets, and still calls prophets today to guide us through a world full of trials and temptations. Accepting this divine kinship gives us confidence to face the great challenges of our time and to become the best version of ourselves.
Picture sources:
https://environmentandamericanlit.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/garden-of-eden-fall-of-man.jpg
https://www.lds.org/bc/content/bible-videos/videos/sermon-on-the-mount-the-higher-law/images/sermon-on-the-mount-higher-law-bible-video-bg.jpg
When we were created in the beginning, God made a decision to create us in a way that resembles Him. Now, let us not too much focus on how literal the events from Genesis were, but instead let us try to see behind the words and understand the symbology. To put it in the way of the Jewish scholars, we want to discover the white fire while studying the black fire. The black fire is the words of the scripture, the white fire is the blank space between the lines that carry the actual message. May the Holy Spirit help us to fill these spaces with wisdom.
First of all, if we were made in God's image, why are we in such a miserable state of mortality and being plagued by pain and sickness?! The reason for this is an event that most people know as "the fall". While Adam and Eve, the first human beings created in the story of the Book of Genesis, lived in the Garden of Eden, Satan tempted them to eat of the forbidden fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Don't get me wrong, having knowledge is not the sin here, it is that they broke on of the few laws given to them by God. He told them not to eat fruit of that tree, but they did. As a consequence of that, they both were cast out of the garden. Nonetheless, they were not abandoned by God; He was still with them as the Holy Ghost. Unfortunately, there is one problem now because >> Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life. << (Rev 21:27 NIV)
Well then, how do we get out of this impure state to finally be able to return to God and become like Him?! >> Wherefore, redemption cometh in and through the Holy Messiah; for he is full of grace and truth. Behold, he offereth himself a sacrifice for sin, to answer the ends of the law, unto all those who have a broken heart and a contrite spirit; and unto none else can the ends of the law be answered. << (2 Nephi 2:6-7) If only the law, namely the law of Moses, would exist, we would all fall short of what is asked of us. This would eventually mean that we will be separated from God eternally. The good news is that there is a messiah. Messiah, what is that supposed to mean?! Messiah is the English transliteration from the Hebrew "mashiach" which is the equivalent to the Greek "christos" meaning the Christ. A messiah therefore is someone who is anointed to a certain office like a priest or a certain duty like being sacrificed. In the case of our messiah, it means both because the Holy Messiah has been called to be our High Priest and has been sacrificed for the remission of our sins. With His death, Jesus cleared our records and made us clean. The heavy law of Moses has been taken from our shoulders and has been replaced with the Higher Law of Christ.
What does that mean for our life now?! We can finally return to our Heavenly Father. We do no longer have to fear to be cut off from God's presence if we live by Jesus' law. What exactly this will mean for our eternity is material enough for another time. One las thing I want to mention: As we now know that we are made in God's image, shouldn't we start treating each other that way? Shouldn't we see our fellow human beings as daughters and sons of God? Let that sink in.
I know that we have a divine origin, that we are made by a god who cares, and that He wants us to do well in life. It is therefore that He has sent us prophets, and still calls prophets today to guide us through a world full of trials and temptations. Accepting this divine kinship gives us confidence to face the great challenges of our time and to become the best version of ourselves.
Picture sources:
https://environmentandamericanlit.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/garden-of-eden-fall-of-man.jpg
https://www.lds.org/bc/content/bible-videos/videos/sermon-on-the-mount-the-higher-law/images/sermon-on-the-mount-higher-law-bible-video-bg.jpg
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