Moroni had a vision of God. He said, "For I know that God is not a partial God, neither a changeable being; but he is unchangeable from all eternity to all eternity." (Moroni 8:18) Others have spoken of an ascending God. Lorenzo Snow stated, "As man is, God Once was; as God now is, man may be." Others have thought that God started as a spirit being who later became a man and ascended to godhood. The God of Moroni did not have to ascend. He has always been God. He is the unchangeable being who has existed "from all eternity to all eternity."
Moroni's God is the Great Spirit revealed by Ammon in Alma18:26-29: "And then Ammon said: Believeth thou that there is a Great Spirit? And he said, Yea. And Ammon said: this is God. And Ammon said unto him again: Believest thou that this Great Spirit, who is God, created all things which are in heaven and in the earth? And he said: Yea, I believe that he created all things which are in the earth;..." The exalted man that many people pray to did not create all things. The exalted man did not create time and space. He is limited to a physical body. A physical body requires the existence of space to dwell. It also requires time to exist in the created space. The God of Moroni is not limited to a physical body. He created physical bodies. He created the time and space for physical bodies to exist in. Before the beginning of time, he was God. Before creation was created, he was God. Moroni's God was revealed to the woman at the well in John 4:24, "God is Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth."
For those who worship an exalted man, their god is simply one god of many. Their god is the offspring of a father god. This father god is the offspring of a grandfather god. Their father god is simple one of many. Moroni's God is spoken of by the prophet Isaiah. "To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One." (Isaiah 40:25) "...I the Lord, the first, and with the last; I am he." (Isaiah 41:4) "...before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me. I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour." (Isaiah 43:10&11) "...I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God." (Isaiah 44:6) God, who is onmiscient, made this statement in Isaiah 44:8: "...Is there a God beside me? yea, there is no God; I know not any." Isaiah 45:5&6 says, "I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me:...That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else." Isaiah 45:21 says, "...there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me." The prophet continues this message in Isaiah 45:18&22, Isaiah 46:5&9 and Isaiah 48:11&12.
The exalted/ascended man is a god that shares his glory. His father shared glory with him. His father's father shared glory with his father and so on through many generations of gods. The God of Isaiah the prophet does not share his glory. Isaiah 42:8 says, "I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images." Isaiah 48:11 says, "...I will not give my glory unto another."
2 Nephi 24:12-15 speaks of a glory seeker that wanted to be "like" the Most High. "How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! Art thou cut down to the ground, which did weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thy heart: I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the Most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit." God did not share His glory with Lucifer.
In Genesis 11:1-9, there were glory seekers who became very proud. The story is about the tower of Babel. Verse 4 says, "...Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name,..." Perhaps God saw in their hearts that they were trying to become LIKE gods. Verse 7&8 says, "Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they many not understand one another's speech. So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth:..." God did not share His glory with these tower builders.
In the garden of Eden, the serpent came and tempted Eve with the forbidden fruit. He gave her a promise of being like God. He said, "For God doth know that in the day yea eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil." (Genesis 3:5) However, as a consequence for their sins, they were kicked out of their beautiful paradise, the garden of Eden. God did not share his glory with Adam and Eve.
In Luke 18:10-14, a pharisee felt exalted and proud. He felt that he had ascended to a higher spiritual realm. "Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week. I give tithes of all that I possess. And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying God be merciful to me a sinner. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted."
The God of Moroni does not share his glory. He is the only true God! He is the Great Spirit! He did not have to ascend into godhood. He is the "unchangeable being" who is God "from all eternity to all eternity."
No comments:
Post a Comment