Who Is Heavenly Father Part. 2

Who Is Heavenly Father?

Last week, I opened up this blog by starting to write about Heavenly Father, as I felt that many of us in this world, and even within the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, are confused about who Heavenly Father is. In my last post, which was the first part of in this series of post, was based more on the Eternal nature of Heavenly Father, and why we call him our Heavenly Father.

In this post I would like to focus more on his purpose, and his work, and how we can help and accomplish it. In the thirty-ninth verse, of the first chapter, in the Book of Moses, Heavenly Father claims, “...This is my work and my glory-to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man”¹. This statement clearly allows us to see that Heavenly Father wants us to gain immortality and eternal life; which we will go into for the majority of this post.

You might be saying to yourself “Well now, isn’t immortality and eternal life the same thing? Meaning life everlasting?” A common question asked in the church, and by those outside of the church, yet if we really break it down we find that the common similarities between the two are, a.) part of God’s plan for us, b.) brought by the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ(whom we will discuss later on), and c.) bring about a physical change to our bodies.

Starting with Immortality, Immortality is known, and defined as, “...all people will become Immortal- they will live forever. Immortality is a free gift to all people, whether they are righteous or wicked.”² The Prophet Joseph Fielding Smith has also stated that, “Every man shall receive immortality, whether he be good, bad, or indifferent, for the resurrection from the dead shall come to all³.” So here, we can clearly see that immortality comes for everyone! How great and joyful it is to know, that everyone one of us can receive redemption from the grave, and have an immortal body!

Without getting into to much detail about what is an Immortal Body (for purpose that both distract, and bore you to death), The Book of Mormon Missionary, Amulek, stated once that, “The spirit and body shall be reunited again in its perfect form... and we shall be brought to stand before God, knowing even as we know now...”⁴ Part of God’s plan for all of us is to grant us the gift of resurrected, immortal bodies, in a perfect form, allowing us to stand in his presence and be judged. This gift, available to all, makes us a different person, with Physical change. Think about Goku from the DragonBall series (because we all know that Goku would actually defeat puny Superman in a single punch), even though we wouldn’t be able to fly and have all his super powers, we would have this totally awesome, body in such a handsome manner it would be impossible for human eyes to look upon.

Okay, so with the analogy of Immortal bodies being Goku in his regular form, maybe in his Kaio-ken form to separate him from a mortal body and add that awesomeness to paint a better picture, Then receiving Eternal Life would be Goku in his Super Saiyan form, (My personal favorite being Super Saiyan 3 because well... google it, it’s pretty awesome man.)

So what exactly is Eternal Life and how does it differentiate from Immortality, and what are the physical changes that come with it.  In a basic sense, if you think about an RPG game, Immortality is the basic tier on a skill tree, and then Eternal Life is a branch off from the tier. It’s an added gift given to those that prove themselves worthy of it. Joseph Fielding Smith state, “None shall receive eternal life save it be those who keep the commandments of the Lord and are entitled to enter in his presence.”⁵ We come to find that Eternal Life comes through obedience to the commandments that God has set; in our church there is a plethora of commandments list for us, but I believe that just by following the two set in the twelfth chapter of the Testimony of Mark, where Jesus has simply stated to love God, and love thy neighborh, we can qualify for Eternal Life.⁶

So what physical change comes with Eternal Life? In the 132nd section Doctrine and Covenants, in verses 20 to 21 it states, and I’m paraphrasing here, that those who receive eternal life, become gods, with their spouse, and shall have no end, and have the glory of the gods, and become supreme beings in the universe. This only happens however, if we prove ourselves worthy, by following and obeying the laws that God has set for us.⁷

By doing so, by enduring and staying faithful and true to all of the commandments and laws God gives us, we are able to receive Eternal Life, and Exaltation (remember this is going Super Saiyan),  and being able to receive all things that Heavenly Father posses, and enjoy it with our Families. Ultimately this is eternal happiness, and a joy that allows us to return to Heavenly Father. That is his plan, to make it possible for us to to receive an eternal happiness, through obedience to the boundaries and laws that he has set.

That is his work and glory, and has already provided the means necessary to do so, the rest is up to us, and that is what it is so beautiful, is that we can also bring to past the work heavenly Father has set out for us.

Sources.

1. Moses 1:39
2. Preach My Gospel p. 53, The Resurrection, Judgement, and Immortality. Emphasis Added
3. Smith, J. F. (1955). Immortality and Eternal(Vol. 2, Doctrines of Salvation). Salt Lake city, UT: Bookcraft Inc. Chapter 1. p. 4 Emphasis Added
4. Alma 11: 43 Emphasis Added
5. Smith, J. F. (1955). Immortality and Eternal(Vol. 2, Doctrines of Salvation). Salt Lake city, UT: Bookcraft Inc. Chapter 1. p. 4
6. Mark 12: 30-31
7. D&C 132: 20-21