Beginning in verse 19, the Lord is speaking directly to Joseph Smith rather than quoting the apostle John. After learning from John's quotation that the Lord grew from grace to grace until he received a fulness of the Father's glory, the Lord tells Joseph that if we keep the commandments, we will grow from grace to grace and through Christ, receive a fulness of the Father's glory also. Then he explains how this is possible. There are three or four things he tells Joseph that we need to consider and then I'll tie them all together. Bear with me because this is good stuff!
1. Verse 36, which everyone is familiar with, says: "The glory of God is intelligence,or, in other words, light and truth." You will remember that God's glory is described as that of the sun, much more so. We always stop at the word intelligence and fail notice what God's glory actually is, light and truth.
2. Verse 29: The Lord explains again that "Man was also in the beginning with God." Then he says Intelligence, or light and truth, was not created or made."
3. Verse 28: "He that keepeth his commandments receiveth truth and light, until he is glorified in truth and knoweth all things."
4. Verse 31: "Here is the agency of man, and here is the condemnation of man"
Here is what I believe. There is not any official church doctrine regarding some of this, but I think it's true. We have always existed. Our state of being was first as an intelligence. As an intelligence, the first step in our progression was to again a spiritual body, then a mortal body, and in the final step, our spirit will be united with an immortal body. As verse 33 says, when the spirit is connected with an immortal body, that is when it receives a fulness of joy. We become complete and whole as we were meant to.
Because we existed first as an intelligence, light and truth were basic and natural elements of our being. As we progressed in the premortal life, we received more light and truth, we grew in glory, just as the Savior did. We did this by keeping the commandments . We grew to a high enough level that to continue to grow, we needed the mortal experience. Here, I believe the mortal body masks the glory we are gaining to a large degree (However, a righteous person is often described as some one whose countenance glows). You will remember that in Section 88, the Lord said that those who abide a celestial law will receive a body in the resurrection that is celestial in glory. Those who do less, will grow less and in the end, become less.
So in essence, what I believe is that as we keep the commandments, we receive light and truth, or glory. Light and truth are eternal elements that have been a natural part of beings from the beginning. In mortality, this is opposed and we experience the ultimate test of our agency, to choose whether we are going to receive more light and truth or not. If we do, we will eventually receive all the glory the Father has. If we don't, we will have to settle for less. This is why there are so many different levels of kingdoms after this life, why there is a telestial glory, a terrestial, or three levels of celestial glory. In the end, we are what we have chosen to become.
Two last points: Here is why the statement, "Here is the agency of man," is so important. Notice verse 39, "And that wicked one cometh and taketh away light and truth through disobedience." Sin brings darkness. Evil people are dark and have no light in them. On the other hand, darkness cannot abide light. If you are in a perfectly dark room and light a match, the darkness around that match flees. The brighter the light, the more the darkness flees. The question is, how much light do we accept? In the temple endowment, the lights are dimmed to a "telestial" level. I'm always sobered by how used to it I become because when the lights are brightened to a terrestial level, it is very noticeable and I'm reminded how easy it was to become accustomed to only a telestial level. Having entered a terrestial level of light, we then prepared for the symbolism of entering a celestial level of light and glory by entering the celestial room where everything is even brighter. What a great demonstration of our eternal growth that is.
Finally, I find it interesting that the main point of all of this is a chastisement of Joseph and Sidney. The Lord states that children are innocent in their infant state. The Lord says that even though they have been instructed, they have not taught their children light and truth as they should have. This is an important reminder for all of us who are parents because teaching light and truth to our children helps them to grow in their most natural and eternal way. The Lord says, "What I say unto one I say unto all; pray always lest that wicked one have power in you, and remove you out of your place.
No comments:
Post a Comment