My last blog concentrated on how we can get to know Christ. It was really quite the dilemma in my head and I was having a really hard time resolving it. I counseled with quite a few people, including my very knowledgeable father and insightful brother-in-law and have come up with some things that have helped me out quite a bit.
Here we go:
In John 14, Christ is talking with His disciples about how He is going to leave them. They get concerned and do not want Him to go, but He promises them the Holy Ghost to be their companion. Said He:
16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
18 I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.
These next verses are particularly poignant:
20 At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.
21 He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.
So, what Christ is saying here is that as we keep His commandments, we will qualify for the company of the Holy Ghost, and through the Holy Ghost will Christ make Himself known unto us (or in some other way….”manifest” is a little vague, but I would presume it would be through the Holy Ghost that He would do it.).
And in 23, He says, “If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.”
If Christ and Heavenly Father abide with you through the Holy Ghost, then surely you will come to know them. I wrote in my last blog that if you know President Uchtdorf, you know President Monson. That isn’t true because they are not completely perfect. Not even they have perfect, singular desires, as the Father and Son have; they are imperfect and differ in their opinions, but the Father and Son have are perfectly one in desire and opinion.
The interesting thing in this instance with the Apostles is that they had been with Christ for three years already and yet did not truly know Him (It was only Simon Peter who actually recognized Jesus as the Christ.). And to further illustrate this point He says:
25 These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you.
26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
Christ had taught them many things while with them, but even still, they had not truly grasped who or what He was or meant in their personal lives. It was therefore necessary to grant them the Holy Ghost as a means to “bring to remembrance” those things He had taught and spoken to the disciples.
In 2 Nephi 26:13, it says:
13 And that he manifesteth himself unto all those who believe in him, by the power of the Holy Ghost; yea, unto every nation, kindred, tongue, and people, working mighty miracles, signs, and wonders, among the children of men according to their faith.
The Holy Ghost is the great revelator. It is through Him that we can come unto Christ and truly know Him.
26 God shall give unto you knowledge by his Holy Spirit, yea, by the unspeakable gift of the Holy Ghost
(Doctrine and Covenants | Section 121:26)
33 How long can rolling waters remain impure? What power shall stay the heavens? As well might man stretch forth his puny arm to stop the Missouri river in its decreed course, or to turn it up stream, as to hinder the Almighty from pouring down knowledge from heaven upon the heads of the Latter-day Saints.
(Doctrine and Covenants | Section 121:33)
Heavenly Father wants us to come to know Christ and has appointed means by which it can be accomplished. We need to do our part and come unto Him with full purpose of heart so He can see our desires, abide with us, and thereby manifest Himself unto us.
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3 comments:
Logan, i'm glad you blog about stuff like this because it gets me thinking about things I sometimes take for granted.
One specific thing comes to mind when I think about the times I feel closest to God: service. I remember in the mission feeling kind of euphoric whenever we helped someone in the Spirit of total selflessness. That, i believe, was me feeling for those people a small taste of the love God must feel for us. I believe this others-centered attitude and service helps us get to know God. When I truly learn how to love my fellow beings--without conditions or agenda--then I believe I will know God, because that is what he is: Love. Love is the impetus behind every one of his commandments.
I often explained to investigators when we were teaching them the importance of Obedience that God does not give commandments for his own purposes; he does not need to keep us in subjection in order to assert his godhood. No, the commandments are given out of love for us. And so--as you posted--when we keep them we gain access to God's love, his blessings, his guidance, etc. In sum, we get to know god by his fruits.
I’m going to be honest. I’m not sure we will every fully know God and Christ again until we are physically with them again and the veil is removed. I, at least, am not that good, and don’t foresee myself achieving a really advanced level of perfection in this life. But I know it’s possible to try, and to become acquainted with at least a degree of Their perfection while I’m here.
Logan,
You're a scholar and a saint. I'm glad your approach to the gospel doesn't piss me off. :)
Cheers,
SamYam
Chris made an interesting point about getting to know Christ through our trials (he sent me a message and the next little bit is his message summed up and then a little bit of elaboration on my part).
he referenced elder holland's talk about missionary work and the atonement:
I believe that missionaries and investigators, to come to the truth, to come to salvation, to know something of this price that has been paid, will have to pay a token of that same price.
For that reason I don’t believe missionary work has ever been easy, nor that conversion is, nor that retention is, nor that continued faithfulness is. I believe it is supposed to require some effort, something from the depths of our soul."
our trials can be some of the most holy and sacred times as we turn to the Lord for guidance, comfort, validation, and increased faith. i've found at those times, we can either very easily stray from the Lord or the trial can really be a refiner's fire, stripping away impurities from our character. and as we strip away those impurities, we come to be like our Savior (Alma 5:14, Moroni 7:48) and not only that, but the communication between the Spirit and ourselves becomes much more open and direct, which further enables Christ to lead and direct us through our trials.
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