1 Nephi 1: 14 - 15
"And it came to pass that when my father had read and seen many great and marvelous things, he did exclaim many things unto the Lord; such as: Great and marvelous are thy works, O Lord God Almighty! Thy throne is high in the heavens, and thy power, and goodness, and mercy are over all the inhabitants of the earth; and because thou art merciful, thou wilt not suffer those who come unto thee that they shall perish! And after this manner was the language of my father in thr praising of his God; for his soul did rejoice, and his whole heart was filled, because of the things which he had seen , yea, which the Lord had shown unto him."
We asked the question, "What has Lehi seen and heard here?"
Why is Lehi so deliberate in deliniating his praises to God by referring to His works, His throne, His power, goodness and mercy, and His not allowing those coming to Him to perish?
What should we understand by these things being recorded this way in the Book of Mormon?
Concerning God's works:
In the book of Moses we can read about God's appearance to Moses.
"And God spake unto Moses, saying: Behold, I am the Lord God Almighty, and Endless is ny name; for I am without beginning of days or end of years; and is not this endless? And, behold, thou art my son; wherefore look, and I will show thee the workmanship of mine hands; but not all, for my works are without end, and also my words, for they never cease." (Moses 1:3 - 4)
Just as Moses had experienced, Lehi ascended and was brought before God.
In the previous post, "The Family of God", we submitted that Lehi, at the time of his ascension, he entered into the Family of God. He became a son of God.
Here we see God proclaiming to Moses. "thou art my son,...and thou art in the similitude of mine Only Begotten;..."(Moses 1:4, 6)
We also know that this is what occurred to Adam. "And thou art after the order of him who was without beginning of days or end of years from all eternity to all eternity. Behold, thou art one in me, a son of God;..." (Moses 6:67-68)
These two instances further support that Lehi did indeed become a son of God in the family of God, after the order of him who is without beginning of days or end of years in the similitude of the Only Begotten of God.
Why is this important?
We believe that as a son of God Lehi would have seen at very least some or all of what others who have become sons of God have seen.
As we review what was shown to Moses we would expect that Lehi saw these very same things and that these things were what caused Lehi to exclaim, "Great and marvelous are thy works, O Lord God Almighty!"
So what works of God did Moses and Lehi see?
"...look and I will show thee the workmanship of mine hands; but not all, for my works are without end, and also my words, for they never cease. Wherefore no man can behold all my works, except he behold all my glory, and afterwards remain in the flesh on the earth...And now behold this one thing I show unto thee, Moses, my son, for thou art in the world, and now I show it unto thee. And it came to pass that Moses looked, and beheld the world upon which he was created; and Moses beheld the world and the ends thereof, and all the children of men which are, and which were created; of the same he greatly marveled and wondered...And it came to pass, as the voice was still speaking, Moses cast his eyes and beheld the earth, yea, even all of it; and there was not a particle of it which he did not behold, discerning it by the spirit of God. And he beheld also the inhabitants thereof, and there was not a soul which he beheld not; and he discerned them by the Spirit of God; and their numbers were great, even numberless as the sand upon the sea shore. And he beheld many lands; and each land was called earth, and there were inhabitants on the face threof." (Moses 1:4 - 29)
Moses, and we suppose Lehi also, were shown the inhabitants of this world and lands of this earth and every particle of this earth.
To what end?
Is God just bragging?
Is God showing them that "Hey you gotta follow me because I can do this?"
We don't believe so.
When the Lord was on the earth He did many mighty works, healing the lame, the sick, the blind, casting out evil spirits and even raising the dead.
During the Last Supper the Lord said something very important to those with Him.
"Verily, Verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father." (John 14:12)
We believe that this is connected to what God showed and shows unto those who become children of God in the Family of God.
We believe that Christ was promising that through the redemption brought about by Him as He returned to His Father that those who had, did, and would believe on Him would 1) be able to perform works like the ones He had performed, ie. healing the blind, the sick, the lame and so forth, raising the dead and casting out evil spirits and 2) that as redeemed children of God they would continue to ascend through the eternities to where they would also be able to do greater works than healings, raising the dead and so forth. They would be able to do the works that God Himself does.
Is it true that a child is capable of learning and assimilating the attributes of their parents?
If someone is brought into the Family of God and they become His child can they then learn and assimilate the attributes of the Father?
Just as a father would teach a trade to a child who desires to learn, would not the Father show to His children His works if they seek to become like Him?
We believe that these things are made known unto the children of God precisely to start them on the path; to begin to learn the trade so to speak.
They are being shown where the path will lead.
We can see from the words of God that this knowledge is learned by degrees.
"...I will show unto thee the workmanship of mine hands; but not all, for my works are without end, and also my words, for they never cease. Wherefore no man can behold all my works, except he behold all my glory; and no man can behold all my glory, and afterwards remain in the flesh on the earth." (Moses 1:4 - 5)
The Prophet Joseph said this concerning God and eternal life.
"God Himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted man, and sits enthroned in yonder heavens! That is the great secret....It is the first principle of the Gospel to know for a certainty the Character of God,(His children in His family know for certainty His character because they have acquired His attributes.)...Here, then is eternal life - to know the only wise and true God; and you have got to learn how to be Gods yourselves, and to be kings and priests to God, the same as all Gods have done before you, namely, by going from one small degree to another, and from a small capacity to a great one; from grace to grace, from exaltation to exaltation, until you attain to the resurrection of the dead, and are able to dwell in everlasting burnings, and to sit in glory, as do those who sit enthroned in everlasting power...When you climb a ladder, you must begin at the bottom, and ascend step by step, until you arrive at the top; and so it is with the principles of the Gospel - you must begin with the first, and go on until you learn all the principles of exaltation. But it will be a great while after you have passed through the veil before you will have learned them (Interesting that at this point in the Book of Mormon Lehi has passed through the veil.) It is not all to be comprehended in this world; it will be a great work to learn our salvation and exaltation even beyond the grave. (Notice Joseph distinguished between passing through the veil and beyond the grave.) (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pgs. 345 - 348)
It would make sense that as one begins up the ladder by becoming a son or daughter of God that they would begin to learn the principles of exaltation by being shown some of the great and marvelous works of the God our Father.
How does this apply to us?
God declared this to Adam.
" Behold, thou art one in me, a son of God; and thus may all become my sons. Amen." (Moses 6:68)
All may become part of the Family of God and be able to exclaim, just like Lehi, "Great and marvelous are thy works O Lord God Almighty!"
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