THE ANTEMORTAL GODSHIP OF CHRIST.
It now becomes our purpose to inquire as to the position and status of
Jesus the Christ in the antemortal world, from the period of the solemn
council in heaven, in which He was chosen to be the future Savior and
Redeemer of mankind, to the time at which He was born in the flesh.
We claim scriptural authority for the assertion that Jesus Christ was
and is God the Creator, the God who revealed Himself to Adam, Enoch, and
all the antediluvial patriarchs and prophets down to Noah; the God of
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; the God of Israel as a united people, and the
God of Ephraim and Judah after the disruption of the Hebrew nation; the
God who made Himself known to the prophets from Moses to Malachi; the
God of the Old Testament record; and the God of the Nephites. We affirm
that Jesus Christ was and is Jehovah, the Eternal One.
The scriptures specify three personages in the Godhead; (1) God the
Eternal Father, (2) His Son Jesus Christ, and (3) the Holy Ghost. These
constitute the Holy Trinity, comprizing three physically separate and
distinct individuals, who together constitute the presiding council of
the heavens.[67] At least two of these appear as directing participants
in the work of creation; this fact is instanced by the plurality
expressed in Genesis: "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after
our likeness"; and later, in the course of consultation concerning
Adam's act of transgression, "the Lord God said, Behold, the man is
become as one of us."[68] From the words of Moses, as revealed anew in
the present dispensation, we learn more fully of the Gods who were
actively engaged in the creation of this earth: "And I, God, said unto
mine Only Begotten, which was with me from the beginning: Let us make
man in our image, after our likeness." Then, further, with regard to the
condition of Adam after the fall: "I, the Lord God, said unto mine Only
Begotten: Behold, the man is become as one of us."[69] In the account of
the creation recorded by Abraham, "the Gods" are repeatedly
mentioned.[70]
As heretofore shown in another connection, the Father operated in the
work of creation through the Son, who thus became the executive through
whom the will, commandment, or word of the Father was put into effect.
It is with incisive appropriateness therefore, that the Son, Jesus
Christ, is designated by the apostle John as the Word; or as declared by
the Father "the word of my power".[71] The part taken by Jesus Christ in
the creation, a part so prominent as to justify our calling Him the
Creator, is set forth in many scriptures. The author of the Epistle to
the Hebrews refers in this wise distinctively to the Father and the Son
as separate though associated Beings: "God, who at sundry times and in
divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath
in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed
heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds."[72] Paul is even
more explicit in his letter to the Colossians, wherein, speaking of
Jesus the Son, he says: "For by him were all things created, that are in
heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be
thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were
created by him, and for him: and he is before all things, and by him all
things consist."[73] And here let be repeated the testimony of John,
that by the Word, "who was with God, and who was God even in the
beginning, all things were made; and without him was not anything made
that was made."[74]
That the Christ who was to come was in reality God the Creator was
revealed in plainness to the prophets on the western hemisphere. Samuel,
the converted Lamanite, in preaching to the unbelieving Nephites
justified his testimony as follows: "And also that ye might know of the
coming of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Father of heaven and of
earth, the Creator of all things, from the beginning; and that ye might
know of the signs of his coming, to the intent that ye might believe on
his name."[75]
To these citations of ancient scripture may most properly be added the
personal testimony of the Lord Jesus after He had become a resurrected
Being. In His visitation to the Nephites He thus proclaimed Himself:
"Behold, I am Jesus Christ the Son of God. I created the heavens and the
earth, and all things that in them are. I was with the Father from the
beginning. I am in the Father, and the Father in me; and in me hath the
Father glorified his name."[76] To the Nephites, who failed to
comprehend the relation between the gospel declared unto them by the
Resurrected Lord, and the Mosaic law which they held traditionally to be
in force, and who marveled at His saying that old things had passed
away, He explained in this wise: "Behold I say unto you, that the law is
fulfilled that was given unto Moses. Behold, I am he that gave the law,
and I am he who covenanted with my people Israel: therefore, the law in
me is fulfilled, for I have come to fulfil the law; therefore it hath an
end."[77]
Through revelation in the present or last dispensation the voice of
Jesus Christ, the Creator of heaven and earth, has been heard anew:
"Hearken, O ye people of my church to whom the kingdom has been
given--hearken ye and give ear to him who laid the foundation of the
earth, who made the heavens and all the hosts thereof, and by whom all
things were made which live, and move, and have a being."[78] And again,
"Behold, I am Jesus Christ the Son of the living God, who created the
heavens and the earth; a light which cannot be hid in darkness."[79]
The divinity of Jesus Christ is indicated by the specific names and
titles authoritatively applied to Him. According to man's judgment there
may be but little importance attached to names; but in the nomenclature
of the Gods every name is a title of power or station. God is
righteously zealous of the sanctity of His own name[80] and of names
given by His appointment. In the case of children of promise names have
been prescribed before birth; this is true of our Lord Jesus and of the
Baptist, John, who was sent to prepare the way for the Christ. Names of
persons have been changed by divine direction, when not sufficiently
definite as titles denoting the particular service to which the bearers
were called, or the special blessings conferred upon them.[81]
_Jesus_ is the individual name of the Savior, and as thus spelled is of
Greek derivation; its Hebrew equivalent was _Yehoshua_ or _Yeshua_, or,
as we render it in English, _Joshua_. In the original the name was well
understood as meaning "Help of Jehovah", or "Savior". Though as common
an appellation as John or Henry or Charles today, the name was
nevertheless divinely prescribed, as already stated. Thus, unto Joseph,
the espoused husband of the Virgin, the angel said, "And thou shalt call
his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins."[82]
_Christ_ is a sacred title, and not an ordinary appellation or common
name; it is of Greek derivation, and in meaning is identical with its
Hebrew equivalent _Messiah_ or _Messias_, signifying the _Anointed
One_.[83] Other titles, each possessing a definitive meaning, such as
_Emmanuel_, _Savior_, _Redeemer_, _Only Begotten Son_, _Lord_, _Son of
God_, _Son of Man_, and many more, are of scriptural occurrence; the
fact of main present importance to us is that these several titles are
expressive of our Lord's divine origin and Godship. As seen, the
essential names or titles of Jesus the Christ were made known before His
birth, and were revealed to prophets who preceded Him in the mortal
state.[84]
_Jehovah_ is the Anglicized rendering of the Hebrew, _Yahveh_ or
_Jahveh_, signifying the _Self-existent One_, or _The Eternal_. This
name is generally rendered in our English version of the Old Testament
as LORD, printed in capitals.[85] The Hebrew, _Ehyeh_, signifying _I
Am_, is related in meaning and through derivation with the term _Yahveh_
or _Jehovah_; and herein lies the significance of this name by which the
Lord revealed Himself to Moses when the latter received the commission
to go into Egypt and deliver the children of Israel from bondage: "Moses
said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and
shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and
they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them? And
God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say
unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you."[86] In the
succeeding verse the Lord declares Himself to be "the God of Abraham,
the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." While Moses was in Egypt, the
Lord further revealed Himself, saying "I am the LORD: and I appeared
unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty,
but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them."[87] The central fact
connoted by this name, _I Am_, or _Jehovah_, the two having essentially
the same meaning, is that of existence or duration that shall have no
end, and which, judged by all human standards of reckoning, could have
had no beginning; the name is related to such other titles as _Alpha and
Omega_, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.[88]
Jesus, when once assailed with question and criticism from certain Jews
who regarded their Abrahamic lineage as an assurance of divine
preferment, met their abusive words with the declaration: "Verily,
verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am".[89] The true
significance of this saying would be more plainly expressed were the
sentence punctuated and pointed as follows: "Verily, verily, I say unto
you, Before Abraham, was I AM;" which means the same as had He
said--Before Abraham, was I, Jehovah. The captious Jews were so offended
at hearing Him use a name which, through an erroneous rendering of an
earlier scripture,[90] they held was not to be uttered on pain of death,
that they immediately took up stones with the intent of killing Him. The
Jews regarded _Jehovah_ as an ineffable name, not to be spoken; they
substituted for it the sacred, though to them the not-forbidden name,
_Adonai_, signifying _the Lord_. The original of the terms _Lord_ and
_God_ as they appear in the Old Testament, was either _Yahveh_ or
_Adonai_; and the divine Being designated by these sacred names was, as
shown by the scriptures cited, Jesus the Christ. John, evangelist and
apostle, positively identifies Jesus Christ with Adonai, or the Lord who
spoke through the voice of Isaiah,[91] and with Jehovah who spoke
through Zechariah.[92]
The name _Elohim_ is of frequent occurrence in the Hebrew texts of the
Old Testament, though it is not found in our English versions. In form
the word is a Hebrew plural noun;[93] but it connotes the plurality of
excellence or intensity, rather than distinctively of number. It is
expressive of supreme or absolute exaltation and power. _Elohim_, as
understood and used in the restored Church of Jesus Christ, is the
name-title of God the Eternal Father, whose firstborn Son in the spirit
is _Jehovah_--the Only Begotten in the flesh, Jesus Christ.
Jesus of Nazareth, who in solemn testimony to the Jews declared Himself
the _I Am_ or _Jehovah_, who was God before Abraham lived on earth, was
the same Being who is repeatedly proclaimed as the God who made covenant
with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; the God who led Israel from the bondage
of Egypt to the freedom of the promised land, the one and only God known
by direct and personal revelation to the Hebrew prophets in general.
The identity of Jesus Christ with the Jehovah of the Israelites was well
understood by the Nephite prophets, and the truth of their teachings was
confirmed by the risen Lord who manifested Himself unto them shortly
after His ascension from the midst of the apostles at Jerusalem. This is
the record: "And it came to pass that the Lord spake unto them saying,
Arise and come forth unto me, that ye may thrust your hands into my
side, and also that ye may feel the prints of the nails in my hands and
in my feet, that ye may know that I am the God of Israel, and the God of
the whole earth, and have been slain for the sins of the world."[94]
It would appear unnecessary to cite at greater length in substantiating
our affirmation that Jesus Christ was God even before He assumed a body
of flesh. During that antemortal period there was essential difference
between the Father and the Son, in that the former had already passed
through the experiences of mortal life, including death and
resurrection, and was therefore a Being possessed of a perfect,
immortalized body of flesh and bones, while the Son was yet unembodied.
Through His death and subsequent resurrection Jesus the Christ is today
a Being like unto the Father in all essential characteristics.
A general consideration of scriptural evidence leads to the conclusion
that God the Eternal Father has manifested Himself to earthly prophets
or revelators on very few occasions, and then principally to attest the
divine authority of His Son, Jesus Christ. As before shown, the Son was
the active executive in the work of creation; throughout the creative
scenes the Father appears mostly in a directing or consulting capacity.
Unto Adam, Enoch, Noah, Abraham and Moses the Father revealed Himself,
attesting the Godship of the Christ, and the fact that the Son was the
chosen Savior of mankind.[95] On the occasion of the baptism of Jesus,
the Father's voice was heard, saying, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I
am well pleased";[96] and at the transfiguration a similar testimony was
given by the Father.[97] On an occasion yet later, while Jesus prayed in
anguish of soul, submitting Himself that the Father's purposes be
fulfilled and the Father's name glorified, "Then came there a voice from
heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it
again."[98] The resurrected and glorified Christ was announced by the
Father to the Nephites on the western hemisphere, in these words:
"Behold my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, in whom I have
glorified my name: hear ye him."[99] From the time of the occurrence
last noted, the voice of the Father was not heard again among men, so
far as the scriptures aver, until the spring of 1820, when both the
Father and the Son ministered unto the prophet Joseph Smith, the Father
saying, "This is my beloved Son, hear him!"[100] These are the instances
of record in which the Eternal Father has been manifest in personal
utterance or other revelation to man apart from the Son. God the
Creator, the Jehovah of Israel, the Savior and Redeemer of all nations,
kindreds and tongues, are the same, and He is Jesus the Christ.
NOTES TO CHAPTER 4.
1. Names Given of God.--The significance of names when given of God
finds illustration in many scriptural instances. The following are
examples: "Jesus" meaning _Savior_ (Matt. 1:21; Luke 1:31); "John,"
signifying _Jehovah's gift_, specifically applied to the Baptist, who
was sent to earth to prepare the way for Jehovah's coming in the flesh
(Luke 1:13); "Ishmael," signifying _God shall hear him_ (Gen. 16:11);
"Isaac," meaning _laughter_ (Gen. 17:19, compare 18:10-15). As instances
of names changed by divine authority to express added blessings, or
special callings, consider the following: "Abram," which connoted
_nobility_ or _exaltation_ and as usually rendered, _father of
elevation_, was changed to "Abraham," _father of a multitude_ which
expressed the reason for the change as given at the time thereof, "for a
father of many nations have I made thee" (Gen. 17:5). "Sarai," the name
of Abraham's wife, and of uncertain distinctive meaning, was substituted
by "Sarah" which signified _the princess_ (Gen 17:15). "Jacob," a name
given to the son of Isaac with reference to a circumstance attending his
birth, and signifying _a supplanter_, was superseded by "Israel" meaning
_a soldier of God, a prince of God_; as expressed in the words effecting
the change, "Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel, for as
a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed."
(Gen. 32:28; compare 35:9, 10.) "Simon," meaning _a hearer_, the name of
the man who became the chief apostle of Jesus Christ, was changed by the
Lord to "Cephas" (Aramaic) or "Peter" (Greek) meaning _a rock_ (John
1:42; Matt 16:18; Luke 6:14). On James and John the sons of Zebedee, the
Lord conferred the name or title "Boanerges" meaning _sons of thunder_
(Mark 3:17).
The following is an instructive excerpt: "_Name_ in the scriptures not
only = that by which a person is designated, but frequently = all that
is known to belong to the person having this designation, and the person
himself. Thus 'the name of God' or 'of Jehovah,' etc., indicates His
authority (Deut. 18:20; Matt. 21:9, etc.), His dignity and glory (Isa.
48:9, etc.), His protection and favor (Prov. 18:10, etc.), His character
(Exo. 34:5, 14, compare 6, 7, etc.), His divine attributes in general
(Matt. 6:9, etc.), etc. The Lord is said to set or put His name where
the revelation or manifestation of His perfections is made (Deut. 12:5,
14:24, etc.). To believe in or on the name of Christ is to receive and
treat Him in accordance with the revelation which the scriptures make of
Him (John 1:12; 2:23), etc."--Smith's _Comprehensive Dictionary of the
Bible_, article "Name."
2. Jesus Christ, the God of Israel.--"That Jesus Christ was the same
Being who called Abraham from his native country, who led Israel out of
the land of Egypt with mighty miracles and wonders, who made known to
them His law amid the thunderings of Sinai, who delivered them from
their enemies, who chastened them for their disobedience, who inspired
their prophets, and whose glory filled Solomon's temple, is evident from
all the inspired writings, and in none more so than in the Bible.
"His lamentation over Jerusalem evidences that, in His humanity, He had
not forgotten His former exalted position: 'O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou
that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee,
how often would I have gathered thy children together ... and ye would
not!' (Matt. 23:37). It was this Creator of the world, this mighty
Ruler, this Controller of the destinies of the human family, who, in His
last moments, cried out in the agony of His soul, 'My God, my God, why
hast thou forsaken me?'" (Mark 15:34.)--From _Compendium of the
Doctrines of the Gospel_, by Franklin D. Richards and James A. Little.
3. "Jehovah" a Name Not Uttered by the Jews.--Long prior to the time of
Christ, certain schools among the Jews, ever intent on the observance of
the letter of the law, though not without disregard of its spirit, had
taught that the mere utterance of the name of God was blasphemous, and
that the sin of so doing constituted a capital offense. This extreme
conception arose from the accepted though uninspired interpretation of
Lev. 24:16, "And he that blasphemeth the name of the Lord, he shall
surely be put to death, and all the congregation shall certainly stone
him: as well the stranger, as he that is born in the land, when he
blasphemeth the name of the Lord, shall be put to death." We take the
following from Smith's _Comprehensive Dictionary of the Bible_, article
"Jehovah": "The true pronunciation of this name, [Yehovah] by which God
was known to the Hebrews, has been entirely lost, the Jews themselves
scrupulously avoiding every mention of it, and substituting in its stead
one or other of the words with whose proper vowel-points it may happen
to be written [_Adonai_, Lord, or _Elohim_, God].... According to Jewish
tradition it was pronounced but once a year by the high priest on the
day of atonement when he entered the Holy of Holies; but on this point
there is some doubt."
FOOTNOTES:
[67] See "God and the Godhead," in the author's "Articles of Faith,"
lecture ii.
[68] Gen. 1:26; and 3:22.
[69] P. of G.P., Moses 2:26; and 4:28.
[70] P. of G.P., Abraham, chaps. 4 and 5.
[71] See page 10; John 1:1; and P. of G.P., Moses 1:32.
[72] Heb. 1:1, 2; see also 1 Cor. 8:6.
[73] Colos. 1:16, 17.
[74] John 1:1-3.
[75] B. of M., Helaman 14:12; see also Mosiah 3:8; 4:2: Alma 11:39.
[76] B. of M., 3 Nephi 9:15.
[77] B. of M., 3 Nephi 15:4, 5.
[78] Doc. and Cov. 45:1.
[79] Doc. and Cov. 14:9; see also 29:1, 31; 76:24.
[80] Exo. 20:7; Lev. 19:12; Deut. 5:11.
[81] Note 1, end of chapter.
[82] Matt. 1:21; see also verses 23, 25; Luke 1:31.
[83] John 1:41; 4:25.
[84] Luke 1:31; 2:21; Matt. 1:21, 25; see also verse 23 and compare Isa.
7:14; Luke 2:11. See further P. of G.P., Moses 6:51, 57; 7:20; 8:24. B.
of M., 1 Nephi 10:4; 2 Nephi 10:3; Mosiah 3:8.
[85] The name appears thus in Gen. 2:5; see also Exo. 6:2-4; and read
for comparison Gen. 17:1; 35:11.
[86] Exo. 3:13, 14; compare with respect to the fact of eternal duration
expressed in this name, Isa. 44:6; John 8:58; Colos. 1:17; Heb. 13:8;
Rev. 1:4; see also P. of G.P., Moses 1:3 and the references there given.
[87] Exo. 6:2, 3. Note 2, end of chapter.
[88] Rev. 1:11, 17; 2:8; 22:13; compare Isa. 41:4; 44:6; 48:12.
[89] John 8:58.
[90] Lev. 24:16. Note 3, end of chapter.
[91] Isa. 6:8-11; and compare John 12:40, 41.
[92] Zech. 12:10; compare John 19:37.
[93] The singular, "Eloah," appears only in poetic usage.
[94] B. of M., 3 Nephi 11:13, 14; also 1 Nephi 17:40 and observe from
verse 30 that the Redeemer is here spoken of as the God who delivered
Israel. See further Mosiah 7:19. Chapter 39 herein.
[95] P. of G.P., Moses 1:6, 31-33; 2:1; 4:2, 3; 6:57; compare 7:35, 39,
47, 53-59; 8:16, 19, 23, 24; Abraham 3:22-28. See chapter 5 herein.
[96] Matt. 3:17; also Mark 1:11; Luke 3:22.
[97] Matt. 17:5; Luke 9:35.
[98] John 12:28.
[99] B. of M., 3 Nephi 11:7.
[100] P. of G.P. Joseph Smith 2:17.