Who is God?

I want to explore a little bit about what the scriptures teach about God because without a basic understanding of God, we cannot understand our relationship to Him or his plan for us.

God Is the Supreme Ruler and Creator of the Universe
God told Moses very plainly who he was when he said, "I am the Beginning and the End, the Almighty God; by mine Only Begotten I created these things; yea, in the beginning I created the heaven, and the earth upon which thou standest." (Moses 2:1)

In the Book of Mormon, King Benjamin exhorted his people, "Believe in God; believe that he is, and that he created all things, both in heaven and in earth; believe that he has all wisdom, and all power, both in heaven and in earth; believe that man doth not comprehend all the things which the Lord can comprehend." (Mosiah 4:9)

God Has a Body
We know that God is perfect, all-knowing, and all-powerful, but what is his body like? A couple scriptures teach us the answer. In Genesis Moses writes, " Let us make man in our image, after our likeness...So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them." (Genesis 1:26-27)

Likeness and image suggests that God and man are similar in their appearance, so God looks like a man, though perfect and glorious. Another insightful scripture is found in the Doctrine and Covenants where the Lord revealed to the prophet Joseph Smith, "The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man’s..." (D&C 130:22)This scripture goes on to explain that Jesus Christ also has a tangible, physical body like the Father, but the Holy Ghost is a personage of Spirit, without a tangible body.

Other Scriptures about God
There are many other scriptures that teach us more about God. Here are a couple that I like because they testify of his love, mercy, and power:

"And my joy is carried away, even unto boasting in my God; for he has all power, all wisdom, and all understanding; he comprehendeth all things, and he is a merciful Being, even unto salvation, to those who will repent and believe on his name." (Alma 26:35)

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." (John 3:16)

"O Lord God Almighty, hear us in these our petitions, and answer us from heaven, thy holy habitation, where thou sittest enthroned, with glory, honor, power, majesty, might, dominion, truth, justice, judgment, mercy, and an infinity of fulness, from everlasting to everlasting." (D&C 109:77)

Get to Know God
Jesus Christ taught us that it is very important for us to get to know God and who he is. The Savior said, "And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." (John 17:3)

The best way to get to know God and Jesus Christ is by studying their words. As we immerse ourselves in the holy scriptures, we will get to know them on a more personal level. I also recommend sincere, heartfelt prayer to pour out our hearts to God and seek his guidance in our daily lives. We can also trust and love God more by committing ourselves to obey all of his commandments, for the Lord said, "If ye love me, keep my commandments." (John 14:15)

Families Can Live Together Forever = Eternal Families

To most of us who have families, it rings true and seems only natural that one of the greatest rewards we could hope to receive in heaven would be having our families there with us. I know I love my family and I can think of nothing I want more than to spend eternity with my wife and our family!

Here's the dilemma for most people: When they are married, the words pronounced in their marriage ceremony is "til death do you part" or "as long as you both shall live." Why? This is because the person performing the marriage does not have the power or authority to bind in heaven what he is binding on earth. He has power only on earth.

God loves us more than I could ever express in a blog post and as a loving father, he wants us to be eternally happy. That means being with those we love. Think of it, living forever without those you love here on earth would be hell, not heaven. This is why God has prepared a way for us to be together forever with our families. This power is priesthood power, or power delegated by God to men. God gave this power to Peter and others in the New Testament:

"And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."
Matthew 16:19

Other problem: This priesthood authority that Peter and the other apostles were given was lost in the Great Apostacy! The Great Apostacy is when the true gospel of Jesus Christ was taken from the earth because of wickedness. The Jews and Romans killed off all of the apostles who held this priesthood, and it was lost for centuries.

The solution: God in mercy and love has restored his Church, his gospel, and his priesthood in these latter days. Through his prophet, Joseph Smith, in the 19th Century, God restored his priesthood power to bind in heaven what was bound on earth. Now this sacred ordinance, known as sealing, is performed in holy temples throughout the world. What a blessing! I was able to be sealed to my wife in the St. George temple and this makes it possible for us to be together with our future family forever!!!

This blessing of being sealed to your family is available to EVERYONE who prepares themselves and is worthy to enter the temple. Questions? Feel free to comment on this post or invite missionaries to visit and share more about this with you by clicking here.