The Nature of God the Father
It is important that we understand the nature of God and the principles where by he operates. The Savior told us that, “…this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” (John 17:3). Or in other words, if we want to obtain salvation we must be familiar and have a personal relationship with God the Father. Can I say that I know someone when we don’t even know his or her personality and characteristics? Of course not, this is why it is important to thoroughly understand the nature of God.
It is not my purpose to argue the existence of God. As the great Book of Mormon prophet Alma said, “Thou has had signs enough;” (Alma 30:44) just the existence of earth and life itself proves there is a Divine Creator.
Again and again the scriptures tell us that Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost are three separate and distinct individuals. We refer to them together as the Godhead. There is much confusion on the subject, but when I take this simple truth into consideration as I study the scriptures, it makes complete sense. Many times Christ himself has said, “I and the Father are one.” This does not denote one of being, but one of purpose, complete unity. Just as we might say a husband and wife are one, or in other words they are always on the same page. The Complete unity of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost enables them to bring about their great and eternal purposes.
This brings about another interesting question, what is Heavenly Father’s purpose? He has told us through modern day revelation that his work and glory is to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. Or in other words God’s greatest happiness, even the purpose of his whole existence is to help us live forever (immortality) and have everything he has (eternal life).
The reason that Heavenly Father can do this is that he himself has been given these things. God is a perfect glorified man. He has a body of flesh and bone just as tangible as ours. The big difference is that God’s body is perfect. He doesn’t get sick and he will never die. He is immortal.
God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He is also omniscient and has all power to govern the Universe. God has this power because he is perfect and perfectly obeys the laws of eternity. There are laws as we discussed earlier that even God has to abide by. Let us consider a few of these laws:
Justice
One such law is justice. We learn from the scriptures that if Heavenly Father ever violated the law of justice he would cease to be God. (Alma 42:13) But what is justice? Many think of a court of law when they think of the word justice. Usually someone demands that the judge executes justice. Unlike in a court of law, eternally justice must always be carried out.
Justice is the truth that for every action there is a consequence. If you act positively you receive a reward or blessing. On the other hand if you act negatively you receive a punishment. Good for good, evil for evil. Justice is completely fair. The prophet Alma once said that justice, “more fully condemneth the sinner…” (Alma 41:15) and might I add more fully exalteth the righteous.Many times we see justice depicted as a woman holding a scale. Our actions are weighed against our consequences. The depiction is even better fit because she is wearing a blindfold, justice doesn’t change depending on the person or circumstance. It is eternally unchanging.
God is a god of justice as I have stated before. He has given us certain laws that do not change, no matter how much the world does. According to justice, when we follow these laws he must bless us. But when we violate these laws, or in other words sin, he must give us a punishment. This brings us to our next point.
(See Alma Chapter 42 in The Book of Mormon)
Agency and Accountability
Agency is the undeniable right to choose for ourselves the actions we will take. God has given us this right as a gift and will never take away anybody’s agency. Another prophet from the Book of Mormon, Lehi, said, “Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all thing are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose.” As we make choices we are free to choose our actions, but according to justice we cannot choose our consequences. They come as a result of our actions. Lehi continues, “And are free to choose liberty and eternal life … or to choose captivity and death.” Thus ultimately we choose our consequences through our actions.
Along with agency comes the word accountability. Although we are free to choose our actions we are accountable for those actions. Accountability is to accept responsibility for our actions. When the consequences are come we must accept them, eternally there are no excuses. One day we will all stand before the judgment bar of God and give an accounting for our actions. This can be a very daunting thought, but this leads us to the next piece of the puzzle.
(See “Agency: Essential to the Plan of Life” by Elder Robert D. Hales, October 2010)
Love and Mercy
Many times in the scriptures we hear the term “fear God.” While this is a true statement it is misunderstood. Fear in this term means worship, respect, and reverence. We must understand that Heavenly Father has a greater love for us than we can possibly comprehend. He created us and cares more about us than we care about ourselves. Of all the things he could be called he chooses to be called Father. I love the thought of that in its truest sense. Just like our fathers on earth, he wants us to have everything he has. He wants us to be as happy as he is. He is happiest when we are happy and he sorrows when we are sad. He is willing to give anything for our benefit, even his first born son.
His love is so great that no matter what we do, he will still love us. But no matter how great his love, he must still abide by the law of justice. People tend to try to explain away their disobedience to Heavenly Father’s law by arguing that God is merciful and he would not damn them for a few mistakes, he loves them too much to be so heartless. While it is true that god is merciful we must understand the principle of mercy. Mercy is forgiveness or exemption from the consequence. Mercy is what we all want, while Heavenly Father is bound by eternal law to execute justice or in other words make us abide by the consequence. No matter how badly He wants to extend mercy, mercy cannot rob justice.
Because God is perfect the scripture state that no unclean thing can enter into God’s presence. (Alma 40:26) Whenever we sin or conduct ourselves contrary to the laws of God, we become unworthy to enter God’s presence. According to the law of justice we would be forever damned.
Now don’t throw up your hands in despair quite yet. Because Heavenly Father loves us he has created a plan, which enables us to return to his presence. An infinite plan that does not go contrary to eternal law but fulfills it. Where both justice and mercy can be completely satisfied. This plan calls for a mediator, even the Savior Jesus Christ.
(See “Love and Law” by Elder Dallin H. Oaks, October 2009)
I know that Heavenly Father does love us. He knows each of us. And he has provided a way for us to be eternally happy. That is truth. Of this I testify.
Marshall Tapp
