12/18/01

Mormon View of God, Jesus and Ourselves

Magazines/Ensign/1989/Ensign January 1989/The Restoration of Major Doctrines through Joseph Smith: The Godhead, Mankind, and the Creation

"The Prophet explained that “God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted man, and sits enthroned in yonder heavens”; that “he was once a man like us; yea, that God himself, the Father of us all, dwelt on an earth, the same as Jesus Christ himself did”; and that he “worked out his kingdom with fear and trembling.” Through the Prophet, we learn that we “are begotten sons and daughters unto God” and that Christ is the Firstborn. (D&C 76:24; see D&C 93:21-22; Heb. 12:7-9.) As God’s children, we may become gods ourselves through Christ’s atonement and the plan of salvation, being joint heirs of Christ of “all that [the] Father hath.” (D&C 84:38; see also Rom. 8:17; D&C 76:58-60; D&C 132:19-21.) Along with these concepts is the concept of divine parents, including an exalted Mother who stands beside God the Father.