Seek not for riches, but for wisdom, and behold, the mysteries of God shall be unfolded unto you, and then shall you be made rich. (D&C 11:6-7; Joseph Smith History 14:9)
It is given unto many to know the mysteries of God;… And he that will not harden his heart, to him is given the greater portion of the word, until it is given unto him to know the mysteries of God, until they know them in full… And they that will harden their hearts, to them is given the lesser portion of the word until they know nothing concerning his mysteries; and then they are taken captive by the Devil and led by his will down to destruction. (Alma 9:3 (RV), Alma 12:9-12 (LV)
Wherefore, I will explain unto you this mystery, for it is meet unto you to know even as my apostles… I speak unto you that are chosen in this thing, even as one, that you may enter into my rest, for behold, the mysteries of godliness, how great is it? (D&C 19:8-10)
I look at the picture above and I can’t help but think how utterly tiny and insignificant I am. And then I think how magnificent and mighty our Heavenly Father is, whose reach and influence extends beyond the boundaries of what I can comprehend. I have always been fascinated with the concept of eternity. I can’t even imagine it. I look at the mountains above my house and I see the rocks that geologists say are 400 million years old. I look at pictures from the new James Webb Telescope and wonder how something could be 13 billion light years away. By the way that is more than 77 quadrillion quadrillion miles away (that is not a typo, qd times qd). That is 77 followed by 27 zeros. Numbers like that just cannot be grasped by the human mind. It actually causes my head to ache thinking about it. So how long is eternity if it is infinitely bigger than that?
In the King Follett discourse, Joseph Smith said this, “I advise all to go on to perfection, and search deeper and deeper into the mysteries of Godliness.” To my way of thinking there is not a greater mystery than to ask: How old is God? Where did God come from? How old is He? And if He has a Father, how far back does it go? These are meaningless questions, because we will never know the answers in this life, but it does tease the soul and, for me at least, is a little unsettling.
So this is the way my mind works. I’ve been told I think about things I shouldn’t trouble myself about, or trouble anybody else about. I suppose I am still like the child who asks impossible questions, like, why is the sky blue, or why is there air? Why do people get old? Why, WHY, WHY??? But the Lord has encouraged us many times to plumb the depths, ask the difficult questions, and seek truth wherever it might be hiding. So, here goes, I am taking a deep breath…
God reveals to Joseph Smith in D&C 19, “For, behold, the mystery of godliness, how great is it! For, behold, I am endless, and the punishment which is given from my hand is endless punishment, for Endless is my name.” God declares that His name is “Endless”. To my mind “Eternity” is another word for “Endless”. If we are to study the mystery of godliness, we must study what “endless” and “eternity” mean, and the impact these terms have on the understanding of our relationship with God and the Savior. Christ declares to the Prophet Joseph Smith, “Ye were also in the beginning with the Father…Man was also in the beginning with God. Intelligence, or the light of truth, was not created or made, neither can be.” (D&C 93; T&C 93) To my way of thinking, to understand who we are and what we are, it is important to understand the concept of eternity, since that is part of our nature, too. To understand the mystery of godliness is to understand us, ourselves. It becomes the WHY of our existence, and provides essential clues to why we are here and where are we going.
Is it possible to know the mystery of “Eternity”? The Lord reveals, “And unto those who will receive will more be given, until they know the mysteries of God in full. (T&C 157:48) Christ tells His disciples, “Do not question if what I say is true because the Spirit of Truth confers light, knowledge, and understanding of the mysteries of Heaven within every soul who receives it. (Testimony of St. John 2:2). So, I believe the Lord wants us to delve into these mysteries, and promises that we can come to an understanding. The exercise, to me, is to put these concepts into perspective. How could a better understanding of these mysteries help me? Can they even help me get a better understand my purpose, why I exist; why I am here?
The Lord tells us that we have the same nature as God. “Ye were also in the beginning with the Father“, Christ, too, were are told, was in the beginning. So, do we share similar “beginnings? We have the potential of sharing in the same glory (D&C 93). So it follows that as potential heirs to Godhood, we have a right to all the knowledge and the light that we are prepared to receive, though it may take some effort to understand.
How long does it take to become a God? A million years and a thousand life times of experience? A billion years? Even if it takes a trillion years from now, you still have eternity in front of you to attain to eternal burnings as a creator God. And then a quadrillion times a quadrillion times a quadrillion years to enjoy being a God. You could reason that if you don’t make it in this life there will be an opportunity somewhere, sometime in the next cycle of existence to figure things out. Still, this life is important because it is only in the setting of a mortal existence, shut out from God’s presence, that we can obtain the faith to become what Christ has promised: co-heirs with Him in the Father’s kingdom. In one sense, we have a long time to get it right. But in reality, there is an urgency in obtaining salvation in this life right now, which is emphasized by Alma who teaches: “This life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors.” (Alma 34:32) Right now is our opportunity to take hold of the faith needed to obtain salvation. If we don’t get it in this life, will another mortal life on this earth or somewhere else prove any easier? Better to get it done now.
There is also something else to consider. We are where we are supposed to be, to accomplish only what the Father has sent us here to accomplish. If you strive for receiving a personal visitation with Christ and the Father, which is a good thing, and you don’t receive it in this life, maybe you are not yet at that point in your preparation. Other things have to be learned first. When Alma says NOW is the time, he is perfectly right, we should all strive for perfection, even if we don’t achieve it in this life. But consider that we often assume we know the meaning behind the words the Lord uses. Remember D&C 19 where the Lord says that endless punishment does not mean there is no end to it, it just means that it is endless torment because His name is “Endless” or “Eternal”. So by the same token, now is the time to prepare God because the opportunity, NOW, is before you. But, perhaps, there will be other opportunities in the eons before you, and each opportunity will be “now”. You will, however, feel torment of anguish if you do not avail yourself fully of the opportunity to advance your faith and knowledge now.
Heavenly Father is eternally patient. Maybe to become godlike we also have to develop eternal patience. The devils that follow Satan did not have patience. They wanted it all now and were not willing to wait eons of time and thousands of lifetimes in a myriad of mortal classrooms to obtain unto “eternal lives”. (Revelation 12: 7-9; Testimony of St. John 12:7). Even if we do everything right, it may still take a billion years to get where Christ and the Father dwell. We will still have eternity in front of us to enjoy the fruits of endless lives and eternal life once we get there, no matter how long it takes.
Don’t get me wrong, we have a wonderful opportunity in this life, now, to advance in the heavenly realm to an immeasurable degree compared to what was available before. And, as the Lord puts it in a way that gets your attention, if you don’t take advantage you will suffer a torment of regret. (D&C 19:7) A place where the mind is cast “into the fire that never shall be quenched, where their worm dies not and the fire is not quenched.” (Mark 9:8-10) The worm dies not and the fire is not quenched because there is no way in the spirit world to repeat the opportunity that affords itself in this mortal existence. There is no way to quench the desire in the spirit world to obtain the blessings only offered and available to us in a mortal existence.
When I think about how old my soul must be, and what and who I really am, it causes my soul to soar a little bit, and yet at the same time it cringes at the selfish and self centered decisions I have made. It makes me think how little I have accomplished and how worthless (?), no, how insignificant everything I value in this world is. I am led to believe that I can do better, that eternity is calling, and I have a lot of catching up to do.
Becoming like God, I don’t think we have an inkling of what it takes to become like God. I wonder, if we knew what is required to be like the Father (and Mother?) we would probably go into a monumental depression. It would be an existential crisis of gigantic proportion. We would be shocked and so totally devastated with the requirements that we would decide it isn’t so bad being a ministering angel forever, or perhaps take the Satan up on his offer. I believe that people don’t really know what they are getting themselves into wanting to receive exaltation in the highest heaven. We would all shrink from the requirements. Thankfully the Lord teaches us only what is required for the next level, which, difficult as it will be, protects us against the trauma of discovering the seemingly impossible tasks required to obtain the highest kingdom in heaven.
I have come to believe that the vast majority of souls on this earth have no interest in pursuing exaltation, even those in the LDS community who claim to want exaltation. They do so out of ignorance; not really comprehending what will be required of them. They will be quite content to exist continually at a level that suits them; everyone at the place they are comfortable, with other souls they are comfortable with. Maybe they enjoy existing in cycle after cycle of mortal existence in family units they have interacted with for untold eons of time, because, even though this world of mortality has a lot of negative aspects-disease, war, poverty, hunger, competition, hatred, etc., mortality does offer a lot of benefits not available to them in the spirit world. Maybe this is the Telestial existence Joseph Smith wrote about in D&C 76?
Anyway, just thinking out loud.
What is Sin (Eternally Speaking)?
I ask this question from the perspective of thinking about eternity. We tend to look at sin much more harshly than Christ or the Father does. Sin is actually a tool the Lord uses to help us learn. We are born to sin. You are incapable of not sinning. Did you get that? You are suppose to sin. The Lord has created a world that allows sin to become so pervasive that no one can escape sinning, except the Savior. He has placed us in this environment so that we would have to sin, and thus we would be able to repent and look to Christ. “For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.” (Romans 11:32). You could say that it was required for us to sin so that we could be eligible to receive His grace and be saved. But some people just can’t get over the fact that they are not perfect, and beat themselves up endlessly. There is an element of pride in not turning to Christ to remove the stain of sin. There is pride in wanting to own the sin, and not looking to Christ to help them. I have this picture in my mind of the angels who watch over us, yelling at us, “Can’t you see! Just look to Christ, ask His forgiveness and just turn it over to Him!” They see the grand picture, they have the perspective of eternity and know how simple and how easy it can be to repent. Repent, put the sin behind you and move on.
I also have this picture in my mind of meeting Christ after passing to the other side, having sought Him most of my life, and begging for His forgiveness. He waves His hand, and like that it is forgotten and forgiven. I am reminded of Isaiah 65:17, “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come to mind.” To put this life in perspective, will you remember your sojourn here on this earth at this time a million years from now?
Obviously, the simple act of repenting is not where the hard work lies. It is much harder to put the sin behind us and move on, not repeating the sin. The hardest part is forgiving yourself and allow yourself to carry on. Christ doesn’t perform magic and make the temptation go away, nor remove the memory of your actions from your mind. His Atonement allows us to be able start over as though the sin never occurred, but leaves us to deal with the consequences–which is part of the growth and learning process.
Our life in this cycle of mortality was tailored individually, to live in the environments we find ourselves, to overcome specific weaknesses in our character blocking our advancement in light and faith. Perhaps it will take multiple lifetimes in different mortal settings to work out all the kinks, not necessarily on this earth, but also in other classrooms, too. Joseph Smith declared that even after resurrection it will be an eternity before we attain where the Father is. Eternity allows us the time we need to learn all the virtues and understand godliness. So, let’s lay aside our egos, because in eternal realms there is no competition to be at the head of the line. We don’t have to get anyone’s attention to be assigned to the team. When you are ready, one day, all of a sudden, you will graduate to the next grade where you will naturally belong and feel comfortable.
As I look at the Deep Space view of thousands of galaxies my mind is faced with the reality of how insignificant and utterly tiny I really am. The Astronomers tell us that this image has a field of view about as big as your fingernail held at arms length towards the sky. If you look in any direction of the sky, everywhere, you will have the same result. There are more galaxies then there are stars in our own galaxy. That is what eternity seems like to me. Rather then depress me, it gives me hope. I started out as a point of light, a speck of intelligence. The universe is vast and eternal. This image gives me hope that there is a place for me in this wide universe, and if God can manage this vast kingdom of Galaxies, He can do what He says He will do for me.
A welcome and balanced perspective. Thanks.