Becoming One With Him

ONE WITH HIM 

Was there ever or could there ever be a higher expression of love than for Jesus Christ to pray for those whom believe and follow His disciples; for them to become one with Him? ( 3 Nephi 19:23, D&C 35:2 , John 17:21 ) 

 

" And now my Father, I pray unto thee for them, and also for all those who shall believe on their words, that they may believe in me, that I may be in them, as thou, Father art in me, that we may be one."

 

As I think about what it means to " be one " with a person; the words of the deepest love come to mind. As I think about quotes such as this, I become highly aware of what each and everyone of God's children mean to Him and Christ:

 

" Becoming One is fusion, when two people become one. They are so close to each other that they blend together. They merge and can not live without each other after that. "

 

It reminds me of being in the temple and the covenants that I made and keep also seal me or " fuse" me to Him. 

 

The fact that He loves me so much reminds me of what the faithful son was reminded of in the story of the Prodigal Son, His Father told him, " All that I have is thine." ( Luke 15:31 )

 

What a glorious thing- How much He loves us. 

 

Elder Tad Callister teaches us of these truths in his talk titled, " Our Identity and our Destiny , " as he says, 

"At one point the Savior was about to be stoned by the Jews for blasphemy. He reminded them of His good works and then asked, “For which of those works do ye stone me?”


They replied that they were not stoning him for good works “but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God.”


To this He readily acknowledged that He was and declared that they should be likewise: “Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?” (John 10:32–34; emphasis added). In other words, He said not only am I a god, but all of you are potential gods. He was referring to His own Old Testament declaration, with which the Jews should have been familiar: “Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High” (Psalm 82:6). The Savior was merely reaffirming a basic gospel teaching that all men are children of God, and thus all might become like Him.


Paul understood this principle, for, when speaking to the men of Athens, he said: “Certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring” (Acts 17:28). Paul knew the consequences of being the offspring of God, for, while speaking to the Romans, he declared:


The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:


And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ. [Romans 8:16–17; emphasis added; see also 1 Corinthians 3:21–23 and Revelation 21:7]


Not subordinate heirs, not junior, not contingent, but joint, equal heirs with Christ Himself, to share in all that He shall share. After all, is not that the same promise made by the Lord to the Apostle John? “To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne” (Revelation 3:21).


Is it any wonder that Paul should write to the Saints of Philippi, “I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:14). Paul, who understood so very well our destiny, was striving for the reward of godhood. Peter, who also understood this doctrine, pled with the Saints that they might become “partakers of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4), meaning recipients of godhood. That is exactly what Jesus ordered when speaking to the Book of Mormon Saints: “Therefore, what manner of men ought ye to be? Verily I say unto you, even as I am” (3 Nephi 27:27; see also 1 John 3:2). And it is exactly what the Savior promised in this dispensation for all faithful Saints: “Then shall they be gods, because they have all power, and the angels are subject unto them” (D&C 132:20; see also verse 19; see also D&C 76:58–60).


The critic, still shaking his head, responds, “But such a concept lowers God to the status of man and thus robs Him of His divinity.”


“Or, to the contrary,” comes the reply, “does it elevate man in his divine-like potential?”


Paul well knew this argument of the critic and silenced it once and for all ages ago. Speaking to the Saints of Philippi, he said:


Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:


Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God. [Philippians 2:5–6; emphasis added]


The Savior knew that for Him to be a god and for us to be thus minded would not rob God of His divinity. That makes good sense. After all, who is greater: that being who limits or that being who enhances man’s eternal progress?


One might ask, Who can give greater honor and glory to God—a creature of lower or more exalted status? Can an animal offer the same honor or worship with the same passion and intensity as a human? Can a mere mortal express the empyreal feelings or exercise the spiritual fervency of a potential god? One’s capacity to honor and worship is magnified with one’s intellectual, emotional, cultural, and spiritual enlightenment. Accordingly, the more we become like God, the greater our ability to pay Him homage. In that process of lifting men heavenward, God simultaneously multiplies His own honor and glory and thus is glorified more, not less.
" August 14, 2012

Campus Education Week Devotional

 

 I am so thankful that He loves all of His children this much, and I hope to obtain the truth we are taught in 2 Corinthians 3:18, as it reads:

" But we all with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory even as by the Spirit of the Lord."

There is nothing I want more than to be like Him and show Him how thankful I am for the opportunity that He gives me.. I say this in the name of Jesus Christ.Amen.