The Woman and the Man in the Lord
READ 1 Corinthians 11:11-12
What
does it mean that “neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman
without the man, in the Lord”?
It refers to the sealing of the man and
the woman into an eternal family unit.
It refers to the definition of “Elohim”
as a plural name: the need for a male and female god to be one if they are to
be “in the Lord” and fulfill the measure of their ultimate eternal creation.
The sealing completes what is left
incomplete upon entry into this mortal world – because it is “not good” to be
alone or separate (see Genesis 2:18), either in this world or the eternities.
READ Moses 2:27 and Moses 6:9
When
man was created in the “image of God”; what does that mean?
The image of God is male and female
TOGETHER as one “God”.
God is the creator of infinite creations,
which requires both the male and female god to accomplish; they have different
traits that they bring to the task of creation; mortal men and women are the
same on earth.
READ Genesis 1:3 and LoF 1:13-17
How
does God create?
The speak Their words or thoughts.
They imagine or conceive Their creation
into existence.
It is an act of faith – as a principle of
power.
We might describe it as God imagining or
conceiving light into existence and since we are made of light, it would be
equally true that They conceive or imagine or “manifest” or “organize” us into life
(I would say life not existence because we have always existed in one form or
another).
READ D&C 93:30
If
we, as intelligence, were conceived of solely by the Father, how can we ever be
independent of Him?
We cannot; if we were the product of only
one mind’s thought or word, we could never act independently of the one
mind.
Everything about the conceived individual
would be under the exclusive control of the one mind – they would be wholly
predictable and subordinate to the single mind – they cannot take on a “life of
their own.”
So
how can we be independent in the sphere in which we’ve been placed by God?
Only when two entities are jointly
conceiving an individual intelligence does it become possible for the individual
conceived to be independent of control.
So long as both gods have input, neither
one can fully control what the third personality will choose to do – in fact,
this dynamic introduces the element of choice for the third.
“God” means “Elohim” which is plural =
the image of God is the male and female God.
But the last critical step of the process
happens when that intelligence accepts that right of self-determination and
makes a choice freely – only then do they exist as an independent entity (see
also 2 Nephi 2:13-14, 26), regardless of the fact that they may have existed
previously as a dependent entity.
Why is Elohim a plural name for God?
It is absolutely essential to the process
of “creation” or “conceiving” for God the Father to have a female consort or
Mother God. When the Father and Mother
hold the same thought (or word or intelligence) together, with faith in the
existence of this new creation, while neither one is fully controlling the
individual intelligence, then existence is possible – that new individual can
then make their own choices to act and not be acted upon as a puppet.
Because they are “one”, they are called
by a single name (Elohim) but they are two entities because they must choose to
act as one but be two, to create the dynamic just described. “God” is two.
For the mortal man, having a wife and
being able to ascend to the Lord‘s presence are not unrelated. They are
instead, intimately connected. We must
be in the image of God – completed as a “person” – neither the man without the
woman or the woman without the man, in the Lord. Mortals are saved in a union designed, like
God, to produce eternal progeny.
Gifts of the Spirit
READ 1 Corinthians 12:1, 4-11
Why
are gifts of the Spirit given?
To bless the lives of other Saints (v7).
To show the presence of the light of
heaven.
As an “earnest money” of the inheritance
of light to be received later, in fullness.
To prove to the individual experiencing
them, that they are in covenant and following in the right Way.
READ TPJS 271:4 and 272:2
Can
gifts of the Spirit come without the Holy Ghost?
No (see TPJS 272:2).
They are among the “diversities of gifts”
but the same Spirit.
READ 1 Corinthians 12:14, 18-20, 25-26
Is
there a body part that is so preeminent that it can exist without the rest?
Not outside of science fiction.
The brain needs the heart, etc.
Why
does God give different gifts to different people?
So all will be valued as part of the
“body of Christ”.
So all will have some part to play – all
have some opportunity to contribute to the edification or enabling of the rest.
The Gift of Charity
READ 1 Corinthians 12:31-1 Corinthians
13:3
Joseph
Smith said we are only saved as quickly as we gain saving knowledge – which
means to know we’ve been sealed up to Eternal Life by the voice of God Himself;
understanding the mysteries enables you to walk back into God’s presence; being
able to move mountains shows you’ve been given the High Priesthood After the
Order of the Son of God with its accompanying sealing power… So why, if we gain
all of those things but do not have charity, are we “nothing” and will “fail”
(v8)?
We have become a danger to the Universe –
we have become Perdition and a Satan.
Somehow we have managed to attain to the
blessings of God’s eternal inheritance without becoming as He is – a God of
love; implied is that we’ve chosen to betray God after we’ve been following Him
and know Him.
Without God, we are truly nothing… good.
READ 1 Corinthians 13:4-10
How
do these verses typify how Christ works with us?
He does not compel – rather He invites
people to follow Him, He “draws” men to Him.
He is meek – He meets us where we are and
does not force His agenda on us – He honors our agency.
He has already borne all things for us
but He continues to minister to us, largely unseen – and He will continue to
minister in patience until the last day.
He became the greatest by suffering and
serving the most, and despite being God, He will speak to us in plain humility,
as one man speaks to another.
In the garden and on the cross, it was
His love for us and for His Father and Mother that kept Him going to the bitter
end, despite wanting to “let the cup pass from Him” – He did not fail us.
READ John 13:34-35
Why
is love the Great Sign of the true follower of Christ?
He told us that if we love Him, we’ll
keep His commandments – with loving others being the preeminent commandment to
keep.
We emulate what we love, so if Christ has
our heart, all we want – with our whole souls – is to be like Him and to do
things that please Him – and that means to love as He loved (see also John
15:9-13).
As we are born of the Spirit and continue
through the Lord’s Wilderness to the Tree of Life to partake of the Fruit by
obedience to His commandments, we will be filled with light and glory, and we
will begin to resonate at a higher frequency – love vibrates at a high
frequency while fear vibrates at a low frequency – think about energy, heat,
speed, and quickening.
Everything He did was due to His love for
us – and He said, “be even as I am” – in other words, love others as I love you
if you will be like me.
READ 1 Corinthians 13:11-13
What
is the glass we look through darkly?
The veil between this world and the unseen
world.
The veil between the mortal timebound
universe and the heavens where God is outside of time.
When
will we know as we are known?
When we rend the veil and are face to
face with our Lord.
When we’ve spent enough time with Him in
various circumstances to know Him as He knows us.
It DOES NOT SAY “when we die”.
This suggests that Paul was still
continuing his journey back to the Lord to be sealed up to Eternal Life, even
though he had already seen Him at least once by this point; implied is that
just seeing the Lord – even in person – is not the end of the journey.
Why
is charity the greatest of the three?
Because it encapsulates, in a word, who
or what God is.
He exists to bring to pass the
immortality and eternal life of others, and He does it through condescension
and eternal sacrifice.
Faith and hope are “rungs on the ladder”
to charity.
The Reality of the Resurrection
READ 1 Corinthians 15:3-8
How
do we know the resurrection happened?
The testimony of witnesses.
When we feel the wounds of the Lord for
ourselves in the flesh.
What
is the problem with the testimony of witnesses?
They could be lying (a conspiracy, since
there are so many named).
They could be mistaken or tricked.
They could be insane.
What
does a witness do for you?
It introduces an idea (in this case):
Christ rose from the dead.
It introduces the possibility that there
is proof: Others say they have seen Him and felt tokens that prove it is Jesus
of Nazareth who was crucified.
It can inspire you to find out for
yourself if the witness is true.
Religion and the spiritual experiences
that come with it are all intensely personal and anecdotal. That is the point – God wants to entice you
to find Him yourself (see LoF 2:54-56).
Can
it be proven that Christ rose from the dead?
Yes; He can actually come to you during
your mortal life and you can feel the prints of the nails for yourself -
through the mortal senses and the accompanying witness of the Holy Spirit, you
can know He lives.
Then you can say “I know of a surety and
bear record that it was He that came!” – (see 3 Nephi 11:14-15).
There is a reason that a perfect God with
a resurrected body would chose to retain the ugly, marring, physical marks of
death which can be felt by a mortal with a telestial body of flesh and blood.
Ultimately, He will appear to all those
who remain on the earth when He comes in fire and glory.
READ 1 Corinthians 15:21-22
What is the relationship between Adam
and Christ?
Everything that consequentially went
wrong with the Earth after the Fall of Adam is redeemed and reclaimed by Christ
through His Atonement and Resurrection.
Adam was the first man and Christ was the
“worm” or “least of all” who was made guilty of all of the sins of all mankind.
Adam transgressed and fell, becoming
subject to death while Christ kept all of the commandments and triumphed over
death and hell.
Christ is the Son of God and Adam is His
Archangel, Michael.
READ 1 Corinthians 15:40-44
What
is Paul teaching us that we will receive in the resurrection?
A physical, spiritual (refined with
light) body that is incorruptible.
But not all of these bodies are the same
– some are quickened by a Celestial glory (able to stand in the presence of the
Father/Elohim), some by a Terrestrial glory (able to stand in the presence of
the Son), and some a Telestial glory (unable to stand in the presence of Gods
without transfiguration and protection).
While there are “kingdoms” where those
with certain kinds of bodies can dwell, Paul refers to the bodies themselves as
of different glories.
READ D&C 130:18-21
How
does one receive one kind of body or glory over another?
It depends on how much intelligence or
knowledge they gathered to themselves in this life.
Which light depends on what they were
diligently doing and who they were obedient to: were they keeping God’s laws
that they might receive the accompanying blessings or following after their own
desires or someone else’s; were they abiding by the principles of eternal light
or not.
