God is the box…

Often as I get ready for work I listen to music.  I have a crazy mix on my Pandora, from 80’s music to Disney Children’s Songs.  The other day as I was walking out the door, the song How Great is Our God by Chris Tomlin came on and it made me stop and think. There were a few things that came up this week that reminded me of the difference between my God and the god of Mormonism.

I have written many blogs at this point about God’s power and ability.  I remember when I was a kid and my dad did a family home evening lesson on God and his power.  He talked about God being omnipotent and omniscient.  Meaning that God is all powerful and all knowing.  I thought that was a pretty cool thing.   I as I have grown in my Christian walk I have also learned that God is omnipresent meaning in all places at all times.  I have heard mixed reviews on whether Mormon’s agree with this or not although, I believe most of them do.

As I thought about all of this on my 40-minute drive to work, it lead me to think about the differences between the God of the Bible and the god of Mormonism.  When I was Mormon, I didn’t realize there was a difference between the god I believed in and the God of the Bible.   I kind of remember when I was little and I asked where God came from.  I don’t remember the answer I was given but I remember from that conversation, a picture of continuous gods and I felt like my question was never answered.  Where did the first god come from then?  It was something that was difficult to answer and maybe my parents thought I was too young to understand.

As an adult, I now know there is a huge difference between my God, the God of the Bible and the Mormon god.  Mormons believe that the god of our planet was once a man just like you and me.  He lived life on a planet where he sinned and worked hard to be pleasing to his heavenly father.  Through his works and the plan of salvation he was exalted to godhood. He earned this through making good choices and keeping the covenants and ordinances that were put before him. They also believe that we, as humans, also have the opportunity to become god of our own planet; if we live the right way and do the right things.  Joseph Smith taught that men and women were co-eternal with God and could become like Him by “going from a small capacity to a great capacity,” until eventually they dwell “in everlasting burnings.”

To me Joseph Smith is stating we are equals with god and can be the same as god.  I think that is what started all of the problems in the world in the first place.  Satan was thrown out of Heaven because he wanted to be God.  Adam and Eve were kicked out of the Garden of Eden and sin entered the world because they wanted to be like God.  To me striving to be like God is trouble and something to avoid at all costs.

Joseph Smith also stated, “The soul, the mind of man, where did it come from? The learned says God made it in the beginning, but it is not so. I know better. God has told me so.”  This statement also baffles me.  I feel Joseph Smith is saying that the Bible is wrong and God didn’t really create “man”.  Joseph Smith doesn’t say where man came from but, that he knows better than what God’s word says.

Because they believe the god of our planet has his own heavenly father that means they believe there was another god before our god made his own planet.  And they believe people here on earth can also be exalted and become gods, therefore, they believe in more than one god.

As a Christian, I believe in one God existent in 3 personages; the Trinity of God.  I believe God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirt are one God.  My pastor explains it Dr. Seuss style: 3 who’s and 1 what; the 2nd who has an extra what. They are 3 beings working together as one.  I’m not great at explaining the Trinity and I have a hard time wrapping my brain around it.  The Bible refers to the Trinity in many verses. John 14:9-11 says “Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work.11 Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves.”  And Philippians 2:5-8 states “In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; 7 rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross!”  These are just a few of the verses that refer to God and Jesus being one. If you feel that the Trinity doesn’t make sense and you want to understand it more, here is a link that I feel explains it well https://carm.org/trinity-makes-no-sense-it-isnt-logical.

I also believe God has always existed.  The Bible is full of versus that state that God has always existed.  Psalms 90:2 states “Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the whole world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.”  Proverbs 8:23 states “I was formed long ages ago, at the very beginning, when the world came to be.” And Revelation 1:8 states “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” These are just a few of the many.

I think many people struggle with believing in God because He doesn’t fit into a box.  As I was talking to Brian about this blog, he said God is the box.  That is so true.   We are inside God’s box and it impossible to wrap our brains around the amazingness of God. Sometimes it’s so hard to even comprehend God and all of his awesomeness.  It’s easy to limit God because we can’t even imagine His power.

How great is my God?  He is the ultimate.  He is the creator of all things.  He created the universe and he created me.  He spoke the world into existence and darkness trembles at His name!  The thing that I find most amazing about God is that He can make me feel like the most important person in the world and at the same time can be doing the exact same thing for someone all the way across the world.

I’m just a small-town girl…who has a God who is too big for a box.