“Before I Formed Thee In the Belly, I Knew Thee” (Jeremiah 1:5)

I have associated recently with an individual who claims that we are not children of God until we accept Christ. As a lifelong member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints I had always taken this knowledge for granted. I assumed that if you believe in God, you believed in your Heavenly Father as well. This associate of mine has made it very clear that such knowledge is not of common nature and thus sprang the inspiration for this most recent post.

                              

As, what some might consider, a biased Latter Day Saint I wholeheartedly assert to you, my dear reader, that you are a beloved child of God. That our Father in Heaven, whether you have accepted His Son or not, is your loving Father. It is the first piece of the Plan of Salvation that I intend to teach over the next few weeks so it is very important that you understand this key element for it is vital in understanding the rest of our Father in Heaven’s plan. Some may ask: “Where is evidence of this concept in the scriptures?” My answer; everywhere.

Aside from the verse in Jeremiah that the title of this post bears I would like you to turn to Ecclesiastes 12:7. The verse says after we die “then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.” How can we “return” if we never were there to begin with? I submit to you that we were, as God’s children, in His presence. Did not the Father say in Genesis “Let us create man in our image” (Genesis 1:26)? Does a child resemble His parent? Paul writes in Acts “For we are also His offspring” (Acts 17:27). More evidence comes in the book of Romans 8:16 “The spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God.” If one denies these rather obvious verses how do critics account for the origin of our spirit and the meaning of these verses?

I think the confusion comes in with the concept that appears in Ephesians 1:5 which says “Having predestined us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself according to the good pleasure of his will.” The associate of mine used this scripture to tell me that we only become children of God after we accept Christ. I submit to you this concept. We are children of God, sinner and saint alike we are sons and daughters of a loving Father in Heaven.  The Book of Mormon teaches “Behold, the Lord hath created the earth that it should be inhabited; and he hath created his children that they should possess it” (1 Nephi 17:26). Who lives upon the Earth, not solely individuals who have accepted Christ? Turn back to your Bible for one more moment. The New Testament reads “For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible” (Colossians 1:16). So Christ created our physical bodies under the direction of the Father, which is the visible. Yet our Father in Heaven formed our spirits, which is the invisible. Latter Day Saints also believe that we become spirit children of Christ when we accept Him and are baptized with the proper authority; the Bible teaches that we become “joint heirs with Christ” and that is only through baptism. There is the confusion. Always children of a loving Father and adopted spirit sons of daughters when accept, take His name upon us and are baptized into His Gospel.

So if our all-powerful Father in Heaven is our Father, why in the world are we here? Why did we come to Earth? Honestly that is one of the three great questions I hope to answer in the series of posts that are coming in the next few weeks. 

1) Where did I come from?
2) Why am I here? 
3) Where am I going after I die? 

The second one is going to be the focus of the rest of the post and we will back track in the next post to discuss where we all came from.

The answer is simple: we wanted to be like our Heavenly Father. We saw that He had a body of “flesh and bone” and we desired it more than anything else. We desired to be like Him. Yet our Father, who loved us, would not simply snap His fingers and make it so. Instead he came up with a plan which is what I’m teaching you know and that everyone who has ever lived or will yet live upon the Earth chose to accept.  Abraham 3:25 says “And we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all thing whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them.”  We are here to show God what we will do because of our love for Him.

Yet Heavenly Father new we would make mistakes that is why he gave His Only Begotten Son “that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life”  (John 3:16).  The atonement is central to our Father in Heaven’s plan. It is the only why we can get back to Him, which was the plan when we left His presence in the First place. He loves us so much my dear reader. More than you or I could ever comprehend. I personally testify that He is our Father. That he watched out for us and beckons us to seek Him. He weeps at our tears and rejoices at our triumphs. “Behold, now are we the son [note: the original Greek reads children or people] of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is” (1 John 3:2). I pray, my dear reader that wherever on the road you are with God you do everything you can to draw closer to Him. Learn this for yourself by studying His word and talking with missionaries who will show you just how loved and wanted you really are by He who created all things. May He be with you always and until you read again.

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