The God Story.

Greater than it Appears.—"Mormonism" is a much bigger thing than Catholic scholars or Episcopal bishops imagine. It is only a nickname for the Everlasting Gospel, restored to earth in the nineteenth century, that it might be preached "to every nation and kindred and tongue and people,"^[1] as a warning to the world that the end of wickedness is nigh, that the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand, and that the Lord whom the righteous seek is about to "come suddenly to his Temple."^[2]

The Antiquity of the Gospel.—The Gospel originated in the heavens before this earth was formed, and was revealed from God out of Eternity at the very beginning of Time. It was the means whereby our great ancestor, Adam, after his expulsion from Eden, regained the Divine Presence from which he had been banished; and it is the means whereby his posterity, such as are obedient to the Gospel's requirements, may follow him into the Celestial Kingdom. The same ladder that he climbed, until beyond the reach of the fatal consequences of his transgression, the whole human race, inheriting from him the effects of the fall, must also climb, or they will never see the face of God in eternal glory.

The Path to Perfection.—But the Gospel is more than a means of escape from impending ills. To all good Christians it is as a life-boat, or a fire-escape, a way out of a perilous situation. To the Latter-day Saints, it is all this and more. A divine plan for human progress, the foreordained Pathway to Perfection—such is Christ's Gospel, as revealed to and proclaimed by Joseph the Seer.

The Word Made Flesh.—The English word "Gospel" comes from the Anglo-Saxon "Godspell" or God-story—the Story of God. It derives its significance from that great central idea of the Christian faith, the coming of God as the Son of God to redeem and save mankind. "God himself shall come down among the children of men, and shall redeem his people; and because he dwelleth in flesh, he shall be called the Son of God."^[3] The fulfillment of this and similar foretellings is recorded in the opening verses of the Gospel according to St. John, referring to "The Word" that was in the beginning "with God"—the Word that "was God," and was "made flesh." In Him, as Paul affirms, "dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily."^[4]

Basic Principles.—When we consider the Gospel, therefore, we should bear in mind that the term means something more than faith, repentance, baptism, and the laying on of hands for the gift (giving) of the Holy Ghost, with other rituals and requirements in the Church of Christ. We cannot separate "the laws and ordinances of the Gospel" from the basic principles upon which they rest-the mighty foundation stones of Sacrifice and Redemption, without which all this sacred legislation would be of no effect. Nor can the basic principles and powers that vitalize and make operative these laws and ordinances be dissociated from the idea of Eternal Progression, the great and paramount purpose for which the Gospel code was framed, the Gospel in its fulness instituted.^[5]

The Complete Story.—The Gospel, in its fullest scope of meaning, signifies everything connected with the wondrous career of that Divine Being who was known among men as Jesus of Nazareth, but who was and is no other than Jehovah, the God of Israel, who "came unto his own," and was rejected by them, crucified at their instigation, and died to redeem the world.^[6] The accounts given by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are properly termed "gospels," for they are narratives of the personal ministry of our Lord. But they are only parts of the complete God-Story.^[7] The Savior's life, death, resurrection and ascension, with the conditions prescribed by him upon which fallen man might profit further from his sacrifice for human redemption—these are all gospel features, but not the Gospel in its entirety. The full "Story" of the God who died that man might live, involves events both past and future, events pre-mortal and post-mortal, scenes in which He was chosen to play his mighty part in the great tragedy of human experience, and scenes yet to come in which He will make another and a more glorious appearing upon the stage of Time, enacting the illustrious role of King of Kings and reigning over the earth a thousand years.

Essentials to Eternal Progress.—Everything vitally connected with man's mortal pilgrimage was understood and arranged before that pilgrimage began. Earth's creation was but one of the pre-essentials.^[8] The means of getting man down upon the earth, and the means of redeeming him from the fall, had also to be provided. The Gospel was instituted, and an Executor appointed to put it into effect; the machinery constructed, and the power then turned on. Eternal progress, endless exaltation, were the sublime objects in view, and over the glad prospect, despite the pain and sorrow that must necessarily intervene, "the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy."^[9]

Elect of Elohim.—In the Eternal Councils, while the creation of "an earth" was in contemplation, the question arose as to who among the Sons of Deity should redeem man from the fall. Lucifer, "an angel of God who was in authority in the presence of God," would fain have been selected for the mighty mission; but his scheme for human redemption was of a compulsory character, destructive of the free agency of man. Moreover, this "Son of the Morning" had become darkened to that degree that he demanded, in recompense for his proposed service, the honor and glory that belong only to the Highest.^[10] Therefore was he rejected, and, rebelling, "was thrust down from the presence of God and the Son, and was called Perdition, for the heavens wept over him."^[11] "And also a third part of the hosts of heaven turned he away . . . . because of their agency."^[12]

The Chosen of the Father stood first among all the Sons of God.^[13] He is the Father's first-begotten in the spirit, and his only-begotten in the flesh. To him was assigned the role of Earth's Redeemer. And while revelation is silent upon the subject, or not so specific in their cases, we have good reason to believe that the parts played by Adam and Eve and other "noble and great ones" in the mighty drama of Eternal Progression, were cast at the same time.^[14]

The Perfect Plan.—The Gospel, Christ's perfect plan, unlike the defective scheme proposed by Lucifer, gives the right of choice between good and evil. It saves men, not in their sins, but from their sins—liberates them from spiritual darkness, the bondage of death and hell, and lifts them into the joy and freedom of light and life eternal. Hence that splendid phrase, that majestic synonym, used by the Apostle James in describing the Gospel—"The Perfect Law of Liberty."^[15]

The Purpose Paramount.—The grand object in view when that great Law was instituted, is clearly, though briefly, outlined in the following passage from the writings of Joseph the Seer:

"The first principles of man are self-existent with God. . . Finding he was in the midst of spirits and glory, because he was more intelligent (he) saw proper to institute laws whereby the rest could have a privilege to advance like himself. The relationship we have with God places us in a situation to advance in knowledge. He has power to institute laws to instruct the weaker intelligences, that they may be exalted with himself, so that they may have one glory upon another."^[16]

The Benevolence of Deity.—And thus is shown the benevolence as well as the power of Deity. Our Heavenly Father is no monopolist. Omnipotent and all-possessing, he is likewise altruistic, philanthropic. He employed his superior intelligence, which constitutes his glory,^[17] to institute laws whereby the lesser spirits surrounding him might advance toward the lofty plane that he occupies. He proposed to lift them to his own spiritual stature, and share with them the empire of the universe.

Salvation and Exaltation.—The Gospel of Christ is termed by St. Paul "the power of God unto salvation."^[18] Paul might have gone further, had he been so inclined, or had it been timely. He could have shown that the Gospel is also the power of God unto exaltation, a plan devised by omnipotent wisdom whereby the sons and daughters of Deity may advance from stage to stage of soul development, until they become like their heavenly parents, the Eternal Father and Mother, inheriting endless thrones and dominions and receiving "a fulness of joy."^[19]

This is exaltation. It is more than salvation, being an extension of that idea or condition—salvation "added upon;" just as salvation is an extension of, or an addition to, the idea or condition of redemption. A soul may be redeemed—that is, raised from the dead—and yet be condemned at the Final Judgment for evil deeds done in the body. Likewise may a soul be saved, and yet come short of the glory that constitutes exaltation. To redeem, save and glorify, is the threefold mission of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Footnotes

1. Rev. 14:6.2. Mal. 3:1.3. Mosiah 15:1, 2; 3:5. The joyful intelligence of the advent of the World's Redeemer, proclaimed by angels to the shepherds on the Judean hills (Luke 2:10), furnishes another name for the Gospel—"good tidings," or, as otherwise rendered, "glad tidings of great joy."4. Col. 2:9. Compare Ether 3:14, and Alma 11:38, 39.5. All fulness is relative, as pertaining to the revealed word of God. There can be no absolute fulness with man until everything is made known to him. The fulness of the Gospel, as delivered to the Nephites and other ancient peoples, was not so complete as is the fulness enjoyed by the Latter-day Saints. Truth is always the same, but more of its principles have been revealed in modern times than at any previous period. And the end is not yet; for, as our Prophet declares: "Those things which never have been revealed from the foundation of the world, but have been kept hid from the wise and prudent, shall be revealed unto babes and sucklings in this, the dispensation of the fulness of times." (D. and C. 128:18.) Such an outpouring of truth and light can come only to a people prepared for it. "When that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away" (I Cor. 13:10). Until then a comparative fulness, or all that the finite mind can contain of infinite wisdom, must suffice human aspiration and continue to be the lot even of the most enlightened.6. D. and C. 110:1-4.7. The book of Isaiah is sometimes called "the fifth gospel," it having so much to say about the coming Redeemer; and just as fittingly might the third book of Nephi be termed a "gospel," narrating as it does the risen Christ's personal ministrations to the descendants of Lehi.8. Abr. 3:24.9. Job 38:7.10. Moses 4:1-4.11. D. and C. 76:25, 26.12. Ib. 29:36.

"Satan (it is possible) being opposed to the will of his Father, wished to avoid the responsibilities of this position. . . . . He probably intended to make men atone for their own acts by an act of coercion and the shedding of their own blood as an atonement for their sins."—"The Mediation and Atonement," by President John Taylor, pp. 96, 97.13. Rom. 8:29.14. Abr. 3:23; Jer. 1:5, Hist. Ch. Vol. 6, p. 364.15. James 1:25.16. "Times and Seasons," Aug. 15, 1844; "Improvement Era," Jan., 1909.

Our Prophet's simple yet sublime setting forth is far more pointed and specific than the presentment made by Plato of a doctrine somewhat similar. The Greek philosopher, as quoted by Emerson, says: "Let us declare the cause which led the Supreme Ordainer to produce and compose the universe. He was good; and he who is good has no kind of envy. Exempt from envy, he wished that all things should be as much as possible like himself. Whosoever, taught by wise men, shall admit this as the prime cause of the origin and foundation of the world, will be in the truth" ("Plato," Emerson's "Representative Men"). There is a fitness, a propriety, in man's becoming like his Maker—God's child, fashioned in his image and endowed with divine attributes, developing to the fulness of the parental stature, as taught by Joseph; but how the same can be predicated of "all things," as Plato implies, is not so clear. That the lower animals, and in fact all forms of life, are to be perpetuated and glorified, is more than an inference from the teachings of the Prophet (D. and C. 29:24, 25; 77:2-4). But undoubtedly all will retain their identity in their respective orders and spheres. No creature of God's excepting man can become like God in the fullest and highest sense.17. D. and C. 93:36.18. Rom. 1:16.19. D. and C. 76:50-70; 93:33; Abr. 3:26.