4. Jesus is the God of the Old Testament

Why is this important? We must first remember that life is all about progression. Think, if you will, of an individual with a job. We see that they either do well and strive to improve their employment and skills, or they remain the same and stagnate. Now, just from what you have read about the individual, which do you feel is most important for that individual to do, progress or stagnate?  I would be so bold as to wager that well nigh unto everybody will agree (while understanding the modern and Western concepts of jobs) that to progress is the good thing, and to stagnate is a bad thing. One can apply this to a role as spouse, parent, student, or what have you. In any role in life, we inherently seek to improve ourselves.

We inherently (and I use inherently and not naturally to distinguish between the natural/carnal desires and those inherited from our Heavenly parent) seek to improve our situations, our demeanors, our outlook, and well, everything. One problem arrises when we have a false notion of what improvement is and an appropriate way to achieve improvement.

Anyhow, we must recognize that Jesus is the one who gave the Ten Commandments to Moses in the first place. It was Him, known at the time as Jehovah, who gave the Commandments to the people of Israel, that they might know how and for whom to look for for salvation.

A BYU and a Ricks College professor discuss the doctrine of Jesus Christ of the New Testament being the God of the Old Testament, His role as a Father, and our relationship to Him.

Keith L. Sellers, visiting professor of ancient scripture, Brigham Young University, and Victor G. Forsnes, professor of engineering, Ricks College. To better understand the Lord’s words in Isaiah 44 and 45, we must first identify who is speaking. The passage indicates that it is “the king of Israel,” the “Lord of Hosts” (Isa. 44:6)—“a just God and a Saviour” (Isa. 45:21). This is the God of the Old Testament, the Great I Am—Jehovah.

Through Latter-day scripture, we know that Jehovah was the premortal name for Jesus Christ. “Behold,” Jesus told the Nephites, “I am he that gave the law, and I am he who covenanted with my people Israel.” (3 Ne. 15:5; see also D&C 38:1–4.)

Jehovah, or Jesus Christ, is known by many other names. One of these is the Son, meaning the Son of God the Father. (See 1 Ne. 11:18–21.) In 1916, the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve explained that “Jesus Christ is the Son of Elohim both as spiritual and bodily offspring; that is to say, Elohim is literally the Father of the spirit of Jesus Christ and also of the body in which Jesus Christ performed His mission in the flesh.”

They went on to declare that because of this unique relationship with God the Father, “Jesus the Son has represented and yet represents Elohim His Father in power and authority. This is true of Christ in His preexistent, antemortal, or unembodied state, in the which He was known as Jehovah,” as well as in mortality and today in his resurrected state. “The Father placed His name upon the Son,” the First Presidency and Quorum of Twelve continued, “and Jesus Christ spoke and ministered in and through the Father’s name; and so far as power, authority and Godship are concerned His words and acts were and are those of the Father.” (In James R. Clark, comp., Messages of the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 6 vols. (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1965–75), 5:27, 31–32.)

Invested with this kind of authority, Jehovah can rightly speak to Israel as though he were the Father in matters involving their learning, understanding, and salvation. He was thus invested with the power of the Father in creating the earth and in his role as the Messiah—the Christ, the Anointed One—in performing the infinite and eternal atonement. He embodies the fulness of the Father’s power, and in his role as the Mediator speaks and acts for the Father.

Jehovah also speaks properly and authoritatively as the Father in his role as (1) the Creator—the Father of the heavens and the earth—and (2) the Father of all who accept the gospel covenant and take upon themselves his name, whereby they are “born again” as his sons and daughters and adopted into his family. (See Messages of the First Presidency, 5:26–34.)

Keeping in mind, then, that though the Father and the Son are separate beings, the Son, by divine investiture of authority, can speak as though he were God the Father—and, in fact, in certain of his roles is a Father…

Keith L. Sellers and Victor G. Forsnes, “I Have a Question,” Ensign, Dec. 1989, 52–53

Again, when we realize that Jesus Christ is the one who presented the Ten Commandments to Moses, we realize that these laws will and can put us on the path to accepting Jesus Christ as our Savior and put us on the path to eternal life. In fact, following these laws puts us on a path to solve all of our problems, even all of the problems in the world. And they are part of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Charity = the highest, noblest, strongest kind of love; a prompting motive of actions. Charity is a defining quality, it creates change.
Moroni 7:46-47 – charity is the greatest of all;
1 Corinthians 13:1-3 – if I have ___ but not charity, I am nothing.
Matthew 22:36-40 – love is the greatest commandment. All other laws and the principle of having prophets rests and is built on this foundation.

Christ’s Examples
Christ showed us the greatest examples of charity.  John 15:12-13 shows us the greatest act of charity.  Christ’s examples of charity come in great and small ways.

• Luke 22:41-44 – The great intercessory prayer shows His ultimate love for all of us.
• Alma 7:11-13 – description of Atonement.
• Luke 22:50-51 – heals the man’s ear
• Luke 23:33-34 – (see footnote c) forgives those who crucify Him
• 3 Nephi 17:2-7 – Jesus’ bowels are filled with mercy
• John 8: 1-11 – Jesus does not condemn the woman, but loves her and forgives her as she repents.

All of Christ’s examples point to one important requirement for developing and using charity in our interaction with others.  1 Corinthians 13:4-5 – suffereth long, envieth not, vaunteth not itself, not puffed up, seeketh not her own.  Moroni 7: 44 – meek and lowly in heart.  In order to have charity, one must be humble.

In thinking how Christ’s examples of charity can influence me, I came to think upon how we learn as humans and what motivates us.  Basically, how can I apply what I learned about Christ’s examples of charity in my own life?

Physical Senses
There are varying levels of understanding, or ways to comprehend, the world we live in.  Babies primarily use the sense of taste.  Everything goes into their mouths.  That is how they compare new things with those they already know.  As they grow, children begin to rely more on their other senses too: touch, sight, smell and hear.  They are curious and want to touch and see EVERYTHING!  We learn, understand and believe things about life through these senses.  These are physical ways to understand, to learn, and to know.

Six Motivators
There are additional ways to understand and learn which are mainly emotional.  As we grow older, we learn to rely on these senses as well.  These senses are what motivate us to do just about everything in life.  Like many things, they denote a progression from least to greatest, from bad to good to best.  As we move to higher levels of understanding and act the higher law, we fulfill his admonition in Matt 5:48 to be perfect even as the Father is.  We progress to be more like Christ (see Ether 12:48).  These six motivators are force, fear, rewards, duty, faith and love – or charity.

External Motivators
The first three motivators (force, fear, and rewards) are external, they are applied to us, or we use them to gain control over others.  They are focused outwardly.  They are all a form of consequence.  We can see them most often used when a parent disciplines their children incorrectly and unwisely.  I know, I use these motivators my self all too often.  We often hear, “If you finish dinner you can have desert” or “No desert until you finish your dinner!” or “You’re going to finish dinner or else!”  In the grown up world we seem to be no better.

Internal Motivators
There are better ways, higher ways, heavenly ways (duty, faith, and love).  As we climb the emotional motivator ladder, we reach the higher rungs where God dwells.  We begin to use the motivator that He uses, love – or charity.  These motivators do not seek to get others to do, but seek to prompt ourselves to action.  They are focused inwardly.  They ask, “What must I do to achieve results?” rather than “What must others do?” or “How can I make others change?”  This gets at the heart of Christ’s saying in Matt. 10:39 “He that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.”

• Duty: D&C 107: 99 – let every man learn his duty…  As we learn our duties, we put ourselves in a position to learn, understand, and grow.  “How can I do my part?” is what motivates us.
• Faith: Ether 12:6 – Faith is an emotional motivator. We hope for an outcome we do not know for sure will happen.  We pay 10% of our income to the Church as tithing because of faith.  “What should I do?” is what we ask.
• Charity:  Galatians 4:14 “For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.”  Charity is the greatest commandment, the ultimate motivator, the eternal force.

In trying circumstances, charity helps us suspect the best in others.  For example, when work is stressful and sleep is extra-needful, a crying baby throughout the night can make a parent want to pull out hair and scream with frustration and weariness.  But by applying the lens of charity to our view of he situation, we can filter our perspective, gain control of out thoughts and emotions, and act with love – even act as Christ would act.  We realize that a baby is continually learning.  He must learn to put himself back to sleep at night, must learn to be calm.  As a  parent, I am to teach that child.  There is no ill or malicious intent in a baby, and believe it or not, neither is there in small children.  Moroni teaches us in Moroni 8:8, little children are not capable of committing sin.  They are all in a learning process.  Our love for them and our level of charity will allow us to see their intentions as positive, and allow us to teach in a loving manner.

Repentance is a gift of charity
We should not be discouraged when we find ourselves falling short and using the lesser motivators.  One of the greatest acts of charity that Christ gives us constantly is that of repentance.  Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said: “You can change anything you want to change and you can do it very fast. That’s another Satanic sucker-punch—that it takes years and years and eons of eternity to repent. It takes exactly as long to repent as it takes you to say ‘I’ll change’—and mean it. Of course there will be problems to work out and restitutions to make. You may well spend—indeed you had better spend—the rest of your life proving your repentance by its permanence. But change, growth, renewal, repentance can come for you as instantaneously as it did for Alma and the Sons of Mosiah” (“Tempering Our Tempers,” Ensign, Feb 2008, 54–57).

Christ is the perfect example
Christ is the perfect example of every good thing.  As we look to Christ for examples of how to live our lives, we see that humility and charity will play a central role.  We truly “find our lives” by losing it for His sake.  Through charity we learn how to view or situations as God does.  There is always a choice in how we feel.