LESSON II.
(Scripture Reading Exercise.)
THE RELATIONSHIP OF INTELLIGENCES.
| ANALYSIS. | REFERENCES. |
| I. Relationship of Jesus to Other Intelligences. | St. John's Gospel i:1-14; in connection with Doc. and Cov. Sec. xciii: 6-22. King Follet's Sermon, Mill. Star, Vol. XXIII: p. 245-280. Also notes, 2, 3, 4. |
| II. The Relationship of God and Other Intelligences. | Pearl of Great Price, Book of Abraham, ch. iii:19-23 and note 5. |
NOTES.
1. Men and Jesus of the Same Order of Beings: The Scriptures teach that Jesus Christ and men are of the same order of beings; that men are of the same race with Jesus, of the same nature and essence; that he is indeed our elder brother. "For it became him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through suffering. For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren." (Heb. ii:10, 11.) Hence while very far removed from us in that the Christ is more perfect in righteousness, and more highly developed in intellectual and spiritual powers than we, yet these differences are of degree, not of kind; so that what is revealed concerning Jesus, the Christ, may be of infinite helpfulness in throwing light upon the nature of man and the several estates he has occupied and will occupy hereafter. The co-eternity of Jesus Christ with God, the Father, is quite universally held to be set forth in the preface of John's gospel, which is so familiar that it need not be quoted here. Moreover, to us who accept the new' dispensation of the gospel, through the revelations of God to the Prophet Joseph Smith, the doctrine of John's preface comes with increased emphasis by reason of the proclaimed extension of the principle of the co-eternity of God, the Father, and Jesus Christ, to other beings, namely, to men; and by asserting also the fact that the intelligent entity in man, the mind, intelligence, was "not created or made, neither indeed can be." The following is from the revelation:
"John saw and bore record of the fulness of my glory * * * and he bore record saying, I saw his glory that he was in the beginning before the world was; therefore in the beginning the Word was, for he was the Word, even the messenger of salvation, the Light and the Redeemer of the world, the Spirit of Truth, who came into the world because the world was made by him, and in him was the life of men and the light of men."
Such is the account which Jesus gives of John's testimony; and now Jesus himself:
"And now, verily, I say unto you, I was in the beginning with the Father, and am the first born. * * * * * Ye [referring to the brethren who were present when the revelation was given] were also in the beginning with the Father, that which is spirit, even the spirit of truth. * * * * * Man [meaning the race] was also in the beginning with God. Intelligence, or the light of truth, was not created or made, neither indeed can be. All truth is independent in that sphere in which God has placed it, to act for itself, as all intelligence also; otherwise there is no existence. Behold here is the agency of man, and here is the condemnation of man, because that which was from the beginning is plainly manifest unto them and they receive not the light. And every man whose spirit receiveth not the light is under condemnation, for man is spirit."
Here we have the co-eternity of Jesus and of all men most emphatically stated: "I was in the beginning with the Father. * * * * * Ye were also in the beginning with the Father, that which is spirit;" that is, that part of man that is spirit. "Man," that is all men, the term is generic—"man was in the beginning with God." And then mark what follows: "Intelligence"—the part that was with God in the beginning, the entity of man which cognizes truth, that perceives that which is, mind, say,—"intelligence, or the light of truth, was not created or made, neither indeed can be."