The True Image of Jesus Christ and His Deity
A common trend in the LDS faith is that of doctrines being carried along by the spoken word rather than the canonized word. This leaves its members holding a variety of beliefs where they are entirely unsure of the origins, since they cannot be explicitly found in scripture. Having a dubious foundation of a belief system is the reward for being guided by a series of self-declared pious men, where personal opinions confusingly blend into doctrine for 200 years. One such doctrine that has been utterly defiled by the LDS faith through this avenue described is the deity of Jesus Christ. To fully understand the true deity of Christ, we must begin by looking at the LDS beliefs and then contrasting it with the Bible.
If you ignore the first documented account, Joseph Smith's First Vision describes seeing two distinct personages, God the Father and the Son, in a vision. Joseph took this and interpreted the Godhead to be of three individual deities acting one in purpose. LDS scriptural cannon implies this idea, but not explicitly. The Godhead idea and common LDS phrase "separate beings but one in purpose" originates from Joseph Smith's sermon "King Follett Discourse". Good luck finding very many members of the LDS church who have heard of this sermon before.
The question that now gets proposed, since Jesus Christ is an entirely separate deity of the Father, is where did Jesus originate from according the LDS theology? Doctrine and Covenants 93:21 (D&C 93:21) says John the Revelator saw the glory of Christ in a vision with Jesus saying, "I was in the beginning with the Father, and am the Firstborn." To understand the keyword of what "beginning" means in early LDS theology, we must look at D&C 93:29, which states, "man was also in the beginning with God." This puts Jesus and man on the same playing field, meaning Jesus is a creation like the rest of us. In fact, LDS doctrine puts him as the literal firstborn in order of the creation for all of us. D&C 93:14 supports this LDS interpretation by stating Christ was called the "Son of God", because he did not receive the fullness of God at first.
These types of passages lay the foundation for subsequent LDS presidents/prophets to come along and expand this idea further diminishing Christ's deity into familiarity with us humans. For this, we will go to the LDS handbook Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph F. Smith. Joseph F. Smith was the president/prophet of the LDS church from 1901-1918. Chapter 11 contains a passage that not only competes for the most grievous and unironic heresies one can articulate in a sentence, but also further develop the common LDS theology today on the deity of Christ, "In order to attain unto this exalted position, it is necessary that we go through this mortal experience, or probation, by which we may prove ourselves worthy, through the aid of our elder brother Jesus."
Let us break down this sordid, diabolical mess that is the literal anti-thesis of the Bible. First, Joseph F. Smith is stating the potential for all of us to become gods. Second, the Fall of Adam was necessary to bring about this process of self-deification. Third, we have to prove ourselves worthy through our own righteousness. Fourth, that Jesus is merely our aid for our endeavors and is our elder brother. Joseph F. Smith is illustrating that we are on the same level as Jesus. Just as he was deified, so can we. Just as he proved himself worthy, so can we. Just as we were created, so was he. Since the LDS faith believes in a premortal existence as spirits, they believe Jesus was the first one out of the created lot and foreordained to be the Savior. All of this is taking Jesus Christ down off the throne of heaven, putting him in a small box, and making ourselves a false god. Remove the decorative curtain of the restoration story and this doctrine is at the core of this institution. Is this not a continuation of what the serpent beguiled Adam and Eve with that resulted in infidelity with God and exile from His presence—seeking to do good on our own and become like a god?
From these ideas articulated and expanded by early LDS church presidents, common LDS vernacular and theologies emerge of who Jesus is and what our purpose is. Passages from the Bible get cherrypicked and twisted to fit this destroyed image of Christ that completely ignore the underlying meaning and context. These ideas of Christ completely debased from actual scripture causes all LDS members to have a personal and subjective relationship that is not at all aligned with Jesus. How can you establish trust and belief to receive grace and redemption if you cannot even properly understand who Jesus Christ actually is?
Who is Jesus Christ, then? How is Jesus characterized in the Bible? Philippians 2:5-8 :
Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
Prior to coming to earth, Christ was in the form of God. He, the eternal Son, was there with the Father. Just as the Father, Christ is the first and the last, which affirms his divine eternity (Revelation 1:17-18). He is counted as having equality with God, including the exact imprint of God's nature (Hebrews 1:3). If Christ is the exact imprint of God, has equality with God, and is the first and the last; then Jesus Christ is and always has been God. Christ cannot be a creation, or our "elder brother", and be the exact imprint of God's nature. God's nature is eternal. Having a beginning is not eternal, not having equality with God, nor the first and the last. Just the first.
Jesus Christ then emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born a man. Paul is stressing that Christ, who had all the privileges that were rightly his as king of the universe, gave them up to become an ordinary Jewish baby bound for the cross. He became God the Son incarnate. The "emptying" consisted of Christ becoming human, not of his giving up any part of his true deity. Christ taking on human form entering into a broken world is remarkable enough, however, he went much further becoming obedient to the point of death to atone for the sins of the world.
Christ's sacrifice needed to be an eternal sacrifice of infinite worth in order to conquer death take on all the sins of the world, so wherever sin increased, grace abounded all the more (Romans 5:20). If he had been a creation not receiving the fullness of God at first, as D&C 93:14 indicates, Christ's atonement would not have been sufficient to save us. Grace needs to abound evermore, and a sacrifice of an eternal being can only do that. Otherwise, it would have been a sacrifice of partiality that fails to satisfy God.
To take the relational titles of "Father" and "Son" between God and Christ and interpret a temporal creation with Jesus is incorrect. The concept of the "Son" is understood through the doctrine of eternal generation or begotten-ness John 3:16 :
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
The Greek word used for "only" (some translations use "only begotten") is μονογενής (monogenēs), which is a compound of mono (only, single) and genes (kind, type). Another way to say "only begotten" is "one-of-a-kind" or "unique". The phraseology used by the Nicene Creed to counter Arianism, which argued that the Son was a created being, is "begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father." By stating that the Son is of the same substance as the Father, the Creed affirms the Son's full divinity and eternal existence, distinguishing Him from all creation. Otherwise, we go through the same serious logical and theological problems outlined previously with the implications of Christ being a creation. The terms "Father" and "Son" help to describe the eternal, personal relationships within the Godhead, where the Father signifies the source of divine generation, and the Son indicates the one eternally begotten. This relationship is characterized by love, mutual glorification, and unity of will and purpose. To see the relationship as temporal is taking God, an infinite being, and breaking down His divinity so man can understand it (rather, make God who they want). If we were able to understand God and His Son in a clear, easy, and perfect sense, would that not be problematic and contradictory to God's infinite nature—something we are not supposed to understand as finite beings?
Neither does the title for Christ as "firstborn" interpret a created being. Looking at Colossians 1:13-16, the idea of firstborn is that of inheritance and not reference to being created first in a literal sense :
He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.
The key portion of the passage that illustrates the meaning of "firstborn" is the phrase "kingdom of his beloved Son". Because of Christ's atonement, the Son has received inheritance and divine authority of the kingdom from the Father. The last sentence of the passage underlines the concept that Christ's role as firstborn is not about temporal birth order but about his status and authority as the preeminent one through whom and for whom all things were created, and who has the rightful authority over God's kingdom. This interpretation aligns with the broader biblical theme of Christ's supremacy and the believers' inheritance in Him.
Notice how D&C 93 and the supplementary LDS theology are built around an idea of Christ that brings him down into something far less dignifying. A being that is much less unique and simplified for man's understanding to fit an agenda. A subjective Jesus used for selfish desires of self-deification. A source of power for our own will. Contrast this with the biblical illustration of Christ. A unique, divine authority equal to that of the Father that far surpasses our understanding. An eternal sacrifice of infinite worth. A master and mediator who grants us unmerited favor purely out of love. This elevates Jesus Christ, while the LDS doctrine, behind its superficialities (name, decorative effigies, and emotional rhetoric in testimonies and talks), carries massive implications that destroys Christ's deity. The LDS institution peddled by its gerontocracy is, by definition, an anti-Christ.
To complete the image of Christ, we must complete what is the Trinity. While not a term from the Bible, it is used to describe the co-equal unity between the three personages, who are all of the same substance. Not independent, created deities working together. First, we will look at 2 Corinthians 3:18 :
And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.
This verse illustrates God's ultimate desire for us—to be transformed into the image of Christ. To be brought back into God's presence in His creation as we were meant to be. The Holy Spirit plays an imperative and central role in this transformation. The verse is not saying Christ and the Spirit are the same in personage, but implies the oneness in mission and objective. Next, the relationship between the Father and the Spirit John 15:26 :1 Corinthians 12:3 :
Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says "Jesus is accursed!" and no one can say "Jesus is Lord" except in the Holy Spirit.
Paul makes an important point about those who diminish Christ's image and deity when he is addressing concerns within the Corinthian church about the operation of spiritual gifts, particularly speaking in tongues and prophecy. The Greek word used for "accursed" in the phrase "Jesus is accursed" is ἀνάθεμα, which means something or someone that is devoted to destruction or separation in relation to being consecrated to a deity. In other words, Paul is warning caution against false prophets and teachings that deny the lordship and divinity of Jesus Christ. Anyone doing so is not being guided by the Spirit. The doctrines found in D&C 93 and from subsequent presidents/prophets in the LDS church clearly deny the lordship and divinity of Jesus Christ. This is precisely what Paul was warning those at Corinth about.
Jesus Christ is clearly stated as the exact imprint of God. For this to be true, Christ cannot be our "elder brother" or a creation who did not receive the fullness of God at first. The fact the LDS church uses its own scriptural cannon alongside the Bible to "complement and clarify" is absolutely absurd. In the midst of the LDS church making a public spectacle of itself inventing, obscuring, and prevaricating to justify its own doctrines, has this institution ever stopped to think how problematic their endeavors are in regards to the amount of glory of God it has to tear down to reconcile with the Bible?
Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior. He is the only way for our redemption that is not based on any of our merits. The mercy and love shown through Christ is so immense is surpasses all that our hearts can desire. No tongue of mortal or and written letters can express his blessedness. Only through our hearts can we know who Christ is and the love for us. Jesus is the eternal Son of the eternal Father, both in power and in nature without beginning or end.