Relevance of God the Father in Modern Life
The False Power of Independence
There's no such thing in any society as true independence, generally. Everyone depends on each other in transactional societies across the world regardless of the type of government, such as sanitation service, water delivery to each home, or electrical power. Very few people truly live independently. Without the infrastructure provided by the founders of nations and cities, modern society could not exist.
The axiom, "If you want something done do it yourself," weighs heavily in American culture in many aspects. Some in Western culture teach freedom and independence in a manner that rendering service to others no longer inspires the mind of people of faith, and at the expense of righteousness!
Having the agency to act according to personal dictates brings satisfaction and security. Needing to depend on other people can have the opposite effect.
God commands that ALL people should love each other as they love themselves. Why? Because it's natural to love only those things that directly deal with personal creature needs and the comforts and the needs of those within an individual's sphere of care/importance, God commands humanity to love all.
Naturally, people care about the things that matter to them. Naturally here defines the most common behavior within humanity, instinctual behaviors that promote the needs of a few at the expense of others. King Benjamin, an ancient American prophet and king, taught his subjects:
The natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father. Mosiah 3:19
Why an enemy to God? Giving into the natural instincts of the human body falls beneath humanity's intellectual capacity, endowed with the ability to reason, a gift reserved for those created in God's image. Modern notions of freedom and independence fight the concept of temperance, meaning controlling or subduing the natural urges of the body, suggesting instead to give in to appetites that do not violate laws of the land! This new "freedom" to give in to urges finds celebrity in Western society.
God invites all to temperance. One leader within The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints offered,
What is temperance, and why would the Lord want us to be temperate? A narrow definition might be 'exercising restraint when it comes to food and drink.' ...Sometimes temperance might be defined as 'refraining from anger or not losing one’s temper.' These definitions, however, are a subset of the scriptural usage of the word. In a spiritual sense, temperance is a divine attribute of Jesus Christ. He desires for each of us to develop this attribute. Learning to be temperate in all things is a spiritual gift available through the Holy Ghost... Being temperate is to use moderation in all things or to exercise self-control. [1]
Giving in to the instinctual urges of the physical body without heeding the limits God provided, touching all cultures, leads to the destruction of society and extinction of peoples. For example, if most people do not follow the command to marry and produce families civilization will collapse on itself within one generation. Only in societies fostering the nurture of a family with both parents thrives. Everything else comes to an end.
Modern people need God today just as desperately as the first people, Adam and Eve did. The freedoms many people of the world enjoy insulate them from the cares of a need for religious guidance or a spiritual connection until some major crisis occurs individually or communally. God will come at the call of even the most wayward soul because He wants to.
Every living thing exists because the elements that form the building blocks of existence obey God 's command to perpetuate in their current forms rather than fly apart in chaos. Things do not exist as they do by accident. It was on purpose.
— Rodric Anthony JohnsonWhy Does Humanity Need God?
He is the Father of humanity.
Parents are to children as God the Father is to the human race. With all the confusion in the world over religion, it's easy to dismiss this simple truth of all humans being related.
Accept that truth, then the other truths make sense. It is easy for a parent to grant the request of a child who he or she knows will hearken, or listen to him or her and obey.
Parents are more willing to give things and responsibilities to their children if they know those children will follow instructions and honor requests the parents provide.
The same is true of God. If people are willing to obey His commandments, He's more willing to give them the answers to their prayers. Sometimes the answer is yes. Other times it's no. As King Benjamin taught, submission is involved. Graciously, God doesn't force Himself on people. He invites through His servants and the scriptures to take on His mission, which is to make humans glorious--sharing with them the universe.
God is as important to modern man as parents are to the newborn child. Every living thing exists because the elements that form the building blocks of reality obey God's command to perpetuate in their current forms rather than fly apart in chaos. Things do not exist as they do by accident. It's on purpose.
How is God the Father of Billions of People?
They know who gave birth to them!
Humans lived as spirits before birth.
One of the questions of billions of people is how can God father all children of humanity. One person of faith did not doubt that God was his father but struggled to understand how it was possible when technically everyone would be cousins being that Adam and Eve are the first humans.
God organized the spirits of each person before birth. Abraham saw in vision this pre-mortal world from whence humanity comes. God opened Abraham's understanding so that he could reveal it to the world.
Now the Lord had shown unto me, Abraham, the intelligences that were organized before the world was; and among all these there were many of the noble and great ones; and God saw these souls that they were good, and he stood in the midst of them, and he said: These I will make my rulers; for he stood among those that were spirits, and he saw that they were good; and he said unto me: Abraham, thou art one of them; thou wast chosen before thou wast born. Abraham 3:22-23
That's the simple explanation. All humans lived as spirits in the presence of God before birth on Earth. God fashioned each person in His image spiritually before He put a person of physical form on the planet.
Billions upon billions of spirits live with God in heaven awaiting birth. Abraham continueD,
And there stood one among them that was like unto God [Jesus Christ], and he said unto those who were with him: We will go down, for there is space there, and we will take of these materials, and we will make an earth whereon these [humanity] may dwell; and we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them; and they who keep their first estate shall be added upon; and they who keep not their first estate shall not have glory in the same kingdom with those who keep their first estate; and they who keep their second estate shall have glory added upon their heads for ever and ever. Abraham 3:24-26
All people born agreed to that birth and understood the possibility of favorable or unfavorable conditions in life. The purpose of birth is to gain a physical body, learn how to control it, and return to live with the Father.
Keeping the first estate is agreeing to birth, life, death, and resurrection through Jesus Christ. According to the teachings found in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, keeping the second estate is living faithfully the Gospel of Jesus Christ in this life through the principles of faith on Jesus and repentance; and the ordinances of baptism by immersion, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost by laying on of hands, and the endowment of power from God in His holy temple.
All of the people born agreed to that birth and understood the possibility of favorable or unfavorable conditions in life. The purpose of birth is to gain a physical body, learn how to control it, and return to live with the Father.
— Rodric Anthony JohnsonOffering
Knowing that God is real, that He is there to answer petitioners is the way to find true happiness in this modern life. With so many billions living on the Earth, knowing that each person is a child of God and a valuable soul gives perspective on how the brotherhood of humanity goes beyond this world.
Related
- Relevance of God in Modern Life: Knowledge
God designed the universe to do what it does. The planets stay in their orbits around the star called the sun because it is written in the code. The word or code of God, The Master Scientist, runs through the universe. Humans do what their maker does
Source Support
- Being Temperate in All Things [1]
By Kent D. Watson: Learning to be temperate in all things is a spiritual gift available through the Holy Ghost.
This content reflects the personal opinions of the author. It is accurate and true to the best of the author’s knowledge and should not be substituted for impartial fact or advice in legal, political, or personal matters.
© 2018 Rodric Anthony Johnson