With the advent of many books into the market, such as The DaVinci Code (which I enjoyed), The Last Templar (which I mostly enjoyed) and on and on and on, the divinity of Christ has been called into question so much that some Christian sects are backing off, they are now saying that Jesus Christ is not God. I am deeply saddened by this.
Our Lord and Savior condescended to come to this earth as a mortal babe. He grew into adulthood with parents that loved and accepted Him and brothers who struggled with that same knowledge. At thirty years of age He began His ministry. His task—to return the plain and precious truths that had been stripped from the gospel by time and unrighteousness, to atone for the sins of the world and to break the bands of death. He did so, much to the dismay of the Pharisees and Sadducees. Largely unrecognized in His time, Jesus went about His Father’s work—-teaching, healing and restoring. Three years into His mission, in early April of the year 33 A.D., Jesus Christ fulfilled the covenant of the law of sacrifice and instituted the new covenant, offering up a broken heart and contrite spirit instead of the firstlings of the flock. He went into the Garden of Gethsemane, and when the weight of the sins, sorrows, griefs, pain and illness of untold numbers of worlds and the children of God fell upon those perfect shoulders for the first time He wept. The pain was so great it caused even God Himself to sweat blood from every pore. He suffered for every child until every last thing that had to be completed in the Garden was done. He was arrested, tortured, beaten and rushed through the mockery of a trial. He was raised up upon a cross and crucified, again suffering all that He had suffered in the Garden. And when it was done, this man who had done nothing more than loved, teach, heal and restore, gave up the ghost with: “It is finished.”
Three days later, He arose from the grave, a resurrected and perfect being, as God the Son. He taught the twelve and His followers for forty more days and then, in full view of many people, He ascended into the sky until He disappeared.
And to this, man states, “He was no God.” I testify that He is God. Jesus of Nazareth, born into this world at the meridian of time, is God the Son. He fulfilled His divine promise to His Father and to us and for this we turn from Him. He has taken His place at the right hand of God the Father and has and will continue to receive all the glory due Him, the glory for which He never asked. Through Him, and only through Him, may we be saved and return to our Father. Because of Him, death holds us hostage no more. Because of Him, the greatest of eternal rewards is within our reach. Because of Him – all promise has been restored.
The First Presidency of the church, as well as the Twelve Apostles firmly and unequivocally state:
As we commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ two millennia ago, we offer our testimony of the reality of His matchless life and the infinite virtue of His great atoning sacrifice. None other has had so profound an influence upon all who have lived and will yet live upon the earth.
He was the Great Jehovah of the Old Testament, the Messiah of the New. Under the direction of His Father, He was the creator of the earth. “All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made” (John 1:3). Though sinless, He was baptized to fulfill all righteousness. He “went about doing good” (Acts 10:38), yet was despised for it. His gospel was a message of peace and goodwill. He entreated all to follow His example. He walked the roads of Palestine, healing the sick, causing the blind to see, and raising the dead. He taught the truths of eternity, the reality of our premortal existence, the purpose of our life on earth, and the potential for the sons and daughters of God in the life to come.
He instituted the sacrament as a reminder of His great atoning sacrifice. He was arrested and condemned on spurious charges, convicted to satisfy a mob, and sentenced to die on Calvary’s cross. He gave His life to atone for the sins of all mankind. His was a great vicarious gift in behalf of all who would ever live upon the earth.
We solemnly testify that His life, which is central to all human history, neither began in Bethlehem nor concluded on Calvary. He was the Firstborn of the Father, the Only Begotten Son in the flesh, the Redeemer of the world.
He rose from the grave to “become the firstfruits of them that slept” (1 Corinthians 15:20). As Risen Lord, He visited among those He had loved in life. He also ministered among His “other sheep” (John 10:16) in ancient America. In the modern world, He and His Father appeared to the boy Joseph Smith, ushering in the long-promised “dispensation of the fulness of times” (Ephesians 1:10).
Of the Living Christ, the Prophet Joseph wrote: “His eyes were as a flame of fire; the hair of his head was white like the pure snow; his countenance shone above the brightness of the sun; and his voice was as the sound of the rushing of great waters, even the voice of Jehovah, saying:
“I am the first and the last; I am he who liveth, I am he who was slain; I am your advocate with the Father” (D&C 110:3–4).
Of Him the Prophet also declared: “And now, after the many testimonies which have been given of him, this is the testimony, last of all, which we give of him: That he lives!
“For we saw him, even on the right hand of God; and we heard the voice bearing record that he is the Only Begotten of the Father—
“That by him, and through him, and of him, the worlds are and were created, and the inhabitants thereof are begotten sons and daughters unto God” (D&C 76:22–24).
We declare in words of solemnity that His priesthood and His Church have been restored upon the earth—”built upon the foundation of . . . apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone” (Ephesians 2:20).
We testify that He will someday return to earth. “And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together” (Isaiah 40:5). He will rule as King of Kings and reign as Lord of Lords, and every knee shall bend and every tongue shall speak in worship before Him. Each of us will stand to be judged of Him according to our works and the desires of our hearts.
We bear testimony, as His duly ordained Apostles—that Jesus is the Living Christ, the immortal Son of God. He is the great King Immanuel, who stands today on the right hand of His Father. He is the light, the life, and the hope of the world. His way is the path that leads to happiness in this life and eternal life in the world to come. God be thanked for the matchless gift of His divine Son. The Living Christ
He is Jesus Christ. He is God the Son – and His divinity is assured regardless of what foolish men write.