A Latter-day Saint Ode to Jesus

INTRODUCTION

     Book Layout

     The Book's Unique Latter-day Saint Features

PART 1: CREDIBILITY OF JESUS AND THE HOLY SCRIPTURES

     Jesus Made Your Life Tangibly Better

     How to Know That the Holy Bible is Credible

     How to Know That the Book of Mormon is Credible

     Strive to Become One of the Glorified and Exalted Children of God

     My Witness

PART 2: ODE TO JESUS HYMNS

     Prologue

     1. The Pre-Existence of Jesus

     2. Jesus Mutually indwells With the Father

     3. Jesus is the Creator

     4. Jesus Became Human

     5. The Atonement of Jesus

     6. The Resurrection of Jesus

     7. The Glorification of Jesus

     8. Jesus Creates the Children of God

     Epilogue

PART 3: HYMN STANZA CLARIFICATIONS

     Clarification of the "1. The Pre-Existence of Jesus" Stanzas

     Clarification of the "2. Jesus Mutually indwells With the Father" Stanzas

     Clarification of the "3. Jesus is the Creator" Stanzas

     Clarification of the "4. Jesus Became Human" Stanzas

     Clarification of the "5. The Atonement of Jesus" Stanzas

     Clarification of the "6. The Resurrection of Jesus" Stanzas

     Clarification of the "7. The Glorification of Jesus" Stanzas

     Clarification of the "8. Jesus Creates the Children of God" Stanzas

CONCLUSION

SCRIPTURE REFERENCE GUIDE

INDEX

List of Tables

     Table 1: Jesus is God

     Table 2: Jesus is “Our” God

     Table 3: Jesus is Jehovah

     Table 4: Jesus Christ Mutually Indwells With Heavenly Father

     Table 5: The Exalted Children of God Share Oneness and Mutually Indwell With God

The original Ode to Jesus identifies over sixty New Testament doctrines and provides at least one biblical reference and quotation for each. This version adds passages from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’s unique scriptures[1] where identical doctrines are located. This shows the doctrinal alignment between both sacred texts. 

This version includes an examination of what makes official “doctrine” different from interpretation since Latter-day Saints sometimes misunderstand the difference while critics of the Church always do. 

This version also explains why the Book of Mormon is credible and should be taken seriously.

Official Church doctrine is what is found in the scriptures, revealed revelation from modern prophets that the Church accepts to be binding upon the members, and “whatever is true and right.”

For the purpose of this book, official Church doctrine is defined as what the Holy Bible and the Latter-day Scriptures say. The scriptures are allowed to speak for themselves without having a theological lens placed over the text. The natural, prima facie, or face value meaning of the text is assumed to be the default understanding instead of letting a theology override the simplest, literal reading. 

This book defaults to the face value phrasing of the text to understand its meaning even when the expressed idea differs from how it is typically understood.

It is critical to treat the scripture text this way because the phrasing of the text is “doctrine,” but the explanation of what it means is “interpretation.” These are not the same thing. The expressed doctrine does not change, but interpretations have no end – every person can have their own. Failure to recognize the difference leads to conflict, confusion, and possible loss of eternal life. 

You and I can read the same scripture text but understand it differently. And that is perfectly ok because we are human, not tools that only function using just one low-level machine language code.[2] Your perspective could be right, and my opposing viewpoint could be wrong, or mine is right and yours is wrong, or both of our points of view may be wrong. But the expressed doctrine—the phrasing of the scripture text itself—stays firm. 

For instance:

     “And that I am in the Father, and the Father in me, and the Father and I are one.” (Doctrine and Covenants: Section 93:3)

According to D&C 93:3, Jesus is in the Father, and the Father is in Jesus, and they are “one.” This is official Church doctrine, and it cannot be understood to mean the opposite of what it says (i.e., it will never say Jesus is not in the Father nor that they are not one). 

How we reason out or understand the divine mutual indwelling and oneness found in D&C 93:3 is “interpretation.” And the interpretation could be true, partially true, partially false, or entirely false. But even if our interpretation were completely false of a doctrine that we accept, especially if the doctrine was abstract and we have no frame of reference for it, the worst that could happen to us when standing before Christ to be judged is the recognition that we misunderstood the doctrine’s meaning.

If interpretations of abstract ideas mattered to God, then why did he not clarify in the Holy Bible how the abstract ideas should be understood? A just and loving God cannot condemn us for failing to understand something he gave no indication was important to be understood in a specific way, especially when they conflict with what he did tell us was critically vital to our eternal fate. 

Here is what we do know:

God does not care for what is in your head. Neither does he care about your persuasion skills, wealth, education, beauty, physique, color, race, gender, or popularity. What he cares about is on what you become during your brief time in mortality. Did you grow into a person who loves God, loves your neighbor, and loves yourself? Did you strive to keep his commandments?[3] 

God’s main evaluation criteria when he judges us is whether our behavior aligned with his nature and commandments since true belief is always behavioral; his genuine followers live in a particular way that demonstrates their belief.

Behavior is always more important than interpretation. 

The risk lies when we insist that our personal interpretation is the only possible explanation for a doctrine.[4]This risk escalates into outright danger to our salvation if we use it to judge others and threaten them with eternal damnation for refusing to believe our specific interpretation. 

Such actions show a lack of charity to the fact that God gave humans the freedom to believe or not believe according to our own conscience and we have the innate right to interpret scripture however we want. Our freedom of thought is the most basic of rights; it is the core of what it means to be human. Even the most oppressed slave is free to think whatever he wants.

If God never insisted that we interpret a scriptural passage in a specific way to be saved, then no one else has the right to demand that we comply with their interpretation to be saved.

Uncharitable dogmatists attempt to replace God’s authority over us, but Jesus Christ, alone, has judgment authority over humankind. No one can force him to obey their will and condemn people to eternal damnation just because they think the “unbelievers” ought to be condemned for refusing to agree with a specific interpretation. Christ was very clear:

     You will be judged with the same standard that you judge others; you will be measured with the same measure you use on others. (Matthew 7:2)

Only Jesus Christ has the right to judge us as he is the only one who sees our innermost secrets and thoughts. Any uncharitable behavior toward others will be applied in equal measure against the perpetrator when it is their turn to be judged by Christ.[5] 

Christ’s primary concern is for us to voluntarily grow while mortal into beings of love so that when we die, we can unite with the God of love (1 John 4:16-17). Those without charity will not receive charity when they are judged and will miss out on sharing God’s nature, oneness, and glory. 

Consequently, ignore those who usurp God’s authority by telling you that you must interpret or understand biblical passages in a specific way to be saved, especially on abstract ideas that God never elaborated. God made you free. You are free to grow and learn in your own way and at your own pace. And if your interpretation changes over time (as it typically does for most of us), then that is perfectly fine too. Just stay the master of your own mind and prioritize what God cares about, which is behaving as his true follower. 

Become a person of love, and you will be thrilled when it is your turn to stand before him.

[1] The unique “Latter-day Scriptures” of the Church are the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price. They are considered equal to the Holy Bible as the Word of God and binding on the members.

[2] There are numerous places in this book where I interpret scriptural passages in a way that makes sense to me, given what the text says and my worldview. But you do not need to assume my understanding is correct to appreciate what the scriptures say. Make up your own mind on what the passages mean to you.

[3] This explains why virtually every General Conference talk of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the “Church”) is designed to help us transform into persons who love God, our neighbors, ourselves, and keep God’s commandments. God prefers his followers to become people who love rather than religious scholars and theologians.

[4] Since interpretation is subjective, it is vital to try to see things from the perspective of others. There are credible reasons why intelligent, good people can read the same passage but understand it differently.

[5] Critics of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints practice this interpretative fundamentalism fallacy all the time. They insist only their interpretation of a passage is possible and then demand that if Latter-day Saints do not believe in the precise formula, words, and ideas they use concerning abstract ideas about God and salvation, then we are forever doomed to suffer in hell for all eternity. 

When asked to detail the exact beliefs we must have to be saved, they will start by quoting the Holy Bible. When we say we believe those things, they will then modify the conditions by either insisting we do not believe them (as if they know more than us about what is inside our minds), our interpretation is wrong, or impose a much narrower interpretation to deliberately exclude us. And since they can never provide proof that Jesus told us to have such specific interpretations to be saved (since he never did in the Holy Bible), their uncharitable and arrogant behavior condemns them when it is their turn to stand before Christ to be judged. 

At the end of the day, only Christ judges you, not them. And if you have done your best to follow him and have transformed yourself into someone who genuinely loves God, your neighbor, yourself, strives to keep his commandments, and endures to the end, you will stand before our God of love with joy, for as he is, so were you while in this world (1 John 4:16-17).

Of all the tangible benefits that Jesus Christ’s teachings gave humanity, none is more important than living a life of meaning. It supersedes the recognition of your natural rights since it is internal instead of external. It speaks to who and what you are. Viktor Frankl[1] and Richard Wurmbrand[2] showed us that even an abused slave could live and die happy if he has that inner peace that gives meaning to his life.

If you apply Jesus Christ’s teachings of loving God, your neighbor, and yourself while striving to keep his commandments, you are guaranteed to find joy and contentment with your life regardless of all evil and pain you experience. You will die happy since you made a positive difference to humanity, and used your time on earth to become a person of love and become identical to the God of love (1 John 4:16-17).

Keeping God’s commandments is critical to having a meaningful life because they benefit us, not God. He does not need us to worship him. Neither does he gain strength or nourishment from anything we do. Instead, God gives us commandments because he loves us and wants to adopt us and share his oneness and nature so that we can become his heirs.

Each commandment is designed to help us become people who love God, our neighbor, and ourselves. A direct benefit of keeping his commandments is that we get to enjoy a meaningful life because becoming a person of love fulfills our innermost desires to be good and cause good. 

God does not care about what you know. He does not care about your wealth, fame, education, physical appearance, or how well you know the Bible. What he cares about, and cares enormously, is whether your attitude and behavior align with his commandments. Have you grown into someone who demonstrably loves God, loves others, and loves yourself? 

• Love God: Do you strive to become someone who genuinely loves so that the God of love will joyfully share oneness and mutually-indwell with you? Do you do your best to obey him even when the world’s morality opposes his will? 
• Love your neighbor: Do you serve others by showing charity, kindness, and tolerance? Do you truly love your neighbor by being more concerned with their destiny as one of God’s heirs and glorious rulers of the universe than in accepting and celebrating a lifestyle that violates God’s words and commandments?
• Love yourself: Do you live according to eternal principles (such as by having integrity, eliminating harmful practices that make you loathe yourself, doing beneficial activities like diet and exercise, and continually improving)? Do you respect his temple—your body—by avoiding destructive addictions and violating his sexual rules? 

Following God’s commandments is not supposed to be easy, and the world will hate us for trying to obey him. But obedience is essential for a life of meaning now and eternal life in the next realm. 

God never forces us to obey. He merely tells us what he expects and points out that those who follow the path he laid out will become his heirs and share in his oneness, nature, glory, and dominion. And since he makes the rules, not us, we can either obey and get the promise, or disobey and live forever with regret. And while we are certainly free to call his commandments “evil” and the world’s latest moral fad “good,” we will live forever with the consequences of our choices. 

Excuses will not work when you stand before Christ to be judged. All your secrets and hidden desires will be exposed and taken into consideration. Your actions and inactions determine your eternal fate. If your neighbor loses their eternal life because you feared telling them to repent and obey God, then that is held against you. You will need to decide whether it is better to have your neighbor or God mad at you.

You must understand that it does not matter what others do to you. You do not need to inflict evil, hurt, and pain on someone just because you received evil, hurt, and pain. 

Follow Christ’s example. This being of overwhelming glory and power as the almighty Creator of the universe and Earth humbled himself to become human. He humbled himself by washing the dirty feet of his followers. He humbled himself by absorbing all the pain and fear of collective humanity and dying without dignity on the cross. Note what he did not do: Although being God and the most powerful entity in the universe, he did not inflict evil when it was done to him.

The greatest of all became the least of all. 

When we die, and we surely will, we will stand before him and see him in all his glory and majesty as our God[3] and inheritor of the universe. He will judge us, not just based on our works, but on what type of person we became while mortal. We can either dread the experience due to our filthiness or be filled with joy when he looks into our eyes because we used our brief time on earth to become a person of love, comparable to his nature as a God of love.

See Is Jesus “God”? Chapter 10: Have a Meaningful Life for more information.

[1] See Frankl, V. Man’s Search for Meaning.

[2] See Wurmbrand. R. Tortured for Christ.

[3] This book refers to Jesus as “our God” when emphasizing our relationship with him and describes him as “God” when considering his nature. He is “the Son of God” or distinct from “God” when contrasted with his Father. This does not make multiple “Gods” as they mutually indwell in each other, and all glory given to the Son is passed on to the Father.

Follow Christ for eternal life.

Believe him and be saved!

He's the living bread from heaven.

Have faith, repent, be kind!

We are to keep his commandments.

Believe him and obey!

Do good and show love and mercy.

Love all, and always pray!

God adopts us because of Christ.

We can be born of God!

The Lord’s foster sons and daughters.

By grace, Children of God!

The Children of God are his heirs.

By grace, we are his heirs!

No longer specks, but now his heirs.

With Jesus, fellow-heirs!

God's children share oneness with him.

Dwelling in each other!

We live in them; they live in us.

None without the other!

Sharing in the divine nature,

God shares himself with us!

Transforming to Christ's same image,

Awaits his followers!

Christ shares glory with God's children.

God's heirs share in glory!

Christ gives us his glory from God.

His heirs receive glory!

Jesus shares all he has with us –

For those who stay faithful!

Those who endure will rule with him –

A gift so wonderful!

     God made the universe through Christ.

     Sire ordered; Son obeyed!

     This reality came to be –

     Father designed; Son made!

Heavenly Father ordered his Only Begotten Son, Jesus, to create this vast, inconceivably huge universe:

“To us, there is only one God, the Father, the originator of the universe and for whom we live; and there is one Lord Jesus Christ, the creator of the universe and creator of humankind.” (Holy Bible: 1 Corinthians 8:6)

“And God spake unto Moses, saying: Behold, I am the Lord God Almighty, and Endless is my name; for I am without beginning of days or end of years; and is not this endless? 4 And, behold, thou art my son; wherefore look, and I will show thee the workmanship of mine hands; but not all, for my works are without end, and also my words, for they never cease. 

5 Wherefore, no man can behold all my works, except he behold all my glory; and no man can behold all my glory, and afterwards remain in the flesh on the earth. 6 And I have a work for thee, Moses, my son; and thou art in the similitude of mine Only Begotten; and mine Only Begotten is and shall be the Savior, for he is full of grace and truth; but there is no God beside me, and all things are present with me, for I know them all. 7 And now, behold, this one thing I show unto thee, Moses, my son, for thou art in the world, and now I show it unto thee. 8 And it came to pass that Moses looked, and beheld the world upon which he was created; and Moses beheld the world and the ends thereof, and all the children of men which are, and which were created; of the same he greatly marveled and wondered. . . 

27 And it came to pass, as the voice was still speaking, Moses cast his eyes and beheld the earth, yea, even all of it; and there was not a particle of it which he did not behold, discerning it by the Spirit of God. 28 And he beheld also the inhabitants thereof, and there was not a soul which he beheld not; and he discerned them by the Spirit of God; and their numbers were great, even numberless as the sand upon the sea shore. 29 And he beheld many lands; and each land was called earth, and there were inhabitants on the face thereof. 30 And it came to pass that Moses called upon God, saying: Tell me, I pray thee, why these things are so, and by what thou madest them? 31 And behold, the glory of the Lord was upon Moses, so that Moses stood in the presence of God, and talked with him face to face. And the Lord God said unto Moses: For mine own purpose have I made these things. Here is wisdom and it remaineth in me. 32 And by the word of my power, have I created them, which is mine Only Begotten Son, who is full of grace and truth. 

33 And worlds without number have I created; and I also created them for mine own purpose; and by the Son I created them, which is mine Only Begotten. 

34 And the first man of all men have I called Adam, which is many. 35 But only an account of this earth, and the inhabitants thereof, give I unto you. For behold, there are many worlds that have passed away by the word of my power. And there are many that now stand, and innumerable are they unto man; but all things are numbered unto me, for they are mine and I know them. 

36 And it came to pass that Moses spake unto the Lord, saying: Be merciful unto thy servant, O God, and tell me concerning this earth, and the inhabitants thereof, and also the heavens, and then thy servant will be content. 

37 And the Lord God spake unto Moses, saying: The heavens, they are many, and they cannot be numbered unto man; but they are numbered unto me, for they are mine. 38 And as one earth shall pass away, and the heavens thereof even so shall another come; and there is no end to my works, neither to my words.” (Pearl of Great Price: Moses 1:3-8,27-38)

     God's only Son made the cosmos.

     Every planet and star!

     He made the big bang's time and space.

     And all things near and far!

Modern cosmology has allowed us to conceptualize just what the Bible means when it describes all reality as being created by Jesus Christ: 

“He is the image of the God who has never been seen, and existed before the universe was created. 16 He created the universe. Everything in heaven and earth, everything we see and cannot see, including thrones, powers, rulers, or authorities; he created them all, and they are for him.” (Holy Bible: Colossians 1:15-16)

“Behold, I am Jesus Christ the Son of God. I created the heavens and the earth, and all things that in them are. I was with the Father from the beginning. I am in the Father, and the Father in me; and in me hath the Father glorified his name.” (Book of Mormon: 3 Nephi 9:15)

“And he bore record, saying: I saw his glory, that he was in the beginning, before the world was; 8 Therefore, in the beginning the Word was, for he was the Word, even the messenger of salvation— 9 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. 

10 The worlds were made by him; men were made by him; all things were made by him, and through him, and of him. 

11 And I, John, bear record that I beheld his glory, as the glory of the Only Begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth, even the Spirit of truth, which came and dwelt in the flesh, and dwelt among us.” (Doctrine and Covenants: Section 93:7-11)

     Nothing exists without Christ’s word.

     There’s naught he didn’t make!

     Everything in heaven and earth –

     All things he did create!

Jesus is described as follows:

“He created the universe. Nothing exists that he did not create. . . 10 He went and lived on Earth. And even though he created it, the world’s inhabitants did not know who he was. . . 14 The Word became flesh and lived among us. We have seen his glory—the glory of the only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth.” (Holy Bible: John 1:3,10,14) 

“And he shall be called Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Father of heaven and earth, the Creator of all things from the beginning; and his mother shall be called Mary.” (Book of Mormon: Mosiah 3:8)

     Jesus sustains the universe.

     He keeps it together!

     By the power of our Lord’s word –

     He holds it together!

The Bible describes Jesus to be the active source of the universe’s fundamental integrity:

“He existed before the universe and causes it to hold together.” (Holy Bible: Colossians 1:17)

“He sustains the universe by the power of his word.” (Holy Bible: Hebrews 1:3) 

Jesus is the reason the universe appears “fine-tuned” for the emergence of the complex molecules called “life.” This support is a continuous process, which implies his will or effort is the only thing keeping the universe’s integrity together.

Pondering the implications of actively sustaining the universe’s integrity means Christ has absolute control over every portion of the universe and can modify any part of it at any time to his whim. He can form worlds and stars by merely commanding matter to coalesce or even order them to disappear. He can change elements from one to another by simply telling atoms to change their composition. It is a level of dominance that is absolute.

     The Son of God formed this great world.

     He created this earth!

     Although man did not know he did.

     Made long before his birth!

Jesus created this world: 

“He went and lived on Earth. And even though he created it, the world’s inhabitants did not know who he was.” (Holy Bible: John 1:10)

“Behold, I am Jesus Christ the Son of God. I created the heavens and the earth, and all things that in them are. I was with the Father from the beginning. I am in the Father, and the Father in me; and in me hath the Father glorified his name.” (Book of Mormon: 3 Nephi 9:15)

“Thus saith the Lord your God, even Jesus Christ, the Great I AM, Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the same which looked upon the wide expanse of eternity, and all the seraphic hosts of heaven, before the world was made; 2 The same which knoweth all things, for all things are present before mine eyes; 3 I am the same which spake, and the world was made, and all things came by me.” (Doctrine and Covenants: Section 38:1-3)