The Jesus ‘Mormons’ believe in.
I feel frustrated in my impotence to answer the repeated assertion that “Mormons believe in a different Jesus Christ than most Christians.” I don’t know if that’s true, having been a “Mormon” or more accurately ‘a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ all my life. I don’t know exactly who other Christians believe in, but I know who I believe in. I know who I’ve been taught to love and trust from my mother’s knee. So I must leave it to all of you who are not members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to judge whether you believe in the same Christ that I do.
The Jesus Christ that I believe in was prophesied to come throughout the Old Testament. He was born of a virgin named Mary in Bethlehem and laid in a manger. Angels proclaimed the glad tidings to the shepherds and the heavenly hosts sang for joy. A brilliant new star rose as a sign of his birth. Both Anna and Simeon testified that he was the Messiah when they saw the infant Jesus at the temple in Jerusalem. Wise men brought him gold, frankincense and myrrh.
When he was 12 years old, his family took him to the Passover in Jerusalem and he “astonished” the scholars and Priests gathered at the temple there with his knowledge and wisdom.
The Jesus I believe in has power over all the elements. He can calm the storm or walk on the water. He healed the sick, raised the dead, fed many thousands on seemingly nothing. Of course he has power over the elements! He created the Earth!
The Jesus I believe in said the greatest commandment is to love God and the second is to love your neighbor. He also said that if we love God, we’ll keep his commandments. He invited all men everywhere to come and follow him. He is mild in His ultimate strength.
The Jesus Christ I believe in said he was the only begotten Son of God. God cannot lie. He was not just a teacher or a prophet. He clearly said that he was the Son of God the Father. The Jesus Christ I believe in is the literal only begotten son of God.
The Jesus Christ I believe in taught that we should try to be like him.
The Jesus I believe in commanded us to be baptized in His name.
The Jesus I believe in was betrayed by one of his apostles, Judas Iscariot. He went to the Garden of Gethsemane where he descended into the ultimate depths of suffering for our sins. He was given an illegal trial and then scourged and taunted and spit on. His execution was ordered, Roman style, to be hung on cross on the hill Golgotha until dead. I know he could have stopped the unthinkable suffering at any time. He who had raised his friend Lazarus from the tomb could have descended from the cross and stopped his own pain. But love more extreme and eternal than the darkness, sin, evil and suffering that he atoned for, kept him from stopping it. Love for us and love for his Father motivated him to stay until the Atonement was finished. Even in the extremity of his agony, he forgave those who had done this to him, recognizing that they ‘knew not what they did.’
The Jesus I believe in had his body interred in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea until he rose on the third day. He was resurrected and burst the bands of death for all mankind. He carefully and clearly demonstrated that he had a body. He ate fish and honeycomb and insisted that he was handled and touched. He asked his apostles to feel the prints of the nails in his hands and feet and to thrust their hands into the wound in his side. He appeared to many people in many places, including to two disciples on the road to Emmaus, to Saul on the road to Damascus. Stephen saw him standing on the right hand of God the Father. Jesus doesn’t like ambiguity. He wants us to study his life and teachings and his words as given to his prophets and apostles and to use them in our everyday lives.
It is through Jesus Christ that we can be saved. He holds open the gates of heaven to those who will repent and follow Him.
This is the Christ that ‘Mormons’ believe in. This is the ‘Jesus Christ’ in the name ‘The Church of JESUS CHRIST of Latter-day Saints.’ He is the Christ, the Redeemer, the Savior of the world, the Messiah, the Son of God.
This is the Jesus whose disciple I am trying to be. Is this Jesus a ‘different Jesus’ than you believe in?
2 Comments
Hi! Someone in my Facebook group shared this site with us so I came to check it out. I'm definitely loving the information. I'm bookmarking and will be tweeting this to my followers! Terrific blog and excellent design.
Beth,
I'll admit that I am ignorant to what Mormons believe, but I in no way doubt that the Jesus you love and praise is the same one that I do. Thank you for posting your testimony, it blessed my heart!
Betsy