What do we anticipate happens when “all things” are revealed to sanctified individuals, as is prophesied will one day come to pass (Ether 4:7)? What is the condition of individuals who receive all truth? The Savior promises that those who keep his commandments receive truth and light until they are glorified in truth and know all things (D&C 93:26-28). Where can we begin to understand the fulness of truth being described?
The apostle John bore record that Jesus himself “received not of the fulness at the first, but received grace for grace… until he received a fulness” (D&C 93:12-13). He testified to his reception of said fulness, writing “the heavens were opened, and the Holy Ghost descended upon him in the form of a dove, and sat upon him, and there came a voice out of heaven saying: This is my beloved Son. And I, John, bear record that he received a fulness of the glory of the Father; and he received all power, both in heaven and on earth, and the glory of the Father was with him, for he dwelt in him” (D&C 93:15-17).
In other words, it was Jesus’ being a beloved Son, bearing the name of the Father, that empowered him to do the works he did (Mosiah 15:2; John 17:6; John 14:9-11). It was the reception of this fulness that gave him all power in heaven and earth—to bind on heaven and earth.
Jesus further stated “He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son” (John 14:12-13). He thus invites all to “come unto the Father in my name, and in due time receive of his fulness. For if you keep my commandments you shall receive of his fulness, and be glorified in me as I am in the Father; therefore, I say unto you, you shall receive grace for grace. And now, verily I say unto you, I was in the beginning with the Father, and am the Firstborn; and all those who are begotten through me are partakers of the glory of the same, and are the church of the Firstborn” (D&C 93:19-22).
In a word, he desires to share his glory with those who follow him, and thus showed the way for us to become the same. Thus he taught, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6). The prophet Joseph Smith similarly noted, “If a man gets the fulness of God he has to get [it] in the same way that Jesus Christ obtained it, and that was by keeping all the ordinances of the house of the Lord” (Words of Joseph Smith, p. 181).
That the Holy Ghost is central to this process is made manifest in John’s record of it falling upon the Savior when he received a fulness (cf. D&C 109:15). It is also what Moroni alludes to when he writes that “by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things” (Moroni 10:5). Joseph Smith wrote “great and marvelous are the works of the Lord, and the mysteries of his kingdom which he showed unto us, which surpass all understanding in glory… which he commanded us we should not write while we were yet in the Spirit, and are not lawful for man to utter; neither is man capable to make them known, for they are only to be seen and understood by the power of the Holy Spirit, which God bestows on those who love him, and purify themselves before him; to whom he grants this privilege of seeing and knowing for themselves; that through the power and manifestation of the Spirit, while in the flesh, they may be able to bear his presence in the world of glory” (D&C 76:114-118; cf. 1 Nephi 10:17-19).
Furthermore, to possess the vastness of eternity in one’s own person is to make their very body that which stands in the threshold between heaven and earth. Hence, Christ is the temple of God, and his flesh is the veil (John 2:18-21; Hebrews 10:20). In layered symbolism, temple ordinances similarly invite us to make our own flesh the veil by taking upon ourselves the name and likeness of Jesus Christ. Put another way, to possess the knowledge of the sealed portion (the revelation of all things) is to become the sealed portion—to be that which is sealed, or veiled.
We can thus understand why the 144,000, who bear the Father’s name in their foreheads, are described as being “sealed” in that condition (Revelation 7:1-8; 14:1). “We are to understand that those who are sealed are high priests, ordained unto the holy order of God, to administer the everlasting gospel; for they are they who are ordained out of every nation, kindred, tongue, and people, by the angels to whom is given power over the nations of the earth, to bring as many as will come to the church of the Firstborn” (D&C 77:11).
Christ empowers those who follow him to become as he is: “the sons of God” (John 1:12), saviors on Mount Zion (Obadiah 1:26), and anointed ones—kings and priests to the Most High God (Revelation 1:6, 3:21, 5:10). The ministry of such persons will constitute the great and marvelous work which must be performed before the world can be redeemed.
Because the greater portion of the word of God is made flesh in them, they are “as the angels of God,” and will thus speak the words of Christ by the power of the Holy Ghost (2 Nephi 32:3), and shall “minister unto all the scattered tribes of Israel, and unto all nations, kindreds, tongues and people, and shall bring out of them unto Jesus many souls, that their desire may be fulfilled, and also because of the convincing power of God which is in them…Therefore, great and marvelous works shall be wrought by them, before the great and coming day when all people must surely stand before the judgment-seat of Christ” (3 Nephi 28:27-32).
“And the day cometh that the words of the book which were sealed shall be read upon the house tops; and they shall be read by the power of Christ; and all things shall be revealed unto the children of men which ever have been among the children of men, and which ever will be even unto the end of the earth.” (2 Nephi 27:11).
“For in that day, for my sake shall the Father work a work, which shall be a great and a marvelous work among them; and there shall be among them those who will not believe it, although a man shall declare it unto them… Therefore it shall come to pass that whosoever will not believe in my words, who am Jesus Christ, which the Father shall cause him to bring forth unto the Gentiles, and shall give unto him power that he shall bring them forth unto the Gentiles, (it shall be done even as Moses said) they shall be cut off from among my people who are of the covenant” (3 Nephi 21:9-11; cf. 1 Nephi 14:1-7).
Cameron Mayer
