Know God

                The more we know God, the more we love Him.  When we know and understand the nature of God and the kind of being He is, we can worship Him in spirit and in truth and gain the blessings He promises.  In order to gain this understanding we must know what we worship as well as how to worship Him. 

                “I give unto you these sayings that you may understand and know how to worship, and know what you worship, that you may 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” (Doctrine and Covenants 93:19-20).

                President Joseph Fielding Smith taught:  “We know that God is known only by revelation, that he stands revealed or remains forever unknown.  We must go to the scriptures – not to the scientists or philosophers – if we are to learn the truth about Deity.  Indeed, John’s great prophecy about the restoration of the gospel by an angel who should fly in the midst of heaven says that it was to occur so that men could come to a knowledge of the true God and be taught:  `Fear God, and give glory to him … and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.’ (Revelation 14:7.)  In other words, beginning with the restoration of the gospel in this dispensation, men once again would be called upon to worship and serve their Creator rather than the false concepts of Deity that prevail in the world.

                “In every age the Lord’s prophets have been called upon to combat false worship and proclaim the truth about God.  In ancient Israel there were those who worshiped images and pagan gods, and Isaiah asked:  `To whom then will ye liken God?  Or what likeness will ye compare unto him?

                “Hast thou not known?  Hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary?  There is no search of his understanding.’ (Isaiah 40:18, 28).”

                The knowledge of God is upon earth today, but many people do not have this knowledge.  Many people know bits and pieces of the knowledge of our Eternal Father but do not understand it.  Much of this knowledge is contained in modern scripture.  Doctrine and Covenants 20 contains some of the basic doctrines of salvation.  In verse 17 we read “… there is a God in heaven, who is infinite and eternal, from everlasting to everlasting the same unchangeable God, the framer of heaven and earth, and all things which are in them.”

                President Smith explained:  “God is our Father; he is the being in whose image man is created.  He has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man’s (Doctrine and Covenants 130:22), and he is the literal and personal father of the spirits of all men.  He is omnipotent [having all power] and omniscient [knowing everything]; he has all power and all wisdom; and his perfections consist in the possession of all knowledge, all faith or power, all justice, all judgment, all mercy, all truth, and the fullness of all godly attributes. …  If we are to have that perfect faith by which we can lay hold upon eternal life, we must believe in God as the possessor of the fullness of all these characteristics and attributes.  I say also that he is an infinite and eternal being, and as an unchangeable being, he possesses these perfected powers and attributes form everlasting to everlasting, which means from eternity to eternity.”

                President Smith continued, “We know that our Heavenly Father is a glorified, exalted personage who has all power, all might, and all dominion, and that he knows all things.  We testify that he, through his Only Begotten Son, is the creator of this earth and of worlds without number.”  (See Teachings of Presidents of the Church – Joseph Fielding Smith, pp. 38-39.)

                I feel peace when I remember that God knows everything and has everything in control.  This knowledge leaves me free to concentrate on the events and responsibilities of which I have control.  It clears my mind of worry and fear and gives me comfort and peace.  The more I know about Heavenly Father, the more I love Him and worship Him.