Becoming Gods

We are Gods. Just this declaration evokes emotion and sounds blasphemous. But, it’s a truth that is often forgotten though Abrahamic religion. Jesus was to be stoned for making himself a God, to which he responded “Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?’ (John 10:34). Rightly so, as it says in Psalm 82:6 “Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High.”

Members of Church of Jesus Christ are openly criticized by other Christian faiths of their “God Complex.” But its misplaced because much of Christianity has taught the concept of deification or “theosis,” the idea that humans can become like God through a transformative process of spiritual growth, which is facilitated by the grace of God.

Saying we are Gods or could become such, is such a tremendous claim that if it is false, would make the believer sound tremendously arrogant and even insolent. But if it is true, which it is, it is the most valuable source of worth we have. The knowledge that we are the children of God has the power to transform everything. It is a truth that should be celebrated, a constant focal point in our conversations, the prime objective to our lives. If mankind understood, if we understood, the implications that in mortality, as Elbert Hubbard put it, “We are gods in the chrysalis;” would we strive more earnestly for self improvement? Would we look upon others with more admiration? Would we care less for worldly ambitions, abandon vain desires and even our sins? Would we finally make Gods work of bringing to pass “Eternal Life” of man our work. Marion G Romney agrees:

“If men understood, believed, and accepted this truth and lived by it, our sick and dying society would be reformed and redeemed, and men would have peace here and now and eternal joy in the hereafter.”

It is precisely because of this truth why caring for God’s children, either as parents, stewards, or neighbors is of highest importance. This truth is integrally woven into our soul. We find the most joy in connection with others or helping our children or neighbor succeed. It is also why when we loose our love for others or ourselves we experience contention, loneliness, and even depression

So what is holding us back from reaching our godly potential? We must not forget we have opposition and Satan does everything he can to downplay and cloud this truth from our mind. Even among Adams first children it says that “Satan came among them, saying: … Believe it not; and they believed it not, and they loved Satan more than God. And men began from that time forth to be carnal, sensual, and devilish.” (Moses 5:12–13). Satan would have us focus on placing our personal value on worldly titles or gain. In secular thought the soul is ignored and the body is viewed as nothing more than the product random evolution.

Even subtle titles or “identities” placed by society label us as anything but divine. Gay, straight, black, white, American, upper-class, ghetto, and so on, these labels are shallow at best, never capturing the whole of a person’s value. The final and only identity should be – Child of a God. There can be no greater identity, no greater progeny.

The scriptures are clear that we are not immediately granted Godhood because of our spiritual ancestry. We must only choose to believe it and accept the requirements for transforming ourselves into the divine. Certainly we are “Gods in the Chrysalis.” A caterpillar and butterfly are so distinctly unique it would be hard to believe they come from the same creature without observing chrysalis transformation. We are like the caterpillars, though ugly and flightless, are well equipped for gathering the spiritual learning and resources to go through the transformative process in Chrysalis, later to take flight and move into the next stage in our progression to Godhood.

Though we are God’s spirit children, we can estrange ourselves and devolve into the children of the Devil, “In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother” (1 John 3:10). We must not forget that 1/3 of our spirit brothers and sisters did not want this path to Eternal Life. We continue to make that same choice today. The spiritual fog of mortality is a limited but essential stage in our divine progression. So we must still choose our path to continue as God’s children or not. C.S. Lewis puts it best,

“There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal…It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest most uninteresting person you can talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree helping each other to one or the other of these destinations…immortal horrors or everlasting splendors” (C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory)

Christ is the power behind our Godly Chrysalis. He enables us to be redeemed from our mortality and continue on the divine evolution. We must re-establish our divine parentage by developing faith in Jesus Christ, repenting of our sins, being baptized, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end in faith, “but as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”

We are given this body as a vessel for our spirits, demonstrating how will we make use of our mortal abilities. Will we indulge in our passions, will we inflict pain on others, or will we temper our emotions, learn truth, and give of ourselves to others. Elder Christofferson expounded that,

“By our choices we would demonstrate to God (and to ourselves) our commitment and capacity to live His celestial law while outside His presence and in a physical body with all its powers, appetites, and passions. Could we bridle the flesh so that it became the instrument rather than the master of the spirit? Could we be trusted both in time and eternity with godly powers, including power to create life? Would we individually overcome evil? Those who did would ‘have glory added upon their heads for ever and ever’ [Abraham 3:26]” (link).

In this life one of the purposes we have is to demonstrate what law we wish to live. The commandments given to us by God are not just to guide our mortal life, but eternal commandments which we are always expected to live by before, during, and after this life. God has said, “I gave unto [man] that he should be an agent unto himself; and I gave unto him commandment, but no temporal commandment gave I unto him, for my commandments are spiritual; they are not natural nor temporal, neither carnal nor sensual” (D&C 29:34-35).” The commandments we have received are not a temporary restriction during our mortal experience, but the roadmap for our spiritual destination.

Fortunately, the proving process of mortality is not a pass/fail, one and done exercise. We are given multiple opportunities to correct and train our bodies and spirits to lend greater discipline and obedience. Each time we fail to follow those commandments, we sin. Christ’s atoning sacrifice was the avenue provided to us so we could ‘try again’ when failing to follow his command.

We should not look to the universe and our lives as some demonstration for God to prove himself, he already did that in order to become God. We willingly and eagerly choose to gain this mortal experience veiled from God’s intervention or constant gaze. We wanted to prove what our intentions would be with only instruction, and sometimes intuition, of what is good or evil. We wanted to have ourselves be influenced by the experience of our own decisions and the decisions of others in helping us choose for ourselves our path in life.

This life is not some great filter just to prove to us where our place is in heaven. God could have easily determined that with his omniscience. This universe and our lives is the great institution for the development of divine beings, for the offspring of God to be given the tools to someday become like their spiritual father. In the teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith he summarized it as this:

“The first principles of man are self-existent with God. God himself, finding he was in the midst of spirits and glory, because he was more intelligent, saw proper to institute laws whereby the rest could have a privilege to advance like himself. The relationship we have with God places us in a situation to advance in knowledge. He has power to institute laws to instruct the weaker intelligences, that they may be exalted with himself, so that they might have one glory upon another, and all that knowledge, power, glory, and intelligence, which is requisite in order to save them in the world of spirits. (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, Section Six 1843-44, p.354)”

It is in each small step, knowledge gained, virtue practiced, we slowly make our way up the infinite staircase to perfection, made possible through a Savior. However, progress to godhood is not measured by merits or the impact of good deeds, it is measured by moral character. A Nobel prize laureate and a simple farmer can both receive the same exaltation, not by the worldly measures for personal excellence, but from the quality of their character. Just as in the parable of the talents, he who was given less, but still multiplied that allowance was a good servant in the masters eyes. The progress and multiplicity we should pursue is that of refining and molding our character to be that of a good righteous saint.

Even with the guidance from prophets, the scriptures, and our intuition, we seem to constantly be clouded with distractions that make this mortal experience a true test of character. How often do we find ourselves slaving over wealth or status, even knowing that neither will continue with us in the afterlife. Inversely, some of us may seek for even greater ease, comfort, or enjoyment, ultimately leaving us more lonely in selfish pursuits. Even some positive pursuits, such as having a healthy lifestyle, settling down with a family, or reaching personal goals, can fall short of the real meaning of life. The ‘American Dream’ was never meant to be our souls destiny. 

No matter how much we’ll loose sight or try to change it’s meaning, this mortal life will always be the plan we choose to have. We rejoiced to be given agency and power to learn for ourselves good from evil.  We would be granted a physical body, giving our spirits the capability to sense and act on the physical world.  Then, under a veil of forgetfulness and absence of spiritual parental influence, we demonstrate the spiritual law we wish to live. Ultimately, with the proper use of the body and obeying of spiritual laws, we are to experience the greatest treasure of all, the love of God and the power to become Gods like our Heavily Father.