Believe That He Is

Ever thought about "vanity?" Bet you have- after all we live in a society where millions spend billions every year hoping to attain or maintain a very narrow ideal of beauty. Although it is not the first definition, the one we most often talk of is to "take excessive pride in ones appearance or accomplishments." Our culture has long focused on a preoccupation with physical beauty being "vanity", and we have several indications that vanity no longer carries just negative connotations, but has blended with the ideas of beauty and taking care of oneself. Our area for daily grooming is called a "vanity." Those fun personalized licenses plates are called "vanity plates." Business dealing with beauty and fashion include the word "vanity" in their name as a selling point. With all this, it can be easy to lose the origin of the word and how the Lord frequently uses it through out the scriptures.

The root of the word comes from the Latin "vanus" which means empty and void of purpose. Most of the words used in the Bible agree with that definition: something empty, as insubstantial as air, without meaning or purpose. One of the Hebrew words for "vanity" expounds the meaning a bit. It literally means a "flowing away" and indicates a vessel that is "emptied of contents or usefulness." (Jeff A. Benner, Ancient Hebrew Lexicon of the Bible,p.67) In 100s of scriptures the Lord laments that we literally waste- throw away- the opportunity for our mortal experience of be filled with the growth, meaning and purpose he offers, and replace it with an endless variety of things that are empty.

So what does this have to do with the creation of the earth? Well, as part of the restoration of the fullness of the gospel of Christ, we had two additional accounts of the creation put into our written scriptures. And that is just the beginning of the repetition of the creation account we receive if we endeavor to faithfully follow the Lord's plan. As I wrote about before in "Patterns and Principles," when the Lord repeats, it is important to pay attention - the Lord doesn't do vanity!  So the question is what are the eternally significant reasons for us to repeatedly review and ponder the creation?

For one, pondering the creation is a key element in bringing us to an understanding of our true relationship with the Lord, so we will take instruction from Him. That is a key reason for the repetition- to help us avoid vanity.

“The purpose of God’s creations and of His giving us life is to allow us to have the learning experience necessary for us to come back to Him, to live with Him in eternal life. That is only possible if we have our natures changed through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, true repentance, and making and keeping the covenants He offers” (Elder Henry B. Eyring of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles “Education for Real Life,” Ensign, Oct. 2002, 16).

Remember back in "Back to the Beginning" I talked about how in the scriptures show a link between being taught and reminded of the creation, and true repentance(the tool by which we lay hold of the atonement of Christ, and make the most of this mortal opportunity) and conversion(becoming what we came here to become). The many times that the earth's creation is mentioned in connection to repentance really began to jump out at me after hearing this:

The doctrine of repentance is much broader than a dictionary’s definition. When Jesus said “repent,” His disciples recorded that command in the Greek language with the verb metanoeo. This powerful word has great significance. In this word, the prefix meta means “change.” The suffix relates to four important Greek terms: nous, meaning “the mind”; gnosis, meaning “knowledge”; pneuma, meaning “spirit”; and pnoe, meaning “breath.”

Thus, when Jesus said “repent,” He asked us to change—to change our mind, knowledge, and spirit—even our breath. A prophet explained that such a change in one’s breath is to breathe with grateful acknowledgment of Him who grants each breath. King Benjamin said, “If ye should serve him who has created you … and is preserving you from day to day, by lending you breath … from one moment to another—I say, if ye should serve him with all your whole souls yet ye would be unprofitable servants.”(Mosiah 2:21-25)  (Russell M. Nelson, “Repentance and Conversion,” Ensign, May 2007, 102–5)

Later in the same address, the same prophet, Mosiah, counsels his people how to stay on the path that would make the most of this earthy journey and lead to eternal life:

Believe in God; believe that he is, and that he created all things both in heaven and in earth, believe that he has all wisdom, and all power, both in heaven and in earth, believe that man doth not comprehend all things which the Lord can comprehend. (Mosiah 4:1 also Mosiah 5:15)

An Earlier prophet, seeking to leave his children with all they needed to not waste their life in vanity taught:

And now, my sons, I speak unto you these thing for your profit and learning; for there is a God, and he hath created all things, both heavens and the earth, and all thing that in them are…to bring about his eternal purposes in the end of man. (2 Nephi 2:14-15)

And another:

For Behold, by the power of his word man came upon the face of the earth, which earth was created by the power of his word. Wherefore, if God being able to speak and the world was, and to speak and man was created, o then, why not able to command the earth, or the workmanship of his hand upon the face of it…wherefore, brethren, seek not to counsel the Lord, but to take counsel from his hand. (Jacob 4:9-10)

And another:

Thus saith God the Lord, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread for the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein. (Isaiah 41:5)

Ok, I guess I need to go on, but there are many more examples. As I think about the effect coming to truly "believe that (God) created all things both in heaven and in earth" had on me, I am reminded of what Moses said when he witnessed a portion of what the Lord had created:

"Now, for this cause I know that man is nothing, which thing I never had supposed."(Moses 1:10)

This is not a negative, self-deprecating thing, but an eye opening wondrous thing. Pondering the creation, asking for confirmation that these accounts are given by a loving Heavenly Father for our benefit, and exercising faith, allows the spirit to teach us the truth that God is and that He did create all things. This in turn renews and illuminates within us a depth of awe and gratitude for all we have been given. We get an expanded perspective of all that has been done for us- how endless are the gifts that have been created for our benefit. (Even something as natural as breathing feels more like the blessing and miracle it is.) And with that gratitude comes a softness, a realization like unto what Moses described and Jacob encouraged his people to realize. And then we are more teachable and willing to receive the Lord's tutelage. And He teaches us that we are His children and if we will follow the path He defines we can become like Him. We can become beings that have His capacity to give and create- something we can begin to practice right now. Which is why reviewing the accounts of creation has so much more to teach us- it is what the Lord has presently given us explaining how he creates- but that is a topic that, at the very least, deserves a blog all its own.