Understanding the Father and the Son

Nicole T., Washington, USA

Detail from Christ and the Rich Young Ruler,by Heinrich Hofmann

I was reading my scriptures one day when, for about the hundredth time, I read that Christ was the Father and the Son. Having been raised in the Church, I know that God and Jesus Christ are two separate beings. I had always been confused when the scriptures referred to Christ as the Father, but I never had tried to figure out what it meant. However, for some reason, this time I really wanted to know. I went and asked my mom if she knew, but she didn’t either. We researched it, using the scriptures and an article called “The Father and the Son,” which was published by the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in 1916 and reprinted in the April 2002 Ensign.

We already knew that Christ is the Son because He is the Son of God. We learned He is called the Father for at least three reasons: because He is the Creator (or “Father”) of the earth, because we take upon us the name of Christ when we are baptized (just like a baby takes his or her father’s name), and because Christ does His Father’s will, which means He has the authority of the Father and is therefore called Father. That explained why the scriptures sometimes refer to Christ as both the Father and the Son. I know that God loves us and wants us to understand things, so He blessed my mom and me so that we were able to understand the scriptures.