God

The supreme Governor of the universe and the Father of mankind. We learn from the revelations that have been given that there are three separate persons in the Godhead: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. From latter-day revelation we learn that the Father and the Son have tangible bodies of flesh and bone and that the Holy Ghost is a personage of spirit without flesh and bone (D&C 130:22–23).

When one speaks of God, it is generally the Father who is referred to; that is, Elohim. All mankind are His children. The personage known as Jehovah in Old Testament times, and who is usually identified in the Old Testament as Lord (in small capitals), is the Son, known as Jesus Christ, and who is also a God. Jesus works under the direction of the Father and is in complete harmony with Him. All mankind are His brethren and sisters, He being the eldest of the spirit children of Elohim. Many of the things that the scripture says were done by God were actually done by the Lord (Jesus). Thus the scripture says that “God created the heaven and the earth” (Gen. 1:1), but we know that it was actually the Lord (Jesus) who was the creator (John 1:3, 10), or as Paul said, God created all things by Christ Jesus (Eph. 3:9). The Holy Ghost is also a God and is variously called the Holy Spirit, the Spirit, the Spirit of God, etc.

Although God created all things and is the ruler of the universe, being omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent (through His Spirit), mankind has a special relationship to Him that differentiates man from all other created things: man is literally God’s offspring, made in His image, whereas all other things are but the work of His hands (Acts 17:28–29).

The God of the scriptures is a holy being. Man is commanded to be holy because God is holy (Lev. 11:44–45; 19:2). God can be known only by revelation. He must be revealed or remain forever unknown (Mosiah 4:9). God first revealed Himself to Adam (Moses 5–6) and has repeatedly made Himself known by revelation to chosen patriarchs and prophets since that time. The present translation of John 1:18 and 1 Jn. 4:12 is misleading, for these say that no man has ever seen God. However, the scriptures state that there have been many who have seen Him. The JST corrects these items to show that no one has seen God except through faith and also that Jesus Christ is the only Way to God (JST John 1:19 [Appendix or John 1:18 note c]; JST 1 Jn. 4:12 [1 Jn. 4:12 note a]). God the Father and His Son have been manifested by voice, sight, or otherwise at various times, as at the baptism of Jesus (Matt. 3:16–17), the Transfiguration (Matt. 17:1–8), to Stephen (Acts 7:55–56), and to the Nephites (3 Ne. 11:7). The Father and the Son personally visited Joseph Smith in the Sacred Grove in the spring of 1820 near Manchester, New York, in the opening of the dispensation of the fulness of times (JS—H 1:11–20).

Latter-day revelation confirms the biblical account of God as the literal father of the human family, as a being who is concerned for the welfare of mankind and a Personage who hears and answers prayers.

For other references to God, see Heb. 1:1–3; Jacob 4:5; D&C 20:17. See also Holy Ghost; Jehovah.