Saturday, February 22, 2020

"Manifesting himself unto all nations"


Today in the Maxwell Institute Study Edition of the Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ, I read the reformatted title page. This title page was written by Moroni. The only difference between the text of the study edition and the standard edition of the Book of Mormon is that parenthesis are added around the statement concerning the “abridgment taken from the Book of Ether”. These parenthesis were added to emphasize the editor’s belief that the following phrase applies to the entire book; not only Moroni’s abridgment:
“Which is to show unto the remnant of the house of Israel what great things the Lord hath done for their fathers; and that they may know the covenants of the Lord, that they are not cast off forever—And also to the convincing of the Jew and Gentile that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God, manifesting himself unto all nations”
The current scripture set that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is commonly known as the “quad”, including the Old Testament, New Testament, Another Testament, and the Doctrine and Covenants. Three of the four parts of the quad was written by the House of Israel (I think that this may be due to the Abrahamic covenant.); however, Jesus is the Christ, and he manifests himself unto all nations.
I have visited China and have friends with ties to the country, and they have seen evidences that Jesus Christ has visited the people of China. We mainly have the records of the House of Israel. All things will be revealed in the millennium. 
Jesus Christ is the savior of the whole Earth. He has suffered for the sins of all mankind that he may forgive them of their sins. Jesus Christ also resurrected, having power over death. This enables all mankind’s resurrection.
I will conclude by quoting the last words that Moroni wrote on his title page of the Book of Mormon. “And now, if there are faults they are the mistakes of men; wherefore, condemn not the things of God, that ye may be found spotless at the judgment-seat of Christ.” I love this quote because it testifies of Christ’s role that he is a merciful judge. Pondering this, I have a precept to write about next time. Please do not condemn the Book of Mormon. Give it a chance. Read the Book from the beginning with a sincere attempt to find that it is true. I believe that the Book of Mormon is the word of God, and it restores many truths that were lost in the translation of the Bible.

Bonus

I also wrote the following, but I removed it because I don’t believe that it is the true interpretation; however, I will include it because it is pondering of a prophecy:
One understanding of ‘the first shall be last and that last shall be first’ phraseology is that the House of Israel may be understood to receive the Gospel first; then, they will receive the fullness of the Gospel as they are being gathered in the Latter-days by the Gentiles.
There are many understandings of this phrase. I also believe that it means that the Earth was created in a different state than what is it in today called the paradisiacal state or the glory of the Terrestial kingdom. The Earth’s glory fell to a state of Telestial glory after the fall of Adam; however, at the second coming of Jesus Christ the Earth will be raised up again to the paradisiacal state and the glory of the Terrestial Kingdom. I am on a tangent.
Or maybe the Gentiles are the first and the last, since the Jews will reject that Jesus is the Christ until the second coming. The word Gentile alludes to all the nations other than the House of Israel. Adam raised the first families, preaching to them the Gospel of Jesus Christ, in the beginning. The many nations of Adam’s seed, which bottlenecks down to the immediate family of Noah after the flood, are Gentiles. Abraham’s seed and the House of Israel was established a long time after the flood, and there are many other nations covering the Earth before the House of Israel, including the Jaredite nation. The restoration of the fullness Gospel of Jesus Christ in the Latter-days was through the Gentiles.  
The quote was going to be after the second paragraph, and the third paragraph was going to be at the end of the fourth paragraph.

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