Keith, as I reply, first I would like to make another observation regarding
the statement, "seek the face of God." Think of the
scripture-based lyrics referring to the mighty change of heart : "have
you received His image in your countenance; does the light of Christ shine in
your eyes?" In this sense, 'seeking the face of God' takes on the
meaning of seeking to have his image in our countenance. This may be a
little play on words, but I think it is entirely appropriate.
While I'm sounding like Bruce R. McConkie or Dallin H. Oaks, let me say too
that doctrinally, I believe the most general meaning conveyed in the idea of
seeking the face of God has as its antecedent the Savior, Jesus Christ.
He is the one whose face we seek to behold, and who will manifest himself to
us in his own time and in his own way.
From what I gather in your comment to me, you have had this
experience. I know of several others, both living as well as figures
from the past, who claim to have had this experience while yet in
mortality. While I have beheld him with an eye of faith, I have not yet
had the privilege of beholding him in the flesh and embracing him in my
arms. It is that experience for which I yearn. I do believe,
though, that when a community of Zion is built, embracing one another will not
be far removed from the same joyous outpouring of love that one experiences
when in the enfolding arms of the Savior of mankind, for his love will be
extant in Zion.
In this fallen world, beholding him while yet in the flesh is a rare
experience, so sacred and glorious that often those who are so blessed as to
have it don't share it, especially not openly to the world. Still,
others are permitted to share it for the sake of increasing faith in this
promise. When the city of Zion is established on the earth, I
believe everyone who walks the streets of that city will have had this
experience, for the Savior himself will be in their midst, and will openly and
regularly walk amongst them in person.
While beholding him in the flesh might be rare in this present world, from
what I gather from the various near death experiences (should be called 'death
and back' experiences) I've read, it is he who most people behold when they
pass from mortality on to the spirit world, fulfilling the statement of Alma
saying that all men, when they pass from mortality, return to that God who
gave them breath. As part of that experience, they see their life in
review, with him by their side, being able to instantaneously behold every one
of their experiences in the context of the unconditional love and unsurpassed
wisdom emanating from him. It is, from what I can gather, a day of
judgment for that person as they pass from this life to the spirit
world. Though painful, it is also a sublimely holy and uplifting
experience.
A higher aspect of seeking the face of God, as I see it, involves being
introduced to the Father (&Mother) by the Son, Jesus Christ.
According to Lance Richardson's death and back experience, few people even
think to ask for this opportunity, and fewer still actually desire it,
apparently because of a feeling of unworthiness or unpreparedness. It is
not an 'automatic' gift like the one given those who die and go to the light.
This experience seems far more shrouded in mystery than the appearance of
the Son. But I do believe that this experience is available in mortality
as well to those who seek it.
I would imagine that part of this experience entails being given a full
view of the entire plan of salvation, from eons past to eons in the
future. It would also entail being told about how he(&she) came to
be, and who they answer to -- the grandfather God, so to speak, and so
on. But a full understanding of that level of existence would be as
useful to us here as a snail learning about calculus. In that context,
there is no such thing as a head honcho, for there is no beginning or
'highest.'
But there is a meaning of 'head honcho' that does have relevance here and
now. What comes to mind in this context of speaking of the Father is
something I came across this morning when browsing through my archive of
correspondence with you.
"Have you ever thought it possible that Jesus leads you to the
Father [...] --- now brace yourself <grin> and he introduces you to
You !?!?!?. You being the Creator , Father of all that You are, by Your
choices."
I think you nailed it. Hence my reply to you :
The 'head honcho' for each person is his or her own self.
We are each masters of our own destiny.
Nothing is more important to us or has more power than what we ourselves
decide.
The greatest gift of God to us is our agency, and he honors that above
all. He will never cross that, though he certainly enforces it --
bringing about the deserved consequences of our choices, but answering with
abundant mercy when we turn to him with broken heart and contrite spirit for
deliverance from stupid things we have done. Still, through it all, it
is our core agency that governs our life. God provides the environment,
and we choose what we will do with it to generate the outcome. He offers
his resources and his power as tools to facilitate our quest. Likewise,
Satan is more than happy to offer his resources and power. Where we
turn, and which way we go, is up to us. We are our own 'head honcho.'
As for joy and fulfillment : that is only attainable to the extent that we
become one with the body of Christ, which entails other individuals seeking
the face of God. Godhood, or godliness, is not something we do in a
vacuum or on an island unto ourselves. It is about helping the whole
move forward in their progression. It is about seeking harmony and
oneness with others who are dedicated to this cause Greater strength and
and joy are to be found in working unitedly with others toward a common end,
including the Savior and the great men and women of days gone by who labor
with us from beyond the veil. This is the society of the church of the
Firstborn.
You will note in the wording of Doctrine and Covenants 88:5 that the
'Firstborn' is elaborated to be "even of God the Father." This
is not the church of Jesus Christ, which is for the fellowship of those who
have received the mighty change of heart, taking them from fallen, carnal,
telestial man, to the terestrial level of walking the path of discipleship
until they overcome all things, which is the celestial level. The church
of the Firstborn is the celestial level. The future city of the New
Jerusalem here in America that the city of Enoch will come down to meet, where
heaven and earth come together, will be a celestial city -- a community of the
church of the Firstborn. And while they will find great felicity within
the borders of that city, their ministry will not be confined there, but will
spread to all the earth administering the kingdom of God in righteousness for
the blessing of all mankind. They will be the ones who govern in God's
global government that will reign supreme when Satan's government has been
destroyed by the consequences of its own corruption. It is the stone cut
out of the mountains without hands that fills the whole earth.
It is that stone of the Father that the current so-called 'people of God'
-- the LDS Church/Mormons in particular, and Christians in General -- are as a
body (though not always individually) rejecting, even as the Jews rejected the
stone of Jesus Christ. It is from among them that a remnant arises who
will eventually embrace and make that stone the headstone of their corner.
Speaking of this remnant who arise to redeem Zion, I believe that there are
among them those who through faithfulness in a previous existence(s), overcame
all things and inherited all things, sitting on the right hand of God; but who
chose to return to mortality here at this time not for their own sakes but for
the sake of the progression of mankind, to help the family of man move
forward. These individuals could be thought of as God in the flesh in a
more full sense than what was mentioned earlier regarding how each individual
has the potential latent within them to eventually rise to godhood -- meaning
the full manifestation of godliness and all its attributes of
perfection. So in this sense, there are, literally, walking among us,
individuals whose identity may be veiled to us (and even them) now, who are
after the order of 'God.' When we look upon them, we are seeing the face
of God. And because these individuals come in a wide variety of stations
in life, you never know when you might be talking to one. Hence, the
statement 'whatsoever ye do unto one of the least of these ye do it unto me,'
can have literal meaning at times. So seeing the face of God in our
fellowman can actually be a literal thing.
Along these lines, I also believe, as I have stated before, that the Father
(&Mother) him(&her)self come down among mankind during this period of
the gentiles' rejection of the stone of Israel, so their rejection becomes a
very literal thing, just as was the Jews' rejection of Christ, bringing about
the atonement which enables mankind to progress from the telestial, carnal
state, to the terestrial. And because they too are veiled in the flesh,
they too appear outwardly as any other man or woman. In fact, in the
spirit of the 'mystic
symbol' featured at the top of each page on my website 
(I H /), they appear as fallen man to make their disguise yet more complete
and the lesson more profound. You never know when it is their face you
see in the crowd, for they look like everyman or everywoman -- for indeed that
is who they represent. Yet another reason to have more reverence for our
fellowmen. Yet another reason why beholding the face of our fellowman is
to behold the face of God.
After they have been marred as foreordained in the wisdom of God, even as
the crucifixion was foreordained, a miraculous deliverance will accompany
their healing, as well as a miraculous transformation of the people of God as
they are initiated as a body into the church of the Firstborn. Then the
veil will be rent, and not only will the Father&Mother be seen as they
really are, but each individual will be seen as they are -- part of the body
of Christ, many of them already having attained to the level of full
godliness, and all of them having the full potential within them to attain the
fullness of Godhood. Then we will see not only face to face, but eye to
eye. With such a vision, Satan can have no more power over the hearts of
the children of men, but a reign of unsurpassed peace and prosperity will
ensue, lasting for 1,000 years.
That will be the inaugural event for the city of the News Jerusalem.
I believe it will take place at Adam On Diahman, and its timing will be just
days following the triumphal deliverance of the Lord's people at a time of
their darkest trial following the reign of the beast. It will be to them
what Pentecost was to the Christians -- only on the next quantum forward in
the progression of God's people -- the church of the Firstborn, a celestial
church, where men and angels and even God him(&her)self comingle in
blissful peace and everlasting felicity. That will be the headquarters
of Zion that will eventually fill the whole earth. The 'one shephard'
(or 'head honcho' in our context) of that blessed theocracy will not be
composed of just one person, but of a large quorum of individuals who are
one. 144,000 is the number given in the scriptures.
That's how I see it anyway.
That's the vision that drives me forward. That's the 'face of God'
for which I seek. I believe it will be achieved in our lifetimes, and it
will be glorious beyond description.
Sincerely,
Sterling D. Allan (head honcho for myself, and part of the head honcho team
preparing for the city of Zion)
www.greaterthings.com
March 16, 2001
p.s. Speaking of neighbors, just now after completing the above, I went out
to my living room where my mother-in-law, Susan Carter was sitting, and
discovered that John Hess lives here in Manti and drives up and down our road
quite frequently because his horses are near here. Though I've heard of
him for years, and may have even talked to him on the phone once several years
ago, I don't know that I've ever men him in person. But because he is
always driving by, surely I've seen his face but thought I was just seeing
another person from town. He is, after all, just another person from
town.
Part III will probably be a discussion based on a 2.5-hour
phone call I had with Jon Hess this evening in which he spoke of how easy it
really is to see Jesus and have regular communion with him. It may just
be the posting of some follow-up compilations that Jon said he would send
perhaps on Monday evening.
Part III: Believing as a
Child - Jon Hess describes the events leading up to when he finally
saw the Lord, and some of the interactions he has had since. (March 20,
2001)
