In Moses 1 we read of the Lord’s interaction with Moses that highlights Moses’ identity
“And, behold, thou art my son…” (Moses 1:4)
“And I have a work for thee, Moses, my son; and thou art in the similitude of mine Only Begotten; and mine OnlyBegotten is and shall be the Saviour…” (Moses 1:6).
“And now, behold, this one thing I show unto thee, Moses, my son…” (Moses 1:7).
We learn of our identity through the scriptures, through the hymns we sing and in the temple of the Lord. We know we are each individual children of God. We are also able to know of our nothingness in comparison to Him but also know that we are everything to Him. This is exemplified in the effects of the time spent with the Lord on Moses:
“And the presence of God withdrew from Moses, that his glory was not upon Moses; and Moses was left unto himself. And as he was left unto himself, he fell unto the earth. And it came to pass that it was for the space of many hours before Moses did again receive his natural strength like unto man; and he said unto himself: Now, for this cause I know that man is nothing, which thing I never had supposed” (Moses 1:9-10).
We then read of Satan’s attempts to tempt Moses, and how knowing his divine identity means that Moses is able to withstand anything that is thrown at him:
“Satan came tempting him, saying: Moses, son of man, worship me” (Moses 1:12).
This a deliberate attempt to bring Moses down, and to debase him. However, Moses is so secure in a knowledge of who he is and the relationship he has with his Father that he is able to rebuke Satan:
“And it came to pass that Moses looked upon Satan and said: Who art thou? For behold, I am a son of God, in the similitude of his Only Begotten; and where is thy glory, that I should worship thee?… Get thee hence, Satan; deceive me not; for God said unto me: Thou art after the similitude of mine Only Begotten” (Moses 1:13, 16).
Moses recognises the truth taught by Dieter F. Uchtdorf:
This is a paradox of man: compared to God, man is nothing; yet we are everything to God. While against the backdrop of infinite creation we may appear to be nothing, we have a spark of eternal fire burning within our breast. We have the incomprehensible promise of exaltation—worlds without end—within our grasp. And it is God’s great desire to help us reach it.
It is not enough, however, to just have a logical knowledge of these things; as Elder Uchtdorf mentions ‘discipleship is not a spectator sport’. I have to allow the truths that I am a child of God to sink deep into my heart and to act on them. It takes conscious effort most of the time to remind myself of this, but I have experienced and live in hope that it becomes a natural part of who I am, to allow this knowledge to unconsciously affect every aspect of my life.
This theme is repeated throughout the scriptures and throughout our lives. When he asked who the crowd thought he should release, Pilate presented Jesus (the Son of God) and Barabbas (the son of a man). The crowd chose the mundane over the sacred. We are faced with this same choice as we are faced with the temptations of life; do we trust in the arm of flesh or in the arm of the Lord? It is only by building on a sure foundation rather than the sand that we can allow God to prevail in our lives and thus prevail ourselves. This truth is taught clearly in The Book of Mormon:
“And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall” (Helaman 5:12).
The antithesis to understanding ourselves as children of God is to be self-centred, or trust in the arm of flesh. I forget what it is to live in relationship to God and with others. As I love ‘with new eyes’ I see people through the eyes of the Lord as children of God. then I would love more, forgive more easily, and not be as quick to anger. I will recognize my divine heritage, and in doing so I will be able to overcome any of the feelings of self-centeredness I may have. I can see the illusion that Satan tries place in front of my eyes. Satan tries to bring us down, and to replace the characteristics that we are developing with other nasty ones, including self-doubt, lack of self-esteem, and feelings of inability. It is no surprise that the scripture we’ve just read tells us that we are free to choose for ourselves, because it is ultimately us who decides whether we listen to the transformative and positive message of the Saviour or the destructive and negative message of Satan.
There are numerous lessons that we can learn from Moses, not least, is that when faced with listening to voices that draw us closer to the Lord, build us up and strengthen us, as opposed to those who draw us away and bring us down, we should always focus on the positive. Sometimes that that negativity can come from within ourselves, because we can be our own worst critics. Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote a poem that describes this perfectly:
Who am I? They often tell me I would step from my cell’s confinement calmly, cheerfully, firmly, like a squire from his country house. Who am I? They often tell me I would talk to my warden freely and friendly and clearly, as though it were mine to command.
Who am I? They also tell me I would bear the days of misfortune equably, smilingly, proudly, like one accustomed to win.
Am I then really all that which others tell me, or am I only what I know of myself, restless and longing and sick, like a bird in a cage, struggling for breath, as though hands were compressing my throat, yearning for colours, for flowers, for the voices of birds, thirsting for words of kindness, for neighbourliness, trembling with anger at despotisms and petty humiliation, tossing in expectation of great events, powerlessly trembling for friends at an infinite distance, weary and empty at praying, at thinking, at making, faint and ready to say farewell to it all.
Who am I? This or the other? Am I one person today and tomorrow another? Am I both at once? A hypocrite before others, and before myself a contemptibly woebegone weakling? Or is it something within me still like a beaten army, fleeing in disorder from victory already achieved?
Who am I? They mock me, these lonely questions of mine. Whoever I am, Thou knowest, O God, I am Thine.
We are transformed, not through our own strength, but by belonging to God, by placing our will, our personalities, and everything we are into his hands.
Divine Investiture of Authority
I mentioned this last week, but to repeat myself. Jehovah/Christ is the God of Israel, the Creator of the world, and the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. When a Latter-day Saint reads Old Testament accounts of the dealings of Israel with their Lord and God, they do so with the understanding that the Israelites are interacting with the premortal Christ. It was Christ who created the earth under the direction of his Father (Heb. 1:2; see also Abr. 3:23-24), 
…thou art in the similitude of mine Only Begotten; and mine Only Begotten is and shall be the Saviour, for he is full of grace and truth (Moses 1:6).
It would appear that the Father is speaking, as he speaks of his ‘Only Begotten’; however Latter-day Saints would understand this to be the pre-mortal Christ as Jehovah speaking. This is an example of the Father allowing Jesus to speak to prophets as if he were the Father. The First Presidency in 1916 explained the principle of divine investiture of authority:
In all His dealings with the human family Jesus the Son has represented and yet represents Elohim His Father in power and authority. This is true of Christ in His preexistent, antemortal, or unembodied state, in the which He was known as Jehovah; also during His embodiment in the flesh; and during His labours as a disembodied spirit in the realm of the dead; and since that period in His resurrected state. Thus the Father placed His name upon the Son; and Jesus Christ spoke and ministered in and through the Father’s name; and so far as power, authority and Godship are concerned His words and acts were and are those of the Father… None of these considerations, however, can change in the least degree the solemn fact of the literal relationship of Father and Son between Elohim and Jesus Christ (The First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, 2002 [1916]: 17-18).
Thus, in Latter-day Saint belief, whatever one member of the Godhead speaks it is as if the Father had spoken because of the unity of purpose and mind.
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