Who is Jesus?

A study of the New Testament is basically a study of Jesus Christ, His works and teachings, and the works and teachings of the apostles after His death. A good question to start out with is "Who is Jesus Christ?"

I was listening to a radio talk show a few nights ago, and a man was trying to explain how he was a spiritual person but not necessarily religious. He believes in God, but not that God is an entity in any way. Instead, he believes that all life on earth IS "God." He compared his beliefs to Indian traditions that see the earth as the mother, and all life springs forth from it. What the man doesn't understand is that God - a real entity in the form of a man - created the earth and all life upon it. The element that gives life to all is the Light (power, glory) of Christ. In that sense He is in all that lives.

The N.T. makes it clear that Jesus Christ is the creator of the earth. He lived and "worked" in the heavens before coming to this earth as a mortal baby born in Bethlehem. LDS doctrine teaches that God the Father and Jesus Christ are two distinct and separate personages. We believe that everyone lived as spirit persons with God, the same as did Jesus, before mortality, and that God the Father is the father of all spirits. The spirit, Jehovah (the mortal Jesus), was the firstborn. He was the greatest of all God's spirit children, out-progressing and more intelligent, obedient, and righteous than all the others. He created the earth under the direction and authority of His Father.