We know from reading the Holy Bible (and the Book of Mormon) that the Lord Jesus Christ was resurrected. The Bible calls Him the “first fruits” of the resurrection (Acts 26:23; Col. 1:18; Rev. 1:5). Because Christ was resurrected, we all will be. Ample evidence is presented in the Bible that Christ was resurrected. His tomb was empty, the heavy stone guarding the entrance rolled away by angels. After His resurrection, He spent some days with His apostles, instructing them. He showed them His body of flesh and bone (not blood, as it is corruptible); He ate with them. (See Mark 16:1–6; Luke 24:1–12, 36–43; John 20:1–18.)
Other scripture verifies this fact. After His resurrection, Jesus visited the Book of Mormon people, who were mostly descendants of Joseph through his son, Manasseh. See this account from 3 Nephi 11:6 – 14:
And behold, the third time they did understand the voice which they heard; and it said unto them:
Behold my Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, in whom I have glorified my name—hear ye him. And it came to pass, as they understood they cast their eyes up again towards heaven; and behold, they saw a Man descending out of heaven; and he was clothed in a white robe; and he came down and stood in the midst of them; and the eyes of the whole multitude were turned upon him, and they durst not open their mouths, even one to another, and wist not what it meant, for they thought it was an angel that had appeared unto them.
And it came to pass that he stretched forth his hand and spake unto the people, saying: Behold, I am Jesus Christ, whom the prophets testified shall come into the world. And behold, I am the light and the life of the world; and I have drunk out of that bitter cup which the Father hath given me, and have glorified the Father in taking upon me the sins of the world, in the which I have suffered the will of the Father in all things from the beginning.
And it came to pass that when Jesus had spoken these words the whole multitude fell to the earth; for they remembered that it had been prophesied among them that Christ should show himself unto them after his ascension into heaven. And it came to pass that the Lord spake unto them saying: Arise and come forth unto me, that ye may thrust your hands into my side, and also that ye may feel the prints of the nails in my hands and in my feet, that ye may know that I am the God of Israel, and the God of the whole earth, and have been slain for the sins of the world.
When Jesus ascended, according to the biblical account, an angel announced to His disciples: “…why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11).
Many believers in the Lord Jesus Christ believe in the “Trinity” — three personages of one essence. In Trinitarian belief, God is a spirit without body parts or passions, while Christ is God incarnate. Mormon belief holds that resurrection to a perfect immortal body is the eternal ideal for God and Man. Both God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ are glorious, resurrected beings of flesh and bone. When Christ ascended into heaven He remained the resurrected being as He will be when He returns. Modern revelation speaks to this truth…
And while we meditated upon these things, the Lord touched the eyes of our understandings and they were opened, and the glory of the Lord shone round about. And we beheld the glory of the Son, on the right hand of the Father, and received of his fulness;
And saw the holy angels, and them who are sanctified before his throne, worshiping God, and the Lamb, who worship him forever and ever. And now, after the many testimonies which have been given of him, this is the testimony, last of all, which we give of him: That he lives!
For we saw him, even on the right hand of God; and we heard the voice bearing record that he is the Only Begotten of the Father— That by him, and through him, and of him, the worlds are and were created, and the inhabitants thereof are begotten sons and daughters unto God (Doctrine and Covenants 76:19-24).
Only after a person is resurrected can he or she experience a “fullness of joy.”
The elements are eternal, and spirit and element, inseparably connected, receive a fulness of joy; And when separated, man cannot receive a fulness of joy (Doctrine and Covenants 93:33, 34).
This fullness of joy is the kind of life that God the Father and God the Son enjoy, and it is their greatest desire to share with us a fullness of what they enjoy. Jesus said through revelation to modern prophets:
I give unto you these sayings that you may understand and know how to worship, and know what you worship, that you may come unto the Father in my name, and in due time receive of his fulness. For if you keep my commandments you shall receive of his fulness, and be glorified in me as I am in the Father; therefore, I say unto you, you shall receive grace for grace (D&C 93:19, 20).
And in the Book of Mormon:
And for this cause ye shall have fulness of joy; and ye shall sit down in the kingdom of my Father; yea, your joy shall be full, even as the Father hath given me fulness of joy; and ye shall be even as I am, and I am even as the Father; and the Father and I are one (3 Nephi 28:10).
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