The Lord revealed to Joseph Smith that "The glory of God is intelligence" (D&C 93:36) but what did He mean by that and why did He even tell us this in the first place?

The ninety-third section of the Doctrine and Covenants gives us a deep and revealing look at the plan of salvation because in that revelation the Lord has given us knowledge about some things that few people in the world fully understand or appreciate. As members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we sometimes take many of these profound truths for granted and yet we too have a tendency to skim through the scriptures and casually read their message without giving much thought to what they are actually saying or the importance of their message. Therefore, to answer the above questions let's take a closer look at why the Lord told us that the glory of God is intelligence and how that applies to us in our life.

In verse 1 the Lord begins by explaining that everyone who forsakes their sins and comes unto Him, who calls upon His name, obeys His voice and keeps His commandments will someday see His face and know who He is.

The scriptures repeatedly tell us that every person will stand before the bar of Christ to be judged of their sins. The scriptures further tell us that every knee shall bow and that every tongue will confess that Jesus is the Christ, the Savior of the world (Mosiah 27:31, Romans 14:11). But for that to happen every person who has ever lived on this earth will have to "see the face of God" and know who He is and what He has done for them. Then why does Jesus tell us in this verse that only those who forsake their sins, obey His voice and keep His commandments will see His face? That is what this revelation is about to explain to us.

In verse two Jesus says that we will come to know that He is the true light who gives light to everyone who comes into the world. The word "light" as used here has several different meanings. Instead of taking the terms "light" and "darkness" literally most people understand them as metaphors meant to represent or signify righteousness and wickedness, good and evil. However, when Joseph Smith saw God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, he said that "when the light rested upon me I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description" (JSH 1:17). He later clarified what he meant when he said, "I had actually seen a light, and in the midst of that light I saw two Personages" (vs 25).

When the angel Moroni appeared to Joseph Smith the same thing happened. Of that incident Joseph wrote: "While I was thus in the act of calling upon God, I discovered a light appearing in my room, which continued to increase until the room was lighter than at noonday, when immediately a personage appeared at my bedside… his whole person was glorious beyond description, and his countenance truly like lightning. The room was exceedingly light, but not so very bright as immediately around his person" (vs 30,32)

The light spoken of here is very literal and real. It actually had the power to brighten up the area around where Joseph was. And there are many other scripture found in the Bible and Book of Mormon that likewise give a similar description of God or angels as having brilliant light surrounding or emanating from them. So when the scriptures talk about the "light" of Christ we can often take this word literally as well as figuratively.

But the idea of "light" goes beyond that. The Lord has also revealed that "whatsoever is truth is light, and whatsoever is light is Spirit, even the Spirit of Jesus Christ" (D&C 84:45). In other words, truth is light and light is Spirit. These three go together in a way that we often don't fully understand, and because of that this concept can sometimes be hard to grasp. However, this concept is at the core of the message Jesus is teaching us in this revelation, therefore, it might behoove us to examine this subject a little closer.

What makes God and angels shine with such a brilliant light is the truth that is within them. In the spirit realm light is composed of truth and the more truth a person has the brighter the light is that emanates from them. The Lord explained it this way: "That which is of God is light; and he that receiveth light, and continueth in God, receiveth more more; and that light groweth brighter and brighter until the perfect day" (D&C 50:24). The apostle John wrote, "he that doeth truth cometh to the light" (John 3:21). This is not figurative language. The scriptures here are speaking about a literal light and that light comes from or is generated by the amount of truth we possess. That is why this light is often called the "light of truth."

But the opposite is just as true. The reason why Satan is referred to as a being of darkness is because there is no truth in him. As such there is also no light in him. That is why he and his kind will be cast into outer darkness. Notice that the three degrees of heaven - celestial, terrestrial, and telestial - are referred to as kingdoms of "glory" and that's because they give off light. When Paul seeks to illustrate these three kingdoms he uses examples of heavenly objects that give off light - the sun, moon, and stars. (1 Corinthians 15:41)

However, truth can encompass both good and evil. For example, a person can learn the truth of how to break into a home by picking the lock on the door or can learn the truth of how to murder someone in order to gain wealth or power. However, these are unrighteous truths and they create darkness instead of light. When the scriptures talk about "truth" they are referring to that which is righteous and persuades people to do good because these are the only kinds of truth that produce light. The reason why God is a Being of light is because He embraces righteous truths and shuns participating in those truths that are unrighteous. That is why the scriptures tell us there is no darkness at all in Him (1 John 1:5).

Then there is yet another way the word "light" is used in the scriptures and that is as a synonym for the word "enlighten." Just as a flashlight brightens up an area and allows us to see what is there, so also the light of truth illuminates our mind so we can better see and comprehend things. From what we read in the scriptures, there seems to be a power associated with this light that has the ability to stimulate, promote, and foster the process of learning by quickening our minds (see D&C 88:11-13). In connection with this, it also has the power to influence, persuade or lead people to do good (Ether 4:12). Since righteous truth "enlightens" or illuminates us with truth and light, so in the same when we embrace evil are minds become darkened rather than being enlightened.

And there is yet one other quality that this light possesses. The scriptures tell us that it is also that "which giveth life to all things" (D&C 88:13). As the apostle John said of Jesus, "In him was life; and the life was the light of men" (John 1:4). It seems that light has a life-giving quality to it. In the Genesis story of creation the very first command God gave was "Let there be light" and it is only after this that a living planet is born.

All of these meanings are encompassed in the words of Jesus when He said in verse 2, "I am the true light that lighteth (i.e., gives life and truth to and enlightens) every man." Although this concept may seem strange, Jesus will further expand on the role of this "light" later in this revelation.

In verse 3 Jesus continued his discourse by telling us, "I am in the Father, and the Father in me, and the Father and I are one" and then in verse 4 He amplifies on this by explaining "[I am] The Father because he gave me of his fulness, and [I am] the Son because I was in the world and made flesh my tabernacle, and dwelt among the sons of men."

Many of the critics of the Church have pointed to Ether 3:14 which reads, "Behold, I am Jesus Christ. I am the Father and the Son" as evidence that the LDS Church once believed that the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are all one Being as traditional Christianity teaches rather than the Godhead being comprised of three separate People as we now proclaim. And a quick reading of D&C 93:3 might seem to convey this same impression, however in this revelation Jesus explains what He means when He refers to Himself as the Father. He and His Father are one "because he (the Father) gave me of his fullness."

What this clearly tells us is that there was a time when Jesus did not possess all that the Father has but at some point He was "given" the full power, authority, and glory which the Father Himself has. In that sense Jesus now has become "one" with the Father because they share the same power and authority and have the same glory. But there is another sense in which He also means this (as He will later explain more clearly) and that is that the will of the Son is identical to that of the Father. The Father's will is "in" the Son's heart so much so that whatever the Father desires is what the Son likewise desires. This is evidenced by the fact that when the Son came to earth and was tabernacled in a body of flesh while He lived among us, the words He spoke and the things He did were only those things that the Father wanted said and done.

In this sense Jesus is acting in the capacity of a messenger. Imagine a king writing a proclamation and then sending someone out to all the cities, towns, and villages in his kingdom to read this proclamation. As the people hear the messenger read the words, "I king so and so do hereby proclaim…." they don't look at the messenger and think he is the king. They clearly understand they are hearing the words of the king as being told to them by the messenger. And this is the very sense in which Jesus claims that He is the Father. Jesus came to earth as the messenger of the Father and therefore the words He uttered and the things He did were not his own words and deeds but those which the Father has commanded Him to speak and do. That is also the sense in which Jesus means that He and the Father are one.

And Jesus verifies this when He says in verse 5, "I was in the world and received of my Father, and the works of him were plainly manifest." We might perhaps render this verse more understandable by saying: "When I was in the world I did those things that I received or, in other words, was given to me by my Father and His works were plainly evident for everyone to see because of the things I did."

Then, starting in verse 6 Jesus begins to quote from the gospel of John. He said, "And John [mine ancient apostle] saw and bore [testimony in his] record of the fulness of my glory, and the fulness of John's record is hereafter to be revealed."

What is interesting about this verse is that Jesus has just told us that we do not yet have the full account of the record John made. In other words, the gospel of John as contained in our Bible is missing things that John had originally written. However, Jesus promises that someday this information will hereafter be revealed.

In verse 7 Jesus begins to quote from the record of John. "And he (John) bore record [of Me], saying: I saw his glory, that he was in the beginning, before the world was; Therefore, in the beginning the Word was, for he was the Word, even the messenger of salvation- The light and the Redeemer of the world; the Spirit of truth, who came into the world, because the world was made by him, and in him was the life of men and the light of men. The worlds were made by him; men were made by him; all things were made by him, and through him, and of him."

There are a number of interesting things contained in these verses. The first is that while Jesus walked the earth He appeared just as human as anyone else yet John bears testimony that he personally saw Jesus in His full glory. Presumably this happened when "Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, and was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light" (Matthew 17:1,2).

Notice Matthew's description of what Jesus looked like when He was transfigured. "His face did shine as the sun and his raiment was white as the light." This was not a figurative light but a very real and brilliantly white light, and this light is associated with God's glory. And Jesus had this kind of glory "in the beginning before the world was" created.

Most people assume that the phrase "in the beginning" means "before anything existed" but that's not what the scriptures say. In verse 7 this phrase is immediately followed by the qualifier "before the world was" created. In other words, the phrase "in the beginning" refers to the beginning of the earth's creation rather than in the beginning before anything existed. Notice also that this does not say "in the beginning before the stars of the universe were created." The phrase "in the beginning" specifically refers to a time prior to the creation of the earth on which we live.

Logic would tell us that Jesus had to exist before this earth was created because John tells us that Jesus was the one who created it. And John further tells us that the reason why it was Jesus who came into the world as a mortal man to redeem us was precisely because He was the one who not only created this world but was the Person who also made man. Therefore it was the Creator of earth and man who came down to earth to save His creation. And the reason He was able to do this is because He possessed within Him the power to give men life and light, as John testified, "In him was life; and the life was the light of men."

But then John's record says that not only were all things "made by Him" but that all things were made "through him and of him." Most people tend to quickly pass over this statement without taking the time to fully appreciate what has just been said.

Suppose someone by the name of Edward wanted to build a house and they decided to do all the work themselves. In that case we could say that the house was built by Edward. But suppose that Edward didn't want to do the work himself so he contracted Jim to build the house for him. In that case Jim would be the person who actually built the house so we could rightly say that the house was built by Jim. However, since Jim was only doing what Edward instructed him to do we could also say that Edward built the house through Jim and it was because of Jim that Edward's house was built.

When we say that the earth was created by Jesus that means Jesus was the Person who actually created it, but when we say that the earth was created through Jesus that means that Jesus was doing the work in behalf of someone else. The question then becomes who was it that instructed Jesus to create the earth?

Jesus quotes John as saying, "Therefore, in the beginning the Word was, for he was the Word, even the messenger of salvation." Here, Jesus is identified by John as being the "Word" of God, who was with God in the beginning before the earth was created. The reason why Jesus is called the "Word" of God is because He was the one who carried out the words of God. As pointed out earlier, if you want to know what the Father said, all you have to do is listen to what His Son said. If you want to know what the words of the Father are, all you have to do is look at what the Son did. When Jesus lived among us in mortality He became the very personification of the words of the Father, meaning that it's as though the words of the Father were being acted out in front of us in the Person of Jesus.

Jesus is called the "Word" of God because He was "the messenger of salvation." He came to earth to give us the message of salvation that our Father wanted us to hear and know. The words that Jesus spoke when He lived here in mortality were not His own but were those of the Father. Jesus was merely the messenger who delivered the Father's word concerning our salvation. As such we could rightly say that we received the word of salvation by and through and because of Jesus. That is why Jesus is known as the "Word of God."

Jesus also "came into the world" as "the light and Redeemer of the world; [and as] the Spirit of truth." He came to earth to enlighten us about salvation, bringing with Him the message of truth. As such He was the Teacher of truth. In addition to this He came to redeem us from our sins through His death and resurrection thereby becoming our Redeemer as well as our Teacher.

In verse 11 Jesus continues quoting John as saying: "And I, John, bear record that I beheld his glory, as the glory of the Only Begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth, even the Spirit of truth, which came and dwelt in the flesh, and dwelt among us. And I, John, saw that he received not of the fulness at the first, but received grace for grace; And he received not of the fulness at first, but continued from grace to grace, until he received a fulness; And thus he was called the Son of God, because he received not of the fulness at the first."

John again testifies that he had actually seen Christ in His full glory as the Only Begotten Son of the Father and that Jesus was "full of grace and truth." Jesus had received all the grace that the Father has to offer and Jesus also was full of truth. But John also testifies in his record that this wasn't always the case because Jesus did not receive all grace and truth at first when He was born into mortality. Instead He was given grace from the Father a little at a time as He continued in obeying His Father's voice and keeping His Father's commandments. And as He did He was given a little more grace so that by being faithful He "continued [going] from grace to grace until he received a fullness" of grace.

John said that this is why Jesus "was called the Son of God." However, John then adds that Jesus wasn't called the Son of God because He was given all grace from the very beginning but precisely because he didn't received the fullness at first yet still was able to obtain it as He faithfully "continued from grace to grace."

In verse 16 John's testimony of Jesus continues as he says, "And I, John, bear record that he received a fulness of the glory of the Father; And he received all power, both in heaven and on earth, and the glory of the Father was with him, for he dwelt in him."

What is "the glory of the Father?" It is to "receive all power, both in heaven and on earth." This power resides with the Father and John says that Jesus "received" the full glory of the Father. The word "receive" means "to acquire, take or get something that is offered." Even though someone might offer something, it isn't until the person to whom the offer is being made actually makes the effort to take hold of that which is being offered and makes it their own that they have actually received it. Jesus "received a fullness of the Father" and He "received all power, both in heaven and on earth." And the way Jesus received the full glory of the Father was by obeying the voice of the Father and keeping His commandments. This is what John means when he says that "the Father was with him, for he dwelt in him." In other words, "The Father was with him because the Father's words dwelt in him."

In verse 18 Jesus Himself then says, "And it shall come to pass, that if you are faithful you shall receive the fulness of the record of John." If we compare what Jesus has just quoted from the gospel of John with what we have in our Bible we find that the two accounts don't exactly match one another and that's because what we have in our Bible is not the full record that John made. But, Jesus promises us that "if [we] are faithful [we will someday] receive the full record of John." In other words, if we are faithful in keeping what little God has graciously consented to give us then He will be more gracious by offering us the full account of John's record. And when He does, then we will have the opportunity to receive it. This is the way in which God gives us grace upon grace, a little at a time.

In verse 19 Jesus then explains why He has just told us these things. He says, "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."

The reason why Jesus has just quoted what John wrote about Him is because He wants us to know who it is we are to worship and why we worship Him. And the reason why this is important to know is because this is the way we "may [be able to] come unto the father." Jesus is the messenger of God and He is the redeemer of all mankind. There is no other way to come unto the Father except through Jesus Christ. The way Jesus became a Son of God and was able to come unto the Father and see His face was by keeping the commandments.

Then, when He had done all that the Father had commanded He was given the opportunity to "receive" the full glory of the Father. Jesus tells us in verse 20, "For if you keep my commandments [in due time] you [too] shall receive of his fulness, and be glorified in me [just] as I am in the Father; therefore, I say unto you, you shall receive grace for grace." It is by obeying the voice of God and keeping His commandments that we too can receive God's grace a little at a time until we receive a fullness of His grace and can thereby "see the face of God," meaning we can enter into His presence just as Christ did.

But Jesus makes an important distinction between Him and us. Christ was glorified by the Father, meaning that it was the Father who gave Christ His power and glory. However, if we continue faithful Jesus says "you shall… be gloried in me." In other words, those who will be worthy to receive the full glory of God will receive it from Christ. Just as it was the Father who gave His glory to Christ, so it will be Christ who will give His glory to us.

In verse 21 Jesus then tells us, "And now, verily I say unto you, I was in the beginning with the Father, and am the Firstborn; And all those who are begotten through me are partkers of the glory of the same, and are the church of the Firstborn."

Not only was Jesus with God in the beginning before the earth was created but He informs us that He was the Firstborn of the Father before the beginning of the earth's creation. However, because we have sinned after coming to earth, for us to return to the Father's presence we must be born again through Christ. It is only in that way that we can become "partakers of the [same] glory" that Christ has. When that happens, we then become members of the church of the Firstborn. Since Jesus is the Firstborn that means we become members of His eternal church or household. This is what Paul meant when he said we become "fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God" (Ephesians 2:19).

In verse 23 Jesus states "Ye were also in the beginning with the Father; that which is Spirit, even the Spirit of truth." Not only was Christ with God in the beginning before the creation of the earth but now He tells us that we were there with Him in the beginning. This then helps explain why Jesus is referred to as "the Firstborn of the Father." Jesus is not only the "first fruits of them that slept" but He was the Firstborn "in the beginning." That is to say, Jesus was not only the first person to come forth from the grave as a resurrected being (1 Corinthians 15:20) thereby literally becoming the first to be "born" again in the flesh but that He was the first to be born in the spirit before the earth was created. However, to be the "first" clearly implies that others were born after Him. And Jesus verifies this when He tells us that we too were in the beginning with God and Christ.

As we look at the structure of the rest of this sentence it seems to be a little odd. It almost appears there are two separate sentences except the second sentence, which reads "that which is Spirit, even the Spirit of truth" doesn't make sense or doesn't seem complete. However, if we realize that it is actually part of the first sentence then this verse seems to read, "Now I want you to know that you too were in the beginning with the Father who is the Spirit, that is to say even the Spirit of truth."

As we have seen earlier, light, truth, and Spirit are synonymous with one another which means that the "light of truth" and "the Spirit of truth" have basically the same meaning. Light illuminates our mind and enlightens or reveals truth to us. Since God our Father is the ultimate source of all truth then He is the ultimate Spirit of truth. Since in our pre-mortal life we lived in the presence of our Father then it is obvious that we were in the presence of the Spirit or Revealer or Teacher of truth. That is to say, we learned about truth from our Father in heaven even before this world was created. But, when we came to earth we left the presence of our Father so He sent His messenger to continue teaching us truth. That messenger was Jesus Christ and that is why He is known as the Spirit of truth

So far Jesus has had a lot to say about truth but He has not defined what it is. In verse 24 he does just that. He said, "And truth is knowledge of things as they are, and as they were, and as they are to come." When most people read this verse they think it says, "And truth is things as they are, and as they were, and as they are to come," however, that is not exactly what Jesus said. He said that "truth is [the] knowledge of things as they are." Truth exists whether we know about it or not, but it does us no good until we gain a knowledge of it. Jesus came to earth to teach us truth, or, in other words, to bring us to a knowledge of what truth is. It is only when we gain that knowledge and apply it in our lives that we become more like God.

In verse 25 Jesus then explains that "whatsoever is more or less than this is the spirit of that wicked one who was a liar from the beginning."

Truth is what it is. If you add something to truth you've changed it, thereby making it untrue. If you take parts of the truth away you can possibly create a false impression, thereby making something untrue appear as if it were true. This is exactly what Satan does. Before the beginning of the world we lived with our Father in heaven but so did Satan. In this revelation Jesus tells us that in the beginning our Father taught us truth but Satan lied to us by either adding to or subtracting from what our Father said. And whenever anyone deliberately does the same thing they are behaving in the spirit of Satan.

In verse 26 Jesus affirms that "The Spirit of truth is of God. I am the Spirit of truth, and John bore record of me, saying: He received a fulness of truth, yea, even of all truth."

All truth comes from God, the Father. He is the ultimate Spirit of truth. But Jesus also is the Spirit of truth because He also has received or gained a knowledge of all truth. But how did He gain that knowledge? In verse 27 He explains, "And no man receiveth a fullness unless he keepeth his (the Father's) commandments. He that keepeth his commandments receiveth truth and light, until he is glorified in truth and knoweth all things."

Jesus received the full glory of His Father because He obeyed the Father's voice and kept His commandments. As He continued in the Father's word not only was He given more and more grace from the Father until He received all that the Father had, but He also was given more and more truth until he received all truth, or, in other words, He received a fullness of truth. And this is the same way all people receive truth and light. As we faithfully keep the commandments of God we too will be given more light and more truth until we too can come to know all things. When that happens then we too will become glorified even as Christ and the Father are.

In verse 29 Jesus again reminds us that "Man was also in the beginning with God. Intelligence, or the light of truth, was not created or made, neither indeed can be."

Christ has already given us the definition for truth, but now He tells us that intelligence consists of having the light of truth. In other words, what makes a person intelligent is the amount of light or truth they possess. The more truth we possess the more intelligent we become. Since God possesses all truth therefore He is all light, all truth, and therefore is all intelligent. More than that, truth is eternal, meaning it has always existed. It was neither created nor made and neither can it be.

In verse 30 Jesus explains that "All truth is independent in that sphere in which God has placed it, to act for itself, as all intelligence also; otherwise there is no existence." Truth is truth regards of what is going on around it. Truth acts for itself rather than being dependent on what anyone or anything else does or doesn't do. Yet, what may be true in one environment may not be true in another. For example, fish can live in water but we can't. Birds can fly but we can. Man can become like God but that is not true for birds or fish. While neither fish, birds, nor man has any control over these truths yet each species operates according to their own set of truths. And the same applies to the laws of physics and many other kinds of environments. And the same is true of intelligence. The ability to gain the knowledge of truth and thereby grow in intelligence is as eternal as truth itself and each intelligence is placed in that sphere where it can grow in knowledge. If this were not the case then there would be no existence.

Having given us this understanding, Jesus then tells us in verse 31 "Behold, here is the agency of man, and here is the condemnation of man; because that which was from the beginning is plainly manifest unto them, and they receive not the light. And every man whose spirit receiveth not the light is under condemnation."

Man not only has the capacity to learn and come to a knowledge of truth and thereby grow in intelligence but he has also been given the agency, or right, to freely make his own decisions without coercion. But this agency can prove to be either a blessing or a curse because from the very beginning truth was plainly taught to all men but not all men were willing to receive this enlightenment. This was true in the beginning before the world was created and it will be true for each person who lives on this earth. At some point everyone will have the opportunity to hear the gospel and will be allowed the choice of either accepting it or rejecting it. Since the gospel is designed to bring us to a full knowledge of truth then every person who chooses not to receive this knowledge when it has been given to them is under condemnation.

In verse 33 the Lord tells us, "For man is spirit. 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. The elements are the tabernacle of God; yea, man is the tabernacle of God, even temples; and whatsoever temple is defiled, God shall destroy that temple."

Man is the spirit offspring of heavenly Parents who has been temporarily clothed with a physical, mortal body. As such, the physical body is no more the man than is a shirt which someone wears. But notice that in this verse Jesus did not say that "man is A spirit." Instead, He said that "man is spirit." As we have already seen, light and truth and Spirit are all synonymous with each other. Therefore Jesus could just as easily have said, "man is light," or "man is truth."

If God is a Man of light and truth then so are His offspring. In other words, we too are beings of light and truth, but where we differ from God is that we have not gained a fullness or a full knowledge of truth. That is what God, our Father, is attempting to do with us. He is trying to teach us all that He knows so that we can become just like Him - full of light, truth, and Spirit.

Part of that process is to gain a physical body. Without this body man cannot receive a fullness of joy. In the beginning before the world was created, we shouted for "joy" when we learned we would have the opportunity to gain a physical body. However, because we have our agency, each of us has often made the conscious choice not to obey the voice of our Father nor fully keep His commandments. As such, each of us have sinned and the consequence of that is forfeiting the right to keep our physical body. The atonement of Christ and His resurrection has compensated for that failing on our part. As such, even though each of us will be separated from our physical body at death, yet each of us will some day be resurrected and have our spirit inseparably rejoined or connected to our physical body. It is only in this way that we can have full joy.

It is an accept fact of science that matter can neither be created nor destroyed; it can only be rearranged. Atoms, which are the basic building blocks of everything in the universe, can be split but they can't be completely destroyed. If that is so, then this basic element can be said to be eternal. Since our physical bodies are made of atoms, it can truly be said that the elements that make up our physical bodies are eternal as verse 33 states.

Since we are actually spirit beings, our physical body becomes a tabernacle or dwelling place for our spirit. It is like a home that our spirit lives in. The building where God lives is called a temple. Since each of us are being taught how to be like God, and part of that process is to inherit a physical body of flesh and bones, then our earthly tabernacle becomes a temple to our spirit. If we defile this temple (i.e., our earthly body) by doing that which is evil, then God will no longer allow us to inhabit it eternally. And if that happens then we cannot receive a fullness of joy.

But the scriptures tell us that all men will be resurrected and the resurrection is defined at the body and spirit being inseparably connected to one another. If that is true then what does Jesus mean by saying that God will destroy our temple if we defile it?

In the resurrection not all bodies will be the same. As Paul explained, just as there are different kinds of earthly flesh, so there are also different kinds of resurrected flesh (1 Corinthians 15:38,39). Only those bodies that have not been defiled or have been washed cleaned by the blood of Christ will come forth in the resurrection complete and whole. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints teaches that only those who are exalted will be able to have spirit offspring. Obviously, those who cannot do this must have bodies that are inferior or are incomplete in some way when compared to those who can. That implies that something about them has been destroyed.

It is in this context that in verse 36 Jesus then makes the statement "The glory of God is intelligence, or, in other words, light and truth. Light and truth forsake that evil one."

God's glory is His intelligence, or stated another way, God's glory is His light or, in other words, the truth He possesses. The word "glory" is defined here as "having great honor or distinction or worthy of praise." It can also mean "majestic beauty or splendor" (Webster's University Dictionary). What we learn in verse 36 is that what makes God worthy of great honor and praise is His intelligence. But His intelligence comes from his knowledge and application of righteous truth. This in turn is what causes Him to shine with majestic beauty or splendor.

But the opposite of that is just as true. Evil doesn't produce majestic light because it is not based on truth. Since Satan is the ultimate "evil one" that is why he is known as the prince of darkness. Although he may be extremely intelligent about evil there is nothing beautiful about him and neither is he worthy of any great honor or praise.

That's why, in verse 37 Jesus tells us, "Every spirit of man was innocent in the beginning; and God having redeemed man from the fall, men became again, in their infant state, innocent before God. And that wicked one cometh and taketh away light and truth, through disobedience, from the children of men, and because of the tradition of their fathers. But I have commanded you to bring up your children in light and truth."

What God is seeking to do is make all men become as intelligent and beautiful as He is. In the beginning before the world was created all of us were innocent but that changed when we were born here on earth. Because of the fall of Adam we inherited a body that was prone to sin but God sent His Only Begotten Son to earth to redeem man from the effects of the fall. Because of that atonement, when we are born here on earth as infants we are born innocent before God.

However, Satan, that evil one, seeks to make all men as miserable as he is and the way he does this is by taking away from us the light and truth that Christ seeks to impart to us. And the way Satan does this is by persuading us to be disobedient to the voice of the Father. The very reason why our Father gives us commandments is to teach us light and truth. By getting us to disobey the Father's commandments Satan is able to keep us from gaining, or, in other words, receiving the knowledge of truth that God desires to give us. When that happens we remain in darkness, our spiritual light grows dimmer, and our intelligence diminishes. Instead of becoming glorified and worthy of great honor because of our intelligence we become worthy of condemnation and shame like Satan.

The easiest way for Satan to accomplish his purpose is to have children follow the bad habits or traditions of their parents. That way all he has to do is persuade one set of parents to do wrong and generations of children will follow their example. This is why the Lord has commanded us to bring up our children in light and truth. Christ came into the world to teach us truth, to give us light, and to make us intelligent. He came to redeem us from the fall of Adam and from our own sins so we could inherit all power both in heaven and on earth. He came to help us become as intelligent as He is and thereby become glorified even as He was glorified.

But after learning that truth for ourselves it then becomes our duty as parents to teach those same truths to our children. When we do that we are behaving just like our Father in heaven who teaches truth to us, His children. And we are also being Christ-like as well because if Christ is a teacher of truth then we are behaving just like Christ when we teach truth to others. On the other hand, when we fail to receive truth or teach it to others we are becoming more like Satan because that is how he came to be as he is.

God has also given us our agency and allows us either to obey the voice of Satan and follow his ways or to obey the voice of God and follow His commandments. Those who are truly intelligent will receive the light of truth and continue from truth to truth until they can fully inherit the glory of God.