I
have read a lot of questions recently about the relationship of God the Father, Jesus Christ and
the Holy Ghost and and the meaning of Oneness in the Godhead. So to clear up any misconceptions as best I can I have written the following post.
Here
is the basic fundamental definition of what we believe the Godhead to be:
D&C
130:22 The
Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man’s; the Son also; but
the Holy Ghost has not a body of flesh and bones, but is a personage of Spirit.
Were it not so, the Holy Ghost could not dwell in us.
So
we believe that there are three separate beings that are members of the
Godhead. They are Heavenly Father (Elohim), Jesus Christ (Jehovah)
and the Holy Ghost (Holy Spirit, Spirit of God, etc.) Here is a more detailed description from
Elder Bruce R. McConkie
“Three glorified, exalted, and perfected personages comprise the
Godhead or supreme presidency of the universe. … They are: God the Father; God
the Son; God the Holy Ghost. …
“Though
each God in the Godhead is a personage, separate and distinct from each of the
others, yet they are ‘one God’ … , meaning that they are united as
one in the attributes of perfection. For instance, each has the fulness of
truth, knowledge, charity, power, justice, judgment, mercy, and faith.
Accordingly they all think, act, speak, and are alike in all things; and yet
they are three separate and distinct entities. Each occupies space and is and
can be in but one place at one time, but each has power and influence that is
everywhere present” (McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, 319)
There
is a oneness in the Godhead as well as a distinctness of personality. This
oneness is emphasized in the sayings and writings of prophets and apostles in
order to guard against the erroneous idea that these three may be distinct and
independent deities and rivals for our worship” (Joseph F. Smith, “Answers
to Questions,” Improvement Era, Jan. 1901, 228).
So
what is our relationship with Members of the Godhead between the Father and the
Son and the Holy Ghost?
First, be
it remembered that most scriptures that speak of God or of the Lord do not even
bother to distinguish the Father from the Son, simply because it doesn't make
any difference which God is involved. They are one. The words or deeds of
either of them would be the words and deeds of the other in the same
circumstance.
Further,
if a revelation comes from, or by the power of the Holy Ghost, ordinarily the
words will be those of the Son, though what the Son says will be what the
Father would say, and the words may thus be considered as the Father's. Thus
any feelings of love, praise, awe, or worship that may fill our hearts when we
receive the divine words will be the same no matter who is thought or known to
be the author of them.
And yet
we do have a proper relationship to each member of the Godhead, in part at
least because there are separate and severable functions which each performs,
and also because of what they as one Godhead have done for us.
Our
relationship with the Father is supreme, paramount, and preeminent over all
others. He is the God we worship. It is his gospel that saves and exalts. He
ordained and established the plan of salvation. He is the one who was once as
we are now. The life he lives is eternal life, and if we are to gain this
greatest of all the gifts of God, it will be because we become like him.
Our
relationship with the Father is one of parent and child. He is the one who gave
us our agency. It was his plan that provided for a fall and an atonement. And
it is to him that we must be reconciled if we are to gain salvation. He is the
one to whom we have direct access by prayer, and if there were some need—which
there is not!—to single out one member of the Godhead for a special
relationship, the Father, not the Son, would be the one to choose.
Our
relationship with the Son is one of brother or sister in the premortal life and
one of being led to the Father by him while in this mortal sphere. He is the
Lord Jehovah who championed our cause before the foundations of the earth were
laid. He is the God of Israel, the promised Messiah, and the Redeemer of the
world.
By faith
we are adopted into his family and become his children. We take upon ourselves
his name, keep his commandments, and rejoice in the cleansing power of his
blood. Salvation comes by him. From Creation's dawn, as long as eternity
endures, there neither has been nor will be another act of such transcendent
power and import as his atoning sacrifice.
We do not
have a fraction of the power we need to properly praise his holy name and
ascribe unto him the honor and power and might and glory and dominion that is
his. He is our Lord, our God, and our King.
Our
relationship with the Holy Spirit is quite another thing. This holy personage
is a Revelator and a Sanctifier. He bears record of the Father and the Son. He
dispenses spiritual gifts to the faithful. Those of us who have received the
gift of the Holy Ghost have the right to his constant companionship.
So
putting this in simple terms that I can understand I picture this as a father
that is a master mechanic who owns an auto repair shop that has an adult son
who is not officially certified to work but knows all that his father knows and
is being certified as a master mechanic by fixing us, the broken down cars.
By doing all the work the Son is becoming like the Father. The Father is ALWAYS looking over the Son’s
shoulder and is intimately involved with the repairs but He is letting the Son
be hands on and do the work for His Son’s benefit. So the Son can become like his Father.
In
this scenario, the world and everything in the world are the cars that are
being fixed, so to us both the Father and the Son are the mechanics (Gods) because they are
both working on us. To us when one speaks
of the mechanic it does not make much of a difference if we are talking about
the Father or the Son because they are both working on us and both are
performing exactly how the other would act if they were to act alone.
But
when we have issues and when we want to talk to the mechanic (pray in this case)
we pray to Heavenly Father, because not only is He the master mechanic, he is
our Father, He created us, just like He created His Son.
I
hope this helps. I know this scenario does not include an example of the
Holy Ghost but I have never had that hard of a time to understand His
role. But it took me some time to wrap
my head around the idea of the roles of Heavenly Father and our Savior Jesus
Christ. By
knowing the true nature of God and our relation to each member of the Godhead
we know more about ourselves.
One morning a couple
of weeks ago, my son who just turned six told me that he had a dream where he
watched Jesus create the world. Now I do
not know what he saw, but there was a reverence about him that normally is not
there and I know whatever he dreamt was a special experience. An experience that probably was to sacred to
share, so I did not prod him more about the dream. I just hope that he remembers it for many
years to come. 
