The Missing Preface

Lately we have struggled with our six-year-old son who, despite his numerous talents, has a hard time developing confidence in himself.  When we seek to correct his negative behavior, he often thinks that everyone hates him, and sometimes he resorts to calling himself names and lamenting what a terrible kid he is.  We aren’t really sure how to help him gain confidence in his own goodness and abilities, but if there is one chapter of scripture I wish he could internalize, it would be Moses 1.  This chapter came out of the first part of the prophet Joseph’s translation of the Bible, and what strikes me is that it is first.  The way I see it, this is the chapter that should be the first chapter of the Bible.  Moses 2 corresponds roughly to Genesis 1, and so Moses 1 is the message that was the preface to the story of the Creation.  And how much the whole world needs the message of this chapter of scripture!

               One of the key messages of this chapter, as a friend once pointed out to me, is that we are of divine parentage.  After introducing Himself, the Lord declared to Moses, “And, behold, thou art my son; wherefore look, and I will show thee the workmanship of mine hands” (v4).  As God showed Him the glory of His endless creations, He emphasized again this fact to Moses.  He said, “Moses, my son; and thou art in the similitude of mine Only Begotten….  This one thing I show unto thee, Moses, my son” (v6-7).  After the Lord left his presence, Moses was visited by Satan who clearly wanted to dispute this fact.  We read, “Satan came tempting him, saying: Moses, son of man, worship me” (v12).  Satan’s first words to Moses were to discount his divine parentage.  Moses defended himself in these words, “Who art thou? For behold, I am a son of God” (v13).  He stood his ground and clung to the truth he knew he had heard from the Lord, and eventually, though the power of the Son, he was able to cast Satan away.  When God came to visit him again, He reemphasized, “Moses, my son, I will speak unto thee concerning this earth upon which thou standest” (v40).  Moses, having received this vision of earth, was then able to write the familiar chapters about the creation of the earth recorded in Genesis. 

            It was in this context of Moses being taught that he was a son of God that Moses learned the whole purpose of creation: “For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man” (v39).  Though the creations of the Lord are endless and beyond comprehension, still what is most important to the Lord is man—His work is not to simply create endless planets and starts and solar systems and galaxies, but it is to exalt His children.  This, the missing preface to the most read book of all time, emphatically declares that we are the children of God and are of more worth than all of His glorious creations.  Surely if we really believe that is our divine heritage, we should have great confidence to overcome whatever challenges we face in life.