Subjecting the Son to the Father

In the most amazing of all speeches, Abinadi explains the relationship of Christ to God, His Father, and how Christ is both the Father and the Son.  He explains how Christ becomes our father when we are subject to His will.  It is a most difficult concept, and I feel like most just skip over the Father-Son doctrine in favor of the story of Abinadi.

I'm going to take the first eleven verses of Mosiah chapter 15 and give an interpretation in the context of God the Father and God the Son, and then re-interpret them in terms of us in the world.  I want to show how we could benefit in our own lives from knowing the relationship between the God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ.

And now Abinadi said unto them: I would that ye should understand that God himself shall come down among the children of men, and shall redeem his people.

"God Himself" refers to that God, Jehovah, Yahweh, the great I Am, who created all things would condescend to walk in the flesh among the children He created all things in order to get us out of our lost and fallen state and move on to Eternal Life.

And because he dwelleth in flesh he shall be called the Son of God, 

Even though He is the Creator, He is the Son of God because He was conceived by God, the Only Begotten son of God, in the flesh.

...and having subjected the flesh to the will of the Father, 

Jesus relinquished the desires of the flesh to do only God's will, as Jesus said, "The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise."  (John 5:19)

...being the Father and the Son—The Father, because he was conceived by the power of God; and the Son, because of the flesh; thus becoming the Father and Son—And they are one God, yea, the very Eternal Father of heaven and of earth.

The unity of God is found in the subjection of the Son to the Father.  Jesus was the only One conceived by the power of God, and because He is completely subject to the Father, He becomes the Father, they are One God, who together created Heaven and Earth.

And thus the flesh becoming subject to the Spirit, or the Son to the Father, being one God, 

As a man, Jesus subjected His body to His Spirit, Jehovah, doing only the will of the Father, making them one God.

...suffereth temptation, and yieldeth not to the temptation, but suffereth himself to be mocked, and scourged, and cast out, and disowned by his people.  And after all this, after working many mighty miracles among the children of men, he shall be led, yea, even as Isaiah said, as a sheep before the shearer is dumb, so he opened not his mouth.  Yea, even so he shall be led, crucified, and slain, the flesh becoming subject even unto death, the will of the Son being swallowed up in the will of the Father.  And thus God breaketh the bands of death, having gained the victory over death; giving the Son power to make intercession for the children of men—Having ascended into heaven, having the bowels of mercy; being filled with compassion towards the children of men; standing betwixt them and justice; having broken the bands of death, taken upon himself their iniquity and their transgressions, having redeemed them, and satisfied the demands of justice.

These are the works of Jesus, making Him the Christ, the Anointed One.  These are the ways that He subjected His flesh to His Spirit, or subjected Himself to God.  He allowed all forms of suffering in the flesh, temptation, mocking, beating, and rejection, even after He had performed many miracles.  He didn't defend Himself.  He suffered injustice even to death -- so completely was His flesh sacrificed to the will of God.  It was the will of the Father that He suffer, bleed, and die for all mankind so He could save us from death and hell.  He subjected Himself to men because He was wholly subject to God.  It was all God's will.

And now I say unto you, who shall declare his generation? Behold, I say unto you, that when his soul has been made an offering for sin he shall see his seed. And now what say ye? And who shall be his seed?  Behold I say unto you, that whosoever has heard the words of the prophets, yea, all the holy prophets who have prophesied concerning the coming of the Lord—I say unto you, that all those who have hearkened unto their words, and believed that the Lord would redeem his people, and have looked forward to that day for a remission of their sins, I say unto you, that these are his seed, or they are the heirs of the kingdom of God.

Those who believe in the holy prophets and look forward to Christ for a remission of sins become His children, and He is their Father.  They inherit what He has because they are His children.  How do they become His children?  The same way He became the Son of God, by subjecting themselves completely to His will, and by doing the same thing He did.

Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.  (John 4:34) 

For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.  (John 6:38)

If we want to be children of Christ, we must do the same thing He did.  This is a very important concept of the father-son relationship.  The Pharisees said Abraham was their father, and Jesus told them, "If ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham."  (John 8:39)  Abraham completely submitted his will to Jehovah, even to sacrifice his only son, Isaac, on an altar.

The Father and Son within
Now, lets look at how the relationship between God the Father and God the Son can apply to us.

Within each of our bodies is a spirit that is subject to the will of God.  Our spirits made covenants with God before we came to Earth, that we would be obedient to our Lord, and sacrifice all things, even our very lives.  Lets call the spirit the father, because it is subject to God, as Abinadi described.

However, when we actually receive a body, we allow the body to control our actions.  The body has feelings, and needs.  If we don't eat, we are hungry, if we don't eat, we are thirsty.  We want to avoid all forms of pain, and seek only pleasurable things.  Lets call the body the son, because it is the flesh, as Abinadi described.

Looking again at the speech by Abinadi in this light, we could see how we would do the works of Jesus, and become His children:

And because he dwelleth in flesh he shall be called the Son of God, and having subjected the flesh to the will of the Father, being the Father and the Son—

We dwell in the flesh, the body being the son and the spirit being the father.  When we subject our flesh to our spirit we have both.

And they are one God, yea, the very Eternal Father of heaven and of earth.

When the spirit is in control, the body follows, there is unity within us.  The progression of unity is ultimately the same, and follows an Eternal pattern:

God the Father --> Christ --> our spirit --> our flesh

Each is progressively subject to the Lord above him, bringing unity within ourselves, and at the same time unity with Christ, who is one with the Father.  We are all One.  Now we can discuss how we actually achieve this unity.

And thus the flesh becoming subject to the Spirit, or the Son to the Father, being one God, suffereth temptation, and yieldeth not to the temptation, 

When we subject our flesh, or son, to our spirit, or father, we become one with God.  The way we do this is by not giving in to temptation.  The flesh wants things that are destructive.  We want certain foods because of taste; we want comforts and pleasures; the flesh is lazy and wants to avoid work and effort.  All of these temptations are part of the flesh, or the son.  When the spirit is in control we will not give in to needs, desires, addictions, or wants of the flesh, rather we will choose to nourish the flesh and the spirit.  We will not give in to the lusts of the flesh, or temptation.  Also, we will allow all forms of discomfort of the body, including pain, hunger, thirst, fatigue, and so forth.  This is not to say that we should be completely Spartan or Stoic, beating the flesh into submission, but rather simply having the father (spirit) take control of the son (body).

but suffereth himself to be mocked, and scourged, and cast out, and disowned by his people.

The word "suffereth" is "to allow."  We will also allow others to mistreat us.  We will allow rejection of all kinds, and not seek the approval of our fellow-men, even our own families.

Love of Father
The metaphor is beautiful.  If we look at any father-son relationship we find love at the core and foundation.  Fathers love their sons.  The son is the heir to the father.  The father nourishes the son, provides for the son, and teaches the son to grow up and become a man.  A father wants the best for his son, but doesn't allow the son to wander aimlessly.  A loving father gives strict guidelines and rules, reproving his son when he strays from them, but lovingly bringing him back in line.

If we look inside ourselves and understand that we have two parts that are separate and distinct.  The flesh is like a child with wants and needs that must be addressed, while the spirit is like an adult that provides and teaches.  In order to become one, the child must be subject to, obedient to, and learn from the father.

Many people, however, allow the child to run their being.  They are as wild horses, roaming free with no bridal to tame them.  They are as two-year-old children just wanting, needing without regard to consequences.  It's like the inmates are running the asylum.  These indulge every whim of the body, being more and more destructive to themselves and those around them.  They have addictions because they cannot control themselves, there is no bridal, nobody is in charge.  The spirit has completely given up controlling the body.  They have absentee fathers, creating chaos.

When the father is in charge of the son, or the spirit is in charge of the body, the picture is just the opposite.  Everything changes.  There is control.  There is peace.  There is happiness.  There is civility.  There is unity and love.

A parent loves a young child by providing for needs instead of wants, and giving guidance.  When a child asks for ice cream for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, the parent wisely listens, kisses him, and gives him broccoli.  Then, after a strenuous day of labor, they go get some ice cream.  A loving parent allows a child to roam, but when the child gets too close to the street, or any danger, the parent physically picks him up and moves him to safety.  The parent lovingly listens to all the idle chatter, the dreams and crazy ideas of the child, just allowing the child to be himself.  A loving parent also teaches the child to be clean, healthy, and independent.  Love is found in the parent making sacrifices for a child -- giving time and resources, setting guidelines, and not paying too much attention to temper, screaming, crying for wants.

Our spirit, or father, can do the same for our body, or son.  We can allow the body to be, allowing hunger, thirst, fatigue, or pain, at times, but wisely seeking relief when it's too much.  The spirit can look lovingly at the body as a two-year-old child that will have temper tantrums for wanting things, and just smile, waiting for it to go away.  Hunger lasts only a few minutes, we can wait to eat.  Desires for tasty treats, water, sex, relaxation, and other pleasures can be postponed, or put in proper order.  The "father" can tell the "son" when it is time to eat, what to eat, or when certain pleasures are appropriate.  Thus, we subject the son to the father, as Jesus was subject to God.  "Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered;"  (Hebrews 5:8)

Becoming One
The unity created by doing this is powerful.  We will be able to become adults in the full sense of the word, providing for others according to our gifts, helping many people.  Those who do good, however, are often not appreciated.  The prophets may get stoned, verbally and physically, in spite of the good they do, or because of it.  Again, Christ is the example:

And after all this, after working many mighty miracles among the children of men, he shall be led, yea, even as Isaiah said, as a sheep before the shearer is dumb, so he opened not his mouth.  Yea, even so he shall be led, crucified, and slain, the flesh becoming subject even unto death, the will of the Son being swallowed up in the will of the Father.

Ultimately, the spirit will ask the body to die so that they may become one.  It may be a painful death.  The body must be willing to die without complaint or objection because it is totally submissive to the spirit.

The process of subjecting our body to our spirit is exactly the same as the story of Christ and His Father, as well as our spirit to Christ.  Power is found in unity.  Each with separate wills must come together in order to receive power.  Jesus didn't want to suffer for all of mankind, but was willing because His body was subject to his spirit, or the Son was obedient to the Father.  The Father asked Jesus to do it, and He said, "not my will, but thine, be done."  (Luke 22:42)  In doing so, He allows all of us to become one with Him, and consequentially, one with God.

As Jesus Christ is completely obedient to God the Father, our spirits must be subject to Christ, and our bodies subject to our spirits.  This is the pattern of unity.  It is how we become one with the Father, becoming the children of God.  "And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together."  (Romans 8:17)  That we all may become the children of God is my prayer in the holy name of Jesus Christ.