I am captivated by this statue in the Nauvoo Visitor Center. It depicts the event that began the last dispensation of the fullness of times, “Joseph Smith’s First Vision.”
When Joseph prayed to know which church he should join, he received the marvelous manifestation of a visit from God, the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. He described that visit in Joseph Smith-History 1:17, “...I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other—This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!”
From this one event we learn several important things about Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. Among those are facts that were mostly lost over the previous eighteen hundred years:
-God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, are two separate and distinct beings, resembling each other in features and likeness..
-God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ are glorified physical beings.
-God knows us personally and is aware of our needs and concerns. He called Joseph by name.
The scriptures tell of several times when The Father testified of and introduced The Son:
When Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist, Matthew 3:17 “And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
When Jesus was transfigured before Peter, James and John on the mount, Matthew 17:5 “While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.”
At the coming of the resurrected Jesus to the Nephites on the American continent, 3 Nephi 11:7 “Behold my Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, in whom I have glorified my name—hear ye him.”
I hope you enjoy seeing this statue as much as I enjoy and love seeing it every day as I serve in the mission office in the Nauvoo Visitor Center.
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