Moses 1

Nephi saw of biblical scholars and translators that over the years that -

"...they have taken away from the gospel of the Lamb many parts which are plain and most precious; and also many covenants of the Lord have they taken away." (Book of Mormon 1 Nephi 13:26)

As a result, the Lord commanded the Prophet Joseph Smith the review and provide an "inspired" version of the bible. Much the work of the Prophet with the inspired revisions was modify or clarify verses of scriptures. Thus is the case with the book of Genesis. But what is interesting in this process, the Lord revealed an important experience and writing of Moses, lost in scripture, that that took place after the Lord spoke to Moses from the burning bush but before he lead the children of Israel from Egypt. This writing of Moses is the first chapter of the book of Moses.

In this great vision, the Lord tells Moses -

"...behold, thou art my son..." (Pearl of Great Price Moses 1:4)

- a very important concept that must be revealed and understood to understand the entire plan
of salvation. In 1909, the First Presidency confirmed -

"...Man is the child of God, formed in the divine image and endowed with divine attributes, and even as the infant son of an earthly father and mother is capable in due time of becoming a man, so the undeveloped offspring of celestial parentage is capable, by experience through ages and aeons, of evolving into a God" (Improvement Era, Nov. 1909, 81; see also Acts 17:27–28; Hebrews 12:9; Marion G. Romney, Learning for the Eternities, George J. Romney, comp. [1977], 31–32).

Yet at the same time, the Lord made it perfectly clear -

"...but there is no God beside me..." (Pearl of Great Price Moses 1:6)

In explanation, Elder Boyd K. Packer, said -

"The Father is the one true God. This thing is certain: no one will ever ascend above Him; no one will ever replace Him. Nor will anything ever change the relationship that we, His literal offspring, have with Him. He is Elohim, the Father. He is God. Of Him there is only one. We revere our Father and our God; we worship Him" (in Conference Report, Oct. 1984, 85; or Ensign, Nov. 1984, 69).

This all makes sense as we again consider the words of the First Presidency in 1912 -

". . . The sole object of worship, God the Eternal Father, stands supreme and alone, and it is in the name of the Only Begotten that we thus approach Him, as Christ taught always." (“Only One God to Worship,” Improvement Era, Apr. 1912, 484–85)