The Miracle of The Restoration
For the better part of 2000 years, Christianity has had the most fundamental of doctrines wrong. I don’t want you to think that the Catholics or Protestants are not doing a tremendous amount of good in the world because they are. I don’t really blame them for the errors in their doctrines, either.
In the first few hundred years following the establishment of the New Testament church, worldly wisdom and philosophies found their way into the church. The net effect is the limitations it places on understanding the nature of God and, subsequently, ourselves. Consequently, it makes it nearly impossible to obtain eternal life, as described by Jesus. Even the most brilliant people in the world of religion can’t get past the roadblock of the presuppositions introduced by the Trinity doctrine.
I don’t think we fully appreciate the magnitude of Joseph Smith’s first vision. The appearance of the Father and the Son on this and several subsequent occasions sets straight the notion that God is a single incomprehensible entity. Without this understanding, we cannot come to know God and Christ and thereby obtain the knowledge of eternal life.
From that time forward, revelation after revelation reestablished the structure of the ancient church. Priesthood keys were conferred by those who rightfully held them, authorizing the church to perform the ordinances of salvation. Once again, we have prophets and apostles who continue to receive revelation and carry on the restorative process.
However, that is not the true miracle of the restoration as I see it. I see the church as a toolbox with items we can use to obtain personal revelation. Put another way, it is a set of keys that unlock the mysteries of godliness. Using what is made available to us, we can come to know our Father in Heaven and our Savior, Jesus Christ.
The restoration is many orders of magnitude greater than the reestablishment of the church. By using the aforementioned tools and keys, we can obtain knowledge of the ages from Adam to the present day. These truths range from understanding the cosmos from unorganized matter to the complexities of human life. It reveals our nature as conscious beings. It reveals the eternal nature of intelligence and agency. It explains existence itself and our divine potential.
That is the miracle of the restoration. We should thank God every day that we live in this dispensation of the fullness of the gospel. We must not take it for granted.