5<\/sup> As I walked in the building this morning, I looked up, and I want to tell you that, to me, this has felt like the weight of Mount Sinai.<\/p>\nThe Lord uses covenant in the process of the spiritual creation of His children. Adam and Eve were required to be born again through water, the Spirit, and blood (see Moses 6:58\u201360). Ancient Israel is described as \u201cthe work of mine hands\u201d created at Mount Sinai (Isaiah 29:23; see also Isaiah 43:21) and, throughout her history, as being shaped and formed as the clay in the hand of the potter (see Isaiah 45:9; Jeremiah 18:1\u201312). And Jesus taught that we must be born again \u201cof water and of the Spirit\u201d (John 3:5). Our lives, then, are about creation. They are about what it is we are becoming.<\/p>\n
The Master and His Apprentices<\/b><\/h2>\n Several years ago I began a discussion with the Lord that has proven to be a pivotal point in my life. One day, in a moment of serious self-reflection\u2014which we commonly call a midlife crisis (and which for some of us began the day after our missions and continues to the present)\u2014I sat down to determine if I had done anything significant with my life. I asked myself and the Lord this simple question: \u201cWhat is my masterpiece? What is the culmination of all of my years of training and hard work?\u201d As a young person I longed to be an artist or a musician, but after years of study and practice I concluded that my talents lay elsewhere. But still I continue to think of producing in my life a \u201cmasterpiece.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Lord responded to my question with three thoughts.<\/p>\n
First, He said to me that my task was to fulfill the measure of my creation\u2014to be in the image and likeness of God, to be holy and perfect like Him. I walked over and looked into my spiritual mirror, and the result was not encouraging.<\/p>\n
He then told me that my greatest work was to be my wife, Jo Ann, and my children.<\/p>\n
And then the Lord said to me, \u201cBut you are not a master, so why do you think you can produce a masterpiece? You are just an apprentice in my workshop.\u201d<\/p>\n
Having always been a lover of great art (my son in this room has walked every hall of the Louvre with me\u2014it took us three days), I have been familiar with the institution of the apprentices that worked in the shops of the master artists and craftsmen. Especially during the Renaissance the great artists had workshops in which they employed apprentices to help them produce their masterpieces. Leonardo da Vinci served as an apprentice in the studio of Verrocchio, Michelangelo in the studio of Ghirlandaio, and Raphael in the studio of Perugino. The apprentices sought engagement in the workshops to do three things.<\/p>\n
First, they came to get to know the master, his values, and his personality and to see up close how he produced his masterpieces.<\/p>\n
Second, they came to learn from the master by doing. They began by doing the mundane jobs: sweeping the shop and preparing the pigments and the panels. As they progressed in skill, they were given more responsible tasks: painting backgrounds or minor figures, thus participating in the creation of great masterpieces.<\/p>\n
Third, the apprentices came because they aspired to become like their masters. They hoped that by knowing the master and working by his side, they could one day become masters themselves.6<\/sup><\/p>\nRemember the Lord\u2019s conversation with Moses: \u201cAnd I have a work for thee, Moses, my son; and thou art in the similitude of mine Only Begotten\u201d (Moses 1:6). In Heavenly Father\u2019s workshop, we, like Moses, are both God\u2019s masterpieces in process\u2014\u201cin the similitude of mine Only Begotten\u201d\u2014as well as His children, His sons and daughters, whom He has engaged in His workshop as apprentices, saying, \u201cI have a work for you.\u201d<\/p>\n
How Do We Become in the \u201cImage and Likeness of God\u201d?<\/b><\/h2>\n I believe the metaphor of the master and his apprentices can help us better understand how we can become God\u2019s masterpieces\u2014His children in the \u201cimage and likeness of God.\u201d7<\/sup> Just like an apprentice in a workshop, our first step is to get to know the Master. The Prophet Joseph Smith taught: \u201cIt is the first principle of the gospel to know for a certainty the character of God\u201d8<\/sup> and to have \u201ca correct<\/i> idea of his . . . perfections, and attributes.\u201d9<\/sup> We know that we can come to know the Lord by studying the scriptures, through prayer, and by associating with others who know Him.<\/p>\nIn order to help us to know the Master, Heavenly Father sent His Only Begotten Son to earth to reveal to us the Father: \u201cThe Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do\u201d (John 5:19). Thus Jesus Christ came to earth as Heavenly Father\u2019s masterpiece in His image as well as in the image of a man, and through His Atonement Jesus Christ became the Master of the workshop. What we learn from the life of the Savior is that His primary attribute is love. He loves His Father and He loves us, and He expects us, as His creations and as His apprentices, to love one another: \u201cBy this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another\u201d (John 13:35).<\/p>\n
Through reading the accounts of the life of the Savior we can learn what He is like, what He values, and how He treated others. The Apostle Peter gave us an example of the power of knowing the Savior. Recall with me the account in Matthew when the Savior, who was walking upon the stormy sea, invited Peter to walk on the water with Him. When Peter left the boat and began to go to Jesus, the text records:<\/p>\n
But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.<\/i><\/p>\n
And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? <\/i>[Matthew 14:30\u201331]<\/p>\n
Later, after the death and resurrection of the Savior, Peter found himself the head of the Church. Fearless in the face of persecution, Peter was teaching at the temple with John when a lame beggar asked for alms. Peter, following the example of the Savior, stretched out his hand and said:<\/p>\n
Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.<\/i><\/p>\n
And he took him<\/i> [following the example of the Savior on the Sea of Galilee] by the right hand, and lifted him up. <\/i>[Acts 3:6\u20137]<\/p>\n
The second step is learning in the workshop by doing. Latter-day Saints are familiar with the gospel of doing: we do good works, we do our home teaching and visiting teaching, and we even call temple worship \u201ctemple work.\u201d The scriptures are replete with commandments of doing or not doing. The Savior simply said, \u201cCome, follow me\u201d (Luke 18:22; see also Matthew 4:19). By imitating the life of Jesus we learn obedience, compassion, love, and how to treat our fellows as if they were the Master: \u201cInasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me\u201d (Matthew 25:40).<\/p>\n
As we become skilled apprentices, we come to realize that the Master has given us a breathtaking responsibility in the workshop. In the beginning, Adam and Eve were commanded to \u201cmultiply, and replenish the earth\u201d (Genesis 1:28), and they were given the gift of procreation\u2014to create the bodies for the spirit children of our heavenly parents, in the image of God. This sacred gift of procreation is one of the greatest gifts imaginable and gives us the power to work as co-creators with God.<\/p>\n
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland described this role as follows:<\/p>\n
You will never be more like God at any other time in this life than when you are expressing that particular power. <\/b>Of all the titles he has chosen for himself, Father is the one he declares, and Creation is his watchword\u2014especially human creation, creation in his image.<\/i>10<\/sup><\/p>\nGenesis 5:3 records, \u201cAnd Adam . . . begat a son in his own likeness, after his image.\u201d Here is where the fun begins, as Heavenly Father has given us the privilege of creating these children in our image as well. The results can be both spectacular and comical. When we first held our babies, we would greet each new spirit with wonder, and then we would begin to note the distribution of the genes from our families. As we raise our children in the image and likeness of God, we are shocked as they assume our image and likeness as well. One morning, a few days after I finished a grueling two years working on my dissertation, we were lying on our bed when our darling two-and-a-half-year-old son raced into the room and began jumping on the bed, gleefully shouting, \u201cI am sure glad that darned dissertation is done!\u201d But he didn\u2019t say \u201cdarned\u201d!<\/p>\n
Several years later our family was living in New York City for the summer, and we were attending a scholarly workshop together with lots of other aspiring scholars. Many of my colleagues were Christian, and one week we decided to perform an ecumenical gesture by attending the Riverside Church with my Christian colleagues. We got up in the morning and announced to our children that we were going to the Riverside Church, and our little boy said, \u201cWow, I really don\u2019t want to put on my crunchy clothes today, and I really don\u2019t want to go to that church.\u201d First I pleaded. Then I just grabbed his arm and dragged him out the door. As we got to the Riverside Church and went through the entrance, we looked in and realized that people had not brought their children to this meeting. The two thousand people in the church were sitting there quietly, waiting for the beginning of the meeting, and my five-year-old son shouted out, \u201cBut Daddy, this isn\u2019t even the true church!\u201d So much for the ecumenical gesture of the Seelys that week.<\/p>\n
One of the most exhilarating jobs in the workshop is to work with Heavenly Father\u2019s children in the creation of families. And it is here that our family has experienced the grandest of adventures. But helping to create Heavenly Father\u2019s children in His image and likeness is not confined to parenthood. Throughout our lives we become co-creators with the Master in our relationships with all of those around us: our families, friends, mission companions, roommates, colleagues, teachers, and students, as well as those we visit teach and home teach.<\/p>\n
Let me share with you several important things that I have learned in the workshop as we have worked as co-creators with the Master. The image and likeness of God is not to be found in outward appearances\u2014it is to be found in our hearts. In our modern culture, especially in the media, there is overwhelming attention and concern given to \u201cimage,\u201d which is almost always a reference to outward appearances. A powerful story in the scriptures addresses this issue. When the prophet Samuel was sent to find the Lord\u2019s anointed among the sons of Jesse in Bethlehem, he examined the seven eldest sons of Jesse, expecting to find among them the next king of Israel. He was disappointed to find that none of them was the one the Lord had chosen, and he finally had Jesse send for his youngest son, David. The Lord then taught us a lesson that should pierce our souls: \u201cFor the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart\u201d (1 Samuel 16:7). The Lord wants us to learn to see ourselves and each other as He sees us: not looking on outward appearances but looking on the heart. In our search for friends, associates, and, most important, our future spouses, we need to learn to see each other \u201cnot as man seeth\u201d but as \u201cthe Lord looketh on the heart.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another thing I have learned in the workshop is that being created in the image and likeness of God does not mean that we are all the same. As spirit children of Heavenly Father, we come to earth with our individuality. Heavenly Father tells us that He has blessed us with different spiritual gifts:<\/p>\n
For all have not every gift given unto them; for there are many gifts, and to every man is given a gift by the Spirit of God.<\/i><\/p>\n
To some is given one, and to some is given another, that all may be profited thereby. <\/i>[D&C 46:11\u201312; see also 1 Corinthians 12]<\/p>\n
President James E. Faust taught:<\/p>\n
We do not lose our identity in becoming members of this church. . . . We say to all who have joined the Church, keep all that is noble, good, and uplifting in your culture and personal identity.<\/i>11<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\nAs we look through the scriptures, we see the way that the Lord has made use of many different individuals: in the Old Testament there was a Moses and an Aaron, a Ruth and an Esther; in the New Testament a Peter and a Paul, a Mary and a Martha; and in our day a Joseph Smith and a Brigham Young, a Gordon B. Hinckley and a Thomas S. Monson.<\/p>\n
In the workshop we come to appreciate that the Lord\u2019s masterpieces are created through a great price. Abraham demonstrated the ultimate faith in God when he took his son Isaac to sacrifice him on Mount Moriah. The Lord exclaimed, \u201cNow I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me\u201d (Genesis 22:12). On that day Abraham showed us the image of God the Father when he, like his Heavenly Father, demonstrated his willingness to sacrifice his beloved son, and Isaac showed us the image of God the Son as he willingly submitted to the will of his father.<\/p>\n
We are surrounded by many who have taught us by example the principles of faith, obedience, and sacrifice. In the Lectures on Faith<\/i> we are taught, \u201cThe faith necessary unto the enjoyment of life and salvation never could be obtained without the sacrifice of all earthly things.\u201d12<\/sup><\/p>\nMy grandfather J. Leo Seely received a mission call in 1914 to serve the Lord in Ireland. He left his wife and little children for two years. The depth of his sacrifice has become clear to us as we have read their letters. Upon his return he grabbed my grandmother in an embrace, and his little daughter Ina, who hadn\u2019t seen her father for years, raced out to chastise this unfamiliar man, shouting, \u201cYou naughty man, leave my mother alone!\u201d<\/p>\n
Because of the power of this man\u2019s example and that of my noble grandmother, my father served a mission, and then over fifty of his grandchildren and now his great-grandchildren have gone forth to serve the Lord in missions that cover the world. Great-Great-Grandfather Bramall crossed the plains seven times and served five missions to England. And Great-Grandmother Sumsion began a great tradition of sister missionary service followed by her daughter, her granddaughters, and now her great-granddaughters. As we watch our children\u2014and as you watch your friends and families\u2014open mission calls, we see the image of God in a person who is willing to follow in the footsteps of the Savior to sacrifice for the salvation of His children. They have the faith and the courage to go wherever the Lord calls them.<\/p>\n
Esau is another unheralded example of one who showed us how to shape our lives in the image of God. When his brother, Jacob, tricked him out of the birthright, Esau was enraged to the point of seeking to kill his brother. After many years of avoiding each other, there was a dramatic moment when Jacob encountered his brother. Jacob, fearing for his life, prepared gifts for his brother. When the moment of the encounter came and Jacob met his brother, Esau unexpectedly forgave him. Looking into Esau\u2019s forgiving face, Jacob exclaimed, \u201cFor therefore I have seen thy face, as though I had seen the face of God\u201d (Genesis 33:10).<\/p>\n
The image of God is forgiveness. As Brother Nibley always used to remind us, \u201cThe two things you can do in life are to repent and forgive.\u201d13<\/sup><\/p>\nThe third step of our apprenticeship is the most important and perhaps the most difficult. Ultimately we are commanded to \u201cbe holy\u201d and to \u201cbe perfect\u201d like the Master. As we live the gospel and fill our lives with knowing and doing, something miraculous happens to us: we begin to become like the Savior and like our Father in Heaven. But we cannot complete the process of becoming like God on our own. Only the Master can make a masterpiece, and only He can make us in His own image.<\/p>\n
Let me tell you about something I love. There is a fragment of a Dead Sea scroll from Cave 4 at Qumran that I had the privilege to work on several years ago. It is a piece of a hymn called Barkhi Nafshi\u2014<\/i> \u201cBless, O My Soul.\u201d One cold winter day I was in the workroom at the Shrine of the Book in Jerusalem examining this fragment. It had not yet been mounted in a protective frame, and a gust of wind came through the window and blew the fragile fragment onto the floor. Horrified, I quickly got a large piece of paper and knelt down to scoop it up. As I stood to put it back onto the table, I was overcome with emotion\u2014holding in my hands this precious piece of the past, a piece of leather that contained the hymn of praise from a Jewish author two thousand years ago. In this fragment of text the ancient hymnist expressed the mystery of acquiring the attributes of God: \u201cBless, O my soul, the Lord. . . . He has been gracious to the needy, and he has opened their eyes to see his ways, and their ears to hear his teaching. And he has circumcised the foreskins of their heart\u201d (4Q434 1.i.1\u20134).14<\/sup> Paraphrasing from Deuteronomy (10:16\u201317; 30:6), another sacred text that I love, the ancient author of this poem acknowledges that it is only God who can, through His grace, open our eyes and ears and change our hearts.<\/p>\nThis doctrine is taught throughout the scriptures. The Lord says in Ezekiel, \u201cA new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you\u201d (Ezekiel 36:26). And Paul describes the death of \u201cour old man\u201d and the birth of the new that we experience at baptism (Romans 6:6; see verses 1\u20136).<\/p>\n
Occasionally things go wrong in the workshop, and we, as the Master\u2019s masterpieces in progress, become distorted or deformed. Sometimes the problem is sin\u2014giving in to the enticings of the natural man. Sometimes it is discouragement, disappointment, sickness, or death. The Master of the workshop came to earth and, as explained by Alma, experienced mortal \u201cinfirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities\u201d (Alma 7:12). He has the power to cleanse us, to heal us, and to restore us to His image and likeness, for the Atonement \u201cbring[s] about the bowels of mercy\u201d that \u201ccan satisfy the demands of justice, and encircles them in the arms of safety\u201d (Alma 34:15\u201316).<\/p>\n
I testify that the power of the Atonement is real and that His \u201cgrace is sufficient\u201d (Ether 12:27). As we call upon our Father in Heaven in repentance, through the power of the Savior\u2019s Atonement we can find forgiveness. Through the Holy Ghost He can send encouragement and comfort. We as apprentices in the workshop should remember that, as my daughter says, \u201coften the Holy Ghost needs helpers.\u201d We can help the Master by reaching out to those around us, offering forgiveness, encouragement, and comfort.<\/p>\n
At this very moment in our lives we are in the process of creation\u2014of choosing between the natural man and between becoming, through the power of the grace of our Savior, individuals in the image and likeness of God. As apprentices in His workshop, the Lord has called us to work with Him in producing His masterpieces\u2014His children in His own image. We do so as families, as mothers and fathers, as sons and daughters, as brothers and sisters in the gospel, as missionaries, as teachers and students and through service to our fellowman. There is great joy in the workshop as we see the miraculous growth and the changes of heart that occur through the power of the Atonement. The eternal and enduring masterpieces that we produce in our lives are not works of art or music or scholarly books or articles\u2014they are the people around us. As we help the Master with His masterpieces, we are engaged in His work and His glory: \u201cthe immortality and eternal life of man.\u201d<\/p>\n
I find joy in being an apprentice in the Savior\u2019s workshop, and I aspire to be like Him. As we work in the Lord\u2019s kingdom, serving His children, we can become like Him.<\/p>\n
I love the Lord Jesus Christ. I testify that He lives and He loves us, and I pray \u201cthat when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is\u201d (Moroni 7:48). In the name of our Master, Jesus Christ, amen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"template":"","tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Created in the "Image and Likeness of God": Apprentices in the Master\u2019s Workshop | BYU Speeches<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n