The Wave: We Are Literal Spirit Offspring of God

“I know, as surely as that I am standing here before you today, that we are the literal spirit offspring of God.”

As I heard those words from the man at the pulpit, a wave swept over me, and as it did I knew that he knew what he said was true. And that spiritually tangible experience with God changed my life, and it changed me.

It was a hinge point. After that, everything changed.

I knew God existed, and I knew I am a literal son of God, a child of God. And I knew you are, too.

We are literally spirit brothers and sisters, children of Heavenly Father.

That knowledge not only changed me, it changed how I view you and everyone else in the world.

There are no strangers, no “other.” We are family, the family of our Heavenly Father regardless of by what name we call Him or even whether we believe in Him. He believes in us, He believes in you.
And, as children of God, our Heavenly Father wants us to learn to love one another and get along as family—His family.

I don’t just believe this. I know it. I know it because as I heard those words, “we are the literal spirit offspring of God,” I experienced God.

I experienced God as my Heavenly Father, as our Heavenly Father.

I was 20 years old at the time. It was the first time I had attended a meeting of members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

I was there at the invitation of friends with whom I worked at a pharmacy at the edge of the University of Illinois—Urbana campus, where I was a student in my sophomore year.

My friends had invited me to attend church with them before, but I had always declined those invitations because at that time I was teaching an adult Sunday School class in my own church – in fact, it was my parent’s class – on the subject of the history of the Disciples of Christ church, of which I was a member.

But, I did accept this invitation.

It was to attend a special conference of members of congregations throughout much of central Illinois who were gathered for the purpose of dedicating the church building in the city of Champaign.

Because of some other church business being conducted that day involving a change in local leadership, there was a special visitor, a member of the First Presidency of the Church, N. Eldon Tanner, who was regarded by members of the Church to be a modern-day Apostle of Jesus Christ.

I’d never seen an Apostle before, so I was curious enough to come to the meeting.

I was seated toward the front of the congregation in an area reserved for visitors, off to the right of the podium.

President Tanner was the concluding speaker.

I don’t remember anything else he said, or even the topic, but I will never forget his concluding words. He said:

I know, as surely as that I am standing here before you today, that we are the literal spirit offspring of God.

When he said that, I felt a wave sweep over me. Not a physical wave, but a wave I felt just as tangibly.

As it swept over me I knew President Tanner knew what he said was true. I knew it not because of the wave, but concurrently with it.

How did I know? I just knew.

It was completely unexpected.

Here I was, listening with interest, but also with a healthy dose of skepticism, when a wave of truth swept over me as President Tanner said he knew that we are literally spirit offspring of God.

Over the years I’ve struggled to come up with words to explain what I experienced, but every time I try it just seems to diminish it.

It was so real that after the meeting when one of the missionaries asked me what my favorite part of the meeting was, I answered, “The wave.”

It wasn’t until he smiled and said, “Tell us about that,” that I realized maybe not everyone else had the same experience that I did, or at least in the same way.

The wave was so tangible that I’ve since wondered about the fluid dynamics of the spirit, like the flow of pure knowledge from God to me.

I was baptized some after that into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, after another powerful and life-changing experience I will share in the next episode.

Why do I share these stories? What do they have to do with living a consecrated life?
Everything.

Because before we are moved to consecrate our lives to God and His service and service to our fellowman we must first know He exists and that when we serve others we are in the service of God.

That is the foundation upon which a consecrated life is built.

If you felt moved by the spirit as you listened today, please come back for more and invite your friends to join us.

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Living a consecrated life is real life, a life filled with peace, meaning, and fulfillment.

Let’s share that life together.