The Prophet Joseph Smith bore many powerful witnesses of Jesus Christ, his reality, his divinity, and his power to save us. Here is one of his most compelling statements of what he knew to be fact:
"And now, after the many testimonies which have been given of him, this is the testimony, last of all, which we give of him: That he lives! For we saw him, even on the right hand of God; and we heard the voice bearing record that he is the Only Begotten of the Father— That by him, and through him, and of him, the worlds are and were created, and the inhabitants thereof are begotten sons and daughters unto God" (D&C 76:22-24).
This single statement by Joseph Smith and Sydney Rigdon contains many great and marvelous truths.
Joseph saw Christ sitting on the right hand of God, exactly where the Apostle Paul said he would be: "Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high" (Heb. 1:3). The right side is the side of honor, the side of covenant. it is the right arm that we raise to the square to make a covenant with God. thus to be on his right side shows that we have made and kept covenants.
Joseph affirms that Christ was the "only begotten of the father", echoing the words of John the Beloved: "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth" (John 1:14).
Joseph testifies that it was Christ, formerly known as Jehovah, who organized the earth. This same truth was taught by ancient apostles:
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made" (John 1:1-3).
"God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds" (Heb 1:1-2).
Note in the verse above from the letter to the Hebrews that Paul spoke of "worlds" in the plural. Joseph testified of the same truth, that Jesus has been the creator of many worlds besides this earth on which we stand. Joseph further testified that these other worlds are also inhabited by the spirit offspring of God the Father, and that they, just as we, have the opportunity of becoming sons and daughters of Christ, his spiritual heirs. Moses attested to the fact that many worlds were inhabited, each beginning with the first man who was named Adam: "And the first man of all men have I called Adam, which is many" (Moses 1:34).
Most powerful and significant of all the truths to which Joseph and Sydney testified as they related their vision of the heavens, was that Jesus lives today as a resurrected being. His resurrection is the final proof of all that he said he would and could do. When the scribes and Pharisees asked him if he truly had power and authority to do all of the works that he had promised, he offered to them the sign of Jonah, who was swallowed up in the depth of the sea for three days, and then returned to the land of the living. (See Matt 12:39-40). Another time he referred to the destruction and rebuilding of the temple, promising that he could rebuild the temple - meaning resurrect the temple of his body - in three days. (See john 2:19).
Christ's bodily resurrection is infallible proof that he is who he says he is and can do what he says he can do. Bruce R. McKonkie once taught that the proof of the Atonement is the Resurrection, and the proof of the Resurrection is witnesses. Joseph Smith stood as a witness of the Atonement and Resurrection of Christ. He ultimately gave his life for this witness, thus sealing his testimony with his blood, just as did most of the Apostles in ancient times.
Praise to the man who communed with Jehovah,
Jesus anointed that prophet and seer.
(Praise to the Man, Hymns, 27)
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