Chapter 8

Giving Our All by Knowing Our Nothingness

Now, for this cause I know that man is nothing, which thing I never had supposed.

If we observed a parent tell a child, “You are nothing, you are a zero, you are worthless, you are no better than the dust that you walk on!”

We would be aghast, we would tremble with indignation and we would probably call Family and Children Protective Services and sic them on the parent.

So, it would probably shock you to know that is exactly what Jesus is telling us.  But before you recoil and throw this book away, hear me out, for what I am saying is only what the Savior said,

John 5:30 I can of myself do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is righteous; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.

John 8:28 Jesus therefore said to them: When you shall have lifted up, the Son of man, then shall you know that I am he and that I do nothing of myself. But as the Father hath taught me, these things I speak.

Followers of Christ have addressed this subject of being nothing, the opposite of all,

Two times the Apostle Paul talked of his nothingness,

Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.

2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.

3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.

The prophet Moroni, likewise understood the importance of recognizing our nothingness,

Moroni 7:44 If so, his faith and hope is vain, for none is acceptable before God, save the meek and lowly in heart; and if a man be meek and lowly in heart, and confesses by the power of the Holy Ghost that Jesus is the Christ, he must needs have charity; for if he have not charity he is nothing; wherefore he must needs have charity.

The great King Benjamin,

Mosiah 4:5 For behold, if the knowledge of the goodness of God at this time has awakened you to a sense of your nothingness, and your worthless and fallen state—

25 And now I ask, can ye say aught of yourselves? I answer you, Nay. Ye cannot say that ye are even as much as the dust of the earth; yet ye were created of the dust of the earth; but behold, it belongeth to him who created you.

26 And I, even I, whom ye call your king, am no better than ye yourselves are; for I am also of the dust. And ye behold that I am old, and am about to yield up this mortal frame to its mother earth.

The prophet Ammon,

Alma 26:11 But Ammon said unto him: I do not boast in my own strength, nor in my own wisdom; but behold, my joy is full, yea, my heart is brim with joy, and I will rejoice in my God.

12 Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever.

And one of my all time favorites from the prophet Moses,

Moses 1:9 And the presence of God withdrew from Moses, that his glory was not upon Moses; and Moses was left unto himself. And as he was left unto himself, he fell unto the earth.

10 And it came to pass that it was for the space of many hours before Moses did again receive his natural strength like unto man; and he said unto himself: Now, for this cause I know that man is nothing, which thing I never had supposed.

And from John the Beloved regarding the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,

John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word: and the Word was with God: and the Word was God.

2 The same was in the beginning with God.

3 All things were made by him: and without him was made nothing that was made.

4 In him was life: and the life was the light of men.

5 And the light shineth in darkness: and the darkness did not comprehend it.

Now, it is ironic that Jesus acknowledged His nothingness without the Father, he did nothing of Himself except as the Father empowered or authorized Him but then we are swallowed up in the majesty of these verses by John, that “all” things were made by Him even Jesus Christ.  That being the case, why was He nothing without the Father?  It appears that He had His own power to create and to perform miracles and great works. 

Herein lies the great mystery, that in order to truly love God with all of our  hearts and all of our beings, we must learn of our own nothingness.  The more we are aware of our nothingness, the more we are able to climb to new heights.  The experience of Moses was a perfect example.  After beholding the infinite power and grandeur of the Lord, Moses was left unto himself and was without any strength.  This was beyond just being weak, Moses literally came back from a death like experience.  Moses had to be renewed and reborn. In the process of being reborn or as he called it, transfigured, he learned of his own nothingness, his utterly complete and total dependence on God his Father.   This was a necessary process that all must go through at some time.  I believe it is an actual ordinance similar to baptism.  Baptism is symbolic of this utter nothingness that we must acknowledge and even experience.  We are immersed in water, we cannot breath, symbolic of death and annihilation, and then brought forth, awakened, renewed and reborn.  The one doing the baptizing, literally represents the Lord Jesus Christ and by the representative’s sustaining power, we are lifted up.  This sense of impotence as we are immersed in the water by the Lord’s representative, is a tiny taste of what Moses went through.  

One must become aware of their own nothingness in order to obtain their highest potential.  As mentioned before, the vessel must be clean to build the Kingdom of God within.   The vessel is cleaned by first recognizing our nothingness and then giving our all.  But, if we are nothing, how can we give our all?  Zero = Zero?  One of the many paradoxes and beautiful ironies of God.  In God’s math, nothing = infinity.  In God’s math, man is nothing, therefore, man is everything.

Moses, on discovering his “nakedness”, his own nothingness, in total awe asked the great Supreme Being, Elohim, the Greatest of All what was the purpose of man, who answered Moses by saying, “This is my work and my glory, to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.”