Mormons perhaps don't want to speculate and hence they will avoid answering our concerns
I think that is the whole point, what I'm going to post is purely me and my pondering.
I’m not sure all Mormons have studied the full King Follett address and our lessons are more about how to follow Christ example of love and charity. No need to worry about becoming Gods ourselves if we can’t get the charity part right. Non Mormons worry about this more that Mormons ever do.
No one here is being deceptive we’re just giving more detail. It’s not that God was once a man but that God is a man. He is an immortal God who was once became a mortal man as Jesus did and progressed to total perfection. What does that mean, what does it mean to be totally perfect?
There is all knowing, all powerful, all loving, total righteousness in the choices, he must not lie. And, he must be perfect in justice and perfect in his mercy.
In Heb 2 the writer says; “For if the word spoken by angels was steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompence of reward; How shall we escape…..,
The only way is through the mercy Jesus offers.
1, In the first place we already are gods in the sense of species,
Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High. Ps 82
….as we are the offspring of God…. Act 17
Rom 8 explains it best
16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ;
We are the spirit children of the Father but we are lost to him because of the fall. If we are “led by the Spirit of God” Jesus adopts us through his atonement and brings us back to the Father as full sons and heirs.
John 17; I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine. And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.
*This same concept applies to God the Father, He has always been God because he is part of the family of Elohim(s)/Gods.
2, Joseph Smith said; “God himself, the Father of us all, dwelt on an earth the same as Jesus Christ himself did” then he uses John 5 to explain that Jesus was following what he had seen his Father do before him.
In our Book of Abraham he sees the spirits of men when they were organized and is taught there are different levels intelligence, we are not all the same and have different levels of ability and potential. (the parable of the talents teaches this)
There is however one spirit who is greater than them all
“And there stood one among them that was like unto God,…”
*Now this is where there is no actual doctrinal statement and just ponderings, but it seems there is a level of intelligences far above the others in whom there “is no darkness at all”, they naturally choose righteousness, Heb 1.
“…Being made so much better than the angels (the other spirit children of God), as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they ….And let all the angels of God worship him…. unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with
the oil of gladness above thy fellows.” Heb 1
These greater intelligence are anointed with the oil of gladness and ordained God long before they come to an earth as men. When they do come they are sinless and act out the atoning ritual or ceremony of suffering for the sin of others.
*We are not saying that God was once a sinful man but that he was a sinless man as Jesus Christ was.
3, So how did God progress to full Godhood, what did he lack?
As one of the greater intelligences with greater potential He had a harder testing
Heb 2
9 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man…. Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;… For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham…..Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren,
Heb 5
7 Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared;
8 Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered;
9 And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him;
In Luke 22 it says "being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground."
As one of those greater beings this is what he had to do to obtain his own perfection, he had to hang on the cross, he had to die. Added to that is of course his resurrection. He said on the third day he would be perfected and once He came forth from the tomb He then ascended to His Father and our Father to Heb 1
“….when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high…”
That was His path to full perfection, it made him a perfectly just and perfectly merciful God.
Think about it, what if Jesus had failed in this effort, instead of ‘thy will be done’ what if his fear over come him and he ran away. If He had there would be no path to mercy. It’s one of the points the Book of Mormon makes, to be God one must be perfectly just and perfectly merciful.
Alma 42
12 And now, there was no means to reclaim men from this fallen state, which man had brought upon himself because of his own disobedience;
13 Therefore, according to justice, the plan of redemption could not be brought about, only on conditions of repentance of men in this probationary state, yea, this preparatory state; for except it were for these conditions, mercy could not take effect except it should destroy the work of justice. Now the work of justice could not be destroyed; if so, God would cease to be God.
14 And thus we see that all mankind were fallen, and they were in the grasp of justice; yea, the justice of God, which consigned them forever to be cut off from his presence.
15 And now, the plan of mercy could not be brought about except an atonement should be made; therefore God himself atoneth for the sins of the world, to bring about the plan of mercy, to appease the demands of justice, that God might be a perfect, just God, and a merciful God also.
This was Jesus’ path of progression, He went from being a perfectly righteous being to a greater perfection of being able to offer us his perfect mercy. Before his atoning sacrifice he could not offer it, only after the atonement could he bring about justice and offer us mercy.
It is felt that the Father went though this same suffering to obtain the right and power to offer mercy to his family, he became a perfectly just and perfectly merciful God though offering himself as a sacrifice for sin.
I hope that helps you understand just a little more.
