“For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.” Moses 1:39
A Word Before You Begin
Sometimes it’s easy to feel like just one small, forgettable person in a very large world. This verse quietly pushes back on that. God isn’t describing a project or a program — He’s describing *you* as His entire purpose. Read it slowly today. Let the word “glory” land. Then carry this question with you: what would change if you actually believed you were someone’s greatest work?
Main Commentary
There is a verse in the Pearl of Great Price — Moses 1:39 — that functions like the architectural keystone of an entire universe. Remove it, and the structure of everything God does collapses into confusion. Keep it central, and suddenly every divine act makes coherent, luminous sense.
The central insight is this: God is not primarily a rule-keeper. He is a Father with a mission.
Consider a master farmer who rises before dawn every single day — not because the soil demands it, but because he loves what grows. His work has a name. His labor has a face. Every irrigation channel, every pruned branch, every patient season serves one purpose: life, and more life, and the fullness of life. That is the image Moses 1:39 offers us about God.
His work is not administrative. It is personal. His glory is not a trophy displayed above humanity — it is a condition only achieved *through* humanity reaching its full, immortal, exalted potential. This means God’s success and our progression are not separate agendas. They are the same agenda. He cannot be fully glorified by our failure. His glory is literally bound to our immortality and eternal life. This is a covenant relationship written into the very grammar of existence.
President Russell M. Nelson has taught that God’s work centers on the joy and eternal life of His children, and that understanding this changes how we see ourselves — not as problems to be managed, but as children being actively gathered. That framing matters. It shifts the soul from cowering to climbing.
When life narrows and difficulty presses close — when the path ahead looks more like hard stone than open road — Moses 1:39 reminds us that God has already defined His entire existence around our outcome. We are not a side project. We are the whole point.
Ponder Questions
How does knowing God’s glory depends on our progression change daily choices?
When we grasp that God’s glory is not separate from our growth but inseparably connected to it, motivation shifts from obligation to partnership. We stop performing for approval and start progressing as collaborators. Each covenant kept, each character flaw surrendered, each act of service offered — these are not merely personal improvements. They are, in a profound sense, contributions to something eternal. Doctrine and Covenants 93:36 reminds us that the glory of God is intelligence, suggesting that our pursuit of light and truth is deeply aligned with His purposes, making every learning, striving day an act of divine partnership.
What does “eternal life” actually mean beyond simply living forever?
Endless duration alone would be a corridor without a destination. Eternal life, as scriptures use the term, describes a *quality* of existence — the kind of life God Himself lives. John 17:3 defines it as knowing God and Jesus Christ, suggesting that intimacy, understanding, and relationship are the substance of eternal life, not mere continuation. It is the difference between a photograph of sunlight and standing in it. God’s mission in Moses 1:39 points toward bringing us into that full, relational, progressive existence permanently.
Why does God describe His purpose as both “work” and “glory” together?
The pairing is precise and intentional. Work implies ongoing effort, investment, and engagement — nothing passive or distant. Glory implies the ultimate, radiant outcome of that effort. Together, they describe a Father who is not observing from above but laboring alongside and ahead of us. 2 Nephi 26:24 confirms that God does not labor for His own elevation but purely for our benefit. The union of work and glory in a single declaration tells us that for God, our flourishing *is* His joy — the labor and the reward are inseparable.
Make It Personal
Step 1 – Prayerful Reading
“this is my work and my glory” — God’s entire purpose centers on *you*. Sitting with this phrase can reshape how you see your own worth and potential.
Step 2 – Musings
When I consider that God’s glory is tied to my immortality and eternal life, I feel…
If I truly believed God’s work never stops on my behalf, I would…
The word “immortality” alongside “eternal life” makes me wonder if I…
Step 3 – Rhetorical Questions
How does knowing you are God’s purpose change how you treat yourself today?
Where do you feel least valuable, and how does this verse speak there?
How might your daily choices reflect — or resist — God’s work in you?
Who in your life needs to hear they are worth God’s glory?
Step 4 – My Commentary
Pause and let the Spirit bring to mind a specific moment when you felt God working personally on your behalf. Write freely — impressions, images, even questions — without editing yourself.
Step 5 – My Take Away
Write your own statement beginning: “Because I am God’s work and glory, today I will…”