They crucified the God of Israel

First Nephi 19:8-17

These verses reveal an important doctrine that is made plain in The Book of Mormon: Jesus Christ is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob - the God of Israel.  The one who came down to suffer and die for us was God himself.  Who else knows this doctrine?  Ask any religion: who was it that was crucified?  If it is a Christian faith, they may say they crucified the Son of God, which is true.  However, there is another significant title that he holds.  No religion would answer that they crucified the God of Israel.  They crucified the one who led them out of Egypt, who gave the law of Moses.  

The God of the Old Testament is not some distant figure who leaves us mortals to fend for ourselves and figure out how to live on earth on our own.  He actually became a man himself and showed us how to live in this existence by example.  Not only that, but He, himself, suffered for our sins and sacrificed his life to conquer death.  This doctrine, that He was a God before birth, only enhances the significance of His relationship with us; it emphasizes his love and humility.  It also confirms the doctrine of pre-existence, a pre-mortal life.  Like all of Heavenly Father’s children, Jesus existed as a spirit before He came into mortality.  As a pre-mortal spirit, He was given the power to represent the Father as a member of the Godhead.  He created the earth with the Father, and many earths like this.  They are one in every sense of the word, except physically.