I have been reading and thinking about the nature of God. I reached the point in the Book of Mormon where Abinadi says that Jesus is both the father and the son. I tried reading it knowing the nature of God to be that Jesus and God the Father are two separate individuals. It still was difficult. Here is the passage.

1 And now Abinadi said unto them: I would that ye should understand that God himself shall come down among the children of men, and shall redeem his people.
2 And because he dwelleth in flesh he shall be called the Son of God, and having subjected the flesh to the will of the Father, being the Father and the Son—
3 The Father, because he was conceived by the power of God; and the Son, because of the flesh; thus becoming the Father and Son—
4 And they are one God, yea, the very Eternal Father of heaven and of earth. (Mosiah 15:1-4)

Verse 3 in particular is difficult. The Father because he was conceived. This must mean conceived in mortality because we were all conceived spiritually from the Father. Jesus was the only one conceived in this mortal life. But why would that make him the Father? So I was thinking about this. Here is a thought. We know that Jesus and God the Father are separate individuals. All of our discussion is around how does God (Jesus) differ from God (the Father). This is a good discussion. By placing Jesus in every way on equal par with the Father the discussion is not about how mortal Jesus was. The discussion is not how he is the greatest prophet. It would be easy to swing the pendulum the other way and consider how Jesus was just one of us. By being very clear that Jesus is more than just one of us the discussion is how much he is not the same as God the Father. Do we pray to Jesus? (evidently some times but rarely) Do we worship Jesus? (Absolutely) Is he the creator? (Yes) Is he the Father of our spirits? (No) Do we return to live with him and not the Father? (both?) Was the plan before this life to come to earth and become like the Father or like Jesus? (the Father) There is no discussion whether Jesus is greater than Joseph Smith. They are not even in the same category for Jesus is God, the way to eternal life, the means and the reason by which we can return to the Father. His example and His commandments are the ones we are to learn and follow. God the Father is the father of all, even the son. It is he to whom we aspire to return and become like. And if we do become like him we will be joint heirs with Christ (Romans 8:17)