How Can An Eternal God Have Once Been A Man?

This question was posed in an online group regarding the LDS doctrine that “God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted man, and sits enthroned in yonder heavens!” (Joseph Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, sel. Joseph Fielding Smith, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1938, p. 345).  Below it I have included my response in three parts.

Question:

Premise 1: God does not change
Premise 2: God is eternal
Logical conclusion: God has always been god and could not have once been man because that would have involved him not being god eternally and changing into god.

What is the flaw in this argument?

Why Only Jesus Could Be The Christ

Q: Was Jesus the only one who could have been the Savior? Was it possible for someone else to have been the Messiah?

A: Jesus alone was anointed as Savior because He was the only one who had the right to be the Christ (or the Messiah).  He could claim that right because it was His by birthright and by righteousness, and also by covenant.

“Jesus was chosen from before the foundations of the world to be the Christ, the Anointed One…He was the birthright son, and he retained that birthright by his strict obedience” (The Life and Teachings of Jesus and his Apostles, 15).

Christ’s claim to the Messiah-ship is actually fairly well established in scripture (particularly in the Bible).  Here is the case for Jesus’ unique and exclusive claim to the title of “The Christ” as well as to the responsibility and blessings that come with that title.