Premortal World
Many years ago, perhaps even millions and millions of years ago, we lived as spirit children with our Father in Heaven. The Family: A Proclamation to the World states, "IN THE
PREMORTAL REALM, spirit sons and daughters knew and
worshipped God as their Eternal Father and accepted His plan by which His
children could obtain a physical body and gain earthly experience to progress
toward perfection and ultimately realize their divine destiny as heirs of
eternal life” (The Family: A Proclamation to the World).
Architects
create structures, and can call them their creations. However, these creations
don’t have the potential to become like their builder. Our Heavenly Father has
created us. We, as His spirit children, have the potential to become as He is.
President Uchtdorf said, “My dear brothers and sisters, if we
look at ourselves only through our mortal eyes, we may not see ourselves as
good enough. But our Heavenly Father sees us as who we truly are and who we can
become. He sees us as His sons and daughters, as beings of eternal light with
everlasting potential and with a divine destiny” (Dieter F. Uchtdorf, “It Works Wonderfully!”, Ensign, November 2015).
It was in
our pre-earthly estate that our Father in Heaven introduced His plan to us, His
spirit children. Elder Robert D. Hales explained,
“In a premortal council, Heavenly Father explained to us His plan
of redemption. The plan was based on doctrine, law,
and principles that have always existed. We learned that if we accepted and followed the plan, we would
be required to willingly leave our Father’s presence and be tested to show
whether we would choose to live according to His laws and commandments. We rejoiced at this opportunity and gratefully sustained the plan because it offered us the way
to become like our Heavenly Father and inherit eternal life.
“But the plan was not without risk: if we chose in mortality not
to live according to God’s eternal laws, we would receive something less than
eternal life. Father knew we would stumble and sin
as we learned by experience in mortality, so He provided a Savior to redeem
from sin all who repent and to heal the spiritual and emotional wounds of those
who obey.” (Robert D. Hales, “The Plan of Salvation: A Sacred Treasure of Knowledge to Guide Us”, Ensign, Oct 2015).
The
Atonement of Jesus Christ, is a critical piece in our Father’s Plan. In the
Bible Dictionary we read that, “All are covered unconditionally as pertaining to the fall of Adam. Hence, all shall
rise from the dead with immortal bodies, because of Jesus’ atonement…The
atonement is conditional, however, so
far as each person’s individual sins are concerned, and touches every one to
the degree that he has faith in Jesus Christ, repents of his sins, and obeys
the gospel” (Bible Dictionary: Atonement).
We know,
however, that not everyone was joyful about the news, nor did everyone accept
the Father’s plan. We had agency in the premortal world, just as we have it
now. Joseph Fielding Smith taught, “God gave his children their free agency
even in the spirit world, by which the individual spirits had the privilege,
just as men have here, of choosing the good and rejecting the evil, of
partaking of the evil to suffer the consequences of their sins. Because of
this, some even there were more faithful than others in keeping the
commandments of the Lord” (Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation,
1:58-59).
We know through the
scriptures that Lucifer turned,
“a third part of the hosts of heaven…away from [our Father in
Heaven] because of their agency;
And they
were thrust down, and thus came the devil and his angels;” (Doctrine &Covenants 29:36-37).
These spirits, just as we,
lived in the presence of God, the Father, and His Son, Jesus Christ. They were
given the opportunity to make a conscious, informed choice, and made their
choice knowing full well what the consequence would be.
Elder Tad R. Callister, in
his book The Infinite Atonement noted
that, “All premortal spirits commenced their spirit sojourn innocent (i.e.,
meaning free from sin), but all such spirits lost their innocence through
individual sin” (Tad R. Callister, The
Infinite Atonement, p77). He also reminds us that, “the two-thirds that
remained were not all equal in their allegiance and obedience to God. At their
spiritual birth they were ‘on the same standing as their brethren’, but through
the laws of agency each spirit advanced at his own rate so that only some
became ‘noble and great ones’” (Tad R. Callister, The Infinite Atonement, p76-77).
Birth
From our premortal life, we
came down to our second estate on earth, through the miracle of birth. A veil
of forgetfulness was placed over our memories so that we would have to live by
faith in this life. In the Book of Mormon Alma taught that, “this life is the
time for men to prepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of this life is the
day for men to perform their labors” (Alma 34:32). And from the Book of Abraham
we learn that we are here on earth to be tested, and “to see if [we] will do
all things whatsoever the Lord [our] God shall command [us]. And they who keep their first estate [that is to be obedient in
the premortal existence] shall be added upon; … and they who keep their second
estate [that is, to be obedient during mortal life] shall have glory added upon
their heads for ever and ever.” (Abraham 3:25-26). Of these verses Elder
Richard G. Scott stated,
“So that the period of mortal testing and growth would yield its
greatest benefit, you were taught and prepared for the circumstances you would
personally encounter in mortality. Our Father’s pattern for guiding you through
mortal life was explained. …God would give each child moral agency, the right
to choose His counsel or to ignore it. All would be encouraged but not forced
to obey. You understood that while you could choose your path on earth, you
could not determine the outcome of your choices. That would be decided by
eternal law” (Richard G. Scott, “Truth Restored”, Ensign, November 2005).
Mortality
We
are now here in mortality. We have some glimpses of what happened before this
life, but we were sent here to live by faith and to use
our agency to learn for ourselves; to choose between good and evil, right and
wrong, and sometimes between something good and something even better.
This life is a time
where we will be tried and tested, again and again. The adversary is very aware
of who we are, and who we can become; he and his minions do not have a veil
covering their memories. But the Lord does not either. And, with Him at our
side we can succeed because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ.
Understanding the
Atonement of Jesus Christ is essential to our eternal success on this earth. As
we come to understand the power that is available to us through the Atonement,
not just the power to repent but also the power to change, we can gain
confidence as we make our journey back to our Father in Heaven.
Elder Jeffrey R.
Holland said, “God knew the challenges [those in mortality] would face,
and He certainly knew how lonely and troubled they would sometimes feel. So He
watched over His mortal family constantly, heard their prayers
always, and sent prophets (and later apostles) to teach, counsel, and guide
them” (Jeffrey R. Holland, “The Ministry of Angels”, Ensign, Nov 2008).
Through miracles too
numerous to be counted we have the fullness of the gospel on the earth. The
gospel of Jesus Christ was restored by Jesus Christ, through the prophet Joseph
Smith. We have the Priesthood restored to the earth through which we can make
covenants that will help us on our path back to our Father in Heaven. In fact,
we have everything that we will need to make it back to Him, if we will do what
He asks and endure to the end.
Lorenzo Snow taught,
“The Lord has placed before us incentives of the grandest
character. In the revelations which God has given, we find what a person can
reach who will travel this path of knowledge and be guided by the Spirit of
God. I had not been in this Church [very long] when it was clearly shown to me what
a man could reach through a continued obedience to the Gospel of the Son of
God. That knowledge has been as a star continually before me, and has caused me
to be particular in trying to do that which was right and acceptable to God” (
Death
Our days are known to the Lord,
and when our time on this earth is done we will pass into the spirit world. Brigham
Young taught the following about our life after this one,
“We shall turn round and
look upon [the valley of death] and think, when we have crossed it, why this is
the greatest advantage of my whole existence, for I have passed from a state of
sorrow, grief, mourning, woe, misery, pain, anguish and disappointment into a
state of existence, where I can enjoy life to the fullest extent as far as that
can be done without a body. My spirit is set free, I thirst no more, I want to
sleep no more, I hunger no more, I tire no more, I run, I walk, I labor, I go,
I come, I do this, I do that, whatever is required of me, nothing like pain or
weariness, I am full of life, full of vigor, and I enjoy the presence of my
heavenly Father” (Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, 17:142; quoted in Doctrines Of The Gospel Student Manual, “Chapter 30: Death And The Postmortal Spirit World”).
What a marvelous day, when that time comes.
One of my favorite scriptures
is found in the book of Alma, where Alma is speaking to his son Corianton. He
said, “Behold, it has been made known unto me by an angel,
that the spirits of all men, as soon as they are departed from this mortal
body, yea, the spirits of all men, whether they be good or evil, are taken
home to that God who gave them life” (Alma 40:11, emphasis added). We
have a loving Father in Heaven who is watching over each of us, and will be
there to welcome us home. President Ezra Taft Benson also taught that, “Nothing is going to startle us more when we pass through the
veil to the other side than to realize how well we know our Father and how
familiar His face is to us” (Ezra Taft Benson, "Jesus Christ—Gifts and Expectations", Ensign, December 1988). I am looking
forward to that day, even though I know it is probably many years away.
In the Book of Mormon, the
prophet Alma describes two divisions among spirits in the Spirit World. We
usually refer to these divisions as Spirit Paradise and Spirit Prison.
Bruce R. McConckie described
Spirit Paradise as follows: “Paradise—the abode of righteous
spirits, as they await the day of their resurrection; paradise—a place of peace
and rest where the sorrows and trials of his life have been shuffled off, and
where the saints continue to prepare for a celestial heaven; paradise—not the
Lord’s eternal kingdom, but a way station along the course leading to eternal
life” (Bruce R. McConkie, The Mortal Messiah, 4:222).
We have learned the following about Spirit Prison:
“The Apostle Peter
referred to the postmortal spirit world as a prison, which it is for some. In
the spirit prison are the spirits of those who have not yet received the gospel
of Jesus Christ. These spirits have agency and may be enticed by both good and
evil. If they accept the gospel and the ordinances performed for them in the
temples, they may leave the spirit prison and dwell in paradise.
“Also in the spirit
prison are those who rejected the gospel after it was preached to them either
on earth or in the spirit prison. These spirits suffer in a condition known as
hell. They have removed themselves from the mercy of Jesus Christ” (Gospel Principles, “Chapter 41: The Postmortal Spirit World”).
Through the restoration of the gospel we know that, “Through the work we do in temples, all people who have lived on the earth can have an equal opportunity to receive the fulness of the gospel and the ordinances of salvation so they can inherit a place in the highest degree of celestial glory” (Gospel Principles, “Chapter 46: The Final Judgment”).
“The spirit world is a place of
waiting, working, learning, and, for the righteous, resting from care and
sorrow. Our spirits will live there until we are ready for our resurrection”. (Gospel Principles, “Chapter 41: The Postmortal Spirit World”)..
Resurrection
After some amount of time in
the spirit world all will be resurrected. In the Bible Dictionary it states,
“All will not be raised to the same glory in the resurrection nor will all come
forth at the same time. Christ was first; the righteous have precedence over
the wicked, and come forth in the first resurrection, whereas the unrepentant
sinners come forth in the last resurrection….
“The resurrection consists in
the uniting of a spirit body with a body of flesh and bones, never again to be
divided. The resurrection shall come to all, because of Christ’s victory over
death….[A] resurrection means to become immortal, without blood, yet with a
body of flesh and bone. To obtain a resurrection with a celestial, exalted body
is the center point of hope in the gospel of Jesus Christ” (Bible Dictionary: Resurrection).
Judgment
In the scriptures we read
that all of us will be judged. In the Book of Revelation, John records, “And I
saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and
another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged
out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works”
(Revelation 20:12). Joseph Smith explained that these books refer to, “the books which contained the record of [our] works, and refer
to the records which are kept on the earth. And the book which was the book of
life is the record which is kept in heaven;” (Doctrine & Covenants 128:7).
Alma
explains that not only will we be judged according to our works, but also our
words, and our thoughts (see Alma 12:14). And, lest we think we
can hide anything from the Lord, Nephi teaches that Jesus Christ will be, “the
keeper of the gate…and he employeth no servant there [and] he cannot be
deceived, for the Lord God is his name” (2 Nephi 9:41).
In
Gospel Principles we read, “There is another record that will be
used to judge us. The Apostle Paul taught that we ourselves are a record of our
life. Stored in our body and mind is a complete history of everything we have
done. President John Taylor taught this truth: “[The individual] tells the
story himself, and bears witness against himself. … That record that is written
by the man himself in the tablets of his own mind, that record that cannot lie
will in that day be unfolded before God and angels, and those who shall sit as
judges” (Gospel Principles, “Chapter 46: The Final Judgment”).
Depending
on how we have chosen to live our lives in mortality will determine which
kingdom of glory we will inherit. The Doctrine and Covenants specifies three kingdoms of glory: the Celestial, Terrestrial, and Telestial.
Those
in the Celestial Kingdom are those who “received the testimony of
Jesus…believed on his name and were baptized…[kept] the commandments…[received]
the Holy Ghost...[overcame] by faith, and are sealed by the Holy Spirit of
promise” (Doctrine & Covenants 76:51-53). These are those who were sealed as husband and
wife in the Holy Temple, and kept the covenants therein. These are those who
are obedient and valiant in their testimony of Jesus Christ. “These shall dwell
in the presence of God and his Christ forever and ever” (Doctrine & Covenants 76:62).
Bruce
R. McConkie gives quite a detailed description of what it means to be valiant
in the testimony of Jesus. He said,
“Now what does it mean to be valiant in the testimony of
Jesus?
“It is to be courageous
and bold; to use all our strength, energy, and ability in the warfare with the
world; to fight the good fight of faith. ‘Be strong and of a good courage,’ the
Lord commanded Joshua, and then specified that this strength and courage
consisted of meditating upon and observing to do all that is written in the law
of the Lord. The great cornerstone of valiance in the cause of righteousness is
obedience to the whole law of the whole gospel.
“To be valiant in the
testimony of Jesus is to ‘come unto Christ, and be perfected in him’; it is to
deny ourselves ‘of all ungodliness,’ and ‘love God’ with all our ‘might, mind
and strength.’
“To be valiant in the
testimony of Jesus is to believe in Christ and his gospel with unshakable
conviction. It is to know of the verity and divinity of the Lord’s work on
earth.
“But this is not all. It
is more than believing and knowing. We must be doers of the word and not
hearers only. It is more than lip service; it is not simply confessing with the
mouth the divine Sonship of the Savior. It is obedience and conformity and
personal righteousness. ‘Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall
enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which
is in heaven.’
“To be valiant in the
testimony of Jesus is to ‘press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having
a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men.’ It is to ‘endure
to the end.’ It is to live our religion, to practice what we preach, to keep
the commandments. It is the manifestation of ‘pure religion’ in the lives of
men; it is visiting ‘the fatherless and widows in their affliction’ and keeping
ourselves ‘unspotted from the world.’
“To be valiant in the
testimony of Jesus is to bridle our passions, control our appetites, and rise
above carnal and evil things. It is to overcome the world as did he who is our
prototype and who himself was the most valiant of all our Father’s children. It
is to be morally clean, to pay our tithes and offerings, to honor the Sabbath
day, to pray with full purpose of heart, to lay our all upon the altar if
called upon to do so.
“To be valiant in the testimony of Jesus is to take the Lord’s
side on every issue. It is to vote as he would vote. It is to think what he
thinks, to believe what he believes, to say what he would say and do what he
would do in the same situation. It is to have the mind of Christ and be one
with him as he is one with his Father.” (Bruce R. McConkie, “Be Valiant in theFight”, Ensign, November 1974).
That
is a tall order, and can only be accomplished by relying consistently and
continually on the Atonement of Jesus Christ. But, those who do this, “shall inherit thrones, kingdoms, principalities, and powers,
dominions, all heights and depths…. Then shall they be gods, because they have
no end; therefore shall they be from everlasting to everlasting, because they
continue; then shall they be above all, because all things are subject unto
them. Then shall they be gods, because they have all power” (Doctrine & Covenants 132:19-20).
That is our goal.
We know the following
about those who will inherit the Terrestrial Kingdom. “These are they who rejected the gospel on earth but afterward
received it in the spirit world. These are the honorable people on the earth
who were blinded to the gospel of Jesus Christ by the craftiness of men. These
are also they who received the gospel and a testimony of Jesus but then were not
valiant” (Gospel Principles, “Chapter 46: The Final Judgment”). This would include those members of the church who are not valiant
in their testimony of Jesus Christ.
We know that hard times
are ahead for us, before the Second Coming of the Savior. In the early days of
the church, Heber C. Kimball said, “The Saints will be put to tests that will
try the integrity of the best of them” (as quoted by Ezra Taft Benson, “May the Kingdom of God Go Forth”, Ensign, May 1978). And more recently, President Russell M. Nelson reminded us,
“[D]ifficult days are ahead. Rarely in the future will it be
easy or popular to be a faithful Latter-day Saint. Each of us will be tested.
The Apostle Paul warned that in the latter days, those who diligently follow
the Lord ‘shall suffer persecution.’ That very persecution can either crush you
into silent weakness or motivate you to be more exemplary and courageous in
your daily lives.
“How you deal with life’s trials is part of the
development of your faith. Strength comes when you remember that you have a
divine nature, an inheritance of infinite worth” (Russell M. Nelson, "Face the Future with Faith", Ensign, May 2011).
How
we deal with our trials will also be a determining factor in where we go after
this life.
The lowest Kingdom of
Glory is the Telestial Kingdom. In the Doctrine & Covenants we read,
“These are they who received not the gospel of Christ,
neither the testimony of Jesus.
“These are they who
deny not the Holy Spirit….
“These are they who are liars, and sorcerers, and adulterers,
and whoremongers, and whosoever loves and makes a lie” (Doctrine & Covenants 76:82-83, 103).
Those who do not
inherit a kingdom of glory will be cast into what is referred to as outer
darkness. Regarding them, in the Doctrine & Covenants, the voice of the
Lord was recorded as saying,
“Thus saith the Lord
concerning all those who know my power, and have been made partakers thereof,
and suffered themselves through the power of the devil to be overcome, and to
deny the truth and defy my power—
“They are they who are
the sons of perdition, of whom I say that it had been better for them never to
have been born;
“For they are vessels
of wrath, doomed to suffer the wrath of God, with the devil and his angels in
eternity;
“Concerning whom I
have said there is no forgiveness in this world nor in the world to come—
“Having denied the
Holy Spirit after having received it, and having denied the Only Begotten Son
of the Father, having crucified him unto themselves and put him to an open
shame.
“These are they who
shall go away into the lake of fire and brimstone, with the devil and his
angels—
“And the only ones on whom the second death shall have any
power” (Doctrine & Covenants 76:31-37).
I don’t think this
means those who have a testimony, and failed to follow the promptings of the
Holy Ghost, or those of us who make poor choices more often than we want to
admit.
This is for those who
knew God, had a witness of Him, but rather
than relying on the power of the Atonement, these are they who allowed
themselves, through their agency, to be overcome by the power of the devil, and
follow him as their master.
Alma
puts it this way, “But behold, an awful death cometh
upon the wicked; for they die as to things pertaining to things of
righteousness; for they are unclean, and no unclean thing can inherit the
kingdom of God; but they are cast out, and consigned to partake of the fruits
of their labors or their works, which have been evil; and they drink the dregs
of a bitter cup” (Alma 40:26).
Where
we end up after this life is determined by our choices here on earth. The
Lord’s Plan of Happiness is a plan of agency. Our agency.
Eternities
President Dieter F. Uchtdorf said this
about the Plan of Salvation.
“The Savior’s sacrifice
opened the door of salvation for all to return to God. His ‘grace is sufficient
for all [who] humble themselves before [God].’ His grace is the enabling power
that allows access into God’s kingdoms of salvation. Because of His grace, we
will all be resurrected and saved in a kingdom of glory.
“Even the lowest kingdom
of glory, the telestial kingdom, “surpasses all understanding,” and numberless
people will inherit this salvation.
“But the Savior’s grace can do much more for us. As members of
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we aspire to something
unimaginably greater. It is exaltation in the celestial kingdom. It is life
eternal in the presence of our Father in Heaven. It is the greatest gift of
God. In the celestial kingdom, we receive
‘of his fulness, and of his glory.’ Indeed, all that the Father hath shall be
given unto us” (Dieter F. Uchtdorf, “It Works Wonderfully!”, Ensign, November 2015).
How grateful I am to have the Plan of Salvation. To know where I came from, and that I’m a daughter of God; why I’m here on earth, the steps I need to take to return to my Father in Heaven, and what comes after this life. How grateful I am for the Atonement of Jesus Christ and the strength and support it provides to me each day; when I remember to ask. I know that God lives, that He loves us, and watches over us. He will give us the experiences we need to progress toward perfection and our destiny as heirs of eternal life if we will let him.
