Wife Rule #133: Why I Love Your Mother (to my children) Chapter Nine: The Latter-day Restoration

Awake and arise, O ye slumbering nations!
The heavens have opened their portals again.
The last and the greatest of all dispensations
Has burst like a dawn o’er the children of men!

The dream of the poet, the crown of the ages,
The time which the prophets of Israel foretold,
That glorious day only dreamed by the sages
Is yours, O ye slumbering nations; behold!

Oh, lift up your voices in song and in story.
Let banners of peace in all lands be unfurled,
For truth, heaven-born, in its beauty and glory
Is marching triumphantly over the world.
--Theodore E. Curtis, Hymns of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, no. 8

The fulfilment of all the promises the Lord has made to His prophets through all the dispensations of this world was to be commenced in the latter days, with the restoration of His true and living church (see D&C 1:30) through a latter-day prophet. Thus, the Lord continues his pattern, established with Father Adam, of bestowing divine truth and keys of priesthood authority upon a chosen servant, who will then be able to spread the blessings of the Gospel to all who will listen and obey, setting in motion anew God's great plan of salvation in its fullness. With the backdrop of centuries of apostasy and spiritual darkness, this promised day of restoration has been anticipated with joyful reverence, being called "a marvelous work and a wonder" (Isaiah 29:14 and 2 Nephi 25:17).

The miraculous accomplishment of the Lord's work in this latter-day dispensation, wherein He is literally and spiritually gathering lost Israel home again to their promised lands in preparation for the return to earth of the Savior Jesus Christ, is so great that the prophet Jeremiah foretold that it would change forever the way we view the Lord. No longer will He be called the Lord that brought the children of Israel out of Egypt, but rather the Lord who gathered Israel home from their literally and spiritually scattered condition (Jeremiah 16:14-16).

The world was many hundreds of years in preparation for this glorious day, however. After the death of the apostles, corrupt political leaders seized control of what was left of the early Christian church and changed doctrines and ordinances for a variety of reasons, including political expediency and power expansion. Multiple schisms occurred as power-hungry church leaders fought for control, further obfuscating the truth on many doctrinal points.

Centuries later, enlightened reformers such as Martin Luther began to recognize that these churches, which claimed to be the true Christian church, no longer resembled the church that Christ had organized. Luther and other brave reformers risked--and often gave--their very lives for their conviction that the church had gone astray and needed to return to Biblical Christianity.

The advent of the printing press and translations of the Bible into modern languages, such as Martin Luther's German edition and John Wycliffe's and William Tindale's English editions, provided widespread availability of God's word for the first time in centuries. This explosion of available truth further exposed just how far the Christian church had drifted from the truths and practices that Christ taught--and some of these valiant men, such as Tindale, paid for this exposure with their lives.

But the truth, once unleashed, proved to be a hydra that could not be contained. From the legacy of these brave reformers sprung centuries of efforts to remodel Christianity back to what it once was. The only problem was that there were nearly as many different ideas about exactly how to fix the Christian church as there were people interested in fixing it. These differences in opinion were further exacerbated as political and religious freedom began their glorious march across the globe, including the establishment of a whole nation founded on the fundamental belief that each person should not be forced to conform to any established religion, but be entitled to worship--or not--as he chooses.

In this new land, the United States of America, the establishment of new Christian sects proceeded rapidly, until there were literally hundreds of different churches. Each had its own unique doctrines and practices, and each had a sincere desire to follow the Savior, but none had divine authority or prophetic revelation. The very existence of these countless churches, when the apostles clearly taught "One Lord, one faith, one baptism" (Ephesians 4:5) was ample testimony of the great apostasy away from Christ's original church. Never had the world been farther from the "unity of the faith" (Ephesians 4:13). Never had there been more evidence that the great "falling away" from the truth had occurred (2 Thessalonians 2:3). Never had there been more need for apostles and prophets (Ephesians 4:11) than there was in the early nineteenth century.

It was at this time that a young, unlearned farm boy from a poor family began an earnest quest to find the truth. Joseph Smith's parents had suffered years of economic failures that forced them to move from place to place until they ended up in Manchester, New York. By 1820, Joseph's interest in finding and joining with Christ's true church was excited by the general uproar on the subject of religion in the area. Joseph correctly reasoned that two preachers holding opposing viewpoints about religious doctrines could not both be entirely right. He wondered how a young, ignorant boy such as himself was to find out the truth about which church to join.

Probably at the suggestion of a preacher from one of the many churches Joseph frequented, he turned to the words of the prophets--the scriptures. In his own words:

11 While I was laboring under the extreme difficulties caused by the contests of these parties of religionists, I was one day reading the Epistle of James, first chapter and fifth verse, which reads: If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
12 Never did any passage of scripture come with more power to the heart of man than this did at this time to mine. It seemed to enter with great force into every feeling of my heart. I reflected on it again and again, knowing that if any person needed wisdom from God, I did; for how to act I did not know, and unless I could get more wisdom than I then had, I would never know; for the teachers of religion of the different sects understood the same passages of scripture so differently as to destroy all confidence in settling the question by an appeal to the Bible.
13 At length I came to the conclusion that I must either remain in darkness and confusion, or else I must do as James directs, that is, ask of God. I at length came to the determination to “ask of God,” concluding that if he gave wisdom to them that lacked wisdom, and would give liberally, and not upbraid, I might venture.
(Joseph Smith History (JS-H) 1:11-13)

So it was that on a beautiful spring morning in 1820, fourteen-year-old Joseph Smith retired to a secluded grove of trees near his family's home, and knelt down to ask God which church he should join. His youthful faith was pure and he fully intended to obey whatever instruction he received.

Satan, who has opposed the agency-giving light and truth that prophets have dispensed from the beginning, and sensing that Joseph was destined to become a serious "disturber and an annoyer of his kingdom" (JS-H 1:20), threw all of his terrible forces at the young boy, causing great fear to come upon him and binding his tongue so that he could not speak.

16 But, exerting all my powers to call upon God to deliver me out of the power of this enemy which had seized upon me, and at the very moment when I was ready to sink into despair and abandon myself to destruction—not to an imaginary ruin, but to the power of some actual being from the unseen world, who had such marvelous power as I had never before felt in any being—just at this moment of great alarm, I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me.
17 It no sooner appeared than I found myself delivered from the enemy which held me bound. When the light rested upon me I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other—This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!
18 My object in going to inquire of the Lord was to know which of all the sects was right, that I might know which to join. No sooner, therefore, did I get possession of myself, so as to be able to speak, than I asked the Personages who stood above me in the light, which of all the sects was right (for at this time it had never entered into my heart that all were wrong)—and which I should join.
19 I was answered that I must join none of them, for they were all wrong; and the Personage who addressed me said that all their creeds were an abomination in his sight; that those professors were all corrupt; that: “they draw near to me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me, they teach for doctrines the commandments of men, having a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof.”
20 He again forbade me to join with any of them; and many other things did he say unto me, which I cannot write at this time....
(JS-H 1:16-20)

Thus it was that a young, obscure boy was called upon from heaven and given commandments by direct revelation from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, in a personal appearance unmatched during centuries of spiritual darkness and confusion. Thus it was that the heavens were opened again and a prophet of God was called in the last days of the earth, commencing the great preparation of the world for the second coming of the Savior.

There was no deception in the sacred grove, as some unbelievers have contended--Joseph felt and discerned clearly the polar opposites of Satan's hatred and God's love, as one attempted to destroy him and the Other delivered him. There was no mistaking the divine calling of a new prophet for a new dispensation. Joseph Smith, like Enoch, Samuel, David, and others before him, was prepared from the foundation of the world to be a prophet to the nations in the latter days, even if called in his youth.

My dear children, I cannot overemphasize the importance of the reality of Joseph Smith's first vision. The light it sheds on the world is of everlasting value. Its implications are of eternal worth. And it really happened--to this I testify!

The world has, in the Bible, a priceless collection of inspired gems of truth about the reality of the Savior and His doctrine. These gems of truth, to fully enable our agency and facilitate our salvation, must be organized and fit together into a single, coherent system, or Church. But this organization must be according to God's divine designs, not man's. The highly fractured state of Christianity today, nearly two thousand years after the last epistles of the New Testament were written, is plain evidence that the Bible alone is insufficient to unite the people of the world under a single banner of faith. The Bible, while full of precious truth, has been interpreted differently by each sect. It is clear that new revelation through a living prophet--one who could proclaim the truth with authority from God--is the only way to resolve the questions and disputes that have so long fractured the Christian world, and restore that portion of the truth which was changed, or lost, or never included in the set of writings that constitutes our present-day Bible.

Neither can the Bible alone bestow divine priesthood authority on anyone. This takes a direct calling from God, as Paul observed: "no man taketh this honour unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron" (Hebrews 5:4, see 1-4). And how was Aaron called? By direct revelation from God through the prophet Moses (Exodus 28:1). How was the prophet Moses called? Directly by the voice of God Himself. It has been this way from the beginning, and the pattern has not changed!

But how can we know that Joseph Smith really was a prophet of God? How can we know--among the bewildering array of Christian churches out there, currently totalling over 38,000 different sects--which church is divinely sanctioned, or whether any are at all?

The answer has always been the same: through the power of the Holy Ghost. God's method of communicating with us is the same way he has generally communicated with His prophets (see D&C 8:2-3)--we are just as entitled to inspiration as they are. Surely a loving Father who knows that the progression of His children depends on how well they can identify and follow divine truth, or law, would ensure there was a reliable way to sort out truth from error.

To assist in this quest of eternal importance, God has given us a powerful tool--the Book of Mormon. Three years after Joseph Smith was first called of God in the grove, an angel named Moroni began a series of heavenly visitations (see JS-H 1:27-54). Just as Adam, Abraham, Jacob, David, Elijah, John the Baptist, Paul, John the Revelator, and others were assisted and taught by angels in their ministries, so was young Joseph. These visits culminated in the angel bestowing an ancient record to Joseph that he, Moroni, had finished writing and sealed up centuries before, as a prophet-historian in the land where Joseph now lived.

Over a miraculously short period of time, Joseph Smith translated this ancient record through the gifts of prophecy and revelation. The Book of Mormon tells brief histories--as written through prophets' eyes--of several nations of people brought by the Lord to the Western hemisphere over a period of about a thousand years. It shows God's dealings with these people, and how their use of agency for good or evil brought about their salvation or damnation. It expounds upon the blessings and covenants of the Lord relative to the inhabitants of this land as well as the whole house of Israel. Most importantly, it contains the testimonies of numerous prophets of God that "Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God, manifesting himself unto all nations" (Title Page)--including an account of the personal ministry of Jesus Christ to the people of this continent after His resurrection. It was compiled by prophets with a view of our day--the latter day--and written with us as the intended audience. It is of inestimable worth.

The Book of Mormon--that remarkable book--has influenced my life for good more than any other book. As I have told you before, my precious children, it is from reading the Book of Mormon that I first felt the unmistakable witness that Jesus Christ lives and that He is the Son of God and the Savior of mankind. It is from reading that book that I first came to know that God loves me and that He has a divine will and plan for my life. It is from reading that book that I first gained my witness that Joseph Smith was a true prophet of God. It is from reading that book that my love of the Bible, and of all truth, has blossomed and grown. It is from reading that book that springs my entire testimony of the restored Church of Jesus Christ in these latter days. Indeed, that book is the "keystone of [my] religion" (see Joseph Smith's quote in the Introduction). It is a gift, directly from heaven, that came to us as a single, seamless revelation of the precise truths we would need in the latter days to combat Satan and fortify our faith in Christ. It is a miracle you can hold in your hands. It teaches the gospel of Jesus Christ in beautiful purity and simplicity. I testify that the Book of Mormon is true! I know it is, and you can too! Read it with faith, ponder it with gratitude, and pray about it with sincere intent to act upon the revelation you receive, as Moroni directs (see Moroni 10:3-5), and I promise you that you will know through the covincing witness of the Holy Ghost, as I do.

Prior to organizing Christ's latter-day church, Joseph Smith had received divine priesthood keys from angelic visitations of John the Baptist and Peter, James, and John, who held the keys in the ancient Christian church. Being now endowed with authority to do so, just months after the English edition of the Book of Mormon was published came the official organization of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on April 6, 1830. During the first meeting of the Church, Joseph Smith was sustained as the first prophet, seer, and revelator in this, the "dispensation of the fulness of times" (Ephesians 1:10).

But the translation of the Book of Mormon, and the subsequent organization of the Church, did not mark the end of the revelation of divine truth. Like all other prophets before him, Joseph continued to receive revelations during his service as the Lord's prophet. Over a hundred of these precious gems of truth are compiled into the Doctrine and Covenants, and others are included in the Pearl of Great Price. I know that these two volumes, combined with the Book of Mormon and the Holy Bible, constitute the core of an open and ever-expanding canon of scriptural truth given through the gifts of prophecy and revelation to the Lord's continuing line of prophets. Never has so much of the word of God been so available to so many people as it is today; we are truly blessed!

Nor were the visits of the ancient apostles to Joseph Smith the end of the bestowing of priesthood keys. One of the most sacred of the revelations records the visitation of numerous ancient prophets to Joseph, each of which bestowed upon him authority and keys to conduct the work of the Lord in the latter days (see D&C 110).

But why? Once the authority to organize the Lord's true church, and to baptize and bestow the gift of the Holy Ghost was given, what else was there? Well, in answering these questions lies the very key to the reason why I love your mother so very dearly, and we find ourselves on the threshold of the grand conclusion of my thoughts on the subject.


Part nine of a twelve-chapter essay. Read more: Ch 1 | Ch 2 | Ch 3 | Ch 4 | Ch 5 | Ch 6 | Ch 7 | Ch 8 | Ch 9 | Ch 10 | Ch 11 | Epilogue

Wife Rule #132: Why I Love Your Mother (to my children) -- Chapter Eight: Prophets, Priesthood, and Dispensations

Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone...
--Ephesians 2:19-20

Since the initial placement of man in this world, our Heavenly Father has provided means to give His children here as much truth as "he seeth fit that they should have" (see Alma 29:8). These truths encompass all religious, secular, scientific, artistic, and other types of knowledge. While learning any of these truths enhances our ability to exercise agency and grow, the most important truth of all is the living reality of Jesus Christ as our Savior and Redeemer, the only One with grace sufficient to enable us to fulfill God's plan of happiness.

As the prophet Nephi said, "we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins" (2 Nephi 25:26). So important is this knowledge that "all the prophets who have prophesied ever since the world began...[have] spoken more or less concerning these things" (Mosiah 13:33). To ensure that these prophetic teachings endure, they have been written down in the scriptures. In the Holy Bible we have a compilation of thousands of years of precious prophecies about Christ and stories of His people, showing the consequences of obeying or rejecting Him.

A vital part of our knowledge of the Savior--and ultimately what allows us to use our agency to either accept or reject Him--is an understanding of His divine laws. These laws have been carefully crafted for our progression and ultimate happiness. Joseph Smith taught that "[God] never will institute an ordinance or give a commandment to His people that is not calculated in its nature to promote that happiness which He has designed, and which will not end in the greatest amount of good and glory to those who become the recipients of his law and ordinances" (History of the Church, 5:135).

Among the most important of God's laws for us to obey, and certainly among those that promote our greatest happiness, are the ordinances that God has appointed for our progression. Baptism is the gateway ordinance, initiating a new life as a follower of Christ. Celestial marriage is the crowning ordinance--the one that binds husband and wife together for eternity and makes it possible for God's children to fulfill His plan of happiness for them.

But just knowing about the ordinances isn't enough; God's children must receive them. In order to provide these ordinances, divine authority, or priesthood, is necessary. Divine ordinances have always been administered under one holding the keys of this priesthood authority.

As we saw with Adam and Eve, knowledge of the Savior, knowledge of divine law, and priesthood authority were all available on the earth in the beginning. Their marriage ordinance was performed and their first commandments were given by God himself. Even after they partook of the forbidden fruit and were cast out of the Garden of Eden and shut out from God's presence, God's authority and revelation of truth continued:

4 And Adam and Eve, his wife, called upon the name of the Lord, and they heard the voice of the Lord from the way toward the Garden of Eden, speaking unto them, and they saw him not; for they were shut out from his presence.
5 And he gave unto them commandments, that they should worship the Lord their God, and should offer the firstlings of their flocks, for an offering unto the Lord. And Adam was obedient unto the commandments of the Lord.
6 And after many days an angel of the Lord appeared unto Adam, saying: Why dost thou offer sacrifices unto the Lord? And Adam said unto him: I know not, save the Lord commanded me.
7 And then the angel spake, saying: This thing is a similitude of the sacrifice of the Only Begotten of the Father, which is full of grace and truth.
8 Wherefore, thou shalt do all that thou doest in the name of the Son, and thou shalt repent and call upon God in the name of the Son forevermore.
9 And in that day the Holy Ghost fell upon Adam, which beareth record of the Father and the Son, saying: I am the Only Begotten of the Father from the beginning, henceforth and forever, that as thou hast fallen thou mayest be redeemed, and all mankind, even as many as will.
(Moses 5:4-9)

This passage illustrates the pattern that God has used throughout the history of the world for dispensing divine truth: He communicates to chosen prophets through angels, through the power of the Holy Ghost, and occasionally, directly in person. God bestows upon His prophets divine priesthood authority, often through angelic ministration. Then the prophets are charged with disseminating truth and administering the sacred ordinances of the priesthood to the rest of us. Through this pattern, God reveals His Son, His laws, and His plan regarding the whole human family, as illustrated in the next verses:

10 And in that day Adam blessed God and was filled, and began to prophesy concerning all the families of the earth, saying: Blessed be the name of God, for because of my transgression my eyes are opened, and in this life I shall have joy, and again in the flesh I shall see God.
11 And Eve, his wife, heard all these things and was glad, saying: Were it not for our transgression we never should have had seed, and never should have known good and evil, and the joy of our redemption, and the eternal life which God giveth unto all the obedient.
12 And Adam and Eve blessed the name of God, and they made all things known unto their sons and their daughters.
(Moses 5:10-12)

Adam, as the first prophet in this world, taught the truths he learned to his posterity and held the keys of priesthood authority, being authorized to stand in the place of God in performing ordinances (see Moses 6:53-66), including celestial marriage. Thus even in a fallen state, every child of God was given the same opportunities for growth and progression that Adam and Eve had--nothing was withheld from those who would listen to and obey God's representative on earth, the prophet.

Unfortunately, the separation from God and the veil of forgetfulness that are such a vital part of our growth here on earth also mean that many of us will reject the prophets and their teachings and authority. The faith required to accept a living, breathing, imperfect prophet--and especially one that we know well, as Adam's children knew him so well--is simply more than some of us want to swallow. And there is also that ever-present opposing voice to the prophet's:

13 And Satan came among them, saying: I am also a son of God; and he commanded them, saying: Believe it not; and they believed it not, and they loved Satan more than God. And men began from that time forth to be carnal, sensual, and devilish.
(Moses 5:13)

So it is that the epic struggle continues, with God's children choosing between the truth--as taught by prophets and confirmed by the Holy Ghost--and the false teachings of the devil. At times when the majority of us listen to the prophets, we enjoy tremendous blessings, including relative peace on the earth, and we progress rapidly towards becoming what God intends us to be. At times when most of us reject the prophets, confusion, contention, and wars erupt, and eternal progression is stymied.

And from time to time, the teachings of the prophets have become so unpopular and rejection of the prophets so widespread that they have been murdered or taken from the earth, and mankind has been left without divine authority or revelation of truth for a time. During these times of rebellion and spiritual drought, mankind has rapidly moved away from God's truths and ordinances. As Isaiah described such times, "The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant" (Isaiah 24:5).

But killing a prophet does not destroy the Lord who sent him, and rejecting the truth does not change God's word. Even during the dark times when the Lord's divine representatives were not on the earth, scriptures they left behind have served as a guiding light to prepare the faithful for their return, when priesthood authority, laws, and ordinances would be restored. And eventually, when the time was right according to the God's wisdom, each period of darkness and apostasy has ended with the sending of new prophets to the earth. Each new revelation of truth and restoration of priesthood authority is called a dispensation, and a special prophet stands at the head of each major dispensation. Among them are Adam, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and Jesus Christ himself, the greatest Prophet to ever grace the earth.

Each prophet who begins a new dispensation of truth and authority faces a common challenge: convincing a fallen and corrupt world to listen to his message. Each faces the hurdle of overcoming generations of incorrect teachings and traditions, of refuting those who have set themselves up in illegitimate positions of religious authority during the absence of true divine representatives, and must deal with whatever political circumstances are present.

The Savior spent a good portion of His earthly ministry dealing with the problems posed by the various sects in Palestine. Each of them had claimed to have divine authority, but none of them carried the Savior's stamp of approval. Each of them had developed their own unique teachings, growing increasingly distant from the Lord's truth over time.

When Jesus began His earthly ministry, He called new prophets and apostles to assist Him, such as John the Baptist and Peter, James, and John, and organized His church anew, marking the beginning of another dispensation. Jesus and His authorized disciples taught the truth in purity and used divine priesthood authority to administer ordinances such as baptism and conferring the gift of the Holy Ghost. And even after Jesus was crucified, His church continued through the leadership of his divinely authorized disciples, Christ having conferred the "keys of the kingdom" (see Matthew 16:19), or the priesthood keys for leading the Church and administering ordinances, upon Peter. Paul explained the way that Jesus organized His church in order to provide for the perfecting of His saints, for the spreading of His gospel, and for avoiding doctrinal deception:

11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;
15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ.
(Ephesians 4:11-15)

This divine pattern of church organization, built on the foundation of apostles and prophets (see Ephesians 2:20), was to continue until all of God's children were in the "unity of the faith." This of course will not happen until Christ comes to reign on earth again, and the earth is cleansed of the wicked and unbelieving. The need for prophets began with Adam and Eve and continues to this day.

After Jesus accomplished all He was sent here to do, in proclaiming the truth and conquering sin and death, He returned to heaven, leaving His church in the care of His apostolic prophets. But the church dealt with unrelenting persecution from the other Jewish sects of the time and constant political and cultural pressure from Rome. Many of His disciples were killed by those whose positions of authority they threatened. Many members of Christ's church buckled under the pressure, and others strayed from pure teachings into various mixtures of worldly philosophy and true doctrines. Eventually, with the loss of the last of the apostles who were authorized to perpetuate priesthood keys to succeeding generations, the church lost authority and prophetic revelation completely and drifted into apostasy. Thus began one of the longest "spiritual famines" in the world's history, as prophesied by Amos, Isaiah, Paul, and others.

But thankfully, this drift into apostasy was not the final end of God's authority or truth on the earth. It was not the last time mankind would receive the life-giving laws and ordinances of Christ's church, including baptism and eternal marriage. It did not mark the end of God's plan of salvation, the blessings of which include a life of joy and eternal life filled with divine love that is only available because of Christ--including the love which I have for you children and your mother.

Those same prophets who foretold this great apostasy also foretold the coming of a new gospel dispensation in the latter days. This great and final dispensation in the world's history would bring the restoration of the all the truths and priesthood keys and ordinances that have ever been available since the world began, ushering in a new age of hope. On that hope hinges the salvation of a ruined world, and the power that gives meaning to my love for your mother.


Part eight of a twelve-chapter essay. Read more: Ch 1 | Ch 2 | Ch 3 | Ch 4 | Ch 5 | Ch 6 | Ch 7 | Ch 8 | Ch 9 | Ch 10 | Ch 11 | Epilogue

Wife Rule #131: Why I Love Your Mother (to my children) -- Chapter Seven: The Family in Eden

I have a family here on earth.
They are so good to me.
I want to share my life with them through all eternity.
Families can be together forever
Through Heavenly Father’s plan.
I always want to be with my own family,
And the Lord has shown me how I can.
--Ruth M. Gardner, Hymns of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, no. 300

After God created this beautiful world, Adam and Eve were placed in the Garden of Eden as the final step of preparing this world for human habitation. Their condition there was planned meticulously by our Heavenly Father; they were given all the necessary ingredients for agency to function, and thus for their growth. They were given laws, as we will discuss shortly; they were given the freedom to choose for themselves (see Moses 3:17); and there was in the plan a provision for a Savior for them, as well as a space for repentance, should they use their agency to transgress the law and "fall" from their state of innocence (see 2 Nephi 26:26).

Being so divinely designed to advance together, Adam and Eve serve as the ideal prototype, or pattern, of a celestial marriage. By "celestial marriage" I don't mean that they had a perfect marriage or family here on earth (remember Cain and Abel?). Rather, I mean that together they constituted a family fashioned in the likeness of our own Celestial Parents, and one destined for celestial heights. Like the song above says, their marriage here on earth was built in such a manner as to be eternally lasting--built to endure forever. In my simple mind, this celestial marriage pattern can be boiled down to only two principles, worthy of our emulation: (1) they started out right, (2) they kept the commandments of God, including sticking together.

Adam and Eve started their marriage in the right place, at the right time, and by the right authority. The marriage ceremony was performed by God himself, when they were placed together in the Garden of Eden and commanded to "multiply and replenish the earth" (Genesis 1:28). It was thus by God's word and through His authority that they were joined.

Beginning new lives together in this way has inestimable value. God's authority is the only authority that has power to reach beyond time and space into eternity. A statement that two people are married, as given by one who has authority from an earthly, political body, only extends as far and as long as that political authority is recognized. A marriage by one with power to bind on earth only extends only as long as both husband and wife are here, in the flesh, on earth.

In contrast, God's authority reaches as far into the future as His dominions do, into the distant brightness of an ever-expanding, glorious eternity. God's words and works have no end (see Moses 1:38, and a neither does a marriage ordained through His power, provided that all the necessary conditions are met for that marriage.

Again, in my simpleminded pattern, the necessary conditions that a husband and wife must keep, if they expect to enjoy the benefits of God's law of marriage, are simply to obey God's laws related to marriage. It just so happens that marriage takes the capstone position in the gospel structure, sitting at the pinnacle of the plan and resting on the foundation of all other principles and ordinances underneath it. Thus, God's laws related to marriage encompass all of God's other laws.

But what are these laws? Well, there's over two thousand pages of scripture related to expounding and illustrating them and the consequences of obeying or ignoring them. However, to keep things simple, let's just consider the first commandments in our scriptural record that were given to Adam and Eve while they were still innocent in Eden: (1) Have children (Genesis 1:28), (2) Don't eat the forbidden fruit if you don't want to die (Genesis 2:17), (3) Work, beginning with "dressing and keeping" the garden (Genesis 2:15), and encompassing the command to subdue the earth and exercise dominion over it (Genesis 1:28 again), and (4) Stay together (Genesis 2:24).

It is this fourth commandment, the one about staying together, that is of particular interest. It was becoming lax in this commandment that got Adam and Eve into trouble in the first place (see Genesis 3:1-6). Satan's attempts to deceive Eve may not have been effective if she and Adam had been together during her temptation. However, once Eve had partaken of the fruit and was going to be forced to leave Eden forever, Adam chose to stick by her side and also partook of the fruit.

When confronted by the Lord to explain himself, Adam's confessed, "The woman thou gavest me, and commandest that she should remain with me, she gave me of the fruit of the tree and I did eat" (Moses 4:18). This seems to me to be both an admission of failure to stay with Eve during her temptation, as well as rationale for his decision to also partake of the fruit. If he failed once to stay by her side in the garden, allowing Satan to come between them, then he would not repeat that mistake again. If they could not remain together in the garden, then they would still stick together through whatever the wide, untamed world had in store for them.

What a great example for every married couple today! What an example for your mother and me! If all couples would only follow that one principle, to simply stay together, through good and bad, through the ups and the downs, how much less influence Satan would have in our families. Someday, my children, you will marry. Stick with your spouse. Be like Adam and Eve: don't let anyone, or anything, come between you. "What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder" (Mark 10:9).

President Gordon B. Hinckley, a modern prophet of God, gave this precious counsel: "Choose a companion you can always honor, you can always respect, one who will complement you in your own life, one to whom you can give your entire heart, your entire love, your entire allegiance, your entire loyalty. Determine that there will never be anything that will come between you, that will disrupt your marriage. Make it work. Resolve to make it work. There is far too much of divorce wherein hearts are broken and sometimes lives are destroyed. Be fiercely loyal one to another." (Gordon B. Hinckley, "Life’s Obligations," Ensign, Feb 1999, 2)

The other three of the first four commandments given to Adam and Eve serve to strengthen their commitment to obey the fourth, to "stay together." Consider the commandment to multiply and replenish the earth (Genesis 1:28). Few things will cement your familial bonds like choosing together to have children. Your mother and I know this from firsthand experience. The Psalmist spoke truth when he said, "Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.... Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them" (Pslams 127:3,5).

Despite occasionally feeling like our quiver is about to burst at the seams, your mother and I are eternally grateful for each of you. Each child given to us is a precious gift of unspeakable value, and you truly do make us rich--rich in laughter, rich in love, and rich in learning. You are helping us, perhaps more than any other influence, to gain the experience that will help us grow in the likeness of our Heavenly Parents. You give us opportunities to face choices and solve problems using our agency that I am quite sure we would never encounter without you (You dumped what in the piano?). Each one of you alone is more than reason enough for your mother and I to stay together. And we always will; we have promised God so.

The commandment to work is one of the most valuable God has given us. In fact, when Adam and Eve were driven from the garden, God informed them that hard work was going to be a part of their lives, "for their sakes:"

17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;
18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;
19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.
(Genesis 3:17-19)

Hard work is a blessing--not necessarily a blessing we would all choose, but one our Father in Heaven would choose for us. A life where hard work is required for survival is a wonderful way to provide opportunities for us to exercise our agency and grow. As we struggle to prioritize occupational work, church and community service, friendship, family, needed rest and recreation, and the hundred other things that require our attention, we learn a lot about who we really are inside. We learn what is really important to us, and whom we really love and serve when things get tight--when we feel we are short on time, short on money, and short on energy. Without hard work, we would never know.

In addition to these benefits, there are few better ways for a husband and wife to draw closer together than to work together. I believe that explains a lot of why young couples who struggle in poverty together while working through school and getting established often look back on those days with fondness. There is something wholesome and unifying and binding about the process of working hard together.

The commandment to avoid the forbidden fruit (Genesis 2:17), while not literally applicable to anyone since Eden, is still a great reminder to avoid what has been forbidden by the Lord. These opposing choices are one of the necessary ingredients for the exercise of agency (see 2 Nephi 2:15-16). While the "forbidden fruit" may vary in time and place, the choice remains ours to make.

For example, your mother and I try very hard to keep "forbidden" or worldly influences out of our lives and out of our home. We strive to make our family life together a sanctuary from all that is unholy and impure, to live in a spiritual castle of sorts where the influence of Satan, though surrounding us in an eternal siege, cannot penetrate. It takes real work and constant vigilance to maintain such fortifications, but we have not been left without guidance about how to do it. Our daily rituals of personal and family prayer, and personal and family scripture reading, along with weekly church attendance and family home evenings, add more strength to our lives than any of us can truly measure. A key to avoiding the bad is to stay busy with the good.

Adam and Eve kept all three of the commandments I described above, as we read in Moses' account:

1 And it came to pass that after I, the Lord God, had driven them out, that Adam began to till the earth, and to have dominion over all the beasts of the field, and to eat his bread by the sweat of his brow, as I the Lord had commanded him. And Eve, also, his wife, did labor with him.
2 And Adam knew his wife, and she bare unto him sons and daughters, and they began to multiply and to replenish the earth....
4 And Adam and Eve, his wife, called upon the name of the Lord, and they heard the voice of the Lord from the way toward the Garden of Eden, speaking unto them, and they saw him not; for they were shut out from his presence.
5 And he gave unto them commandments, that they should worship the Lord their God, and should offer the firstlings of their flocks, for an offering unto the Lord. And Adam was obedient unto the commandments of the Lord.
(Moses 5:1-2,4-5)

It is in keeping these first commandments, as well as all the other commandments, that husband and wife grow together in unity to the point of never separating again, that they learn to become godly and thereby prepare to live the life--the eternal life--that God means for us to live. Adam and Eve, our first prototype of celestial family living, illustrated how exercising their agency to follow this pattern helped them through the Cains and Abels of their lives, eventually completing nearly a millennium of mortality together on earth before being called back home.

They started out right, married by God's authority. They lived right, abiding by God's commandments. God was with them in the beginning, and they stayed with Him to the end. But how do the rest of us, born into a much bigger, more complex world and time, learn of God? How can we tap into God's authority so that we too can begin our marriages by His word and power? How can we know which, among all the competing paths in our lives, is the one true path, marked by God's commandments? How can we achieve the success that Father Adam and Mother Eve did?

There is an answer to these questions, and in fact, it has remained the same since the days of Eden until today: the pattern of prophets.


Part seven of a twelve-chapter essay. Read more: Ch 1 | Ch 2 | Ch 3 | Ch 4 | Ch 5 | Ch 6 | Ch 7 | Ch 8 | Ch 9 | Ch 10 | Ch 11 | Epilogue

Wife Rule #130: Why I Love Your Mother (to my children) -- Chapter Six: The Great War

And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.
--Revelation 12:7-8

John the Revelator continues: "And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him" (Revelation 12:9). The first front of the Great War was in heaven. It began before men were placed on the earth, since we know that Satan was there in the Garden of Eden, where Adam and Eve first encountered him. The prophet Moses sheds a little more light on the subject of this war:

1 And I, the Lord God, spake unto Moses, saying: That Satan...is the same which was from the beginning, and he came before me, saying—Behold, here am I, send me, I will be thy son, and I will redeem all mankind, that one soul shall not be lost, and surely I will do it; wherefore give me thine honor.
2 But, behold, my Beloved Son, which was my Beloved and Chosen from the beginning, said unto me—Father, thy will be done, and the glory be thine forever.
3 Wherefore, because that Satan rebelled against me, and sought to destroy the agency of man, which I, the Lord God, had given him, and also, that I should give unto him mine own power; by the power of mine Only Begotten, I caused that he should be cast down;
4 And he became Satan, yea, even the devil, the father of all lies, to deceive and to blind men, and to lead them captive at his will, even as many as would not hearken unto my voice.
(Moses 4:1-4)

The goal of the Great War was power--God's power. Somewhere along the line, Satan became discontented with having God rule over him and sought to dethrone God (see Isaiah 12:12-14). He wanted to become a ruler, a father, a leader of his own dominion. And he wanted to do it his own way.

The issue the war hinged on was agency. Yes, it always comes back to agency. Satan thought he could win by destroying the agency of man; he perpetuated the lie that he could save all mankind without agency. His lies must have carried great appeal to many of our Father in Heaven's children, because a full third of God's children (Revelation 12:4) were casualties of the first great battle in the war over agency, which took place in heaven before Adam and Eve were sent to the garden.

Having rejected the God who created them in an all-out rebellion, a third of God's children could no longer find joy in His holy presence. So our Savior, under the Father's direction, cast them out into the earth, which is where the second front of the Great War continues to this day. The two thirds of our brothers and sisters who chose to follow Michael the archangel and the Lord Jesus Christ remained in heaven, with the plan to come to earth firmly in place.

As for Satan and his followers, they are reaping the consequences of their rebellion; they are completely damned in their progress. They were denied the opportunities for growth afforded by experiencing mortality here on earth. They were cast out of heaven to earth as spirits only, to remain in that state forever (see 2 Nephi 9:8-9). With the damnation of eternal spirit-hood ever burning in their hearts, they covet our physical bodies. In fact, they covet any physical body so badly that a legion of these devils, after being cast out of a man by our Savior, begged Jesus to allow them to enter the bodies of a herd of swine (see Luke 8:26-33). Driven by envy and hatred, they are relentless in their assault on our marvelous bodies, tempting us to either loathe or worship them, or to abuse them in nearly uncountable ways. They know that our marvelous physical bodies are one of the keys to our eternal progression.

But back to the main issue of the war: how did Satan attempt to destroy our agency? The scriptures don't specify exactly, but he could have done it by knocking out any of the three pillars upon which agency depends: (1) he could try to destroy the law that defines our choices; (2) he could try to destroy our freedom to choose; or (3) he could try to destroy the Savior who gives us the ability to recover from wrong choices. I believe that he probably attempted to attack agency from all three angles during the war in heaven, because his actions and those of his deceived followers certainly try all three ways of destroying agency in the continuation of that war here on earth.

Undoubtedly the most alluring of Satan's lies is that there is no law. Think of what that would mean! Without law, there is no such thing as sin. Without sin, there is no punishment and no eternal consequences to our actions. You can do whatever you want, and be happy. You have a free pass to decide to follow whatever beliefs you find most attractive. There is no absolute truth, no standard of morality.

There are countless--countless--voices singing this siren song in the world today; they come from those around us, from movies, television, music, magazines, books, the Internet, and pretty much anywhere else you turn in the world. My precious children, don't believe them! They are lies, every one of them. Ignoring the laws of God or pretending that they don't exist does not change them, any more than believing that gravity doesn't affect you will somehow allow you to fly. By breaking God's laws through ignorance or unbelief you only reduce your own agency and become more like Satan.

Satan also attempts to reduce our power to choose in any way he can. Corrupt governments that restrict the freedoms of their citizens are certainly part of this, and world history is full to the brim of stories of bloody conquests and people seeking for power at the expense of the freedom of others. Can you see why it is essential that we stand up and let our voices and actions support the cause of freedom? We are restricted in our actions and thus are blocked in our progress as a whole nation to whatever extent we loose our ability to choose.

Also very effective at reducing our freedom to choose are the powers of addiction that come from drugs, alcohol, tobacco, pornography, or any other habit-forming vice. My children, you cannot afford the risk of exposure, not even once. You cannot predict how quickly--or more dangerously, how slowly and subtly--the restricting chains from these products will wrap around you, until one day you wake to find that some other thing outside of yourself has a stranglehold on your life. Do not sign over your precious agency to a bottle, a can, a pack, a picture! Determine now never to become trapped by these dangerous substances, and avoid them completely!

We also lose our freedom by the patterns of poor choices that we fall into. Some of these lead to prison or other consequences that greatly further reduce our agency. As an example, consider what would happen to you if you never learned to control your temper, if you allowed yourself to fly into a rage every time things didn't go your way. You would lose your friends. You would lose your self respect. You may lose your job. You may even lose your family. The prisons are full of those who never learned to control their actions. The further we sink into sin, the more Satan delights in it. He whispers in our ears that we cannot change, that it is hopeless, that we were "born that way," that it is "just the way we are." My children, these are lies! You can change. You can be free. The Savior's mighty atonement for us has guaranteed that there is a way to escape!

Satan tried his best to thwart Jesus' perfect, sinless life, to make Him unable to be our Savior, but Jesus gave him no heed (see Luke 4:1-13). Having failed completely at all these attempts throughout Jesus' glorious life, Satan still tries to destroy our agency by telling us there is no Savior. He uses the power of sophistry and plays on our pride and intellectual arrogance by whispering to us that there is no God, no Savior, and no plan. My children, Satan lies! I testify to you that if I know anything at all in this world, I know that God lives; that Jesus Christ suffered, died, and rose from the dead to save us; and that we can repent and change and be perfected in Him. We are not trapped by our past if we embrace the salvation freely offered to us by Jesus. Our agency, however tarnished by sin it becomes, can be made bright again through faith in Him and repentance. Our agency--that precious gift given to us by our Father in Heaven--will be with us as long as we strive to be with Him.

Satan's whole idea that mankind could be saved without agency is a total sham--a lie of the grossest proportions. Without agency, there could be no happiness, no growth, and no salvation. You can never become what you do not choose to become.

Know this, that ev’ry soul is free
To choose his life and what he’ll be;
For this eternal truth is giv’n:
That God will force no man to heav’n.
--Anonymous, Hymns of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, no. 240

So we are to become what we choose. That's good news. But even better news yet, my beloved children, is that despite the Great War--despite Satan's and his followers' everlasting hatred and deception and attempts to destroy our agency at every turn--victory can be won. It has been done by countless of our brothers and sisters before us. In fact, there is a pattern for victory set for us in the scriptures, as shown to us by our first parents. It is a pattern of sense and beautiful simplicity. And coincidentally enough, this pattern has everything to do with why I love your mother so much.


Part six of a twelve-chapter essay. Read more: Ch 1 | Ch 2 | Ch 3 | Ch 4 | Ch 5 | Ch 6 | Ch 7 | Ch 8 | Ch 9 | Ch 10 | Ch 11 | Epilogue

Wife Rule #129: Why I Love Your Mother (to my children) -- Chapter Five: The Plan of Salvation

The boy, like to his father grown,
Has but attained unto his own;
To grow to sire from state of son,
Is not ’gainst Nature’s course to run.
A son of God, like God to be,
Would not be robbing Deity.
--Lorenzo Snow, as cited by LeRoi C. Snow, Improvement Era, June 1919, p. 661

Our Heavenly Parents, like any good earthly parents, have one goal in mind for their children: to help us to obtain and enjoy every benefit, blessing, hope, dream, and joy that they themselves enjoy. What parents do not want what is best for their children? What parents do not want their children to grow up and enjoy all that they have? And where, in any course of nature, do you ever see a pattern different than a parent giving birth to an infant being that, if allowed to grow to maturity, will not grow into the exact same type of being as its parents?

The prophet Lorenzo Snow taught this divine, essential truth in a simple couplet: "As man now is, God once was: As God now is, man may be." This short statement, composed of a handful of the simplest words, is filled with earth-shattering implication to the person into whose soul this doctrine has sunk. It describes, as concisely as possible, God's plan for His children and thus, the entire purpose of our existence.

My children, the importance of understanding this one eternal truth cannot be overestimated. Realizing that we are God's children, that He has a design--a plan--for His children, and that His plan is one of "becoming," rather than simply "believing," or even "doing," makes all the difference. Yes, believing and doing are still essential steps, but it is critical to recognize that the end goal is to become like God. "Be ye therefore perfect," the Savior taught, "even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect" (Matthew 5:48). Becoming like God requires knowing Him (remember John 17:3), and knowing in the highest sense only comes through both "believing" and "doing"--either one without the other will not yield the growth needed for progression.

Elder Dallin H. Oaks, a modern apostle of the Lord, explained that knowledge in the head (what we believe, but have not yet put into practice) is not enough:

"The Apostle Paul taught that the Lord's teachings and teachers were given that we may all attain 'the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ' (Eph. 4:13). This process requires far more than acquiring knowledge. It is not even enough for us to be convinced of the gospel; we must act and think so that we are converted by it. In contrast to the institutions of the world, which teach us to know something, the gospel of Jesus Christ challenges us to become something."

Likewise, he explains that actions without the right beliefs and intents are not enough either:

"Many Bible and modern scriptures speak of a final judgment at which all persons will be rewarded according to their deeds or works or the desires of their hearts. But other scriptures enlarge upon this by referring to our being judged by the condition we have achieved....

"From such teachings we conclude that the Final Judgment is not just an evaluation of a sum total of good and evil acts--what we have done. It is an acknowledgment of the final effect of our acts and thoughts--what we have become. It is not enough for anyone just to go through the motions. The commandments, ordinances, and covenants of the gospel are not a list of deposits required to be made in some heavenly account. The gospel of Jesus Christ is a plan that shows us how to become what our Heavenly Father desires us to become."

("The Challenge to Become," Elder Dallin H. Oaks, October 2000 Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints)

In light of such beautiful teachings, my children, you can suddenly see how the concept of the agency of man takes on a profound meaning and weight. Of course we cannot make progress unless we are able to choose what to believe and what to do, for ourselves. For example, think of all the choices you make in the simple action of riding a bike: you choose when and how hard to push the pedals. You choose when to brake. You choose where to steer the handlebars. You choose how to adjust your balance on the seat.

But you can't learn to ride a bike unless you personally climb onto the seat and put your own two feet on the pedals. Reading a book about it isn't the same. Believing that you could ride, but never doing it, isn't the same. Being towed behind a bike isn't the same. Having someone else hold the handlebars isn't the same. If you were on the bike yourself, but your mind was somehow under the control of someone who knew how to ride the bike and who did it for you, it would not be the same. You had to have the learning experience, including all the choices leading up to success, yourself.

But to succeed, you needed teaching and coaching and guidance and encouragement. You needed to believe you could learn to ride in the first place. You needed to understand and obey the laws of balancing on a bike. You needed to know there was someone there to help you back up if you fell, which of course you all did at one point or another. You needed someone to run with you and help you get the feel of riding before letting go--but you needed to eventually have that helper let go. Part of the blessing of learning to ride a bike is the freedom to ride independently, without someone trailing along beside you to prevent you from falling. You had to eventually learn to stay balanced, all on your own.

God's plan for His children also required eventually "letting go" in a sense. There was tremendous opportunity for progression while living with Him in the heavens, but there was even greater opportunity for growth--growth which could not be obtained in any other way--by sending us away for a short time, into a mortal sphere where we would have the opportunity to grow through faith and learn for ourselves that the seeds of divinity are within us; to learn that we can and would follow God's path even when there was every opportunity to do otherwise, when it seemed that God was very far away and no one was watching.

This next phase of God's plan needed a physical space in which to take place; a stage to be acted out on. So God created this earth for the express purpose of allowing His children to come here--to "leave home" as it were--for an advanced, intense, and everlastingly important education. This will make more sense to you when you eventually leave home to attend college, or serve as missionaries, or get married (and yes, you will eventually leave home!). There are certain things that you will never fully learn--about the world, about living, and about yourselves--until you experience them on your own, farther away from home: things you take for granted now; situations you will never encounter at home; and even a love for your home and family that cannot be fully appreciated until some distance is temporarily inserted. Then, after the separation when you someday return, you will appreciate and understand better what your mother and I have tried to teach you, and you will love us all the more for it.

To further enhance our agency--to allow us to truly expand our faith and increase our sense of independence--God's plan also required placing a "veil" over our minds. This veil would cause us to forget our former spirit life in God's presence and start fresh, with a renewed innocence. It intentionally creates a further separation from God and greatly magnifies the challenge--and thus the possible growth to be gained--of this phase of God's plan for our progression. We are thus able to learn for ourselves whether we want to obey, even when we feel that we are all alone.

But with this veil of forgetfulness over our minds, we are not left alone--faith in divine law is still required to spur us into the action that will yield growth, even during our separation from God here on earth. So God provided the Holy Ghost, a Communicator who works according to our faith and desire and obedience. The Holy Ghost gently tugs at our minds and hearts, teaching and guiding us along the path that leads back home. He is there to warn, comfort, inspire, and confirm eternal truths, when we encounter them. These gentle promptings will give us the faith and conviction that lead to obedience, resulting in true knowledge and progression towards becoming like God.

God's plan for our progression here on earth included two essential aspects. The first is the opportunity for expanded agency and experience due to our temporary separation from Him. And second, being born on earth provides us each with a physical body to house our spirits. This body is created in the image of His physical body, though it is in an imperfect state for now. This body provides us with new sensations. It provides us with significantly expanded agency by affording us wonderful new choices related to the laws governing our bodies. Perhaps most significantly, these mortal bodies allow us, in partnership with God, to be able to create children, giving us a chance for the first time to emulate this most precious and defining characteristic of our Father in Heaven.

When this plan was first presented, the most vital element of it--the key to making it all work--was to provide a Savior for us. In taking these two bold steps forward (leaving home and obtaining a body) we would cross into new realms of existence--we would venture into new territory. For one, the enhanced agency we would experience here would teach us so much about eternal truth (law) and help us understand God's perfection and our own comparative weakness, that we would forever feel unworthy to return to His presence after feeling the filthiness of our own sins and follies. As the prophet Mormon taught: "Behold, I say unto you that ye would be more miserable to dwell with a holy and just God, under a consciousness of your filthiness before him, than ye would to dwell with the damned souls in hell" (Mormon 9:4). This condemnation would apply forever to all of God's children who were ever capable of committing sin.

Secondly, after experiencing the wonders of having a physical body, we would feel like we were in bondage without one (see D&C 138:50). Experiencing a taste of such a wonderful, liberating blessing as a physical body, only to lose it without the prospect of ever regaining it, would torture us.

So the firstborn son of our Heavenly Father, the Lord Jesus Christ, was foreordained to come to this earth as our Savior. Here He would free us from the effects of our sins (broken laws, or misused agency) and from death (the separation of our spirits from our bodies). The cost of this salvation is truly terrible: Jesus Christ "suffereth the pains of all men, yea, the pains of every living creature, both men, women, and children, who belong to the family of Adam" (2 Nephi 9:21). He did this so that the eternal law of justice, which God Himself cannot deny, might be fulfilled through vicarious payment of the ransom demanded by our sins.

This pain was more excruciating than any of us can imagine:

15 Therefore I command you to repent—repent, lest...your sufferings be sore—how sore you know not, how exquisite you know not, yea, how hard to bear you know not.
16 For behold, I, God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent;
17 But if they would not repent they must suffer even as I;
18 Which suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit—and would that I might not drink the bitter cup, and shrink—
19 Nevertheless, glory be to the Father, and I partook and finished my preparations unto the children of men.
(D&C 19:16-19)

Jesus Christ completed His vicarious sacrifice for us--he "finished [his] preparations unto the children of men"--because He loves us, and because our Father willed it to be so. My children, "Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God" (D&C 18:10). Your immortal soul--and its eternal, splendid potential to become like God--is of such great worth that Jesus Christ suffered all this for you, to remove the obstacle of your sins from blocking (from damning) your progress. It is up to you to take advantage of His atonement--which allows us to be "at one" with God again--by exercising faith in Him, repenting from your sins, and following His example.

The Savior also redeemed us from physical death when He took up His own mortal body on the third day after his crucifixion, breaking forever the bands of death. The effects of His literal resurrection pass to each of God's children as a free gift of grace, saving us from physical death. Each spirit, when first clad in a physical, mortal body, will someday be clothed upon with a perfected, immortal physical body. This joyful news caused Paul the apostle to exclaim to the Corinthians "O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?" (1 Corinthians 15:55)

Thus, God's plan was in place to allow us an explosion of growth, by catapulting our agency forward through testing in a circumstance of temporary separation from God while here on earth, and obtaining a physical body. The Holy Ghost was there to teach us and gently guide us back home in a manner that allows us full use of our agency to choose whether to follow His guidance. A Savior was provided for us to turn these opportunities into blessings instead of curses, and allow us the means of eventually becoming perfect, like He is, through faith in His atonement and our own sustained effort at improvement.

All was prepared. The plan for the use of man's agency, the power of independent action in accordance with divine law--that most precious gift of God (for exercising agency is the only way that we could eventually become like Him)--was in place. What could possibly go wrong?

Well, the devil is in the details.


Part five of a twelve-chapter essay. Read more: Ch 1 | Ch 2 | Ch 3 | Ch 4 | Ch 5 | Ch 6 | Ch 7 | Ch 8 | Ch 9 | Ch 10 | Ch 11 | Epilogue

Wife Rule #128: Why I Love Your Mother (to my children) -- Chapter Four: The Nature of Man

I am a child of God,
And he has sent me here,
Has given me an earthly home
With parents kind and dear.
Lead me, guide me, walk beside me,
Help me find the way.
Teach me all that I must do
To live with him someday.
--Naomi W. Randall, Hymns of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, no. 301

Through ignorance, men have offered some pretty wild theories about who we are and how we got here on earth. Only slightly less ridiculous than the idea that the earth is being towed through the sky on the back of a giant turtle, there are those who would have you believe that all creation is the result of random, chance events. They would have you believe that men are descendants of ancient slime that happened to spring to life when a pool of muck was struck by lightning.

The truth of the matter is that there is a simple way to understand the nature of man, but it can only be attained by looking through the "eye of faith." And frankly, in my opinion, believing in the truth takes a lot less faith than believing in the alternate theories.

If you could reach way back into your memory, long before your body was created here on earth, you would see yourself very much alive, but as a spirit only. You would see yourself at home, similar to the home you know now, only much grander and better in almost every way. And you would see yourself as part of a family, similar to your family here on earth but much, much larger--God's family.

It may surprise you, my children, since you have been taught the truths of the gospel since your infancy, but most of the world has no idea where we came from. They read the scriptures--if they believe them at all--that talk about "Our Father who art in heaven" in a figurative sense. They don't realize that our Heavenly Father is exactly that--our father.

You understand what a father is. You have an earthly father, a person, a male, who loves you, who cares for you, and who played one of two vital parts in giving you life. Your mother and I were responsible for initiating the process by which your mortal bodies were created. Likewise you have a Father in Heaven, who, with His eternal companion, created your spirits long before you came to earth. You were, in a very literal sense, born as a spirit a long, long time ago, in exactly the same sense in which your body was born here on earth just a few years ago. You have both a father and a mother on earth, and in heaven.

Eliza R. Snow expressed these truths beautifully in this verse:

I had learned to call thee Father,
Thru thy Spirit from on high,
But, until the key of knowledge
Was restored, I knew not why.
In the heav’ns are parents single?
No, the thought makes reason stare!
Truth is reason; truth eternal
Tells me I’ve a mother there.
(Eliza R. Snow, Hymns of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, no. 292)

I do not know why the world at large finds this eternal truth so hard to believe. It is simple enough that a small child can understand it. The pattern of family life here on earth is an exact (albeit imperfect) mirror of family life in the heavens. Talking with your Eternal Father should be just as natural and instinctive as conversing with your father here on earth. The God we pray to is a loving Father, whose divine face you can picture in your mind, because you have seen human faces here on earth. "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.... So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them" (Genesis 1:26-27). There it is, plain as day, spelled out in simplicity in the first chapter of the Bible. We are created in their image, in the likeness of our Heavenly Parents.

For some reason though, much of the world prefers to change God into something that cannot be understood. Either they deny that He exists at all, or they choose to believe He is some type of cosmic power or force, without "body, parts or passions" (The Westminster Confession of Faith [A.D. 1646]) that cannot be understood or envisioned. These false teachings are not in the scriptures; they are the inventions of men who, whether intentionally or through ignorance, have mixed eternal truths up with their own philosophies.

There are many who would suggest that to teach that God has a body that looks like our bodies, that He is a man, that He talks with His mouth, has arms and legs and feet and very much has passions such as love, disappointment, and even occasional anger, is blasphemy. They are similar to those who criticized Jesus for saying that He is the son of God:

34 Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?
35 If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken;
36 Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God?
(John 10:34-36)

On the contrary, recognizing that mankind, male and female, are fashioned in the very image and likeness of Eternal, Celestial Parents in no way blasphemes God; it doesn't "drag Him down to our level." No, it works the other way: it elevates man.

Do you see now, my children, why Joseph Smith the prophet said that "If men do not comprehend the character of God, they do not comprehend themselves" (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, sel. Joseph Fielding Smith, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1938, p. 343)?

For we are the children of God! We are sparks struck from a divine blaze; and though small and weak, we have the potential to grow into fires so bright and glorious that it defies imagination. And just like I, your earthly father, want more than anything else for you grow up to have every blessing and privilege that I have and more, our Father in Heaven wants nothing more than for us to "grow up" and share in the divine perfection that is His life: eternal life.

If you could remember back to the past eons of time before this world was, you would recall that you were born, raised, and loved in the mansions of Heavenly Parents. You were afforded every chance for growth and progression possible under their divine care. You "received [your] first lessons in the world of spirits" (D&C 138:56) and were saved to come to this earth, at this time, born into this family, for wise purposes. This was all planned and customized, just for you, for your good and for the ultimate salvation of the entire human family. Our family.

God has a plan for you, and a plan for me. This divine plan of salvation has everything to do with why I love your mother so much.


Part four of a twelve-chapter essay. Read more: Ch 1 | Ch 2 | Ch 3 | Ch 4 | Ch 5 | Ch 6 | Ch 7 | Ch 8 | Ch 9 | Ch 10 | Ch 11 | Epilogue

Wife Rule #127: Why I Love Your Mother (to my children) -- Chapter Three: The Nature of God

Let us here observe, that three things are necessary, in order that any rational and intelligent being may exercise faith in God unto life and salvation. First, The idea that he actually exists. Secondly, A correct idea of his character, perfections and attributes. Thirdly, An actual knowledge that the course of life which he is pursuing, is according to his will.
--Joseph Smith, quoted in Lectures on Faith, p. 36

The great quest of this life is to search out God and come to know Him. In fact, during one of the last prayers our Savior said to Heavenly Father, Jesus stated that "this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent" (John 17:3). If eternal life consists of knowing God the Father and his son Jesus Christ, then how do we come to know Them?

Certainly "knowing God" includes coming to a true understanding His identity, nature, character, and attributes. The scriptures contain hundreds of verses describing God's character. Among all these, let's start out with perhaps the most important of all of God's attributes, so simply and beautifully stated by the prophet Nephi:

"I know that he loveth his children; nevertheless, I do not know the meaning of all things" (1 Nephi 11:17).

John also records the Savior's words expressing this truth:

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life"
(John 3:16).

This single fact--that God loves His children--is ultimately the overriding principle that governs all the rest of His actions towards us. It is also really all we need to know in order to begin to exercise basic faith in God. By viewing all of our interactions with God through the lens of divine love, we can better understand His actions and have faith that all that He does is for our own good. The Lord explained this divine truth to Moses when He said:

"For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man" (Moses 1:39).

This simple sentence says it all: God's work (what He does) and His glory (what He treasures most) is the salvation of His children. My own dear children, is it really so hard to believe that? Even if, like Nephi, you don't "know the meaning of all things," can you at least believe enough to know that God loves His children?

Through your relationship with your earthly father, who loves you dearly, can you begin to sense the smallest part of the love that your Heavenly Father has for you? Can you see past the imperfect, sometimes selfish parenting of your earthly father, enough to believe that there is a perfect, selfless Heavenly Father who loves you infinitely more and is also parenting you?

Can you sense what Jesus meant when He said: "Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?" (Matthew 7:9-11)

Can you see how understanding that God loves you will help you through the trials and troubles of life? Can you believe that He only lets us struggle because it is for our own good?

Just like your mother and I encourage you to do things that are hard--like learning to play the piano, or ride a bike, or do math, or share with each other--because we know you will become better and someday thank us for it, so does your Heavenly Father. He asks hard things of us--such as forgiving others, or sharing the gospel, or obeying and honoring our parents--knowing that each commandment He gives will promote our growth and progression.

Just like your mother and I cannot (and should not) fix all of your problems for you--such as dealing with a kid at school who is rude to you, knowing there is an endless supply of rude kids in the world--because we know you will grow by learning to solve your own problems, so does your Heavenly Father. He lets us struggle and search, seldom handing us complete, gift-wrapped solutions that would deny us the growth gained by working through our own problems. It is typically only when we have exhausted our own abilities that He steps in with the next hint or clue, giving just enough guidance to spur on further growth as we act on His suggestions.

Our progression--and ultimate salvation--can only come as fast as we are willing to grow. Growth only comes through experience, as we exercise our agency by making choices in accordance with eternal law and in spite of hardships.

The prophet Jacob taught about a few more of God's attributes, ones that are essential for our growth:

"O the greatness and the justice of our God! For he executeth all his words, and they have gone forth out of his mouth, and his law must be fulfilled" (2 Nephi 9:17).

Justice demands consequences for our choices, and is an essential component of agency. Balancing the law of justice and giving hope to mankind, we have mercy:

"O the greatness of the mercy of our God, the Holy One of Israel! For he delivereth his saints from that awful monster the devil, and death, and hell, and that lake of fire and brimstone, which is endless torment." (2 Nephi 9:19).

Mercy is also an essential component of agency, because no one who possesses sufficient understanding to exercise agency has ever lived a life free of bad decisions, except our Savior. And it is through Him, offering Himself as vicarious payment for the penalties of the laws we break, that mercy operates. Without the mercy offered to us by Him, the demands of justice would doom us all and block our progress.

The divine dance between justice (consequences for our actions) and mercy (forgiveness for our sins), as set in motion by the Savior, provides a chance for our continued progression in spite of our imperfections. Heavenly Father can be both perfectly just and merciful, because of what Jesus did for us.

Of course our Heavenly Father, like your earthly father, would never ask you to do something that He himself is unwilling to do. God lives in perfect compliance with every eternal law. This state of perfect goodness constitutes his "holiness:"

"O how great the holiness of our God! For he knoweth all things, and there is not anything save he knows it" (2 Nephi 9:20).

It is interesting that the prophet Jacob chose to tie together "holiness" and "knowing all things." What is the relationship between knowledge and holiness? Alma sheds some light on this:

9 And now Alma began to expound these things unto him, saying: It is given unto many to know the mysteries of God; nevertheless they are laid under a strict command that they shall not impart only according to the portion of his word which he doth grant unto the children of men, according to the heed and diligence which they give unto him.
10 And therefore, he that will harden his heart, the same receiveth the lesser portion of the word; and he that will not harden his heart, to him is given the greater portion of the word, until it is given unto him to know the mysteries of God until he know them in full.
11 And they that will harden their hearts, to them is given the lesser portion of the word until they know nothing concerning his mysteries; and then they are taken captive by the devil, and led by his will down to destruction. Now this is what is meant by the chains of hell.
(Alma 12:9-11)

So we have knowledge (leading to perfection) on one end of the spectrum, and ignorance (leading to destruction) on the other. To come to truly know an eternal truth, we must (1) learn it both in our minds and in our hearts, and then (2) put it into action in our lives by obeying it. What we learn lives and dies in our heads unless we also live it.

Thus, we only come to truly "know" God as fast as we give "heed and diligence" to the commandments He gives us. In this way, we keep the same laws that He himself lives, thereby walking in His paths and coming to know Him through our own experience in following him. In order for us to come to know God and gain eternal life, which is God's entire work and glory, we must understand what God is like, and live our lives like He lives his, as much as possible.

But how is this possible? Can a mere mortal really live a godly life? And how is the quest to come to know God related to my love for your mother?


Part three of a twelve-chapter essay. Read more: Ch 1 | Ch 2 | Ch 3 | Ch 4 | Ch 5 | Ch 6 | Ch 7 | Ch 8 | Ch 9 | Ch 10 | Ch 11 | Epilogue