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Sunday, August 25, 2013

Life After Death: The Spirit World

We have looked at the purpose of our life on Earth, the beginning and fall of mankind with Adam and Eve, and the life we led before this Earthly life. In this post, I wish to explain the beginning steps of the third section of God’s Plan of Happiness. I will, in part, answer the question, “What happens when I die?” I wish to use the scriptures as the source of our exploration.

It is a fact that every man and woman will die. That is one of the effects of the Fall of Adam: we are all mortal and therefore will not live forever. When we die, our spirits and bodies are separated. Our spirits go to a place we will refer to as the Spirit World.  We have no need to fear death, for life continues beyond our mortal bounds.

In the Book of Mormon, a prophet named Alma recorded counsel he gave to his son concerning what awaits all mankind after death. “Now, concerning the state of the soul between death and the resurrection—Behold, it has been made known unto me by an angel, that the spirits of 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).  Alma teaches that there is a space, a waiting period, between death and the resurrection. In a future post we will talk more about resurrection, which is the reuniting of the spirit body with the physical body after death, never to be separated again. Resurrection is the end to our waiting time in the Spirit world.  What is this waiting period like? What can we expect? Alma goes on to explain the situation in the Spirit World in the following verses.

“And then it shall come to pass, that the spirits of those who are righteous are received into a state of happiness, which is called paradise, a state of rest, a state of peace, where they shall rest from all their troubles and from all care, and sorrow. And then shall it come to pass, that the spirits of the wicked, yea, who are evil—for behold, they have no part nor portion of the Spirit of the Lord; for behold, they chose evil works rather than good…there shall be weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth, and this because of their own iniquity, being led captive by the will of the devil. Now this is the state of the souls of the wicked” (Alma 40:11-14).

Alma’s explanation is fairly simple: the righteous will be in a state of peace, or Spirit Paradise, and the wicked and unrepentant will be in a state of misery and sorrow, or Spirit Prison.  As mentioned in the previous post, our purpose here on earth is to make good choices and live the Gospel of Jesus Christ by having faith in Him, repenting, receiving baptism by the proper authority, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end.  If we sincerely and earnestly seek to follow Christ by living His Gospel, we can be sure we will be counted among the righteous. But what about those who have not heard of Jesus Christ or His Gospel? Thankfully, God’s plan is a merciful plan, and He has provided a way for even this group of people to receive the same blessings as those who have heard the gospel and who strive to live like Christ.

Peter spoke of Christ visiting the Spirit World after He was crucified, and preaching to the people there. “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit; By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison” (1 Peter 3:18-20). He further expounds in a later verse, “ for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit” (1 Peter 4:6).

I take great joy in the thought that God is so merciful to all of His children that He would provide a way for everyone to hear and accept His Son. When Christ was in the Spirit World, He organized a force of missionaries to preach His Gospel to the souls in Spirit Prison because they had not the opportunity to hear and accept the gospel and Christ. For those who have an opportunity in this life to live the Gospel, the Spirit World is not a fail-safe. It is not in place so one can postpone repentance until the next life. Alma taught: “For behold, 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. And…I beseech of you that ye do not procrastinate the day of your repentance until the end; for after this day of life, which is given us to prepare for eternity, behold, if we do not improve our time while in this life, then cometh the night of darkness wherein there can be no labor performed. Ye cannot say, when ye are brought to that awful crisis, that I will repent, that I will return to my God. Nay, ye cannot say this; for that same spirit which doth possess your bodies at the time that ye go out of this life, that same spirit will have power to possess your body in that eternal world” (Alma 34:32-34). In other words, our character and our desires that we possess in this life will be with us in the Spirit World. Because of this, we need to strive diligently to improve our standing before God while in this life.

In closing I would like to cite one more scripture from modern-day revelation, which comes from the Doctrine and Covenants. In 1918, the prophet Joseph F. Smith was studying the verses previously cited in 1 Peter concerning Christ preaching to the souls in prison. Of his experience he wrote:

“As I pondered over these things which are written, the eyes of my understanding were opened, and the Spirit of the Lord rested upon me, and I saw the hosts of the dead, both small and great. And there were gathered together in one place an innumerable company of the spirits of the just, who had been faithful in the testimony of Jesus while they lived in mortality; I beheld that they were filled with joy and gladness, and were rejoicing together because the day of their deliverance was at hand” (Doctrine & Covenants 138:11,12,15).

I pray that this will be our goal, that we will do all that it takes to repent and live the Gospel of Jesus Christ, so we can have a fullness of joy in the life to come. I know that God is merciful, that His plan is real, and that He seeks to guide us in the right way that will lead us to eternal happiness and success beyond what the world measures. I know that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and thanks to His great sacrifice, we can have hope for a better world.  In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.



Sunday, August 11, 2013

Mortality and its Purpose

More often than not we've all asked ourselves in those times of trial, pains, and doubt in our lives "Why Am I here". In my short life I have heard and continue to hear many views concerning this great question some founded upon some old tradition others by the the phylosophies and doctrine of man.
Our life here on earth is a gift from our Father in Heaven. Our purpose in this life is for us to be happy and prepare to meet God. Amulek teachers " For behold, 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" (Book of Mormon Alma 34:32). The labours Amulek is refereing to is our good works things we can do every day to be able to draw both hapiness and Heaven in our lives.

Others ague that we cannot be able to archive this state here in this life "if God loved us we would all be a happy family there's too much bad happening to good people so there isn't really a plan"
While we know in mortality we are subject to a condition of opposition and trial our Fathers plan is perfect. And his purpose is to bring us back to him having faced all these things in our lives so that we also may have the experience he has. Father Lehi teaching us about the importance of opposition in all things said,"For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. If not so, my firstborn in the wilderness, righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad. Wherefore, all things must needs be a compound in one; wherefore, if it should be one body it must needs remain as dead, having no life neither death, nor corruption nor incorruption, happiness nor misery, neither sense nor insensibility.
 Wherefore, it must needs have been created for a thing of naught; wherefore there would have been no purpose in the end of its creation. Wherefore, this thing must needs destroy the wisdom of God and his eternal purposes, and also the power, and the mercy, and the justice of God" 2 Nephi 2:11-12

Without opposition in our lives we would have remained dead having no life. So these opppositions we face are able to grow us. While in this life we also need to learn to make good choices. To live the gospel,and being good to our neighbours to mention just a few. Our service to others will help us be more Christlike whilest living in enemy territoty and when chalenges hit us remembering there is someone who understands that situation very well the Savior knows."And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people.
And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities". I know He (God) desires only the best fo us and with His help we can live with Him in Jesus Christ name. Amen.


Sunday, August 4, 2013

That Men Might Be

We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam’s transgression” (Articles of Faith 1:2).


In this post we will discuss the next step in God’s plan. Picking up from our discussion of the creation of the Earth and the events leading up to the creation, in this post will discuss the introduction of mankind to the newly created Earth and how these events played into God’s plan.

Adam was the first of God’s children to be placed upon the Earth. In order for God to make His plan possible and allow all His children to come to Earth, He created Eve and sent her to help and to be a companion for Adam.. Adam and Eve were created in God’s image, meaning they were created to look like God with physical bodies (Genesis 1:27). God placed Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. In the Garden they walked and talked with God, and lived in a state of innocence, allowing God to provide for all of their needs. In God’s presence, they were free from sickness and death.  But in the Garden of Eden Adam and Eve were unable to have children (2 Nephi 2:23).

In the Garden of Eden, God gave Adam and Eve two commandments. One of these was for Adam and Eve to abstain from eating the fruit of a certain tree in the Garden of Eden, this is often referred to as the forbidden fruit. “But of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it; for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die” (Genesis 2:17). God also commanded Adam and Eve to have children. “And God blessed them, and God said unto them, be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it” (Genesis 1:28).

Many of us read or hear about Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden and think to ourselves, “that is the life. No work, no worries, just paradise ” While it is true that they were free from worries and work, Adam and Eve could not progress. With no opposition, our first parents were living a purposeless life. According to God’s plan, opposition is necessary for progression.

“For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. If not so…righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad. Wherefore, all things must needs be a compound in one; wherefore, if it should be one body it must needs remain as dead, having no life neither death, nor corruption nor incorruption, happiness nor misery, neither sense nor insensibility. Wherefore, it must needs have been created for a thing of naught; wherefore there would have been no purpose in the end of its creation. Wherefore, this thing must needs destroy the wisdom of God and his eternal purposes, and also the power and the mercy, and the justice of God” (2 Nephi 2:11-12).
As part of God’s plan to help mankind inherit all that He has and to return and live in His presence, God allowed Satan to tempt Adam and Eve.. Eve ate of the forbidden fruit, and in order to stay with Eve, Adam also chose to eat of the fruit (Genesis 3:6). Because they had transgressed one of God’s commandments, they were cast out of the Garden of Eden, became subject to sickness, death and disease, and were expected to work for the food they would eat. They also gained the knowledge and ability to discern between good and evil and were  able to have children. This event is called the Fall, and it is part of God’s eternal plan.

Adam and Eve Leaving Eden 
(LDS Gospel Principles Manual)
In modern revelation we learn more of why the Fall is necessary for God’s plan. “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. 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” (Moses 5:10-11). Had Adam and Eve not fallen, none of God’s children would be able to come to Earth and Jesus Christ’s role as our Savior would have been unnecessary.

Thanks to the Atonement of Jesus Christ, we are not subject to punishment for Adam’s transgression. Because of Jesus Christ, no one is born into this world a sinner. As part of God’s plan made possible through the Fall, God has given us an opportunity to show that we are willing to keep His commandments and to live righteously. God wishes us to have joy in this life, and because of the Fall of Adam, we are able to experience joy. “Adam fell that men might be, and men are that they might have joy” (2 Nephi 2:25).
A key factor in Adam’s Fall, as well as in our existence, is the principle of moral agency. Agency is the ability to choose. It is a gift that God has granted to all of His children. Just as Adam was given the choice to partake of the fruit, we also are given the agency to follow God’s commandments and be obedient to Him.  As we use agency well, we qualify for God's blessings . Because of the importance of agency, we will be discussing it in more detail in our next post.

I know that the Fall of Adam is a part of God’s plan and that the Atonement of Jesus Christ is central to this plan and it is what saves us from the fall. I know that because of the Fall, we are able to come to this Earth, to gain experience and prove our obedience, so that we can return to live with God. I know that God lives and He has a plan for us. He desires us to have a fullness of joy, and He has given us the words of prophets and apostles to guide us back to Him.  Of this I testify in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.