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.