The Premortal Life and the Nature of God
Ages ago, long before the elements would be shaped into the beautiful world we now call home, our Father in Heaven began preparations for His great and eternal Plan of Salvation. Through this plan, mankind would be placed upon the earth created for them. According to His purposes, his children, then in an immortal and innocent state and enjoying His presence, would fall. They would be cast out of the presence of God, experiencing mortality, and gaining a knowledge of good and evil and receiving the ability to act. They would choose, in this fallen sphere, whether to come to Him or to choose their own path. Ultimately, all would sin and all would die, and as a result His children would have been forever cast out of His presence. Yet, God, knowing all things from eternity to eternity, would bring about an atonement through the grace of His Son. Through this act of infinite love and mercy, all mankind would live again. Then, those who had come to the Father, through the grace of His Beloved Son, would come into His presence once more, endowed with immortality and eternal life. This great plan of our God was established for men, that they would learn to rely upon an ‘atonement which has been prepared from the foundation of the world’ for the salvation of all mankind (Mosiah 4:6).
Upon this atonement rests the purpose and end of the creation, for ‘were it not for [this atonement] which He hath made for His people, which was prepared from the foundation of the world, I say unto you, were it not for this, all mankind must have perished’ (Mosiah 15:19). Yet through it, all are invited to partake of salvation through the intercession of our Savior. Through this great sacrifice, ‘God bringeth about His great and eternal purposes, which were prepared from the foundation of the world’ (Alma 42:26). Thus, this book is dedicated to understanding a knowledge of the atonement, through which the great plan of happiness of our Father in Heaven is brought to pass.
I Would that Ye Should Be Perfect
To truly understand the atonement, one must first understand the nature of our great Father who laid forth the Plan of Happiness for His children. One reason for this is that the atonement requires that in this life, we, as His children, come to Him. We must first believe in His true nature, thus establishing our faith in Him. After, we must rely on Him through faith, or a belief in things as they truly are. Therefore, it is our responsibility to begin the process by having an accurate nature of God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ.
After having gained a belief in Him, we must learn and do His will, repenting of our mistakes and coming continually toward Him. We must follow Christ’s example and lay aside our will, embracing His righteousness. Throughout mortality, we are granted the enabling power of Christ’s atonement to assist us. During this life, we must humbly submit to God, which is facilitated by an understanding of the true nature of our loving Father in Heaven. Because we know of His ultimate love for His children, we can trust that His will for us is better than our own desires. Only through truly understanding His nature can we trust in Him enough to yield our lives to Him and come to Him through the atonement.
By understanding the nature of our Father, we can also view this life as an opportunity to attain some of the characteristics of Him. Through this earthly experience, we have been given mortal bodies, made in the image of the perfect and immortal body of our God. Additionally, our Father has allowed us to experience freedom of choice, through which we can establishing our agency toward Him or toward ourselves. He has provided us with the opportunity to house His spirit children, thus learning in a small way to understand His role as the divine Parent of us all. He has given us a knowledge of good and evil as well as the consequences of choosing each, helping us to see the benefit of choosing the good. He has also provided this knowledge that we might grow in understanding of good and evil, of truth and error, through mortality. In a very real way, this mortal experience grants us the opportunity to gain many of the characteristics of our God.
Finally, through the atonement of his son, we can become perfected. Through the power of the resurrection, we can be raised up to our Father in Heaven, endowed with the very characteristics that make Him our Eternal God. As Christ commanded, ‘I would that ye should be perfect even as I, or your Father who is in heaven is perfect’ (3 Ne 12:48). Later, He stated what manner of men we ultimately ought to be: ‘Verily I say unto you, even as I am’ (3 Ne 27:27). As Christ is perfect, and as we can become as He is, we have a promise that we ‘shall be even as [He is], and I am even as the Father; and the Father and I are one’ (3 Ne 28:10). The atoning sacrifice of Christ enables us to become as God, perfected in glory, receiving immortality and eternal life and all that God has. Thus, as we learn of the Father, we can understand our true potential, knowing who we can ultimately become.
The Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost are One
Essential to understanding our divine potential is to understand the true nature of God the Father; His Son, Jesus Christ; and the Holy Ghost. The Book of Mormon clarifies the eternal truth that these three are separate and distinct beings. The trinitarian view, then, is dismissed in a much fuller understanding of oneness that these three individuals accomplish in promoting the Eternal Plan of our Father in Heaven.
The separate nature of these three is represented in the 3rd Book of Nephi, after these people had suffered the destruction and darkness of the sign of the death of Christ. After, they gathered at the temple and were visited by the voice of the Father, announcing the coming of His Son to this people. After, the people beheld a Man descending out of Heaven and coming among them. He declared Himself as Jesus Christ and spent time among this people giving them His gospel (see 3 Ne 11). He also prayed to the Father during His stay with this people (for example, see 3 Ne 17: 15) During this time, He gave His apostles the priesthood power, and the disciples baptized and gave the Holy Ghost to the people. They were filled with the fire of the presence of the Holy Ghost while Christ visited them and ministered to them further (3 Ne 19:13-15). In this way, each personage was present in the experience and represented an important and distinct role in furthering the work of the Father by helping His children come to Him.
God’s foremost role is as our Father in Heaven. Heavenly Father is the loving father of our spirits, and His role is in the direction of the great work of bringing about the salvation of all mankind (see 2 Ne 2:14-15,26).
Christ, the Lamb of God, is 'the Son of the Eternal Father' (1 Ne 11:21). He 'was with the Father from the beginning' (3 Ne 9:15). He was the creator of this world (see 3 Ne 9:15), and He is the God of whom the people of the Book of Mormon worshiped until His coming (see 3 Ne 1:12-14). Most importantly, His primary role was to atone for the sins of all mankind, so that all mankind could ultimately return to the Father (see 3 Ne 9:21-22). As with the people of Jerusalem, He also established His gospel among the people of the Book of Mormon following His resurrection (see 3 Ne 11).
The primary role of the Holy Ghost is as a testifier. For those who believe on Christ, in confirmation of their belief they are visited 'with fire and with the Holy Ghost' (3 Ne 11: 35). The Holy Ghost is given as a gift to the faithful members of the Church of Christ (see 3 Ne 19:13), and by receiving this gift the Holy Ghost cleanses and purifies them from their unrighteousness (see Alma 13:11-12).
Though each accomplishes different tasks, 'the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost are one' (3 Ne 11:27). This oneness, however, is not a physical oneness as is the common interpretation within Christianity. Instead, the it is a unity of purpose, each working together to bring to pass the salvation of mankind. So said Christ: 'whoso believeth in me believeth in the Father also; and unto him will the Father bear record of me, for He will visit Him with fire and with the Holy Ghost. And thus will the Father bear record of me, and the Holy Ghost will bear record unto him of the Father and me; for the Father, and I, and the Holy Ghost are one' (3 Ne 11:35-36).
Each plays a beautiful role in helping us come to the gospel: by coming to Christ, we are coming closer to the Father in doing His will. In the process of coming to Him, we are filled with the Holy Ghost. This gift of the Holy Ghost is given to man by the Father and assists mankind in coming to Him. Each assists mankind in coming to the other members of the godhead, helping us become more and more like them. As Christ said of His apostles, a promise that applies to each of us, 'and now, Father, I pray unto thee for them, and also for all those who shall believe in me, that I may be in them as thou, Father, art in me, that we may be one (3 Ne 19:23).' As the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost are one in in the purpose of bringing about the salvation of mankind, so can we, as we come to them, become one with them in assisting them in the work of God!
The King of All the Earth, and also the King of Heaven
The remainder of this chapter is dedicated to understanding the nature of God the Father. Chapter 3 is entirely given to understanding Jesus Christ and His great and atoning sacrifice. Chapter 10 will explore the indispensable gift of the Holy Ghost. Note that many of the characteristics given below are describing Jehovah, the God of the Old Testament, who is the pre-mortal Christ. However, as God the Father and His Son are one, to describe the nature of Christ is to describe Our Eternal Father, for Christ 'would that [we] should be perfect even as I, or [our] Father who is in heaven is perfect' (3 Ne 12:48). Following His resurrection, having fulfilled all that the Father commanded Him, Christ attained the perfection of His Father. Additionally, their oneness of purpose necessitates that the works of Christ are in the stead of the works of His Father. In this way, to describe the attributes and actions of one is to describe the attributes and actions of the other.
Our Father is perfect, full of 'glory..., might, majesty, power, and dominion.' He is 'the King of all the earth; and also the King of heaven' and His glory 'shine[s] forth among all the children of men' (Alma 5:50). His physical glory is a 'luster...above that of the noon-day' (1 Ne 1:9). His 'throne is high in the heavens and thy power, and goodness, and mercy are over all the inhabitants of the earth' (1 Ne1:14) for the 'earth is His footstool' (1 Ne 17:39).
Because of His perfection, He 'cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance' (Alma 45:16). Though He sends the Holy Ghost to dwell in our hearts, but 'He doth not dwell in unholy temples; neither can filthiness or anything which is unclean be received into the kingdom of God' (Alma 7:21). When all shall stand before Him, presenting what they have become through our lives, 'if they be filthy it must needs be that they cannot dwell in the kingdom of God; if so, the kingdom of God must be filthy also. But behold, I say unto you, the kingdom of God is not filthy, and there cannot any unclean thing enter into the kingdom of God' (1 Ne 15:33-34). Those, though, who come to Christ and were perfected in Him can then dwell with Him in righteousness forever (see 2 Ne 2:27).
His Great Fulness
God the Father is perfect. However, the complete nature of this perfection must be accurately understood if we are to truly understand the character of God and our own potential of character. An insightful statement regarding His perfection is given in the Book of Helaman. In this passage, after providing a multitude of examples of the power of God, the perfection of God is termed as 'His great fulness' (Helaman 12:24). This statement implies that His perfection is achieved by attaining to the fulness of creation.
Oftentimes, the perfection of God is made in reference to the eternal righteousness of His works, which certainly is part of His perfection. However, it is the sum of the attributes of God, or His fulness, that establishes Him as perfect: His physical nature is eternal, He has knowledge of all things, His works are righteous forever, He has all power, and He is our perfect Father. Only in representing all of these attributes can we truly understand the complete nature of the perfection of God. Through Christ, we can ultimately become perfect, even as He is, thus attaining the very attributes that define Him as perfect.
To better understand this glory and majesty of our Father in Heaven, and our own divine potential, each of God's divine attributes will be discussed in detail.
Seest Thou that Ye are Created After Mine Own Image
One of the fundamental truths that must be understood about God the Father is that He has a glorified, physical body. His body is similar in character to the physical body that houses our spirits, but His is perfect and immortal. One evidence of this is the coming of Christ to the people of Nephi. During this experience, 'the multitude went forth, and thrust their hands into his side, and did feel the prints of the nails in his hands and in his feet; and this they did do, going forth one by one until they had all gone forth, and did see with their eyes and did feel with their hands, and did know of a surety and did bear record, that it was he, of whom it was written by the prophets, that should come' (3 Ne 11:15). Christ was resurrected by the power of God (see Mormon 7:5) and obtained a physical body which each in the multitude felt and bore record. As Christ and the Father are both perfect, God the Father must, therefore, also have a physical body as Christ does.
A significant evidence of the physical body of God the Father is given in the account of the great vision of the Brother of Jared. This experience occurred several thousand years before the coming of Christ, and in response to one of the greatest prayers of faith recorded in the Book of Mormon. During this beautiful experience, Christ stretched forth His finger, showing to the brother of Jared the form of His spirit. After, the Lord taught him this essential point about His nature and the nature of His Father: 'Because of thy faith thou hast seen that I shall take upon me flesh and blood; and never has man come before me with such exceeding faith as thou hast...behold, the Lord showed himself unto him, and said...Seest thou that ye are created after mine own image? Yea, even all men were created in the beginning after mine own image. Behold, this body, which ye now behold, is the body of my spirit; and man have I created after the body of my spirit; and even as I appear unto thee to be in the spirit will I appear unto my people in the flesh' (Ether 3:6-16). All mankind was made after the image of God, after the manner of His physical body. Before His advent to the children of men, Christ had a body of Spirit, in form and substance similar to mankind. After His resurrection, His spirit was eternally housed in a body of flesh and bone. If Christ has received a fulness of perfection like His Father, the most logical conclusion is that the Father, too, has a perfect, immortal body, in whose image we were created.
Our Father experiences the full range of emotions that we, His children, also experience. As such, the Book of Mormon records that He feels love (1 Ne 11:17), wrath (1 Ne 13:11), fury (2 Ne 8:17), anger (2 Ne 19:12), zeal (2 Ne 19:7), indignation (2 Ne 23:5), displeasure (Mosiah 1:17), pleasure (Mosiah 7:33), jealousy (Mosiah 11:22), grief (Mosiah 14:10), peace (Alma 7:27), sorrow (3 Ne 27:32), pity (Ether 3:3) and joy (3 Ne 27:30). As He looks down upon the children of men, He grieves (Jacob 5:11), weeps (Jacob 5:41, 3 Ne 17:21), groans within Himself (3 Ne 17:14), is troubled (3 Ne 17:14), smiles upon them (3 Ne 19:30), and is filled with compassion (3 Ne 17:6). Unlike mankind, however, the emotions that God feels are perfect. The anger He experiences leads to righteous judgment of mankind, the sorrow He feels is for the rebellion of mankind against his commandments, and the joy He feels is when He beholds the righteous works of His children.
In all of these attributes, He is eternal and unchanging. 'For He is the same yesterday today, and forever...wherefore, the course of The Lord is one eternal round (1 Ne 10:18-19). He 'is without beginning of days or end of years' (Alma 13:9), 'and in Him there is no variableness neither shadow of changing' (Mormon 9:9). Indeed, 'He is unchangeable from all eternity to all eternity' (Moroni 8:18).
For He Knoweth All Things, and there is Not Anything Save He Knows It
The plan which God presented and prepared for His children was perfect. He set forth the means for mankind to come to Him in a beautiful plan of perfection that would stretch across the eternities through an atonement for all of His children. How could God create a plan that work extend from the beginning of mankind to the end of the world? He was able to do so because knows all things--good and evil; past, present, and future; the thoughts and intents of His children; and all things which will come forth throughout all time.
Essential to understanding the knowledge of God is that He understands the truth of things 'as they really are, and of things as they really will be' (Jacob 4:13). Truth is not arbitrary; it is not something that is based upon the beliefs of an individual. Instead, truth is eternal, and all truth is known by God for ‘He knoweth all things, and there is not anything save He knows it' (2 Ne 9:20). He has a perfect knowledge of good and evil (see 2 Ne 2:18). This knowledge allowed for the atonement to be 'prepared from eternity to all eternity, according to His foreknowledge of all things' (Alma 13:7). He has given us portions of His knowledge over time, and yet 'unsearchable are the depths of the mysteries of Him; and it is impossible that man should find out all His ways save it should be revealed unto him' (Jacob 4:8).
He uses His infinite knowledge for the salvation of mankind. 'Yea, and He looketh down upon all the children of men; and He knows all the thoughts and intents of the heart; for by His hand were they all created from the beginning' (Alma 18:32). For those who feel they suffer alone, great peace can come from the understanding that 'known unto God were all their cries, and all their sufferings' (Alma 60:10). For the faithful saint, who may wonder if a prayer of faith was heard, they can be assured that 'He knoweth their prayers...And He knoweth their faith' (Mormon 8:24). For those who wonder what life will hold for them and if there truly is a plan laid out for each of them, they can find hope 'that God knoweth all the times which are appointed unto man' (Alma 40:10). And for those who struggle with the burdens of temptation, yielding too often to the enticement of the evil one, they can find great strength from God, 'for [He] will show unto them that [His] wisdom is greater than the cunning of the devil' (3 Ne 21:10).
The Book of Mormon is evidence of the foreknowledge of God, and how He shapes the course of mankind to accomplish His work. These latter days are a time of darkness, and the philosophies of man are abundant. For the penitent seeker of the word, finding truth may be difficult for they know not where to look. In preparation for these last days, God commanded the people of the Book of Mormon to write of His gospel in purity. Nephi said of this commission that 'the Lord hath commanded me to make these plates for a wise purpose in Him, which purpose I know not. But The Lord knoweth all things from the beginning; wherefore, He prepareth a way to accomplish all His works among the children of men (1 Ne 9:5-6).
In his compiling of this book, Mormon stated that 'I do this for a wise purpose; for thus it whispereth me, according to the workings of the Spirit of the Lord which is in me. And now, I do not know all things; but the Lord knoweth all things which are to come; wherefore, he worketh in me to do according to His will' (Words of Mormon 1:7). Though neither Mormon nor Nephi knew of the great good that would come from the writing of this book, they were faithful to the commandments of God. Now, amidst the sophistries of man and the confusion of opinions, we have access to the pure word of god, upon which we can rely. Truly, the coming forth of the Book of Mormon is a manifestation of the of the infinite foreknowledge of God.
His Ways are Righteousness Forever
The eternal perfection of our Father extends beyond His physical nature and knowledge. God the Father is perfectly good, and 'His ways are righteousness forever' (2 Ne 1:19). In His goodness, He has only one purpose: 'He doeth not anything save it be for the benefit of the world; for He loveth the world' (2 Ne 26:23). His love for His children is eternal, and His every work is centered upon the salvation of His children. This love flows down from Heaven to us, His children, and the fruits of this love are represented by 'every thing which inviteth to do good, and to persuade to believe in Christ, [which] is sent forth by the power and gift of Christ; wherefore ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is of God' (Moroni 7:16).
His nature is eternal, and His goodness is infinite. Like Nephi, we can ever rely upon His constant goodness, who exclaimed, ‘Oh Lord, I have trusted in thee, and I will trust in thee forever' (2 Ne 4:34). We can trust Him perfectly for 'He never doth vary from that which He hath said' (Mosiah 2:22). This eternal and unchanging nature of our Father is the reason that He is called 'the God in whom we should trust' (Mormon 9:20). We can rely upon Him to ever be a perfect and just God, and we can trust His word and come unto Him.
God will always choose to do good; He cannot do anything that is evil, for 'there is a law given, and a punishment affixed, and a repentance granted; which repentance, mercy claimeth; otherwise, justice claimeth the creature and executeth the law, and the law inflicteth the punishment; if not so, the works of justice would be destroyed, and God would cease to be God. But God ceaseth not to be God' (Alma 42:22-23).
The laws which govern this universe are infinite and eternal. The goodness of God results from His perfection in following these laws, for, in paraphrasing the above scripture, 'if God were to break the eternal law of justice, He would no longer be perfect and could no longer be God.' Therefore, we can understand that God is perfect because He eternally chooses to be perfect. The universe is governed by eternal laws, and while He certainly has the ability to choose what He will do in response to those laws, He will constantly choose to follow those laws. In doing so, His 'works of justice [can]not be destroyed, according to [His] supreme goodness' (Alma 12:32). Upon this truth we can rely eternally, for 'He cannot walk in crooked paths; neither doth He vary from that which He hath said; neither hath He a shadow of turning from the right to the left, or from that which is right to that which is wrong; therefore, His course is one eternal round' (Alma 7:20).
The Lord God Hath Power to do all Things which are according to His word
In His efforts to bring about the salvation of His children, God has ‘all power, and can do whatsoever [He will] for the benefit of man’ (Ether 3:4). To bring about His purposes, ‘by the power of His word man came upon the face of the earth, which earth was created by the power of His word’ (Jacob 4:9). His power to shape the earth is unmatched, for at His command, ‘the dust of the earth moveth hither and thither, to the dividing asunder...Yea, by the power of his voice doth the whole earth shake; Yea, and if he say unto the earth—Move—it is moved. Yea, if he say unto the earth—Thou shalt go back, that it lengthen out the day for many hours—it is done; And thus, according to his word the earth goeth back, and it appeareth unto man that the sun standeth still’ (Helaman 12:8-15). In a coming day, when the earth has served its purpose, ‘at His great command the earth shall be rolled together as a scroll’ (Mormon 5:23).
His power extends beyond the elements of the earth, and the scriptures are full of examples where His power is used to bless and prosper His people. The family of Lehi was ‘led forth by His matchless power into the land of promise’ (1 Ne 17:42). After battling the Lamanites in defense of their freedom, the people of Nephi triumphed through their God ‘because of His matchless power in delivering them from the hands of their enemies’ (Alma 49:28). The three Nephites, who had received a promise that they would live until the second coming of Christ and work among the children of men, were given power that ‘in His name could they remove mountains; and in His name could they cause the earth to shake; and by the power of His word did they cause prisons to tumble to the earth; yea, even the fiery furnace could not harm them, neither wild beasts nor poisonous serpents because of the power of His word’ (Mormon 8:24). He has power to protect His people in righteousness (see 3 Ne 4:30), to arm His people with righteousness and power (see 1 Ne 14:14), and to deliver them ‘from death, and from bonds, and from prisons, and from all manner of afflictions’ (Alma 62:50). Most significantly, his power will triumph over the death of men and all mankind will once more be risen again (see 2 Ne 2:8). In all these things, ‘The Lord God doth work by means to bring about His great and eternal purposes; and by very small means the Lord doth confound the wise and bringeth about the salvation of many souls’ (Alma 37:7).
The wonder of this power is that God brings about His great works simply by a word of His command: 'the Lord spake it, and it was done' (2 Ne 5:24). Indeed, 'the Lord God hath power to do all things which are according to His word' (Alma 7:8). The power of His word comes from two divine aspect of God. The first, as already been discussed in detail, is that God is an unchangeable being across all time. Unlike His mortal children, who are so often prone to deceiving their fellow men, 'the word of God must be fulfilled' (Alma 5:48). God is bound to accomplish those things promised in His word. Just as the words of an honest man carry more power than those of one whose words are fraught with error, so is the word of God filled with power because of the infallibility of the word.
The second means through which this power is made manifest is through the goodness of God. God accomplishes His great power through His priesthood, which Alma calls 'the holy order of God' (Alma 5:44, Alma 13:1). This 'order was from the foundation of the world; or in other words, being without beginning of days or end of years, being prepared from eternity to all eternity according to His foreknowledge of all things' (Alma 13:7). Mankind is offered a portion of this power, and the use of this power is dependent the character of man. In order for them to receive this power, they must first exercise faith in Him (see 1 Ne 7:12). Indeed, 'if there be no faith among the children of men God can do no miracle among them (Ether 12:12). This faith leads his children to a knowledge of Him, ultimately enabling them to yield their lives to Him. We have the promise that, through faith, we can be as Nephi, who was esteemed 'as a great prophet, and a man of God, having great power and authority given unto Him from God' (Helaman 11:18). When man increases in power through righteousness, the powers of Heaven are given to those who follow the will of God. As God is perfect and follows the laws which govern the eternities absolutely, He is given power to be 'able to do all things according to His will, for the children of men' (1 Ne 7:12).
He Numbereth His Sheep
God is perfect, with infinite goodness and knowledge, eternal life and glory, and endless power. Yet, during our most personal communion with Him, in our individual prayers that extend from each humble heart across the eternities to Him, God asks us that we refer to Him as Father (see 3 Ne 13:9). God is our loving Father, having created our Spirits and who, through His son, formed the bodies that house our immortal souls. Much can be learned about how to raise children in considering what He does in His role as parent for each of us.
God is the Father of countless children who have lived throughout the ages of this world. Yet, in a way we cannot comprehend, He loves each son and daughter individually with the same divine and eternal love. For those who may feel distant from their Father in heaven, consider these beautiful and comforting words: 'I The Lord have not forgotten my people...I...have created all men, and...I remember those who are upon the isles of the sea, and that I rule in the heavens above the earth beneath; and I bring forth my word unto the children of men, yea, even upon all the nations of the earth...For I command all men, both in the east and in the west, and in the north, and in the south, and in the islands of the sea' (2 Ne 29:5-11). For those who feel estranged through sin, remember that 'He inviteth them all to come unto Him and partake of His goodness; and He denieth none that come unto Him, black and white, bonds and free, male and female; and He remembereth the heathen; and all are alike unto God, both Jew and Gentile' (2 Ne 26:33). For those who are part of His kingdom, having come to Him through His gospel, there is the reassurance that they are known and loved individually, for 'He numbereth His sheep, and they know Him; and there shall be one fold and one shepherd; and He shall feed His sheep, and in Him they shall find pasture' (1 Ne 22:25). For those who feel completely alone and that none understands their pain, remember that 'God is mindful of every people, whatsoever land they may be in; yea, he numbereth His people, and His bowels of mercy are over all the earth' (Alma 26:37). God loves each of His children, individually and perfectly.
The love which our Father has for His children is infinite and eternal. In a way we cannot comprehend, this love shines forth to all of His children. In vision, Lehi, and later Nephi, beheld a tree, ‘and the beauty thereof was far beyond, yea, exceeding of all beauty; and the whiteness thereof did exceed the whiteness of the driven snow’ (1 Ne 11:8). Multitudes of people came to this tree and did eat of its fruit, ‘whose fruit was desirable to make one happy’ and after partaking it ‘filled [their souls] with exceedingly great joy’ (1 Ne 8:10,12). When seeking to know the meaning of this tree, Nephi learned that the tree was ‘the love of God, which sheddeth itself abroad in the hearts of the children of men; wherefore, it is the most desirable above all things...and the most joyous to the soul’ (1 Ne 11:23).
The people of the Book of Mormon knew and testified of this great love. Many times in his life Nephi partook of this great love, relating that the ‘tender mercies of The Lord are over all those whom He hath chosen, because of their faith to make them mighty even unto deliverance’ (1 Ne 1:20). Lehi’s experienced this love throughout his life, and in his final testimony to his rebellious sons, he exclaimed that ‘the Lord hath redeemed my soul from hell; I have beheld His glory, and I am encircled about eternally in the arms of His love’ (2 Ne 2:15). The Anti-Nephi-Lehies, who turned away from incorrect traditions and gave their lives to their God, were ‘encircled about with the matchless bounty of His love’ (Alma 26:15).
This love motivates the Lord, who 'worketh in many ways to the salvation of His people’ (Alma 24:27). In His ultimate expression of love, our Father sent His Son as a sacrifice for sin. Of this great love, Moroni said ‘and again, I remember that thou hast said that thou hast loved the world, even unto the laying down of thy life for the world, that thou mightest take it again to prepare a place for the children of men’ (Ether 12:33). Because of this great sacrifice, all mankind can be assured by Christ that He will ‘not forget thee, O house of Israel. Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me’ (1 Ne 21:15-16). This is the great love which our Father has for His children.
All His Promises Shall be Fulfilled
In a beautiful expression of this love to His children, our Father has extended covenants to His children. These covenants form an agreement between God and man who follow His word and keep His commandments. In response, God offers incredible blessings to His children for following His law in obedience.
To Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, He covenanted that their posterity would inherit a land of promise. As such, when the time was right He brought them forth out of the land of Egypt and ultimately brought them to the promised land (see 1 Ne 17;40). To many of the prophets of the Book of Mormon, who were diligent in keeping the commandment of preserving a record of their people, He covenanted that 'He would preserve [the record] for a wise purpose in Him, that He might show forth His power unto future generations' (Alma 37:18). To each of us, He offers the beautiful covenants of our baptism and the sacrament, which will be discussed in detail in later chapters. To His holy prophets, and to each of us, He has promised that He 'will fulfil all that which [he has] caused to be spoken by the mouth of [His] holy prophets. Behold, [He comes] unto [His] own, to fulfil all things which [He has] made known unto the children of men from the foundation of the world' (3 Ne 1:13-14).
To Isaiah and other prophets called to reclaim Israel was made the statement that 'the Lord hath loved him; yea, and he will fulfil His word which He hath declared by them' (1 Ne 20:14). The promise is made by an unchanging God, whose words and works are eternal, that 'as the Lord liveth He will remember the covenant which He hath made with them' (Mormon 8:23).
However, these promises are extended conditionally. God will fulfill his word by giving great things for His children, so He requires that His children fulfill their promise to Him. Indeed, speaking of the Lamanites who had fallen to idolatry and wickedness, 'the promises of The Lord were extended unto them on the conditions of repentance' (Alma 17:15). This statement prefaced the great missionary work among this people through which the covenants made to their wicked fathers were restored to them because of their righteousness. They became stalwart in the gospel, protected from their enemies, strengthened by the hand of The Lord, and there is 'no reason to doubt but what they were saved' (Alma 24:26). In these covenants, we have an assurance that 'the eternal purposes of the Lord shall roll on, until all His promises shall be fulfilled' (Mormon 8:22).
He Chastened Them Because He Loved Them
God loves each of His children, and eternally seeks their salvation in all He does for them. However, in doing so, we must not think that a loving God seeks only that His children experience endless joy in this mortal experience. Instead, The Lord allows His children to suffer, to feel sickness and death, and to struggle through the experiences of this mortal life. How is it that a God who is full of so much love can allow His children to experience so much difficulty through mortality? First, we must understand that these trials often come as a natural consequence of disobedience to His commandments: for 'the people of Nephi hath He loved, and also hath He chastened them; yea, in the days of their iniquities hath He chastened them because He loveth them' (Helaman 15:3). For those who have disobeyed, God allows them to experience the results of their decisions, that they can learn for themselves good and evil. This chastening comes from a loving Father, who will do all in His power to help His children learn how to come to Him.
However, not all difficulties in this life come from sinning against the light we have received. Consider upon these beautiful words: 'Nevertheless the Lord seeth fit to chasten His people; yea, he trieth their patience and their faith. Nevertheless--whosoever putteth his trust in Him the same day shall be lifted up at the last day' (Mosiah 23:21-22).
God allows His children to be chastened, sometimes because of sin, but also because He wants His children to come to Him and learn to rely upon Him in these times of trial. 'For He is like a refiner's fire, and like a fuller's soap. And He shall sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver; and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver' (3 Ne 24:2-3). Thus, in a coming day, having been chastened by the hand of a loving Father, we can stand before Him, purged of our iniquities and filled with righteousness through coming to Him.
He Granteth Unto Men According to Their Desire
With each passing day, we reap the rewards of our actions, good or ill. In a coming day, we will stand before our Father, to receive the eternal reward for who we have become in this life. For the righteous, those who have become more like their God by coming to Him, they will receive mercy for their sins and enter into exaltation and eternal life. For the wicked, those who followed their own will and did not follow God’s will for them, they will receive justice for disobedience and be removed from the presence of their Father eternally. For they ‘must come forth and stand before him in His glory, and in His power, and in his might, majesty, and dominion, and acknowledge to our everlasting shame that all His judgments are just; that He is just in all His works, and that He is merciful unto the children of men, and that He has all power to save every man that believeth on His name and bringeth forth fruit meet for repentance’ (Alma 12:15).
The laws of mercy and justice are eternal, and God is forever bound to following these laws. For the wicked, ‘salvation cometh to none such; for the Lord hath redeemed none such; yea, neither can the Lord redeem such; for He cannot deny Himself; for He cannot deny justice when it has its claim’ (Mosiah 15:27). The law of justice is eternal, and God cannot remove this law upon those whom have earned His just punishment. These must, ‘according to the power of justice, for justice cannot be denied...go away into that lake of fire and brimstone’ (Jacob 6:10). Yet, for the righteous, ‘God breaketh the bands of death, having gained the victory over death; giving the Son power to make intercession for the children of men—Having ascended into heaven, having the bowels of mercy; being filled with compassion towards the children of men; standing betwixt them and justice; having broken the bands of death, taken upon Himself their iniquity and their transgressions, having redeemed them, and satisfied the demands of justice’ (Mosiah 15:8-9). For those who will choose to come to Him, the Lord is standing with open arms, waiting to receive them into the eternities.
Additionally, the Lord will never deny mankind their agency. He weeps when we disobey His commandments and is filled with joy when we choose to follow Him. Indeed, ‘He granteth unto men according to their desire, whether it be unto death or unto life; yea, I know that He allotteth unto men, yea, decreeth unto them decrees which are unalterable, according to their wills whether they be unto salvation or unto destruction’ (Alma 29:4). The righteous will ‘see that His arm is extended to all people who will repent and believe on His name’ (Alma 19:36). For the wicked, who feel their God has forsaken them, think on these words: ‘why has He forsaken you? It is because you have hardened your hearts; yea, ye will not hearken unto the voice of the good shepherd; yea, ye have provoked Him to anger against you’ (Helaman 7:18).
Should we not answer the invitation of a loving Father! For ‘behold, He sendeth an invitation unto all men, for the arms of mercy are extended towards them’ (Alma 5:33). Indeed, ‘why will ye die? Turn ye, turn ye unto the Lord' (Helaman 7:17). Know that ‘for a small moment have I forsaken thee, but with great mercies will I gather thee. In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment, but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith The Lord thy Redeemer....For the mountains shall depart and the hills be removed, but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith The Lord that hath mercy on thee’ (3 Ne 22:7,8,10).
Being Prepared from Eternity to All Eternity
To accomplish His great purposes in His plan of salvation, God ordained His Son, Jesus Christ, as Savior of the World. Christ was ‘with the Father from the beginning’ (3 Ne 9:15) and was chosen as to accomplish the Father’s great works through the atonement. In the words of Christ, ‘Behold, I am He who was prepared from the foundation of the world to redeem my people’ (Ether 3:14).
Even in the beginning, however, the seeds of rebellion were sown among the spirit children of God. Among them was one named Lucifer, a ‘son of the morning.’ In his heart was discontent, and a desire to be greater even than God, ‘for thou hast said in thy heart: I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will sit upon the mount of the congregation...I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the Most High’ (2 Ne 24:12-14). Thus, this ‘angel of God, according to that which is written, had fallen from heaven; wherefore, he became a devil, having sought that which was evil before God’ (2 Ne 2:17). This once-great son of God thenceforth ‘sought also the misery of all mankind,’ and this ‘because he had fallen from heaven, and had become miserable forever’ (2 Ne 2:18).
To continue to works of God, many of the spirit children of our Father were ‘called and prepared from the foundation of the world, according to the foreknowledge of God, on account of their exceeding faith and good works...with a holy calling’ (Alma 13:3-4). They were called to be leaders in the ‘high priesthood being after the order of His son...being prepared from eternity to all eternity, according to his foreknowledge of all things’ (Alma 13:7). These would become the prophets of God, who would assist Him in His bringing forth His great work.
God, our perfect Father, who has and will do everything for the benefit of His children, had set in motion His eternal plan of happiness for His children. A Savior was chosen, great men were foreordained to lead His church, and the source of opposition was cast out of His presence. In preparation for His great and eternal plan, God could now, through His Son, create the earth upon which His children could continue in their progression toward eternity.