The Creation, the Fall, and the Need for the Atonement
As his life drew to a close, Lehi, the patriarch of the people who would multiply to fill the American continent, sat with each of his sons, providing them with a few words of counsel and wisdom to his children. They would 'soon lay [him] down into the cold and silent grave, from whence no traveller can return; a few more days and [he would] go the way of all the earth' (2 Ne 1:14). To his rebellious sons, he offered words of counsel, to his righteous posterity he gave hope for the future. Then he spoke to the son who would soon become the Lord’s prophet for the people, bringing them the word and will of The Lord. The words that Lehi would speak to him were essential to setting a nation on the right path, helping them continually come to their God. Of all topics to teach this son, he chose 'the good (or best) part' (see 2 Ne 2:30): the atonement of their Savior, and the fall of man through the transgression of Adam. To fully understand the great plan of our eternal father, we must first understand the fall of mankind, and how this fall enabled the children of God to learn and grow as part of this mortal experience.
The Lord Hath Created the Earth that It Should Be Inhabited
Having foreordained Christ as our savior and redeemer, our Father commissioned Christ as the creator of the world. To the Nephites who survived the darkness and destruction following His death, He who declared himself ‘created the heaven, the earth, and all things that in them are’ (3 Ne 9:15). To these individuals groping in darkness, deprived of sight, he declared himself as the ‘light and the life of the world,’ (v 18) the light which would redeem them from the darkness brought on by the fall of Adam.
This world was created to be inhabited, and man was created to inhabit it (1 Ne 17:36). In creating this earth, Christ organized matter into two separate creative categories: things to act and things to be acted upon (2 Ne 2:14). The elements organized into the earth, and the plants and animals that adorn its surface, fall into the second category. These creations can be acted upon by the word of God: God is able to speak and the elements are organized in the form of the earth, the living creatures, or the bodies of man (Jacob 4:9). In comparison, our bodies were created in the image of God, providing tabernacles for the spirits of man created by our Heavenly Father tabernacles. These bodies will ultimately will become immortal, housing immortal spirits. The intelligence of man gives us the distinct opportunity among God’s creations to act, and not to be acted upon, during our mortal existence. At the last day, we will, however, be acted upon based on the eternal consequences of following or breaking by the law of God (2 Ne 2:26).
God placed Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. He gave to them two commandments, the first to multiply and replenish the earth and the second a command to not partake of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. In their present, immortal state, their bodies were not capable of bringing children into this world (2 Ne 2:23). Their inability to not have children should not be considered disobedience to the law, for in the same way that young children today have bodies that are incapable of procreation, yet are under this same commandment. In this unfallen state, Adam and Eve did not have bodies capable of obeying the law, and could therefore not be held accountable for obedience.
There Must Needs Be an Opposition
The plan of salvation required mankind to fall in order to continue in their progression toward eternal life through a mortal experience. To truly understand the nature of the fall, it must first be understood that the justice of God could not create mankind in any state except an eternal state. As such, the bodies of Adam and Eve were immortal (2 Ne 2:22) and they had the opportunity to be in the presence of God (see Ether 3:13). They were not perfect, because they had not obtained the ‘great fulness’ that characterizes God (see Ch 1). Instead, they were better be termed as innocent, a concept which will be discussed later in the chapter. As such, they could have no joy, knowing no misery, nor could they do good, for they could not sin (see 2 Ne 2: 23). Indeed, if they had not transgressed and fallen, they would have remained forever in this state, not able to progress through mortality (2 Ne 2:22).
As their fall was necessary for progression, bringing about their mortality and consequent removal from the presence of God, how could this fall be brought about? The justice of God could not bring these conditions about with cause, and they only cause for which they could fall was for man to choose to disobey a commandment of God. Thus, ‘to bring about His eternal purposes in the end of man...it must needs be that there was an opposition.’ In other words, man was given two opposing choices, each with a distinct difference in consequence of the choice. The opposition placed before Adam and Eve were two trees ‘even the forbidden fruit in opposition to the tree of life: the one being sweet and the other bitter’ (2 Ne 2:15).
These trees enabled two choices that were placed before them: they could remain in the Garden of Eden, partaking of the Tree of Life or could partake of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, the consequence of which was that in the day they should partake of it, they should surely die. Having two choices before them, each with a consequence given for following each choice, ‘the Lord gave unto man that he should act for himself’ (2 Ne 2:16). This choice provided the way through which man could fall, ultimately enabling the possibility that man could progress through a mortal experience. The law was given, a choice was provided, and the justice of God provided a consequence to each action.
This represents the first choice given to man through which they could act in response to opposition. In establishing man with the opportunity for action, these three things are required. The first is that at least two options must placed before man, or choice. Second, these choices must have distinctly different consequences, which are made known to man as a result of choosing the one or the other, or opposition. Finally, having these choices placed before them, man must be given the opportunity to choose for himself which choice he will follow, or action.
For this reason, ‘there must needs be...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.’ The potential to disobey a commandment of God provided the necessary opposition, without which mankind could not fall, and the potential of progressing through the opportunities of mortality could not be realized. The result of having no opposition in the consequence of decisions was that ‘all things must be compound in one’ (2 Ne 2:11). In other words, without an opposition in the consequences of the action of man, regardless of any decision made by Adam and Eve, the result would always be the same, and their state would remain forever. They would ‘[have] no life, neither death, nor corruption nor incorruption, happiness nor misery, neither sense nor insensibility. Wherefore, it must needs have been for a thing of naught, wherefore there would be no purpose in the end of its creation’ (2 Ne 2:11-12, emphasis added). Without this opposition, the eternal purposes of God would have been destroyed as man could not ultimately progress to become as He is.
Enticed By the One or the Other
The choices were placed before Adam and Eve, each with its own respective consequence for action. Importantly, these choices enabled man to choose to fall without a direct action from the Lord to cause the fall. Therefore, ‘God gave unto man that he should act for himself,’ (2 Ne 2:16) to bring about their fall. However, one final piece remained for man to bring to pass his own fall from the presence of God. Although they could now act, there was no motivation to disobey the commandment of their Father. Adam and Eve could not have had a clear concept of the meaning of death, having no opportunity to see the effect of a spirit being separated from the body which housed it. Because of this, Adam and Eve were as innocent as children and would not have acted against a command of their Father ‘save it be that [they were] enticed by the one or the other’ (2 Ne 2:16). In accordance with the will of God, Satan was permitted into the Garden to tempt man and ultimately ‘entice’ man to act and bring about their own fall. Satan ‘had become miserable forever’ and he now ‘sought the misery of all mankind’ (2 Ne 2:18). He enticed man to partake of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, knowing that doing so would bring sin and misery into the world.
In his enticement, he represented why he is termed ‘the father of all lies.’ They were told that in partaking of the fruit ‘they would not surely die [a lie] but would become as God, knowing good and evil [the truth]' (2 Ne 2:18). This half truth is characteristic of the lies that he continues to spread today, telling mankind that they are free to act [a truth], but that this action will not bring about consequences for this action [the lie]. However, unknowingly Satan had provided the final impetus in the fall of mankind, giving them a reason to partake of the fruit. Now, having disobeyed a commandment of God, Adam and Eve provided the means through which God could justly remove them from His presence and change them to their fallen state (see Mosiah 3:26).
God Hath Given Unto You a Knowledge, and He Hath Made You Free
Having fallen, the spiritual and temporal condition of Adam and Eve was changed. To understand the significance of the changes that occurred through the fall, the characteristics of God must briefly be revisited. As stated before, each process of the plan of God enables his children to progress, ultimately allowing them to return to His presence and become as He is.
In this discussion, the first significant characteristic of God is that he has a glorified, perfect and immortal body. As such, He is able to organize intelligences and create spirit children. He experiences an opposition of choices, has a knowledge of good and evil, and has the ability to act in accordance to this knowledge. Importantly, His nature is that He will always choose good to bring about the salvation of his children. Because of this opposition, he is able to experience joy when His children obey His commandments and sorrow when they choose to disobey His commands. He is holy instead of miserable, good instead of bad, righteous instead of wicked. Finally, because of His character, no unclean thing can enter into His presence.
The devil is the antithesis of God, but he shares a few of the above characteristics with God. However, it is not in the similarities but the differences from God that make him Satan, the father of all lies, who is miserable forever. Having sought evil before God, he fell from before the presence of our eternal father, thus becoming the devil, never to rise again (see 2 Ne 2:17-18 and 9:8). Because he fell before the creation of the world, he never received a body and will be a spirit forever. As such, he will never have offspring, except in the metaphoric ‘children’ in his profane followers of men who give their will over to him. An important similarity between the devil and God is that both have a knowledge of good and evil, have an opposition of choices, and thus have the ability to act. In spite of these similarities, there is an important distinction between God and the devil: because of the devil’s nature, having fallen from God, he will always choose to act in rebellion to God, being evil forever. Because he always acts in seeking evil, he experiences misery instead of holiness, wickedness in place of righteous, bad instead or good. And, having rebelled against God, he will forever be cast out of the presence of God.
Both our Father and the devil share an important similarity: agency. Although agency is typically termed as only the ability to choose, far more must be considered in order for agency to occur. First, each is able to act, which involves having a choice, with an opposition in the results of each choice. Both the Father and the devil have a knowledge of good and evil and understand the consequences of choosing to follow the one or the other. They can then act in accordance to this knowledge, to bring to pass much righteousness or wickedness according to their nature. This action with a knowledge of good and evil makes each an agent for good or evil, or in other words provides each a stewardship for good for or evil, each according to their will. Similarly, mankind chooses whether to become stewards, or agents, for our Father, in doing the works that He would do in His stead, or for the devil, seeking works after the will of the natural man. This opportunity provides man with 'moral agency,' or the ability to choose whose steward he will become in this life: the Father or the devil.
As mortality allows man to continue to progress toward our Heavenly Father, the change that occurred in Adam and Even from before and after the fall facilitated a necessary progression toward the nature of God. In the Garden, Adam and Eve had immortal bodies similar to their Father. An important distinction between their bodies and His is that they were unable to have children (2 Ne 2:23). As part of the fall, our bodies were changed and enabled to have children, but the consequence of the fall was that the nature of the bodies of Adam and Eve became mortal, subject to death, pain, and sickness. This ability to bring children into the this world represents the first way that as mankind we became more like our Father through the fall. Though we are unlike our Father and cannot organize spirits in this mortal process of creation, women are given the ability to organize the elements to create bodies that house the spirit children of our father. As such, because of the fall, the spirit children of our Father, eagerly awaiting our own mortal experience, were enabled to come to the earth. For 'Adam fell that men might be' (2 Ne 2:25).
In the Garden, Adam and Eve were innocent, having no knowledge of good and either, and had only a single choice placed before them. They disobeyed the commandment of God given them, thus becoming fallen. Now, in our mortal state we have agency to ‘act for [ourselves] knowing good from evil...wherefore men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given unto them which are expedient unto man’ (2 Ne 2:26-27). As such, according to our will we can experience righteousness or wickedness, joy or misery, good or bad, the first through righteousness and the second through wickedness. Through the fall, man is permitted to act for [himself]; for behold, God hath given unto [them] a knowledge and He hath made [them] free’ (Helaman 14:30).
This establishes the fundamental difference between righteousness, wickedness, and innocence. Adam and Eve, like little children, were innocent because they had no knowledge of good or evil, nor were provided the consequence of choosing the one or the other. As little children grow, or as Adam and Eve fell, they gain an understanding of good and evil, and an understanding of the the consequences of choosing good and evil. The result is that they gain the agency to act for themselves for good or evil. An insight into what enables this knowledge of good and evil is given in Moroni chapter 7, that ‘the Spirit of Christ is given to every man, that he may know good from evil.’ (v 16). The fall of man brought upon mankind this Spirit of Christ to act as a guide. Thus, even outside of the presence of God, man can be directed in the ways of the Lord.
Righteousness, therefore, requires a knowledge of good and evil, coupled with moral agency, and mankind's choice to do good. The continual choice for good characterizes God and His eternal righteous nature, for if He were to go against this righteous nature, He would cease to be God (see Alma 42:13). Similarly, wickedness involves a knowledge of good and evil along with moral agency. However, wickedness results from having this knowledge and choosing to disobey the commandments of God. The devil, therefore, is wicked forever because he continually seeks the misery of all mankind through a constant choice of evil.
Finally, having disobeyed a commandment from God, Adam and Eve were removed from the presence of God. Although the atonement ultimately enables us to return to our Father and become as He is, our separation from God as part of this mortal experience was essential in preparing to meet Him once more after this probationary state. This mortal life, away from the presence of our loving Heavenly Father, enables us to choose for ourselves, demonstrating to God that we will be His servants and choosing to follow Him and not our natural, fallen state.
This distinction between innocence and righteousness or wickedness gives rise to the distinction between sin and transgression. Observe Jacob's words concerning how the fall came about: ‘the fall came by reason of transgression, and because man became fallen they were cut off from the presence of the Lord’ (2 Ne 9:6). Note that in the Book of Mormon, the fall of Adam is always associated with the word ‘transgression’ instead of the word ‘sin.’ (see 2 Ne 2:22, Mosiah 3:11). Transgression, in general, is termed as a disobedience to the law, and in the case of Adam and Eve involves express disobedience to the commandment not to partake of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. In this act, however, they did not sin, for sin requires that man not only disobeys a law of God but, in addition, that they have an understanding of the nature of good and evil and are given agency to choose between good and evil. When we transgress the laws of God, having knowledge of good and evil, we sin. However, as Adam and Eve, like little children, had no knowledge of good and evil, being innocent, a disobedience to the law of God causes them to transgress without sinning. Adam fell by disobedience to God’s command, but sin did not enter into the world until after partaking of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, which gave unto man the knowledge for willful rebellion against the laws of God
The fall, therefore, brought upon man the ability to choose, knowing good and evil, and acting for himself. This provided man with the opportunity to learn by experience the power of righteousness and obeying the word. As already seen, it is this same power through which God does all things for the benefit of man.
It Was Appointed Unto Man to Die
There was one final challenge to overcome to ensure that Adam and Eve remained in their fallen state. Two trees were placed before them, providing for them the opposition that allowed them to choose to disobey God and fall. However, the tree of life still remained in the Garden, and the effects of partaking of the fruit of this tree while mortal would result in Adam's and Eve's bodies being changed once more to an immortal state. While in the Garden, this did not occur because their bodies were already immortal, but having fallen, partaking of the fruit of the tree would have an eternal change on their physical bodies, transforming their bodies from mortality to immortality. Immediately after the fall, God placed cherubim and a flaming sword before the tree of life, preventing man from partaking of its fruit (Alma 12:21). The question is why? Mankind had fallen, gaining a knowledge of good and evil, the agency to choose the one or the other, and the ability to have children, gaining many important similarities to our Father in Heaven. Would not partaking of the fruit of the tree of life further the progression of man toward becoming as God, providing him with a now immortal body?
The answer to this question comes through understanding the purpose of this life, as stated previously, the Book of Mormon uses two words to describe our mortal state in this life: a probationary state and a preparatory state (see Alma 42:10). The first suggests that this life is to test man’s character, to see what each will do with the agency given them. The second builds off the first, in that this life gives man ‘a space to prepare to meet God’ (Alma 12:24). In a coming day, all men will stand before God, presenting to Him either a life of ‘[choosing] liberty and eternal life through the great Mediator of all men, or [choosing] captivity and death according to the captivity and power of the devil’ (2 Ne 2:27). We will then reap the fruit of how we have used our agency in this life, either receiving a reward of eternal life or eternal death. Therefore, this mortal state represents ‘a space granted unto man in which he might repent; therefore this life became a probationary state, a time for men to prepare to meet God; a time to prepare for that endless state which has been spoken of’ (Alma 12:24).
This probationary state needed to be finite in duration, limiting the time for men to use their agency to act for good or for evil. If men choose evil in this life, this mortal experience allows them to repent and return to God with a change of heart. The finite duration provides a beginning and an end to this probationary state, thus giving man the ability to choose to devote that window of time to either righteousness or wickedness. In contrast, if they partook of the fruit of the tree of life, they would have become immortal while yet sinful. This would result in man having ‘no space for repentance,’ for their state would have become eternal and wicked. Thus, ‘the word of God would have been void, and the great plan of salvation would have been frustrated. But behold, it was appointed unto man to die--therefore, as they were cut off from the tree of life they should be cut off from the face of the earth’ (Alma 42:5-6). In spite of the pain we feel when a loved one dies, we must remember that death is brought upon man to allow that righteousness and repentance could be brought about among the children of men.
How Great the Importance to Make These Things Known
Having Fallen from the presence of God, two deaths were introduced among mankind: spiritual death, which is termed Hell, and physical death, or death of the body (see 2 Ne 9:10). The introduction of these two deaths was the ‘first judgment which came upon man’ (2 Ne 9:7) having disobeyed God and fallen from His presence.
The potential for physical death was introduced when Adam and Eve partook of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, for in the day that they should eat, they should surely die. The state of their bodies was changed, and all mankind were given a limited time on this earth ‘to perform their labors’ (Alma 34:32). After, as the soul could never die, their bodies were laid to the earth, while their immortal souls continued on (Alma 42:9).
Spiritual death first occurred as a consequence of the transgression of Adam, having disobeyed a commandment of God. As such, mankind was removed from the presence of God in response their disobedience (2 Ne 2:19). Further spiritual death, or increased separation from God, comes upon man as we use our agency to choose evil, and ‘whosoever dieth in his sins...shall also die a spiritual death; yea he shall die as to things pertaining unto righteousness’ (Alma 12:16). This death in sin is termed ‘a second death...for on such the plan of redemption could have no power’ (Alma 12:32). Ultimately, men and women who experience this second death will experience an eternal separation from God in the world to come.
In order to return to our Father in Heaven, ultimately becoming like Him, we must obtain the temporal and spiritual characteristics which define our Father as God. Thus, our bodies must be immortal, changed from this mortal state. Our souls must also be righteous, cleansed from wickedness, allowing us to forever choose good and not evil. Thus, in order to obtain this state, the atonement was set in action to overcome both physical and spiritual death. As a result, mankind could be brought to their Father in Heaven, clothed in glory and immortality to inherit His kingdom.
What, then, would occur if no atonement was made, while man remained in a fallen state? Following death, we would have no physical bodies, and as such no potential to have children. Because of our knowledge of good and evil, having been enticed to do wickedness, we would have spent mortality in disobedience to the commandments of God, for ‘all mankind [are] carnal, sensual, [and] devilish’ (Mosiah 16:30). Then, having died in our sins, we would have died ‘as to things pertaining unto righteousness’ no longer having the light of Christ enabling us to do good. In this state, there could be no joy, no righteousness, no holiness, and no good. And although we could act, having no light we would eternally choose evil. In this state, the justice of God could never allow us to come back into His presence, and we would eternally be outside of the presence of God. In essence, our nature would be identical to the devil, ‘and our spirits must have become like unto him, and we become devils, angels to a devil, to be shut out from the presence of our God, and to remain with the father of lies, in misery, like unto himself’ (2 Ne 9:9).
Truly, ‘how great the importance to make these things known unto the inhabitants of the earth, that they may know that there is no flesh that can dwell in the presence of God, save it be through the merits, and mercy, and grace of the holy Messiah, who layeth down his life according to the flesh, and taketh it again by the power of the spirit, that he may bring to pass the resurrection of the dead, being the first that should rise’ (2 Ne 2:8). ‘For it is expedient that an atonement should be made, for according to the great plan of the Eternal God there must be an atonement made or else all mankind must unavoidably perish; yea, all are hardened; yea, all are fallen and are lost, and must perish except it be through the atonement' (Alma 34:9). How truly wonderful that 'the way is prepared from the fall of man, and salvation is free' (2 Ne 2:4).