I believe that most people at least once in their lives ask themselves: Where did I come from? Why and I here? Where am I going? I found the above quote from the Koran (Islam) that in many ways reflects the purpose for Creation given to Abraham by God. Remember that Muslims are also blessed by the lineage of Abraham.
And there stood one among
them that was like unto God, and he said unto those who were with him: We will
go down, for there is space there, and we will take of these materials, and we will make
an earth whereon these may dwell;
And we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command
them;
And they who keep their first estate shall be added upon; and they who keep not their first
estate shall not have glory in the same kingdom with those who keep their first
estate; and they who keep their second estate shall have glory
added upon their heads for ever and ever. (Abraham 3: 24-26)
We are the reason for the Creation. The Creation had a two-fold purpose: First, God, our Heavenly Father, wanted to provide a planet upon which we could dwell as mortals, receiving a physical body preparatory for moving on to the next step of God's plan. The Father delegated his Son, Jehovah/Jesus, to carry out the Creation according to the plan. Abraham tells us that Jehovah ("one among them like unto God") gathered others of the "great and noble ones" to prepare the earth for God's children. (verse 24.)
The second purpose of the Creation was to give us a time of testing. God wanted each of us to test ourselves against the wiles of Satan while living in a space wherein repentance from sin is possible (verse 25.) In the pre-existence, our first estate, justice was immediate. When Lucifer rebelled, he was cast out of heaven along with his minions. Because absolute knowledge of God was universal and unquestionable in that pre-earth life, no one could misunderstand or make a mistake. Rebellion was absolute apostasy and justice was dealt immediately.
In our second estate, our Earth life, we are allowed a time of learning through our own experience to know the good from the evil. Because our absolute knowledge was lost as we passed through the veil at birth, we must live our lives here by faith. Because of the fallen nature of our world, everyone makes mistakes; we don't have pure knowledge. Like a child learning to walk, we are going to fall on our bottoms a lot. Mercy then becomes possible through the Atonement of Jesus, so that we can make mistakes and repent of them without permanent, eternal consequences.
The prophet Amulek 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 now, as I said unto you before, as ye have had so many witnesses, therefore, 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)
Lucifer and his followers did not keep their first estate so they were cut off from the presence of God and were not "added upon" by receiving mortal bodies. For all eternity, this will never change. All of us who are living upon the earth or who have ever lived upon the earth kept our first estate. We were "added upon" by simply being born. If we keep this, our second estate, and bring our sins, through repentance and enduring to the end, under the umbrella of Christ's atonement, then we shall be "added upon" by resurrected, immortal bodies, and a kingdom of glory based upon our choices here in morality.*
Therefore, it behooves us all to choose wisely while we can.
© Gebara Education, 2016
*Very few (called Sons of Perdition) will be denied a kingdom, but they are relatively few and should be reserved for discussion at another time.
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