Bruce R.
McConkie, “Christ and the Creation,” Tambuli, Sept. 1983, 22
The Lord
expects us to believe and understand the true doctrine of the Creation—the creation of the earth, of man,
and of all forms of life. Indeed, as we shall see, an understanding of the doctrine of creation is
essential to salvation. Until we gain a true view of the creation of all things we cannot hope to
gain that fulness of eternal reward which otherwise would be ours.
God himself, the
Father of us all, established a plan of salvation whereby his spirit children
might progress and become like him. It is the gospel of God, the plan of Eternal Elohim, the system that
saves and exalts, and it consists of three things. These three are the very pillars
of eternity itself. They are the Creation,
the Fall, and the Atonement.
Before we can even begin to understand the temporal creation of all things, we must know how
these three eternal truths—the
Creation, the Fall, and the Atonement—are
inseparably woven together. No one of them stands alone; each of them ties into
the other two;
and without a knowledge of all of them, it is not possible to know the truth about
any one of them.
Salvation is in Christ
and comes because of his atoning sacrifice. The Atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ is the heart of revealed religion. It ransoms
men from the
temporal and spiritual death brought into the world by the Fall of Adam. All men will be
resurrected because our blessed Lord himself died and rose again, becoming thus
the first
fruits of them that slept.
And further: Christ
died to save sinners. He took upon himself the sins of all men on conditions of
repentance. Eternal life, the
greatest of all the
gifts of God, is available because of what Christ did in Gethsemane and at Golgotha.
He is both the
resurrection and the
life. Immortality and eternal life are the children of the Atonement. There is no language or
power of expression given to man which can set forth the glory and wonder and infinite import of
the ransoming
power of the
great Redeemer.
But, remember, the
Atonement came because of the
Fall. Christ
paid the
ransom for Adam’s transgression. If there had been no Fall, there would be no
Atonement with its consequent immortality and eternal life. Thus, just as
surely as salvation comes because of the Atonement, so also salvation comes
because of the
Fall.
Mortality and procreation and death all had their beginnings with the Fall. The tests and
trials of a mortal probation began when our first parents were cast out of
their Edenic home. “Because that Adam fell, we are,” Enoch said, “and by his
fall came death; and we are made partakers of misery and woe.” (Moses 6:48.) One of the most profound doctrinal declarations
ever made fell from the
lips of mother Eve. She said: “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 eternal life which God giveth unto all the obedient.” (Moses
5:11.)
Remember also that the
Fall was made possible because an infinite Creator made the earth and man and all forms of life in
such a state that they could fall. This fall involved a change of status. All
things were so created that they could fall or change, and thus was introduced the kind of
existence needed to put into operation all of the terms of the Father’s eternal plan of salvation.
The first
temporal creation
of all things was paradisiacal in nature. In the Edenic day all forms of life lived in a
higher and different state than now prevails. The coming fall would take them downward
and forward and onward. Death and procreation had yet to enter the world. Death would be Adam’s gift to
man, and the
gift of God would be eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Thus, existence came from God; death came by Adam; and immortality and
eternal life come through Christ.
In Lehi’s precise and eloquent language, all men are in “a state of probation”
because of the
Fall. And “if Adam had not transgressed he would not have fallen, but he would
have remained in the
Garden of Eden.” He was then in a state of physical immortality; meaning he
would have lived forever because there was as yet no death. “And they [our
first parents] would have had no children”; they would have been denied the experiences
of a mortal probation and a mortal death; and it is out of these two things—out
of death and the
tests of mortality—that eternal life comes. But—thanks be to God—“Adam fell
that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy. And the Messiah cometh in the fulness of time, that he may redeem the children of
men from the
fall.” (2
Ne. 2:21-26.)
Knowing all these things about the plan of salvation, we are in a position
to consider the
creation of
this earth, of man, and of all forms of life. Knowing that the Creation is the father of the Fall, and that the Fall made possible the Atonement, and that salvation itself
comes because of the
Atonement, we are in a position to put the revealed knowledge about the Creation in a
proper perspective.
Our knowledge about the
Creation is
limited. We do not know the
how and the
why and when of all things. Our limitations are such that we could not
comprehend them if they were revealed to us in all their glory, fulness, and
perfection. What has been revealed is that portion of the Lord’s word which we must believe and
understand if we are to envision the truth about the Fall and Atonement and thus become
heirs of salvation.
At some future time the
Lord will expect more of his Saints in regard to the Creation than he does of us. “When the Lord shall
come, he shall reveal all things,” our latter-day revelations tell us—“Things
which have passed, and hidden things which no man knew, things of the earth, by
which it was made, and the
purpose and the
end thereof.” (D&C
101:32-33.) Pending the Millennium, it is our responsibility to
believe and accept that portion of the truth about the Creation that has been dispensed to us.
Christ is the Creator and
Redeemer of worlds so numerous that they cannot be numbered by man. As to his
infinite and eternal creative and redemptive enterprises the divine word attests: “And worlds
without number have I created,” saith the Father, “and I also created them for
mine own purpose; and by the
Son I created them, which is mine Only Begotten. … But only an account of this
earth, and the
inhabitants thereof, give I unto you.” As to all of the other worlds of the Lord’s creating we know only that it is
his work and his glory “to bring to pass”—through the Redeemer—“the immortality and eternal life” of all
their inhabitants. (Moses
1:33, 35, 39.)
In what is probably the
most glorious vision given to mortals in this dispensation, Joseph Smith and
Sidney Rigdon saw “the
Son, on the
right hand of the
Father,” and “heard the
voice bearing record that he is the Only Begotten of the Father—That by him, and through him,
and of him, the
worlds are and were created, and the inhabitants thereof are begotten sons
and daughters unto God.” (D&C
76:20, 23-24.) Christ is thus the Creator and the Redeemer. By him the worlds were made, and through his
infinite atonement the
inhabitants of those worlds are adopted into the divine family as heirs with himself. It
was of this vision and of this provision whereby the Saints become the sons of God by faith that the Prophet
Joseph Smith wrote:
And I heard a great voice bearing record from heav’n
He’s the
Saviour and Only Begotten of God;
By him, of him, and through him, the worlds were all made,
Even all that careen in the
heavens so broad.
Whose inhabitants, too, from the first to the last,
Are sav’d by the
vaery same Saviour of ours;
And, of course, are begotten God’s daughters and sons
By the very
same truths and the
very same powers.
(Millennial Star, vol. 4, pp. 49-55; cited in Mormon Doctrine, 2nd
ed., Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1966, p. 66.)
The
infinite and eternal nature of creation and redemption are beyond mortal comprehension. We
are grateful that the
Lord has given us this glimpse of everlasting truth relative to his unending
labors. But this earth is our concern. It is the truths about “our creation” that will chart the course for us in our efforts to gain
eternal life.
Let us then, with Abraham, gaze upon the great host of “noble and great ones” in
premortal existence. “Among them” stands one “like unto God.” He is the great
Jehovah, the
Firstborn of the
Father. We hear him say “unto those who were with him,” unto Michael and a great
host of valiant souls: “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.” (Abr. 3:22, 24.)
And as we gaze and hear and ponder, our minds are enlightened and our
understanding reaches to heaven. Truly Christ is the Creator of the future abode of the spirit children of the Father. But he does not work alone. The Creation is an
organized venture; each of the other noble and great spirits plays his part. And the earth is
created from matter that already exists. Truly the elements are eternal, and to create is
to organize.
As the
work goes forward we see the
fulfillment of that which God spake to Moses in the Ten Commandments: “In six days the Lord made
heaven and earth, the
sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day.” (Ex.
20:11.) It is of the creative events that took place on each
of these “days” that we shall now speak.
But first, what is a day? It is a specified time period; it is an age, an
eon, a division of eternity; it is the time between two identifiable events.
And each day, of whatever length, has the duration needed for its purposes. One
measuring rod is the
time required for a celestial body to turn once on its axis. For instance,
Abraham says that according to “the Lord’s time” a day is “one thousand years” long. This is
“one revolution … of Kolob,” he says, and it is after the Lord’s “manner of reckoning.” (Abr. 3:4.)
There is no revealed recitation specifying that each of the “six days” involved in the Creation was of the same
duration. Our three accounts of the creation
are the
Mosaic, the
Abrahamic, and the
one presented in the
temples. Each of these stems back to the Prophet Joseph Smith. The Mosaic and Abrahamic accounts place the creative
events on the
same successive days. We shall follow these scriptural recitations in our
analysis. The
temple account, for reasons that are apparent to those familiar with its
teachings, has a different division of events. It seems clear that the “six days”
are one continuing period and that there is no one place where the dividing
lines between the
successive events must of necessity be placed.
The Mosaic
and the
temple accounts set forth the
physical creation,
the actual
organization of matter into tangible form. They are not accounts of the spirit creation.
Abraham gives a blueprint of the Creation.
He tells the
plans of the
holy beings who wrought the
creative work. After reciting the events of the “six days” he says: “And thus were their decisions at the time that
they counseled among themselves to form the heavens and the earth.” (Abr.
5:3.)
Then he says they performed as they had planned, which means we can, by
merely changing the
verb tenses and without doing violence to the sense and meaning, also consider the Abrahamic
account as one of the
actual creation.
The First Day—Elohim,
Jehovah, Michael, a host of noble and great ones—all these played their parts.
“The Gods”
created the
atmospheric heavens and the
temporal earth. It was “without form, and void”; as yet it could serve no useful
purpose with respect to the
salvation of man. It was “empty and desolate”; life could not yet exist on its
surface; it was not yet a fit abiding place for the sons of God. The “waters” of the great “deep” were present, and
“darkness reigned” until the
divine decree: “Let there be light.” The light and the darkness were then “divided,” the one being
called “Day” and the
other “Night.” Clearly our planet was thus formed as a revolving orb and placed
in its relationship to our sun. (See Moses
2:1-5; Abr.
4:1-5.)
The Second
Day—On this day “the
waters” were “divided” between the surface of the earth and the atmospheric heavens that surround it. A
“firmament” or an “expanse” called “Heaven” was created to divide “the waters which
were under the
expanse from the
waters which were above the
expanse.” Thus, as the
creative events unfold, provision seems to be made for clouds and rain and
storms to give life to that which will yet grow and dwell upon the earth. (See Moses 2:6-8; Abr.
4:6-8.)
The Third Day—This
is the day
when life began. In it “the
waters under the
heaven” were “gathered together unto one place,” and the “dry land” appeared. The dry land was called “Earth,” and the assembled
waters became “the
Sea.” This is the
day in which “the
Gods organized the
earth to bring forth” grass and herbs and plants and trees; and it is the day in which
vegetation in all its varied forms actually came forth from the seeds planted by the Creators. This is the day when the decree went forth that grass, herbs,
and trees could each grow only from “its own seed,” and that each could in turn
bring forth only after its own “kind.” And thus the bounds of the plant and vegetable kingdoms were set
by the hands
of those by whom each varied plant and tree was made. (See Moses 2:9-13; Abr. 4:9-13.)
The Fourth
Day—After seeds in all their varieties had been planted on the earth; after
these had sprouted and grown; after each variety was prepared to bring forth
fruit and seed after its own kind—the Creators organized all things in such a
way as to make their earthly garden a productive and beautiful place. They
“organized the
lights in the
expanse of the
heaven” so there would be “seasons” and a way of measuring “days” and “years.”
We have no way of knowing what changes then took place, but during this period the sun, moon,
and stars assumed the
relationship to the
earth that now is theirs. At least the light of each of them began to shine
through the
lifting hazes that enshrouded the newly created earth so they could play their parts with
reference to life in all its forms as it soon would be upon the new orb. (See Moses
2:14-19; Abr.
4:14-19.)
The Fifth Day—Next
came fish and fowl and “every living creature” whose abode is “the waters.”
Their Creators placed them on the newly organized earth, and they were given the command: “Be
fruitful, and miltiply, and fill the waters in the sea; and let fowl multiply in the earth.” This
command—as with a similar decree given to man and applicable to all animal
life—they could not then keep, but they soon would be able to do so. Appended
to this command to multiply was the heaven-sent restriction that the creatures in the waters could only bring forth “after
their kind,” and that “every winged fowl” could only bring forth “after his
kind.” There was no provision for evolvement or change from one species to
another. (See Moses
2:20-23; Abr.
4:20-23.)
The Sixth Day—The crowning day of
creation is
at hand. In its early hours, the the
great Creators “made the
beasts of the
earth after their kind, and cattle after their kind, and everything which
creepeth upon the
earth after his kind.” And the same procreative restrictions applied to them that apply
to all forms of life; they too are to reproduce only after their kind.
All that we have spoken of is now accomplished, but what of man? Is man
found upon the
earth? He is not. And so “the
Gods,” having so counseled among themselves, said: “Let us go down and form man
in our image, after our likeness … So the Gods went down to organize man in their
own image, in the
image of the
Gods to form they him, male and female to form they them.” They then did as
they had counseled, and the
most glorious of all the
creative acts was accomplished. Man is the crowning creature to step forth
according to the
divine will. He is in the
image and likeness of the
Eternal Elohim, and to him is given “dominion” over all things. And, then,
finally, that his purposes shall roll everlastingly onward, God blesses the “male and
female” whom he has created and commands them: “Be fruitful, and multiply, and
replenish the
earth, and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that
moveth upon the
earth.” As the
“sixth day” closes, the
Creators, viewing their creative labors with satisfaction, see that “all
things” which they have “made” are “very good.” (See Moses
2:24-31; Abr.
4:24-31.)
Such is the
revealed account of the
creation. Our
summary has combined elements from the Mosaic, the Abrahamic, and the temple accounts. At this point in the Mosaic record
the scripture
says: “Thus the
heaven and the
earth were finished, and all the host of them.” The Lord then rests on the “seventh day.” (See Moses 3:1-3.)
Why did the
Lord give us these revealed accounts of the Creation? What purposes do they serve? How
does the
knowledge in them help us to work out our salvation or to center our affection
in Him whose we are and by whom all things were made?
It is self-evident that we have received no unneeded revelations. All that the Lord does
has a purpose. He expects us to treasure up his word, to ponder in our hearts
its deep and hidden meanings, and to understand its full import. Those who have
done so know that the
revealed accounts of the
Creation are
designed to accomplish two great purposes. Their general purpose is to
enable us to understand the
nature of our mortal probation, a probation in which all men are being tried
and tested “to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them.” (Abr. 3:25.) Their specific
purpose is to enable us to understand the atoning sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ, which is the very foundation upon which revealed
religion rests.
It is only fair to say that a mere recitation of what took place during the “six days”
and of the
Lord’s resting on the
“seventh day” do not of themselves set forth clearly the purposes of the creation accounts. And so the Lord, as recorded in chapter 3 of the Mosaic
account, proceeds to explain the purpose and nature of the Creation. He comments about the Creation. He
reveals some facts and principles without which we cannot envision what the true
doctrine of the
Creation is.
His statements are inserted in the historical account to give us its true meaning and
import. They are not chronological recitations, but are commentary about what
he had already set forth in its sequential order.
The Lord
introduces his commentary about the Creation
by saying that the
events of the
“six days,” “are the
generations of the
heaven and of the
earth, when they were created, in the day that I the Lord God, made the heaven and the earth.” (Moses
3:4.) Thus, all things have been created; the work is finished; the account is revealed; but it can only be
understood if some added truths are set forth. These deal with the premortal
existence of all things and with the paradisiacal nature of the earth and of
all created things when they first came from their Creator’s hand. Both of
these concepts are interwoven in the same sentences, and in some instances the words used
have a dual meaning and apply to both the premortal life and the paradisiacal creation.
And so the
Lord says that he created “every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and
every herb of the
field before it grew. … And I, the Lord God, had created all the children of men; and not yet a man to
till the
ground; for in heaven created I them.” (Moses
3:5.) Clearly he is speaking of the premortal existence of all things. This
earth, all men, animals, fish, fowls, plants, all things—all lived first as
spirit entities. Their home was heaven, and the earth was created to be the place where
they could take upon themselves mortality.
“For I, the
Lord God, created all things, of which I have spoken, spiritually, before they
were naturally upon the
face of the
earth.” Apply these words to the spirit creation, if you will, and they will be true in such a
context. But they have a much more pointed and important meaning. They are
followed by the
statement: “For I, the
Lord God, had not caused it to rain upon the face of the earth; … and there was not yet flesh upon
the earth,
neither in the
water, neither in the
air; But I, the
Lord God, spake, and there went up a mist [on the earth], and watered the whole face of the ground.” (Moses
3:5-6.) The
Lord is here telling us about the events of which he has spoken, about the events of the “six days,” about the account of the physical or tangible or temporal creation set
forth in chapter 2 of Moses. He says the things so made were “spiritually”
created and were not “naturally upon the face of the earth,” for the reasons quoted.
At this point we must insert a statement from our tenth article of faith:
“We believe … that the
earth will be renewed and receive its paradisiacal glory.” [A of F 1:10] That is to say, when the earth was first created it was in an
Edenic state in which there was no death. And when the Lord comes again, and the Millennial era is ushered in, the earth will
return to its paradisiacal state. It will be made new again; it will become a
new heaven and a new earth whereon dwelleth righteousness. In that day, “there
shall be no sorrow because there is no death” as we know it. (D&C 101:29.)
Thus we learn that the
initial creation
was paradisiacal; death and mortality had not yet entered the world. There was no mortal flesh upon the earth for
any form of life. The
Creation was
past, but mortality as we know it lay ahead. All things had been created in a
state of immortality. It was of this day that Lehi said: “And all things which
were created must have remained in the same state in which they were after
they were created; and they must have remained forever, and had no end.” (2 Ne. 2:22.) If there is no death,
all things of necessity must continue to live everlastingly and without end.
Continuing the
divine commentary about the
Creation, we
read: “And I, the
Lord God, formed man from the
dust of the
ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living
soul, the
first flesh upon the
earth, the
first man also; nevertheless, all things were before created; but spiritually
were they created and made according to my word.” (Moses
3:7.) How filled with meaning are these words! The physical
body of Adam is made from the
dust of the
very earth to which the
Gods came down to form him. His “spirit” enters his body, as Abraham expresses
it. (See Abr. 5:7.) Man becomes a living,
immortal soul; body and spirit are joined together. He has been created
“spiritually,” as all things were because there is as yet no mortality. Then
Adam falls; mortality and procreation and death commence. Fallen man is mortal;
he has mortal flesh; he is “the first flesh upon the earth.” And the effects of his fall pass upon all
created things. They fall in that they too become mortal. Death enters the world;
mortality reigns; procreation commences; and the Lord’s great and eternal purposes roll
onward.
Thus, “all things” were created as spirit entities in heaven; then “all
things” were created in a paradisiacal state upon the earth; that is, “spiritually were they
created,” for there was as yet no death. They had spiritual bodies made
of the
elements of the
earth as distinguished from the mortal bodies they would receive after the Fall when
death would enter the
scheme of things. Natural bodies are subject to the natural death; spiritual bodies, being
paradisiacal in nature, are not subject to death. Hence the need for a fall and the mortality and death that grows out of
it.
Thus, as the
scripture explains, “I, the
Lord God, planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there I put the man whom I had formed.” (Moses 3:8.) Adam, our father, dwelt
in the Garden
of Eden. He was the
first man of all men in the day of his creation, and he became the first flesh of all flesh through
the Fall.
Because of the
Fall, “all things changed from their spiritual state to a natural state. And
thus we read: “And out of the
ground made I, the
Lord God, to grow every tree, naturally, that is pleasant to the sight of
man; and man could behold it. And it became also a living soul. For it was spiritual
in the
day that I created it.” (Moses
3:9; italics added.)
There is no evolving from one species to another in any of this. The account is
speaking of “every tree” and of “all things.” Considering them as one
collective unit, the
account continues: “It remaineth in the sphere in which I, God, created it,
yea, even all things which I prepared for the use of man; and man saw that it was
good for food.” (Moses
3:9.)
The Lord’s
commentary about the
Creation also
says: “Out of the
ground I, the
Lord God, formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; … and they were also living souls;
for I, God, breathed into them the breath of life.” (Moses
3:19.) It also says, speaking figuratively, that Eve was
formed from Adam’s rib. And in that primeval day, when neither death nor the probationary
experiences of mortality had entered the world, “they were both naked, the man and his
wife, and were not ashamed.” (See Moses
3:21-25.)
As to the
Fall itself we are told that the Lord planted “the tree of knowledge of good and evil” in the midst of the garden. (Moses 3:9.) To Adam and Eve the command
came: “Of every tree of the
garden thou mayest freely eat, But of the tree of knowledge of good and evil,
thou shalt not eat of it, nevertheless, thou mayest choose for thyself, for it
is given unto thee; but remember that I forbid it, for in the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt
surely die.” (Moses
3:16-17.) Again the account is speaking figuratively. What
is meant by partaking of good and evil is that our first parents complied with
whatever laws were involved so that their bodies would change from their state
of paradisiacal immortality to a state of natural mortality.
Moses 4 gives the
actual account of the
Fall. Adam and Eve partake of the forbidden fruit and the earth is cursed and begins to bring
forth thorns and thistles; that is, the earth falls to its present natural
state. Eve is identified as “the mother of all living” (Moses
4:26); and she and Adam begin to have “sons and daughters” (Moses 5:3).
Thus, man is created in such a way that he can fall. He falls and brings
mortality and procreation and death into being so that he can be redeemed by the atoning
sacrifice of the
Lord Jesus Christ.
And he is ransomed from the
temporal and spiritual death brought into the world by the Fall of Adam so that he can have
immortality and eternal life. The Creation,
the Fall, and
the Atonement
are bound together as one.
These revealed verities about the creation of all things run counter to many
of the
speculations and theories of the world. They are, however, what the inspired word sets forth, and we are
duty bound to accept them. We are frank to admit that our knowledge of the creation of the universe, of
this earth, of man, and of all living things is meager—perhaps almost
miniscule—as compared to what there is to learn. But the Lord has revealed to us as much about the mystery of creation as is
necessary for us in our probationary estate.
He has revealed to us the
basic verities which enable us to understand the true doctrine of creation. This doctrine is that the Lord Jesus Christ is both the Creator and the Redeemer of
this earth and all that on it is, save only man. It is that the Lord God himself, the Father of us all, came down and created
man, male and female, in his own image and likeness. It is that the earth and
all else were created in a paradisiacal state so there could be a fall. It is
that the
Great Creator became the
Redeemer so he could ransom men from the effects of the Fall, thereby bringing to pass the immortality
and eternal life of man. It is that the Creation, the Fall, and the Atonement are the three pillars of eternity. It is that
all who accept him as both the Creator and the Redeemer have power to become
joint-heirs with him and thereby inherit all that his Father hath.
Truly Christ
is both the
Creator and the
Redeemer, as is portrayed by the marble reproduction of Bertel Thorvaldsen’s Christus that
stands in the
rotunda of the
visitors’ center on Temple Square. There we see the Creator in majestic marble standing in the midst of
eternity. On the
domed ceiling and the
encircling walls are paintings of the heavens with their endless orbs, all
moving though an organized cosmos. And as we gaze upon what the hand of mere man has made, our minds
are opened to see in a limited manner the miracle of creation.
There we also see the
nail marks in those blessed hands, the hands that healed and blessed, and also
in the feet
that trod the
dusty lanes of that earth which his hands had made. We see the gash in his pierced side from whence
came the
blood and water as a sign that the Atonement had been wrought. And our minds are opened,
again in a limited manner, to see the miracle of redemption.
And as we ponder upon the
wonder of it all, our gaze and thoughts dwell upon the beautific face and we feel the beckoning
power of the
outstretched arms. And the
marvel in marble seems to breathe the breath of life and say: “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” (John 14:6.) “Come unto me, all ye
that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matt. 11:28.) Come unto me and ye
shall be saved. Come, inherit the kingdom prepared from the foundation of the world for all who accept me as the Creator and
Redeemer. Come, be one with me; I am thy God.
Gospel topics: Jesus Christ, Creation
© 2003 Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All
rights reserved.