Mormons believe in something called the premortal, or pre-earth life. We believe that we lived, as spirits, with God in heaven. We believe our spirits were created by God, thus making us his actual children. Not begotten children, like Jesus, but spirit children. When we were there, God presented a plan. He wanted to send us, His children, to earth. He wanted us to gain a body, be tested, and prove faithful and return to live with Him again in Heaven. But something was needed: God is a just God, and the demands of justice had to be met. As mortals, He knew we would sin and that we would not be perfect. We would be unable to return to live with Him again on our own. A Savior was needed to save us from our own imperfections. We believe that Lucifer (Satan), who was a glorious son of God (it says in the Doctrine and Covenants that he was a "son of the morning" and that "the heavens wept over him") was also our spirit brother, and lived there in heaven as well. Lucifer presented a plan. He would come to earth with us, and force us all to do God's will. That way, none of God's children could sin, and we would all be able to return to Heaven. Jesus Christ presented a different plan. He said that we all should have our own agency--the freedom to choose for ourselves--but that He would offer Himself as a sacrifice. If we would submit our will to God's and repent of the sins we committed, we would be forgiven through Christ's atonement and could return to live with Heavenly Father. 2 plans, 2 men, but only one outcome.
In Revelations 12: 7-9 it says,
And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
Satan and the angels that fell with him did not receive a body. They are still spirits, that tempt us every day. C.S. Lewis wrote a fascinating book called the Screwtape Letters in which he depicts a senior devil, Screwtape, and his nephew Wormwood, a junior devil, in their attempts to tempt and sway a man from a righteous life. It's a really interesting book to read and think about--to think that they are actually living here among us, whispering to us to do things wrong. In one letter, Screwtape says to Wormwood:
You will say that these are very small sins; and doubtless, like all young tempters, you are anxious to be able to report spectacular wickedness. … It does not matter how small the sins are, provided that their cumulative effect is to edge the man away from the Light and out into the Nothing. … Indeed, the safest road to Hell is the gradual one—the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.
(art credit: Friends by Liz Lemon Swindle)
2 comments:
Beautiful. It's such a simple concept but so life-changing when you have the right perspective. Emmy just started singing along with me to the song "Child of God" and I tear up sometimes because of how sweet it is to hear her say those words.
very beautiful! not that my opinion counts for much, but you are doing an awesome job, being a child of God!
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