Many
individual’s first question might be to ask: “Well where is the pre-existence
talked about in the Bible?” I invite you inquisitive readers to turn to
Revelation 12. Here we read “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“ (Revelation
12:7-8). The war in Heaven resulted because of a plan; even the great plan of
Happiness. The idea of it was simple. Each of us would go down and get a body;
a physical, more body of flesh and blood. We would be tested to see if we would
do “all things which the Lord would command” (Abraham 3:25). The Lord decaled
that goal of His plan when He said “For behold, this is my work and my glory to
bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man” (Moses 1:39). Yet there was one who opposed this plan. In
our culture today he is known as the devil, Satan, the Father of Lies, and the
Prince of Darkness. Yet in the councils of Heaven he was Lucifer, the Son of
the Morning. He held a position of authority and power there.
When God the
Father presented his plan Lucifer stepped forward offering an alternative. A
plan that would assure that each of us would make it back to Heaven, to our
Father, and receive Eternal Life. Yet there was a catch. A “it’s-to-good-to-be-true-and-here’s-why”
problem. Lucifer wanted to revoke our agency. He wanted to force us to follow
God and his commandment. To top it off he wanted the glory to be his. Then
Christ, even Jesus came forward saying “Here am I, send me’ (Abraham 3:27) and
the glory would be the Fathers. Thus a war broke out in Heaven and many
followed after Lucifer and were cast out of Heaven, never to inherit bodies or
the joys that would come from living God’s plan. Christ testifies of this Luke 10:18 when he
says “I beheld Satan as lightning fall from Heaven”. The Lord teaches further of this casting out
in the book of Doctrine and Covenants when He says “… the devil was before Adam,
for he rebelled against me, saying ‘Give me thine honor, which is my power; and
also a third part of the hosts of heaven turn he away from me because of their
agency. And they were thrust down and thus came the devil and his angels”
(D&C 29:36-37)
Yet since
this is, for the most part, strictly Latter Day Saint doctrine, let us take a
moment to look at the other book that Latter Day Saints revere as scripture:
The Book of Mormon. If you haven’t noticed I have been placing great emphasis
on our ability to choose, formally known as free agency. The Book of Mormon has
some great verse on this concept. First turn to 2 Nephi. Here Lehi, a prophet
of the Book of Mormon, is imparting his
dying words to his family. He teaches “Men
are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them, which are
expedient unto man. And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life,
through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death
according to the captivity and power of the devil” (2 Nephi 2:27). When Satan
was cast out of Heaven became miserable and wishes to make us miserable like
unto himself. The best way he can do that is to tempt us to mess up so badly
that there is no way we can return to the presence of God. To keep us from the reward that he chose to
forego so long ago before Adam and Eve ever existed upon the Earth that we know
today.
To
summarize, we all existed with our Father in Heaven in a spirit world before
this life. Unlike our father we did not have flesh or bone but we desired it.
Because of our Father’s love for us he presented a beautiful plan known as the
Plan of Happiness. This plan involved us coming down to Earth, being tested and
tried to prove our faithfulness, and then returning to live with God again. Yet
Satan, then Lucifer, came forward and offered an alternative plan wanting to
claim all the glory for himself. He plan was so enticing that many chose to
follow him and they, along with him were eventually cast out of heaven and now
stand in opposition to all God’s children, hoping to make us miserable like
they are. Yet there is one, rather interesting question that arises from all
this discussion and it is my closing point for this point. Why don’t we
remember all of this?
The answer
is a scriptural one. When we passed from our pre-earth life to this one we
passed through a veil. In Ecclesiastes 1:11 we are informed of the consequences
of this passage: “There is no remembrance of former things, neither shall there
be any remembrance of things that are to come with those that shall come after.”
In the scriptures a veil, as in the veil
of the temple, often symbolizes a separation from God. This veil separates from
all former memories that we have God. That is why we need the Gospel, to
remember what we have forgotten and to guide us back to the truth that we once
knew. Yet don’t take my word for it. There is a link up above that will take
you to a website where you can contact the missionaries. They spend all their
time preparing to teach people like you to learn these doctrines. Contact them
and build upon the knowledge I have shared with you, hearing from those God has
prepared to teach you. Next time we will discuss further of the Plan, talking
about the creation and the Fall as viewed by Latter Day Saints and how this all
fits into this perfect plan. I pray that you have been sufficiently fed and
enlightened by these words of truth. I personally testify that they are true,
may God, our Father who loves you with an infinite love, bless you now and always, until you read again.
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