Agency in the Eternities

Q. Why didn't God create all His children to be like Christ?

This is a very good question, if we are all God's children and He has created us, why do we have imperfections and Christ did not have any? Also related to this question is another we received, "Do Mormons believe that some people are better than others?" To answer these questions, I would like to go far back to before this world was created, when we all lived as spirits in the presence of our Heavenly Father.

To the prophet Jeremiah, the Lord said, "Before I formed thee in the belly, I

knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb, I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations." Jeremiah 1:5 That is to say, the Lord knew Jeremiah even before his birth. He knew his strengths, his weaknesses, his personality and his potential. That also means that Jeremiah, as all the rest of us, had developed those traits by that point.

Bruce R. McConkie wrote the following about how we came to be as we are:

“All the spirits of men, while yet in the Eternal Presence, developed aptitudes, talents, capacities, and abilities of every sort, kind, and degree. During the long expanse of life which then was, an infinite variety of talents and abilities came into being. As the ages rolled, no two spirits remained alike. Mozart became a musician; Einstein centered his interest in mathematics; Michelangelo turned his attention to painting. Cain was a liar, a schemer, a rebel. … Mary and Eve were two of the greatest of all the spirit daughters of the Father. … And so it went through all the hosts of heaven, each individual developing such talents and abilities as his soul desired.” (The Mortal Messiah, 4 vols. (1979–81), 1:23.)

It then follows that each individual chose a path before this life and through diligence and care to follow our Father's guidance, each individual grew to varying degrees. The reason, then, that Christ is perfect and was able to fulfill His Father's will perfectly in carrying out the Atonement was because He used his agency, or ability to choose, more wisely than others. He became like His Father.

The Book of Abraham gives a rare description of Jesus in the pre-earth life:

"And there stood one [Christ] 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." Abraham 3:24-25

That ability to choose is still available for us in this life and is the very reason that we are here. Every day we have the choice between following our Savior, Jesus Christ, and otherwise. Thus, through our choices, one person can excel in music, another in athletics, another in science and another in kindness, love or patience. Others can choose not to excel or to develop traits of laziness, procrastination and anger. Our options and potentials are limitless in either direction and everyone has parts of both.

The atonement of Jesus Christ plays the greatest part in our development. It is through His grace that we can correct our faults and that He can heal our wounded hearts. And then through His guidance, we will be able to grow and choose the good, better, and best things in our lives.

See also: Our Moral Agency by Elder L. Lionel Kendrick

Why Illness?

Q. Why do we have illnesses and disabilities? How is this part of God's plan?

-sunlize

I've been asked to address this issue, which was quite timely as I have been sick for over 2 months with some form of lung infection. It has left me rather listless and weak. I hope that this will invoke more of a discussion rather than be viewed as the definitive answer. Why illness - is a major issue that most religions have had to deal with: the fact that bad things happen is explained in various ways. The Taoists suggest that the opposition of Yin and Yang are what maintain a balance in the universe. The Hindu have a similar take with their idea of Karma. Many Christian faiths look at the misadventure in the Garden of Eden kind of like the opening of Pandora's Box in Greek Mythology which released all that was bad into the world.

The LDS belief goes back a bit before the earth was formed and recognizes that there was spirit life in the pre-earth life and that these spirits had free will or moral agency. Agency to believe and to act is an enormous power, a power that can help us progress but also a power that can damn progression if poor choices are made. The first insight into the use of our agency as spirits was at a council held in heaven.

There was a disagreement about how the earth plan should operate: Lucifer wanted to take peoples' agency away, and ensure that everyone would return to heaven--and he also wanted the glory for doing so. Jesus agreed with the Father's plan that agency would be allowed and then volunteered to be the sacrificial lamb. One third of the hosts of heaven wanted the assurance which Satan proposed and followed him. They were expelled from heaven and forfeited the opportunity to receive a physical body. The rest of us accepted the Father's plan which would allow all men to come back to God if they accepted Jesus and obeyed the commandments. They would receive bodies, learn to use their bodies to progress further and be resurrected with glorified bodies like our Father's.

When Adam and Eve were created, the Tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil was made available along with a warning from the Father that they shouldn't partake of the fruit. Satan beguiled the woman and she ate, followed by Adam eating of the fruit. God then expelled them into the world of hard knocks but with a knowledge of good and evil, an understanding that all things have their opposites and that choices are possible.

Obviously nobody chooses to get sick, yet people make choices that not only affect themselves but often affect many other people as well. Let's look at an easy one, the recent AIDS epidemic. There are various theories of how that disease was introduced to the human race from animals. If some better choices had been made perhaps the disease wouldn't have made the leap to humans. Its spread through bodily fluids can be controlled in most cases. So in the U.S. with a fairly small infected population a person can take precautions to keep himself free of the disease. In Botswana where 60% of the population is infected it is much more difficult: some children are even born with the disease. One might say that the individual baby had no choice and is being punished unjustly. From our earthly perspective that looks right, but our perspective is limited to this life and the assumption that living long and healthy is the ideal.

In John 9 Jesus comes upon a man born blind. His disciples ask him, "Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?" Jesus replied that neither sinned but that the man was put there for the glory of God to be manifest. The disciples had the short perspective in this case assuming that since all sin is punished with suffering, all suffering was the result of sin; but there was a larger perspective which they hadn't considered.

Job provides 39 chapters of argument about whether Job was guilty of sin which would help his friends explain the troubles that had befallen him. Finally even Job begins to fall into his friends' way of thinking and questions the Lord. Chapter 40 is the Lord's response which starts with the question: "Wilt thou also disannul my judgement? Wilt thou condemn me, that thou mayest be righteous?" He goes on to express the majesty and power of the Lord, pointing out the limited view that mankind has of the creations of heaven.

The LDS perspective on why illness and pain exist is that it is part of earth-life challenges. It helps us appreciate the good when we have experienced the bad. Some choices can be made to reduce illness in our lives but sometimes the illness is part of the curriculum of heaven to teach us lessons we might not otherwise get. The question might not be why there is illness, but rather how we handle the adversity.

Where Do Babies Come From?

Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting:
The Soul that rises with us, our life's Star,
Hath had elsewhere its setting,
And cometh from afar:
Not in entire forgetfulness,
And not in utter nakedness,
But trailing clouds of glory do we come
From God, who is our home:

-William Wordsworth

We lived as spirits before we were born. This is one of those truths that many people accept and believe when they hear it, yet very few Christian ministers will teach it. It surprises me.

What was it like to live as a spirit? We don't have all the details, but we do know that we had a Father who loved us. In His hopes for our futures he saw us growing up in integrity and character. To help us in our education and progression, he created the world and offered each of us the chance to live on it in physical, mortal bodies.

The physical realm was a step up for us. It meant becoming a bit more like Father, since his body was physical, immortal, and perfect. Of course, mortality, as we've all found out, has its pitfalls. Disease, poverty, death, and other misfortunes of many kinds are the tests we've been given to help us grow.

Central to Father's plan was a Savior, a person who would not only mitigate the challenges of mortal living, but also vanquish death itself. Permanently. He would also bridge the chasm of sin...the chasm we help dig by our own poor decisions.

Jesus Christ, then known as Jehovah, was the first-born of the Father, and the obvious candidate for the job. We shouted for joy at the thought of our eldest brother leading us into this new frontier. We knew we would be fine if He was our Savior. We already had faith in him.

Another of Father's most clever sons also came, vying for the position. Lucifer's campaign promises included saving all people from sin and death (by removing their free will.) He must have been persuasive, because he drew a third of all spirits with him, but rather than getting their demands, they were denied entrance into physical bodies of their own. (This is why they would take even a swine's body, they crave it so much.)

We know that since we are here, we made the right choice. Before we were born we had faith in Jesus Christ, and we can have faith in him still. He will do everything he set out to do, and we can make the choice every day to be on His side.

So, how come we don't remember all this? I think we do. At least, when I heard it, it rang true in my heart. Almost like I'd heard it before.