Moses 2,3 - The Creation

Introduction
Telephone Charades - Jump out of a ski lift, ski down a mountain, narrowly escaping an avalance, go into a lodge and drink hot chocolate
How are these examples like the Lord’s revelations about the Creation?
The Lord has revealed only that portion of eternal truth that our mortal minds can understand and that we need to know to gain salvation.  We don't know all the intricate details.
Demonstrate Faith

Background (Moses 2:1)
...God spoke to Moses
...concerning this heaven, and this earth
We learned in the previous lessons that there are multiple heavens and earths.
What has God revealed about the purpose of the Creation?

1st Day (Moses 2:2-5) - Light, Darkness, Day, Night
How long was each day?
One of the details that we don't know.
Elder Bruce R. McConkie taught that a day, in the Creation accounts, “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. … There is no revealed recitation specifying that each of the ‘six days’ involved in the Creation was of the same duration”

...let there be light and there was light
...it was done as I spake
By what means were the Lord's words fulfilled?
The Prophet Joseph Smith taught: “When a man works by faith he works by mental exertion instead of physical force. It is by words, instead of exerting his physical powers, with which every being works when he works by faith. God said, ‘Let there be light: and there was light.’ … And the Saviour says: ‘If you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, say to this mountain, “Remove,” and it will remove; or say to that sycamore tree, “Be ye plucked up, and planted in the midst of the sea,” and it shall obey you.’ Faith, then, works by words; and with these its mightiest works have been, and will be, performed. The whole visible creation, as it now exists, is the effect of faith. It was faith by which it was framed, and it is by the power of faith that it continues in its organized form, and by which the planets move round their orbits and sparkle forth their glory.
Sister Porter talked about this faith in her talk last week.
What other examples do we have that are similar to this concept?
I've found it fascinating that when sealing a couple/family together, there are no hands laid upon them.  The words by the power of the Priesthood are powerful enough to bind families together for eternity.

2nd Day (Moses 2:6-8) - Heaven

3rd Day (Moses 2:9-13) - Dry Land, Earth, Grass, Herbs, Fruit Tree
..after it's kind
What is the significance of the phrase after it's kind?
Elder Boyd K. Packer taught: “No lesson is more manifest in nature than that all living things do as the Lord commanded in the Creation. They reproduce ‘after their own kind.’ They follow the pattern of their parentage. … A bird will not become an animal nor a fish. A mammal will not beget reptiles, nor ‘do men gather … figs of thistles’

4th Day (Moses 2:14-19) - Light in firmamanet, Sun, Moon, Stars
Elder John Taylor, then a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, explained that God “caused light to shine upon [the earth] before the sun appeared in the firmament; for God is light, and in him there is no darkness. He is the light of the sun and the power thereof by which it was made; he is also the light of the moon and the power by which it was made; he is the light of the stars and the power by which they are made.

5th Day (Moses 2:20-23) - Every living creature that moveth


6th Day (Moses 2:24-31) - Man, Woman
...Multiply and replenish the earth
In 1942 the First Presidency taught: “The Lord has told us that it is the duty of every husband and wife to obey the command given to Adam to multiply and replenish the earth, so that the legions of choice spirits waiting for their tabernacles of flesh may come here and move forward under God’s great design to become perfect souls, for without these fleshly tabernacles they cannot progress to their God-planned destiny. Thus, every husband and wife should become a father and mother in Israel to children born under the holy, eternal covenant.
We are fulfilling our duties become God-like when we have children and we are allowing them to fulfill their progression towards that same goal.

...have dominion
Elder Joseph Fielding Smith, wrote that to have “dominion” means to have responsibility. To have dominion over all living things is a sacred responsibility and should not be misused.
How can we better fulfill our responsibility to have dominion over the creations?

Elder Sterling W. Sill taught: “One of the most inspiring messages in all sacred scripture is the story of the sixth day of creation when God made man in his own image. He also endowed him with a set of his own attributes. Then, as the very climax of creation, God gave man dominion over everything upon the earth, including himself. The dictionary says that ‘dominion’ means control or the power to govern. The most important part of the dominion given to man was self-dominion.

7th Day (Moses 3:2-3)
...I rested on the seventh day
Elder Dallin H. Oaks taught: “The Sabbath was blessed and sanctified as a holy day, a day of rest. But this sanctification and commandment of rest was for a purpose—not that man should refrain from work in order to pursue his own pleasure, but that man should serve God and worship him.
  
Moses 3:5
...For I, the Lord God, created all things, of which I have spoken, spiritually, before they were naturally upon the face of the earth.
Some of the significant events that occurred in the premortal existence were:

1. All mankind were born as spirit sons and daughters of God the Father (see D&C 93:29, 38; Moses 6:51).
2. Heavenly Father’s children participated in a council and chose to follow His plan or to rebel with Lucifer (see D&C 29:36; Moses 4:1–3).
3. Those who chose to follow Heavenly Father’s plan chose to follow Christ and continued to grow and progress; some of them participated in the Creation of the earth (see D&C 138:55–56; Abraham 3:22–24; 4:1).
4. A paradisical earth was created and immortal, paradisical bodies were prepared for Adam and Eve, the first of all of God’s spirit sons and daughters to come to this earth.

Moses 3:18,22,24
...it is not good for man to be alone
see D&C 49:15-16
God joined Adam and Eve together in marriage before the Fall.
President Joseph Fielding Smith taught: “Marriage as established in the beginning was an eternal covenant. The first man and the first woman were not married until death should part them, for at that time death had not come into the world. The ceremony on that occasion was performed by the Eternal Father himself whose work endures forever. It is the will of the Lord that all marriages should be of like character, and in becoming ‘one flesh’ the man and the woman are to continue in the married status, according to the Lord’s plan, throughout all eternity as well as in this mortal life.

President Spencer W. Kimball taught that Eve was not literally created from Adam’s rib. He said: “The story of the rib, of course, is figurative

Moses 3:24
...cleave unto his wife
The word cleave means to be closely united. Adam and Eve were commanded to be “one flesh,” meaning to be one mentally, socially, sexually, and spiritually. This oneness was a command with which they could not fully comply until after the Fall.
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, explained: “Human intimacy is reserved for a married couple because it is the ultimate symbol of total union, a totality and a union ordained and defined by God. From the Garden of Eden onward, marriage was intended to mean the complete merger of a man and a woman—their hearts, hopes, lives, love, family, future, everything. Adam said of Eve that she was bone of his bones and flesh of his flesh, and that they were to be ‘one flesh’ in their life together. This is a union of such completeness that we use the word seal to convey its eternal promise. The Prophet Joseph Smith once said we perhaps could render such a sacred bond as being ‘welded’ one to another. “But such a total union, such an unyielding commitment between a man and a woman, can only come with the proximity and permanence afforded in a marriage covenant, with solemn promises and the pledge of all they possess—their very hearts and minds, all their days and all their dreams.

Referring to the charge for a man to leave his parents and cleave to his wife, President Spencer W. Kimball said: “Do you note that? She, the woman, occupies the first place. She is preeminent, even above the parents who are so dear to all of us. Even the children must take their proper but significant place.

Moses 3:25
Adam and Eve were innocent in the Garden of Eden, not knowing good and evil and not feeling any shame or embarrassment over their nakedness. These are emotions that came after the Fall. Adam and Eve were much like little children who are naturally naive and trusting and lacking self-consciousness and knowledge of good and evil because they are innocent.

Thought Questions
Which of God’s creations are especially beautiful to you?
Why would we be benefited by noticing the beauties of creation more carefully each day? 
How does the account of the Creation affect your feelings toward Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ?
In what ways does earth life prepare us for eternal life?

Summary Points
-The Lord has revealed only that portion of eternal truth that our mortal minds can understand and that we need to know to gain salvation.  We don't know all of the intricate details.

-The purpose of the Creation is to provide a place where Heavenly Father’s spirit children can come to obtain a physical body and be tested or proven to see if they will obey him when they are away from his presence. Those who are faithful will receive eternal life.
-God works by the Power of Faith
-All living things do as the Lord commands
-Men and women are created in the image of God.
-The 7th day was blessed and sanctified.
-All living things were first created spiritually.
-We are to cleave unto our spouses and multiple and replenish the earth.