INTRODUCTION
Elder Bruce R. McConkie said that our salvation is made possible because of “three divine events—the three pillars of eternity.
HOW LUCIFER BECAME THE DEVIL - Moses 4:1-6
...here am I send me
What question was posed in the premortal council?
Elder Neal A. Maxwell said that it is “extremely important to get straight what happened in that premortal council. It was not an unstructured meeting, nor was it a discussion between plans, nor an idea-producing session, as to how to formulate the plan for salvation and carry it out. Our Father’s plan was known, and the actual question put was whom the Father should send to carry out the plan.
What was Satan attempting to do?
What made His plan wrong?
How did he make it seem like a good plan?
What can we take away from this knowledge?
President Joseph F. Smith taught: “Let it not be forgotten that the evil one has great power in the earth, and that by every possible means he seeks to darken the minds of men and then offers them falsehood and deception in the guise of truth. Satan is a skillful imitator, and as genuine gospel truth is given the world in ever-increasing abundance, so he spreads the counterfeit coin of false doctrine. Beware of his spurious currency, it will purchase for you nothing but disappointment, misery and spiritual death”.
President Brigham Young said: “Every person who desires and strives to be a Saint is closely watched by fallen spirits that came here when Lucifur fell, and by the spirits of wicked persons who have been here in tabernacles and departed from them. … Those spirits are never idle; they are watching every person who wishes to do right, and are continually prompting them to do wrong
...he became Satan
see also Isaiah 14:12 and D&C 76:25–27
In the premortal existence, Satan was called “Lucifer,” which means “the Shining One” or “Lightbringer.” He was a “son of the morning” and had potential to do much good. But Lucifer sought to obtain the throne, honor, power, and glory of Heavenly Father.
Why did the heavens weep?
Have you known anyone that has left the church?
How did it affect you?
How do we ensure that this doesn't happen to us?
...he sought to beguile Eve
...he knew not the mind of God
What does the account of the Fall teach us about Satan’s ability to frustrate the purposes of God?
Satan's plan was to thwart the Lord's plan by getting Eve to partake of the fruit, yet it furthered the purposes of the Creator and contributed to man's eternal progression. Even the transgressions of men may be turned to the accomplishment of high purposes.
THE FALL OF ADAM AND EVE - Moses 4:7-19
...ye shall not sure die
...you shall be as Gods
Satan attempted to show God as a liar. But God is a God of truth and cannot lie.
Soon after Adam and Eve partook of the forbidden fruit, they were forced to leave the garden and the presence of the Lord, thus suffering a spiritual death. Additionally, when they fell, their bodies changed from a non-mortal state to a mortal state and thus became subject to physical death.
Satan implied that God’s forbidding them to partake of the fruit was because God did not want them to become as the Gods, trying to make it appear that God’s motives were selfish
...he did eat
Elder Dallin H. Oaks said that the “contrast between a sin and a transgression reminds us of the careful wording in the second article of faith: ‘We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam’s transgression’. It also echoes a familiar distinction in the law. Some acts, like murder, are crimes because they are inherently wrong. Other acts, like operating without a license, are crimes only because they are legally prohibited. Under these distinctions, the act that produced the Fall was not a sin—inherently wrong—but a transgression—wrong because it was formally prohibited. These words are not always used to denote something different, but this distinction seems meaningful in the circumstances of the Fall.
Another meaning of the word transgress is “to go beyond established limits or conditions.” Adam and Eve went beyond the limits that would have kept them in the Garden of Eden forever, and in so doing helped provide the opportunity of mortality for all of us
Adam chose to obey the more important commandment to fall to a state of mortality and be with Eve.
Moses 4:15-19
...where goest thou? ...who told thee thou was naked?
Why did the Lord ask these questions if he already knows the answer?
Elder Bruce R. McConkie taught, “personal accountability for all of one’s acts underlies the whole gospel plan and is the natural outgrowth of the law of free agency”
What were the results of the Fall for Adam and Eve—and for us?
-Adam and Eve were able to have children, which allowed us to come to earth and receive mortal bodies (Moses 5:11; 6:48; 2 Nephi 2:23, 25).
-We experience physical death, or separation of the physical body from the spirit (Moses 4:25; 6:48; 2 Nephi 9:6).
-We experience spiritual death, or separation from God’s presence (Moses 4:29; 6:49; 2 Nephi 9:6).
-We are partakers of misery and woe (Moses 6:48; Genesis 3:16–17).
-We are capable of sinning (Moses 6:49, 55; 2 Nephi 2:22–23).
-The ground is cursed, causing us to need to work (Moses 4:23–25; Genesis 3:17–19).
-We can learn to recognize good and evil (Moses 4:28; 6:55–56; 2 Nephi 2:23; Genesis 3:22).
-We can have joy in mortality (Moses 5:10; 2 Nephi 2:23, 25).
-We can know the joy of our redemption (Moses 5:11).
-We can obtain eternal life (Moses 5:11).
How can a correct understanding of the Fall help us during mortality?
President Ezra Taft Benson said: “The plan of redemption must start with the account of the fall of Adam. In the words of Moroni, ‘By Adam came the fall of man. And because of the fall of man came Jesus Christ, … and because of Jesus Christ came the redemption of man’. Just as a man does not really desire food until he is hungry, so he does not desire the salvation of Christ until he knows why he needs Christ. No one adequately and properly knows why he needs Christ until he understands and accepts the doctrine of the Fall and its effect upon all mankind.
CONSEQUENCES OF THE FALL - Moses 4:20-32
...cursed above all cattle
Being cursed is the very opposite of being blessed; God’s blessing graciously invokes good, whereas his curse justly invokes evil upon one deserving it. Thus Satan was informed through symbolic terms that he would not have the privilege of earth life that even cattle and beasts have
...enmity
President Ezra Taft Benson taught: “Enmity means ‘hatred toward, hostility to, or a state of opposition
Summary Points
- Three pillars of eternity are Creation, Fall, Atonement
- Satan doesn't know the mind of God
- Satan tried to thwart the plan but it furthered the plan of salvation
- Understanding the fall is critical to understanding the Atonement and why we need Christ
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