As members
of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints we believe that life didn’t
begin at birth. Before we came to earth, our spirits lived with our Heavenly
Father who created us. We knew Him, and He knew and loved us. While we were
with him we were taught of God’s Plan of Happiness (as know as Plan of Salvation).
God created the earth as a place for us to live and gain
experience, He also created us. He gave us a body of flesh and blood in the
likeness of His glorified body. In Genesis 1:26 in the Old Testament God said, "Let us make man in our own image, after
our likeness.” In Luke 24:39 in the New Testament, when the
resurrected Christ appeared to His Apostles, He told them, "Handle me, and see; for a spirit hath
not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.”
"The
gospel teaches us that we are the spirit children of heavenly parents.
Before our mortal birth, we lived as the sons and daughters of the
Eternal Father. We were placed here on earth to work toward eternal
life. These truths give us a unique perspective and different values to
guide our decisions from those who doubt the existence of God and
believe that life is not part of an eternal plan.
Our
understanding of life begins with a council in heaven. There the spirit
children of God were taught his eternal plan, the great plan of
happiness. We had progressed as far as we could
without a physical body. To realize a fulness of joy, we had to prove
our willingness to keep the commandments of God in a circumstance where
we had no memory of what took place before our birth on earth.
In
our lives here on earth, we would become subject to death, and we would
be soiled by sin. To reclaim us from death and sin, our Heavenly
Father’s plan provided us a Savior, whose atonement would redeem all
from death and pay the price necessary for us all to be forgiven of our
sins if we keep his commandments and repent of our sins.
When
we understand the Plan of Salvation, we also understand the purpose and
effect of the commandments God has given his children. He teaches us
correct principles and invites us to govern ourselves. We do this by the
choices we make.
We
who know God’s plan and have covenanted, or promised, to participate in
it must desire to do what is right, and we must do all that we can all
our lives. When we have done all that we can, we can rely on God’s
promised mercy." By Elder Dallin H. Oaks
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