Question: Members of the Restored Church say
that agency in life is important, but agency can result in so much sorrow. Why
doesn’t God just control things in life more so there isn’t so much pain?
“For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in
all things. If not so, my first-born in the wilderness, righteousness could not
be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither
good nor bad. …” 2 Nephi 2:11 The Book of Mormon
“And now remember, remember, my brethren, that
whosoever perisheth, perisheth unto himself; and whosoever doeth iniquity,
doeth it unto himself; for behold, ye are
free; ye are permitted to act for yourselves; for behold, God hath given unto
you a knowledge and he hath made you free. He hath given unto you that ye might
know good from evil, and he hath given unto you that ye might choose life
or death; and ye can do good and be restored unto that which is good, or have
that which is good restored unto you; or ye can do evil, and have that which is
evil restored unto you.” Helaman 14:30-31 The Book of Mormon
Members of the Restored Church believe
that experiencing good and evil perfectly instructs us in good and evil, and
that agency in this learning process is critically important.
Before your life on
Earth you had no body. You are spirit, pure intelligence, and in that primordial
time existed as spirit, without body. Your Father is a spirit that has a
body. To become like Him you would need
to gain a body and learn to have your spirit rule it.
It was decided that
an Earth would be created, and God’s spirit children would become humanity by
gaining physical bodies.
“And God said, Let
us make man in our image, after our likeness … So God created man in his
own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he
them.” Genesis 1:26, 27
We would have agency
(free will or liberty).
“[B]y the law of liberty. …” James 2:12
“I call heaven and earth to record this day against
you, that I have set before you life and
death, blessings and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy
seed may live: That thou mayest love the LORD thy God, and that thou mayest
obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and
the length of thy days. …” Deuteronomy 30:19-20
God provided agency
and an opportunity to gain knowledge. With your agency you were given a time to
learn to have your spirits rule your body through a process of trial and error.
Obedience to God and to your own knowledge of good was imperative.
“For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only
use not liberty for an occasion to the
flesh, but by love serve one another.”
Galatians 5:13
You were given
agency by God because He is righteous and wise.
Agency was the only way to become strong like Father. Agency was the
only way you, as God’s child, could exercise faith.
Faith can only be
found in a state of agency. If you
cannot choose to be faithless, you cannot choose to have faith. We must have faith in God, in all that He is,
and in all that He says. God is your
actual Father. Your spirit comes
straight from Him, from His spirit, His person.
Faith in Him strengthens your spirit. Faith connects you to your
heavenly source. Faith in Him is also trust
that He knows what is best for you.
Experiencing a
trial of the physical would include pain, sorrow, desolation, heartache… You
would question your faith in Him, and by doing so question all that He is, or
that He even is. Once you gained your
body you would be blind because of the veil, forgetting your own self and your
Father. Through error you could lose what you previously were in the first
estate. You would experience a trial of
faith in the process of learning to know God.
“For thou, O God, hast proved us: thou hast tried us, as silver is tried.” Psalms 66:10
“That the trial
of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though
it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the
appearing of Jesus Christ.” 1 Peter 1:7
Everything that you
would experience in a mortal life would be for your benefit.
“For all things are
for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of
many redound to the glory of God.” 2
Corinthians 4:15
What has happened
to you is not strange, not unplanned, not unexpected. You became mortal and
came to Earth for a glorious purpose.
“Beloved, think
it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though
some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers
of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad
also with exceeding joy.” 1 Peter
4:12-13
If you could find
and exercise faith in your Father, you could become strong like Him. You could
become like Him because you could find Him and all that He is, despite
blindness and darkness. You could know God.
“That their hearts might be comforted, being knit
together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding,
to the acknowledgement of the mystery of
God, and of the Father, and of Christ; In
whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” Colossians 2:2-3
You would find
godliness, and the glory of it would burn within you despite the veil and your
mortal state. You would know the righteousness of godliness in a world that
seems intent to destroy it.
“For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time
are not worthy to be compared with the
glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the
creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.” Romans 8:18-19
“When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then
shall ye also appear with him in glory.”
Colossians 3:4
Jesus Christ is one
in purpose with the Father, as He is perfectly faithful to the Father. He is entirely obedient to the Father. In your mortal life you must learn to be one
with the Father as well. You must learn to
submit to Him in all things with perfect faith.
“Teach me to do
thy will; for thou art my God: thy spirit is good; lead me into the land of
uprightness.” Psalms 143:10
“O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass
from me: nevertheless not as I will, but
as thou wilt.” Matthew 26:39
God is both just
and merciful. Justice and mercy are laws
within heaven, yet they stand in contrast to one another. Justice reflects the
law and punishment, and mercy reflects love and forgiveness.
You knew that with
liberty there would be error once you were in the flesh. The law of God requires obedience, and states
that nothing unclean can dwell before God.
“I shall bewail many which have sinned already, and have not repented of
the uncleanness. …” 2 Corinthians
12:21
“Whosoever committeth sin
transgresseth also the law: for sin is
the transgression of the law.” 1 John 3:4
“[N]o whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man,
who is an idolator, hath any inheritance
in the kingdom Christ and of God.” Ephesians 5:5
In error you would
lose your inheritance as God’s child.
Being unclean you could not become like Him, and so would be no longer
His child.
If you told a lie,
you could no longer be like Him in truth.
If you had hate in your heart, you could no longer be like Him in love. You
would fall from Him, from His presence, and be separated. In sin you could not
know God.
You would be lost.
“I have gone astray like a lost sheep. …” Psalms 119:176
“My people hath
been lost sheep: their shepherds have caused them to go astray, they have
turned them away on the mountains: they have gone from mountain to hill, they
have forgotten their restingplace.” Jeremiah 50:6
“But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them
that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them
which believe not, lest the light of the
glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.”
2 Corinthians 4:3-4
How could you be
able to come back to your Father once you had broken His law? A means to
reconcile mercy with justice was needed.
Your brother
Jehovah, in mortality known as Jesus Christ, was selected by the Father to
become a sacrifice for the errors or sins of humanity. Through Jehovah the lost
children of God could be retrieved back to their inheritance as God’s children.
“For the Son of
man is come to save that which was lost.” Matthew 18:11
“And if children,
then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we
suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.” Romans 8:17
Jehovah would be
the author of salvation for all mankind.
“[H]e became the author
of eternal salvation unto all them that obey
him.” Hebrew 5:9
“Neither is
there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven
given among men, whereby we must be saved.” Acts 4:12
Jehovah is the
firstborn spirit of the Father.
“Who is in the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature.” Colossians 1:15
Jehovah is
perfectly faithful to God and as we know is in God’s express image. He was
greater than all God’s children.
“Who being the
brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding
all things by the word of his power … Being made so much better than the
angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.” Hebrews
1:3-4
“And the heavens shall praise thy wonders, O LORD: thy
faithfulness also in the congregation of the saints. For who in the heaven can
be compared unto the LORD? who among the
sons of the mighty can be likened unto the LORD?” Psalms 89:5-6
Jehovah knows His Father
perfectly.
“O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these
have known that thou hast sent me.” John 17:25
Jehovah is in the
image of our Father. He is perfectly faithful to God the Father. That is why
Jehovah is our example to follow to come into the truth of godliness, the
knowledge of God.
“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the
Father, but by me. If ye had known me, ye
should have known my Father also: and henceforth ye know him, and have seen
him.” John 14:6-7
Although Jehovah
was God’s most faithful and firstborn son, your Father loves you just as much
as He loves Jehovah.
“[T]hou … hast
loved them, as thou hast loved me.” John 17:23
By a partially
mortal birth Jehovah would be able to die. By a partially divine physical birth
Jehovah would be able to break the bonds of death. Because of His perfect faith in His Father He
would be able to live a sinless life. The sacrifice of a sinless person would
be an infinite one. By becoming flesh
and able to die Jesus would be made lower than the angels, as you would be.
“But we see Jesus,
who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death,
crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death
for every man. For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all
things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make captain of their salvation
perfect through sufferings.” Hebrews 2:9-10
Jehovah was truly
God’s most faithful child. Through Jehovah justice could be served for the
broken law, as he would pay the price of all sin. The mercy of redemption could
be given to those who would seek after Christ.
“But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent
forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law. …” Galatians 4:4-5
“Christ hath
redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us. …” Galatians
3:13
Jehovah would
become a Father by adoption. When one of
God the Father’s fallen children would choose to follow Jehovah, Jehovah would
adopt them. As long as they were
obedient to His words and followed Him they would be safe from the judgment of
God’s law, and by Him become the righteousness of God by forsaking sin and being
reconciled to God.
“Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the
good pleasure of his will.” Ephesians 1:5
“And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath
given to us the ministry of reconciliation: To wit, that God was in Christ,
reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them;
and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are
ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in
Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. For he hath made him to be sin for us,
who knew no sin; that we might be made
the righteousness of God in him.” 2 Corinthians 5:18-21
“Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that
ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as
instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as
those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness
unto God. For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the
law, but under grace. What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the
law, but under grace? God forbid. Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves
servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto
death, or of obedience unto righteousness? But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye
have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.
Being then made free from sin, ye became
the servants of righteousness. I speak after the manner of men because of
the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to
uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants
to righteousness unto holiness. For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were
free from righteousness. What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are
now ashamed? for the end of those things is death. But now being made free from sin, and
become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end
everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal
life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 6:12-23
Once Christ has
healed God’s fallen and lost children, having paid the price for their sins and
purified them, and restoring them to the knowledge of God, they will be God’s
children again. Christ will then return God’s children, or God’s kingdom, to
God. Once returned to the Father He will deliver on the promises He made them
for a better state, a better place than that they’d had.
“[F]or, behold, the
kingdom of God is within you.” Luke 17:21
“Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the
Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.” 1
Corinthians 15:24
“And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject
unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.” 1
Corinthians 15:28
“[A]ccording to the
faith of God’s elect, and the acknowledging of the truth which is after
godliness; In hope of eternal life,
which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began. …” Titus 1:1-2
“And this is
life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ,
whom thou hast sent.” John 17:3
You were
foreordained by your Father to be saved by Jehovah.
“God hath from
the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and
belief of the truth. Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the
obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus
Christ.” 2 Thessalonians 2:13-14
“But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb
without blemish and without spot: Who
verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world. ...” 1 Peter
1:19-20
“According as he
hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be
holy and without blame before him in love.” Ephesians 1:4
Your Father wants
you to be perfectly faithful in Him as Jehovah is. He wants you to be conformed
to the image of His son Jehovah, who is in the express image of Himself. He
wants you to know godliness. He wants
you to know God. He wants you to be His child again.
“For whom he did
foreknow, he also did predestinate to
be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many
brethren.” Romans 8:29
Jehovah, Jesus
Christ, is your example to follow. In this effort they are joined by a being
only known as the Holy Spirit, or the Holy Ghost. The purpose of the Holy Spirit is to bear
record of the Father and the Son.
“For there are
three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word [Jesus Christ], and the
Holy Ghost: and these three are one.” 1 John 5:7
God through Christ would
send the Holy Ghost to teach you the knowledge of God. The Spirit does this by enlightening the
minds and hearts of man, gently awakening their spirits, and making their
spirits burn within them in remembrance of their Father and the testimony of
Jesus Christ. This is done in measure, multiplying according to a person’s
faithfulness.
“But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the
Father will send you in my name, he shall
teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I
have said unto you.” John 14:26
“[T]he things of
God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the
spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the
things that are freely given to us of God.” 1 Corinthians 2:11-12
Your Father
provided the Savior and the Spirit to you because He loves His children.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only
begotten Son. …” John 3:16
The Father and
Christ with the Holy Ghost make up the Godhead. They are one in purpose, to
save the souls of humanity and to return them to their Father. It is their job to help bring you home. You
can be one like your Father, perfect like Him and one with Him in purpose, just
as Jesus Christ and the Spirit are one with God.
“I and my Father
are one.” John 10:30
“[T]he Father, the Word [Jesus Christ], and the Holy
Ghost: and these three are one.” 1
John 5:7
You can be one like
God, one in love and one in purpose with Him, by being conformed to the image
of His Son, by knowing God. In this, the
invisible God begins to become visible.
“But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.” 1 Corinthians 6:17
“That they all
may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be
one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory
which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are
one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that
the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou loved
me …. And I have declared unto them thy
name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in
them, and I in them.” John 17:21-23, 26
“Because that
which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto
them. For the invisible things of him
from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the
things that are made, even his eternal
power and Godhead.” Romans 1:19-20
You can also be
joined again with those of your spiritual brothers and sisters who follow
Christ, being one with them, and enjoying a measure of the heavenly society you
had before you came to Earth.
“Be perfect,
be of good comfort, be of one mind,
live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you.” 2 Corinthians
13:11
“So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.” Romans
12:5
“And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither
said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but
they had all things common.” Acts 4:32
There was much
planning that went on before there was to be people on Earth. Your Father knew exactly how everything would
happen from the beginning.
“Remember the former things of old: for I am God …
Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that
are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure.”
Isaiah 46: 9, 10
In the premortal
life, God foreknew His children and what they would need. The order of the
living was set. Family groups were decided. The nations of the Earth were
decided.
“God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew. …” Romans 11:2
“When the most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of
Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the
children of Israel.” Deuteronomy 32:8
In the Dead Sea Scrolls, Deuteronomy 32:8
actually reads that God set the bounds of the sons of Adam, of the nations,
according to the number of the sons of
God. Much of this was decided according to what He knew of them.
“[T]o the strangers scattered … Elect according to the
foreknowledge of God the Father. …” 1
Peter 1:1-2
Your experience on Earth
meets your specific needs. You could live a very lowly sort of mortal life, yet
had been an angel that had great faith in your Father.
“Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he
hath promised to them that love him?” James 2:5
In the premortal
life there were different levels of faith. This is because we have agency. Many
people might presume that the differing levels of preexistence faith meant that
God might punish individuals in this life.
“And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did
sin, this man, or his parents, that he
was born blind?” John 9:2
God does not
operate that way.
“Jesus answered, Neither
hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be
made manifest in him.” John 9:3
Although there were
different levels of faith in the preexistence, you were in a sinless state
before you were physically born.
“For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil. …”
Romans 9:11
No matter the level
of faith, all of God’s children are equal in His love, in His care, in the
opportunities He gives us to grow. We all come from His person. We are all of
one kind, designed to become the same kind of creature. We are all sons and
daughters of God.
“There is no
respect of persons with God.” Romans 2:11
“[K]nowing that your Master also is in heaven; neither is there respect of persons with him.”
Ephesians 6:9
The hard things you
would encounter in the mortal realm on Earth were for your benefit, and your
Father would not allow you to experience something unless you had the strength
to overcome it.
“For all things
are for your sakes. …” 2 Corinthians 4:15
“There hath no temptation taken you but such as is
common to man: but God is faithful, who
will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the
temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.” 1
Corinthians 10:13
When the Earth and
humanity on it did ultimately become fallen and out of harmony with heaven, some
of God’s children did not judge well, but accepted wickedness.
“God standeth in the congregation of the mighty; he
judgeth among the gods. How long will ye judge unjustly, and accept the persons
of the wicked? Selah. Defend the poor and fatherless: do justice to the
afflicted and needy. Deliver the poor and needy: rid them out of the hand of
the wicked. They know not, neither will they understand; they walk on in
darkness: all the foundations of the earth are out of course. I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are
children of the most High. But ye shall die like men, and fall like one of
the princes. Arise, O God, judge the earth: for thou shalt inherit all
nations.” Psalms 82
God’s fallen
children on a fallen world have a difficult time doing what is right. It is an unfortunate part of the process, as
is death. The fallen are here to die. You also came to Earth to die.
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