Speaking of these things, Joseph Smith said, “At the first organization in heaven, we were all present and saw the Savior chosen and appointed and the plan of salvation made, and we sanctioned it.” Words, p. 60. (Link on LDS.org website). Note that this site is not recommended as it teaches unsound doctrines. It is included to show that this is the official position of the LDS church.
Joseph Smith, however, restored the doctrine of man’s premortal existence. The doctrine can be both comforting and unsettling—comforting in that it tells us we are literally of the family of God with unlimited potential; unsettling because it tells us that we are responsible for what we are now and for what we will become. (Link on LDS.org website). Note that this site is not recommended as it teaches unsound doctrines. It is included to show that this is the official position of the LDS church.
Certain passages of the Bible make sense only in the light of man’s premortal existence. We as Latter-day Saints understand that during the course of man’s premortal spirit career one third of God’s children rebelled and followed Satan. (See D&C 29:36-38; Moses 4:1-4; Abr. 3:22-28.) (Link on LDS.org website). Note that this site is not recommended as it teaches unsound doctrines. It is included to show that this is the official position of the LDS church.
Premortal existence. Jesus was in the beginning with the Father and was the Father’s firstborn spirit child. (See D&C 93:21; John 17:1, 4-5; Col. 1:15-16.) He volunteered and was chosen, sustained, and foreordained in the premortal existence to be the Savior of the world. (See Ether 3:14; Moses 4:1-4; Abr. 3:22-28; 1 Pet. 1:20.) He created the earth and is thus called the “very Eternal Father of heaven and of earth.” (Mosiah 15:4; see also Mosiah 3:8; Hel. 14:12; John 1:1-3.) He was Jehovah—the God of the Old Testament, the Holy One of Israel. As Jehovah, he “gave the law” of Moses and “covenanted with [his] people Israel.” (3 Ne. 15:5; see also 2 Ne. 25:29; D&C 110:1-4; 1 Cor. 10:1-4.) (Link on LDS.org website). Note that this site is not recommended as it teaches unsound doctrines. It is included to show that this is the official position of the LDS church.
There were others, however, who were less noble. Many of the spirits, exercising their agency, chose to follow Lucifer in rebellion against God. (See D&C 29:36; Jude 1:6.) Lucifer, as the Lord revealed to Joseph Smith, was once “an angel of God who was in authority in the presence of God, who rebelled against the Only Begotten Son” and “sought to take the kingdom of our God and his Christ.” (D&C 76:25, 28; see Isa. 14:12-15.) Lucifer’s proposals that “one soul shall not be lost” (tempting as it sounds, it would nevertheless suspend our agency to choose) and that he be given God’s place and glory were rejected. (See Moses 4:1-3.) War followed, and because of his rebellion, Lucifer “was thrust down from the presence of God and the Son, and was called Perdition.” (D&C 76:25-26; see Rev. 12:7-9.) (Link on LDS.org website). Note that this site is not recommended as it teaches unsound doctrines. It is included to show that this is the official position of the LDS church.
In 1830, Joseph Smith had learned clearly that God the Father created “this heaven, and this earth” through his Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ. (See Moses 2:1; John 1:10-14.) But in 1835, the Prophet translated a record that revealed more concerning who created the earth and how it was done. He learned from the book of Abraham that Jesus Christ acted in concert with other Gods to create our world: “Then the Lord said: Let us go down. And they went down at the beginning, and they, that is the Gods, organized and formed the heavens and the earth.” (Abr. 4:1.) (Link on LDS.org website). Note that this site is not recommended as it teaches unsound doctrines. It is included to show that this is the official position of the LDS church.
Eternal life is also possible, in part, because an element of every human being is divine and eternal. Joseph Smith used several different terms to refer to that eternal essence—spirit, soul, mind, and intelligence. He received the knowledge that “man was also in the beginning with God. Intelligence, or the light of truth, was not created or made, neither indeed can be.” (D&C 93:29.) He taught that “the mind of man is as immortal as God himself” 28 and that “the Spirit of Man [meaning intelligence] is not a created being.” 29 (Link on LDS.org website). Note that this site is not recommended as it teaches unsound doctrines. It is included to show that this is the official position of the LDS church.
As God’s children, we may become gods ourselves through Christ’s atonement and the plan of salvation, being joint heirs of Christ of “all that [the] Father hath.” (D&C 84:38... (Link on LDS.org website). Note that this site is not recommended as it teaches unsound doctrines. It is included to show that this is the official position of the LDS church.
Copyright 2001 - Douglas Gilliland