The Creation

In 2014 my wife and I were called to serve in our ward as Sunbeam teachers.¹ The manual at that time spent over six weeks with lessons about the creation,² and they seemed a bit ridiculous to me. Week after week we taught lessons titled, “I am Thankful for the Day and the Night,” and “I am Thankful for Water,” and they continued with “I am Thankful for” followed by various things such as trees, plants and flowers, fish, animals, birds and insects. After several weeks of this, I made a comment to my wife about how dumb these lessons were. She said, “Justin, these kids are 3 years old.” I said something like,”I know that, but why are there so many lessons on the creation?” My wife then said, “why do you think we learn about the creation every time we go to the temple?”³

I often think about that conversation. At the time, I was 40 years old. I had been to the temple frequently since I was 19, and I had studied the scripture passages that taught about the creation multiple times. I honestly had never thought about why we discuss it so much. I knew the details, but I hadn’t pondered why it was such an important doctrine.

Why is the creation such a significant doctrine to understand? Why do we hear about the creation every time we go to the temple? Why are we taught about the creation in multiple passages of scripture? An understanding of the creation can help us better appreciate the love and power of God. We may not understand the process itself, but the fact that God created the heavens and the earth can help us to have peace knowing that God loves us, and he uses his power for our benefit.

Scriptural accounts of the creation

The stages of creation are told in at least three places in scripture: Genesis 1-2, Moses 2-3, Abraham 3-5.

The Book of Moses is the Joseph Smith Translation of the first several chapters of Genesis.⁴

The Book of Abraham is a translation from papyrus by Joseph Smith.⁵ It briefly discusses the pre-earth life, and helps us to understand the reason for the creation of the earth. “Now the Lord had shown unto me, Abraham, the intelligences that were organized before the world was; and among all these there were many of the noble and great ones.”⁶ Abraham saw that we existed as spirits, or “intelligences,” before the world was created. As part of that council in heaven, “there stood one among them that was like unto God, and he said unto those who were with him: We will go down, for there is space there, and we will take of these materials, and we will make an earth whereon these may dwell; And we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them.”⁷ The one that was “like unto God” was Jehovah, Jesus Christ, our savior and redeemer. He created the earth as a place for us to dwell. The entire purpose of creation was to bless us, to fulfill God’s work and glory to bring to pass our immortality and eternal life.⁸

The Book of Abraham is unique in that when it describes the creation, it discusses work done by the “Gods,” plural.⁹ There can be many interpretations of this, one being a similar idea to what I discussed in a prior post, “The Nature of God,” that Jesus Christ created the earth under the direction of and with the power of the Father, and so the term “Gods” could refer to those two individuals.

It could also be that the reference to “Gods” indicates that we, as spirit children of God, assisted with the creation effort. Elder Bruce R. McConkie taught: “Christ, acting under the direction of the Father, was and is the Creator of all things. (D.&C. 38:1–4; 76:22–24; John 1:1–3; Col. 1:16–17; Heb. 1:1–3; Moses 1; 2; 3.) That he was aided in the creation of this earth by ‘many of the noble and great’ spirit children of the Father is evident from Abraham’s writings. … Michael or Adam was one of these. Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Peter, James, and John, Joseph Smith, and many other ‘noble and great’ ones played a part in the great creative enterprise. . . . In the ultimate and final sense of the word, the Father is the Creator of all things. That he used the Son and others to perform many of the creative acts, delegating to them his creative powers, does not make these others creators in their own right, independent of him. He is the source of all creative power, and he simply chooses others to act for him in many of his creative enterprises.”¹⁰

The following table, taken from the Institute Manual for the Book of Abraham, contains a harmony of the various creation accounts in Genesis, Moses, and Abraham:¹¹

What do we learn by studying the creation?

Other than the fact of the creation itself, what can we learn? Why is this taught so frequently? Why would primary children have over six weeks of lessons just on the creation? The following are a few of the lessons I have learned from the creation as I have pondered my wife’s question, asked almost a decade ago: “why do you think we learn about the creation every time we go to the temple?”

The earth was created by the power of God

We know that God has all power.¹² Knowing that Jesus Christ was the Great Jehovah, the creator of heaven and earth, we see the power of the creator evident in his ministry: “And when he was entered into a ship, his disciples followed him. And, behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves: but he was asleep. And his disciples came to him, and awoke him, saying, Lord, save us: we perish. And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm. But the men marvelled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him!”¹³

What manner of man was he? As the creator, he had the power of God to create the heavens and the earth. As the Son of God, he came to earth to redeem us, and he had and used that same power during his mortal ministry. Perhaps his final words to his disciples before his atonement spoke of the peace we can have because he holds this power: “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”¹⁴

He has overcome the world. Jesus Christ gained power from the Father, and he wants to use that power to bless our lives. Doesn’t that give us peace, knowing that God, who has all power, who wields that power to create worlds, longs to use that power for our benefit? Learning of the creation should give us peace that we have a loving God who has the ability to overcome all things.

The creation is evidence of the reality of God

Prophets have looked to the stars as evidence of the existence of God. Abraham learned of the planets, the sun, the moon, the stars, and “all the great lights, which were in the firmament of heaven.”¹⁵

When faced with Korihor’s arguments against the existence of Christ, the prophet Alma used, among other things, the existence of the earth as evidence of a Supreme Creator:

“Now Alma said unto [Korihor]: Will ye deny again that there is a God, and also deny the Christ? For behold, I say unto you, I know there is a God, and also that Christ shall come. And now what evidence have ye that there is no God, or that Christ cometh not? I say unto you that ye have none, save it be your word only. But, behold, I have all things as a testimony that these things are true; and ye also have all things as a testimony unto you that they are true; . . . And now Korihor said unto Alma: If thou wilt show me a sign, that I may be convinced that there is a God, yea, show unto me that he hath power, and then will I be convinced of the truth of thy words. But Alma said unto him: Thou hast had signs enough; will ye tempt your God? Will ye say, Show unto me a sign, when ye have the testimony of all these thy brethren, and also all the holy prophets? The scriptures are laid before thee, yea, and all things denote there is a God; yea, even the earth, and all things that are upon the face of it, yea, and its motion, yea, and also all the planets which move in their regular form do witness that there is a Supreme Creator.”¹⁶

In our society, we have more knowledge and understanding of science than at any point in the history of the world. We can see into the depths of an atom, and into the expanses of space. With all this knowledge, it can be tempting to discount the existence of a God, because there is much less mystery to life. There are many in our society who assert that the only purpose for religion is to explain mysteries, or to answer questions when we don’t know the answer. In an article titled, “Science demands explanation, religion tolerates mystery,”¹⁷ the authors explored the difference between scientific and religious inquiry, stating, “Some claims (e.g., that the Earth goes around the Sun) seem to call out for explanation: they make us wonder ‘why?’. For other claims (e.g., that God exists), one might accept that the explanation is a mystery. In the present research, we investigate ‘need for explanation’ and ‘mystery acceptability’ across the domains of science and religion, as a window onto differences between scientific and religious cognition more broadly.” It is true that one of the first principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ is faith, but all truth comes from God. The more we understand, the more we should appreciate the power and precision of our creator.

The more we learn about the intricacies of life, the more we see of space, the more we learn of matter and energy, doesn’t it seem less and less likely that all of this was just happenstance? As a physician and man of God, Russell M. Nelson has often talked about the miracle of the human body, and how that, in his mind, establishes the existence of a supreme creator:

“Through the ages, some without scriptural understanding have tried to explain our existence by pretentious words such as ex nihilo (out of nothing). Others have deduced that, because of certain similarities between different forms of life, there has been a natural selection of the species, or organic evolution from one form to another. Still others have concluded that man came as a consequence of a ‘big bang’ that resulted in the creation of our planet and life upon it.

“To me, such theories are unbelievable! Could an explosion in a printing shop produce a dictionary? It’s unthinkable! But it could be argued to be within a remote realm of possibility. Even if that could happen, such a dictionary could certainly not heal its own torn pages, or renew its own worn corners, or reproduce its own subsequent editions!

“We are children of God, created by him and formed in his image.”¹⁸

Why do we learn about the creation? Among other things, it is evidence of a supreme creator. The earth, its rotation, the perfect and exact circumstances required to support life, our amazing physical bodies, and all other things in creation demonstrate that we have a God who knows all things and has all power.

Elements of creation can be symbols for gospel principles

We are taught in the scriptures that “all things have their likeness, and all things are created and made to bear record of me, both things which are temporal, and things which are spiritual; things which are in the heavens above, and things which are on the earth, and things which are in the earth, and things which are under the earth, both above and beneath: all things bear record of me.”¹⁹

The prophet Nephi rejoiced in using creation to teach of Christ: “Behold, my soul delighteth in proving unto my people the truth of the coming of Christ; for, for this end hath the law of Moses been given; and all things which have been given of God from the beginning of the world, unto man, are the typifying of him.”²⁰

The prophet Paul used the elements of creation to teach of the resurrection: “All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds. There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.”²¹

When Joseph Smith received the vision of the degrees of glory, the sun, moon, and stars were used to help us understand the difference between the celestial, terrestrial, and telestial glories.²²

Is it just a coincidence that such symbols were used? Or was part of the plan of creation intended to give us things to teach us about God and his plan for us? During the Savior’s ministry, he often used elements of creation to teach principles, such as birds,²³ lilies,²⁴ seeds,²⁵ wind,²⁶ trees,²⁷ and many others. In one of the greatest visions in all of scripture, the prophet Lehi and his son Nephi saw the Tree of Life in representation of the love of God.²⁸ I believe there is great symbolism when thinking of why a tree was used to symbolize the love of God.

Not only does creation give us evidence of God, but elements of God’s creation are intended to be symbols to help us understand the gospel of Jesus Christ. God is the perfect planner, and it is evident in the scriptures that the creation can be used to teach and testify of Christ.

In God’s creations, we can feel the love of God

In the accounts of the creation, we learn that the earth was created for us: “And there stood one among them that was like unto God, and he said unto those who were with him: We will go down, for there is space there, and we will take of these materials, and we will make an earth whereon these may dwell.”²⁹

To his disciples during his mortal ministry, the Savior said, “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.”³⁰ Joseph Smith taught that the “same sociality which exists among us here will exist among us there, only it will be coupled with eternal glory, which glory we do not now enjoy.”³¹

Could it be that this earth is a pattern of the world where our Heavenly Father lives? In creating a world for us to dwell, did he use the pattern of his world as a way that we could not only feel joy in the great beauty and variety, but perhaps feel recognition through the veil of his great creations?

The earth is magnificent. It is beautiful. It was made for us out of love as a place where we can find joy and peace. One year on an anniversary trip, my wife and I visited Capitol Reef National Park. We saw a very small cabin where a family of 15 had lived. The parents and youngest children slept in the cabin, the older boys slept in caves in the sandstone behind the cabin, and the girls slept in a covered wagon.

While my wife and I were walking around looking at this place, I was amazed that this family would choose to live here. I thought, “this place is so ugly, and life would have been so hard. Why did they come here?” As I thought that, I felt a stirring of the Holy Ghost, and it was as if the still-small voice said to me, “I created this, and I think it’s beautiful.” That was a very spiritual experience for me, and it changed my perspective. I looked around with different eyes, and since then I have contemplated that experience as I have seen the wonders of this world, and I have thought about how much God must love this world, and how much he wants us to love and appreciate it.

This earth was made on purpose. There was a plan. The jungles, deserts, hot places, cold places, were all made to create beauty in variety. I know people who love all kinds of different terrain. We lived in Albuquerque, New Mexico for several years, and the desert landscape is loved by many people there, so much that they will often landscape their yard to look like a desert terrain.³²

With a world filled with all different kinds of beauty, there is something for everyone, and we can marvel in the diverse creations of God. He is a God with a personality, and we can find his personality in his creations. I have come to believe that God, our great creator, finds this earth beautiful.

God not only created a place for us to dwell, but he made it a place where we could enjoy beauty, happiness, and peace.

The creation is a glorious doctrine

In learning about the creation, we learn about the power of God, we see evidence of the existence of God, we see symbols that better help us to understand the plan of salvation, and we feel the love of God.

As we contemplate the creation, we can better come to know God.

References

1. The “Sunbeam” class is for children ages 3 and 4; “Primary Organization Research Guide,” https://history.churchofjesuschrist.org/training/library/primary-organization-research-guide/primary-classes?lang=eng; General Handbook: Serving in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 12.1.3, “Classes,” https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/general-handbook/12-primary?lang=eng&id=p19#p19. ↩︎
2. Primary 1, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2000, https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/manual/primary-1?lang=eng. ↩︎
3. The temple is a sacred experience, and we speak of what happens inside temples carefully. I try to be careful to only say as much as what is taught by the Church, some of which can be found on the website temples.churchofjesuschrist.org. See for example the page “About the Temple Endowment,” which says, “Some of the endowment is presented through video and some by temple officiators. During the ordinance, events that are part of the plan of salvation are presented. They include the Creation of the world, the Fall of Adam and Eve, the Atonement of Jesus Christ, the Apostasy, and the Restoration. You will also learn more about the way all people can return to the presence of the Lord.” https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/temples/what-is-temple-endowment?lang=eng. ↩︎
4. See the introduction to the Book of Moses: “An extract from the translation of the Bible as revealed to Joseph Smith the Prophet, June 1830-February 1831.” https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/pgp/moses/1?lang=eng&id=study_intro1#study_intro1. ↩︎
5. See the introduction to the Book of Abraham: “A Translation of some ancient Records that have fallen into our hands from the catacombs of Egypt. The writings of Abraham while he was in Egypt, called the Book of Abraham, written by his own hand, upon papyrus.” https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/pgp/abr/1?lang=eng&id=study_intro1#study_intro1. ↩︎
6. Abraham 3:22. ↩︎
7. Abraham 3:24-25. ↩︎
8. Moses 1:39. ↩︎
9. Abraham 4. ↩︎
10. “The Book of Abraham,” The Pearl of Great Price Student Manual (2000), 28–41, https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/manual/the-pearl-of-great-price-student-manual/the-book-of-abraham?lang=eng#. ↩︎
11. The table was downloaded from the Pearl of Great Price Student Manual, referenced in note 10. ↩︎
12. See Topical Guide, “God, Power of,” for a list of many scriptural references to God’s power, https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/tg/god-power-of?lang=eng&id=title1#title1. ↩︎
13. Matthew 8:23-27. ↩︎
14. John 16:33. ↩︎
15. Abraham 3:9-13. ↩︎
16. Alma 30:39-44. ↩︎
17. Emily G. Liquin, S. Emlen Metz, Tania Lombrozo, “Science demands explanation, religion tolerates mystery,” Cognition, Volume 204, 2020, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0010027720302171. ↩︎
18. Russell M. Nelson, “The Magnificence of Man,” BYU Speeches, March 29, 1987, https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/russell-m-nelson/magnificence-man/. ↩︎
19. Moses 6:63. ↩︎
20. 2 Nephi 11:4. ↩︎
21. 1 Corinthians 15:39-44. ↩︎
22. Doctrine and Covenants 76. ↩︎
23. Matthew 6:26. ↩︎
24. Matthew 6:28-30. ↩︎
25. Matthew 17:20. ↩︎
26. John 3:8. ↩︎
27. Matthew 24:32-33. ↩︎
28. 1 Nephi 11:21-23. ↩︎
29. Abraham 3:24. ↩︎
30. John 14:1-3. ↩︎
31. Doctrine and Covenants 130:2. ↩︎
32. This photo is from the website “LandscapingNetwork,” who performs landscaping in Albuquerque, https://www.landscapingnetwork.com/albuquerque/. ↩︎