Old Testament - Genesis 1. January 4, 2022

 1/4/2022 – Genesis 1

I loved this statement from my study manual: “Adam and Eve were the crowning point of the Creation, but pause for a moment to think of the Creation itself. It was the Father directing the creation of a home for His children.”  I think of all the magnificent and beautiful areas of this world—they can overwhelm us with wonder. But He considered His ‘crowning point’ as US…the spirits who were ready to progress to obtaining, and protecting, a physical body. Every child that is born is yet another ‘crowning point’.

In Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, he tells us that in the first sentence of Genesis, the word created in actuality means ‘organized’. To me, that makes the creation even more difficult and amazing, and yes, the individuals who are placed on this magnificent creation are His “crowning point”---that’s me, and you, and all the people around us. We should treat each other as precious and amazing wonders. Every one of us is significantly important, and Adam and Eve are my Granny and Grandpa! That’s how close we should be.

In His creation of the earth, the Lord started with something that was “without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep”.  So the first thing the Lord did was to bring light to the world. As we grow and progress, the first and most important thing we should do…each day…is to bring light to our day. For me, the days I include scripture study, are the sweetest days…no matter what those days bring. Having my thoughts close to the Lord helps me to see everything in a different and more beautiful light.

The Hebrew word translated as “created” means “shaped, fashioned, created; always divine activity”. Reading that makes me want to ‘create’ my days here on earth. I want to shape my days and fashion them in a way that I can then look back at the end of the day and be pleased with my creation.

But back to the creation of the world--Brigham Young spoke of the creation of our world: “When was there a beginning? There never was one; if there was, there will be an end; but there never was a beginning and hence there will never be an end; that looks like eternity. When we talk about the beginning of eternity, it is rather simple conversation, and goes far beyond the capacity of man.” 

I believe that eternity is a concept that our mortal minds do not come close to complete understanding, and that is when the important concept of FAITH comes into our lives here.

President Spencer W Kimball explained: “Life was to be in three segments or estates: premortal, mortal, and immortal. The third stage would incorporate exaltation—eternal life with godhood—for those who would fully magnify their mortal lives. Performance in one estate would vitally affect the succeeding estate or estates. If a person kept his first estate, he would be permitted the second or the mortal life as a further period of trail and experience. If he magnified his second estate, his earth experience, eternal life would await him. To that end men go through the numerous experiences of earth life—‘to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them.” (Abraham 3:25)

One more quote from Brigham Young: “I want to tell you, each and every one of you, that you are well acquainted with God our Heavenly Father, or the great Elohim. You are all well acquainted with him, for there is not a soul of you but what has lived in his house and dwelt with him year after year; and yet you are seeking to become acquainted with him, when the fact is, you have merely forgotten what you did know… There is not a person here to-day but what is a son or a daughter of that Being.” That should wake us up to be more loving, more understanding, more helpful….to everyone we come into contact with.

In v 28, the Lord instructs Adam and Eve to “be fruitful, and multiply and replenish the earth, and subdue it…”  Spencer W Kimball spoke of this: “The first commandment recorded seems to have been ’Multiply and replenish the earth’ This is to happen in families, for that is where we help each other to grow and to do good things. The parents help the children to do this, and these responsibilities of the parents brings great growth to themselves! And then we have the time in families when the children become the guiding ones, and that too is a beautiful and wonderful and growing experience for both the children and the parents. I have always thought that old age is one of the most important seasons we go through. We start our lives in always working toward establishing a good foundation of independence. But when we get toward the end of our life, we start to lose physical and mental strengths, and that’s when we need to learn to have the courage and the humility to accept and appreciate the loving care that will come into our lives from the efforts of our children. We gave much of our lives to create the best launching pad we could for them, and they follow up with loving care to help us create the best landing pad for our returning to our Heavenly Father. It is a good and beautiful plan. Bob and I will be helped by the very people we love the most and the deepest. I couldn’t have asked for a more wonderful family!