The First Law in Heaven

Hey Everybody! This weeks blog is meant to branch off of last week's post about our personal agency...

Have you ever wondered what the first law in Heaven is that ties everything in the Plan of Salvation together? 

I have really come to understand on my mission this foundational law. In accordance to this law, true freedom and Eternal Joy is given. Anybody know what it is?

It's OBEDIENCE. 

"There is a ^alaw, irrevocably decreed in ^bheaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all ^cblessings are predicated—

 And when we obtain any ^ablessing from God, it is by^bobedience to that law upon which it is predicated." -Doctrine and Covenants 130:20-21

Why would God make Obedience the first law in His Kingdom?

 Because blessings received from God are conditional of obedience to His laws, or...the Commandments! Heavenly Father works through the obedience of His Children to fulfill His purposes and to do His work.

Here are a few essential roles of obedience that are played in our Heavenly Father's plan of Salvation.

JESUS CHRIST- To me, our Savior Jesus Christ is the greatest example of obedience. I love the Savior. From the very beginning He was perfectly obedient to the will of the Father. If we read the Bible and the Book of Mormon, we will come to realize that if it weren't for His exact obedience to the Father's will, we wouldn't have been able to progress. We would have been lost forever! He lived a life without sin, never giving in to temptations of the world. He showed us how we need to live to reach eternal happiness!

Which leads to a really cool detail, have you ever wondered why the Son of God was baptized?

 He did it "To fulfill all righteousness" to show us how to return to our Heavenly Father.

"Know ye not that he was holy? But notwithstanding he being holy, he showeth unto the children of men that, according to the flesh he humbleth himself before the Father, and witnesseth unto the Father that he would be ^aobedient unto him in keeping his commandments. 2 Nephi 31:7"

Imagine if Christ decided to give into temptation and sin. That would have destroyed the Plan of Salvation. But He didn't. He was perfect. He suffered the will of the Father, not His will, from the beginning. He overcame the temptations of Satan, drank out of the bitter cup to pay the price of sin, and overcame the sting of death, so that we can have Eternal Salvation. He truly was perfect, and loves us so perfectly, so He made sure to be obedient with exactness. 
 

"Love is the Grand Motive of the Plan of Salvation."

 

US- Yep, that's right. We have an essential role in the Plan of Salvation. Basically, we are the subjects. This whole marvelous Plan was created for US! In Moses 1:39 God states His purpose,  "For behold, this is my ^awork and my ^bglory—to bring to pass the ^cimmortality and ^deternal ^elife of man." 

I love that. What makes the All Powerful Creator of Heaven and Earth happy, is when WE are happy. He knows perfectly what will make us truly happy, so He gave us commandments to learn this true happiness.  In a very literal sense, obedience is the key to FREEDOM!

 24 And there stood ^aone 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 ^bwe will make an earth whereon these may ^cdwell;

 25 And we will ^aprove them herewith, to see if they will ^bdo all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them; Abraham 3:24-25

So what is to be done? How do we reach this Eternal Joy? We must be OBEDIENT. It's ok that we aren't perfect. No one is. God and Jesus Christ already knew that, that is why we have the Atonement of Jesus Christ! It is a huge blessing for me to repent when I make mistakes, so that I can continue to be obedient to the Will of the Father. This is our purpose on the Earth. We have the example of the SAVIOR to help us know what to do. How blessed are we?! 

And moreover, I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and ^ahappy state of those that keep the commandments of God. For behold, they are ^bblessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out ^cfaithful to the end they are received into ^dheaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness. O remember, remember that these things are true; for the Lord God hath spoken it. -Mosiah 2:41

All it takes to start to follow the Example of Jesus Christ and be obedient, is to have faith in Him. Stay tuned for next week's blog on the First Principle of the Gospel, Faith! 

"For as by one man’s ^adisobedience many were made sinners, so by the ^bobedience of one shall many be made righteous." -Romans 5:19

 

"The TRUTH shall make you FREE."

So we just celebrated Independence Day (one of my personal favorites...), and I want to expound a little on the Eternal perspective relating to this special holiday. 

When I was thinking about our independence as individuals, I thought about the deeper meaning; which is our personal agency as children of God.

Agency: "The ability and privilege God gives us to choose and to act for ourselves. Agency is essential in the plan of salvation. Without agency, we would not be able to learn or progress or follow the Savior. With it, we are “free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil” (2 Nephi 2:27)."

We had the power to choose before we were born! We all lived together as Spirit Children of our Heavenly Father. There was a Premortal counsel in Heaven where Heavenly Father presented to us His plan of Salvation, or the Plan of HAPPINESS. Included in this perfect plan was the role of a Savior, who would come to suffer and die for our sins and afflictions. Jesus Christ volunteered to do that for us and give all the glory to The Father. This allowed us to have the gift of agency, as well as the infinite gift of the Atonement, all so that we could know joy and return back to live with God again. They did this because they love us. 

"Love is the grand motive of the Plan of Salvation."

We chose Christ to be our Savior and chose to come to Earth to receive a body and be tested. 
Lucifer, or Satan, rebelled and “sought to destroy the agency of man”. He and those who chose to follow him were denied to come to Earth and receive a body. So out of misery, they tempt us and try to separate us from our Heavenly Father and the promised blessings He has for each one of us. 

To me it is SO amazing how everyone who is here on the Earth chose Christ to be their Savior. That is one of my favorite things about the Gospel, and being a missionary. We have ALREADY chosen Christ because we are HERE. 

Now, as we go through our mortal lives, with the gift of agency, we still have to learn to make the same choice we did as before. With our own free will, we can:

To choose LIFE (Jesus Christ) or choose DEATH (the Devil)

 15 ¶See, I have set before thee this day ^alife and good, and death and ^bevil;

 16 In that I command thee this day to love the Lord thy God, to^awalk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his ^bjudgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and theLord thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it.

 17 But if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them;

 18 I ^adenounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish, and that ye shall not prolong your days upon the land, whither thou passest over Jordan to go to possess it.

 19 I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and ^acursing: therefore^bchoose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:

 20 That thou mayest love the Lord thy God, and that thou mayest ^aobey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy ^blife, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the Lord sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them. -Deuteronomy 30:15-20

I hope we will all use the gift of agency that our Father in Heaven has given us WELL. We were born to reach Eternal Happiness. I know He loves us and knows us personally. The Savior offers us forgiveness, peace, joy, and light as we choose to follow Him.

 30 And now remember, remember, my brethren, that whosoever perisheth, perisheth unto ^ahimself; and whosoever doeth iniquity, doeth it unto himself; for behold, ye are ^bfree; ye are permitted to act for yourselves; for behold, God hath given unto you a^cknowledge and he hath made you free.

 31 He hath given unto you that ye might ^aknow good from evil, and he hath given unto you that ye might ^bchoose life or death; and ye can do good and be ^crestored 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