Obviously I did not read this lesson like a talk- it was mostly all paraphrased and I had alot of class participation reading scriptures and quotes I had passed out.
NOTES TO SELF:
·
HAVE
COURAGE
·
LET
GO AND LET GOD
Gospel
Doctrine Lesson 1-16-21
Full
disclosure. I have never taught gospel doctrine before. I am not a scriptorian
by any stretch of the imagination. I have never served a mission, and I can’t quote scripture or give a
scripture reference off the top of my head to save my life.
I am
actually very simple minded. My husband says I live in a world of rainbows and
butterflies where things are very simple.
So because a
lot of my knowledge of the gospel is more in the basic principles than in the
deeper doctrine, I will be learning right along side you this year and in fact
will likely have questions about the doctrine I am hoping you can answer for
me.
Case in
point- in preparing for this lesson I learned that the tree of life in the
events of adam and eve is the same tree mentioned in lehi’s dream.
My mind
basically blew open when those two connections were made. While I am sure that
is something insanely obvious to the rest of the world. My mind never put those
two together until I heard it on a come follow me youtube lesson this past
week.
Also please
know that with every statement I make or share you can just tag on in your
minds “Correct me if I am wrong”. I do not want to share false doctrine, so
please speak up if I ever get way off base.
But I will tell you this, even though I recognize my inadequate scriptoral knowledgebase, I do have one strength that I hope is equally important and will hopefully help this year. And that is my love for the gospel of Jesus Christ. I have a strong testimony of the truths found in this gospel and from my own learning and growth over the years. And I am going to do my best to teach by the Spirit and prepare thoughts, questions and messages to help us all to draw closer to our Savior, Jesus Christ each week.
Let’s
explore a few questions regarding the Creation- First we will start with “When?”
The 1st
verse of the book of Genesis reads “In the Beginning”.
Do we believe this is the beginning of all existence,
or the Universe, of life, of Spirits?
Think on this question as we watch this video. Link to Universe Video. Mute the sound on this video and play this song instead. "If You Could Hie to Kolob" by the Jenny Phillips Choir
So I would like to ask this question again: Do we
believe this is the beginning of all existence, or the Universe, of life, of
Spirits?
Next
question is “How?”
A lot of
references I will be using this year will come from a variety of sources, but I
have a feeling a number of them will come from this book. Titled “Verse by
Verse, The Old Testament.”
In it, it
reads:
QUOTE 1
“The Lord has not revealed to humankind the detailed process by which this earth
and the universe in which it is positioned were created”
“Our Spiritual capacities will not allow us to
fully comprehend the divine powers and divine actions that brought those things
about”
“The Lord has promised that the time will come,
during the millennium, when all things will be revealed, D &C
101:33-“Hidden things which no man knew, things of the earth, by which it was
made, and the purpose and the end thereof”
Next
Question is “Where?”
we only know that it was in the presence of God
Going back
to the first verse of Genesis it reads, “In the Beginning God Created the
Heaven and the Earth”
The term
from the first verse “created” was used to translate a Hebrew word, that
actually means organize. Which we read in Abraham.
This supports
our belief that God at this point in time did not create the earth out of
nothing, but that earth was organized from existing planets, matter, and
elements.
Side
note-this is why I personally believe there is a good chance that dinosaurs
never actually roamed earth, I could be wrong, but it is possible they were
from another place or planet and became part of this world during the
organization of this planet.
“The pure principles of element are principles which
can never be destroyed, they may be organized and reorganized, but not
destroyed. They had not beginning and they had no end.”
“Scientists also concur that matter cannot be created
or destroyed- only its form may be changed.”
Next
question Who? Have
someone read Genesis 1:1, have someone else read Moses 2:1 and someone else
read Abraham 4:1, God’s could have been Noah and Enoch and why not other
righteous spirits? Also Michael in addition to Jesus Christ.
What? 7 periods of the creation-Moses Chapter 2
1-separated the lightness from the darkness, calling one day and the other night
2-Creation/organization of Heaven(firmament) and Earth this was new to me
3-Separate Land from the Water- named earth and sea, Trees, shrubs-
read Genesis 2:5-6. This is a reminder that the evaporation/condensation cycle
was a phenomenon necessary to establish life on earth.
4-Made the sun and moon- greater light vs lesser light.
And the stars“The 4th day
describes the establishment of the earth in its orbital relationship to the
other astronomical bodies of our system ie rotation upon its axis and
revolutions in its orbit.” Created for the purpose of seasons, days, years
Show infinity symbol picture
Also think about how unhospitable space is for us
human beings versus how hospitable earth is for our lives and the other life on
this planet.
5- Fowl and
Fishes moses 2:21-22
6- Genesis
1:26-27 have someone read, then discuss animals-What do we learn from these verses? what does dominion mean? What
type of dominion must we have? Read D&C 59:20
and then man and woman were made-whose image? Why is it important
to understand that we are created in the
image of God? How does this truth affect the way we see ourselves, others, God?
“This
is the Great Secret!” How many of God’s children do not know of this most
important principle?
The breath of life refers to the spirit, for it is the
spirit combined with the body that constitutes “a living soul”
What important responsibilities, privileges, and
powers have been given to mankind in order that they might fulfill the purposes
of creation as Sons and Daughters of God?
1-Procreation
2-to fill
the earth, using its resources-obligation to manage the earth and enhance its
life-giving ability. A way of defining “to till”
3-dominion
but not unrighteous dominion
Who is Adam? Michael the
archangel who was the leader of the forces of the Lord against the forces of
Satan in the war in heaven before the world was. He is and ever shall be our
patriarch and leader, even in the final battle against the forces of evil at
the end of the millennium.
Quote 2:President Joseph Fielding Smith Stated
that “Adam was not a ‘cave man’ but perhaps the most nearly perfect man in form
and feature to our Father and Creator” He is the first priesthood and shall
continue so in the end of the world also.
7-rested?
Why? Moses 1:39, and 2nd Nephi 2:14-15
Quote 3-one thing the creation story
Quote 4-There is so much about the creative
process
Quote-how cool is it
Any additional Thoughts on the creation?
In preparing
for this lesson I was getting overwhelmed by all of the information and
resources I was using, so I decided to draw a picture of everything I wanted to
cover in class today. After finishing, the page was so filled up (front and
back), and unreadable at this point, but I was contemplating doing something
similar on the chalkboard. Then I had a flashback to a few years ago when I attended
a gospel doctrine lesson my Dad was teaching. He was drawing on the chalkboard and
I know that my handwriting is bad, but my Dad’s is definitely worse.
He was
scribbling so fast and all over the blackboard and the two words that kept
coming to my mind were “rabid squirrel”.
And as I
looked at my piece of paper I realized the apple does not fall far from the
tree. So I may draw a couple of items on the board but I will try to avoid
“rabid squirrel”
Picking up
where we left off, we are now in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve
Adam and Eve are not only vital parts of the Plan of
Salvation, but they are also our example of how to overcome our sins in
mortality.
What do we know about Adam and Eve at this point
in time? What is their state of mind? What do they know?
They were
mentally childlike and innocent. What were they commanded to do?
Take care of
the Garden and not eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
This is the
first we learn about our first earthly parents having agency.
Now who enters the picture?
Satan- What do we know about him from
this interaction?
Father of
all lies, tells half truths, and above
all HE IS REAL.
Show quote- we are living in a time….
What happens next?
Eve partakes
of the fruit-why?
She has a childlike mind, she is convinced by Satan, which when we think about
it, Satan also convinced 1/3 of the hosts of heaven, not to pick the saviors
plan in the preexistence, so we can assume he is a very skilled negotiator. She
was deceived/tricked by his lies
Then Adam
partakes of the fruit-why?
Also childlike state of mind, peer pressure, trusts eve, and also wanted to be
able to have seed
How does this relate to us? How often do we partake of forbidden fruit in our lives?
When satan says “ ye shall not surely die; ye shall be
as the gods”
“Is it not typical of the ways in which he still tries
to stimulate us to satisfy our curiosity, our appetites and urges, while
allaying our fears of the consequences?” Verse by Verse The Old Testament
What makes sin so enticing?
How can we make sin not so enticing? WE NEED A REASON-A great reason can be "because we love God more than we love ourselves.
“The actions of our first parents, which constitute
the Fall, are greatly misunderstood among those who have not had the benefit of
modern prophets or modern scripture. Sometimes great blame has been placed on
Eve for the Fall, and her actions branded as a great sin, so much so that she
has been regarded as evil, unworthy of, or of lesser value than Adam. All these
notions are false. The Fall did have physical consequences, but it was a step
forward in the great plan of God.” Verse By Verse The Old Testatment
Additionally this book talks about the distinction of
sin vs transgression. Joseph Fielding Smith said “This was a transgression of
the law, but not a sin, For it was something Adam and Even had to do!” This
relates to the second article of faith, “we believe men with be punished for
their own sins and not adams transgression”.
Sins-are
acts that are inherently wrong while transgression is making a choice against
something that is legally or formerly prohibited .
What happens next?
They ate of
the tree and their eyes were opened and they sewed fig leaves and made aprons
Why did they do that?
After eating
of the fruit they discovered their nakedeness/ guilt/shame. They felt that
guilt we all feel after being disobedient.
It was the
first time they were conscious of their wrongdoing.
Their sins
exposed. And we know we cannot hide our sins from God. People think they can
Let’s read
Genesis 3:7-13- and stop after every verse
Vs 7-8: Did God come at them angry?
He came walking, in the evening breeze to just talk with him.
Vs 9-11
First question god asks Adam in genesis “where are thou” Moses “where goest?”- how does that relate to us? What if god were to ask us the same question how would we respond? Are we following him? Where are we on our covenant path? Are we off in the woods? Where are we headed? Where are we spiritually? Are we where we want to be? If not, what are we going to do to get there? Why are we running and hiding from the actual person who can solve this problem??
In my preparation I came across this question that really hit home
What did the serpent tell you about me that makes you think I am the kind of father you want to run from?
Vs12-13
We are just like them when we
make a mistake, we try to run and hide from it and then blame other people and
try to rationalize circumstances or others influences, or we compare ourselves
to others or try to justify our actions, “it’s only a white lie”, “it’s only
one drink”, “it’s not really gossiping” “well atleast I’m not doing this…” “
doing that doesn’t make me a bad person”….we tend to rationalize our behaviors before
we take responsibility for our wrongdoings.
God does not want us to run and hide from him when we make a mistake, he wants us to lean on him to go to him to find strength to overcome. If we visit the bishops office will he yell fire and brimstone?
Show quote 5-He that covered
his sins
Then we learn about Satan’s fate in verse 14 and then we learn
about our relationship with satan in this life
Read vs 15
Old testament student manual reads “The promise concerning the bruising of the heel and head means that while Satan (as the serpent) will bruise the heel of the Savior by leading men to crucify Him and seemingly destroy Him, in actuality that very act of Atonement will give Christ the power to overcome the power that Satan has over men and undo the effects of the Fall. Thus, the seed of the woman (Christ) shall crush the head of the serpent (Satan and his kingdom) with the very heel that was bruised (the atoning sacrifice).”
Show lambert picture.
What happens next?
They are forbidden from eating of the fruit from the tree of life.
From Lehi’s
and Nephi’s visions we learn about this from the tree of life.
Quote -6 Show tree of life picture
Why were they commanded not to partake of the tree of
life?
Quote 7 The great plan quote
What happens next?
Then god covers them in animal skins to cover the guilt and shame after they have confessed just like the atonement covers us.
And they were made to leave the garden of eden.
One thought I came across in my studying for this lesson was the concept of leaving. They left not only the Garden of Eden which was their home, but they also left the presence of God. Leaving Home motivates us to return to home.
The Fall created what two types of death?- temporal/physical death and spiritual death. Physical death that our mortal bodies will all have to go through and Spiritual death that will happen when we sin and without the atonement would never be able to be reborn and brought back to the presence of our Savior and Father.
Once they left the garden of eden only then were they able to have children
Quote 8-adam fell that men might be quote
And they were given more commandments to follow. They could hear the voice of the Lord but no longer see him. And like Adam and Even We need to have open communication with God.
Quote 9-we need
revelation from God
Read Moses 5:5-8
How does this apply to us?
In order to be forgiven for our sins there had to be a sacrifice
We learn that the only way to our father is through his son Jesus Christ. Which is why we pray in the name of Jesus Christ who is our advocate with the father because he has born our afflictions, pains, sorrows, infirmities
We also learn that Adam is obedient to the Lord even when he doesn’t understand why. Do we always understand why?
What did Adam and Eve
learn from this experience?
Moses 5:10-11
Eve-“the joy of our redemption” another word could be used-
“Rescued”
Our Savior can rescue us from the burden of our sins.
Quote 10-Icarus Bound
Quote-What is that key?
Quote 11-Elder Renlund Quote
Quote the atonement is not just for us to make it home
Quote 12-The burden of the Responsible Man Quote
Quote 13-Alma 34:32-33
Read Moses 5:14-15
In Ether 12:27
we learn that we are going to make mistakes in this life but it is part of the
plan.
Men are
given weakness scripture…Ether 12:27
Quote 14-The great plan
Close with How Great Thou Art song and Testimony.
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