15 For behold, my brethren, it is given unto you to judge, that ye may know good from evil; and the way to judge is as plain, that ye may know with a perfect knowledge, as the daylight is from the dark night. (Moroni 7)
Partaking of the forbidden fruit resulted in several inevitable consequences:
- A probationary phase of our existence with a physical body in a fallen world.
- Good and evil all around us, manifesting in various ways.
Sounds a little scary, but we haven't been left without help. Here's what is given to everyone:
- Redemption is made possible "from the beginning" by Christ.
- The "Spirit of Christ" is given to every man, that he may know good from evil.
- Angels bring good tidings to us, announcing the conditions of our return to God and mediating the work of covenants, which prepare us to return to God's presence.
The divine pattern which was established to gather us back to God is as old as Adam and Eve.
It involves ministering angels -- divinely-authorized messengers, mortal or immortal -- "coming down" to visit us, sharing the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, bearing testimony of Him, and extending a series of invitations to mortals in order to teach them how to "lay hold upon every good thing" and return to the presence of the Father and dwell with Him "eternally in the heavens."
I'd say that's a decent overview of mortality, wouldn't you agree? All of this is taught rather plainly by Mormon and Moroni in sermons we find in the books which bear their names.
I'd like to point out a few clever elements tucked away in the writings of Mormon and Moroni which underscore how deeply these prophetic writers connected the creation with the need for covenants.
Example #1
The first example is found in Moroni 7:15 quoted above. Notice the juxtaposition of a contrasting pair of creation elements (day and night) with the descriptors of the forbidden fruit (knowledge of good and evil). The fallen world is inherently dichotomous and offers us ample opportunities to choose.
Example #2
From Mormon 9:
11 But behold, I will show unto you a God of miracles, even the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; and it is that same God who created the heavens and the earth, and all things that in them are.
12 Behold, he created Adam, and by Adam came the fall of man. And because of the fall of man came Jesus Christ, even the Father and the Son; and because of Jesus Christ came the redemption of man.
In this passage, Moroni teaches that the "God of miracles" created the heavens, the earth, and "all things that in them are." He created Adam who brought about the fall, and Jesus Christ came to bring about the redemption of man. It's a logical train connecting miracles and redemption of man by means of the creation and Jesus Christ!
Moroni continues:
15 And now, O all ye that have imagined up unto yourselves a god who can do no miracles, I would ask of you, have all these things passed, of which I have spoken? Has the end come yet? Behold I say unto you, Nay; and God has not ceased to be a God of miracles.
16 Behold, are not the things that God hath wrought marvelous in our eyes? Yea, and who can comprehend the marvelous works of God?
17 Who shall say that it was not a miracle that by his word the heaven and the earth should be; and by the power of his word man was created of the dust of the earth; and by the power of his word have miracles been wrought?
This concept of the God of miracles preparing a way for all mankind to escape two forms of death laid out the the central purpose of the creation.
Example #3
Let's finish this post by reviewing a very familiar passage from Moroni 10:
3 Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts. ...
7 And ye may know that he is, by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore I would exhort you that ye deny not the power of God; for he worketh by power, according to the faith of the children of men, the same today and tomorrow, and forever.
8 And again, I exhort you, my brethren, that ye deny not the gifts of God, for they are many; and they come from the same God. ...
In coming to know of the truthfulness of this powerful work, we are exhorted to "remember" God's mercy "from the creation of Adam" down to our day. The creation itself is a "[gift] of God" and we are wise to treat it as such.