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The beginning of a new year is a good time to contemplate the creation of the world.
The Old Testament begins with the Creation story: God organizes heaven and earth in seven phases, called “days.” He divides light from darkness, water from land. He creates celestial bodies. He introduces life: plants, animals, and humans. At each stage of creation, He pauses to ensure that the results are good.
Book of Mormon prophets emphasized the importance of the Creation. Nephi said that we make wiser decisions when we understand our Creator better (1 Nephi 2:12). Lehi taught that the earth was created for our benefit (2 Nephi 2:12, 14-15, 25). Both Ammon and Aaron introduced the gospel to Lamanite kings beginning with this foundational doctrine (Alma 18:28-34, Alma 22:10-12). Alma identified God’s creations as evidence of His existence (Alma 30:44).
Here are some principles I have learned by pondering the Creation:
- Taking time to appreciate and interact with nature can expand our perspective: What Does the Book of Mormon Teach About the Creation of the Earth?
- On the first day of creation, God divided the light from the darkness. He wants us to do the same in our lives, prioritizing important things over trivial things: That Turn Aside the Just for a Thing of Naught – 2 Nephi 28:16-17.
- Knowing that we are God’s children gives us confidence and inspires us to treat one another with respect: The Image of God.
- Our divine lineage is the source of our divine potential: “Ye Are Gods”.
- If creation is an important part of the Savior’s mission, then those of us who seek to emulate Him ought also to participate in creative activities: The Creator.
- Every moment is an opportunity for creation: What Is the Significance of the Phrase, “It Came to Pass?”
- In spite of the entropy and erosion in the world, God will one day renew it and make it incorruptible. He can also renew us and convert us into people who belong in that new world: “A New Heaven and a New Earth” – Ether 13:9.
Blog Posts: January 4-9
Sequential Creation
God created the earth in stages. That’s how He described the process to Abraham and to Moses. Here is His description of the process, as given in Genesis 1, Moses 2, and Abraham 4: Stage (Day) Task(s) Scripture References 1 Create lightDivide light from darkness Genesis 1:3-5Moses 2:3-5Abraham 4:3-5 2 Create an expanse or firmament…
Being Created
First, three premises: To create something doesn’t mean to bring it into existence. It means to organize preexisting materials in a new way. (See Joseph Smith’s explanation of the Hebrew word bara’ (בָּרָא) as recorded by William Clayton, General Conference, April 1844.) The Creation isn’t an event that occurred in the past. It is ongoing.…
Creation as Grace
King Benjamin wanted his people to recognize the extraordinary gifts they had received from God. It is impossible to be grateful enough, he said. God has given us far more than we can even adequately acknowledge: If you should render all the thanks and praise which your whole soul has power to possess, to that God who has created…
An Help, Meet for Him
After Lehi and his family left Jerusalem but before they began their journey to the promised land in earnest, the Lord told Lehi that his group was incomplete. He said “that it was not meet” for Lehi to “take his family into the wilderness alone; but that his sons should take daughters to wife” (1…
Cleave
After creating Adam and Eve, God established the institution of marriage with these words: Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. Genesis 2:24, Moses 3:24, Abraham 5:18 “Cleave” is an unusual word; it has two nearly opposite meanings, depending on the context: To split or sever something: “The mount…
“God Blessed the Seventh Day”
Are we so busy all the time that we aren’t enjoying our lives? Out of the seven periods of creation, God reserved the seventh one for rest. “And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made” (Genesis 2:3, see…
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