F/T Essay Questions
In the recent assessment, one F/T question made me ponder with more intensity that the others. The question links the fall, the atonement of Christ, the agency of man, and the reality of men being “free forever”. The answer that I-learn provides,:” It is the Atonement of Jesus Christ which makes men be “free forever” (see 2 Ne 2:26-27)” At first glance, I thought, we have agency long before the Fall occurred, and the atonement of Christ certainly freed us from being forever apart from God. Moreover, Christ came to redeem men from the fall. 2 Nephi 2:26. Reading the words of the prophet Lehi on the Fall and mankind redemption led me to more intense thinking. “And because that they are redeemed from the fall they have become free forever, knowing good from evil…”
Consider this, before the Fall we did have agency. Old scriptures tell us of a great event of which we participated, “When God laid the foundations of the earth, …show more content…
all the sons [and daughters] of God shouted for joy” Job 38:4–7, -I added the brackets. Importantly, did we know good from evil, when we shouted for joy? Using agency, we chose to follow the Father’s plan while a third of all God’s children decided to follow Lucifer using the same gift. According to God’s plan, Adam and Eve were placed in Eden. They had agency, but did not know good from evil yet. Once the Fall occurred, Adam and Eve (and all their descendent) have both agency and knowledge of good from evil. Lehi taught that, “Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy” 2Nephi 2:25 However, Adam and Eve were not free, neither were their descendants.
After the fall, Satan continued opposing Father’s plan, Lehi tells us that Satan ‘seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself.
2 Nephi 2:27’ At this point in the plan, a law has been broken and the demands of Justice are to be satisfied. Jesus Christ then, came to atoned for all God’s children. His infinite and eternal sacrifice (Alma 34:10) freed us from the consequences of the Fall. Therefore, all spiritual children of God who came to this earth become free forever from the consequences of the Fall. Agreeably, it is the Atonement of Jesus Christ which makes men be “free forever” (see 2 Ne 2:26-27)
Finally, my mind asks, did the Atonement come because of the Fall? Elder Bruce McConkie agrees to it in his speech “Christ and the Creation” Ensign, June 1982,9. He says,” If there have been no Fall, there would be no Atonement.” Then, could we conclude that it is because of the Fall that we have the ability to choose good from evil? and consequently, were immortality and eternal life made possible because of the fall?. Alma
34:16
Consider this, before the Fall we did have agency. Old scriptures tell us of a great event of which we participated, “When God laid the foundations of the earth, …show more content…
all the sons [and daughters] of God shouted for joy” Job 38:4–7, -I added the brackets. Importantly, did we know good from evil, when we shouted for joy? Using agency, we chose to follow the Father’s plan while a third of all God’s children decided to follow Lucifer using the same gift. According to God’s plan, Adam and Eve were placed in Eden. They had agency, but did not know good from evil yet. Once the Fall occurred, Adam and Eve (and all their descendent) have both agency and knowledge of good from evil. Lehi taught that, “Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy” 2Nephi 2:25 However, Adam and Eve were not free, neither were their descendants.
After the fall, Satan continued opposing Father’s plan, Lehi tells us that Satan ‘seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself.
2 Nephi 2:27’ At this point in the plan, a law has been broken and the demands of Justice are to be satisfied. Jesus Christ then, came to atoned for all God’s children. His infinite and eternal sacrifice (Alma 34:10) freed us from the consequences of the Fall. Therefore, all spiritual children of God who came to this earth become free forever from the consequences of the Fall. Agreeably, it is the Atonement of Jesus Christ which makes men be “free forever” (see 2 Ne 2:26-27)
Finally, my mind asks, did the Atonement come because of the Fall? Elder Bruce McConkie agrees to it in his speech “Christ and the Creation” Ensign, June 1982,9. He says,” If there have been no Fall, there would be no Atonement.” Then, could we conclude that it is because of the Fall that we have the ability to choose good from evil? and consequently, were immortality and eternal life made possible because of the fall?. Alma
34:16