CHAPTER 9.

THE GREAT PLAN.

The plan proposed by God for the government of the spirits who entered upon their earth careers is revealed only so far as it is necessary for the guidance of man. We may remain certain that the Great Plan is based upon eternal laws that always have been and always will be operative. Matters pertaining to man's earth-life are matters of eternal interest; and the laws formulated for the guidance of man on earth must be laws which in some form are fundamental for the guidance of man in any place and at all times. Nothing is temporary or transient about the Plan itself, for it rests on eternal foundations.

**Forgetfulness.** A condition of the Plan seems to be that the spirits, transferred to this earth, shall remain on earth in forgetfulness of an earlier existence. As in a dream, in moments of deep spiritual fervor, do we occasionally seem to recall our preexistent life. A veil has been drawn over the past; and, without the aid of memory, man fights his battle with the world of gross matter. This forgetfulness seems reasonable. The spirit of man accepted the earth-plan in detail, and if he remembered every step that led to this acceptance, and every detail of the Plan itself, there would not be much reason for the exercise of will in adhering to it. Left as he is, with little memory to steady him, he must exercise all his power, to compel surrounding forces to serve him in searching out the past and in prophesying for the future. By such vigorous exercise of his will he develops a more intimate acquaintanceship with the things of the earth.

**Subject to Earth Conditions.** Intimacy with the conditions of earth, alone, will give a man final knowledge of them. Such information can not be obtained second hand nor by casual or superficial acquaintanceship. For that reason, probably, man has been brought so completely under the subjection of gross matter, that he has no power over it beyond that which he gains as he obtains knowledge of it. Hence, on this earth, stripped of all power, and left, as it were, helpless in the midst of contending universal forces, man must search out the nature of the things about him and determine their laws before he acquires power over nature and thereby brings himself into a condition of joy. In the face of the impending change called death, man is possibly more determined to acquire the power that will lift him from the grave and give him an eternal association with all the elements of the universe, including his earthly body.

**Laws to be Obeyed.** To enter into the fullness of progressive joy, a man must, as has been said, naturally subject himself to the laws of the universe. In God's Plan for life on earth, is a system of laws, representing eternal realities, to which man must conform. Such a law, for instance, is faith, which, in its simple universal meaning, is man's certainty that in the universe is found everything he may desire for his upbuilding and advancement, and that the eternal relations of universal forces will prevail for his good. Another such fundamental law to which man must conform, is that of repentance, which in its larger sense, is merely faith made active. Passive faith can do little for man's advancement. Yet another such law is that of baptism, which is essentially obedience to existing laws. And still another such law is that of the gift of the Holy Ghost, which perhaps means that a man may place himself in touch with the whole of the universe and to draw knowledge from it, including the beings of superior intelligence that it contains. These and other laws are given as guides for man. They sharpen his free agency; develop his habits of obedience to law, and establish for him communication with God. Moreover, a plan formulated by an intelligent Being must be composed of laws, for even the infinite relationships of matter and energy fall naturally into groups of invariable laws. The laws of the Plan, like those above stated, are logical necessities, if the earth-plan is at all accepted.

**An Organization.** It follows of necessity that if there is a plan, there must also be an organization. The plan is not for one alone, but for many. All must be served and blessed by the Great Plan. Those, therefore, who subject themselves to the earth-plan with its laws, must needs group themselves so that the laws may be operative for all. A person may be able to serve in the advancement of the whole race of man, only when there is a unity of purpose and effect, which can be secured only by organization. The question of organization involves those of priesthood, authority, and others, later to be discussed.

**All to Accept the Plan.** The earth-plan, fully completed, must be accepted or definitely rejected by all the spirits who have appeared on earth in conformity with their vote in the Great Council. That is fundamental. Those who enter upon their earth-careers may accept or reject the Gospel; but, since the full success of the Plan is based upon the advancement of all the spirits, it becomes necessary to use every possible effort to secure for the Plan a recognition of all those who accepted it in the spirit world, and who, therefore, entered upon the pilgrimage of earth. God's purpose in the Plan will be incomplete so long as one soul remains unconverted.

Life on earth deals directly with gross matter and the forces pertaining to it. The laws formulated for the guidance of man, are especially devised for earth conditions, and belong to the earth. For instance, baptism, the symbol of obedience to God and acceptance of his love, is not necessarily an ordinance that belongs elsewhere than on earth. More probably, water baptism is essentially an ordinance of and for this earth. It is unlikely that water baptism is practiced in a future estate. If it be true, then all who enter upon the earth-career, and who desire at the years of discretion the perfected joy derived from the Gospel, must have baptism on this earth. Should some of the spirits refuse, while on earth, to accept the Gospel, or fail to hear it, baptism, belonging to the earth, must be done for them, vicariously, on earth, so that they, having had the work done for them here, may accept or reject the ordinance in their life beyond the grave. This is the motive of the work for the dead. The earth ordinances must be done by or for every soul born upon the earth so that the earth experience may not be in vain, should the Gospel be accepted in the remotest day of eternity. This view becomes more important when it is recalled that ordinances of the earth, belonging primarily to the earth, stand for vast, eternal realities, indispensable to man's progress.

When the simple ordinances of the Gospel, as pertaining to the earth, have been done for the dead, then may the dead be judged as of the earth, and may receive the blessings of the obedient who conform to law.

**The Meaning of the Earth Plan.** The earth-plan, plan of salvation, or Great Plan, for the guidance of the spirits placed on earth, may perhaps be more clearly understood if it is compared to the great chart in the captain's cabin by which the vessel is steered. Life on earth is as the large and angry ocean. The chances of shipwreck and of being driven out of the set course, are many. If, however, the ocean is well charted, the mariners can better avoid the sunken reefs, and the dangerous places, and after the storm can more readily return to the course so that the destined port may be entered with a good bill of health. The Gospel is such a chart, on which the journey is outlined, showing the dangers of the journey, the havens of rest and the final destination. If a man accept the chart, and use it in his life's career, he will find the voyage pleasant and his arrival secure, and his life will be as that of one cast in pleasant places. earth so that the earth experience may not be in vain, should the Gospel be accepted in the remotest day of eternity. This view becomes more important when it is recalled that ordinances of the earth, belonging primarily to the earth, stand for vast, eternal realities, indispensable to man's progress.

THE BEGINNING OF THE EARTH WORK

CHAPTER 10.

THE COMING OF MAN.

The decision arrived at in the Great Council was promptly carried out by those to whom the authority to do so was confided.

**Making of the Earth.** The first step, in carrying out the Great Plan, was to secure a place on which the desired experience might be gained. To accomplish this, the earth was made from materials, found in the universe, which, by the intelligent power of God, were collected and organized into the earth. The earth was not made from nothing, nor by the fiat of God, except as his will and words determined that the work should be undertaken. In the clumsy way of man, by adding stone to stone or material to material, the earth was not made; rather, great forces, existing in the universe, and set into ceaseless operation by the directing intelligence of God, assembled and brought into place the materials constituting the earth, until, in the course of long periods of time, this sphere was fitted for the abode of man. In the making of the earth, as in all other matters pertaining to the destiny of man, the work was done in complete and orderly harmony with the existing laws of the universe. The Mosaic six days represent successive stages in the earth's construction, each measured by ages of time. The forces of nature act steadily but slowly in the accomplishment of great works.

**The Builders.** The creation of the earth, the details of which are not known, must have been marvelously and intensely appealing in its interest to the intelligent beings who, because of their exalted knowledge, had the necessary power over the elements and forces of the universe to accomplish the forming of an earth. Three great intelligent Beings were in supreme authority in the building of the earth, namely, God, the Father, his Son, Jehovah, who became the Christ, and Michael, who became the first man, Adam. These three beings were naturally the ones concerned in the making of an earth for the sojourn of the spirits, for it was through the agency of God, the Father, that the spiritual bodies were started on the road of eternal progression; it was about the mission of Jehovah, the Son of God, that the differences of opinion raged in the Great Council, and, finally, it was Adam, or Michael, who was appointed to be the one to come upon the earth, and there to subject himself to death, so that the procreation of spirits in earthly tabernacles, might be started. These three beings, who are so vitally concerned in the destinies of the human race, had charge of the making of an earth which should be a suitable and a pleasant habitation for the earth-clad spirits.

**The Coming of Man.** The earth at last was finished. Adam, the first man, and his wife, Eve, then appeared on earth. The statement that man was made from the dust of the earth is merely figurative, and means that he was made of universal materials, as is the earth. Likewise, the statement that God breathed into man the breath of life is only a figure of the existence of the spirit within the body. The exact process whereby man was placed upon earth is not known with certainty, nor is it vital to a clear understanding of the plan of salvation. We may rest assured that the first man and the first woman were eternal beings, who subjected themselves to life on this earth, so that the process of clothing eternal spirits with mortal bodies might begin on the earth. Adam and Eve, in view of the great sacrifices they made to make the Great Plan a reality, are the great hero and heroine of human history.

**The "Fall."** Biblical lore and traditions among all of the races of man, tell of the "fall" of the first parents from the grace of God. An event called the fall did occur, but it was a necessary part of the Great Plan. Adam and Eve were eternal beings, and were not under the ban of mortal death. Subject to death they must become, however, if their posterity should inherit corruptible bodies. The fall then was simply a deliberate use of a law, by which act Adam and Eve became mortal, and could beget mortal children. The exact nature of this event or the exact manner in which the law was used is not understood. The Bible account is, undoubtedly, only figurative. There was no essential sin in the fall, except that the violation of any law, whether deliberately or otherwise, is always followed by an effect. The "fall" of Adam and Eve was necessary, for without it, there would have been no begetting on the earth of spirits with mortal bodies, and the Plan proposed and confirmed in the Great Council would have remained inoperative. "Adam fell that man might be."

**The First Blessing.** The curse, so-called, pronounced by God upon Adam as he went out of the Garden of Eden, that in the sweat of his brow he should earn his bread, is possibly the greatest of all human blessings, and it is a simple extension of a great eternal law. From the beginning of the dim past, when man slumbered with only a feeble thought of his possible vast future, the great law of his progress has been that only personal effort can achieve desirable things. The price to be paid for advancement is vigorous self-effort. The active will precedes every step of progress. To exercise the will means labor, which may well be represented by "the sweat of the brow." The so-called curse, however, carries with it the magnificent promise that man, by the exercise of his powers, may subdue the earth, and make it serve all his needs. In a universe controlled and directed by the intelligent God, there can be no question but that, ultimately, the intelligent will shall control for its own use not only the things of this earth but all the forces of the universe. The subjection to which the earth will be brought depends entirely upon the degree to which man exercises his will, that is, the degree to which he accepts the benefits of the first blessing.

**The Garden of Eden.** The first days on earth of the first man and the first woman are of intense interest to every student of the subject, and it is to be regretted that so little knowledge of those early times has survived the vicissitudes of time. In the Garden God walked with man and taught him the living truth. According to the Prophet Joseph Smith, the Garden of Eden, the first home of Adam and Eve, was located near the city known as Independence, Missouri. To the north and east of Independence, some scores of miles, is probably the place where Adam dwelt after he had been driven out of the Garden. The State of Missouri, and the country around it, is, therefore, of tremendous interest to those who accept the Gospel as restored in the latter days.

**A Wise Beginning.** In all matters pertaining to the beginning of man's earth career, it may be observed that proper preparations have been made. There has been no blind destiny working out unknown purposes; instead, intelligent forces have provided for man from beginning to end, so that the whole scheme of man's life, here and hereafter, is one of order and system.