When Jesus appeared to the disciples after His resurrection, "They were affrighted, and supposed they had seen a spirit"; but He corrected them, saying, "Handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have." (Luke 24: 37-39.) From these words we gather the information that man, while existing as a spirit, did not have a body of flesh and bone, but nevertheless, existed in the exact shape and form that he now possesses. He had eyes to see, ears to hear, and many other faculties with which man is here endowed. He was also doubtless in possession of intelligence, and much that goes to ennoble man. He had the ability to pass from place to place, increase in knowledge, and perform certain duties that devolved upon him in that sphere of action.
An unembodied spirit is one that has not yet taken upon itself a body. An embodied spirit is one dwelling in the flesh. A disembodied spirit is one that has passed through this stage of existence and laid its body down in the grave, to be finally taken up again united, spirit and body, those of the righteous never more to be separated.
The word of the Lord to Jeremiah was, "Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations." (Jer. 1:5.) Here we have the sure word of the Lord relating to one of the children of men, who was but a type of the rest, only that in this particular case we have the fact made known that, for good and sufficient reasons, our common Father in the heavens saw proper to ordain one of His children to a certain office prior to sending him down upon the earth. Having so gained the confidence of his Father while in his first or pre-existent state, he was ordained to a high and holy calling, previous to his advent upon the earth, and we learn from holy writ, that this confidence was not misplaced, but that he in honor filled his mission and proved himself true to the trust reposed in him, not veering or turning a hair's breadth from the line of his duty, though met by obstacles sufficient to appall the stoutest heart.
The reader will please be cautious not to confound the principle of fore-ordination with that of predestination, in the case of Jeremiah, for there is a broad distinction between the two. A man may be fore-ordained, set apart or commanded to do a certain work, yet he retains his agency in the matter, and it is optional with him whether he performs the duty assigned him or not. If predestinated to perform a certain work, there would be no choice but to do that work. Not having any choice, he would not incur the responsibility of his own actions, nor control them, but would be controlled by the power which predestined him. While Jeremiah was fore-ordained to be a prophet to the nations, we do not read that he was predestined to fill the office of a prophet by any means.
The principle of pre-existence is plainly illustrated in the life of our Savior, who thus spake to the people: "What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where He was before?" (John 6:62.) Again, "And no man hath ascended up to heaven but he that came down from heaven." To all human appearance, Jesus resembled very much the rest of the children of our common Father. So close was this resemblance, that those by whom He was surrounded failed to see any contrast between Him and any ordinary man. They enquired of each other, "Is not this the carpenter's son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon and Judas?"
Let us ask ourselves the question: Is it so difficult to comprehend our own pre-existence, when that of Jesus is so plainly taught, and also that of many of the Biblical characters of whom we read? Paul, the great apostle, speaking of himself, says, "In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began." (Titus 1:2.) Here was a promise made to Paul of eternal life, "before the world began," conditioned upon obedience, as was said to Cain aforetime, "If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted?" (Genesis 4:7.) Yet, notwithstanding this promise, Paul was under the necessity of performing certain duties to enable him to claim the promise made. After being stricken with blindness on the way up to Damascus, and hearing the voice of a risen Redeemer, he was told to "Arise and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do." (Acts 9:6.) After fasting and prayer, he was visited at the end of three days, by one Ananias, who had been commanded of the Lord in vision, to visit Paul, and was furthermore told, that he was a "chosen vessel," or, in other words, one whom the Lord hath made promises to before the "world began," and who had a mission to perform before "Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel." The question of Ananias was, "And now why tarriest thou? Arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord." (Acts 22:16.)
We have presented for the consideration of the reader but a few Biblical proofs of man's pre-existence, out of the many that can be selected, yet consider that sufficient has been advanced to show conclusively that the claim of the Latter-day Saints to a belief in this principle is founded upon holy writ. Their ideas only coincide with the prophets and servants of God in all ages of the world who have alluded to this subject.
Having answered the question: Where did we come from? let us now consider
WHY WE ARE HERE.
A wise Creator must have had some great object in view in the creation of the earth, and placing upon it His children, to pass through what they are called upon to, while in this probation. A knowledge of this object is almost positively necessary to enable the human family to act well their part. Let us then examine what He had in view.