The Creation
Ezra Taft Benson
President of the Twelve
(“What I Hope You Will
Teach Your Children About
the Temple,” Ensign, Aug.
1985, 6)
The temple is a sacred place,
and the ordinances in the
temple are of a sacred
character. Because of its
sacredness we are sometimes
reluctant to say anything
about the temple to our
children and grandchildren.
Ezra Taft Benson
President of the Twelve
(“What I Hope You Will
Teach Your Children About
the Temple,” Ensign, Aug.
1985, 6)
As a consequence, many do
not develop a real desire to go
to the temple, or when they go
there, they do so without
much background to prepare
them for the obligations and
covenants they enter into.
Ezra Taft Benson
President of the Twelve
(“What I Hope You Will
Teach Your Children About
the Temple,” Ensign, Aug.
1985, 6)
I believe a proper
understanding or background
will immeasurably help prepare
our youth for the temple. This
understanding, I believe, will
foster within them a desire to
seek their priesthood blessings
just as Abraham sought his.
The Creation
The Organization of the 3 Eternals
The creation involves the organization of:
• Eternal intelligence (D&C 93:29-30; Abr. 3:18)
• Physical matter—“The elements are
eternal” (D&C 93:33)
• Spirit matter (D&C 131:7)
How many accounts of the
creation do we have?
The Story of the Creation was the
Temple Text of the Old Testament
… and still is today.
What is the context of the creation
account revealed to Moses? (see Moses 1:1)
What about the account given to
Abraham? (Abraham 3:1, 11-12)
Day 2
Day 1
Throne of God;
Heart of Creation;
the Source of Light and Life
Day 4
Menorah = Sun, Moon,
and 5 known planets
The “Firmament;”
That which veils God
from our view
Day 3
Bread & Wine =
Vegetation and Fruit
Day 5
Day 6
Altar of Incense =
Clouds; waters above (birds)
?Laver = waters beneath
(fishes)?
Altar of Sacrifice =
land animals
High Priest = humans
Moses 2, Abraham 4
DAY 4
DAY 1
LIGHT / DARKNESS
DAY 2
SUN / MOON & STARS
DAY 5
WATERS ABOVE (Clouds)
FIRMAMENT
BIRDS (in the clouds)
IRMAMENT
WATERS BELOW (Seas)
DAY 3
FISHES (in the Seas)
DAY 6
DRY LAND
LAND ANIMALS
• HERBS BEARING SEED
• TREES BEARING FRUIT
• MALE (bearing seed)
• FEMALE (bearing fruit)
Why do you think the Lord
tells the accounts of the
creation in this way (and in
this context)?
The intention of the creation
accounts is not to tell us how the
earth was made nor how long it took
to make it. But…
D&C 101:32-34
The Purpose of Creation
Why did God
Create the Earth?
D&C 49:15-16
Text
“Simply
summarized, the earth was
created that families might be.”
~Elder Russell M. Nelson (Ensign, May 2000, 85)
Russell M. Nelson
Quorum of the Twelve
(Ensign, May 2000, 84)
This earth is but one of many
creations over which God
presides.… Simply summarized,
the earth was created that
families might be. Scripture
explains that a husband and wife
“shall be one flesh, and all this
that the earth might answer the
end of its creation” (D&C 49:16).
And as part of the planned
destiny of the earth and its
inhabitants, here our kindred
dead are also to be redeemed (see
D&C 128:15).
Russell M. Nelson
Quorum of the Twelve
(Ensign, May 2000, 84)
Families are to be sealed together
for all eternity (see D&C 2:2–3;
D&C 49:17; D&C 138:48; JS—H
1:39). A welding link is to be
forged between the fathers and
the children. In our time, a
whole, complete, and perfect
union of all dispensations, keys,
and powers is to be welded
together (see D&C 128:18). For
these sacred purposes, holy
temples now dot the earth.
"And I, God, created man in
mine own image, in the image
of mine Only Begotten created
I him; male and female
created I them. [The story of
the rib, of course, is
figurative.]
Spencer W. Kimball
President
(Ensign, Mar. 1976, 70-73)
“And I, God said,… Let us
make man [not a separate
man, but a complete man,
which is husband and wife] in
our image, after our likeness;
and it was so." (Moses 2:26.)
What a beautiful partnership!
Spencer W. Kimball
President
(Ensign, Mar. 1976, 70-73)
Neither the man nor the
woman were capable of filling
the measure of their creation
alone. The union of the two
was required to complete man
in the image of God.
Joseph Fielding Smith
Quorum of the Twelve
(Doctrines of
Salvation 2:70)
End