Come and See: Whatever God Touches Has Light, Genesis 1,2; Moses 2,3; Abraham 4,5
Maurine
Today are we going back to the beginning, to cosmic explosions and brilliant flashes of light and creation that is primordial, at the very core of our existence. We have four accounts of it, in Genesis, Moses, Abraham, and in the temple. Those who attend the temple have their minds drawn back to creation continually, and we might wonder as Latter-day Saints why we are shown the creation so often. We’ll talk about why it matters so much today.
Scot
Hello, we’re Scot and Maurine Proctor and this is Meridian Magazine’s Come and See podcast, where today we study creation in Genesis 1,2; Moses 2,3; Abraham 4,5. You can find all of our podcasts and the transcripts at latterdaysaintmag.com/podcast. Please tell a friend about these. Right now we are in our voluntary subscription drive for Meridian Magazine and the podcast, and we hope you will subscribe. You can go to latterdaysaintmag.com/subscribe to do that. That’s lattersaintmag.com/subscribe. We can’t thank those of you enough who do, because it is what makes us able to continue this work. You are the ones who keep us going — and it is a very small percentage of the people who are readers and listeners who actually subscribe. Please be one of them.
Maurine
We learn in Moses 1 why we are continually drawn back to the mighty magnificence of the creation. Moses is shown personally God’s work in this sweeping expanse, His moving upon stars and creating clusters of galaxies. Why all this grandeur and precision of labor? The Lord says, “For behold, this is my work and my glory — to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man” (Moses 1:39). His work is creation, but it is merely the backdrop for his sons and daughters to be transformed and finally exalted. Creation is the prelude to His great work which is us, which is you.
Caught here in mortality in the thick of thin things, it is almost incomprehensible that a God who could create the universe is first and foremost interested in you, because even though stars can last billions of years, you are immortal.
Scot
C.S.Lewis said, “There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations – these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub and exploit.” That veil that dropped was a thick one for us, and it not only hid God from us, but us from ourselves. You hardly know who you are.
We see this creation enacted before us in the temple and study it in scriptures to remember who God is and receive an inkling again about who we are to Him. In this world we are likely to forget. The Adversary pounds on us to forget, but the Lord gives us this big picture of creation as a counterweight to the pressing present where we lose our way in the midst of little things.
Maurine
It’s like the story of when the resurrected Christ walked with the two men on the road to Emmaus. They were grieving the loss of Jesus because they thought that he had come to vanquish Rome. Rome was in their face, their constant tormenter. Jesus expounds the scripture to them so that they understand. Rome is small stuff. He has vanquished death and hell. That’s the big stuff.
Understanding the creation gives us our bearings on the universe. Hugh Nibley said, “Of course, the temple is the place where you take your bearings on the universe. That’s what the temple means, a template on a map.” https://www.gospelink.com/library/document/19825
Scot
You see who and what really is. You see purpose and relationship. We are invited with the reminder of creation not to stay in the small picture.
Maurine
This creation of a universe, and an earth, making it suitable for life, then your life, your death, your plan — it’s all of one piece watched over by the Lord. And it’s big.
Abraham was told, in what is surely one of my favorite scriptures, “My name is Jehovah, and I know the end from the beginning; therefore my hand shall be over thee” (Abraham 2:8)
Scot
We learn from Genesis 1:2 that before the creation “the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.” The Book of Abraham indicates that “the earth, after it was formed, was empty and desolate” (Abraham 4:2) One Bible translation calls it a waste.
Then comes the great organizing power of the Lord, for whom no chaos is daunting, for He is the One to whom all the elements respond. He can command the elements and they obey, perfectly. His mighty power includes the profound ability to divide light from darkness. His first creative act was not the creation of heaven and earth, but the creation of light. Indeed, his first command was “let there be light” (Genesis 1:3) — and there was. Without Him, all would be barren, lifeless, and unfruitful, including our own lives.
He who organizes worlds without number also organizes our life if we allow Him, dividing the light from the darkness, giving firm ground to stand on even when we are in the swirl of oceans of trouble, and helping us to become fruitful and to see our labors and our families multiplied.
Whatever God touches has light. Whatever Jesus touches lives. If he touches our hearts, they live. If he touches our families, they live. If he touches our work or our days or our friendships, they live.
Maurine
Without Him there is chaos, a universe that runs down and disorganizes, with Him there is creation, order and light that suffuses the darkness which cannot stand against his power.
We can utterly trust this God who creates glorious form out of unorganized materials, because He is also working on us with the same genius.
Hugh Nibley used to like to talk about the second law of thermodynamics called entropy. He said, because “of entropy or the heat-death, everything runs down. Heat can only move from a hotter to a cooler body, that’s all. When it finally has distributed itself evenly, then there’s nothing. Things must have vanished away…The more complex materials, always break down to the more simple…By theory then, the more complex should have vanished long ago, but they haven’t….What is happening here is that a mind far greater than inert matter has intervened and is running things.” Everything rots and crumbles.
In the same way, people would run down, wear out and die and that would be it. Nothing rises anymore. But because of God’s enlivening power and the atonement of Jesus Christ, that relentless move toward chaos is undone. Entropy is overcome. A creator has organized and enlivened matter and continues to create in us. Life, energy and light replace death and deconstruction. Who is this God that we worship who has the capacity to save us from captivity, barrenness and chaos?
Scot
It is clear, as we have spoken, that the earth’s progression is linked to man’s. We are talking about a parallel experience. James L. Ferrell notes in his book The Hidden Christ: Beneath the Surface of the Old Testament, “In the beginning, before it had taken up orbit around a source of light, the earth was empty, desolate, and dark. (See Abraham 4:2, Genesis 1:2, Moses 2:2). This seems a pretty good description of man’s state so long as he insists on living for himself, on his own terms, refusing to hearken to the light of Christ. But the Spirit moved upon this darkness, and the earth moved into proximity with the light. (See Genesis 1:2, 3-5, Moses 2: 3-5, 6-8; Abraham 4:6-8)
“Under the influence of the light, a ‘firmament’ or atmosphere of life-sustaining air was formed above and around the earth (See Genesis 1: 6-8; Moses 2: 6-8; Abraham 4:6-8). In application to ourselves, we might consider this to be a representation of the nourishing influence of the Spirit in our lives. Under the influence of this light and within the protective canopy of this air or spirit, the earth began to come to life. Isn’t this exactly what happens to us when we are nourished by the Spirit and bathed by the light? We, too, come to life, as it were, and begin to bring forth good fruit.”
Maurine
Ferrell continues, “Interestingly, it is at this point in the process, after the Lord has sown his seeds and nourished his creation by his own light and spirit, that he then guides that creation into the orbit of those that he has set up to govern—the ‘lights in the firmament of the heaven,’ the ‘greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night’ (See Genesis 1: 14-18; Moses 2: 14-18, Abraham 4: 14-18). This too, “Ferrell says, “is analogous to what happens with us, as the light of Christ and the whisperings of the Spirit both enliven us and direct us to the Lord’s representatives on earth. These representatives, who have been called to govern in this sphere, then shed forth the Lord’s light on the issues of our day, helping us to discern the light from the darkness. “And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness” (Genesis 1: 17-18. See also Moses 2: 17-18; Abraham 4: 17-18).
Scot
Ferrell continues, “As we obey the counsel of these governing ones and follow in the light they reveal, our early spiritual growth flowers more fully under their influence, and we, like the earth, bring forth more abundantly. In fact, under the combined influence of the light of Christ, the Spirit, and the direction of those called to govern over the earth, the earth itself becomes a sustaining source of life, nourishing and strengthening everything in its presence — fish, fowls, insects, animals. As the earth grows more abundant and more beautiful, finally, the life that appears on the earth begins to be in the image of God.
Maurine
He notes, “Isn’t this how we grow as well? As we stay in the orbit, as it were, of the light of Christ, the Spirit, and the Lord’s representatives on earth, and as we observe and follow that light, do we not bring forth more abundantly? Do we not sustain and nourish all that is around us? Do we not ultimately receive the image of God in our countenances?
“At this point in the Creation story, the parallelism between man and the heavenly body known as the earth becomes one: The earth in its abundant beauty, and man and woman joined together in innocence, are able to stand in the presence of God, this being the purpose of the process of creation, the fate of all linked through time and eternity.”
Scot
Who specifically was the Creator? We know that under the direction of God, the Father, this work was carried out by Jesus Christ. John refers to Christ when he says, “All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made” (John 1:3). In Mosiah the people cry out, “we believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who created heaven and earth, and all things” (Mosiah 4:2) In Helaman, it says, “That ye might know of the coming of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Father of heaven and of earth, the Creator of all things from the beginning” (Helaman 14:12).
When it comes to man, God the Father tells us, “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.”
Maurine
How was it accomplished? Certainly through priesthood power, and in Lectures on Faith, we are told specifically, “By this we understand that the principle of power which existed in the bosom of God, by which he framed the worlds, was faith; and that it is by reason of this principle of power existing in the Deity that all created things exist; so that all things in heaven, on earth, or under the earth exist by reason of faith as it existed in him.
“Had it not been for the principle of faith, the worlds would never have been framed, neither would man have been formed of the dust. It is the principle by which Jehovah works and through which he exercises power over all temporal as well as eternal things. Take this principle or attribute (for it is an attribute) from the Deity and he would cease to exist.”
No wonder the Lord has designed our existence so it required that we exercise faith. He is seeking to give us a necessary power.
Scot
James Ferrell notes, “The Savior’s various names testify of his creative role. On the first day, the ‘light of the world’(See John 8:12) introduced light. On the second day, ‘he that giveth breath unto the people’ (Isaiah 42:5) introduced air. On the third, the ‘living water’(Jeremiah 2:13) and ‘true vine’(John 15:1)introduced water, soil, and vegetation. On the fourth day, ‘the light which is in all things’(See Doctrine and Covenants 88: 6-13) caused the sun, the moon, and the stars to shine on the earth according to the appointed rotation of the earth. On the fifth day, the ‘fisher of men’ prepared the earth to bring forth fishes and fowls. On day six, the ‘Good Shepherd’(See John 10:1) and Lamb of God’ (See John 1:19) prepared the earth to bring forth the animals and all creeping things, and the ‘Son of man’ (See Matthew 9:6) formed man and woman “in the image of God.” (Genesis 1:24-61)
“Just as it was the Savior who transformed the earth, so, too, it is the Savior who transforms man.” (James L. Ferrell, The Hidden Christ: Beneath the Surface of the Old Testament).
Maurine
One last insight from James Ferrell’s book, The Hidden Christ, which you can tell we are impressed with, “The Abraham and Moses accounts reveal the key to the Creation process. At the end of day one of the Creation, the Moses account says: ‘and it was done as I spake’ (Moses 2:5). At the end of day two, the Moses account says, ‘it was so even as I spake,’(Moses 2:7) and the Abraham account echoes: ‘and it was so, even as [the Gods] ordered’ (Abraham 4:7). At the end of day three, the Abraham account tells us that ‘the Gods saw that they were obeyed’ (Abraham 4:12). Day four ends with this interesting detail: ‘And the Gods watched those things which they had ordered until they obeyed.’ (Abraham 4:18).
“Similarly, at the end of day five, the Abraham account tells us: ‘And the Gods saw that they would be obeyed.’(Abraham 4:21). And at the end of day six, the Gods said: ‘We will do everything that we have said, and organize them; and behold, they shall be very obedient.’ (Abraham 4:31)
“So, for the earth, the key to each stage of progression was obedience.” And for us, it is the very same.
Scot
When our oldest daughter came home from her mission, she said that her mission president had talked about obedience very often at their gatherings. She lamented that there were so many other spiritual things to learn and talk about, but too many missionaries resisted being obedient. Look how critically important this message is for us.
Finally, the creation is marked by how often the Lord calls his work good or very good. So many scientists have written on how exacting things must be to create a planet with life on it. For example, Amir D. Aczel wrote in Time magazine, about the great mysteries of science, “How did consciousness arise in living things? Where do symbolic thinking and self-awareness come from? What is it that allows humans to understand the mysteries of biology, physics, mathematics, engineering and medicine? And what enables us to create great works of art, music, architecture. Science is nowhere near to explaining these deep mysteries.
Maurine
“But much more important than these conundrums is the persistent question of the fine-tuning of the parameters of the universe: Why is our universe so precisely tailor-made for the emergence of life? This question has never been answered satisfactorily, and I believe that it will never find a scientific solution. For the deeper we delve into the mysteries of physics and cosmology, the more the universe appears to be intricate and incredibly complex. To explain the quantum-mechanical behavior of even one tiny particle requires pages and pages of extremely advanced mathematics. Why are even the tiniest particles of matter so unbelievably complicated? It appears that there is a vast, hidden “wisdom,” or structure, or knotty blueprint for even the most simple-looking element of nature. And the situation becomes much more daunting as we expand our view to the entire cosmos. (https://time.com/77676/why-science-does-not-disprove-god/.)
Scot
What about this: As one astronomer has put it, “A slight increase in nuclear forces would have resulted in stars made almost entirely of helium, stars which have a shorter lifespan, resulting in insufficient time for life, for man, to arise in the universe. On the other hand, a slight decrease in nuclear forces would have prevented the formation of carbon atoms and other necessary ingredients of life.”
“George Sim Johnston puts it well when he writes of these breathtaking specificities that “if the cosmic expansion (at the Big Bang) had been a fraction less intense, it would have imploded billions of years ago; a fraction more intense, and the galaxies would not have formed. Picture a wall with thousands of dials; each must be at exactly the right setting — within a toleration of millionths — in order for carbon-based life to eventually emerge in a suburb of the Milky Way. You cannot help but think of a Creator.” A bit more explanation: The mass of the universe could not have been too great or galaxies could not have been formed, and if there could be no galaxies, there obviously could be neither stars nor planets circling stars. With no planets there could be no plant, animal, or human life.” (Thomas Dubay, The Evidential Power of Beauty: Science and Theology Meet).
Maurine
Now, the Latter-day Saints have some unique understanding of the creation that are different from many other Christians. Some of these we receive from a sermon that lasted over two hours that Joseph Smith gave on a Sunday afternoon, April 7, 1844, at the funeral of his friend King Follett, who had been crushed by a bucket of rocks while repairing a wall. It was a stirring, cogent presentation that talked about the nature of God and man’s potential to become as God. Though we don’t have a complete transcript of this talk (and don’t we wish we did) we have four manuscript reports from Willard Richards, Wilford Woodruff, Thomas Bullock, and William Clayton. (Kevin Barney, “Examining Six Key Concepts in Joseph Smith’s Understanding of Genesis 1:1”, BYU Studies.)
We will talk about a couple of the key points that Joseph Smith made in that sermon. First, the world wasn’t created ex nihilo or out of nothing. Instead as we’ve mentioned the Lord organized already existing materials.
Scot
This is what Joseph said:
“Now, I ask all the learned men who hear me, why the learned doctors who are preaching salvation say that God created the heavens and the earth out of nothing. They account it blasphemy to contradict the idea. If you tell them that God made the world out of something, they will call you a fool. The reason is that they are unlearned but I am learned and know more than all the world put together—the Holy Ghost does, anyhow. If the Holy Ghost in me comprehends more than all the world, I will associate myself with it.
“You ask them why, and they say, ‘Doesn’t the Bible say He created the world?’ And they infer that it must be out of nothing. The word create came from the word BARA, but it doesn’t mean so. What does BARA mean? It means to organize; the same as a man would organize and use things to build a ship. Hence, we infer that God Himself had materials to organize the world out of chaos—chaotic matter—which is element and in which dwells all the glory. Element had an existence from the time He had. The pure principles of element are principles that never can be destroyed. They may be organized and reorganized, but not destroyed. Nothing can be destroyed. They never can have a beginning or an ending; they exist eternally.” (Stan Larson, “The King Follett Discourse: A Newly Amalgamated Text,” BYU Studies 18, no. 2 (1978): 203)
Maurine
Another point that Joseph made is this: “In the very beginning there is a plurality of Gods — beyond refutation.” (From Thomas Bullock’s manuscript report of Joseph’s June 16, 1844, discourse, in Ehat and Cook, Words of Joseph Smith, 379.) He said in the sermon that “the [head one] of the Gods brought forth the Gods,” or in another version, “In the beginning, the head of the gods called a council of the gods. They came together and concocted a plan to create the world and people it. When we begin to learn this way, that God exists in this council structure with other divine beings that he calls gods, we begin to learn the only true God and what kind of a being we have got to worship.” (See https://www.thechurchnews.com/archives/2010-08-14/biblical-evidence-of-council-of-the-gods-62795).
That only true God, that head God, whom we worship, is variously called El or Elohim, and it should be noted that Elohim is the plural of El. Some have believed that the “im” on the end that usually makes a word plural in Hebrew only refers to the intensity of perfection.
Nonetheless, it is made very clear in Abraham’s description of the creation in Abraham 4 that there is a plurality of Gods at work. “And they went down at the beginning, and they, that is the Gods, organized and formed the heavens and the earth. ”And they (the Gods) said: “Let there be light” and so forth.
Scot
Who were these Gods? We don’t know, but instead of taking away from our worship of our Father and His Son, it opens up great possibilities to who we are. Truman Madsen speaks about Lorenzo Snow’s experience. “He was sitting discussing the scriptures with a brother in Nauvoo. At that moment something happened to him which in later life he called an impression; sometimes he spoke of it as a vision, sometimes as an overwhelming revelation. He came to glimpse the meaning of what had been said to him. And he formed it in a couplet which we hesitate, all of us, and I think wisely, to cite in discussion or conversation but which is a sacred, glorious insight. It’s a couplet; he put it in faultless rhythm: “As man now is God once was. As God now is man may become.” He says he saw a conduit, as it were, down through which, in fact, by our very nature, by our being begotten of our eternal parents, we descend and up through which we may ascend. It struck him with power that if a prince born to a king will one day inherit his throne, so a son of an eternal father will one day inherit the fullness of his father’s kingdom.
“Suddenly he recovered the verses, repeated but without depth, of the New Testament that we are commanded to become perfect; then, lest we should relativize that, the Master had added, ‘even as your Father.’ The verses in 1 John vibrate with his comprehension of love: ‘Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God. . . . Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is’ (1 John 3:1–2; emphasis added).
“That became a guiding star to young Lorenzo Snow.” (Truman Madsen, “The Highest in Us”)
Maurine
Finally, we come to the creation of Adam and Eve. Adam was Michael, who led the forces of God in the war in heaven. “When we first know Adam. He is alone in the garden, and God said, to him, that this situation is decidedly “not good.” He needs the woman Eve to be completed, “It is not good that the man should be alone” (Genesis 2:18).
“In fact, to underscore that this relationship between man and woman is unlike any other, she is not made of the dust of the earth like all of the other creatures God has made. She is made of him. They are the same material. They are meant to understand and be one with each other, to be co-equals, as Adam is with no one else.
“Though this description of Eve being created from a rib is metaphorical, Adam gives an underlying truth, “She is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh” (Genesis 2:23). This married pair were dependent on each other and meant to be united as no other of God’s creations were with them. In all the earth, this is a unique relationship because they are made of the very same material.
“They have a joint commission and it takes two of them, working together, to fulfill it.”
Scot
“Since Adam has been alone, in creating Eve, the Lord has created a ‘help meet” for him. Here is where we sometimes get into trouble. It is in misunderstanding the idea of ‘help’ or as it is sometimes translated ‘helper’ that we run aground in estimating who Eve is and, by implication, all women. We sometimes suppose that this means that she is a subordinate assistant or that she is meant to be domestic help or that she is meant only to cater to the needs of others. We think of saying to a child, ‘Won’t you be my little helper?’ Yet, ‘help’ is much bigger and more powerful than this. In Hebrew, help is the word ‘ezer’.
“In all of scripture, there are only two who are explicitly referred to as “ezer” — and that is Eve and God, Himself. When God is called ‘ezer’, it is often in times of great peril, when enemies are ranged against the Children of Israel and their very lives are on the line. In those instances, God as ezer, arrives as strength, power, rescuer, and protector. He is the vital strength, the necessary power. He is critically needed. There is no survival without Him.
Maurine
“When the word ezer is used in the Bible, it carries no implication regarding the relationship or relative status of the individuals involved.” Ezer also has no narrow qualifications, no prescribed limits, no cultural restrictions.” To place restrictions or subordination on Eve because she is ezer is simply a faulty cultural construct.
Ezer is used in the Bible twice for Eve and sixteen times for God. As Donald W. Parry and Jay A. Parry noted, “No others — including kings, queens, ranking military officers, prophets, or priests are presented as help. Moreover, the vastly powerful and commanding pharaoh of Egypt, together with his officials and representatives, is specifically depicted as not being a help.” (Isaiah 30:51).… The prophets reveal that God is a help because he sustains and preserves the lives of his people.” (Donald W. Parry, Jay A. Parry. Symbols and Shadows: Unlocking a Deeper Understanding of the Atonement. )
Scot
“Let’s look at just some of those times when God is ezer or help. The first mention of it is in Exodus 18, where Moses names his son Eliezer, meaning My God is a Help “for the God of my father, said he, was mine help [ezer], and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh.” (Exodus 18:4). When we are talking about the army of Exodus, the most powerful nation on earth at the time, this is no small rescue.
“Moses again praises God as a help against the enemies of the Children of Israel. This is help in very difficult conditions. Here are two examples. “Hear, O Lord, the voice of Judah’ bring him unto his people: let his hands be sufficient for him; and be an help [ezer] against his foes.”(Deuteronomy 33:7).
Maurine
“Or what of this, “Happy art thou, O Israel: who is like unto thee, O people saved by the Lord, the shield of thy help [ezer].”(Deuteronomy 33:29). Or in another translation, “He is your shield and helper [ezer] and your glorious sword.”
“Then there are these beautiful Psalms where the Lord is a strength when needed. “Make haste unto me, O God: thou art my help [ezer] and my deliverer”(Psalm 70:5). “O Israel, trust thou in the Lord: he is their help [ezer] and shield.”(Psalm 115:9)
“The Lord is humanity’s help in this song of ascent, as the singer looks to the temple: “I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills from whence cometh my help [ezer]. My help [ezer] cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth”(Psalm 121:1,2).
“The Lord as an ezer preserves life and preserves the soul in this Psalm.
Scot
“We also see a significant moment in the Old Testament when the Children of Israel come to battle against the Philistines, where they are badly outnumbered and apparently doomed to defeat and even destruction if the Lord did not intervene. They had twice been defeated by the Philistines at this same location.
“The prophet Samuel pleads for the Lord’s help, He miraculously intervenes, and the Children of Israel are victorious. To remember that it was the Lord who helped them, they raised a monument on the field. It was called the Eben-ezer, which means “Stone of Help” thus branding it in their memories forever. “Hitherto has the Lord helped us” (1 Samuel 7:12).
“When we sing “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” and repeat the line, “Here I raise my Eben-ezer, by that great help I’ve come,“ this is the moment we are remembering. God came as an ezer to save them.
Maurine
“In the Bible, the Hebrew words that are used in particular places are designed to resonate with one another, one reminding us of the other places where the word is used again. Thus the ezer or help connection is not casual or offhand, especially when it is used to describe only two in a positive light — Eve and God. Protector. Rescuer. Strength. Power.
“The Parrys note, ‘All sixteen scriptural passages that establish that the Lord is a help are connected implicitly or explicitly, to God’s sustaining the life of his human creations. He is a help because he protects his creative works from mortal destruction, death and the grave. He preserves them during periods of trouble and keeps them alive during famines. He crushes their foes and strikes down their adversaries. He increases them and their children. Unlike mortals “in whom there is no help” (Ps. 146:3), the Lord is a help who preserves needy mortals, the bowed-down old man, the stranger, the widow, and the fatherless. The Lord is a help who ransoms his mortals from the power of the grave and redeems them from death.;” (Maurine Proctor, “What I Want My Daughters to Know about Eve”).
Scot
That’s all for today. This has been Meridian Magazine’s Come and See podcast. Next week we will study Genesis 3,4 and Moses 4,5 on the Fall of Adam and Eve. Thanks to Jenny Oaks Baker for the music that accompanied today’s podcast and to Michaela Proctor Hutchins our producer. See you next week.
The Light of Christ unto Life
This article is adapted from Darla’s book Trust God No Matter What!
Author note: Alma 28:14 tells us, “And thus we see the great reason of sorrow, and also of rejoicing—sorrow because of death and destruction among men, and joy because of the light of Christ unto life.”
Here I combine a chapter written in December 2003 (when I was thinking about the meaning of Christ’s light) with a chapter I wrote in February of 2005. I was feeling a great desire to turn my thoughts from sorrow over death and destruction among men, to the light of Christ which offers Life in the surest, most eternal sense.
Trusting in the Lord and feasting on His word keep me in the light. Doubt and fear plunge me into darkness. I’ve always been a lover of the light. I sang “Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam” with gusto when I was a Primary child. I wrote my first poem about a sunrise. “The Lord Is My Light” became one of my favorite hymns.
Nothing bolsters my trust in God like reminders of the Light that is the Savior of the World. How I look forward to the Millennium when Jesus, the Source of all light, will reign. In the meantime, I’ve found that focusing my mind and heart on Christ is the best way to overcome the darkness of the world. In Doctrine and Covenants 88: 50 we read, “Then shall ye know that . . . I am the true light that is in you and that you are in me; otherwise ye could not abound.” Truly, there is not a day that I can “abound” without the light of Christ. When Jesus appeared to Saul on the Damascus road, He told him He would be sent “to open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light” (Acts 26:18)
“Behold, I am Jesus Christ, the Son of God . . . I am the light which shineth in darkness.” (D&C 10: 57-58)
Last spring I visited friends on an island off the coast of South Carolina. I arrived late afternoon and was able to watch the sun set and a big yellow moon rise to enchant the entire seascape. The next morning I awoke just before dawn and couldn’t go back to sleep. I crept quietly out of bed and stole out the back door where I could watch the sun rise over the ocean. The dark sky had begun to lighten and thin, in anticipation of the dawn. The moon was still visible, but fading. Silhouettes became etched with more and more detail as the light increased.
I watched in wonder as the clouds on the horizon took on an ever-increasing rosy hue. Suddenly the top arch of the sun leapt up above the water, bright, glowing, rosy orange. The sun grew steadily to become a flaming ball that transformed the sky and sea with rays of radiant light. The rosy orange faded into a glowing border as the main body of the sun shone a more and more brilliant yellow. The pink under the clouds burnt away to gray as the sun climbed higher in the sky. The glow around the sun grew increasingly bright and white; the light changed the ocean landscape from a mysterious blur to clear, crisp beauty.
I keep that sunrise filed in the archives of my memory for easy access when I need assurance that no matter how dark the night, the dawn always comes. The death of my son ushered me into a dark night of the soul, but the sun is rising again on my life. I’ve learned that life tends to come in cycles. Sunshiny days don’t last indefinitely. Storms come, night descends, and dark clouds of trial or tragedy may obscure the view. But with every dark night there is promise of a dawn.
Light is Truth, Light is Christ
I think of words from Hymn #1: “The morning breaks, the shadows flee … The clouds of error disappear before the rays of truth divine.” Erroneous thinking about life’s happenings can cloud my thinking, keeping me in the dark. However, the truth brings dawn’s light. . . The truth that brings unfailing light into my life is truth concerning the Savior and his Atonement. In D& C 11:11 the Savior says, “I am the light which shineth in darkness.”
In Doctrine and Covenants 88:7 we read, “Which truth shineth. This is the light of Christ. As also he is in the sun, and the light of the sun, and the power thereof by which it was made.” Verse 11 says, “And the light which shineth, which giveth you light, is through him who enlighteneth your eyes, which is the same light that quickeneth your understandings; Which light proceedeth forth from the presence of God to fill the immensity of space.”
No wonder I yearn for the dawn; no wonder I bask in the warmth of the sun’s rays; no wonder everything good in life can be compared to light, everything evil to darkness. Only when I turn toward the Light can I see anything clearly.
One evening after a fireside, when I was on my first mission, a few of us stayed to clean up in the kitchen. Suddenly I remembered I had left my coat on one of the chairs on the stage. I went to retrieve it and found everything dark. I couldn’t find the light switch, but since the light was on in the hall and I knew just where my coat was, I forged ahead into the darkness. I banged into a few chairs, but finally found my way to my coat and turned to go back into the hall. Now facing a source of light, I could clearly see the silhouette of every obstacle and was able to easily find my way back across the stage. I like to ponder the analogy: any time we trust Him enough to turn toward the Light, we find our way.
Jesus, the Light of Life
Recently I was witness to a stunning testimony that Jesus is truly “the light which shineth in darkness.” I listened to a man in his thirties tell of losing his job, family, and membership in the Church when he was incarcerated in a state prison. It was the dark night of his soul, and he was in despair. Then service missionaries taught him of a Christ he had not known or understood, though he had been a member of the Church all his life. He learned what repentance really meant and how the Atonement applied to him personally. He dared to trust Christ’s promises in the scriptures, dared to try an experiment on the Word. The light and love of the Lord began to come into his life.
I was astonished when he said he had been released from prison only a few days earlier. His countenance was full of light; his words full of hope. His testimony of the Savior’s power in his life was strong and sure. I saw a living witness that day of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, born into the world to wipe away our sins. We are assured in Doctrine and Covenants 93: 1-2 that “every soul who forsaketh his sins and cometh unto me, and calleth on my name . . shall . . . know . . . that I am the true light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world.”
The light in my soul glows brighter because of a testimony I not only heard, but saw, in the light radiating from a repentant child of God. Jesus is the true Light!
Physical Darkness, Spiritual Darkness
I was a teenager the first time I experienced utter darkness. My family and I had hiked to Timpanogos Caves, perspiring through the bright sunshine of a hot summer day. Forest rangers carrying brightly shining lanterns led us into the cave’s cool, water-carved interior. Deep inside, they turned off the lanterns for one long minute, and suggested we try to see our hands in front of our faces. Most of us had never experienced total darkness before, and were stunned to realize that we could see—NOTHING. I appreciated so much more the laments of the Book of Mormon people who were left in thick darkness following the death of the Savior.
My experience with physical darkness helps me appreciate more fully the awfulness of spiritual darkness—where the soul is without light and truth, without hope in Christ, where NOTHING spiritual is recognized or seen with clarity.
It is the nature of mortality that we experience opposites—including the contrast between darkness and light. However, it strikes me as one of life’s great ironies that—having been taught the true doctrine of Christ— I should ever choose to remain in darkness of any kind. How can I ever lose hope when the cleansing, rejuvenating power of Christ’s light is so clearly available?
Scriptural Symbolism of Light
What a fitting symbol of Christ’s birth the Book of Mormon people were given—the day and a night and a day without darkness! 3 Nephi 1:19 says, “and it came to pass that there was no darkness in all that night, but it was as light as though it was mid-day. And it came to pass that the sun did rise in the morning again, according to its proper order; and they knew that it was the day that the Lord should be born, because of the sign which had been given.” Luke 1:79 tells us that Jesus was born “to give light to them that sit in darkness.”
In this wicked “last days” world many sit in darkness. This darkness can encroach on me whenever I fail to remember Christ, the Light. When I’m restless or worried in the middle of a dark night, I’m always relieved when light returns with the dawn. As the darkness thins, I see outlines. As the light increases, I see details, and finally when the sun peeps over the mountains, light streams through my windows. So it is with my spiritual life: as I draw nearer to the Source, the darkness of my life decreases, and my spiritual sight improves. The light of each new day reminds me that Christ’s light may stream into my soul like the light of dawn when I turn to Him—no matter how dark the night has been. The return of light is so comforting, so freeing when I’ve been surrounded by darkness.
Only Light Has the Power to Repel Darkness
I’ve learned I cannot diminish the darkness of the world by fearing it, hating it, attacking it, fighting it, or contending with it. But when I remember the Lord of Light, pray in His name, think of Him, feast on His words, and renew my covenants with Him, His light simply dispels the darkness. That is a truth I can trust. Douglas T. Bentley suggested that we, “picture a darkened room at midday. If we were to open the blinds, the room would immediately be flooded with light, which would displace the darkness. Now let’s reverse the situation for a minute. Imagine being in a lighted room at midnight. If we open the blinds will the room suddenly be flooded with the darkness from outside? Of course not. But . . . why? What is there about light that makes it so different from darkness? Light will repel darkness, but darkness has no power over light. In fact, all darkness appears to be is only the absence of light.” [i]Since Jesus IS the light, spiritual darkness is simply the absence of the Savior. His presence, His spirit repels the darkness of the world.
So many scriptures verify that He is our never-ending source of Light, such as: “He [Christ] is the light and the life of the world; yea, a light that is endless, that can never be darkened” (Mosiah 16:9).
“Behold, I am Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, who created the heavens and the earth, a light which cannot be hid in darkness (D&C 14:9).
Jesus came to earth in the “meridian of time.” One of the definitions of “meridian” is: “Of or pertaining to midday (the greatest point of light).” He brought His light, the greatest light, to a time of great darkness. Not only is Christ our greatest point of light, but our only hope to counter mortal darkness and spiritual death. Doctrine and Covenants 11:29 says, “Behold, I am Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I am the life and the light of the world.”
We need to turn off the bad news of the world—turn our eyes from the newspapers, the TV, the videos—then look instead at the good news of the gospel and live in the light. The only effective weapon against darkness is light. Words of light are like flaming candles lighting up a dark world.
To express the idea that light and darkness cannot co-exist, that the tiniest light from Christ prevails over the thickest darkness, I wrote this poem:
One Tiny Candle
Determined to defeat daunting darkness,
I feverishly tried to load it into buckets—
Carried, dumped, loaded again
Until I collapsed, exhausted.
Darkness stood undiminished.
I wept in frustration,
Proven powerless, my task impossible.
A friend appeared
Holding one tiny candle, one flickering flame.
I gasped as that wee speck of light
dispelled darkness.
I threw my bucket far away and ran for candles.
My friend’s candle lost no light by lighting mine.
We two passed our flames to candle after candle.
Each tiny flame ate hungrily, voraciously, big gulps of darkness,
Replacing it with shimmering light.
This effort not exhausting, but joyful!
And I, a child of Light
Recognized at last my one true task.
Light Cleaves Unto Light
Because we are children of God, we are beings of truth and light (D&C 93:29). Unless our hearts are hard, we recognize truth when we hear it. My friend, serving a mission in Fiji, recently told the Christmas story to two beautiful young girls and their mother. They had never heard it before and were sparkly eyed and enchanted—delighted to think they could celebrate the birth of the Savior of the World this Christmas. Ephesians 5:8 says, “For you were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light.”
Words as Light
The words of Christ bring light into our souls. In Alma 5:7 we read, “Behold, they were in the midst of darkness; nevertheless, their souls were illuminated by the light of the everlasting word.” I wonder if we can even begin to comprehend the power of words of everlasting light. Alma also said, “What is the cause of their being loosed from the bands of death, yea, and also the chains of hell? Behold, I can tell you—did not my father Alma believe in the words which were delivered by the mouth of Abinadi . . . And behold, he preached the word unto your fathers, and a mighty change was also wrought in their hearts. (Alma 5:10-13 emphasis mine) Oh what power, what light exists in faith-filled words that transmit the true doctrine of Christ.
The Second Lecture on Faith, page 24, tells us, “It was the credence they gave to the testimony of their fathers, this testimony having aroused their minds to inquire after the knowledge of God; the inquiry frequently terminated, indeed always terminated when rightly pursued, in the most glorious discoveries and eternal certainty.” I have experienced so many times in my life the power of the witness of others as a vehicle of the Spirit to transmit a testimony of a true light-filled principle from the heart of the speaker to my own heart.
In Psalm 119:105 we read, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet. “ We walk daily through the darkness of an evil world. Only Christ’s words, Christ’s Spirit, and the power of the Holy Ghost that accompanies them, can give us light to guide our steps.
How Can I Remember to Turn to the Light?
- I can ask the Savior to “enlighten the eyes of my heart” with clearer spiritual vision. Someone once bluntly asked blind and deaf Helen Keller, “Isn’t it terrible to be blind?” She responded, “Better to be blind and see with your heart, than to have two good eyes and see nothing.” I’ve always loved the idea that the first face Helen saw clearly when she passed through the veil was Jesus’ light-filled face! I need 20/20 spiritual vision as I interact in a dark world. If I want to live in the light of eternity, prayer is a good starting point.
- I love to sing hymns full of the light of the gospel—or recite the words in my mind. One of my favorites is: “The Lord is my light, my all and in all. There is in His sight no darkness at all. He is my Redeemer, My Savior and King. With Saints and with angels his praises I’ll sing.” (Hymn # 89, verse 4)
- I love to feel guided by the light, I love the light of the Holy Spirit that testifies of truth and assures me I am God’s beloved child. I love the light of inspiration when I sense the light of truth. I love the light of testimony when I am overwhelmed with realization that I know that I know. I love the feeling of following the light, being committed to the light. The Holy Ghost can help me to remember the Light.
- I can turn to the “Light” of Christ’s word, looking to the scriptures for guidance and truth. As I read of the birth of the Savior, the Lord of Light, I want to renew my commitment to remember the kind of scripture study most meaningful to me. I take a scripture that lightens my soul, write it in a notebook, and personalize it—adding my name. Example: Doctrine and Covenants 88:67: “And if your eye be single to my glory, [Darla], your whole body shall be filled with light, and there shall be no darkness in you.” Then I write how that scripture applies to me, how I feel about it, how I can make it real in my life. It is a powerful exercise, and the light of the Spirit, Christ’s light in my life burns brighter each time I do it.
- I can commit my time, talents, and resources to the building up of the Kingdom and the preparation of a people ready to meet the Savior. In Doctrine and Covenants 88:67 we read, “And if your eye be single to my glory, your whole bodies shall be filled with light, and there shall be no darkness in you.” How can my eye be single to His glory? What is His glory? Moses 1:39 tells us, “For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.” Any time I’m enlisted in the Lord’s work to bless His children, I am increasing His light in the world.
Jesus, the Light and Redeemer
I’m so grateful to know that the light and power of Christ can thwart Satan’s designs on us and dispel the darkness of his influence. I know that Jesus leaves the ninety and nine and goes after us whenever we stray. He never gives up on us; we can trust Him completely. His light will eventually cause all darkness to flee. “For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light we shall see light” (Psalm 36:9).
He is truly “The light and the Redeemer of the world; the Spirit of truth, who came into the world, because the world was made by him, and in him was the life of men and the light of men” (D&C 93:9). I say with Isaiah, “Let us walk in the light of the Lord (Isaiah 2:5).
This article is adapted from Darla’s book Trust God No Matter What!
[i] Douglas T. Bentley, Abraham’s Seed and Covenant, Cedar Fort, Inc., Springville, Utah, 2003, 114.
A Winter Solstice of the Soul
As days grow ever shorter I welcome Christmas light displays as neighbors brave the chilly outside air to decorate. Without the lights and the celebration they symbolize, December could be a dreary month indeed.
Christmas lights brighten dark December because we still follow the tradition of commemorating Jesus’ birth at the time of the European celebration of the winter solstice. If I paid attention, could winter solstice be a heart-stopping moment? Could I feel the significance of that point in time when the darkness begins to recede? Instead, I will only notice that sunset comes a little later each day, sunrise a bit earlier. But the evidence that follows winter solstice keeps me believing in the yearly triumph of sunlight over frozen earth—the promise that spring’s new life will return, eventually bouncing us into sunny summer.
Even though revelation tells us the Savior’s birthday is actually April 6th, celebrating at winter solstice is beautifully symbolic because Christ is the Light. When we choose a connection to Him through faith and hope and willingness to open the door of our hearts, inner darkness is dispelled. If we continue in His light, spring and summer experiences are assured.
Winters of the Soul
When I experience “winters of the soul,” Christ’s light gives me faith in an invincible summer. Faith moves me to necessary action. Unlike the winter chill that freezes the earth, losses and tragedies that can freeze the heart do not automatically give way to spring thaw. While I cannot choose to keep spring from coming or speed its appearance, my choices can delay the return of warmth and light within. For instance, choosing paths that lead to any number of addictions could bring still more icy storms into my life and keep me in darkness. By choosing to withdraw into cold despair I could live in perpetual winter.
Perhaps the miracle is that during winters of the soul so many of us make choices that lead us to a winter solstice—a turning point where we invite the light back into our lives. Choosing Christ, His doctrine, His way of life is the time of solstice for many.
A stunning example of a soul’s winter solstice is a heart truly changed to let in the light of the Atonement. At a Recovery meeting years ago I listened in awe to a young man whose countenance was full of light—yet he had just been released from prison. In that dim setting he had found the light of the Lord through the Church’s Twelve-step Recovery program. He had, for the first time, come to understand and apply the power of the Atonement in his life. Leaning on that power he turned from the darkness of addiction and let the light of Christ thaw his heart and bring spring to his soul.
Light Is Stronger Than Darkness
The happiest truth about Christ’s light is that it is more powerful than the darkest night. In D&C 10:57-58 we read, “Behold, I am Jesus Christ, the Son of God . . . I am the light which shineth in darkness.”
Compare His light to the sun shining outdoors. If I am in a dark room, the minute I choose to open the drapes, the light floods in and dispels the darkness. Even if I light a tiny candle in a dark room I can suddenly see!
In contrast, let’s say I am in a well-lighted room and it is dark outside. If I open the drapes, the dark does not flood into the room. Isn’t it wonderful that light dispels darkness, but darkness does not dispel light! Just as light is more powerful than darkness, Christ is more powerful than the adversary. In like manner, “The wisdom and foreknowledge of God are greater than the cunning of Satan, and God’s plan for the redemption of his children is more powerful than the evil designs of the adversary.” (Roy A. Prete, ed., Brian Q. Cannon, Richard O. Cowan, D. Mark Prescott, Craig J. Ostler, Associate Eds., Window of Faith: Latter-day Saint Perspectives on World History)
We all have need for the power of light—for many personal winter solstices when we yearn for an increase of truth and light. The need comes not only from sin or doubt or disbelief, but also from ignorance and lack of experience. “Lighten our understanding” is a common phrase, as is “finally the light dawned.”
The Light of Experience
When we experience a gospel principle—such as service—and feel the joy of it for the first time, is it like a winter solstice? Experience is such an important part of mortality—and hard experiences often open the window of our hearts to the light. Eve chose to learn from experience when she partook of the fruit and then told Adam it was better for us to experience sorrow that we may know the good from the evil. The Lord told Joseph Smith in Liberty Jail that “All these things shall give you experience and be for your good.” (D&C 122:7)
Hard experiences teach us, and so do joyous experiences. When we experience the reality of a gospel principle in our lives, glowing words we’ve heard about it come alive with light and meaning that can increase with time and maturity. I had such an experience as I was entering my teens.
I was twelve years old when we moved to the town of Ammon, Idaho. We had no living grandma of our own, so were glad to get acquainted with an elderly neighbor who could fill the role. She was a widow, her only daughter lived far away, and she was not a member of the Church, so she was especially lonely. We quickly dubbed her “Grandma Woodhouse” and began including her in family gatherings. When December rolled around we decided to make some presents for her, get her a little tree, and decorate it with lights, old-fashioned paper chains and strings of cranberries and popcorn. Our anticipation grew as we worked together.
On Christmas Eve, gift-laden, we made our way toward Grandma’s house. I looked at the small decorated tree Dad carried, and smiled in excitement. The air was crisp and clean, the sky star-studded. Our breath made frosty poofs as my two little brothers and I excitedly giggled our way across the sparkling white street. We followed in Dad’s big footprints across the deep virgin snow to her front door.
When Grandma opened the door, we were a bit shocked at the dreary room behind her. She had been sitting alone in near-darkness with nothing in the house to suggest the season. Her eyes lightened with joy, then glistened with tears as we all shouted, “Merry Christmas!” We stamped the snow off our feet, then transformed her big kitchen with laughter, love, and a little tree complete with gifts. With the tree lights making sparkles all over the room, we sang “Silent night, holy night, all is calm, all is bright.” All was calm and bright inside my young heart. I had never before understood all those words I’d heard about “making someone else happy makes you happy too.” But now I did!
“I feel like you are my real family,” Grandma said that night. I gave her a big hug and said, “And I feel like you are my real grandma.” I was so happy I thought I’d burst. Sharing the Christmas spirit of love filled me with inner light like nothing I had ever experienced. That light spilled over and increased for Grandma as our family continued to befriend and love her. My parents, stake missionaries at the time, taught her the gospel. She glowed with a new light within when she joined the Church.
I still feel that light from my experiences with Grandma Woodhouse today, guiding me like the Christ-child’s star. I suppose that some of my desire to serve and be a missionary all my life has been motivated by that bright and breathless Christmas feeling I first knew in Grandma’s kitchen many years ago.
In such experiences the light may seem more like a sudden dawn than a slow solstice-like return of light, each day bringing a few more minutes of respite from the dark. Perhaps the reality is that we are prepared for dawn by our willingness to let in more light each day—solstice-like.
Is Recovery and Healing like a Solstice?
When loss of a loved one, loss of dreams, loss of a way of life breaks our hearts, healing often does come in small increments—like the few minutes more of sunlight that bring each dawn earlier than the one before. Just as slightly longer daylight is a sure promise that spring is on its way, so small increments of progress toward the light promise the thawing of our hearts and the return of light and love.
As inevitably as the seasons come and go, winters of the soul will come again—but oh, how strong our faith can be that Christ’s light will overcome whatever darkness comes into our lives. It is true that the thawing of a chilled heart is not inevitable like the thawing of the earth in spring; agency prevails. But once we have experienced His light and love, why would we not choose to let it in again? Why would we choose to remain in darkness when broken hearts can so readily let in the Light?
How wonderful that winter solstice can come to us repeatedly—times when darkness gives way to light, when little by little the light increases until our souls feel full of the light of Christ’s love. Each experience with living a gospel principle also increases the light within as it solidifies our testimony of that principle.
There is Nothing Stronger than Christ’s Light and Love
I’m so grateful for the light of Christ’s love in my life and for my experiences of gospel living. I know that the darkness of the adversary is real and that it is swirling about this world in threatening clouds. But I know even more surely that God lives, that Christ’s light will triumph. Mosiah 16:9 verifies that He is our never-ending source of Light: “He [Christ] is the light and the life of the world; yea, a light that is endless, that can never be darkened.”
Whatever wintry experiences have darkened our lives, may winter solstice remind us that we can choose to let the light back in, to serve again, to live again, to love again, to feel the mighty change of heart again. And may we increase the light within by experiencing for ourselves the wonders of gospel living. Christ’s light and love are the strongest forces on earth. They can pull us through the hardest times, help us through the darkest night and fill us with His joy when our dawn comes again.
As we move through this Christmas season, may we remember Christ, choose Him, and fill our lives with His everlasting Light.
FEATURES
