Lessons on the Plan of Salvation
Lesson No. Six
Marriage and Family is Central to the Plan of Salvation
Eternal marriage is the crowning aspect of creation – Adam and Eve set the example of marriage and family for all their posterity. The Father Himself sealed them for time and all eternity in the crowning priesthood ordinance of the gospel. From this we see that God’s greatest creation was not Adam and Eve alone, but Adam and Eve sealed together as one, a new creation, endowed with God’s own strength and power – the power to have an eternal family both in this life and in eternity. The marriage of Adam and Eve is to be the model for every subsequent marriage. At a time when the world wants to redefine marriage we must always remember that marriage in the eyes of God has and always will be between a man and a woman. Elder Jeffrey Holland has written:
“From the Garden of Eden onward, marriage was intended to mean the complete merger of a man and woman – their hearts, hopes, lives, love, family, future, everything. Adam said of Eve that she was bone of his bones and flesh of his flesh…. This is a union of such completeness that we use the word seal to convey its eternal promise. The Prophet Joseph Smith once said we perhaps could render such a sacred bond as being ‘welded’ one to another.”
God commanded Adam and Eve to have children and teach them the gospel. They were to worship and pray together. They were to sacrifice for the Lord’s work and for their family. The world may not understand but we understand that these commandments are still in full force and effect. Furthermore, we know that it is family that brings joy both in this life and in the next.
Latter day prophets have assured worthy members who don’t have the opportunity for marriage or children in this life: “There is no Latter-day Saint who dies after having lived a faithful life who will lose anything because of having failed to do certain things when opportunities were not furnished him or her. In other words, if a young man or a young woman has no opportunity of getting married, and they live faithful lives up to the time of their death, they will have all the blessings, exaltation, and glory that any man or woman will have who had this opportunity and improved it. That is sure and positive” (Teachings of Lorenzo Snow, 138).
Satan greatest attack is on traditional marriage – “The perfect and beautiful union of Adam and Eve excited the envy and jealousy of the Evil One, who made it his prime objective to break it up” (Hugh Nibley, Old Testament and Related Studies, 88). “Satan has never stopped trying to put men and women at odds and keep them there. This battle, which seems so very modern, is really as old as the earth itself. In this final dispensation of the fullness of times, Satan has mustered all his forces to drive a wedge between men and women. He desires to cause man and woman to see one another not as empowering partners but as individuals of unequal worth or even as competitors” (Beverly Campbell, Eve and the Choice Made in Eden, 164).
Eternal marriage, being central to the plan of salvation, will be protected and preserved – Never has such a destructive practice as “gay marriage”, and all that is associated with it, gotten such great momentum in such a short time. It seems that there is no stopping it. However, the Lord said:
“The works, and the designs, and the purposes of God cannot be frustrated, neither can they come to naught” (D&C 3:1). We understand that eternal life made possible by celestial marriage is the ultimate objective of the plan of salvation. Therefore, I am certain that if we follow the council of the Brethren and do everything we can to sustain and defend traditional marriage and family the Lord will bless us in our efforts, and our own marriage and family will be strengthened and protected.
Furthermore, I believe that the Lord will use this issue to His advantage, and that our Church’s teaching on the importance of traditional marriage will bring many to the gospel of Jesus Christ.