Adam and Eve: A Lesson on Agency

Hey readers!

Another week has come and gone, and I’m sharing some religion insights again.  For those of you who are new to this blog, here’s a quick recap on what is happening here on LDS Girl Everything.  I’m in a religion course this semester called Jesus Christ and the Everlasting Gospel, and each week I’ll be sharing my insights on a verse or two of scripture I studied for the week.  While I find great enjoyment in writing these posts, I hope they can be of some benefit to you as well.  As always, I hope you are having a wonderful week and that you remember today how much you are loved!

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This week I’ve been studying the fall of Adam and Eve.  In many Christian denominations, this event in history is torn apart, and Eve is so often demoralized for her choice to partake of the fruit.  I find this so incredibly saddening.  As I’ve studied in class this week and on my own, I have learned a few profound things about our first parents, Adam and Eve.  The verses I want to focus this discussion on are found in the third chapter of Moses.  See verses sixteen and seventeen as listed below (with emphasis on the bolded portion):

16 And I, the Lord God, commanded the man [Adam], saying: Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat,
17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it, nevertheless, thou mayest choose for thyself, for it is given unto thee; but, remember that I forbid it, for in the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

Did you know that in Genesis 2, the bolded portion in verse seventeen is not there?  This is the Joseph Smith Translation (JST).  I didn’t even realize that until this week, and now I’m stuck on it, pondering why this addition is so important for us.  Here are a few of my thoughts: The word nevertheless adds a change of thought, an alternative choice.  I believe Adam and Eve chose to leave the ease and luxury of the garden because they understood that without blood running through their veins, they could not keep the eternal law set forth by the Father to have children.  In essence, they chose to follow an eternal law in lieu of the temporal law given in the garden to not partake of the fruit.  How grateful I am for Eve’s wisdom, valor, and foresight, and for Adam’s choice to follow.

So, why is this important to us?  Without Adam and Eve partaking of the fruit, we would never have been able to come to earth and receive a body.  Our progress would have been halted.  Because they first exercised their agency, we too were able to choose to follow Jesus Christ and the plan of the Father.  We are now here on this earth to choose Him again, to choose eternal life, happiness, and progression, or captivity and eternal damnation.  The choice is yours.  But know, as Elder Holland says, that heaven is cheering you on today, tomorrow, and forever!  You can do this.  You can return to the Father again, to live in eternal happiness and eternal progression.  Stay strong, friends.

All my love,

Brianna