God's Eternal Family
If following God's Plan brings us peace, joy and happiness and helps us to fulfill our divine potential and the purpose for which we were created, then it is important that we understand what God's Plan is for us and why the family is central to His plan!
Before we were born on this earth as tiny infants, we lived pre-mortally with our heavenly parents, an immortal Father and Mother. We lived as their children, just as children live with their mortal parents on this earth; except we didn't have bodies, we only had spirits. We were loved and nurtured by them, just as children are loved and nurtured by parents here on earth.
We are the literal offspring of Gods; male and female. Just as children on earth naturally grow up to be like their mortal father or mother, we are destined to become like our heavenly father or mother. Though this is an evolution that may take a very long time, we will progress and eventually become as they are.
In a pre-mortal family council, our Father and Mother in Heaven presented a plan to all of us, their spirit children, that would allow us to receive immortal bodies like theirs, and to gain knowledge and experience on this earth that would be necessary in each of our evolutions to become like them and receive all that they have; our divine inheritance. This is the work and glory of Gods and Goddesses; to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of their children. Their whole purpose is to help us progress and realize our ultimate potential as offspring of Deity.
The natural family was and is central to God's plan for the eternal destiny of His children. The purpose for God's creation of the earth was to provide a place, a home and a family for each of His children to come to and receive their bodies. It would be a place where ideally we could be loved and nurtured and taught God's plan, so that we would know how we could become like our heavenly parents and return to live with them.
This plan required that when we came to earth, we would not remember our pre-earth life with our heavenly parents. Life on earth would be a test to see if we would be willing to follow God's plan and obey His commandments without the memory of our pre-earth life. We would have to live by faith. But we would be given "The Light of Christ", a conscience, that would help us know and choose right from wrong. And ideally, we would have an earthly father and mother who would guide and nurture us along the path back to our heavenly home.
God's plan would include opposition; that we would experience and learn to discern between good and evil, right and wrong, light and darkness. One of the requirements to return to God and to be and live like Him, is that you must be clean, without sin, to enter into the kingdom of Heaven.
But God's plan would also provide a Savior, who would pay for our bad choices or sins, so that we could be forgiven and become clean again if we would repent and keep God's commandments. The Savior would pay a ransom for each of us by suffering for all of our sins, and ultimately giving His life for us. This sacrifice would allow us to also be resurrected, receive immortal bodies and live forever with our heavenly parents and our family (those who choose to follow God's plan).
Our eldest brother, Jehovah or Jesus Christ, volunteered to play the role of Savior, and he would willingly give all the glory to God. On the other hand, Lucifer, another one of our brothers,
and his followers rebelled against God's plan. They did not believe we would all make it back to Heaven if we were given the freedom to choose evil. They didn't believe that Jesus could save us all. Lucifer presented his own plan that would not allow agency or the ability to choose. He would force us to choose the right to make sure we would all return and become like our heavenly parents. But he wanted all the glory and power to be his, not Father's. For this, he and one third of God's children, who preferred Lucifer's plan, were cast out of Heaven and sent to the earth. They are our opposition, the evil spirits that continually try to tempt and ensnare us in sin. If they cannot have bodies and progress to become gods, then they will do all they can to make sure we won't either. Because of their opposition and temptations, we do make mistakes, but hopefully we also learn from our failures and develop godlike character when we humble ourselves, repent, and try our best to keep God's commandments. This earth life is a test to prove us; to see if we will follow God's eternal plan, and in so doing, we develop godly character so we can become like our heavenly parents and return to live with them. Just as princes and princesses grow up to inherit their parent's kingdom, we too will become like them; kings and queens in our own heavenly kingdom, and inherit all that they have and are!
If we choose to follow God's plan and return to our heavenly home, we will not be angels, playing harps for eternity? If we will continue to learn and grow and do all that is required, we will become Creators, just like our heavenly parents. We will create earths that will be inhabited by our children, so they can be tested and progress to become like us. God's plan for His family is one eternal round. We are to create and nurture life within the divinely organized family. Families are eternal and intended to last forever. They provide an environment where each child can grow and flourish to become all that they were created to be. We are all Gods in embryo, destined to become and do all that He is and does!