The First Commandment

The first commandment that God gave to Adam and Eve pertained to their potential for parenthood as husband and wife. The Bible records; "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth."

He also said, "Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat, 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".

The only way that Adam and Eve could keep God's first commandment; multiply and replenish the earth, is by having children. However, they had immortal bodies that could not conceive children. Satan tempted Eve to partake of the forbidden fruit. He convinced her that by partaking of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, she and Adam could become like the Gods, knowing good and evil. She eventually gained the knowledge that by eating of this fruit, it would make their bodies mortal which would allow them to conceive and bear children. Eve came to understand that becoming mortal, having children, and knowing both good and evil were all critical to becoming like God, so she partook of the forbidden fruit.

Eve then reasoned with Adam and eventually convinced him of the necessity of eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If Adam and Eve had not made the choice to partake of the tree of the forbidden fruit, they would still be in the Garden of Eden, and following God's Plan and progressing would not be possible for them or us. We owe a great debt of gratitude to our mother, Eve. Without her wisdom and courage to partake of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, we would not be able to come to this earth, receive our bodies and experience life on this earth. We could never progress and become like our heavenly parents. Eve, the mother of all living, and her husband, Adam, were willing to die that we might live!

Because agency or the ability to choose was central to God's Plan, Adam and Eve had to make the choice to transgress the lower commandment, so that they could fulfill the higher commandment. It had to be their choice to experience mortality with all of its opposition; good and evil, virtue and vice, light and darkness, bitter and sweet, pleasure and pain, along with the ability to have children. God gave them their agency with the understanding of the consequences that came with that choice.

Because Adam and Eve chose to transgress, they were cast out of the Garden and the presence of the Lord. They were separated from God, or in other words, they experienced spiritual death which was a necessary part of the plan. They also became mortal—subject to physical death. This spiritual and physical death is called the Fall. "Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy." The fall was necessary to receive a physical body and progress to realize our highest purpose and divine destiny, which is the only way we can experience true joy. God's Plan is designed to bring us happiness and a fullness of joy by developing godlike character, which comes through facing opposition and becoming earthly parents of His spirit children.

God the Father said, "This is my work and my glory; to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." And His son, Jesus Christ said, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself".

If we truly love God, we will help Him accomplish His work by loving and serving Him and our "neighbors", His children, so they can also progress to become like Him. With faith and a willingness to sacrifice, we can accomplish God's work by multiplying and replenishing the earth; by bringing God's spirit children into this world, giving them a physical body and a loving family. As parents we model and teach them how to love and serve God and how to follow His plan of happiness. We "pay it forward" from generation to generation.

The most important of the Lord’s work that we will ever do will be the work we do within the walls of our own homes. As we do this essential work, we help each of His children return to Him and fulfill their divine destiny as heirs of eternal life and exaltation. True joy only comes when we do what we were designed and created to do. To fulfill God's Plan for us, or the measure of our creation, we must create a family, and make and keep covenants with God that allow us to be united for all eternity, that we may have joy and rejoicing in our posterity forever! As we experience Motherhood and Fatherhood on this earth, it refines our character and prepares us to become like our Heavenly Father and Mother; a King and Queen of our own kingdom. This does not diminish God's power or glory. As we increase in our glory and power by following His plan for us to become like Him, it only glorifies Him more! Our Heavenly Father and Mother want nothing more than to share their joy and glory with us, their children. Just like any good parents, it is what brings them the most joy!