“The Fall Was Part of God’s Plan,” Liahona, January 2022
Gospel Basics
The Fall Was Part of God’s Plan
Because of the Fall, we get to come to earth and can one day return to live with our Father in Heaven.
Adam and Eve, by Jay Bryant Ward
In the Garden of Eden, God commanded Adam and Eve not to eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Then He told them, “Thou mayest choose for thyself, … but, remember that I forbid it” (Moses 3:17). Satan tempted Eve to eat the fruit of the tree. He told her, “Ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil” (Moses 4:11). She ate the fruit and then shared it with Adam. God sent them out of the Garden of Eden.
The Fall
Adam and Eve Cast Out of the Garden, by Gary L. Kapp, may not be copied
When Adam and Eve left the Garden of Eden, they were no longer in God’s presence. This separation from God is called spiritual death. Leaving the garden also meant Adam and Eve became mortal and thus were able to die. Even though Adam and Eve were no longer with God and were now mortal, they were happy and hopeful when they saw they could progress (see Moses 5:10–11). “Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy” (2 Nephi 2:25).
A Time of Testing
When we are born, we live apart from God, just as Adam and Eve did after the Fall. Satan tempts us to make bad choices. These temptations allow us to be tested and choose between right and wrong (see Alma 12:24). Each time we sin and don’t repent, we grow further away from Heavenly Father. But if we repent, we grow closer to our Father in Heaven.
Physical Death
The earth was created for us (see 1 Nephi 17:36). The Fall made it possible for Adam and Eve to carry out God’s commandment to have children, allowing us to come to earth in a physical body. Our bodies will someday die, but our spirits will continue to live. Our bodies and spirits will be reunited when we are resurrected.
Saved by Jesus Christ
The Resurrection, by Harry Anderson
Through the atoning power of Jesus Christ, we can overcome physical and spiritual death. Because Christ was resurrected, everyone who is born on this earth will be resurrected and live forever. And because Christ suffered for our sins, we can repent and be forgiven so that we can live with our Father in Heaven again.