He Created All Things

One of the important themes of King Benjamin’s words to the people of Zarahemla is that God is the Creator. In Mosiah 2, he emphasized to the people how God had created them: “If you should render all the thanks and praise which your whole soul has power to possess, to that God who has created you, and has kept and preserved you, and has caused that ye should rejoice, and has granted that ye should live in peace one with another—I say unto you that if ye should serve him who has created you from the beginning, and is preserving you from day to day, by lending you breath, that ye may live and move and do according to your own will, and even supporting you from one moment to another—I say, if ye should serve him with all your whole souls yet ye would be unprofitable servants” (v20-21). He wanted them to understand that it was God who gave them their bodies—and even their breath—so they could move and do according to their will. He continued, “And now, in the first place, he hath created you, and granted unto you your lives, for which ye are indebted unto him…. And now I ask, can ye say aught of yourselves? I answer you, Nay. Ye cannot say that ye are even as much as the dust of the earth; yet ye were created of the dust of the earth; but behold, it belongeth to him who created you” (v23, 25). He wanted them to understand their true relationship with God so they would humble themselves before Him. He is the Creator of our bodies and so all that we have here then naturally belongs to Him who created us. We cannot boast because of the things we have—they belong to the one who made us in the first place.

                In the subsequent chapters King Benjamin continued to emphasize the idea that God is the Creator. He taught of the Savior, “He shall be called Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Father of heaven and earth, the Creator of all things from the beginning” (Mosiah 3:8). The Savior not only created our bodies, but He created the whole earth and the heaves above. King Benjamin said again, “Believe in God; believe that he is, and that he created all things, both in heaven and in earth; believe that he has all wisdom, and all power, both in heaven and in earth” (Mosiah 4:9). Understanding the true power of God and His mighty works should lead us to believe in Him and humble ourselves before Him. Then we would “grow in the knowledge of the glory of him that created [them], or in the knowledge of that which is just and true” (Mosiah 4:12). King Benjamin taught them that if they had this knowledge of God as their Creator who had granted them life and everything they had, it should lead them to share of their belongings with others. “And now, if God, who has created you, on whom you are dependent for your lives and for all that ye have and are, doth grant unto you whatsoever ye ask that is right, in faith, believing that ye shall receive, O then, how ye ought to impart of the substance that ye have one to another” (Mosiah 4:21). The people did witness of their desire to heed His words and emphasized their understanding of Christ as the Creator of all things: “For we believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who created heaven and earth, and all things; who shall come down among the children of men” (Mosiah 4:2). When we remember the Savior, we should strive to remember as well that He created all things, and so the beauties of nature and life all around us should lead us to think on Him and His great atoning sacrifice for us. I love the king’s last invitation to his people and to us: “Therefore, I would that ye should be steadfast and immovable, always abounding in good works, that Christ, the Lord God Omnipotent, may seal you his, that you may be brought to heaven, that ye may have everlasting salvation and eternal life, through the wisdom, and power, and justice, and mercy of him who created all things, in heaven and in earth, who is God above all. Amen” (Mosiah 5:15). His final words were a witness of God as our Creator, and we if strive to be steadfast in the faith, that God who created all things will seal us His and bring us home to Him.