Men Are That They Might Have Joy

One of the most famous passages in the Book of Mormon is this short verse from Lehi, spoken to his son Jacob: “Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy.” We quote that so much, comforted to know that the Lord wants us to have joy on earth, that perhaps we sometimes forget to ask the natural next question: how do we have joy? I think that Lehi gave us the answer in the next verse. He said this: “And the Messiah cometh in the fulness of time, that he may redeem the children of men from the fall. And because that they are redeemed from the fall they have become free forever, knowing good from evil; to act for themselves and not to be acted upon, save it be by the punishment of the law at the great and last day, according to the commandments which God hath given.” We obtain joy through the Messiah and by acting for ourselves to follow Him. In other words, we need Jesus Christ and we need to choose to follow Him if we want joy. In case we missed that message in that verse, Lehi emphasized both these points again in his next statement: “Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself” (2 Nephi 2:25-27). Joy comes through choosing it through our great Mediator.

                Perhaps Jacob was thinking of these words from his father as he expounded on the same ideas. He taught the Nephites how we would be miserable without Jesus Christ: “O the wisdom of God, his mercy and grace! For behold, if the flesh should rise no more our spirits must become subject to that angel who fell from before the presence of the Eternal God, and became the devil, to rise no more. And our spirits must have become like unto him, and we become devils, angels to a devil, to be shut out from the presence of our God, and to remain with the father of lies, in misery, like unto himself;… And because of the way of deliverance of our God, the Holy One of Israel, this death, of which I have spoken, which is the temporal, shall deliver up its dead; which death is the grave.” Without the Holy One of Israel—who is Jesus Christ—we would be consigned to misery with the devil as we would rise no more from the grave. Without Jesus Christ, we could not on our own live righteous enough to avoid this fate. We are wholly dependent upon Him for salvation. Jacob continued, “Wherefore, we shall have a perfect knowledge of all our guilt, and our uncleanness, and our nakedness; and the righteous shall have a perfect knowledge of their enjoyment, and their righteousness, being clothed with purity, yea, even with the robe of righteousness…. But, behold, the righteous, the saints of the Holy One of Israel, they who have believed in the Holy One of Israel, they who have endured the crosses of the world, and despised the shame of it, they shall inherit the kingdom of God, which was prepared for them from the foundation of the world, and their joy shall be full forever” (2 Nephi 9:8, 11, 14, 18). The righteous—those who have chosen to follow Jesus Christ—will have joy that is full forever. That is the purpose of this life and the reward in the next life for those who choose it. We cannot obtain the joy that was meant for us without both Jesus Christ and the righteous exercise of our own agency to follow His commandments. I love the way that Jacob put it in the next chapter: “Therefore, cheer up your hearts, and remember that ye are free to act for yourselves—to choose the way of everlasting death or the way of eternal life. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, reconcile yourselves to the will of God, and not to the will of the devil and the flesh; and remember, after ye are reconciled unto God, that it is only in and through the grace of God that ye are saved” (2 Nephi 10:23-24). We are free to choose the way of eternal life—we can rejoice because no one can take that from us without our consent. But we must remember that it is only through the grace of God that we have the choice in the first place and that we are saved through Him.

                We celebrate God’s plan that declares the purpose of this life is to have joy. His work and glory are to bring about our immortality and eternal life, which will come to us through Jesus Christ and the righteous exercise of our agency. Like Lehi, we must learn in this life to “[choose] the good part” and look to the great Mediator who can fill us with the joy we seek.