I Created the Heavens and the Earth

The Come, Follow Me manual this week says this: “Although we don’t know everything about how the world was created, it’s interesting to note what God has chosen to reveal about the Creation.” One of those things that He has revealed is that Jesus Christ created the earth under the direction of the Father. Moses learned this from God as he was taught about the creation: “Behold, I reveal unto you concerning this heaven, and this earth; write the words which I speak. I am the Beginning and the End, the Almighty God; by mine Only Begotten I created these things; yea, in the beginning I created the heaven, and the earth upon which thou standest” (Moses 2:1). The Only Begotten is the Savior, and it was through His power that the earth was created. Moses was also told this: “And by the word of my power, have I created them, which is mine Only Begotten Son, who is full of grace and truth” (Moses 1:32). Other scriptures similarly confirm that it was Jesus who is the Creator. The apostle John wrote, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made…. He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not” (John 1:1-3, 10). The Word is another name for the Savior, and the apostle testified that “All things were made by him.” When the Savior visited the Nephites He likewise highlighted His role in the creation, “Behold, I am Jesus Christ the Son of God. I created the heavens and the earth, and all things that in them are. I was with the Father from the beginning. I am in the Father, and the Father in me; and in me hath the Father glorified his name” (3 Nephi 9:15). He created both the heavens and the earth, and Moroni testified of this as well: “But behold, I will show unto you a God of miracles, even the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; and it is that same God who created the heavens and the earth, and all things that in them are” (Mormon 9:11). The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is Jesus Christ, and He created all things in the heaven and earth. In our dispensation the Savior attested to the same truth: “Behold, I am Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, who created the heavens and the earth, a light which cannot be hid in darkness” (Doctrine and Covenants 14:9). In addition to creating the earth and the heavens, the Savior also created the bodies for man. He said this to the brother of Jared: “Behold, I am Jesus Christ. I am the Father and the Son. In me shall all mankind have life, and that eternally, even they who shall believe on my name; and they shall become my sons and my daughters. And never have I showed myself unto man whom I have created, for never has man believed in me as thou hast. Seest thou that ye are created after mine own image? Yea, even all men were created in the beginning after mine own image. Behold, this body, which ye now behold, is the body of my spirit; and man have I created after the body of my spirit” (Ether 3:14-16). It is incredible to think that we are created in the image of Jesus Christ and that He prepared all things on the earth for us to enjoy and sustain life in mortality.

                Knowing that Jesus Christ is the Great Creator helps us understand why we have a desire to create in our own lives as well as we strive to follow Him. Elder Uchtdorf said this: “The desire to create is one of the deepest yearnings of the human soul. No matter our talents, education, backgrounds, or abilities, we each have an inherent wish to create something that did not exist before. Everyone can create. You don’t need money, position, or influence in order to create something of substance or beauty.” He continued, “Creation brings deep satisfaction and fulfillment. We develop ourselves and others when we take unorganized matter into our hands and mold it into something of beauty…. We were created with the express purpose and potential of experiencing a fulness of joy. Our birthright—and the purpose of our great voyage on this earth—is to seek and experience eternal happiness. One of the ways we find this is by creating things.” Each of us has different talents and can create in different ways, from building to writing and cooking and a myriad of other possible creative. Whatever our specific talents, we should remember that as we seek to create good things, whatever those may be, we are trying to be like the Savior who created all that is good. The Lord encouraged us in these words, “Verily I say, men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness; For the power is in them, wherein they are agents unto themselves” (Doctrine and Covenants 58:27-28). One of the ways we can “bring to pass much righteousness” is through our own power of creation as we strive to be like the Savior.