As a rule, we men, who strive to live celestial laws and are thus judged worthy to be ordained to the Melchizedek Priesthood, qualified to hold that authority in the premortal life, which Alma calls the “first place.”^[ii] Quoting Alma and Joseph Smith, Elder McConkie taught that worthy priesthood holders were

“on the same standing with their brethren,” meaning that initially all had equal opportunity to progress through righteousness. But while yet in the eternal worlds, certain of the offspring of God, “having chosen good, and exercising exceeding great faith,” were as a consequence “called and prepared from the foundation of the world according to the foreknowledge of God” to enjoy the blessings and powers of the priesthood. These priesthood calls were made “from the foundation of the world,” or in other words faithful men held priesthood power and authority first in pre-existence and then again on earth. “Every man who has a calling to minister to the inhabitants of the world was ordained to that very purpose in the Grand Council of heaven before this world was.”^[iii]

Our premortal calling to the priesthood, Alma says, was “on account of [our] exceeding faith and good works.” Having chosen independently to embrace the good and eschew the evil, and having exercised “exceedingly great faith,” we received the authority of God, which qualified us for a “preparatory redemption.”^[iv] In other words, in the “first place,” or premortality, we earned the blessings of a preparatory redemption, which guaranteed that we would be offered those blessings again in the flesh. These blessings included ordination to the priesthood then and the invitation to receive it now. Unless we chose otherwise in this life, the blessings of redemption and the priesthood would be ours forever.

The Eternal Obligation of Priesthood Holders

“Priesthood is the great governing authority in the universe,” writes M. Catherine Thomas, assistant professor emeritus of Ancient Scripture at Brigham Young University. “It unlocks spiritual blessings of the eternal world for the heirs of salvation.”^[v] The priesthood then and now is always conferred upon us with the understanding that we will minister to God’s children, offer them the blessings of the plan of redemption, and strive to bring them to Christ for the purpose of redemption and establishing the principles of Zion in their lives.^[vi]

This is modeled in the scriptures by Enoch, who left his home in the land of Cainan to preach the gospel to the people, offer them the ordinances of salvation, and bring them to Zion.^[vii] Likewise, Melchizedek preached the gospel, administered the ordinances, and achieved Zion: “And his people wrought righteousness, and obtained heaven, and sought for the city of Enoch which God had before taken, separating it from the earth, having reserved it unto the latter days, or the end of the world.”^[viii]

The Book of Mormon offers other examples of priesthood holders administering redemptive and Zionlike principles. For example, “And it came to pass that the thirty and fourth year passed away, and also the thirty and fifth, and behold the disciples of Jesus had formed a church of Christ in all the lands round about. And as many as did come unto them, and did truly repent of their sins, were baptized in the name of Jesus; and they did also receive the Holy Ghost. And it came to pass in the thirty and sixth year, the people were all converted unto the Lord, upon all the face of the land, both Nephites and Lamanites, and there were no contentions and disputations among them, and every man did deal justly one with another.”^[ix]

Catherine Thomas explains,

The power to play a saving role is the most sought-after power among righteous priesthood holders in time or in eternity. The greater the soul, it seems, the deeper the desire to labor to brings souls to Christ. . . . A brief look at the history of the priesthood on the earth reveals that men like [King] Benjamin have stood in this priesthood channel unlocking the blessings of salvation for their people since the days of Adam. Adam, in fact, was the great prototype of priesthood holders who strove to bring their communities and their posterity into at-one-ment with the Lord Jesus Christ. Adam blessed his posterity because, the Prophet Joseph taught, ‘he wanted to bring them into the presence of God. They looked for a city . . . ‘whose builder and maker is God’ (Hebrews 11:10).

A priesthood holder is under obligation to sanctify himself so that he can advocate for his people, as did Adam, Enoch, Melchizedek, Moses, King Benjamin, and Joseph Smith. His people would include his wife and family, the people to whom he is called to serve, and anyone else whom the Lord places in his way. Catherine Thomas explains the duties of a priesthood holder:

A priesthood holder’s office is to sanctify himself and stand as an advocate before God seeking blessings for his community in the manner of Jesus Christ (see John 17:19), whether the community be as small as a family or as large as Benjamin’s kingdom. A righteous priesthood holder can work by faith to provide great benefits to his fellow beings (see Mosiah 8:18). He can, in fact, exercise great faith in behalf of others of lesser faith, ‘filling in’ with faith for them. . . . The Lord seems interested not only in individual but in groups of people who wish to establish holy cities and unite with heavenly communities. Like the ancients, one who holds the holy priesthood is always trying to establish a holy community, is always ‘look[ing] for a city’ (Hebrews 11:10, 16).^[x]

The Eternal Nature of Priesthood Work

Our works on earth are an extension of the works we did in the premortal world. These works are redemption and advancing the cause of Zion. Alma explained that our premortal calling to the priesthood set us apart from others in that realm, those who hardened their hearts against the gospel and thus forfeited their privileges: “And thus they [priesthood holders] have been called to this holy calling on account of their faith, while others would reject the Spirit of God on account of the hardness of their hearts and blindness of their minds, while, if it had not been for this they might have had as great privilege as their brethren.”

We distinguished ourselves in premortality by embracing the principles of redemption and Zion, and therefore we were rewarded in that “first place” with the priesthood: “Thus this holy calling [was] prepared from the foundation of the world for such as would not harden their hearts, being in and through the Atonement of the Only Begotten Son.”

Having received the priesthood, we became part of the same order as the Son of God and went about doing his work, the work of Zion:

And thus being called by this holy calling, and ordained unto the high priesthood of the holy order of God, to teach his commandments unto the children of men, that they also might enter into his rest—this high priesthood being after the order of his Son, which order was from the foundation of the world; or in other words, being without beginning of days or end of years, being prepared from eternity to all eternity, according to his foreknowledge of all things—Now they were ordained after this manner—being called with a holy calling, and ordained with a holy ordinance, and taking upon them the high priesthood of the holy order, which calling, and ordinance, and high priesthood, is without beginning or end—thus they become high priests forever, after the order of the Son, the Only Begotten of the Father, who is without beginning of days or end of years, who is full of grace, equity, and truth. And thus it is. Amen.^[xi]

Clearly, our past experience with the priesthood will be exceeded only by our glorious future experience. Moreover, our priesthood work now is an extension of our work then; and our work in the priesthood will continue into the eternities: “The faithful elders of this dispensation, when they depart from mortal life, continue their labors in the preaching of the gospel of repentance and redemption, through the sacrifice of the Only Begotten Son of God.”^[xii]

The work that we assumed so long ago—the work of redemption—is the work that helps to establish Zion in the lives of people now. This work is as eternal as is the priesthood. The priesthood vitalizes the plan of redemption and makes possible the establishment of Zion. The priesthood of God is the power by which the foundation of Zion (the Atonement) and the three pillars of Zion (the new and everlasting covenant, the oath and covenant of the priesthood, and the law of consecration[xiii]) function together. Built upon this sure foundation, Zion rises to form “the highest order of priesthood society.”^[xiv]

Author’s Note

This article was adapted from my new book, The Three Pillars of Zion. Click here to receive a free sample.

[ii] Alma 13:3.

[iii] McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, 475–83; Alma 13:3, 5; Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 365.

[iv] Alma 13:3.

[v] Thomas, “Benjamin and the Mysteries of God,” 279.

[vi] Eyring, “Faith and the Oath and Covenant of the Priesthood,” 61–64.

[vii] Moses 6:41; see Moses 6–7.

[viii] JST Genesis 14:34.

[ix] 4 Nephi 1:1–2; emphasis added.

[x] Thomas, “Benjamin and the Mysteries of God,” 280–82.

[xi] Alma 13:4–9.

[xii] D&C 138:57.

[xiii] D&C 42:67.

[xiv] Kimball, Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, 125.

The ultimate definition of happiness is to be like God; the more we approach the stature of God in attributes, knowledge, power, and dominion, the happier we are. Conversely, the definition of misery is to be like Satan. Misery is always associated with Babylon.

To become like God and experience his level of happiness rests on two criteria: (1) Justice–the system of celestial laws that make God who he is and provide him what he has; that is, God’s power and quality of life derive from his obedience to celestial laws. (2) Mercy-the Lord’s love, grace, forbearance, clemency, and pity on us lesser beings, as he patiently works with us to help us to become like him. To a great extent our happiness depends upon God’s merciful interaction with us and our extending mercy to others.

The Covenant of the Gods

In a premortal council of the Gods (which preceded the Council in Heaven that we attended), the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost entered into a covenant to work together for the happiness, salvation, and exaltation of the Father’s children. Joseph Smith taught that an “everlasting covenant was made between three personages before the organization of this earth, and relates to their dispensation of things to men on the earth; these personages, according to Abraham’s record, are called God the first, the Creator; God the second, the Redeemer; and God the third, the witness or Testator.” Our interaction with these three Gods began before the world was created, continues here, and will endure into eternity. Every aspect of our interaction with them has to do with our present redemption and our eternal happiness.

Too often we miss the fact that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost define their dealings with us in terms of relationship. Each one of us is dearer to them than we can comprehend. Motivated solely by their relationship with us, they initiated the plan of happiness.

In the premortal world, when the Father announced the plan of happiness, we shouted for joy, perhaps because the plan’s far-reaching benefits were so extraordinary. In that supreme act of love, Heavenly Father offered us the opportunity to become what he is. He held nothing back. His package included indivisible access to and inheritance of the totality of his kingdom, the fulness of his power, the keys to the library of everything he knows, and the ability to become like him in perfections, characteristic, and attributes.

His offer included the quintessential gift of a physical body, and a tabernacle of flesh and bones for our immortal spirits to eternally “act upon.” He also offered us the invaluable gift of divine education: the opportunity to experience good and evil and the unrestricted gift of agency to choose between them. Finally, he offered us the opportunity to enjoy his lifestyle–eternal marriage and family–with the promise of eternal posterity.

Happiness Encompasses All That Is Good

Clearly, the plan of happiness offered us all that was good, which is called righteousness. Righteousness, according to Chauncey Riddle, is “that necessary order of social relationships in which beings of knowledge and power must bind themselves in order to live together in accomplishment and happiness for eternity.”

Happiness is wholly dependent upon righteousness, and it is in righteousness that Zion people weld themselves together by solemn covenants so that they become “predictable, dependable, and united so that they can be trusted. They bind themselves to be honest, true, chaste, and benevolent so that they can do good for all other beings, which good they do by personal sacrifice to fulfill all righteousness.” Thus, being and doing good and being and doing righteousness are synonymous terms; goodness and righteousness are unifying, perfecting, selfless principles that produce happiness.

On the other hand, evil, the opposite of goodness and righteousness, is without discipline, a law unto itself, a corrupting and self-serving principle that produces misery. Evil defines Babylon.

Heavenly Father structured the plan of happiness so as to mercifully wrest us from Babylon, from our complacency, from our evil tendencies, and from the effects of the Fall. Heavenly Father built into the plan of happiness his promise that he would endow us with the Light of Christ, which is an agent employed by the Holy Ghost to “feel after” us and draw us out of Babylon and into Zion. By means of that light, the Holy Ghost would continually offer us opportunities to view ourselves in our “awful state,” for the purpose of shaking us loose from Babylon.

Moreover, the Father promised that he would offer each of us an unmistakable witness of the truth by the power of the Holy Ghost, so that we might reconsider our destructive path, repent of evil, and embrace “the godly order of good.” Clearly, the Father makes every effort to offer us happiness.

Balancing Justice and Mercy

To make the plan of happiness operational, the Father first instigated the covenant of justice, that system of laws that he obeyed in order to become who he is and enjoy what he has. That is, by obedience to celestial he was justified to enjoy the blessings associated with those laws. By living those laws, we, God’s children, can progress and become like him in every way. That is the process that leads to true happiness.

Knowing that his children would break the celestial laws while they struggled to assimilate them in their lives, and knowing that those broken laws would consign his children “forever to be cut off from his presence,” the Father decreed a second law, which would have the power to override the consequences of broken celestial laws and to thereby save his children. That new law is called the covenant of mercy. We know this law by another name: the new and everlasting covenant.

The covenant of mercy called for the Father to provide an atoning Savior to balance the demands of justice against the purposes of mercy: “And now, the plan of mercy could not be brought about except an atonement should be made; therefore God himself [Jesus Christ] atoneth for the sins of the world, to bring about the plan of mercy, to appease the demands of justice, that God might be a perfect, just God, and a merciful God also.” Mercy would also allow the children of God to receive physical bodies like their Father’s, with the assurance that these eternal gifts would not be cancelled out by death. The Savior’s merciful universal resurrection would make that possible.

Accessing the benefits of mercy through the Atonement was decreed to be a matter of individual choice. To facilitate that choice, the Father instigated a covenant that we could choose to embrace if we desired to access the Atonement, draw upon its mercy, receive shelter from the demands of justice, and be placed beyond the reach of our enemies. This covenant is called the new and everlasting covenant, and we enter it by our individual agency.

Placed Beyond Our Enemies

The Atonement makes goodness, righteousness, happiness, and salvation possible. According to Joseph Smith, salvation is the power to be placed beyond the reach of one’s enemies. The specific enemy he spoke of was death, but, as Brother Riddle says, “The great enemy of each human being is himself, for in our weakness and selfishness we are and do evil.” We, alone, can neither save ourselves nor fully overcome our weakness or selfishness.

Overcoming our natural selves and our enemies is made possible “only if we fully cooperate with Jesus Christ.” He has the ability to cleanse us completely of the stains of our evildoing and to transform us into righteous individuals who have no more desires to do evil. This process leads to progressively higher levels of happiness. By entering into the new and everlasting covenant for the purpose of accepting the Atonement of Jesus Christ, a repentant person can be “rescued from being and doing evil” through the “merits and mercy of the Son of God.”

How Mercy Appeases Justice

That mercy is a covenant is an essential truth. Every covenant or law of God is obeyed or disobeyed by individual choice. Specific blessings and consequences are associated with that choice, and either misery or happiness results. If we desire mercy, we must live the covenant associated with mercy. As we have learned, that covenant is the new and everlasting covenant, which we are required to receive in order to accept Jesus Christ and his Atonement. It is a truth that this Covenant springs from the Atonement and is the instrument by which we are justified to receive the Lord’s mercy and by which the plan of happiness is realized.

Clearly, the new and everlasting covenant activates the plan of redemption. By means of this Covenant, the Father’s children can receive celestial laws and experiment with them without being destroyed by them. By means of the Covenant, the children of God can lay hold on the blessings of the Atonement by choosing to repent, progress, obtain salvation, become like God, and inherit all that he has. This is the ultimate condition of Zion people.

The new and everlasting covenant also sets us on the defined path that leads to eternal life, gives us the authority of God, places in our hands the keys (not priesthood administrative keys) to God’s knowledge and power, and sets us up in our individual eternal kingdoms. Only the Atonement itself exceeds in glory the magnificence of the new and everlasting covenant. The two are inseparable, and both answer the end-purpose of the Father’s plan of mercy: our happiness.

Experiencing Contrasts Leads to Happiness

To lay hold on the plan of happiness, we must be presented with two contrasting revelations: (1) God and his goodness, and (2) our fallen situation. Because is crucial, the Lord uses contrast to motivate us to choose between these opposites.

As we have noted, there are good and bad consequences attached to God’s laws. Breaking his commandments always results in being “cut off both temporally and spiritually from the presence of the Lord.” This is misery, which Alma described as “the gall of bitterness,” and being “encircled about by the everlasting chains of death.” On the other hand, happiness always results from being brought, through our obedience, into “the marvelous light of God.”

For instance, after Alma had been “racked with eternal torment” for his sins and “harrowed to the greatest degree,” he appealed to the Savior and suddenly swung from misery to happiness. He moved from “inexpressible horror” to “exquisite and sweet” joy, from the “pains of a damned soul” to experiencing redemption and seeing “God sitting upon his throne, surrounded with numberless concourses of angels,” with his soul longing to be there. He exulted, “Oh, what joy, and what marvelous light I did behold.” Then describing the contrast, “My soul was filled with joy as exceeding as was my pain.”

Clearly, seeing the contrast between good and evil motivates us toward happiness. After the Lord appeared to Moses, he left him to himself and he was tempted by Satan. That contrast allowed Moses to experience the distinct difference between having the Lord and not having the Lord with him: “Now, for this cause I know that man is nothing, which thing I never had supposed.” Moses also perceived the contrasting differences in glory between the Lord and Satan: “Moses looked upon Satan and said: . . . where is thy glory that I should worship thee?” Now that Moses had experienced these contrasting visions, he was empowered to choose between misery and happiness. He said, “Depart from me, Satan, for this one God only will I worship, which is the God of glory.”

Similarly, but in reverse order, King Benjamin’s people literally collapsed when they “viewed themselves in their own carnal state, even less than the dust of the earth.” Then, after they cried out to the Lord for mercy, “the Spirit of the Lord came upon them, and they were filled with joy, having received a remission of their sins, and having peace of conscience.” Happiness came only after they experienced the contrast.

Similarly, and in a unique way, the Lord will offer us happiness by helping us understand who he is and showing us who and where we are. Then we, like King Benjamin’s people, might be so astonished that we cry out for mercy and deliverance. Hopefully, when we are offered deliverance, we will choose to embrace it with all our hearts. The account of King Benjamin and his people teach us the truth that mercy, deliverance, and eternal happiness are available to us only through the Atonement. We note that King Benjamin’s people were willing “to enter into a covenant with [their] God to do his will, and to be obedient to his commandments in all things that he [would] command [them], all the remainder of [their] days.”

Covenant-making leads to deliverance, which leads to happiness. After we have made a covenant and experienced deliverance and happiness, we will never want to return to our miserable past. Our desire now centers on the Lord sending the Holy Ghost to transform us into new creatures with new hearts. Because that process is beyond our ability, we look to Christ. To achieve a change of heart, we must first accept Jesus Christ and his Atonement, enter into a covenant of salvation with him, and cooperate with him to the fullest extent. Moreover, we must fully submit to his incomparable power and trust him as he remakes us into new creatures by planting the seeds of salvation and happiness into our souls. “Thus human beings may become good and may become gods.”

Summary

To summarize, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost entered into a premortal covenant to save and exalt the Father’s children. A primary purpose of that covenant was that the children achieve ultimate happiness. Therefore, the Gods initiated the plan of happiness, which called for the Father to reveal the system of celestial laws that made him who he is and gave him what he has. The Gods knew that in the process of our learning those laws, we, God’s children, would inevitably break the laws and become liable to pay severe penalties. Therefore, to mitigate the adverse effects of broken laws, the Gods initiated the Plan of Redemption, or the Plan of Mercy.

That plan called for the Father to provide a Savior to rescue us from death and to atone for the consequences of broken celestial laws. The blessings of mercy through this plan could be accessed only by law and by choice; therefore, the Father established the new and everlasting covenant. Now his children could agree to obey this new law that would provide mercy, and God in turn would agree to set aside “the demands of justice.” Thus, justice could be satisfied, mercy could rescue and claim her own, and the children of God could progress in the Covenant until they achieved salvation, exaltation, and ultimate happiness, as the Gods had planned in the beginning.

Thus, Zion people experience unequalled happiness because they choose to embrace the Atonement by entering into and fully living the new and everlasting covenant.

Author’s Note

This article was adapted from my new book, The Three Pillars of Zion. Click here to receive a free sample.

2 Nephi 2:25.

See Alma 42:15.

Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 349.

Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 190.

Alma 42:1-26.

Job 38:7.

2 Nephi 2:13-14.

D&C 132:24, 55.

Riddle, “The New and Everlasting Covenant,” 225.

Riddle, “The New and Everlasting Covenant,” 225.

D&C 88:21-35.

D&C 112:13.

Ether 4:15.

Riddle, “The New and Everlasting Covenant,” 225.

Alma 42:13-15.

Alma 42:14.

See Alma 42:13-15.

Alma 42:15.

See Alma 11:44.

Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 305.

Acts 4:12.

Riddle, “The New and Everlasting Covenant,” 225-26.

Alma 19:33.

Riddle, “The New and Everlasting Covenant,” 225.

Alma 42:7.

Alma 36:18.

Mosiah 27:29.

Alma 36:12.

Alma 36:14, 21.

Alma 36:16, 19-22.

Alma 36:20.

Moses 1:10, 13.

Moses 1:20.

Mosiah 4:12-13.

Mosiah 5:5.

2 Nephi 25:28.

2 Corinthians 5:17.

Riddle, “The New and Everlasting Covenant,” 226.

Alma 42:15.

Elder Neal A. Maxwell declared that the youth of Zion are living here and now by assignment. “These are your days!” he said. “You are in this time and circumstance by Divine appointment. God knows you and he knows what you have the capacity to achieve.”

“Evelyn” in Michigan (name and location changed) wrote of her daughter: “My husband and I knew that the child I was carrying was a special soul. Early in my pregnancy we began to have experiences with this child. Soon we perceived that a little girl was coming to us. And what a powerful person she was! When we would gather our children together for family prayer, our “little girl” would come and join us, too. Sometimes, we could actually point to the place where she was kneeling. On a few occasions, when we had Monday night activities for Family Home Evening, we perceived that she had come along. Although we had enjoyed special experiences with each of our children before they were born, we had never experienced anything like this.

“When our daughter was born she was the joy of our life, and she lived up to the powerful personality that we had previously experienced. Then, when she entered High School, she hit a crisis point. In a class, she was introduced to another element of friends, who had a profound affect on her. Without our knowing, she began to experiment with alcohol then marijuana. One thing led to another, sloppy appearance–sexual dalliance, more alcohol and drug experimentation–and soon she was spending less and less time with our family, and she abandoned the church altogether. Our hearts were shattered one night when we received a call from the police station that she had been picked up for driving under the influence.

“We do not know when this trial will end for us. We continue to love and encourage her, but we are settling in for what may be a long siege. Our peace lies in the fact that the Lord allowed us to experience early the power and importance of this child who was coming to our family. We know she is ours for a reason, and our responsibility for her is long-term. Our prayer is that our daughter might someday remember who she really is.”

Divine appointment and positioning

Our children were not placed on earth, at this time, and in their familial relationships by a cosmic roll of the dice. Heavenly Father’s house is a house of order. Countless ages of premortal obedience and righteous living determined our children’s mortal placement, which, beyond every other consideration, was meant to reward them and to magnify their opportunity to advance toward exaltation. Even the difficulties they would experience could serve to save and exalt them.

Moreover, our children’s divine positioning was intended to allow them to repent then continue their premortal work-the work of redemption–by gathering the living and the dead to Christ and disseminating the gospel blessings to them, much in the same way “the faithful…of this dispensation, when they depart from mortal life, continue their labors…in the great world of the spirits of the dead.” Additionally, because our children were assigned to come forth in the last days, they were given the singular assignment to prepare the world for the Savior’s Second Coming. Therefore, our children, who are born or adopted into the lineage of Israel are “marked” for greatness because of their former greatness. President Ezra Taft Benson said,

“In all ages prophets have looked down through the corridors of time to our day. Billions of the deceased and those yet to be born have their eyes on us. Make no mistake about it-this is a marked generation. There has never been more expected of the faithful in such a short period of time than there is of us. Never before on the face of this earth have the forces of evil and the forces of good been so well organized. Now is the great day of the devil’s power. But now is also the great day of the Lord’s power…. While our generation will be comparable in wickedness to the days of Noah, when the Lord cleansed the earth by flood, there is a major difference this time: God has saved for the final inning some of His stronger and most valiant children, who will help bear off the kingdom triumphantly…. You are the generation that must be prepared to meet your God….The final outcome is certain-the forces of righteousness will win.”

An amazing promise waiting for fulfillment

Clearly, to be purposely and divinely placed at this crucial time and place, each of our children had to have proven exceedingly righteous. Joseph Smith revealed, “There is a time appointed for every man, according as his works shall be.” Paul explained that this “time appointed” would be especially true of the latter-day children of Israel; they would be specifically singled out and strategically placed because premortally they had “conformed to the image of [God's] Son.”

Therefore, God had taken careful note of their potential to do good and deigned to position them in an era and circumstance that was best suited to their strengths and weaknesses. Elder Erastus Snow, explained that the premortal ministry of God’s “peculiar people,” destined them to assume important mortal callings in the Melchizedek and Aaronic Priesthoods:

“For he has had his eye upon the chosen spirits that have come upon the earth in the various ages from the beginning of the world up to this time…The Lord has sent those noble spirits into the world to perform a special work, and appointed their times…and their future glory and exaltation is secured unto them; and that is what I understand by the doctrine of election spoken of by the Apostle Paul and other sacred writers: ‘For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that he might be the first-born among many brethren.’ Such were called and chosen and elected of God to perform a certain work at a certain time of the world’s history and in due time he fitted them for that work….”

This is an amazing promise that should give parents of “elect” albeit wayward children cause to patiently persevere and hope that their children will yet remember who they are and rise to the stature of their premortal greatness.

The noble and great ones

Pursuant to the perfect foreknowledge of God, our children were likely assigned family placement, birth time, location, and mortal opportunities according to their strengths and weaknesses. According to many sources, they were among the noble and great ones, who were shown to their forefather, Abraham.

“Now the Lord had shown unto me, Abraham, the intelligences that were organized before the world was; and among all these there were many of the noble and great ones; And God saw these souls that they were good, and he stood in the midst of them, and he said: These I will make my rulers; for he stood among those that were spirits, and he saw that they were good….”

Speaking of our children’s premortal nobleness and greatness, President Spencer W. Kimball said to the youth, “The prophets in this dispensation have taught us that special spirits were reserved to come forth at this time in this last dispensation. You are among those very special spirits!“

If you have a wayward child, this may be hard to believe. You might ask, “Was my troubled child included in the prophet’s declaration?” Yes! Speaking to the youth of the Church, Elder H. Burke Peterson said, “My dear friends, you are a royal generation. You were preserved to come to the earth in this time for a special purpose. Not just a few of you, but all of you.”

The noble and great ones do the work of redemption

What was the premortal work that our children did so well that caused them to be distinguished above the majority of the hosts of heaven?

Redemption.

Redemption is not a work of God, it is the work of God, and therefore it is the preeminent work of all celestial beings-those who are or would be gods. Brigham Young University professor, M. Catherine Thomas, wrote:

“Out of all of Heavenly Father’s spirit children, a smaller group distinguished itself by its exceeding faith in the Lord Jesus Christ during the conflicts that occurred incident to the war in heaven. Those who were valiant in these conflicts, and in other ways also, demonstrated both their abilities and their desires to become actively involved in the cosmic work of redemption through the great atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ. The thing that characterizes the Gods and those who aspire to godhood is the love of the work of redemption; that is, nurturing spirit children through the first estate of premortality, then leading them through a mortal probation, and finally raising them to the level of their parent Gods….the great work of the Gods is family work-the raising and nurturing of children and the redemption of families to be sealed together for all eternity. We cannot comprehend the cosmic proportions of the love and the infinite investment of labor and grace that go into this magnificent work. You and I, as members of the literal house of Israel and of the Church of Jesus Christ, were called in the premortal world to participate in that work, everything else being trivial in comparison. Redemption is not just one of the things going on in the universe; it is the thing. That work of redemption is the work to which the premortal covenant people, the house of Israel, were called, and it was to take precedence over all other work and to subordinate all other work to itself.”

Although they are proportionally few in number, today’s youth comprise an unparalleled army in the earth’s history. Elder Gene R. Cook said, “I salute a royal generation, the greatest generation of youth in number and quality to ever live on the face of the earth. The amount of good that is being done by you is immeasurable. Your influence will be felt worldwide before you have finished your stay on earth….”

When we consider the proportionately small number of Israelites who have been found, gathered or born into the Church, we are awed by our children’s apparent premortal stature. Clearly, each is one in thousands. If the Lord’s intention is the redemption of all his children, no child’s birth into a Latter-day Saint home is a mistake or a roll of the dice.

The work of redemption within families

God organizes his children into saving relationships so that the weak might be nurtured by the strong. That fact is most evident in families. God’s divine positioning often calls for weak children to be placed with strong parents, strong children to be placed with weak parents, or strong individuals to marry into weak families. Why? To do the work of redemption.

Catherine Thomas, said, “God may place spiritually challenging children in homes of spiritual and conscientious parents for their mutual benefit.” Carlford Broderick, an LDS marriage and family therapist, wrote:

“My experience in various church callings and in my profession as a family therapist has convinced me that God actively intervenes in some destructive lineages, assigning a valiant spirit to break the chain of destructiveness in such families. Although these children may suffer innocently as victims of violence, neglect, and exploitation, through the grace of God some find the strength to “metabolize” the poison within themselves, refusing to pass it on to future generations. Before them were generations of destructive pain; after them the line flows clear and pure. Their children and children’s children will call them blessed. In suffering innocently that others might not suffer, such persons, in some degree, become as “saviors on Mount Zion” by helping to bring salvation to a lineage.”

Perspective on the cosmic war

Are we prepared to disregard the volume of Restoration literature that pertains to redemption work in the spirit world, the foreknowledge and mercy of God, and the far-reaching effects of the Atonement of Jesus Christ? If so, we do both God and Christ a disservice by imagining limits to their ability to save. To gain perspective, let us review some truths.

Our children are ancient souls, who practiced righteousness and did the work of redemption over vast periods of time. During that enormous duration, the focus of their attention was to become like their heavenly parents by coming to earth, gaining a body, achieving a glorious resurrection, and earning exaltation. Our children bring with them mature gospel knowledge. It may be buried deep in their souls, but it is there just the same. The Fall may have caused them temporary amnesia, but God has not forgotten who they are or what they did. He said, “I will not forget thee. Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands….”

Of course, neither has Satan forgotten our children. These are they who helped Michael cast out the devil and his angels from heaven, causing Satan to swear in his wrath that he would destroy them in the flesh. And for good reason. Satan knew if our children were allowed to continue their premortal work, they would conquer him again and cast him into outer darkness forever. Therefore, the war in heaven goes on, and this earth is its frontline. Hence, while the world is merely tempted, our children are viciously attacked. Why are our children so ruthlessly confronted? Brigham Young had the answer:

“God never bestows upon his people, or upon an individual, superior blessings without a severe trial to prove them, to prove that individual, or that people, to see whether they will keep their covenants with him, and keep in remembrance what he has shown them. Then the greater the vision [or blessings], the greater the display of the power of the enemy. So when individuals are blessed with visions, revelations, and great manifestations, look out, then the Devil is nigh you, and you will be tempted in proportion to the visions, revelation, or manifestation you have received.”

Our children’s premortal nobility, righteousness and exceedingly good works warranted extraordinary blessings and opportunities in this life-royal birth, immediate access to gospel blessings, and so forth. But these blessings carried a price. The adversary would attack in proportion to their blessings, and once seemingly invincible souls, weakened by the Fall, would now be more susceptible to cutting down and wounding.

Wounded but not defeated

The Book of Mormon contains a possible latter-day parallel and a promise. Imagine our children like the ancient Stripling Warriors, who, like their Nephite counterparts, are called upon to defend and save the kingdom. Premortally, our children were “exceedingly valiant for courage, and also for strength and activity; but behold, this was not all–they were men [and women] who were true at all times in whatsoever thing they were entrusted. Yea, they were men [and women] of truth and soberness, for they had been taught to keep the commandments of God and to walk uprightly before him.”

Now, having forgotten all, our children have come to earth to be born of goodly mothers and fathers, who try to teach them the gospel of Jesus Christ and prepare them to face the battle for the kingdom. Here, then, is an important lesson: Although every one of them is wounded in the battle with “many wounds,” “not one soul of them did perish.”

Although the comparison between the Stripling Warriors and latter-day youth has limitations, it nevertheless might give parents reason to hope and persevere knowing that perishing is not in the Lord’s design. President J. Reuben Clark said, “I believe that our Heavenly Father wants to save every one of his children.”

Divine positioning at work

One thing is certain: Parents are not cursed with wayward children; parents are called by God to rear and redeem these precious souls, in partnership with Jesus Christ. What we are experiencing is a trust. Therefore, we become to them “Saviors on Mount Zion.” That they have been sent to our family is evidence of God’s divine positioning at work, and the purpose of that divine positioning is to redeem those for whom we have a responsibility. Because God called us to this work, he will make us equal to the challenge. President Hugh B. Brown’s apostolic blessing and promise to youth leaders might be applied to latter-day parents:

“God help us all that we may do our part to prepare for that future, ominous though it may be. I leave a blessing with you…. From my heart I pray God to bless and guide you as you undertake to help to guide the youth of the Church, the reserves of the army of the Lord. I pray that God will bless you in your homes, in your work, in your play, and that He will give you faith and courage and fortitude to make you equal to your tasks. I pronounce this blessing upon you and promise that these things will be yours….”

Your feedback

I invite your feedback and stories. Other despairing parents need information and hope.

D&C 132:8

For example, see 1 Corinthians 10:13; Romans 8:28; Ether 12:27

D&C 138:57

Ezra Taft Benson, “In His Steps,” Ensign, September 1988; Ezra Taft Benson, “You are a Marked Generation,” Ensign, April 1987

D&C 121:25

Romans 8:29

George D. Watt, ed., Journal of Discourses, vol 23:186-187, emphasis added

Abraham 3:22-23

Spencer W. Kimball, “In Love and Power and without Fear,” New Era, July 1981

H. Burke Peterson, “Your Special Purpose,” New Era, October 2001

M. Catherine Thomas, “Alma the Younger, Part 1,” Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship

Gene R. Cook, “The Seat Next to You,” New Era, October 1983

M. Catherine Thomas, “Alma the Younger, Part 1,” Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship

Carlfred Broderick, “I Have a Question,” Ensign, August 1986, p.38-9

Isaiah 49:15-16

D&C 29:39

D&C 76:28-29

Brigham Young, Discourses of Brigham Young, p. 338

Alma 53:20-21

Alma 56:47-48

Alma 57:25

J. Reuben Clark, Jr, Conference Report, 3 Oct. 1953, p.84

Mark E. Petersen, Conference Report, October 1959, p.14: “I would like to talk with you about your ministry among your own children, because you are ministers of the Lord unto your children, and if you will do your duty by your children, you will be as saviors on Mount Zion to them….”

Hugh B. Brown, The Abundant Life, p.188