2 Nephi 2

A Father’s Blessing to Jacob

Jacob, let me speak to you. You were my firstborn during those hard times in the wilderness. Even as a child, you suffered so much pain and sorrow because of how cruel your brothers were to you. But Jacob, my firstborn in the wilderness, you know how great God is. He will turn all your suffering into something good. Your life will be blessed. You’ll live safely with your brother Nephi, and you’ll spend your days serving God. I know you’re saved because of the righteousness of your Savior. You’ve seen that when the time is right, he will come to rescue humanity. You saw his glory when you were young. You’re blessed just like those who will see him in person, because the Spirit is the same yesterday, today, and forever. The way has been prepared since the fall, and salvation is free.

The Law and the Messiah

People have been taught enough to know good from evil. The law was given to humanity. But the law doesn’t make anyone right with God—it cuts them off instead. The earthly law cut them off, and the spiritual law makes them lose everything good and become miserable forever. So rescue comes through the Holy Messiah, because he is full of grace and truth. He offers himself as a sacrifice for sin to fulfill the law’s demands—but only for those with broken hearts and humble spirits. No one else can meet what the law requires. This is why it’s so important to tell everyone on earth: no human being can stand before God except through the worthiness, mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah. He will give up his life in the flesh and take it back up again by the power of the Spirit, so he can bring about the resurrection of the dead. He will be the first to rise. He’s the first offering to God, and he will plead for everyone. Those who believe in him will be saved. Because he pleads for everyone, all people will come before God and stand in his presence to be judged by him according to the truth and holiness that is in him. The law given by the Holy One brings punishment to balance out the happiness that comes through the atonement.

Opposition in All Things

There has to be opposition in everything. If there wasn’t, my firstborn in the wilderness, there could be no right or wrong, no holiness or misery, no good or bad. Everything would just blend together into one thing. If everything was one body, it would be dead—no life or death, no decay or preservation, no happiness or misery, no feeling or numbness. It would have been created for nothing. There would be no point to its creation. That would destroy God’s wisdom and his eternal plans—and also his power, mercy, and justice. If you say there’s no law, you’re also saying there’s no sin. If there’s no sin, there’s no righteousness. If there’s no righteousness, there’s no happiness. If there’s no righteousness or happiness, there’s no punishment or misery. And if none of these things exist, there’s no God. If there’s no God, we don’t exist either—neither us nor the earth. Nothing could have been created, nothing to act and nothing to be acted upon. Everything would have vanished.

I’m telling you these things, my sons, for your benefit and learning: there is a God, and he created everything—the heavens, the earth, and everything in them. He made things that act and things that are acted upon. To accomplish his eternal purposes for humanity, after he created our first parents and the animals of the field and the birds of the air—everything that exists—there had to be opposition. The forbidden fruit stood against the tree of life. One was sweet, the other bitter. The Lord God gave people the ability to choose for themselves. But they couldn’t truly choose unless they were drawn toward one option or the other.

The Fall of Adam and Eve

According to what I’ve read, an angel of God fell from heaven. He became the devil by choosing evil over God. Because he fell from heaven and became miserable forever, he wanted everyone else to be miserable too. That old serpent—the devil, the father of all lies—said to Eve: 'Eat the forbidden fruit. You won’t die. ' After Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, they were driven out of the Garden of Eden to work the ground. They had children—the whole family of the earth came from them. God gave humanity time to live so they could repent while still alive. Their existence became a time of testing, and their lives were extended according to God’s commands. He commanded everyone to repent, because he showed all people that they were lost because of what their parents had done.

The Purpose of the Fall

If Adam hadn’t disobeyed, he wouldn’t have fallen. He would have stayed in the Garden of Eden. Everything that was created would have stayed exactly as it was when it was made, and it would have stayed that way forever. They would have had no children. They would have remained innocent, with no joy because they’d never known sorrow. They would have done no good because they’d never known sin. But everything happened according to the wisdom of the One who knows all things. Adam fell so that humanity could exist. And humanity exists so that we might have joy.

The Gift of Freedom

The Messiah will come when the time is right to rescue humanity from the fall. Because they’re rescued from the fall, they become free forever, knowing good from evil, able to act for themselves instead of being acted upon—except for the punishment of the law on the final judgment day, according to God’s commands. People are free in this life. Everything they need has been given to them. They’re free to choose freedom and eternal life through the great mediator for all humanity, or to choose slavery and death under the devil’s captivity and power. He wants everyone to be as miserable as he is.

Choose Life

My sons, I want you to turn to the great mediator. Listen closely to his commands. Be faithful to his words. Choose eternal life according to the will of his Holy Spirit. Don’t choose eternal death by following your selfish desires and the evil inside you. That gives the devil’s spirit power to trap you and drag you down to hell, so he can rule over you in his own kingdom. I’ve said these few words to all of you, my sons, in the final days of my life. I’ve chosen what’s good, just as the prophet said. I have no other goal except the eternal well-being of your souls. Amen.