2 Nephi 2

Lehi Speaks to His Son Jacob

Jacob, I speak to you now. You were my first son born during our hard times in the desert. When you were a child, you had trouble and much sadness because your brothers were mean to you. But Jacob, my first son born in the desert, you know how great God is. He will use your hard times to help you grow. So your soul will be blessed. You will live safely with your brother Nephi. You will spend your life serving God. I know you are saved because of how good your Savior is. You have seen that he will come to save people.

When you were young, you saw how great he is. So you are blessed just like those he will help when he comes to earth. The Spirit is the same yesterday, today, and forever. The way is ready since Adam fell. Salvation is free. People are taught enough to know good from evil. The law is given to people. But the law can’t save anyone. The law cuts people off. By the law of this world, they were cut off. And by the law of God, they die and become sad forever.

Saved Through the Messiah

So we are saved through the Holy Messiah. He is full of grace and truth. He gives himself as a payment for sin. He does this to fulfill the law for all those who have a broken heart and a humble spirit. No one else can fulfill the law. So it’s very important to teach these things to everyone on earth. They need to know that no one can live with God except through what the Holy Messiah has done. He gives up his life and then takes it back by the power of the Spirit. This way he can make dead people come back to life. He was the first to come back from death. So he is the first gift to God. He will ask God to help all people. And those who believe in him will be saved. Because he asks God to help everyone, all people come to God. They will stand before him to be judged by him. He will judge them by the truth and goodness in him. So the law that the Holy One gave has punishment. The punishment goes against happiness. This is how the payment for sin works.

There Must Be Opposites

There must be opposites in everything. If not, my first son born in the desert, there could be no right. There could be no wrong. No good or bad. No happiness or sadness. Everything would be mixed together. If it was one body, it would be like being dead. There would be no life, no death, no happiness, no sadness, no feeling at all. So it would have been created for nothing. There would be no reason for making it. This would destroy God’s wisdom and his plans. It would also destroy his power, his mercy, and his fairness. If you say there is no law, you also say there is no sin. If you say there is no sin, you also say there is no right way to live. If there is no right way to live, there is no happiness. If there is no right way to live or happiness, there is no punishment or sadness. If these things are not real, there is no God. If there is no God, we don’t exist. The earth doesn’t exist. Nothing could have been created. Nothing could act or be acted on. Everything would disappear.

My sons, I tell you these things to help you learn. There is a God. He created everything. The sky, the earth, and everything in them. Things that act and things that are acted on. To complete his plan for people, he created our first parents. He created the animals in the field and the birds in the air. He created everything. There had to be opposites. The forbidden fruit was opposite to the tree of life. One was sweet and the other bitter. So the Lord God let people choose for themselves. People could not choose unless they were pulled one way or the other.

The Devil and the Fall

I, Lehi, read about what happened. I think an angel of God fell from heaven. So he became the Devil. He wanted what was evil. Because he fell from heaven, he became sad forever. So he wanted all people to be sad too. He is that old snake, the Devil, the father of all lies. He said to Eve: Eat the forbidden fruit. You will not die. You will be like God, knowing good and evil. After Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, they had to leave the garden of Eden. They had to work the ground. They had children. They started the whole family of the earth.

People lived longer so they could turn back to God while they were alive. God wanted them to have time to change. Their time became a test. The Lord God told all people they must turn back to him. He showed everyone they were lost because of what their parents did.

Why Adam Fell

If Adam had not broken the rule, he would not have fallen. He would have stayed in the garden of Eden. Everything that was created would have stayed the same forever. They would have had no children. They would have stayed innocent. They would have no joy because they knew no sadness. They would do no good because they knew no sin. But all things have been done by the wisdom of God who knows everything.

Adam fell so people could live. People live so they can have joy.

Free to Choose

The Messiah will come to save people from the fall. Because they are saved from the fall, they are free forever. They know good from evil. They can choose for themselves. They are not controlled unless they are punished on the last day for breaking God’s rules. So people are free to choose. Everything they need is given to them. They are free to choose freedom and life forever through the great helper for all people. Or they can choose to be trapped and die by the Devil’s power. He wants all people to be sad like him.

My sons, I want you to look to the great helper. Listen to his great commands. Be faithful to his words. Choose life forever by following his Holy Spirit. Don’t choose death forever by following what your body wants and the evil in it. That gives the Devil power to trap you. He brings you down to a bad place where he rules over you. I have spoken these few words to all of you, my sons, in the last days of my test. I have chosen the good way, just like the prophet said. I only want your souls to be well forever. Amen.