Gospel Doctrine Scriptures and Quotes

Old Testament Lesson 3 - The Creation

Teacher's Manual

"Could you gaze into heaven five minutes, you would know more than you would by reading all that ever was written on the subject." (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 324.)

Reading 1 – Moses 1:27-29

Reading 2 – Moses 1:31-32, Moses 2:1

Reading 3 – John 1:1-3

Reading 4 - Elder James E. Talmage wrote: "The Father operated in the work of creation through the Son, who thus became the executive through whom the will, commandment, or word of the Father was put into effect. It is with incisive appropriateness therefore, that the Son, Jesus Christ, is designated by the apostle John as the Word; or as declared by the Father 'the word of my power.' The part taken by Jesus Christ in the creation, a part so prominent as to justify our calling Him the Creator, is set forth in many scriptures. The author of the Epistle to the Hebrews refers in this wise distinctively to the Father and the Son as separate though associated Beings: 'God, who at sundry times and in diverse manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds.' Paul is even more explicit in his letter to the Colossians, wherein, speaking of Jesus the Son, he says: 'For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: and he is before all things, and by him all things consist.' And here let be repeated the testimony of John, that by the Word, who was with God, and who was God even in the beginning, all things were made; 'and without him was not anything made that was made'." (Jesus the Christ, pp33-34)

Elder Bruce R. McConkie has said: "Truly Christ is the Creator of the future abode of the spirit children of the Father. But he does not work alone. The Creation is an organized venture; each of the other noble and great spirits plays his part. And the earth is created from matter that already exists. Truly the elements are eternal, and to create is to organize." (quoted in Studies In Scripture, 2:81)

Reading 5 – Moses 1:39, Abraham 3:24-25

Reading 6 - Elder Bruce R. McConkie has said: "As the work goes forward we see the fulfillment of that which God spake to Moses in the Ten Commandments: 'In six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day' (Ex. 20:11). It is of the creative events that took place on each of these 'days' that we shall now speak.
"But first, what is a day? It is a specified time period; it is an age, an eon, a division of eternity; it is the time between two identifiable events. And each day, of whatever length, has the duration needed for its purposes. One measuring rod is the time required for a celestial body to turn once on its axis. For instance, Abraham says that according to 'the Lord's time' a day is 'one thousand years' long. This is 'one revolution . . . of Kolob,' he says, and it is after the Lord's 'manner of reckoning' (Abr. 3:4).
"There is no revealed recitation specifying that each of the 'six days' involved in the Creation was of the same duration." (quoted in Studies In Scripture, 2:81-82)

Reading 7 – Moses 2:26-31

Reading 8 – Moses 3:7

Reading 9 - Elder M. Russell Ballard has written: "Families on earth are an extension of the family of God. According to the LDS concept of the family, every person is a child of heavenly parents as well as mortal parents. Each individual was created spiritually and physically in the image of God and Christ (Moses 2:27; 3:5). The First Presidency has declared, 'All men and women are in the similitude of the universal Father and Mother, and are literally the sons and daughters of Deity' (Messages of the First Presidency, 4:203). Everyone, before coming to this earth, lived with Heavenly Father and Heavenly Mother, and each was loved and taught by them as a member of their eternal family." (Our Search for Happiness, p70)

The prophet Enoch, after seeing his great vision, said, "And were it possible that man could number the particles of the earth, yea, millions of earths like this, it would not be a beginning to the number of thy creations; and thy curtains are stretched out still; and yet thou art there, and thy bosom is there; and also thou art just; thou art merciful and kind forever; " (Moses 7:30)

President Uchtdorf has said: Let me first pose a question: What do you suppose is the greatest kind of happiness possible? For me, the answer to this question is, God’s happiness.
This leads to another question: What is our Heavenly Father’s happiness?
This may be impossible to answer because His ways are not our ways. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are [God’s] ways higher than [our] ways, and [His] thoughts [higher] than [our] thoughts.”1
Though we cannot understand “the meaning of all things,” we do “know that [God] loveth his children”2 because He has said, “Behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.”3
Heavenly Father is able to accomplish these two great goals—the immortality and eternal life of man—because He is a God of creation and compassion. Creating and being compassionate are two objectives that contribute to our Heavenly Father’s perfect happiness. Creating and being compassionate are two activities that we as His spirit children can and should emulate.
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.
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. (Dieter F. Uchtdorf, “Happiness, Your Heritage,” Ensign, Nov 2008, 117–20)