The Creation

Introduction

“The Lord expects us to believe and understand the true doctrine of the Creation—the creation of this earth, of man, and of all forms of life” (Bruce R. McConkie, “Christ and the Creation,” Ensign, June 1982, 9).

Doctrinal Outline

All things were created spiritually before they were created physically.

See Moses 3:5–7; Genesis 2:4–5.
The physical creation took place according to the plan of God.
1. God the Father initiated the plan of creation (see D&C 121:29–32; Moses 2:1).
2. God the Father created all things through Jesus Christ (see Ephesians 3:9; Hebrews 1:2; Moses 1:31–33; D&C 38:1–3; Colossians 1:16–17; Mosiah 3:8).
3. The heavens, the earth, and all things upon the earth were created in six creative periods (see Genesis 1; Moses 2; Abraham 4).
4. God ordained that all living things would bring forth after their kind (see Genesis 1:11–12, 24; Moses 2:11–12, 24–25; Abraham 4:11–12, 24–25).
5. God rested from His labors on the seventh day and sanctified it (see Moses 3:1–3; Genesis 2:1–3; Abraham 5:1–3).
We were given a unique role among God’s creations.
1. Of all that was created, only mankind was created in the image of God (see Genesis 1:26–27; Abraham 4:26–27; Moses 2:26–27; Alma 18:34; Acts 17:29).
2. Woman was given to man as a companion and helpmeet (see Genesis 2:18, 21–23; Moses 3:18, 20–23; Abraham 5:14–17).
3. We were commanded to multiply and be fruitful (see Genesis 1:28; Moses 2:28).
4. We were given dominion over the earth and all things upon it and were commanded to subdue it (see Psalm 8:4–8; Genesis 1:28; Moses 2:28; Abraham 4:28).
5. All things upon the earth were created for our benefit (see D&C 59:16–20; Genesis 1:29; Moses 2:29; Abraham 4:29).

Supporting Statements

All things were created spiritually before they were created physically.
- “There is no account of the creation of man or other forms of life when they were created as spirits. There is just the simple statement that they were so created before the physical creation. The statements in Moses 3:5 and Genesis 2:5 are interpolations thrown into the account of the physical creation, explaining that all things were first created in the spirit existence in heaven before they were placed upon this earth” (Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, 1:75–76).
- “This earth was created first spiritually. It was a spirit earth. Nothing then lived on its face, nor was it designed that anything should. Then came the physical creation, the paradisiacal creation, the creation of the earth in the Edenic day and before the fall of man. …
  
  “Man and all forms of life existed as spirit beings and entities before the foundations of this earth were laid. There were spirit men and spirit beasts, spirit fowls and spirit fishes, spirit plants and spirit trees. Every creeping thing, every herb and shrub, every amoeba and tadpole, every elephant and dinosaur—all things—existed as spirits, as spirit beings, before they were placed naturally upon the earth” (Bruce R. McConkie, The Millennial Messiah, 642–43).
The physical creation took place according to the plan of God.
- “In the beginning, the head of the Gods called a council of the Gods; and they came together and concocted a plan to create the world and people it” (Joseph Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 349).
- “Now, the word create came from the word baurau which does not mean to create out of nothing; it means to organize; the same as a man would organize materials and build a ship. Hence, we infer that God had materials to organize the world out of chaos—chaotic matter, which is element, and in which dwells all the glory. Element had an existence from the time he had. The pure principles of element are principles which can never be destroyed; they may be organized and re-organized, but not destroyed. They had no beginning, and can have no end” (Smith, Teachings, 350–52).
- “It was Jesus Christ, our Redeemer, who, under the direction of his Father, came down and organized matter and made this planet. …
  
  “… It is true that Adam helped to form this earth. He labored with our Savior Jesus Christ. I have a strong view or conviction that there were others also who assisted them. Perhaps Noah and Enoch; and why not Joseph Smith, and those who were appointed to be rulers before the earth was formed? …
  
  “… The account of creation in Genesis was not a spirit creation, but it was in a particular sense, a spiritual creation. …
  
  “… The account in Genesis one and two, is the account of the physical creation of the earth and all upon it, but the creation was not subject to mortal law until after the fall. It was, therefore, a spiritual creation and so remained until the fall when it became temporal, or mortal” (Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, 1:74–77).
- “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. … [See Abraham 3:4.]
  
  “There is no revealed recitation specifying that each of the ‘six days’ involved in the Creation was of the same duration. …
  
  “… Abraham gives a blueprint as it were of the Creation. He tells the plans of the holy beings who wrought the creative work. After reciting the events of the ‘six days’ he says: ‘And thus were their decisions at the time that they counseled among themselves to form the heavens and the earth.’ (Abr. 5:3.)
  
  “Then he says they performed as they had planned, which means we can, by merely changing the verb tenses and without doing violence to the sense and meaning, also consider the Abrahamic account as one of the actual creation” (McConkie, “Christ and the Creation,” 11).
We were given a unique role among God’s creations.
- “It is held by some that Adam was not the first man upon this earth, and that the original human being was a development from lower orders of the animal creation. These, however, are the theories of men. The word of the Lord declares that Adam was ‘the first man of all men’ (Moses 1:34), and we are therefore in duty bound to regard him as the primal parent of our race. It was shown to the brother of Jared that all men were created in the beginning after the image of God; and whether we take this to mean the spirit or the body, or both, it commits us to the same conclusion: Man began life as a human being, in the likeness of our heavenly Father.
  
  “True it is that the body of man enters upon its career as a tiny germ embryo, which becomes an infant, quickened at a certain stage by the spirit whose tabernacle it is, and the child, after being born, develops into a man. There is nothing in this, however, to indicate that the original man, the first of our race, began life as anything less than a man, or less than the human germ or embryo that becomes a man.
  
  “Man, by searching, cannot find out God. Never, unaided, will he discover the truth about the beginning of human life. The Lord must reveal Himself, or remain unrevealed; and the same is true of the facts relating to the origin of Adam’s race—God alone can reveal them. Some of these facts, however, are already known, and what has been made known it is our duty to receive and retain.
  
  “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, basing its belief on divine revelation, ancient and modern, proclaims man to be the direct and lineal offspring of Deity. God Himself is an exalted man, perfected, enthroned, and supreme. By His almighty power He organized the earth, and all that it contains, from spirit and element, which exist co-eternally with Himself. He formed every plant that grows, and every animal that breathes, each after its own kind, spiritually and temporally—‘that which is spiritual being in the likeness of that which is temporal, and that which is temporal in the likeness of that which is spiritual.’ He made the tadpole and the ape, the lion and the elephant but He did not make them in His own image, nor endow them with Godlike reason and intelligence. Nevertheless, the whole animal creation will be perfected and perpetuated in the Hereafter, each class in its ‘distinct order or sphere,’ and will enjoy ‘eternal felicity.’ That fact has been made plain in this dispensation (Doctrine and Covenants, 77:3).
  
  “Man is the child of God, formed in the divine image and endowed with divine attributes, and even as the infant son of an earthly father and mother is capable in due time of becoming a man, so the undeveloped offspring of celestial parentage is capable, by experience through ages and aeons, of evolving into a God” (The First Presidency [Joseph F. Smith, John R. Winder, and Anthon H. Lund], in James R. Clark, comp., Messages of the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 4:205–6).
- “There is not a man born into the world, but has a portion of the Spirit of God, and it is that Spirit of God which gives to his spirit understanding. Without this, he would be but an animal like the rest of the brute creation, without understanding, without judgment, without skill, without ability, except to eat and to drink like the brute beast. But inasmuch as the Spirit of God giveth all men understanding, he is enlightened above the brute beast. He is made in the image of God himself, so that he can reason, reflect, pray, exercise faith; he can use his energies for the accomplishment of the desires of his heart, and inasmuch as he puts forth his efforts in the proper direction, then he is entitled to an increased portion of the Spirit of the Almighty to inspire him to increased intelligence, to increased prosperity and happiness in the world; but in proportion as he prostitutes his energies for evil, the inspiration of the Almighty is withdrawn from him, until he becomes so dark and so benighted, that so far as his knowledge of God is concerned, he is quite as ignorant as a dumb brute” (Joseph F. Smith, Gospel Doctrine, 63).
- “The whole object of the creation of this world is to exalt the intelligences that are placed upon it, that they may live, endure, and increase for ever and ever” (Brigham Young, Discourses of Brigham Young, 57).
- “We know that Jehovah-Christ, assisted by ‘many of the noble and great ones’ (Abr. 3:22), of whom Michael is but the illustration, did in fact create the earth and all forms of plant and animal life on the face thereof. But when it came to placing man on earth, there was a change in Creators. That is, the Father himself became personally involved. All things were created by the Son, using the power delegated by the Father, except man. In the spirit and again in the flesh, man was created by the Father. There was no delegation of authority where the crowning creature of creation was concerned” (Bruce R. McConkie, The Promised Messiah, 62).
- “It is written:
  
  “‘And I, God, created man in mine own image, in the image of mine Only Begotten created I him; male and female created I them. [The story of the rib, of course, is figurative.]
  
  “‘And I, God, blessed them [Man here is always in the plural. It was plural from the beginning.] and said unto them: Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it, and have dominion over [it].’ (Moses 2:27–28.)
  
  “And the scripture says,
  
  “‘And I, God, said unto mine Only Begotten, which was with me from the beginning: Let us make man [not a separate man, but a complete man, which is husband and wife] in our image, after our likeness; and it was so.’ (Moses 2:26.) What a beautiful partnership! Adam and Eve were married for eternity by the Lord. …
  
  “‘Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam [Mr. and Mrs. Adam, I suppose, or Brother and Sister Adam], in the day when they were created.’ (Gen. 5:1–2.)
  
  “This is a partnership. Then when they had created them in the image of God, to them was given the eternal command, ‘Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it’ (Gen. 1:28), and as they completed this magnificent creation, they looked it over and pronounced it ‘good, very good’—something that isn’t to be improved upon by our modern intellectuals; the male to till the ground, support the family, to give proper leadership; the woman to cooperate, to bear the children, and to rear and teach them. It was ‘good, very good.’
  
  “And that’s the way the Lord organized it. This wasn’t an experiment. He knew what he was doing” (Spencer W. Kimball, “The Blessings and Responsibilities of Womanhood,” Ensign, Mar. 1976, 71).