Monday, March 22, 2004

Helaman 14:16-18


"Yea, behold, this death bringeth to pass the resurrection, and redeemeth all mankind from the first death—that spiritual death; for all mankind, by the fall of Adam being cut off from the presence of the Lord, are considered as dead, both as to things temporal and to things spiritual.
But behold, the resurrection of Christ redeemeth mankind, yea, even all mankind, and bringeth them back into the presence of the Lord.
Yea, and it bringeth to pass the condition of repentance, that whosoever repenteth the same is not hewn down and cast into the fire; but whosoever repenteth not is hewn down and cast into the fire; and there cometh upon them again a spiritual death, yea, a second death, for they are cut off again as to things pertaining to righteousness."
Helaman 14:16-18


I think that this is interesting... I see the same seeming dilemma here that exists in the whole Garden of Eden thing. Adam and Eve were supposed to stay in the garden and not eat of the tree... but they did. It is a tragedy in a way, but it made our lives possible in another way... the same thing with Christ's suffering and death. It is the biggest tragedy in the history of Humanity... and yet, it made our resurrection and salvation possible. Because of Christ's death, we will all be resurrected, and because he took upon himself the sins of the world, we all have the chance to repent and triumph over our weaknesses.
The thing that I don't get is why (in the first verse), it says that being cut of from temporal things is part of Spiritual Death... any insights on that from my kind readers? Does it just mean that we can't realize the *full* blessings of the Earth (as it was in Garden of Eden days for instance... maybe we don't realize the full extent of that tragedy?)?

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