Thus far, we have shown that humans existed as spirit beings prior to their birth.  In Heaven, we had free agency (the right to choose) while we lived there as spirits.  Earth was created as a place for us to experience mortality.  As a part of this opportunity, we were also extended the God-given right to choose our own paths in mortality as we had while living with our Heavenly Family.  In order to progress in an eternal time frame, Our Father knew that we must be offered choices that were both good and evil.  It is by being free to make these choices that we show if we “will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them.” (Abraham 3:25)  This test cannot be given without the opportunity to freely make choices as we live our daily, mortal lives.

            Our Heavenly Father knew us well.  He knew that we were individuals with varied skills and talents.  No earthly father has ever had such a diverse group of children to raise.  From the very beginning, He was aware that some of us would:

• Fail while others would succeed.
• Be faithful while others would not be faithful.
• Choose to do good and others would choose to do evil.
• Seek the way of eternal life yet others would seek easier paths.

He knew as well that death would be a part of our world and that we would only have our individual bodies for a brief period of time.  He also saw that we would chose to disobey Him and His laws and be unable to return to Him and our former home in the Heavens.  That was why He knew that it would be necessary to provide a means to make amends for those of us who were willing to do so, otherwise, all of His children would be lost to Him.

To prevent the loss of all of His children (as mortals we would all be subject to imperfection and make mistakes), our Loving Heavenly Father knew that a way needed to be provided so that we could make things right.  We needed a means to demonstrate that we were willing to obey Heavenly laws and principles to the best of our abilities.

A way also needed to be provided so that death could be overcome.  Although, we would die, we would live again with perfected bodies that would never again be subject to a mortal death.

We should not be misled by the popular trends of the day into thinking that because our Heavenly Father knows what “will be” that this means that things “must be” a certain way.  It is not His desire that His children (us) be lost to Him.  In fact, it is His work and His glory “to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.” (Moses 1:39)  Or in other words, as with most earthly parents, when the children succeed, so do the parents share in that success both emotionally and physically.

However, God saw that our mortal frailties would surely lead us into making mistakes and into breaking His laws and principles.  Because He truly is our Father in Heaven and loves us dearly, He provided a way to overcome the consequences of  our transgressions if we choose to put it to work in our lives.  The “way” was provided to us in the offer of Jesus Christ to act as our exemplar and Savior.  He would teach us, show us how to live and ultimately allow Himself to be sacrificed for our sakes.  All that would follow His example and teachings and accept Him as their “creditor” could overcome the natural consequences of our prior thoughtless and/or errant actions.

So this plan that we all agreed upon (and fought for) was adopted.  We would receive bodies in which our spirits could be housed.  These bodies would be composed of the same elements that the earth would be created of.  We would be given laws and commandments that we could heed or not heed.  The choice would be ours though the consequences of our actions would be set, pre-determined, equal and just for all.

In accordance with the plan, Adam would be the first man placed upon earth and Eve would be his companion and associate.  They would be indispensable to each other in their mission of peopling the earth.  Eve disobeyed God’s express command to avoid eating a certain substance that was as a poison to her newly acquired body and as a result brought about the “fall of man.”  This made man mortal and made death possible.  (Death was an essential part of the plan which we adopted.)  The “fall of man” is a much debated subject among religions.  I do not want to digress on this subject.  For our purposes, it is enough to say that the fall of man was a very important event in the plan.  It made mortality and death possible.  Eve was deceived and ate fruit that her Heavenly Father had commanded her not to eat.  When she did this, her body changed from one state to another and she became mortal and able to die.  Adam realized that there was now a difference between them and that this difference could not exist if they were to fulfill their most important mission…bearing children.  As a result, he ate the fruit as Eve had and did so knowingly with some understanding of what he was doing and why he was doing it.  As Paul said, “Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.  (1 Timothy 2:14, 2 Corinthians 11:3)

Adam and Eve were now mortal.  They ate food which was not fit for their bodies in the state in which they had then existed.  They had also been expressly forbidden by God to eat it as He had known that it was not suitable for them and had known what the consequences would be if they did eat it.  As a result, they became subject to all of the weaknesses, diseases, and physical problems that our mortal bodies now possess.  Their bodies had been perfect in form and function but now they were subject to death and decay.

Eve’s tempter was Satan also known as Lucifer and “the son of the morning.”  As he does with all of us, he had told Eve half-truths and falsehoods to convince her that she was doing “the right thing” by disobeying her Heavenly Father.  In that council in Heaven, she also had been one of those who had rejected him, fought him and helped to cast him and his followers out to earth.  They would never get the opportunity that Eve now had —to gain a body.  As an act of revenge, Satan schemed to destroy Eve’s body and her chance to participate in the plan.  He reasoned that convincing her to partake of the fruit was a win-win for him. 

If she partook and Adam didn’t then the earth would not be peopled and the rest of us would not receive bodies.  If Eve partook and then convinced Adam to do so, they would both be subject to death and mortality as would be their descendents and their bodies also.  Either way he got his revenge.  We also rejected him as Adam and Eve did and by so doing received the opportunity to have mortal bodies.  It then follows that just as he did with Adam and Eve, he will do all that he can to exact revenge upon each of us.

Death comes to each of us.  It is no respecter of a person’s age, maturity or desire.  We cannot fend it off permanently.  We may die of disease, accident, violence, or natural causes but we will die.  Satan glories in this success of his over us.

In His infinite wisdom and foreknowledge, God provided for this treachery of one of His sons—even before Satan accomplished it.  There is no man or devil that can “outwit” Him.  Satan’s trickery designed to bring death into the world had been provided for even before man (Adam and Eve) had been created and placed into the Garden of Eden.  The sacrifice that would be made by Jesus Christ would provide the way for us to overcome death and be freed from Satan’s power.

Jesus Christ's atonement made it possible for us to overcome the effects of “the fall.”

The fall and death of man came about as the result of an individual act.  It would be unjust to eternally punish all men for the acts of another.  Therefore, Our Heavenly Father provided a means for us to be delivered from it.  (Note 4 link) Since one individual brought sin and death into the world, it is only logical and just that one individual be sent and equipped to overcome them.  (note 5)  (Romans 5:12,18; 1 Corinthians 15:21,22)

As a result of His pure and abiding love for us—His brothers and sisters—Jesus Christ voluntarily sacrificed Himself to atone for our sin and break the bonds of death over us.  The offering of life and conquest of physical death is a free gift to all individuals that ever have or ever will receive bodies.  It is free and without cost.  However, the conquest of the spiritual death caused by sin is available to all those who will accept the plan and example that Jesus Christ has provided for them.  It has a price for each individual and that price is clearly described by the Master Himself in His gospel teachings. 

This mission could only have been accomplished by an individual that was completely free of sin.  When the ancient Israelites of the Old Testament offered sacrifices for the sins of the people, their animals were required to be without spot or blemish or else the offering was refused because it was considered unacceptable.  These sacrifices were symbolic of the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ.  He was the only individual ever born to earth that could have satisfied the requirements for this Godly sacrifice for man.  He was:

1. The only man to live a totally sin-free life;
2. The only individual born to earth that was conceived of a hman mother and Godly father.  As such He was the only indvidual to possess the genetics and attributes of both a man and a God.
3. He was the One that was chosen in the Heavens and foreordained by the Father for this mission.

There has never been another man who has lived a life without sinning.  He only was not subject to Satan's power and dominion as a result of poor choices.  He is the only man who did not earn spiritual and physical death through His actions.  Other individuals have earned the fate of death and sin by their own choices--even as did Adam and Eve.  They gave Satan power over them as we do in our imperfection. 

The fact that Jesus Christ was absolutely sinless, humble, and willing to complete this mission made His offering acceptable to God.  It made Him the spotless lamb that would be offered up to wash away the sins of all men that would accept Him.