Jesus The Christ – Study Guide

(2)      The Premortal Existence

Genesis 1:26-27 is the biblical account of what is left of the premortal life, which according to some LDS scholars was over 2.5 billion years of existence. In this organizational meeting (Abraham 3:22-28), we were all present and witnessed the Savior’s appointment as the Redeemer. Jesus explained that some souls would be lost and not make it back. Lucifer argued that he could save them (v. 26). In verses 24-25, Jesus is already the Chosen One. He is speaking in past tense that we (God the Father and Him) we prove us to determine if we keep our covenants made (in the premortal existence).

In verse 28 Lucifer is angry because the Father chose Jesus instead of Lucifer. At this point, Satan had not formulated his plan, he just wanted, as section 121:27 itemizes, to gratify his pride (self-elevation, inordinate self-esteem, unreasonable conceit), his vain ambitions (desire for superiority and honor, inordinate desire for power or eminence, preferment) and justify his unrighteousness (violation of divine law, a habitual course of wickedness).

It wasn’t until Moses 4, that Lucifer’s plan formulates as a temper tantrum. In his tirade, he explains that all people will be redeemed without considering the impossibility of his ill-conceived outburst. Furthermore, his true colors emerged in perhaps a concluding moment of honest, “surely I will do it; wherefore, give me thine honor.”

Two points of import:

(1) surely I will do it was not, is not, and never could be possible without the honor of all intelligences and creations, which he did not have. It is not possible to become like God without the necessary knowledge of adversity and opposition, which Lucifer feigned he would remove. His very intention would render this ill-conceived plan impossible.

(2) A transfer of God’s honor is not like inserting a thumb drive into your computer and hitting transfer. It requires the work, the labor, and the creative powers of an Anointed God of Creation, which he was not. Not even Jesus was an Anointed God of Creation, yet Lucifer thought he could bypass mortality and the process of exaltation and take God’s supreme source of power: His honor. The audacity is unsurpassed as only a Son of Perdition could concoct.

Biblical Support of the Premortal Existence

A confirmation that premortal life was understood during the ministry of the Savior is found in John 9:1-2 when Jesus healed a man blind from birth. His disciples queried for the source of his punishment. Notice the assumption that his blindness was a result of some past transgression from the man or his parents.

It’s feasible for his parents to have sinned before the child’s birth, however, he was born blind, therefore if the man sinned before birth, the very question supports an understanding of the premortal existence but a lack of understanding as to the workings of God. Being born blind as a punishment is not how God works. It would only be a blessing and a possible test to determine if we keep our premortal covenants.

As a side note, according to Hebrew tradition, in order to qualify to be the Savior, who came to save the world, He must perform 4 miracles. 1) Walk on water, 2) Cast a devil out of a mute, 3) heal a leper, and 4) heal a blind man who was born without eyes.

John 1:1 is a classic scripture depicting the divinity of Jesus Christ to those of the LDS faith. Those without a belief in modern-day revelation muddy its clarity. The scripture in the KJV reads: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

To an LDS reader, the beginning is the premortal existence and Jesus Christ is the Word. Joseph Smith translated it as follows: In the beginning was the gospel preached through the Son. And the gospel was with the Word, and the Word was with the Son, and the Son was with God, and the Son was of God.

Both translations support the divinity of Christ in His premortal state.