Plan of Salvation: PreMortal Existence
THE IMPORTANCE OF UNDERSTANDING WHERE WE CAME FROM
Ages 12-18
Sunday School Activity
We have about 23 students in our class, so we put 3-4 kids in each group. Most classes have a lot less so 1-2 kids per group. Give Students 10 minutes to complete their own groups page. Spend the Next 30 minutes answering all the questions and asking questions to the groups who did each page respectively as you go along. I put all the questions (all 6 group questions) onto one page for each student so they could take notes whenever.
By understanding where we came from,
we can:
-Understand Who We Are
-Know Where We Are Going
-Make Righteous Goals
-Be Enlightened and Receive Blessings
-Be Confident in God’s Plan for You
-Know That You Are Not Alone
-Know Your Purpose and Assignment
-Understand Why Good and Bad Things
Happen
-Make Better Decisions
1)Abraham 3 (Part 1)
Read Abraham 3:1-14
What is the star named that
is closest to the throne of God and closest to the Lord’s time?
In the beginning of Abraham 3
(2-10), it proves that God follows a law of physics. Explain.
Abraham 3:14: How large will
Abraham’s family be, what is it compared to?
Abraham 3:19: Who is God more
intelligent then?
2)Abraham 3 (Part 2)
Abraham 3:22-28. Fill in the Blank.
Abraham 3:22 – Now the Lord
had shown unto me, Abraham, the ____________________________ that were
organized before the __________________ was; and among all these there were
many of the ________________________ and _________________________ ones.
What is your “first
estate”? What happened to those that
kept their first estate?
Did everyone in this
classroom keep their first estate?
Who did not keep his first
estate? What happened to those who did not keep their first estate?
What is your “second estate”?
(verse 27) Who is the “Son of
Man” who will be sent?
(verse 25) What is the great
purpose of earth life/mortality?
Read Doctrine and Covenants 138:53-56. Were you
chosen for certain assignments here on earth?
Do you have a purpose for being alive at this time? (read the quote
below)
The Prophet Joseph
Smith said, “Every man who has a calling to minister to the
inhabitants of the world was ordained to that very purpose in the Grand Council
of heaven before this world was” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, sel.
Joseph Fielding Smith [1976], 365). In other words, not only was Abraham chosen
for certain assignments before birth, but so were you (see D&C 138:53–56).
3)Intelligences/Spirit
Matter
D&C 93:29
“Man was also in the
_______________________ with God.
Intelligence or the light of truth, was not created or made, neither
indeed can be.
Are there a specific number
of intelligences?
Were the intelligences ever
created?
D&C 93:33
“For man is spirit. The elements are ___________________________,
and spirit and element, inseparably connected, receive a fullness of joy.”
What does eternity mean to
you?
Explain the quote from a
famous author “You don’t have a soul.
You are a soul; you have a body.”
Read D&C 131:7: There is no such thing as
immaterial matter. All spirit is matter, but it is more fine or pure, and can only
be discerned by purer eyes.
Does the spirit weigh anything? What is it made of?
Light has a mass that is so fine that it is 0 at
resting. How fast is the speed of light? How many times can it go around the earth in
one second?
How does this scripture help us understand the
spirit world? Why can’t we see the
spirit world around us?
4)Spirit
Children of our Heavenly Father
Acts 17:29: We are the
______________________________ of God.
Romans 8:16: We are ______________________ of God.
Romans 8:17: We are _____________________ of God.
We are _____________________ with Christ.
[Not direct
doctrine, quote from askgramps.org] “We have no idea what the physical
shape of the eternally existing intelligence is. We know that when a spirit
child is born of our Heavenly Parents, a previously existing intelligence
enters the spirit body, giving it independent life, in much the same way, I
would imagine, that the previously existing spirit enters the mortal body at
some time prior to birth, giving it independent life………………The spirit occupies
space and has essentially the same form and dimensions as the physical body
that it inhabits. The spirit came into being in the same manner as physical
bodies come into being. It was born of Heavenly Parents. We do not remember the
date of our spiritual births, but the age of the spirit would be counted from
that point. Jesus Christ was the first born son of God. He is our elder
brother, and all the human family are brothers and sisters to each other-all
children of the same Father in Heaven.”
Q: Did God create the intelligences or create the
spirit bodies of his children?
Q: Who was the first-born Son of God?
“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 that undeveloped offspring of
celestial parentage is capable, by experience through ages and eons, of
evolving into a God” (in Clark, 5:244).
Q: Are you a Child of God? What are you capable of in the eternities?
5)Satan and His Followers/War in Heaven
Read Revelation 12:6-9. Who was fighting in the war in heaven?
________________________and his angels VERSUS
the_________________________ and his angels
Who was cast out of heaven?
Where were they sent????????
Read D&C 29:36-39
Did we have agency in the premortal life?
How many of the host of heaven did the devil turn away?
Read D&C 76:25-27. Fill in the Blank
25 And
this we saw also, and bear record, that an __________________ of God who was in
authority in the presence of God, who ____________________ against the Only
Begotten Son whom the Father loved and who was in the bosom of the Father, was
thrust down from the presence of God and the Son,
26 And
was called __________________________, for the heavens wept over him—he was
________________________, a son of the morning.
27 And
we beheld, and lo, he is ___________________! is fallen, even a son of the ______________________!
Read Moses 4:1-4: How Satan becomes the
devil.
What did Satan seek to destroy?
Satan chose a path of full rebellion in the very presence of Heavenly
Father. Nobody forced him to this decision. Satan posessed the same agency we
all had in the pre-mortal life. While most of us used our agency to obey God,
and thus be able to receive further blessings from him, Satan, and those who
followed after him used their agency to fight against God. Satan planted seeds
of rebellion and disobedience. Eternal Justice demands that he receive the
consequences of that choice, and one of those consequences is a complete loss
of an opportunity for a mortal life. Because he will never receive a physical
body, he will never be able to obtain what is needed to return to God’s
presence. Satan knew the consequences of his choice before he made the
decision, yet he proceeded despite knowing what it would cost him. Because he
knew beforehand, it is ultimately fair that he receive the consequences of his
choice. (askgramps.org)
BONUS Question: Read Over Abraham 3, Moses 1-4.
In what order did these three events happen….*the
Creation, *the War in Heaven, * Satan and His Followers being cast out.
6)Ecclesiastes 1: The Veil, Eternity, and Increased
Wisdom
What does the preacher talk
about in Eccl 1:11 as pertaining to the veil?
Eternity is a hard concept
for us to understand in mortality. What are some examples of “eternity” or
“infinite” in this chapter?
In what verses does the
preacher basically say that matter is infinite and neither created or
destroyed?
Why do you think that
“increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow” means? (Eccl 1:18)
Definition of sorrow: a feeling of
deep distress caused by loss, disappointment, or other misfortune suffered by
oneself or others. To mourn, to grieve.
How much “knowledge” did Jesus Christ have on this earth? How can we relate that to sorrow and Him
atoning for our sins?
Why do you think there is a “Veil” protecting us from our previous
knowledge of our premortal life? [there
are several answers to this question]
