THE COMING OF MAN.
The decision arrived at in the Great Council was promptly carried out
by those to whom the authority to do so was confided.
**Making of the Earth.** The first step, in carrying out the Great
Plan, was to secure a place on which the desired experience might be
gained. To accomplish this, the earth was made from materials, found
in the universe, which, by the intelligent power of God, were
collected and organized into the earth. The earth was not made from
nothing, nor by the fiat of God, except as his will and words
determined that the work should be undertaken. In the clumsy way of
man, by adding stone to stone or material to material, the earth was
not made; rather, great forces, existing in the universe, and set into
ceaseless operation by the directing intelligence of God, assembled
and brought into place the materials constituting the earth, until, in
the course of long periods of time, this sphere was fitted for the
abode of man. In the making of the earth, as in all other matters
pertaining to the destiny of man, the work was done in complete and
orderly harmony with the existing laws of the universe. The Mosaic six
days represent successive stages in the earth's construction, each
measured by ages of time. The forces of nature act steadily but slowly
in the accomplishment of great works.
**The Builders.** The creation of the earth, the details of which are
not known, must have been marvelously and intensely appealing in its
interest to the intelligent beings who, because of their exalted
knowledge, had the necessary power over the elements and forces of the
universe to accomplish the forming of an earth. Three great
intelligent Beings were in supreme authority in the building of the
earth, namely, God, the Father, his Son, Jehovah, who became the
Christ, and Michael, who became the first man, Adam. These three
beings were naturally the ones concerned in the making of an earth for
the sojourn of the spirits, for it was through the agency of God, the
Father, that the spiritual bodies were started on the road of eternal
progression; it was about the mission of Jehovah, the Son of God, that
the differences of opinion raged in the Great Council, and, finally,
it was Adam, or Michael, who was appointed to be the one to come upon
the earth, and there to subject himself to death, so that the
procreation of spirits in earthly tabernacles, might be started. These
three beings, who are so vitally concerned in the destinies of the
human race, had charge of the making of an earth which should be a
suitable and a pleasant habitation for the earth-clad spirits.
**The Coming of Man.** The earth at last was finished. Adam, the
first man, and his wife, Eve, then appeared on earth. The statement
that man was made from the dust of the earth is merely figurative, and
means that he was made of universal materials, as is the earth.
Likewise, the statement that God breathed into man the breath of life
is only a figure of the existence of the spirit within the body. The
exact process whereby man was placed upon earth is not known with
certainty, nor is it vital to a clear understanding of the plan of
salvation. We may rest assured that the first man and the first woman
were eternal beings, who subjected themselves to life on this earth,
so that the process of clothing eternal spirits with mortal bodies
might begin on the earth. Adam and Eve, in view of the great
sacrifices they made to make the Great Plan a reality, are the great
hero and heroine of human history.
**The "Fall."** Biblical lore and traditions among all of the races
of man, tell of the "fall" of the first parents from the grace of God.
An event called the fall did occur, but it was a necessary part of the
Great Plan. Adam and Eve were eternal beings, and were not under the
ban of mortal death. Subject to death they must become, however, if
their posterity should inherit corruptible bodies. The fall then was
simply a deliberate use of a law, by which act Adam and Eve became
mortal, and could beget mortal children. The exact nature of this
event or the exact manner in which the law was used is not understood.
The Bible account is, undoubtedly, only figurative. There was no
essential sin in the fall, except that the violation of any law,
whether deliberately or otherwise, is always followed by an effect.
The "fall" of Adam and Eve was necessary, for without it, there would
have been no begetting on the earth of spirits with mortal bodies, and
the Plan proposed and confirmed in the Great Council would have
remained inoperative. "Adam fell that man might be."
**The First Blessing.** The curse, so-called, pronounced by God upon
Adam as he went out of the Garden of Eden, that in the sweat of his
brow he should earn his bread, is possibly the greatest of all human
blessings, and it is a simple extension of a great eternal law. From
the beginning of the dim past, when man slumbered with only a feeble
thought of his possible vast future, the great law of his progress has
been that only personal effort can achieve desirable things. The price
to be paid for advancement is vigorous self-effort. The active will
precedes every step of progress. To exercise the will means labor,
which may well be represented by "the sweat of the brow." The
so-called curse, however, carries with it the magnificent promise that
man, by the exercise of his powers, may subdue the earth, and make it
serve all his needs. In a universe controlled and directed by the
intelligent God, there can be no question but that, ultimately, the
intelligent will shall control for its own use not only the things of
this earth but all the forces of the universe. The subjection to which
the earth will be brought depends entirely upon the degree to which
man exercises his will, that is, the degree to which he accepts the
benefits of the first blessing.
**The Garden of Eden.** The first days on earth of the first man and
the first woman are of intense interest to every student of the
subject, and it is to be regretted that so little knowledge of those
early times has survived the vicissitudes of time. In the Garden God
walked with man and taught him the living truth. According to the
Prophet Joseph Smith, the Garden of Eden, the first home of Adam and
Eve, was located near the city known as Independence, Missouri. To the
north and east of Independence, some scores of miles, is probably the
place where Adam dwelt after he had been driven out of the Garden. The
State of Missouri, and the country around it, is, therefore, of
tremendous interest to those who accept the Gospel as restored in the
latter days.
**A Wise Beginning.** In all matters pertaining to the beginning of
man's earth career, it may be observed that proper preparations have
been made. There has been no blind destiny working out unknown
purposes; instead, intelligent forces have provided for man from
beginning to end, so that the whole scheme of man's life, here and
hereafter, is one of order and system.