How would mercy make God cease to be God?
How is mercy acceptable then through Christ if it would make God cease to be God?
Previously in Alma 42, Alma taught his son that Adam and Eve had disobeyed God and by so doing, were cast out from God both physically and spiritually. Both deaths being infinite and everlasting never to be resolved for mercy cannot rob justice.
Justice is issuing a punishment or blessing in relation to actions a person makes who is bound by that law. Without laws there can be no justice. Justice can only exist if there are laws to be kept or broken upon which are tied blessings or punishments. (2 Nephi 2:7,10)
But more importantly, kingdoms cannot exist without laws that form them. (D&C 88:36) Heaven would cease to be heaven if there were no laws restricting those characters that would bring remorse, pain, and anger into the kingdom. Lehi taught his family that if there be no law, there be no God or heaven.
Doctrine and Covenants 88 explains a bit about this...
Putting these things together we have:
- In order to have a kingdom there must be laws made to organize it into a kingdom.
- Laws by nature have a punishment and blessing affixed to them or they are of no effect.
- God's laws are perfect and spiritual.
- Keeping God the Father's laws will gain you Eternal Life.
- Breaking God the Father's laws will gain you outer darkness (being cast out of His presence)
- God does not give Telestial or Terrestrial laws.
Then doesn't it stand to reason that there should only be two kingdoms?
The kingdom of Eternal Life, the highest kingdom where the perfect Gods dwell, and the kingdom of darkness of those cast out of the kingdom of God and out of his light and presence!! Heaven and Hell is what most call them and they are believed to be places where people are forever in them once destined to be there.
The laws of God are given to preserve a place of perfection. We call it the highest kingdom of the celestial glory. The laws are made to grant eternal life (God's life) and the breaking of them to grant eternal damnation or outer darkness (being cast out of that perfect kingdom). The blessing equal to the punishment. (Alma 42:16)
But where were we before this life? If only two kingdoms should exist under the laws of God and "there is no space where there is no kingdom", where were we? We occupied space therefore we must have been within a kingdom. Had to of been one of the two right? And if those in hell are destined to be outside the works of God then we could have only come from heaven. Which means we must have already been living an eternal life or we would not be allowed to be there. This conclusion is wrong.
Since we have all broken laws in this life, punishments must be served and we are all lost.
That is where our mediator comes in. Christ, through the atonement that paid a price to satisfy the demands of justice, gave us new laws. Laws that are easier to keep and that offer mercy to mistakes. But lesser laws than the perfect laws of God the Father.
How do we end up with terrestrial and telestial kingdoms of glory and even the lesser kingdoms of the Celestial glory?
New laws create new kingdoms!
Christ gave us a new and everlasting covenant, a law that yields an opportunity to obtain blessings even though we broke laws that should cast us out.
A lesser law that yields lesser kingdoms. I guess it could be said as it is written, "...there is no space in the which there is no kingdom; and there is no kingdom in which there is no space..." so also there is no kingdom where there is no law and there is no law given by which there is no kingdom given through obedience to that law.
By paying the price of sin (broken law) Christ alone has the power to remove justice by offering a lesser kingdom. He even removes justice that should be dealt to the vilest sinner. Hence we have the telestial kingdom. For those who would not enjoy the presence of murderers and whoremongers but cannot abide a celestial law, there is the terrestrial kingdom.
Thus we have discovered how God would cease to be God if justice were robbed by mercy. Heaven would cease to be heaven. Heaven would become terrestrial or telestial. Eternal life, or God's life, would only mean the life of a tyrant with supreme power. The vision of all that are wicked.
Outer darkness is reserved for those who reject Christ's atonement entirely. Not by being confused or brainwashed with misinformation, but by knowing Christ and rejecting Him. These leave without hope of gaining entrance into God's kingdom for God's laws are kept and enforced to preserve what we hope for, eternal life, or we would not hope in or trust in this God if it were not so. Therefore eternal life must be preserved to mean a life of peace and power full of light and love. No degree of darkness or sin can be admitted.
The only reason lesser kingdoms exist (those not part of the highest kingdom in celestial glory) is because of a mediator, or there would be no other kingdoms but the one in which God the Father has made laws for. This is how Christ didn't rob justice with His mercy.
We are still cast out of the highest kingdom where God dwells but we retain a hope of obtaining eternal life in some future time and way. If it weren't for these lesser kingdoms, Christ could not offer us anything different through his mercy. We would not be allowed into the highest kingdom of God for we are not perfect. Hence we have degrees of glory within the celestial kingdom along with the other lesser kingdoms that all might have hope to grow and gain and seek eternal life (the greatest kingdom).
We know these lesser kingdoms have always existed. Before our Heavenly Father was God they existed. This means there has always been justice and mercy. This plan of happiness presented in the beginning isn't new or the first time it has been enacted. The worlds and galaxies around us attest to it. When the plan was presented I believe we weren't wondering what a planet was, or what the kingdoms of glory were. We must have been residing on some sphere somewhere. And being immortal and having lived as long as God, we have been around a long. Our roles in this plan are what we were concerned with when the plan was presented. Who's gonna do this and that. Who's gonna be my father and mother and who's gonna offer us mercy. Who will bring the covenants to the children of men, and who will be the missionary that brings me closer to God.
This moves us to review this probationary time we have on earth called mortal life. The time between being innocent and being cast out forever.
So the atonement also cleansed us or forgave us of offenses to God's laws that happened before we were born. The state of innocence we enjoy as a child is a gift to give us hope and a new beginning. So none of us enjoyed the highest degree of celestial glory before this life or there would be no need to make us again innocent. So even before this life we were cut off from the presence of God and we are here now, with hope that we can enter God's presence and enjoy his peace. Remember the question, "But where were we before this life?" You don't know which unless it is revealed to you, but it is most likely a lesser kingdom.
This time is the time to prepare to meet God! For now it becomes even more grave for the ignorant and becomes even more potent to the informed that this life is too short to be wasted doing our own bidding or letting others walk this life uninformed. The KINGDOM OF CHRIST is here!
We are cast out of God's presence and are depending on a Savior. If we don't know what laws he has made for us to follow, we end up in a state of endless wo and misery. Those who are informed are held accountable for sharing it. Those who hide it being ashamed or shy will pay a heavy price having the laws of Christ broken in this thing. (D&C 41:1)
Share your testimony, give light to the souls around you, walk with service and love toward all people. This will gain you the presence of God.
