Jesus Christ is the Way

Lesson 3 from Gospel Principles opened the discussion as to why we needed a Savior and The War in Heaven.

We knew we would have to leave our Father's presence and come to this earth to receive a mortal body and be tested. We also learned that "all of us would sin and some of us would lose our way". Like a perfect parent, Heavenly Father knows and loves each one of us. He wanted us to return so he provided a plan to redeem us from sin and allow us to be made clean again.

Two plans of redemption were presented. Knowing that we would need to have the experience to choose for ourselves in order to progress, Jesus Christ offered to come to the earth and pay for the sins we would inevitably commit. He would not do this for his glory but he would give all the glory to God, the Father. Satan, who was called Lucifer, came up with a plan that would take away our agency. He would force us to do what he wanted and take all the glory for himself.

Heavenly Father chose Jesus Christ to be our Savior and Satan rebelled. There was an uprising among the spirits of men. The majority chose to follow Jesus, a third chose to follow Satan. There punishment was their eviction from God's presence and the loss of opportunity to receive a mortal body.

All of us born on this earth chose Jesus' plan. God allowed for Satan and his followers to come here as spirits. Their sole purpose is to entice us to make choices that will keep us from our ultimate goal. Satan and his followers are a miserable lot and they want us to be miserable, too. But they also provide the opposition necessary to give us something to choose between. We chose Jesus in the beginning and we have to continually choose. Every day we have to choose to follow Jesus Christ. His is the only way to exaltation.