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Aaronic Priesthood Manual 3

The Fall of Adam

"Lesson 6: The Fall of Adam," Aaronic Priesthood Manual 3, 19

OBJECTIVE

Each young man will become more familiar with the scriptural account of the fall of Adam and its consequences.

PREPARATION

SUGGESTED LESSON DEVELOPMENT

Introduction

Ask the young men how they would respond to someone who said: "We can blame Adam and Eve for all the difficulties we have in life. If they had not sinned, we would be much happier and better off. We would not have thorns and weeds. We would not have sickness and death. We would not have been cast out of God's presence. It just doesn't seem fair that we should have to suffer because of what they did."

Allow a few minutes for the young men to respond.

Picture, scriptures, and discussion

Display picture 2, Adam and Eve.

Have several young men help in reading 2 Nephi 2:22-25 and Moses 5:10-12.

Help the young men understand that if Adam and Eve had not partaken of the forbidden fruit-

Because the fall of Adam was a necessary part of the plan of salvation, the scriptures say that "death hath passed upon all men, to fulfil the merciful plan of the great Creator" (2 Nephi 9:6).

The Fall of Adam

Scripture and discussion

Explain that after Adam and Eve were placed in the Garden of Eden, the Lord gave them two commandments. As the young men read the following verses, have them mark the key words in each of the commandments.

Have a young man read Moses 2:28.

Have a young man read Moses 3:15-17.

Adviser presentation

Explain that Satan, who had been cast out of the presence of God for rebellion, was allowed to come to earth. He tries "to deceive and to blind men, and to lead them captive at his will, even as many as would not hearken unto [the voice of God]" (Moses 4:4). After the two commandments had been given to Adam and Eve, Satan tempted Adam and Eve to eat of the forbidden fruit.

Scriptures and discussion

Have the young men read and mark 2 Nephi 2:15-18 and Moses 4:5-12.

Consequences of the Fall

Discussion

Help the young men bring out that because of the Fall-

Chalkboard, discussion, and adviser presentation

Place each item from the following chart on the chalkboard at the appropriate point in the discussion, using the paragraphs that follow as needed to explain each point:

Condition before the Fall
1. No power to procreate
2. No knowledge of good and evil
3. No physical death (immortal)
4. No spiritual death (lived in the presence of God)

 

Condition after the Fall
1. Power to procreate
2. Knowledge of good and evil in a world of opposition
3. Physical death
4. Spiritual death

 

Power of Procreation

Before the Fall, Adam and Eve could have no children. For this reason Adam partook of the forbidden fruit: "Adam fell that men might be" (2 Nephi 2:25). The Prophet Joseph Smith taught that "Adam was made to open the ways of the world" (History of the Church, 1:283). By partaking of the forbidden fruit, Adam and Eve opened the way for us to enter into mortality.

After the Fall, Adam and Eve fulfilled the commandment of God to multiply and replenish the earth, and "they ... brought forth children; yea, even the family of all the earth" (2 Nephi 2:20).

Knowledge of Good and Evil

A major purpose of earth life is for God's children to prove "if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them" (Abraham 3:25). In order to prove their willingness to do all things God would command them, it was necessary that Satan be allowed to tempt man or to provide the necessary opposition to God so that choice would be possible. A knowledge of good and evil is gained only in a world of opposites, where wickedness opposes righteousness; good, bad; corruption, incorruption; happiness, misery; bitter, sweet (see 2 Nephi 2:11-12).

Explain that because Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, their eyes were opened to a world of opposites. The Lord himself declared, "Behold, the man is become as one of us to know good and evil" (Moses 4:28).

Explain that the tree from which the forbidden fruit was taken was called the tree of knowledge of good and evil, because eating of its fruit opened the way into a world of opposites in which men and women can learn by their own experiences to know good from evil.

Physical Death

Explain that physical death, known also as temporal death, was introduced into the world as a consequence of the Fall. As a result of the Fall, all people and all forms of life upon the earth must suffer a physical death, a separation of spirit and body.

Spiritual Death

Scripture and discussion

While in the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve lived in the presence of God. They walked and talked with him.

Have the young men read and mark Doctrine and Covenants 29:39-41.

Explain that this is called "spiritual death" because no one in a state of transgression can dwell in the presence of God. President Joseph F. Smith explained spiritual death by saying:

"When Adam, our first parent, partook of the forbidden fruit, transgressed the law of God, and became subject unto Satan, he was banished from the presence of God, and was thrust out into outer spiritual darkness. This was the first death. Yet living [physically], he was dead-dead to God, dead to light and truth, dead spiritually; cast out from the presence of God; communication between the Father and the Son was cut off. He was as absolutely thrust out from the presence of God as was Satan and the hosts that followed him. That was spiritual death" (Gospel Doctrine, 5th ed. [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1939], p. 432).

The Fall and Repentance

Scripture and discussion

Have the young men read and mark Doctrine and Covenants 93:38-39.

Explain that Adam and Eve were innocent in the Garden of Eden before they disobeyed. Because of their disobedience, they fell from their innocent state to a state of unrighteousness. They needed to be redeemed from their fallen state through the Atonement, upon condition of their repentance. In the same way, we commit sin, and only through repentance and the atonement of Jesus Christ can we be redeemed.

The Fall Was a Great Blessing

Discussion

Help the young men understand that the fall of Adam was as necessary to the plan of salvation as was the atonement of Jesus Christ. Without the Fall, we would not have existed and would have had no need for a Savior. Without the Fall, we would not have become mortal or known the fulness of joy that comes from having a mortal body and from choosing good over evil.

Quotation and discussion

President Brigham Young stated the proper attitude we should have regarding the Fall:

"Some may regret that our first parents sinned. This is nonsense. If we had been there, and they had not sinned, we would have sinned. I will not blame Adam or Eve. Why? Because it was necessary that sin should enter into the world; no man could ever understand the principle of exaltation without its opposite; no one could ever receive an exaltation without being acquainted with its opposite. How did Adam and Eve sin? Did they come out in direct opposition to God and to his government? No. But they transgressed a command of the Lord, and through that transgression sin came into the world. The Lord knew they would do this, and he had designed that they should" (Discourses of Brigham Young, sel. John A. Widtsoe [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1941], p. 103).

Conclusion

Scripture and quotation

Point out that Adam and Eve viewed their fall as a great blessing. Have a young man reread Moses 5:10-12.

President Joseph Fielding Smith has also given his testimony about the blessings of the Fall:

"When Adam was driven out of the Garden of Eden, the Lord passed a sentence upon him. Some people have looked upon that sentence as being a dreadful thing. It was not; it was a blessing. I do not know that it can truthfully be considered even as a punishment in disguise. ...

"The fall of man came as a blessing in disguise, and was the means of furthering the purposes of the Lord in the progress of man, rather than a means of hindering them" (Doctrines of Salvation, comp. Bruce R. McConkie, 3 vols. [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1954-56], 1:113-14).

Challenge

Challenge the young men to read all of 2 Nephi 2 and 9 as a review of the fall of Adam and to think, as they read, how merciful and just the Lord's plan of redemption is.

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Next Chapter: Lesson 7: The Atonement Brings Victory over Death and Hell »

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