And the days of the children of men
were prolonged, according to the will of God, that they might repent while in
the flesh; wherefore, their state became a state of probation, and their time
was lengthened, according to the commandments which the Lord God gave unto the
children of men. For he gave commandment that all men must repent; for he
showed unto all men that they were lost, because of the transgression of their
parents. (2 Nephi 2:21)
Here Lehi is explaining the probationary period of life to
his son Jacob. I was reading that last bit and it kind of rubbed me wrong: “for
he showed unto all men that they were lost, because of the transgression of
their parents.”
It sounds like what he says is all parents’ transgressions
cause their children to be lost spiritually. But I don’t think that’s what he
means.
Actually, what I think Lehi was trying to say is that all
men are lost, and the account of our first parents’ Fall (Adam and Eve) is the
tool God uses to show us this.
The account of the Fall shows a commandment being given, the
commandment being broken through the enticing of Satan, the shame of guilt, the
confrontation over the commandment, and the consequences of spiritual death. (Of course, in the temple we also get
the providence of a Savior, additional commandments to keep, and the promise of
being reclaimed from the Fall.)
Without an account of God directly confronting people over
their sin and giving consequences, how would we know sin is offensive to God
and that He punishes? The thing that gives the story such power is that it
makes a direct confrontation by God over sin a real possibility. It is a type and
shadow of judgment and also a type of the experience we have when we yield to
Satan’s temptations. We know what yielding feels like. We see the guilt is
real, whether one yields by one’s self or yields because of other people’s
enticing.
When we read Adam and Eve are confronted over eating the
fruit, we know God would also confront us over our sins and there is no hiding
them. When we read of Adam and Eve cast out of the Garden of Eden as
consequence of their sin, we know we face real consequences for our sins that
have a real impact on us and make things hard.
And the rest of the Bible gives us plenty of types of God’s
efforts to reclaim people from their sin, types to teach us to believe in
Christ as the Savior of the world who would intercede for us.
So, because of the story of the Fall we know to expect to be
confronted by God over our sins, whether in this life or in the afterlife. And
in the time we have before then, we can repent through faith in Christ to save
us.
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