Two posts ago I discussed the doctrine of the Trinity and my opposition to it.
This will be a much gentler post, detailing how I personally come to the belief and understanding of the Godhead as true doctrine.
First, an explanation I didn’t give last time. Definitions:
Trinity or Trinitarian belief: God is one God, but three coeternal and consubstantial persons; the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The three persons are distinct, yet are one “substance, essence or nature” (homoousios). In this context, a “nature” is what one is, whereas a “person is who one is. (From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trinity). (Also, huh?).
Godhead: God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost form a group known as the Godhead. Each member is a different, individual being, yet all three are united in thought, desire, knowledge, power, and purpose. (From https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/media/video/2019-08-0080-godhead?lang=eng). (Also, visit that link to watch a 7-minute video to learn more).
How can I say “I know” the Godhead to be true?
The Godhead is one of the unique beliefs of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
A majority of Christianity believes in the Trinity.
In this post, I won’t go into detail on the doctrine, differences, importance, history, etc. of the distinctions between Trinitarian and Godhead belief. That I’ll likely save for another day. In this post I simply want to explain how I have come to know for myself that the Godhead is true and correct doctrine.
The short answer to how I can know the Godhead to be true is:
Through study, prayer, and upbringing.
My understanding of this principle and the knowledge I have of it can be broken down very simply. It’s a similar breakdown that explains much of my testimony in the restored gospel.
In reading the Book of Mormon, I know without a shadow of a doubt that it is the word of God. I know that it was translated through the power of God.
If the Book of Mormon is true, then Joseph Smith is a prophet.
Joseph Smith told us he saw God the Father, and Jesus Christ on His right hand.
It no sooner appeared than I found myself delivered from the enemy which held me bound. When the light rested upon me I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other-This is My Beloved Son, Hear Him!
Joseph Smith never wavered on this fact.
This could be where it ends, but I’ll add some notes on upbringing and study.
Upbringing – obviously, I must mention that my upbringing played a role in my believing this to be true. I was raised to believe in the Godhead; therefore, it is much easier for me to accept as truth. That said, it was up to me to ask questions, read the book for myself, study Joseph Smith’s history and understand the principle for me to come to the knowledge. Because I was raised to believe it to be true didn’t make it true. Which leads to the next point.
Study – As I said, through study and research I have determined the Book of Mormon to be the word of God. It is an inspired book.
Prayer – My testimony of the Book of Mormon, mentioned in study, not only comes from logical, mind-centered study, but from personal revelation. I’ve felt the Book of Mormon is true. I’ve prayed to know the Book of Mormon is true. I’ve received my answer, through prayer, that the Book of Mormon is true. Prayer is an irreplaceable ingredient.
The principle of the Godhead has been distorted, attacked, and misunderstood for centuries. One of the first attacks Satan always makes is on the nature of God. If Satan can confuse us on who God is, he can confuse us on who we are. We are children of the Almighty God.
I am grateful for modern revelation and prophets that make simple and powerful truths known. I am grateful to know that while God is magnificent and powerful, He is not un-knowable. The understanding of God as my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ as my brother, who gave His life for me, strengthens my faith and helps me put my trust in them.
This truth is eternal, and this truth is important.
I’m not going to cite a bunch of scriptures supporting my point. In my experience that does nothing because individual scriptures can be interpreted in a million different ways. Any scripture I give that seems clear as day to me to show God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost as three distinct personages is quickly explained away and followed up with another scripture that someone believes shows they are one being.
Instead of trying to convince anyone of this doctrine, I more want to give my thoughts on it. I also want to briefly discuss the importance of this doctrine and why I believe it has been so adamantly fought over throughout the centuries.
First, the “they are one” controversy with the many scriptural references is so easy for me to understand. They are one in intent and purpose, so they are one. Christ, when praying to His Father said, “let them be one, Father, as you and I are one.” (John 17:21-23) Why would Christ say this? Given the doctrine of the trinity, was Christ praying that his apostles would morph together into one super spiritual being? No, it doesn’t make sense. What Christ was praying for was literal. “Let them be one, as you and I are one” – in intent, purpose.
Second, what sense does a unified being make? I know we are human, and we don’t understand much of anything about the true nature of Heaven, of eternity, of what is next. I have faith in a lot, but I understand little. Maybe the next life is filled with multiple personality Gods and beings that I’m meant to worship. Maybe God can split into three personages. Maybe He did this to make us understand some deep, important principle. Maybe? Or maybe every person who counseled over this principle (the famous Nicene Creed) and ultimately came to a decision we follow hundreds of years later didn’t understand. God isn’t setting out to confuse us. He doesn’t want us to NOT comprehend Him. He wants us to know how much He loves us. He wants us to know He SENT His only begotten son, who also loves us. He wants us to know the Holy Spirit can be a constant companion to us. He doesn’t want to confuse us. He isn’t throwing out stumbling blocks all along the way to make things more difficult. This life isn’t intended to be a maze of confusion that we may be lucky to determine what God wants us to know. He wants us to seek Him and to seek truth. He WANTS us to understand. God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit are three separate, distinct beings. I don’t know this (yet), but I have faith and hope that it’s true.
Joseph Smith saw them. That’s why that moment was so significant. They didn’t speak to Him from the clouds. They appeared in their bodies. To show him, “you are like us, and we are like you.” They have bodies of flesh and blood. Christ really came here, His Father’s Son, to attain a body and die for us. That principle is pure and beautiful.
Have you ever wondered why Christ ate fish and bread with the apostles after his resurrection? Why was that account included in the scriptures? The scriptures are full of important information, obviously. Why was this seemingly unimportant detail included? Not because Christ was trying to make His apostles comfortable. It was included because it was important. Christ was showing that He had a body. Just as we, when we are resurrected, will be resurrected with our bodies.
This brings me to the third point, exactly why this doctrine was fought so hard against for all of history. Satan is cunning. Satan knows what is and isn’t important to our salvation. With the fervor and aggression Satan has fought this doctrine with, it seems obvious to me how important it is. This doctrine is so important because the corruption of it distances us from our Heavenly Father. That is Satan’s great purpose. What greater way to distance us from our Father than corrupting His image into some unknowable, un-understandable, un-comprehendible being? It is the opposite of what God is. He knows us, He understands us, He comprehends us, and he wants us to understand Him. This bizarre trinity He’s been morphed into makes it so hard to communicate with Him. How do you communicate a triple being you can’t imagine? Not the same, personal way you can communicate with your own father. Not the way your loving Heavenly Father wants you to communicate with Him. A father that sent His only begotten Son to save the rest of His spirit children.
I wish I could be more eloquent on this topic. Of all topics I wish I had a poet’s or philosopher’s eloquence for, this is it. Because it’s important. But I’m not a poet or a philosopher. My words fall short of what I want to portray. I wish so much that everyone could know Heavenly Father the way I feel and know Him. He and Christ are so important to me. Combining them in one takes away one of the most important persons in my life.
This truth is eternal, and this truth is important.
To learn more about the truth of the Godhead, visit here:
The story of the Prodigal Son is well known. For those who have not read it before or haven’t read it recently it can be found in Luke 15:11-32.
The story of the Prodigal Son has always hit close to home for me. Obviously, it’s easy for me to relate to the younger son. You should read Luke chapter 15 above but a quick summary: there were two sons. They will be referred to as the elder/older son and the younger son as I write. The two sons were given their inheritances. The younger son left his home and went to a faraway city. There he squandered his inheritance on “riotous living.” When he hit the lowest of lows, the younger son returned home to beg his father to allow him to be a servant. The father, instead of showing anger, welcomed his son home, killed the fatted calf, put a robe on his son, gave him a ring, put shoes on his feet, and threw a huge party in celebration of his return.
The older son, upon hearing of his brother’s return and the subsequent party, was angry.
This story is often told in such a way that the primary lesson is about the Prodigal Son and his father’s reaction to his return. The story is called “the prodigal son” after all. That lesson being that no matter how we stray, how far gone are, and how many mistakes we make our Heavenly Father (the father in the story) will always welcome us back. In fact, Heavenly Father rejoices at our repentance:
“I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.”
All Prodigal Sons like myself rejoice at this story.
I once heard a different perspective on this story, and I’d like to share it. There is a great lesson to be learned in the story of the Prodigal Son by looking at a secondary character: the older brother.
A great question to ask yourself before reading any of Christ’s parables is “who was He speaking to?” Another good question is “What was He trying to teach?” If you look at the parable from the perspective of the Prodigal Son, you can say Christ was teaching those who have sinned that they can always repent and return to the light of their Heavenly Father’s love.
Who was Christ speaking to when he gave this parable? He was speaking to those looking for the message of God. He was speaking to the listeners. These were the ones looking for the message of God. When giving this parable Christ was speaking to the saints.
Consider what can be learned from the older brother. The older brother never left. The older brother never sinned. The older brother respected and worked for his father. Many say, and I always thought, he was justified in his reaction. His exact words in verses 29 and 30:
“And he answering said to his father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment: and yet thou never gavest me a kid (fatted calf), that I might make merry with my friends:
But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf.”
This appears to be a natural reaction. He had always been there. He had always done right. Only for his corrupt brother to return and receive honor.
Why did the older son stay and work hard for his father? Why did he keep his commandments? Was he simply looking forward to the inheritance he was to receive?
Why do you serve God and keep his commandments? Are you looking forward to your mansion? Do you serve God so you can inherit His glory? Are you serving Him for YOUR benefit?
We should serve God because we love God. We should serve God because we love those around us. Our service to God shouldn’t be for the blessings and honors He can give us. Our hearts should serve for love and not for our inheritances.
Jesus didn’t tell this story only to get sinners to repent. He also told this story to get the saints to repent. The Prodigal Son went out to experience life and disregarded his father’s possessions. The older son on the other hand stuck around, but he was working to please his father. He looked at himself as moral and worthy. He was after his father’s possessions. That’s what he concerned himself with. The elder son was keeping score. He was trying to earn his father’s love and inheritance.
Sometimes we are like the Prodigal Son: sinning and needing to return home. Sometimes we are like the older brother: serving for the glory of the world.
Often we are like the older son in our envy and jealousy. When someone returns to the fold do we judge them for their past? Or, like the father in the parable and our Heavenly Father, do we rejoice at someone’s return?
Elder Holland in his talk, The Other Prodigal, said:
“I testify that no one of us is less treasured or cherished of God than another. I testify that He loves each of us-insecurities, anxieties, self-image, and all. He doesn’t measure our talents or our looks; He doesn’t measure our profession or our possessions. He cheers on every runner, calling out that the race is against sin, not against each other. I know that if we will be faithful, there is a perfectly tailored robe of righteousness ready and waiting for everyone, “robes…made…white in the blood of the Lamb.” May we encourage each other in our effort to win that prize is my earnest prayer.”
Let us not compare our blessings to the blessings of others, what we have to the possessions of others. Let us support and help each other to all return to our Heavenly Father. Jealousy is of Satan. We should never look down on somebody who made mistakes and is trying to return to God, because then we are the sinner. We can learn from every character in Christ’s great parable. Be like the Prodigal Son and repent, humble ourselves, and return home. Be like the elder son and don’t envy but welcome our wayward brothers and sisters back home with joy and love. And be like the father, loving all those around us, embracing the sinner and the saint alike. I believe this is God’s hope for us and what Christ was teaching us through this story.
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Here is a link to Jeffery R. Holland’s talk, The Other Prodigal:
*Edit -Two days before posting this I read this in Unlimited Power by Tony Robbins:
“Let’s consider the habit of smoking cigarettes… They contribute to everything from cancer to heart disease… People have every reason in the world not to smoke. Yet the tobacco industry continues to profit, and millions of people continue to smoke cigarettes, with more starting all the time. Why is that?
People may learn to enjoy the experience of smoking, but is that what got them started?.. What happened when they first smoked? They hated it. They coughed and gagged and felt nauseated. Their body said, ‘This stuff is terrible. Get it away from me.’ In most cases if your own physcal evidence tells you something is bad, you would expect to listen. So why don’t people do that with smoking? Why do they continue to smoke until the body gives in and finally becomes addicted?
They do it because they’ve been reframed as to what smoking means, and then that new representation and state have been anchored into place. Someone with a great deal of knowledge about persuasion has spent millions and millions of dollars to convince the public that smoking is something desirable. Through skillful advertising, clever images and sounds were used to put us in positive-feeling states; then those desired states (paradigm shift) were associated with or linked to a product called cigarettes. Through massive repetition, the idea of smoking has been linked with various desirable states. There’s no inherent value or social content to a piece of paper wrapped around tiny tobacco leaves. But we’ve been persuaded that smoking is sexy, or suave, or adult, or macho…
How crazy is this? What in the world does putting carcinogens into your lungs have to do with any desirable state? But advertisers do on a mass scale exactly what we’ve talked about in this book. They put out images that put you in a receptive, elevated state-and at the peak of the experience, they anchor you with their message. Then they repeat it on television, in magazines, or on the radio so that the anchor gets constantly reinforced and triggered.”
My own emphasis (underlines) and commentary (in parentheses) were added. Eerie. This book is copyright 1986. Do you think advertisers have let up? Do we think Lucifer is deciding to go easier on us? Anyone reading the above might say, “well cigarettes aren’t cool anymore, and they’re definitely not advertised the same.” Go to any bar and look at the mass of people outside. Then if you really think things have changed, pay closer attention to the next liquor/beer commercial you see. Shouldn’t take long. We’re bombarded by them all day, every day. I’ll now get to my original post. That was a long side-tangent.
Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles once gave an address at BYU where he talked about a discussion he had. The discussion was about the influence of evil and the consequences of bad choices. Elder Cook was given an interesting hypothetical: how would Lucifer present his plan to an advertising agency?
“The adversary described his dilemma: he and his followers had rebelled and rejected the Father’s plan and had come to understand that they could not prevail against God. Lucifer understood that while the Father’s plan was about joy and happiness, his own plan resulted in grief and misery. The problem, Lucifer explained to the ad executive, was how to attract followers.”
Lucifer would determine that the only way he could win would be to achieve a “paradigm shift.” He would need to convince us that what he wanted us to do would result in happiness, joy, and freedom while following God would result in misery, lack of freedom, and bondage.
“This hypothetical meeting serves a useful purpose. The truth is, not only do the enemies of the Father’s plan attempt to undermine the doctrine and principles of the plan, but they also attempt to mischaracterize the blessings that flow from the plan. Their basic effort is to make that which is good, righteous, and joyful seem miserable.”
It’s an amazing thing to consider how humans gravitate towards what destroys them. As the lyrics from OneRepublic’s song Counting Stars says, “Everything that kills me makes me feel alive.”
Consider the most obvious examples. Everyday millions of people drink literal poison. Here’s the amazing thing, you just read that and depending on who you are you thought of a different beverage from someone else. There are multiple poisonous drinks consumed every day. Am I referring to soda or alcohol? Both? How about cigarettes? I’m blown away every time I see someone smoking one. Like, “you know that is actually decaying your body from the inside out right?” Don’t care.
There are certain things that we have been asked to avoid in this modern day. We don’t always know why we avoid certain things. What I do know is that faithfully trying to follow God leads to blessings, both spiritual and temporal.
This leads to an important question.
Why do you think God doesn’t want you to sin?
Is it because He wants to control and tell you what to do?
Why wouldn’t He just force you not to sin then? He’s God.
Why does God hate and abhor sin?
God hates and detests sin because He know what the results of sin are: unhappiness, pain, suffering.
God doesn’t hate sin; He hates the unhappiness it leads to.
God is love. God is peace. God is joy.
I think about this often. I used to wallow in my sin and wonder why I was so miserable. Now that I’ve drawn closer to God, I’m so much happier. I see others stuck in the same pattern I was in and I desperately wish they would see there is another way. You don’t need to drink alcohol until you forget, to find happiness. You don’t need the lifestyle you think is bringing you joy, but you know is not.
Does God want you to be happy? An emphatic YES.
Does God want you to have freedom? An even more emphatic YES.
God would rather you have freedom even more than happiness. Otherwise, He would force you to make the choices that bring you joy. He refuses to do that. Your freedom means more to God even more than your happiness. To find true happiness you must choose it. To find true love you must gravitate towards it. We see this in what He’s given us, our agency. We always have the option to choose.
God’s plan, the Plan of happiness is meant to do just that. Bring happiness.
That doesn’t mean we all find joy the exact same way. That doesn’t mean we’re all on the same path. But I do believe the path of greatest joy leads to the being who gave us this whole experience. If life is hard, come to God and he will lighten your burdens. If life is joyful, we owe it to Him. Joy, growth, and freedom go hand in hand. We are meant to find these things during our mortal journey.
I use alcohol as an example because I believe it’s the easiest to use as an example, and because it’s what I have personal experience with. I’ve tried that life. I know alcohol doesn’t bring happiness. In fact, the terrible impact of alcohol on young brains and adult lives is now medically established.
A study from Harvard in the 1940s on success and happiness found:
“This study contains three significant insights. First, adult happiness has a high correlation with childhood family happiness, especially love and affection from parents. Second is the importance of a healthy, stable marriage to lifelong happiness. Third is the negative effect of alcohol on marital and lifetime success and happiness. Alcohol abuse touches one-third of families in the United States and is involved in one-fourth of hospital admissions. It plays a major role in death, bad health, and diminished accomplishment.”
The above quote was from the 1940s!! Has alcohol consumption gone down?
Notice the three things this study found that lead to happiness:
Love and affection from parents
Stable marriage
Alcohol avoidance
It’s no wonder the family has been attacked so aggressively the past 80 years. The paradigm shift has officially happened. Society says it’s about me, not my kids, kids take away MY freedom. Divorce. Drink and be merry. This isn’t happiness.
When the gospel of Jesus Christ was restored on the earth, soon after, the advice was given to abstain from strong drinks (Doctrine and Covenants section 89). The Word of Wisdom has blessed my life. It was established a century before studies started to prove its temporal benefit.
The Gospel of Jesus Christ brings happiness. I know this personally, from my experience following it. It only occurred to me recently that many of my friends and people I care a lot about really don’t think this happiness is an option for them. I know many of my friends and people around me are happy. That’s not what I’m saying. What I’m saying is there is always more joy to be gained. The Gospel of Jesus Christ isn’t an exclusive club. I wasn’t chosen to be a part of it because I’m lucky. I’m a part of it because it makes me happy, and that option is available to everyone.
I know a lot of people think “organized religion” or “God” or maybe even “a family” isn’t meant for them. I just want to remind anyone taking the time to read, happiness is for everyone. Happiness is something we all can find.
I know many of my friends think I’ve become a religious nut. Good. I have. The reason is because I’m happier than I’ve ever been. I used to invite people around me to bars, or parties, or to gamble. I’ve invited people to participate with me in things I thought brought me happiness. So why wouldn’t I invite every person I come in contact with now that I’ve found real happiness?
I wish I could shout it from the rooftops. I wish I was bolder about it than I am. I wish I could tell the entire world: you deserve to be happy. Find your happiness, however you need to. But I will tell you this, Jesus Christ is the source of all love. Therefore, He is the source of all truth and light. For that reason, He is the source of all happiness. I’ve learned that for myself and hope we all can, on our timeline.
I know where I come from. I know where I’m going. I know why I’m here. I know what happens when I leave here. I know I’ll be with my family forever. I know my daughter and my wife, who I’ve known for countless days, going all the way back to our premortal existence, I know I will be with them for eternity. This is true joy.
I know these things. Knowing these things bring me comfort. Knowing these things makes me happy. The choices and changes I’ve made in my life have brought me happiness I never thought I deserved. This happiness is for everyone.
I believe a careful reading of different scriptural records gives us a picture of Satan’s progression and tells us how he ultimately ended up cast down. There will be a lot of scriptural references here (duh). If you follow the story something becomes pretty clear about Satan. There’s a major revelation I learned about Satan that I never understood, and I don’t think many church members know.
Before I start I want to mention, my interest in studying Satan is the opposite of my interest in studying Christ, but helps with the same purpose. I think it’s good to study Satan to see how he fell and to avoid the behavior he exhibited that led him there. Through his story you see examples of pride, unrighteous ambition, anger, envy, jealousy, bitterness, selfishness, along with many other negative attributes. All of Satan’s attributes are the direct opposite to the traits of Jesus Christ. Ultimately Satan became a being of darkness. He rejected all light. Many around us reject light and I think as we understand Satan and understand his motivations (to tempt, enslave, and control us) we are better suited to withstand him. With that, we begin.
Satan’s story starts in the Book of Moses chapter 4:1-2:
1 And I, the Lord God, spake unto Moses, saying: That Satan, whom thou hast commanded in the name of mine Only Begotten, is the same which was from the beginning, and he came before me, saying—Behold, here am I, send me, I will be thy son, and I will redeem all mankind, that one soul shall not be lost, and surely I will do it; wherefore give me thine honor.
2 But, behold, my Beloved Son, which was my Beloved and Chosen from the beginning, said unto me—Father, thy will be done, and the glory be thine forever.
Here we see what I believe is well known to Latter-day Saints. Heavenly Father asked, “who will I send?”
Satan came forth and responded, “Behold, here am I, send me, I will be thy son, and I will redeem all mankind, that one soul shall not be lost, and surely I will do it; wherefore give me thine honor.”
Christ said, “Father, thy will be done, and the glory be thine forever.”
We know what happens here, though it isn’t said in these two verses. Christ is chosen by the Father.
Now we’re going to jump to a new book of scripture to continue Satan’s story. Abraham 3:24-28 reads:
24 And there stood one among them that was like unto God, and he said unto those who were with him: We will go down, for there is space there, and we will take of these materials, and we will make an earth whereon these may dwell;
25 And we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them;
26 And they who keep their first estate shall be added upon; and they who keep not their first estate shall not have glory in the same kingdom with those who keep their first estate; and they who keep their second estate shall have glory added upon their heads for ever and ever.
27 And the Lord said: Whom shall I send? And one answered like unto the Son of Man: Here am I, send me. And another answered and said: Here am I, send me. And the Lord said: I will send the first.
28 And the second was angry, and kept not his first estate; and, at that day, many followed after him.
In verse 24 – “one among them that was like unto God” – clearly refers to Jesus Christ. He is speaking to “those who were with him.” He goes on to talk about the first and second estates of man, of us. Verse 27 is where it gets important.
Verse 27 – The Lord (Jesus Christ) said, “Whom shall I send?” Note that Christ is following the same pattern He learned from His Father. “And one answered like unto the Son of Man.” This is Adam, the first man, or Michael as he was known in the premortal existence. Adam said, “Here am I, send me.”
Still in verse 27 – “And another answered and said: Here am I, send me.” – This will prove to be Satan.
“And the Lord said: I will send the first.”
Now the critical verse 28:
“And the second was angry, and kept not his first estate; and, at that day, many followed after him.”
So, it is clearly put forth here. I always thought Satan rebelled at Christ being chosen by the Father, and maybe he did in his heart. If you read Moses chapter 4 straight through that is how it seems. But when you read this story sequentially, we see what actually happened. Christ was chosen by the Father. Christ is essentially now leading the “project” under the direction of Heavenly Father. He is standing with others helping in the work. He follows the Father’s pattern and asks who will be the first man. Here Christ chooses Adam over Satan.
This adds a dimension to my understanding of Satan. A couple things of note. First, we know from the beginning Satan wanted the glory and wanted all of God’s children to return to heaven (see Moses 4:1). When he is passed over, he doesn’t openly rebel yet. When Christ is choosing who will be the first man, it’s possible Satan still saw a way to foil God’s plan and have all the honor given to him. He would go down as the first man and he would refuse to fall. If Satan went as the first man and refused to fall, man could never choose and therefore could never sin. If man couldn’t sin, there would be no need for a redeemer, there would be no choice, repentance, or progression. Satan would bring everyone back to heaven and in so doing destroy their agency. I think this was his plan.
Christ wisely chooses Adam to be the father of all and lead the human race into mortality.
It’s at this point we see Satan has had enough. He’s been passed over once by the Father. Now the one who took what he believed to be his rightful spot is choosing to pass him over as well.
Verse 28: “And the second (Satan) was angry, and kept not his first estate; and, at that day, many followed after him. – Emphasis added.
Here we see Satan’s rebellion. Here we see he leads “many” away. Before we continue with Satan’s story, I feel it’s important to remind you: Congratulations! If you’re reading this, you kept your first estate and are in the process of keeping your second estate. Keep it up and you’re promised to “have glory added upon (your) head for ever and ever” (Abraham 3:26).
Back to Satan.
Our story picks back up in Revelations chapter 12. I’ll be using the Joseph Smith Translation as it makes everything so much clearer.
The first part of Revelations 12:4 reads:
“And there appeared another sign in heaven; and behold, a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth.”
The great red dragon is obviously Satan, and here we see he drew away one third of the children of God after him. He and his followers were cast down to earth.
Revelations 12:6
“And there was war in heaven; Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought against Michael;“
Michael (Adam) and his angels fought against Satan and his angels.
Verse 7 tells us that Michael and his angels (who might be us!?) prevailed.
Revelations 12:8
“Neither was there place found in heaven for the great dragon, who was cast out; that old serpent called the devil, and also called Satan, which deceiveth the whole world; he was cast out into the earth; and his angels were cast out with him.”
Here we see the official result. There was no more place found in heaven for Satan, his followers, and their rebellion against Christ, which meant rebellion against God. Satan’s plan was foiled. He was not chosen to be the redeemer of man and he was not chosen to be the first man where he could foil God’s Plan of Salvation. He was cast down, in bitterness.
In conclusion, it doesn’t appear Satan rebelled at the outset. He was conniving and always looking for another way to enslave us, God’s children. I mentioned it earlier but every person on this earth already chose Christ. We were not fooled by Satan. We are here.
How did Satan get one third to follow him? I think if we carefully consider this question we can come up with some likely possibilities. There were many in the premortal existence that maybe didn’t properly prepare for this life, our second estate. When the time came to be tested, those who didn’t prepare would be fearful. We knew that some would fail to reach the Celestial Kingdom, and those among the host of heaven who had not used their agency to prepare well for mortal life were likely cognizant of that fact. From there it would be easy for Satan to convince some that they would fail, and they should therefore follow him.
Secondly, I believe Satan’s focus in the premortal life would have been to doubt Jesus Christ and his ability to redeem us. I believe Satan would have told many that Christ would fail, and then what? They would all fail and never be able to return home. I believe Satan likely attacked Christ. This would also be an attack on the ability to repent. Satan would have told those who didn’t use their agency well premortally that they wouldn’t use their agency well in life, that they wouldn’t repent, and change, and improve, and would ultimately fail. It’s the same tactic Satan uses today.
I invite everyone to hold firmly in your heart, remember, you chose Christ already. You were valiant already. You were brave already. You may have already fought Satan in heaven with Michael. You won. You are still fighting Satan today and you can still win. Remember that he is the father of lies, and Christ is our salvation. Look to Christ, keep your faith in him, keep repenting, keep changing, keep looking to Christ and we will all return to Him again.
I know that Satan is never giving up, just like he never gave up in the premortal life. Just like in the premortal life we will prevail. We have Christ on our side. With Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father on our team, we cannot lose.
No Coincidences 