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Life is God’s domain. The power of God is the power of Life. It is also the priesthood. The priesthood has the power to command and create living things. How do you think animals got on the ark? How do you think flowers bloom every spring? How do you think creatures have instincts? How do you think it is possible that we were created to be children of our Heavenly Father? It is the priesthood, the power of God.

I do believe the hymns teach true doctrine (see “Identifying Doctrine“). Here’s a bit of “O My Father” (#292, “Hymns”):

I had learned to call thee Father,
Thru thy Spirit from on high,
But, until the key of knowledge
Was restored, I knew not why.
In the heav’ns are parents single?
No, the thought makes reason stare!
Truth is reason; truth eternal
Tells me I’ve a mother there.

When I leave this frail existence,
When I lay this mortal by,
Father, Mother, may I meet you,
In your royal courts on high?

So who bears the life-giving power, it being a power of God? It is certainly not the man. The man cannot bear children. It is the woman – the mother (and consider Mary, the mother of Christ). While man cannot be without the woman, nor the woman without the man, the woman bears the life-giving power, a power of God, which is of the priesthood. While women do not bear the administrative authority of the priesthood, they have an equal role in carrying out the acts of God. Bearing and raising children is an inherent and sacred attribute of what I am sure is the expanse and fullness of the priesthood. So do not think that your role with the priesthood is merely a passerby, one who sits idly back and admires its use and power. In due time and through worthy living you, too, will be exercising a power of God as you create a family, eternally sealed to your husband, and you and him can become like God.

You have more to do with the priesthood than you might think.

Living our life to be like God means to fulfill all the ordinances and make all the covenants required to gain eternal life. These are:

• Baptism
• Confirmation (receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost)
• Obtaining the priesthood (men)
• Temple endowment
• Celestial marriage (sealing)

After worthily completing these, living righteously to the Celestial standard, and enduring to the end, you are guaranteed eternal life in the highest degree of the Celestial Kingdom, God’s residence. It is promised in Doctrine & Covenants, and then “all that [your] Father has shall be given unto [you].”

Now as you continue to recite the Young Women’s Theme, and consider the attributes mentioned there, also consider your whole and literal role pertaining to the Kingdom of God, the building of Zion, and not only the support of the priesthood in your life, but also the sealing power which will liken both you and your husband to the promises and blessings of the priesthood as you exercise God’s power, delegated to mankind, to raise a family, just as he did. You are chosen daughters of God, a heavenly father who loves you just as and probably more than you will someday love your children. Always strive to live up to this calling. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

What is that other office, not ordained to men on earth? To make this distinction, here’s one definition of Priesthood:

“The power and authority of God given to men on earth to act in all things for our salvation.”

This is a true definition. But, this says “men on earth” — certainly that is it? Not necessarily. Another true definition of Priesthood is more general and inclusive:

“It is the very power of God himself, the power by which the worlds were made, the power by which all things are regulated, upheld, and preserved.”

I see a common “all things” theme here between these definitions. Let’s add one more excerpt to this theme. It’s a portion of the Oath and Covenant of the Priesthood in D&C 84.

“And he that receiveth my Father receiveth my Father’s kingdom; therefore all [things] that my Father hath shall be given unto him.”

Why this theme, “all things”? I want you to have a firm understanding of the inheritance for receivers of the priesthood, because as you marry and be sealed, you will be receivers of the priesthood, not in the sense that it will be bestowed by the laying on of hands as it is to the men — that is their responsibility — but in the sense that you will be sealed to a priesthood bearer for time and all eternity. This sealing does mean that you will be with him for all of your eternal life, should you both live worthily to gain it, however it also means you will become with him as you both grow and develop spiritually.

In our Church we teach that we live this life to eventually live with our Heavenly Father and be like Him, as long as we live righteously, etc. What does it mean to be like Him? What is a god in the eternal and endless sense of the word?

“God” is a priesthood title, just as “Elder” or “Apostle.” It is the office of an exalted man and his exalted wife, eternally sealed by the bindings of the high priesthood and the Holy Spirit of Promise. It is the sealing power which is necessary for one to attain the highest degree of the Celestial Kingdom, where God lives, and where we must be like Him to live. This means to be exalted to said celestial state, being forever sealed to our spouse. This sealing binds the two bodies as one body, in a spiritual sense. It is the only way to attain the highest degree: “a man must enter into this order of the priesthood [meaning the new and everlasting covenant of marriage]; and if he does not, he cannot obtain it” (D&C 131:2-3).

It is key to remember that God’s power is the power by which the worlds were made, and on those worlds, all forms and the essence of life. For God’s power is the priesthood, and God’s power is the power of life, is it not? Why do you think the three most severe sins are those ones regarding life? The unpardonable sin is destruction of spiritual life, the unforgivable sin is taking of another’s life, and the “hard to be forgiven of” sin is the unauthorized giving of life.

To spin off the last post:

What three groups comprised the “parts” in heaven?

It’s difficult to draw this exactly out of what is written in the scriptures, but I would have reason to believe the three parts are the “noble and great ones”, the “not-so-nobles” and the “not-so-greats,” (to quote Brother Randy Bott, professor of religion, at Brigham Young University) and the part that was cast down (sons of Perdition).

At what point did God cast the one-third part down; how and when did the War in Heaven end?

I doubt our scriptures clearly outline the answer to this question, but there’s probably enough “reading between the lines” and commentary to draw some sort of conclusion. Of course, there’s an obvious answer: before the world was created. But I am wondering more specifically. There’s a lot of “eternity” behind the Creation.

Here’s a follow-up question you can consider.

Feel free to add your comments, citing scriptures/quotes or not.

Before I quote President Howick, I’d like to comment on his use of the words “free agency.” Man’s agency is not free, nor has it ever been. It was certainly paid for. Personally, I think the use of the term “free agency” is a misnomer and it should be referred to just as “agency:” the ability to choose. Here, now, President Howick offers some great insight on this said subject.

“Some people want to believe that free agency means there should be randomness in our Father’s plan — as if it’s important that we have the ability to surprise Him — even though, in my mind, that would undermine faith.

“However, to add spice to the discussion, let me throw a wrench into your example. D&C 137:7:  ‘All who have died without a knowledge of this gospel, who would have received it if they had been permitted to tarry, shall be heirs of the celestial kingdom of God.’  By the same reasoning,  all who die without the opportunity to choose for themselves in mortality will be assigned whichever Kingdom suits them based on our  Father’s knowledge of how they would have decided had they been permitted to tarry.

“Too often we fall into the trap of believing that the only reasons we are here are to get a body and be judged.  But we are also here to gain experience. D&C 130:18, ‘Whatever principle of intelligence we attain unto in this life, it will rise with us in the resurrection.’ In a very real sense, we are not here to prove ourselves worthy of a particular Kingdom — our Father knew before the world was made which kingdom each of us would attain — but to prepare ourselves to serve in the kingdom we receive.  There would be no value in handing us the proverbial keys of the kingdom, even if we deserved them, had we not first been prepared to receive them.

“And yet, it would seem that some do not need this experience.  When I was young, I believed that the revelation of D&C 137:7 was unfair because it granted the Kingdom to people who hadn’t lived to earn it. But as I grew, I learned that we simply don’t yet know everything about that revelation.  Mosiah 29:12, ‘Now it is better that a man should be judged of God than of man, for the judgments of God are always just….’  The judgment of God will be fair and those who did not experience this life either didn’t need it or will yet receive it in another way — and whether my belief is right or wrong, I know that I will be judged fairly, and that is enough for me.”

- President Howick

In a later post, I will add some more commentary on the topic of our agency: why is it not “free agency,” how does the mere fact of having agency affect our salvation, and what does a truly fair judgment imply? Go read it.