Genesis 1–2; Moses 2–3; Abraham 4–5

Genesis 1–2; Moses 2–3; Abraham 4–5

(Copied from Old Testament Scripture Helps)

When studying the Creation, it is important to keep in mind that the scriptures do not provide details about how or when the earth was created. But they do testify of why the earth was created and who the Creator was. The Creation is an essential part of Heavenly Father’s plan of salvation. Because of the Creation, we are able to come to the earth, receive a physical body, exercise our agency, and experience joy as we create eternal relationships.

President Russell M. Nelson taught: “I testify that the earth and all life upon it are of divine origin. The Creation did not happen by chance. … It is God who made us and not we ourselves. We are His people! The Creation itself testifies of a Creator. We cannot disregard the divine in the Creation. Without our grateful awareness of God’s hand in the Creation, we would be just as oblivious to our provider as are goldfish swimming in a bowl.”

The Lord has promised that the day will come when the specific details concerning the Creation of this earth will be revealed.

Using our measurement of time, we do not know how long it took God to create the earth. President Russell M. Nelson explained: “The physical Creation itself was staged through ordered periods of time. In Genesis and Moses, those periods are called days. But in the book of Abraham, each period is referred to as a time. Whether termed a day, a time, or an age, each phase was a period between two identifiable events—a division of eternity.”

Genesis 1:1–2; Moses 2:1–2; Abraham 4:1–2

A belief of traditional Christianity is that God created all things ex nihilo, which means “out of nothing.” Speaking about the earth’s Creation, the Prophet Joseph Smith taught that to “create … does not mean to create out of nothing; it means to organize, the same as a man would organize materials and build a ship.” Abraham’s Creation account teaches us that Jesus Christ organized the earth out of preexisting “materials.” Abraham’s account also uses the phrase “empty and desolate” to describe the earth in its earliest stages, rather than “without form, and void.”

Genesis 1:26; Moses 2:26; Abraham 4:1–31

The phrase “Let us make man in our image” suggests that God did not work alone in the Creation process. The book of Moses clarifies that Heavenly Father was speaking to Jesus Christ in this verse. From Abraham’s account and other prophetic sources, we have reason to believe that others may have assisted Jesus Christ with the Creation.

Genesis 1:26–27; Moses 2:26–27; Abraham 4:26–27

President Thomas S. Monson taught: “God our Father has ears with which to hear our prayers. He has eyes with which to see our actions. He has a mouth with which to speak to us. He has a heart with which to feel compassion and love. He is real. He is living. We are his children, made in his image. We look like him, and he looks like us.” As children of God, we have the potential to become like Him. In “The Family: A Proclamation to the World,” we read: “All human beings—male and female—are created in the image of God. Each is a beloved spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents, and, as such, each has a divine nature and destiny.”
President Lorenzo Snow taught: “We were born in the image of God our Father; he begat us like unto himself. There is the nature of deity in the composition of our spiritual organization; in our spiritual birth our Father transmitted to us the capabilities, powers and faculties which he himself possessed, as much so as the child on its mother’s bosom possesses, although in an undeveloped state, the faculties, powers and susceptibilities of its parent.”

Genesis 1:28; Moses 2:28; Abraham 4:28

In “The Family: A Proclamation to the World,” the First Presidency and the Twelve Apostles wrote, “The first commandment that God gave to Adam and Eve pertained to their potential for parenthood as husband and wife. We declare that God’s commandment for His children to multiply and replenish the earth remains in force. We further declare that God has commanded that the sacred powers of procreation are to be employed only between man and woman, lawfully wedded as husband and wife.”

Genesis 1:28–30; Moses 2:28–30; Abraham 4:28–30

As children of God created in His image, men and women hold a unique position among God’s creations. To have dominion means to “rule over.” Part of our dominion over God’s creations involves being responsible for them as good stewards. Elder Marcus B. Nash taught, “Life on this earth is both a blessing and a responsibility. The Lord declares, ‘Behold, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air, and that which cometh of the earth, is ordained for the use of man for food and for raiment, and that he might have in abundance’ (Doctrine and Covenants 49:19). However, because the earth and all on it are the ‘workmanship of [His] hand’ (Doctrine and Covenants 29:25), it all belongs to Him. As temporary inhabitants of this earth, we are stewards—not owners. As such, we are accountable to God—the owner—for what we do with His creation.”

Genesis 2:1–3; Moses 3:1–3; Abraham 5:1–3

The Lord resting on the seventh day provides a pattern for us to follow. To Moses, He commanded, “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, … For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.” To rest on the Sabbath does not mean do nothing. In the Creation account, the Lord taught that He “sanctified” the seventh day. The Hebrew word translated “sanctified” means “made holy” or “consecrated” or “belong[ing] to God.” Elder David A. Bednar taught: “The Sabbath is God’s day, a sacred time set apart to remember and worship the Father in the name of His Son, to participate in priesthood ordinances, and to receive and renew sacred covenants. … On His holy day, our thoughts, actions, and demeanor are signs we give to God and an indicator of our love for Him.”