Today's Favorite Verse: 2 Nephi 9:12, 14

Today's Favorite Verse: 2 Nephi 9:12, 14

"And this death of which I have spoken, which is spiritual death, shall deliver up its dead; which spiritual death is hell; wherefore, death and hell must deliver up their dead, and hell must deliver up its captive spirits, and the grave must deliver up its captive bodies, and the bodies and the spirits of men will be restored one to the other; and it is by the power of the resurrection of the Holy One of Israel.

Wherefore, we shall have a perfect knowledge of all our guilt, and our uncleanness and our nakedness; and the righteous shall have a perfect knowledge of their enjoyment, and their righteousness, being clothed with purity, yea, even with the robe of righteousness."

This was such an odd thing for me to ponder on today. I don't usually focus on what happens to those that are not righteous. It's not a place I want to go. Jacob speaks about physical and spiritual death and the power of the atonement. It is through Christ's resurrection that all men will have their bodies and spirits reunited, to go from mortal to immortal, never to die again.

I pondered on why those that were unrepentant and doomed to spend the eternities with the devil have a need to be resurrected. Why would they obtain such a gift? Then I remembered that at the time of judgment all men will bow down and confess that Jesus is the Christ. The fact that they had been resurrected would be undeniable to them what Christ did for them. That He suffered in Gethsemane and took upon him their sins, all they needed to do is repent, and yet they did not. 

Their fate is to live forever in their sins, with a perfect knowledge of all their guilt. I guess you couldn't have perfect knowledge of the reality of the gospel plan if it was not evident in your life. Having an immortal body would be evidence. I pondered on what more this would do for them, but I could only imagine horrors. The place they shall go to live with the devil would be everlasting fire. If they were still a spirit then fire would have no effect on them. To have a body would mean to still suffer, but be incapable of dying to be removed from it. That would be horrible.

I also thought about the enmity that God placed between Satan and his angels and the seed of the women, mother Eve. This was a protection to man so Satan could not posses their bodies. The enmity that existed will be gone once we are all resurrected. Satan would be bound and have no effect on the righteous that obtained eternal life. So those left to live with Satan would have no enmity between them and him. Satan and his angels could have full possession of their immortal bodies. Could that be the very reason why he wanted them to follow him to hell? How unthinkable that torment would be, to always feel fire with no relief, your guilt, and no absolute control over your own body.

Anyone that thinks because they follow Satan that he will love them is so deceived. Satan will forever hate them, for they are the very ones that caused him to not win the war in heaven. One-third of the spirits followed Satan, if more had followed him then he would have won. Those that decide to follow him on this earth are the very ones that caused him to lose everything he wanted. They have a body and he does not. In reality they could have more power and control then him, if he did not blind them from that possibility. It causes Satan no sorrow to see one of his earthly followers exposed and taken down in shame. They are just a pawn for his purposes and not his friend. He is no kind or loving master, he has no loyalties, his chains are meant to punish. He is not a master I would want to serve. My heart will ever belong to the Lord.

Day 210 Tami Fitzgerald Harris