The Gospel abounds in mirror images, symmetry and opposites. We tend to speak of opposition as painful; maybe it is better to think of opposition as necessary balance. Light and dark, good and evil, life and death, physical and spiritual, temporal and eternal—each one is paired with its antithesis in the scriptures so that we can more easily distinguish one from the other. Putting extreme opposites side by side highlights the difference and educates us. We often wish for a world without problems or pain, but Lehi says:
“For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. If not so, my first-born in the wilderness, righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor miser, neither good nor bad. Wherefore, all things must needs be a compound in one; wherefore, if it should be one body it must needs remain as dead, having no life neither death, nor corruption nor incorruption, happiness nor misery, neither sense nor insensibility” (2Ne. 2:11). Opposites educate us; they also keep the physical universe from being a stationary blob of matter.
Abstract principles and forces of nature are paired with their distinct opposites in the scriptures. People, or their roles, also serve as opposites to one another. Nephi’s obedience and faith stand in stark contrast to Laman’s and Lemuel’s doubtful disobedience. Lehi and Nephi form a father-son duo and witness the start of their nation, while Mormon and Moroni form a father-son team who witness its destruction.
Two such contrasting figures in scripture are Adam and Jesus Christ.
“For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive” (1Cor. 15:22). It is possible to characterize the ministry of Jesus Christ as undoing all the negative consequences of the Fall. Some consequences were not bad, but Jesus provides His own versions of those, too.
Adam ate the forbidden fruit that brought death; Jesus IS the life, associated with the fruit of the Tree of Life (see 1Ne. 11).
Adam was cursed to labor for his food; Jesus multiplied five loaves of bread and two fish and fed 5000.
Adam was subject to disease and death; Jesus healed the sick, restored the dead to life, and even prepared a way to open the grave permanently for all through His own resurrection.
Adam fell and Satan took power over men’s hearts; Jesus cast out devils.
Adam’s fall brought children into the world physically; Jesus allows us to be spiritually reborn through His Atonement.
Adam was willing to die to stay with Eve; Jesus Christ is called the Bridegroom, and He died for the Church, metaphorically His bride.
Adam physically begot a race of sinners; Christ spiritually begets saints.
We inherit the natural man from Adam; we inherit saintly desires from Jesus Christ.
Jesus helped to create the paradisiacal world in which Adam lived; Adam caused it to fall and become the telestial world in which Jesus Christ lived; He will restore it to its paradisiacal glory in the future.
Adam was cast out of God’s presence, and took us with him; Jesus came down from God’s presence to bring us back.
The parallels are numerous.
Fathers
It is easy for children to develop an irrational contempt for their parents. Growing pains as they age and take over their own lives are common. “…we labor diligently to engraven these words upon plates,” says Jacob, “hoping that…our children will receive them with thankful hearts, and look upon them that they may learn with joy and not with sorrow, neither with contempt, concerning their first parents” (Jacob 4:3).
We inherit more than life or property or physical appearance from our fathers—we also inherit all the mortal weaknesses of the flesh—sinful tendencies in our natures, inevitable deterioration and death. Even on a subconscious level, this awareness can make our parents loathsome to us (until we become reconciled to and accept it).
Good and great fathers with imperfect sons are common in the scriptures, beginning with our Father in heaven losing one third of His spirit children to rebellion; who can say He made mistakes in raising us premortally when we “received our first lessons in the world of spirits” (D&C 138:56)? Adam and Cain follow shortly.
Abraham’s circumstance is stranger—he was the good son of an idolatrous man. What, then, constitutes good parenting?
“…God hath given unto you a knowledge and he hath made you free.
“He hath given unto you that ye might know good from evil, and he hath given unto you that ye might choose life or death…” (Hel. 14:30). Providing an initial education of some sort is obvious; the part about making kids free is less comfortable; the part about letting them “choose life or death” is brave beyond most accepted parenting styles. But that is part of God’s way of parenting us (as well as making provisions for our salvation, should we need a second chance and repentance).
Enoch had one of the most extraordinary visions in scripture. “…the God of heaven looked upon…the people, and he wept; and Enoch bore record of it, saying…
“…How is it that thou canst weep…?”
God’s response to Enoch is among the most frank and touching disclosures God makes in holy writ: “Behold these thy brethren; they are the workmanship of mine own hands, and I gave unto them their knowledge, in the day I created them; and in the Garden of Eden, gave I unto man his agency;
“And unto thy brethren I have said, and also given commandment, that they should love one another, and that they should choose me, their Father; but behold, they are without affection, and they hate their own blood…
“…among all the workmanship of mine hands there has not been so great wickedness as among thy brethren.
“But behold, their sins shall be upon the heads of their fathers; Satan shall be their father, and misery shall be their doom; and the whole heavens shall weep over them…wherefore should not the heavens weep, seeing these shall suffer?” (Moses 7:28-29, 32-33, 36-37).
Perfect parenthood does not guarantee perfect children; parental flaws are also not an automatic sentence of doom, since children are free to choose life or death.
Sons
The baptism of Adam is extraordinary—it parallels the baptism of Jesus Christ.
In a fragmentary writing found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, a story about Enoch and others living during his time is given. Giants (“Nephilin”) are discussing disturbing prophetic dreams. They want Enoch to interpret the dreams:
“[And behold] all the giants were terrified [and] c[al]led Mahawai and he came to the con[gr]egation of [the Nephilin(?)] And the giants sent him to Enoch…and said to him, Go [to him…] previously you listened to his voice and say to him that he should expl[ain to you the inter[pretation of the dreams…” (p. 550, The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls in English Translated by Geza Vermes, Revised 2004).
The “Mahawai” in this story is sent to interview Enoch, but that is where the fragment ends. Oddly enough, Mahijah (a name found nowhere in the Bible) shows up to interview Enoch in the Pearl of Great Price (written about a century before the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered): “And there came a man unto him, whose name was Mahijah, and said unto him: Tell us plainly who thou art, and from whence thou comest?” (Moses 6:40). (It is strange that one man should say “tell us,” unless he represents a group.) Enoch’s reply is lengthy, and includes the account of Adam’s baptism and spiritual rebirth.
Adam asks (like any eight year old child) about the ordinance of baptism: “Why is it that men must repent and be baptized in water?” (Moses 6:53). What does water baptism have to do with salvation? The Lord responds by describing the parallels between physical birth and spiritual rebirth: “…inasmuch as ye were born into the world by water, and blood, and the spirit, which I have made, and so became of dust a living soul, even so ye must be born again into the kingdom of heaven, of water, and of the Spirit, and be cleansed by blood, even the blood of the Only Begotten…
“For by the water ye keep the commandment; by the Spirit are ye justified, and by the blood ye are sanctified…” (Moses 6:59-60).
Jesus’ clandestine midnight conversation with Nicodemus (who wants his discipleship kept hush-hush) uses similar procreative terminology:
“Verily, Verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God…
Nicodemus responds incredulously: “How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?”
Jesus responds: “Verily, Verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God” (John 3:3-5).
Physical birth and spiritual rebirth are reflexive. The physical ordinance of baptism is emblematic of the grave and resurrection, but also of the womb and birth.
Male-Female is another set of contrasting opposites in the Gospel plan. In order to leave the presence of God, we must be born physically of a woman. Everyone is subject to this process in God’s plan for us. Even Jesus condescended and submitted both to physical birth and the care of Mary, His mother. In order to return to God’s presence, we must be spiritually reborn, and this includes priesthood ordinances (like baptism) administered by men. Jesus also submitted to water baptism by John.
Born
After God explained the whys of baptism to him, “Adam cried unto the Lord, and he was caught away by the Spirit of the Lord, and was carried down into the water, and was laid under the water, and was brought forth out of the water.
“And thus he was baptized, and the Spirit of God descended upon him, and thus he was born the Spirit, and became quickened in the inner man” (Moses 6:64-65). We hear much about the pesky “natural man.” What is this “inner man?” Physical birth is a huge external change from our previous state as spirits in the presence of God. Spiritual rebirth also entails a massive, yet invisible and internal, change.
“Quickened” means brought to life in the scriptures. Just as we inherit spiritual and natural death, and natural man issues from Adam with physical birth, so we inherit the inward traits of Christ, His nature, with spiritual rebirth. The change has outward manifestations, like improved behavior (“deeds…wrought in God” c.f. John 3:21). Outwardly our countenances will be lighted up, but the most important part is the change in our hearts: “…I ask of you, my brethren of the church, have ye spiritually been born of God? Have ye received his image in your countenances? Have ye experienced this mighty change in your hearts?” (Alma 5:14).
“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2Cor. 5:17).
We die spiritually when we leave God’s presence and are exposed to a world of sin. Rebirth reverses that process, and brings us ultimately back to God, and back into His family, to become heirs of all He possesses once again.
“And he (Adam) heard a voice out of heaven, saying: Thou art baptized with fire, and with the Holy Ghost. This is the record of the Father, and the Son, from henceforth and forever;
“And thou art after the order of him who was without beginning of days or end of years, from all eternity to all eternity.
“Behold, thou art one in me, a son of God; and thus may all become my sons. Amen” (Moses 6:66-68).
This spiritual rebirth anticipates physical resurrection: “For notwithstanding they die, they also shall rise again, a spiritual body.” The quality of spiritual influence we are currently receiving in this life determines what kind of resurrection we will have:
“They who are of a celestial spirit shall receive the same body which was a natural body; even ye shall receive your bodies, and your glory shall be that glory by which your bodies are quickened.
“Ye who are quickened by a portion of the celestial glory shall then receive of the same, even a fulness” (D&C 88:27-29).
Our inward weaknesses are strengthened first; our physical weaknesses are abolished later in the resurrection.
We often speak of the Atonement as the suffering, death, and resurrection of Christ; this definition is correct, yet there is more. The words translated as “atonement” also denote our future reunion with God; the price Jesus paid paved the way for our return, built a bridge over the gap between us and our Father in heaven. That reunion with our Father is also an At-One-ment.
In the Book of Mormon, the brother of Jared experiences such a reunion:
“And when he had said these words, behold, the Lord showed himself unto him, and said: Because thou knowest these things ye are redeemed from the fall; therefore ye are brought back into my presence; therefore I show myself unto you.
“Behold, I am he who was prepared from the foundation of the world to redeem my people. Behold, I am Jesus Christ. I am the Father and the Son. In me shall all mankind have life, and that eternally, even they who shall believe on my name; and they shall become my sons and my daughters” (Ether 3:13-14).
