The preface that “I love all of you” suggests he’s about to tackle a topic that many will take strong issue with.
The concept that there is a “heaven” and a “hell” where people will be sent after life is incomplete.
The Lord has chosen to reveal relatively little about two of the kingdoms of glory whereas He has revealed much more about the highest degree of glory—the Celestial Kingdom.
The doctrines of the church are focused on helping people to enter the Celestial Kingdom. The other kingdoms of glory are also to glorious for mortals to comprehend. Each of the kingdoms is governed by law. I expect that we will have a more complete understanding of the laws governing the Terrestrial and Telestial kingdoms after mortality.
We must continue to teach the laws of the Celestial Kingdom but we must also love ALL of God children whether they believe and live as we do or not.
A common misunderstanding of the judgment that ultimately follows mortal life is that good people go to a place called heaven and bad people go to an everlasting place called hell. This erroneous assumption of only two ultimate destinations implies that those who cannot keep all the commandments required for heaven will necessarily be forever destined for hell.
A loving Heavenly Father has a better plan for His children. The revealed doctrine of the restored Church of Jesus Christ teaches that all the children of God—with exceptions too limited to consider here—will finally wind up in a kingdom of glory. “In my Father’s house are many mansions,” Jesus taught. From modern revelation we know that those mansions are in three different kingdoms of glory. In the Final Judgment each of us will be judged according to our deeds and the desires of our hearts. Before that, we will need to suffer for our unrepented sins. The scriptures are clear on that. Then our righteous Judge will grant us residence in one of those kingdoms of glory. Thus, as we know from modern revelation, all “shall be judged … , and every man shall receive according to his own works, his own dominion, in the mansions which are prepared.”
What does it tell us about Heavenly Father that His plan is designed so that virtually all of his children receive a degree of glory after this life?
In the “celestial” glory there are three degrees, or levels. The highest of these is exaltation in the celestial kingdom, wherein we may become like our Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. To help us develop the godly attributes and the change in nature necessary to realize our divine potential, the Lord has revealed doctrine and established commandments based on eternal law. This is what we teach in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints because the purpose of the doctrine and policies of this restored Church is to prepare God’s children for salvation in the celestial glory and, more particularly, for exaltation in its highest degree
The doctrines and standards of the church are aimed at exaltation within the celestial kingdom. Those who will not abide those laws still have kingdoms of glory for their inheritance based on the laws that they will choose to abide.
Because of our Heavenly Father’s great love for all of His children, He has provided other kingdoms of glory all of which are more wonderful than we can comprehend.
Dalin H. Oaks
We seek to help all of His children—not just our own members—enjoy the precious freedom to choose.
As followers of Christ we have to remember that God desires to give every blessing He can to each of his children.
Fundamental to us is God’s revelation that exaltation can be attained only through faithfulness to the covenants of an eternal marriage between a man and a woman. That divine doctrine is why we teach that “gender is an essential characteristic of individual premortal, mortal, and eternal identity and purpose.”
That is also why the Lord has required His restored Church to oppose social and legal pressures to retreat from His doctrine of marriage between a man and a woman, to oppose changes that homogenize the differences between men and women or confuse or alter gender.
The restored Church’s positions on these fundamentals frequently provoke opposition. We understand that. Our Heavenly Father’s plan allows for “opposition in all things,” and Satan’s most strenuous opposition is directed at whatever is most important to that plan. Consequently, he seeks to oppose progress toward exaltation by distorting marriage, discouraging childbearing, or confusing gender. However, we know that in the long run, the divine purpose and plan of our loving Heavenly Father will not be changed. Personal circumstances may change, and God’s plan assures that in the long run, the faithful who keep their covenants will have the opportunity to qualify for every promised blessing.
Everyone who keeps their covenants will have the opportunity for all the blessings of exaltation. That is a comforting doctrine in times when it seems impossible to see the expected blessings in mortality.
We are all children of a loving Heavenly Father. For all of us, He has destined life after death and, ultimately, a kingdom of glory. God desires all of us to strive for His highest possible blessings by keeping His highest commandments, covenants, and ordinances, all of which culminate in His holy temples being built throughout the world. We must seek to share these truths of eternity with others. But with the love we owe to all of our neighbors, we always accept their decisions.
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