In the last post I wrote about pre-mortal life, earth life, death and resurrection. This post is about what happens after Christ comes for the second time, when every body who has ever lived on the earth will be resurrected (each spirit being reunited with their perfected body). After resurrection, each person will get to be in the presence of God, the Father, for judgement. At judgement, Jesus Christ will plead your case before the Father (DC 45:3-5):
3 Listen to him who is the advocate with the Father, who is pleading your cause before him—Now, at this time, you will be judged according to how you lived your life while on earth, whether or not you succeeded in the test of turning to God, through the Savior, or not Abr. 3:25 "prove them herewith to see if they will do all things the Lord their God shall command them." Now some may think that just because there is an existence of a Savior, that they will automatically be saved - that's his job right. But if that were true, what would be the point of our existence? If we knew we were going to be saved in the end anyway, what are we accountable for? What are choices for? Why is there good and evil? Why do we feel guilt at doing wrong and joy at doing right? No, there must be some sort of guidance and definition. There is a purpose (Alma 34:32-34):
4 Saying: Father, behold the sufferings and death of him who did no sin, in whom thou wast well pleased; behold the blood of thy Son which was shed, the blood of him whom thou gavest that thyself might be glorified;
5 Wherefore, Father, spare these my brethren that believe on my name, that they may come unto me and have everlasting life.
32 For behold, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors.
33 And now, as I said unto you before, as ye have had so many witnesses, therefore, I beseech of you that ye do not procrastinate the day of your repentance until the end; for after this day of life, which is given us to prepare for eternity, behold, if we do not improve our time while in this life, then cometh the night of darkness wherein there can be no labor performed.
34 Ye cannot say, when ye are brought to that awful crisis, that I will repent, that I will return to my God. Nay, ye cannot say this; for that same spirit which doth possess your bodies at the time that ye go out of this life, that same spirit will have power to possess your body in that eternal world.
So, if this life really is the time to prepare to meet God, then we will be judged on how well we know God when we face him. Of course, there will be things that have turned us away from Him, either by our choice or by the circumstances of life that are beyond our choice, but if we did our best to turn back to Him after realizing that we turned away, then the Savior will help, as quoted above "spare these my brethren that believe on my name." What about people who haven't heard his name? Those who have been raised in different religions, who don't know a Savior of this sort exists? God knows their circumstances and they will be given a chance to know Him and a chance to choose to follow Him. For a long time I wondered why anyone, who after death and their spirit went to the spirit world, would not choose what would then seem like the obvious choice to follow Jesus. They are, after all, in the spirit world. But, Alma, in the above scripture, makes it clear that the "same spirit which doth possess your bodies at the time that ye go out of this life, that same spirit will have power to possess your body in that eternal world." So, in essence, if you are the sort of person who will not listen to the possibility of a Savior in this life, it is possible you will not in the next. This is why The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has such a heavy emphasis on missionary work. If this life really is the time to prepare to meet God, we need to do our best to let everyone know about it. Not in a fire and brimstone sort of way, but in a 'we want to help you become the best you can be, loved as you should be loved way, through a Savior that will help you do this' sort of way. But it is your choice. God will not take that choice away from you. He will not force you to choose Him, what's the point in that?
One other note. I believe, with all my heart, that God knows every detail of our lives: how we lived, who are parents are, where we live, the traditions and customs we had to live by according to geography and heritage, etc., the experiences we've chosen or experiences that were forced upon us, both good and bad, what our desires are, how we need help, whether we were emotionally, physically, spiritually and mentally able to choose one way or another, and much, much more. So, while I believe that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints holds all the keys to help us return to Heavenly Father, I do believe that there are many, many, many very good and wonderful people in other churches that are living according to the good that they have learned. If those people to not choose to partake in the ordinances and covenants offered by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, God will know the reason why, will offer more understanding, and then will still honor the choice of individuals.
At this new level of understanding that will be offered, there will still be people who do not partake of the full benefits of the atonement of Christ, either because of outright choice, or because of how they chose to live their lives or choices they made on earth. God has provided a place for all, and all of these places, except one, are better than what we know on earth. That one place is called "Perdition" and is explained by Joseph Smith:
The Prophet Joseph Smith said: “What must a man do to commit the unpardonable sin? He must receive the Holy Ghost, have the heavens opened unto him, and know God, and then sin against Him. After a man has sinned against the Holy Ghost, there is no repentance for him. He has got to say that the sun does not shine while he sees it; he has got to deny Jesus Christ when the heavens have been opened unto him, and to deny the plan of salvation with his eyes open to the truth of it; and from that time he begins to be an enemy” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, sel. Joseph Fielding Smith [1976], 358).Joseph Smith revealed that there are three other places where resurrected beings go after judgment: the Telestial Kingdom, the Terrestrial Kingdom and the Celestial Kingdom, represented by the stars, the moon and the sun, respectively. As recorded in section 76 of the Doctrine and Covenants, here are the groups of people that will reside in each kingdom:
The Telestial Kingdom ( D&C 76:81–83, 98–101, 103.) Those who live here will essentially be those who do not accept the gospel of Jesus Christ at all (though they admit who He is, as all will), but did not commit the unpardonable sin. They will eventualy come from spirit prison (one of the two spiritual states after death) and be resurrected and reside int he Telestial Kingdom.
The Terrestrial Kingdom (DC 76:71-75, 79): explained by Bruce R. McConkie:
“Those destined to inherit the terrestrial kingdom are: (1) those who died ‘without law’—those heathen and pagan people who do not hear the gospel in this life, and who would not accept it with all their hearts should they hear it; (2) those who hear and reject the gospel in this life and then accept it in the spirit world; (3) those ‘who are honorable men of the earth, who [are] blinded by the craftiness of men’; and (4) those who are lukewarm members of the true church and who have testimonies, but who are not true and faithful in all things” (A New Witness for the Articles of Faith [1985], 146).The Celestial Kingdom - where God, the Father resides and where the fullness of joy is achieved (See D&C 76:50–53, 68–69). Those who have been valiant in the testimony of Jesus Christ and partake of the covenants and ordinances that have been revealed on the earth through prophets in the scriptures and through prophets in modern time
51 They are they who received the testimony of Jesus, and believed on his name and were baptized after the manner of his burial, being buried in the water in his name, and this according to the commandment which he has given—
52 That by keeping the commandments they might be washed and cleansed from all their sins, and receive the Holy Spirit by the laying on of the hands of him who is ordained and sealed unto this power;
53 And who overcome by faith, and are sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise, which the Father sheds forth upon all those who are just and true.
I don't know if there will be guilt or sorrow for those who do not achieve the Celestial Kingdom or perhaps there will be complete satisfaction because they are happy with their choices. I do think that because God honors the agency of men and women, that men and women will honor their own agency and understand why their choices are made and be satisfied with it. There is much, much more to this doctrine and would require many blog posts to discuss. But I will say only a few more things. There are those who have made covenants and received ordinances in order to be valiant in the testimony of Jesus (those at baptism, and in the holy temples of God), but they do not uphold their covenants or respect their ordinances. Just because they went through the actions of the covenants and ordinances does not mean they automatically qualify for the Celestial Kingdom. They must live their lives upholding the covenants and ordinances.
The other thing that I think is significant, is the perspective that my husband has about the different kingdoms. He did not grow up as a Mormon, but believed that when you die you either go to heaven or hell. When he learned about the different kingdoms of glory after death, he was quite relieved. He thought that having more places for people to go was a very merciful and graceful option provided by God. He thought how very unfair it would be and very hard to judge whether people were ALL good or ALL bad, or just enough good, or just enough bad, to separate them into one or the other category of heaven or hell. So it seemed to him very merciful for God to have provided categories or kingdoms that all most people to reside in some sort of kingdom of glory. Because that's what they all are - kingdoms of glory that we get to look forward to after this life.
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