“Teach of Me”

1. “Teach of Me” Jesus’ Birth; Man’s Origin; Sermon on the Mount Matthew 1-7 Luke 1-3 John 1-4 February 1, 2009

2. Quiz • From which tribe of Israel were Mary and Joseph descended? • Before going to Bethlehem why did Herod ask them to go, and why did they not report back? • Who was referred to as an Elias? • We are given 2 scriptures telling of the early childhood lives of John and Jesus. What is the similarity in how they grew up? • Why are we commanded to “let our light so shine”? Which SM is it? • How did Jesus’ birth and early life (before he was 4) both save lives and lead to the murder of others?

3. Christ’s Early Life • Social groups of Jerusalem, political groups • Temple of Herod • http://ldsarchivesldsextensions.blogspot.com/search/label/Jerusalem%20at%20time%20of%20Christ

4. The Creation How was man created?

5. Thus the holy man was forced again to veil the past in mystery, and in the beginning of his history, assign to man an earthly origin. Man, molded from the earth, as a brick! A Woman, manufactured from a rib! Thus, parents still would fain conceal from budding manhood the mysteries of procreation, or the sources of life's ever-flowing river, by relating some childish tale of new born life, engendered in the hollow trunk of some old tree… Parley P. Pratt Key to the Science of Theology, 51

6. …or springing with spontaneous growth like mushrooms from out the heaps of rubbish. O man! When wilt thou cease to be a child in knowledge? Man as we have said, is the offspring of Deity. The entire mystery of the past and future, with regard to his existence, is not yet solved by mortals. Parley P. Pratt Key to the Science of Theology, 51

7. Intelligence Spirit MATTER Element Body

8. Jesus – Names and Titles • Christ (Greek): Anointed One • Messiah (Heb): Anointed One • Firstborn (D&C 93; MD 281) • Only Begotten • Son of Man (Pearl of GP!) • The Word

9. Luke 2: 40-52 Sinless vs. Perfect What is the difference?

10. The Origin of Man • Moses 1:34; 3:7 • Created how before physically? • Bible Dictionary – “Flesh” (right bottom of page 675) • Luke 3:38 • traces lineage of Christ back to Adam, and revealing where Adam came from

11. Commenting on Luke 3:38 ("Adam, which was the son of God"), Elder Bruce R. McConkie wrote: "This statement, found also in Moses 6:22, has a deep and profound significance and also means what it says. Father Adam came, as indicated, to this sphere, gaining an immortal body, because death had not yet entered the world. (2 Ne. 2:22.) Jesus, on the other hand, was the Only Begotten in the flesh, meaning into a world of mortality where death already reigned [because of the fall]." D.N.T.C. Volume 1:95

12. First Presidency Statement: 1909 The Origin of Man

13. Adam, our great progenitor, "the first man," was, like Christ, a pre-existent spirit, and like Christ he took upon him an appropriate body, the body of a man, and so became a "living soul." The doctrine of the pre-existence, --revealed so plainly, particularly in latter days, pours a wonderful flood of light upon the otherwise mysterious problem of man's origin. First Presidency Statement: 1909 The Origin of Man

14. It shows that man, as a spirit, was begotten and born of heavenly parents, and reared to maturity in the eternal mansions of the Father, prior to coming upon the earth in a temporal body to undergo an experience in mortality. It teaches that all men existed in the spirit before any man existed in the flesh, and that all who have inhabited the earth since Adam have taken bodies and become souls in like manner. First Presidency Statement: 1909 The Origin of Man

15. It is held by some that Adam was not the first man upon this earth, and that the original human being was a development from lower orders of the animal creation. These, however, are the theories of men. The word of the Lord declares that Adam was "the first man of all men" (Moses 1:34), and we are therefore in duty bound to regard him as the primal parent of our race. First Presidency Statement: 1909 The Origin of Man

16. Man began life as a human being, in the likeness of our heavenly Father. True it is that the body of man enters upon its career as a tiny germ or embryo, which becomes an infant, quickened at a certain stage by the spirit whose tabernacle it is, and the child, after being born, develops into a man. First Presidency Statement: 1909 The Origin of Man

17. There is nothing in this, however, to indicate that the original man, the first of our race, began life as anything less than a man, or less than the human germ or embryo that becomes a man. First Presidency Statement: 1909 The Origin of Man

18. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, basing its belief on divine revelation, ancient and modern, proclaims man to be the direct and lineal offspring of Deity. First Presidency Statement: 1909 The Origin of Man

19. The Origin of Man--Flesh • Moses 1:34; 3:7 • Bible Dictionary – “Flesh” • Luke 3:38 • Moses 3:24 • How can they be one yet separate? • Abraham 4:27 • After the image of only God?

20. Godhood Atonement Creation Fall How does this show a need for Christ?

21. This we know! This simple truth! Had there been no Creation, no Fall, there should have been no need for any Atonement, neither a Redeemer to mediate for us. Then Christ need not have been. Boyd K. Packer, “Atonement, Agency, Accountability,” Ensign, May 1988 • Our Modern Credit

22. How We Live Our Lives The Sermon on the Mount How will we be judged in the Final Judgment? David O. McKay taught how

23. Jeffery R. HollandCES Fireside, 5 February 1999 Our Physical and Spiritual selves Spouses Children Church callings Professional life Civic responsibilities

24. As a youth in England, Samuel Plimsoll was fascinated with watching ships load and unload their cargoes. He soon observed that, regardless of the cargo space available, each ship had its maximum capacity. If a ship exceeded its limit, it would likely sink at sea. In 1868 Plimsoll entered Parliament and passed a merchant shipping act that, among other things, called for making calculations of how much a ship could carry. As a result, lines were drawn on the hull of each ship in England. As the cargo was loaded, the freighter would sink lower and lower into the water. When the water level on the side of the ship reached the Plimsoll mark, the ship was considered loaded to capacity, regardless of how much space remained. As a result, British deaths at sea were greatly reduced.

25. Like ships, people have differing capacities at different times and even different days in their lives. In our relationships we need to establish our own Plimsoll marks and help identify them in the lives of those we love. Together we need to monitor the load levels and be helpful in shedding or at least readjusting some cargo if we see our sweetheart is sinking. Then, when the ship of love is stabilized, we can evaluate long-term what has to continue, what can be put off until another time, and what can be put off permanently. Friends, sweethearts, and spouses need to be able to monitor each other's stress and recognize the different tides and seasons of life. We owe it to each other to declare some limits and then help jettison some things if emotional health and the strength of loving relationships are at risk.

26. Nephites: Resurrection = law is fulfilled

27. Beatitudes and Commandments LAW OF MOSES Behavior Principle

28. Beatitudes and Commandments LAW OF MOSES Behavior Principle LAW OF CHRIST Behavior Principle

29. Beatitudes • Matt 5:37 • Yea, Nay, and oaths • Matt 5:13 • literal meaning • Matt 5:16(SM) > Matt 6:1 > 3 Nephi 18:24 • What is our motive? • Matt 5:21-22 • Teach ourselves to not take offense, but help instead

30. How do we apply these in our lives? (“Teach of Me”) • 2 Hands on the wheel • Surround yourself with good • Do not give up, for Christ won’t • Don’t just make goals, live them!