In the beginning, God placed Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, a place free from any knowledge that would exceed their willingness and ability to remain reconciled to God. In their aligned state, they were able to freely interact with God face to face without feeling any guilt, in spite of the fact that they were flawed (as revealed by their nakedness) and that they were capable of sin in environments with more knowledge (as revealed by their imminent fall). Satan exposed them to a greater increment of knowledge, Eve succumbed to his enticements, and Adam succumbed to her enticements, causing both Adam and Eve to be exiled from the presence of God. They received and obeyed commandments from God,1 reconciling themselves to him, culminating in Adam regaining the presence of God prior to his death.2
Adam and Eve provided us with an example of the pattern to which all of us are exposed. They:
- Were aligned with God, enjoying his presence at the level of knowledge they had access to.
- Were exposed to greater knowledge.
- Chose to rebel against God, leaving their state of alignment with him.
- Realigned themselves with God through forsaking past sins and remaining faithful as additional knowledge was given to them.
Access to the Tree of Life comes through justification.3 When you reconcile yourself to how you understand God to be, you are redeemed from the fall and gain access to his presence.4 Access to the Tree of Knowledge enables sanctification. A justified individual cannot become more like God than they already are without access to additional knowledge. The goal of mortal life is to regain access to the Tree of Life while retaining greater exposure to the Tree of Knowledge. In greater detail, the goal of mortal life is to become eternally reconciled to God with greater knowledge than was possessed prior to this life, which is the only way for the individual to become more like God than they were before, which is the only way for the individual to have more eternal joy than they had before.
Footnotes
- 1. And he gave unto them commandments, that they should worship the Lord their God, and should offer the firstlings of their flocks, for an offering unto the Lord. And Adam was obedient unto the commandments of the Lord. (Moses 5:5) ↩
- 2. Three years previous to the death of Adam, he called Seth, Enos, Cainan, Mahalaleel, Jared, Enoch, and Methuselah, who were all high priests, with the residue of his posterity who were righteous, into the valley of Adam-ondi-Ahman, and there bestowed upon them his last blessing. And the Lord appeared unto them, and they rose up and blessed Adam, and called him Michael, the prince, the archangel. And the Lord administered comfort unto Adam, and said unto him: I have set thee to be at the head; a multitude of nations shall come of thee, and thou art a prince over them forever. (D&C 107:53-55) ↩
- 3. Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. (Revelation 22:14) ↩
- 4. And the Lord said unto him: Believest thou the words which I shall speak? And he answered: Yea, Lord, I know that thou speakest the truth, for thou art a God of truth, and canst not lie. 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. (Ether 3:11-13) ↩