Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: So I have such a fun story. Dawn, I hope you appreciate this because it'll tell you a little bit about the way I work. I went to byu, Idaho or Ricks College. That's how old I am. And it was one of my last semesters at Ricks, and I took an astronomy class. One of the things that Ricks College got that year was a brand new telescope. And it was like top of the line. And the teacher was so excited to take us to the very top of the roof to look in this telescope and show us the sun, which I guess had never been done. Like, it was just incredible telescope. So you could look really as close to it as you could, right? So we get up there, he puts us in line, alphabetical order. My last name's Usulak, so I am at the very end of that line. So every student got to go up and they looked and walked away. And it was my turn. And I got up and I looked and I was just kind of like, meh. Like it wasn't that great. And the teacher standing there, he's like, isn't this incredible? And I said, I don't really know what I'm looking at. It's not that great. He goes, what do you mean it's not that great? And I said, I'm sorry, what am I supposed to be seeing? And he goes, let me look at that. And. And he looks in the telescope and he goes, oh, dear. And I said, what? And he goes, it's completely out of focus. Oh, he adjusted the knob somehow between the beginning Alphabet, Alphabet and E. And we don't know where it got out of focus. So he refocused the telescope and then he said, now look. And I looked and I was amazed. I couldn't believe what I was able to see through that telescope. That made the class totally worth it. Now, I thought of this story today because we're still talking about the creation. But this aspect of the creation, for me might need us to sort of readjust our focus and have us look at the creation in a way that we've never looked at it before. And when you can adjust your focus, it's going to make you go, wow, I had never considered that before. So grab your scriptures. Welcome to Jesus Christ in Scripture, Finding Christ on every page. I'm Tammy Usalak hall. This is Dr. Donald W. Perry. And today we are still in the creation period. We want to go with you to Genesis chapter one. So grab your scriptures, something to mark them with. And Don, let's. So let's Talk about this idea of refocusing and how it connects to the creation.
[00:01:53] Speaker B: I'm pretty much astounded that we have four creation narratives.
[00:01:57] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:01:57] Speaker B: The temple, Abraham, Moses, and Genesis.
[00:02:02] Speaker A: That is so cool.
[00:02:02] Speaker B: And over the years, I've wondered, why do we have the creation narrative as part of our temple? Yeah, so several reasons. Most of these are from the scriptures. Number one, the creation testifies of God's existence. So I found three passages. All things to know there is a God. Yea, even the earth and all the things that are on the face of it. Yea, and its motion. Yea, and all the planets which move in their regular form do witness that there is a supreme creator. The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth his handiwork. And behold, all things have their likeness, and all things are created and made to bear record of me. So this is a powerful reason of why the creation narrative in our temple.
[00:02:46] Speaker A: Beautiful. All right, Number two is that God created the heavens. We stand in awe of God. By the word of the Lord were the heavens made, and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth. Let all the earth fear the Lord. Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him. And I like that, because the word fear, often in scripture, when it's in context with the Lord, means this word right here. Stand in awe to reverence. It's Yare. In Hebrew it is.
[00:03:11] Speaker B: Number three, Knowing that he can create the worlds and the heavens gives us confidence that he can help little old me.
Men, my help cometh from the Lord. And then notice this, which made heaven and earth. He made heaven and earth, so I know he can help me.
[00:03:30] Speaker A: Yep, I believe that. Number four, the earth is our home. For thus saith the Lord that created the heavens. God himself that formed the earth and made it. He hath established it. He created it not in vain. He formed it to be inhabited. The earth was made and created so that celestial souls could inherit it. Oh, I think that's beautiful.
[00:03:48] Speaker B: And it's powerful.
[00:03:49] Speaker A: We are celestial souls.
[00:03:51] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:03:51] Speaker A: Satan does not want us to believe that at all.
[00:03:53] Speaker B: Yes, that's correct.
[00:03:54] Speaker A: The righteous shall inherit the earth.
[00:03:56] Speaker B: I love this earth and I want to inherit it. I love it.
[00:04:00] Speaker A: Yeah, I agree.
[00:04:02] Speaker B: Number five, if we realize that he has the power, all power to create the world, we know that he can save us. For God is my king of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth. Thou didst divide the sea by thy strength. See how the psalmist is connecting. God can work salvation and then we're talking about the creation. The day is thine, the night also is thine. Thou has prepared the light and the sun. We're looking at images from Genesis chapter one.
[00:04:31] Speaker A: Yeah, we are.
[00:04:31] Speaker B: Thou hast set the borders of the earth. Thou made the summer and the winter.
[00:04:35] Speaker A: I have to be a little more humble with that because summer, not my favorite winter. I love. But all allowed are. I like it all.
[00:04:41] Speaker B: I'm the opposite.
[00:04:42] Speaker A: You are.
[00:04:42] Speaker B: Well, where I live, we get so much snow. Oh, and I know snow has a lot of symbolism, though. Your sins be as scarlet, they'll be as white as snow. Isaiah 1:18. So I get that. But I have to go out and clean the driveways and stuff.
[00:04:57] Speaker A: I just don't like to sweat the summer, but I'll like them both.
[00:05:01] Speaker B: Got it.
[00:05:01] Speaker A: God created it.
[00:05:02] Speaker B: Yeah, me too.
[00:05:03] Speaker A: Oh, this is a good one. Number six. God's temple assembles his creations. He built his sanctuary like the high heavens, like the earth which he has founded forever. Oh, I like the esv. That's the English standard version.
[00:05:15] Speaker B: Yes, yes.
[00:05:16] Speaker A: Big fan. Use those versions that are awesome because that is. That's beautifully restated. Psalm 78.
[00:05:21] Speaker B: And this is. There's so much to contemplate on just this one. When you go to the temple and you say, oh, this is like the high heavens in his creation. Jeremiah. Ah, Lord God. Behold, thou has made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee. So again, he's all powerful. He can help little me.
[00:05:46] Speaker A: Yep. Number eight. For families, simply summarize. The earth was created that families might be. That's powerful, especially for people who might be in a fractured family. Because we had all these tools in our last episode, I once had a friend teach me. Christ is a carpenter. He knows how to fix things. He knows how to build, and he can build families. And if your family's fractured, you can build your own personal family and your relationships and friends can be family. So I like this.
[00:06:12] Speaker B: This is continuing with that thought. The purposes of the creation, the fall and the atonement all converge on the sacred work done in temples of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The earth was created and the church was restored to make possible the sealing of wife to husband, children to parents, families to progenitors, worlds without end. This gives me so much comfort.
[00:06:36] Speaker A: 9. Becoming participants.
By becoming a participant in the victory of the forces of order in the creation, through reciting or reenacting the creation, the individual or community also becomes a participant in the fruits of that victory.
[00:06:49] Speaker B: Participating in ritual drama.
So two scholars of note have talked about ritual drama in the temple. One is John Lundquist, he's Latter Day Saint. And the other one is Hugh Nibley. So this is a summary right here. Why dramatizations in temples Ancient, modern. Because sacred drama serves as a masterly teaching device that captures the attention attention of men and women who worship together and provides them with a multitude of emotional, heartening and spiritual impressions.
[00:07:17] Speaker A: I like that number 11. The most significant reason for creation, the atonement of Jesus Christ. So this is the idea of when you look through the lens of the creation, where we're, I think, for me, where I was asked to refocus the creation and maybe look at it in a different light. And I love this quote that you've included. It says, before we can comprehend the atonement of Christ, however, we must first understand the fall of Adam. And before we can understand the fall of Adam, we must first understand the creation. These three crucial components of the plan of salvation relate to each other. The creation required the fall. The fall required the atonement. The atonement enabled the purpose of the creation to be accomplished. Eternal life made possible by the atonement is the supreme purpose of the creation. To phrase that statement in its negative form, if families were not sealed in holy temples, the whole earth would be utterly wasted. See, this is neat to think that while we're talking about the creation, if our focus remains on the Savior and the atonement, it changes the way you read it because there's an end game. The whole point of this creation was to overcome the effects of the fall through our Savior, Jesus Christ. And that's why we're here, to gain a relationship with him.
[00:08:27] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:08:27] Speaker A: So I think oftentimes, and we'll talk about this more, but as a parent, when your child does something wrong, you want to go into this, oh, why? You know, just this terrible negative downward spiral when maybe you could stop and then go. Teaching moment for everyone. Let's talk about what you did and now how to get back to Christ and that the whole goal is to be here, to have a relationship with our Savior. I love this. This is my refocusing. Tell me about this application. In your own life, you raise kids. What's it like? How do you get their focus back on the Savior or what have you done as a parent to maybe teach that?
[00:08:55] Speaker B: Simply do my best to follow the commandments, which include family prayer, family scripture, eating together, attending sacred services together.
So the prophets have made it very clear. And Camille and I have done our best.
[00:09:10] Speaker A: Yeah. And your kids are probably perfect. Right? Nobody ever made any bad choices?
[00:09:13] Speaker B: No. No. I wish.
[00:09:15] Speaker A: I think that's really important for everyone to recognize because again, the earth was created for us to become like our heavenly parents. And the only way to do that is by way of Jesus Christ.
[00:09:23] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:09:24] Speaker A: So embrace those loved ones, your little sweet children, and say, oh, wow, this is such a great opportunity for you and to use the Savior. That's why you came down to this earth. And what a great way to teach the creation and to maybe change our focus on. He just made it, but he made it for us.
[00:09:38] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:09:38] Speaker A: To come closer to Christ. So thank you, Don. Thanks for your preparation for this discussion and thank you for joining us today in Jesus Christ in Scripture. Have a wonderful week and we hope you have an enjoyable time this week refocusing on what matters, especially when it comes to the creation. Shalom and goodbye.
[00:09:55] Speaker B: Sa.
