Teaching The Pearl of Great Price is a pearl in and of
itself. I just came from teaching my Wednesday Pearl of Great Price (Religion
327) at UCCS. Our numbers are not what they should be there, but for those who
come, it is a sheer delight to study this book with!
I am ever amazed at some of the things we learn about
together, for example: Adam is so obedient. He is commanded to offer the
firstlings of his flocks as a form of worship, so he does, without question.
The passage says, "And Adam was obedient unto the commandments of the
Lord" (Moses 5:5), no questions about why, or what for, he just does what
he is told and is content to do so. The potent principle here for me is simply
obedience, or as the Prophet Joseph Smith said, "When the Lord commands,
do it" (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith, 2007, 160).
Later, when an angel appears and asks Adam why he is
offering sacrifices to the Lord, Adam simply says, “I know not, save the Lord
commanded me” (Moses 5:6), and then the angel teaches Adam the meaning of the
sacrifices, that they are done in “similitude of the sacrifice of the Only
Begotten of the Father” (Moses 5:7). Adam learns the why through obedience! How much more could I learn if I did not
waste so much time asking the Lord “why?”
upfront and just went to work obediently like Adam!
Even the Savior of the world had to learn by practicing the
principle of obedience. We learn through the Prophet Joseph Smith that the
Savior “received not the fullness at first, but received grace for grace; and
that he received not the fullness at first, but continued from grace to grace,
until he received a fullness” (D&C 93:12-13). And because He, the Savior,
allowed Himself to learn through obedience, “he received all power, both in
heaven and on the earth, and the glory of the Father was with him, for he dwelt
with him” (D&C 93:17).
The principle here is this simple: As I am obedient to the light,
truth and knowledge the Lord has imparted to me through the Holy Ghost, the
scriptures and the words of the living prophets, I am blessed with more light and
truth. The principle is so easy!
Another doctrine we learned about in Moses today came from
Moses 4:27. As Adam and Eve were being put out of the Garden of Eden, the
scripture says, “Unto Adam, and also unto his wife, did I, the Lord God, make
coats of skins, and clothed them.” At first glance, it almost seems like, “Oh, that’s nice, the Lord didn’t send them
out into the old cold world with nothing but their fig leafs sown together!”
But there is much more to it than that. Where do coats of skins come from? From
an animal, or as I like to say, a critter.
A critter was sacrificed by the Lord, not just for Adam’s warmth from the
elements, but as a sacrifice, more than likely done in “similitude of the
sacrifice of the Only Begotten of the Father” (Moses 5:7). If this is so, then
the Atonement of Jesus Christ was going into full effect immediately after the
Fall, truly making it an “infinite atonement” (2 Nephi 9:7) as described by Jacob,
reaching both backward as well as forward from the meridian of time, which had
not even occurred yet!
The Pearl of Great Price is rich with doctrines and principles
which point me toward the Savior. I bear my testimony that The Pearl of Great
Price is exactly what the Prophet Joseph Smith said it was, a “vouchsafed…supply
of strength….” (HC, 1:98). I am learning, and am so grateful to the Lord for the precious gift of the Holy Ghost to teach me and for great institute students and faculty who help me along too!
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