Men after Adam; Women after Eve—The only way to exaltation
Similitude by Walter Rane
An essential, overarching theme in the temple as we receive our endowments is that men are to consider themselves as if they are Adam and women are to consider themselves as if they are Eve. We dawn the same sacred clothing they do; we make the same covenants they do; we symbolically enter through the veil into the presence of the Lord as they do. Beforehand, men are washed and anointed to become kings and priests to their wives, and women are washed and anointed to become queens and priestesses to their husbands. We are to metaphorically and literally follow the example the Adam and Eve, who were created in the images of their Heavenly Parents—men after Heavenly Father and women after Heavenly Mother—and who were married in the Garden of Eden, before the Fall, showing that the nature of marriage is to be eternal, fashioned after the eternal marriage of our Heavenly Parents.
Adam and Eve are then to multiply and replenish the earth. As we follow Adam and Eve’s example in multiplying and replenishing, through this act of procreation we engage in the work of creation with our Heavenly Parents. We begin to become creators like them.
Can you see the obvious truth in these things? As we consider ourselves and follow the examples of Adam and Eve, we are becoming like our Heavenly Parents, for Adam and Eve’s marriage and family was fashioned after their celestial relationship. It shows that the only possible authorised way that we can become exalted like them is through following their example in exactness.
Better than Paradise by Kendal Ray
There are laws decreed in heaven that even God must abide by to be and remain God. He cannot allow mercy to rob justice or he would cease to be God (Alma 42:22). He cannot change or he would cease to be God (Mormon 9:19). “There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated—And when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated” (D&C 130:20-21). If God is bound by this eternal, unchangeable law, we can infer that this applies also to his marriage with Heavenly Mother: eternal law requires a man-woman marriage to achieve exaltation—there simply is no other way. A man must marry a woman by priesthood authority, follow Jesus Christ to the end, and then—and only then—can they be given crowns of glory and exalted together. This is the celestial law and order.
Sadly, there are many who believe that the admonition to follow Adam and Eve’s example does not apply to them, because of flaws or other adverse life challenges, but no one is exempt. One of the most beautiful things that I’ve personally learned from the endowment ordinance, is that it was God’s plan from the beginning to account for the messiness of life. He provided a Saviour, Jesus Christ, to redeem us from our sinful, fallen states. We will make right all the complexities and unfairness of our mortal experiences. As we follow Adam and Eve’s examples, to rely on Christ and keep his commandments, we can enter into covenant relationship with him, and can come back into his and our Heavenly Parents’ presence, and with them partake of eternal life and exaltation.
Mortality may at times necessitate some of us “making ourselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s sake,” living in chaste, covenant-keeping singleness, but as we strive for the ideal, no blessing will be withheld from the righteous. “Nor let the eunuch say, ‘Behold, I am a dry tree.’ For this is what the Lord says: ‘To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, and choose what pleases me, and hold firmly to my covenant, to them I will give in my house and within my walls a memorial, and a name better than that of sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name which will not be eliminated’” (Isaiah 56:4-5, NASB). May we all strive for the ideal to the best of our abilities, to enter into a man-woman marriage, fashioning our lives after our First Parents, and ultimately our spiritual, Heavenly Parents.
