God prepared this earth as a home for His children. Adam and Eve
were chosen to be the first people to live on the earth (see Moses
1:34; 4:26). Their part in our Father’s plan was to bring mortality into
the world. They were to be the first parents. (See D&C 107:54–56 .)
Adam and Eve were among our Father’s noblest children . In the
spirit world Adam was called Michael the archangel (see D&C
27:11; Jude 1:9). He was chosen by our Heavenly Father to lead the
righteous in the battle against Satan (see Revelation 12:7–9). Adam
and Eve were foreordained to become our first parents. The Lord
promised Adam great blessings: “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 107:55).
Eve was “the mother of all living” (Moses 4:26). God brought Adam
and Eve together in marriage because “it was not good that the man
should be alone” (Moses 3:18; see also 1 Corinthians 11:11). She
shared Adam’s responsibility and will also share his eternal blessings.
When Adam and Eve were placed in the Garden of Eden, they were
not yet mortal. In this state, “they would have had no children”
(2 Nephi 2:23). There was no death. They had physical life because
their spirits were housed in physical bodies made from the dust
of the earth (see Moses 6:59; Abraham 5:7). They had spiritual life
because they were in the presence of God. They had not yet made
a choice between good and evil.
God commanded them to have children. He said, “Be fruitful, and
multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it, and have domin-
ion over . . . every living thing that moveth upon the earth” (Moses
2:28). God told them they could freely eat of every tree in the
garden except one, the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Of that
tree God said, “In the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die”
(Moses 3:17).
Satan, not knowing the mind of God but seeking to destroy God’s
plan, came to Eve in the Garden of Eden. He tempted her to eat of
the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. He assured her
that she and Adam would not die, but that they would “be as gods,
knowing good and evil” (Moses 4:11) . Eve yielded to the tempta-
tion and ate the fruit. When Adam learned what had happened, he
chose to partake also. The changes that came upon Adam and Eve
because they ate the fruit are called the Fall.
Because Adam and Eve had eaten the fruit of the tree of knowledge
of good and evil, the Lord sent them out of the Garden of Eden into
the world. Their physical condition changed as a result of their eat-
ing the forbidden fruit. As God had promised, they became mor-
tal. They and their children would experience sickness, pain, and
physical death. Because of their transgression, Adam and Eve also
suffered spiritual death. This meant they and their children could
not walk and talk face to face with God . Adam and Eve and their children
were separated from God both physically and spiritually .
Some people believe Adam and Eve committed a serious sin when
they ate of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. However, latter-
day scriptures help us understand that their Fall was a necessary
step in the plan of life and a great blessing to all of us. Because of
the Fall, we are blessed with physical bodies, the right to choose
between good and evil, and the opportunity to gain eternal life.
None of these privileges would have been ours had Adam and Eve
remained in the garden.
After the Fall, Eve said, “Were it not for our transgression we never
should have had seed [children], and never should have known
good and evil, and the joy of our redemption, and the eternal life
which God giveth unto all the obedient” (Moses 5:11).
The prophet Lehi explained:
“And now, behold, if Adam had not transgressed he would not have
fallen [been cut off from the presence of God], but he would have
remained in the Garden of Eden . And all things which were created
must have remained in the same state in which they were after they
were created . . . .
“And they would have had no children; wherefore they would have
remained in a state of innocence, having no joy, for they knew no
misery; doing no good, for they knew no sin."
“But behold, all things have been done in the wisdom of him who
knoweth all things.
“Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have
joy” (2 Nephi 2:22–25) .
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