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MARK - I have heard it stated that Christ is the Savior for all worlds created. Is Lucifer also
the Satan for all other worlds? Were all other worlds created by God all part of the grand council
when Jesus was chosen or did each world have its own council? Where can I read or document any of this?
JOEL - One can really only speculate on the answers to such questions. I have seen different points of
view coming from different past church leaders.
Position #1. There are multiple universes and there is one God and Jesus and Satan for our
universe:
In a vision given to Moses, the Lord said,
"Worlds without number have I created; and I also created them for mine own purpose,there are many
(worlds) that now stand, and innumerable are they unto man" (Moses 1:33, 35).
Concerning the universality of the Savior's work, Elder Marion G. Romney declared:
"Except for his mortal ministry accomplished on this earth, his service and relationship to other
worlds and their inhabitants are the same as his service and relationship to this earth and its
inhabitants" (Improvement Era, Nov. 1968, 46).
Elder Bruce R. McConkie said:
“When the prophets speak of an infinite atonement, they mean just that. Its effects cover all men,
the earth itself and all forms of life thereon, and reach out into the endless expanse of eternity.
… And through the power of his atonement the inhabitants of these worlds, the revelation says, ‘are
begotten sons and daughters unto God’ (D&C 76:24), which means that the atonement of Christ, being
literally and truly infinite, applies to an infinite number of earths” (Mormon Doctrine, 2nd ed.,
Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, pp. 64, 65).
The above statements and scriptures would lead one to believe that God the Father and Jesus created
all the worlds and inhabitants that exist in this universe and that the atonement and the effects of the
grand council in heaven pertain to all these creations. Jesus is the Savior for all the
worlds He created; we just happen to be the lucky one that He came to, to obtain His body and bring
about the atonement and resurrection.
The most probable reason why Jesus came to this planet is because it was the most wicked of all of
His creations, and would therefore most likely be the one that would put Him to death. God said to Moses:
"Wherefore, I can stretch forth mine hands and hold all the creations which I have made; and mine
eye can pierce them also, and among all the workmanship of mine hands there has not been so great
wickedness as among thy brethren. (Moses 7:36).
We have been taught that we can be exalted and be creators and gods. This suggests that there are
multiple universes, each with its own god.
Position #2. There is only one universe and each world has its own savior and satan.
Statements of Brigham Young indicate that he believed in the concept of multiple saviors for this
universe. After pointing out that the Son came as the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world,
President Young asked: "Is it so on any other earth? On every earth. ... Sin is upon every earth
that ever was created. ... Consequently every earth has its redeemer, and every earth has its
tempter; and every earth, and the people thereof, in their turn and time, receive all that we
receive, and pass through all the ordeals that we are passing through" (Journal of Discourses
14:71-72)
In support of this idea, if there is but one redeemer for all possible worlds in the universe,
those individuals who achieved godhood prior to Jesus sacrifice on this earth, or who will attain
it in the endless future, were, or will be, dependent for their salvation upon an individual
extremely remote from their own time and circumstance; even a different planet. It is therefore
more likely that there is be a Savior and Satan for each world.
And if Jesus is the one and only savior for all who have ever lived or will live, does that mean He
could be His own Father's Savior, as well as the savior of those fathers who preceded him? This
would make him superior to all of them, even as he is superior to all of those he saves from this
earth. Yet Jesus repeatedly declared himself the instrument of his Father's will and said: "... my
Father is greater than I" (John 14:28; cf. 10:29).
I believe that the evidence from the scriptures and the majority of church prophets beliefs support
position #1 best.
One way to reconcile all this is to treat Brigham Young's statement as refering to the existance of
worlds within different universes rather than different worlds in our one universe. Our Heavenly
Father is the one and only God of this Universe and if he did some time in the past live a mortal
life as we are now, it was in a different universe and his savior would have been someone else from
that previous universe. And those from this universe who are exalted become gods of universes
separate from this one.
So if Jesus taught his gospel and suffered and died for our sins on this world; how do those living
on other worlds learn about it? In the Book of Mormon Jesus said:
"And verily I say unto you, that ye are they of whom I said: Other sheep I have which are not of
this fold (John 10:16); them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be
one fold, and one shepherd." (3 Nephi 15:21)
Jesus then goes on to say:
"And verily, verily, I say unto you that I have aother sheep, which are not of this land, neither
of the land of Jerusalem, neither in any parts of that land round about whither I have been to
minister.
For they of whom I speak are they who have not as yet heard my voice; neither have I at any time
manifested myself unto them.
But I have received a acommandment of the Father that I shall go unto them, and that they shall
bhear my voice, and shall be numbered among my sheep, that there may be one fold and one shepherd;
therefore I go to show myself unto them. (3 Nephi 16: 1-3)
This scripture is normally interpreted as to mean people of other parts of this world would hear
his gospel. But could it also possibly refer to people of other worlds that He would visit and
bring His gospel? If that is true then those of the other worlds would have in some way been taught
the gospel and would have leared what Jesus had done for them.
If we do limit our thinking to this universe only I do not think each world had it's own grand
council, because there is only one Jesus and one God the Father, and one Satan for this universe. In the pre-
mortal life Satan and his angels were cast down to earth without bodies to tempt and torment man.
Because all God's children must be tempted and tried I think it is safe to assume that those evil
spirits were cast down to all the worlds that are inhabited by human beings in this universe, not
just ours. As to the exact location of satan himself; I don't know. If what we learn in the Temple ceremony is true,
he probably has the ability to move from one inhabited world to another.
There really isn't any "official" doctrine that explains any of what I have written here; only what might be called "inspired opinion".
Thankfully our salvation doesn't depend of being able to understand all this right now.
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