The Plan of Salvation

Objective: To understand the different parts of the Plan of Salvation

Preparations: 1) print and cut out the plan of salvation cut outs (as seen above, click on the image to enlarge), 2) paste the front to the back 3) bake cookies (as seen above)

Opening Prayer:

Song: I Lived in Heaven, Hymn 4 in the Children's Hymnal

Attention Activity:

Obtain a picture, such as a photograph from a magazine. Cut a few small pieces from the picture. Make sure that family members will not be able to tell what the picture is by looking at the small pieces.

Display the small pieces of the picture that you have, but do not display the picture. Tell each family members that these small pieces are part of a bigger picture. Invite them to briefly guess what is in the picture. Then display the picture, putting the small pieces in place.

Point out that although the small pieces are important, they would have little meaning if they were not part of the big picture. Explain that experiences we have, decisions we make, and truths we learn are like small pieces of a big picture. They have less meaning if they are not put in the context of a bigger picture: the plan of salvation. A knowledge of the plan of salvation can help us make righteous decisions, find joy in mortality, and prepare for eternal life.

Quote: The Prophet Joseph Smith taught, “The great plan of salvation is a theme which ought to occupy our strict attention, and be regarded as one of heaven’s best gifts to mankind” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, sel. Joseph Fielding Smith [1976], 68).

Scripture:

For behold, this is my ^awork and my ^bglory—to bring to pass the ^cimmortality and ^deternal ^elife of man. Moses 1:39

Lesson:

Place the plan of salvation (as seen above) on a flat surface a piece at a time in order, explaining each piece as you go

1) Heavenly Father created the Plan of Salvation for us because He loved us

2) Premortal life (Abraham 3:22-25)

We are sons and daughters of God, and we lived in a premortal existence as His spirit children. Before the earth was created, Heavenly Father called a council in heaven and presented the plan of salvation to all His spirit children.

• What were some elements of the plan that Heavenly Father presented in the premortal world? (See 2 Nephi 2:24–26; Alma 34:8–9; Abraham 3:24–25. Answers could include the Atonement of Jesus Christ; the Creation of the earth; the Fall; time on earth during which we would receive a mortal body and be tested; and agency, or the power to choose good or evil.)

• How did Jehovah, the Firstborn of the Father, respond to the plan of salvation? (See Moses 4:2. To show how the Savior obeyed the Father’s will, you may want to read D&C 19:16–19 and D&C 76:40–42. Emphasize that the Atonement of Jesus Christ makes the plan of salvation possible. The Savior is the central figure in God’s plan for our salvation.)

Satan Cast Out (Revelation 12:9)

Satan rebelled against the plan of salvation, seeking to destroy our agency and gain Heavenly Father’s power. He became Satan, and he and his followers (1/3 of the hosts of heaven) were cast out of the Father’s presence and denied mortality

• Why is it important for us to know about the existence of Satan and his followers?

• How did we respond to the plan of salvation? (See Job 38:4–7. Explain that latter-day prophets have taught that verse 7 in this passage refers to the joy we all felt in our premortal existence when we accepted the plan of salvation.)

3) Birth (Ecl. 3:1-2)

4) Mortal Life (Alma 34:32)

Part of Heavenly Father’s plan in our premortal life, would be to come to earth and gain a physical body. We would forget our premortal life, be born, receive a body, live by faith and one day die

5) Death (Hebrew 9:27)

Our life does not end at physical death.

6) Spirit World (Alma 40:1214; D&C 138:57)

When we die, our spirits will enter the spirit world.

• People who do not receive the gospel on earth, will enter spirit prison where they will have that opportunity.

• People who had the gospel in this life will enter spirit paradise

7) Resurrection and Judgment (1 Cor. 15:22, 2 Cor. 5:10)

Due to the Fall of Adam and Eve there was physical and spiritual death.

• How will we be delivered from physical death? (See Alma 11:42; D&C 88:14–16; 93:33.

Through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, all people will be resurrected, or “raised from this temporal death.” Our spirits will reunite with our bodies, and we will be able to “receive a fullness of joy.”

• How can we be delivered from spiritual death? (See Alma 42:11–13, 15; Articles of Faith 1:3.)

8) The Three Kingdoms; Celestial Kingdom (D&C 76:70), Terrestrial Kingdom (D&C 76:71)
Telestial Kingdom (D&C 76:81), Outer darkness (D&C 76:3238)

After we are resurrected, we will return to the presence of God to be judged according to our works. We will inherit a place in the celestial kingdom, the terrestrial kingdom, or the telestial kingdom based on the manner in which we have “received the testimony of Jesus” Satan and his followers in the preexistence will go to outer darkness.

Activity:

Mix up the Plan of Salvation pieces and have the family put them back in order. Allow family members take turns explaining the piece they put in order.

Treat:

Cut out cookies in the shape of suns---remind family members that it is our goal to inherit the Celestial Kingdom

Prayer: