I know I'm somewhat obsessive with this topic of Father Abraham and the covenant, but I have noticed lately how the adversary has launched a full-blown assault on this very subject.
We know the Church has a threefold mission, and a fourth objective was announced not too long ago. The former threefold mission was to proclaim the gospel, perfect the Saints, and redeem the dead.
But did you know Satan has a threefold mission as well? He knows about the fulfillment of the Abrahamic Covenant, that by its adherence, "shall all the families of the earth be blessed, even with the blessings of the Gospel, which are the blessings of salvation, even of life eternal" (Abraham 2:11). If you know the enemy like I do, you know that must sound awfully repulsive to him!
So he goes to work with a plan attacking the fundamental elements of the Abrahamic Covenant. In a nutshell the covenant has three core ingredients expounded by the aforementioned verse:
"And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse them that curse thee; and in thee (that is, in thy Priesthood) and in thy seed (that is, thy Priesthood), for I give unto thee a promise that this right shall continue in thee, and in thy seed after thee (that is to say, the literal seed, or the seed of the body) shall all the families of the earth be blessed, even with the blessings of the Gospel, which are the blessings of salvation, even of life eternal."
Lucifer, of course, is not interested in the blessing side, but he is highly interested in the cursing side. So let's dig in and analyze a bit. It seems priesthood rights are linked with seed of the body. The Lord is saying the priesthood is held in thee and thy seed, and whenever it mentions you or your seed we are talking about priesthood, and the priesthood continues in your seed, and Abraham, in case you missed it, the rights are linked to the literal seed or the seed of the body, and through this Priesthood, or literal seed, or literal body shall all the families of the earth be blessed.
So we have three ingredients--bodies, procreative power, and families. Now it comes into focus and we can clearly see Satan's threefold mission, which is to desecrate the body, entice us to misuse the procreative power, and destroy the family. He has an arsenal of weapons.
He uses addiction of all kinds to pollute the body and destroy our exercise of good moral agency. I am well-versed in this, being a recovering alcoholic and witnessing my body at near-destruction. He also uses media and social networks to promote body image, allowing us to believe that the size, shape, and natural appearance of our bodies just don't measure up. He "cheats our souls" and is "careful" to see that we become dissatisfied with that most precious gift we can take into the celestial world--namely, a resurrected, "natural" body (see 2 Nephi 28:21; D&C 88:28).
It is clear Satan is attacking the procreative power and the "continuation of the seeds" (D&C 132:19). Immorality, sexual addiction, and pornography are prevalent and even accepted in general society as the godliness of procreation is diminished, perverted, and cheapened.
The family is being assaulted and redefined on every side. The traditional family may one day appear on the endangered species list. Yet the verse in Abraham makes it clear that the richest blessings of the gospel are made available to all the families of the earth, not all the individuals of the earth.
We should not be surprised at Lucifer's attacks. The three things he loathes are the things he will never have. He will never have a physical body, he will never have posterity of his own, and he will never know the joys that come through an eternal, heavenly family.
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