Is There Death After Exaltation?

[inquiringmind]

I was just reading D&C 76:50-59, and wondering what verse 59 means?

And again we bear record—for we ^asaw and heard, and this is the ^btestimony of the ^cgospel of Christ concerning them who shall come forth in the resurrection of the ^djust—

51 They are they who received the ^atestimony of Jesus, and ^bbelieved on his name and were ^cbaptized after the ^dmanner of his burial, being ^eburied in the water in his name, and this according to the commandment which he has given—

52 That by ^akeeping the commandments they might be ^bwashed and ^ccleansed from all their sins, and receive the Holy Spirit by the laying on of the ^dhands of him who is ^eordained and sealed unto this power;

53 And who ^aovercome by faith, and are ^bsealed by the Holy Spirit of ^cpromise, which the Father ^dsheds forth upon all those who are just and true.

54 They are they who are the ^achurch of the ^bFirstborn.

55 They are they into whose hands the Father has given ^aall things—

56 They are they who are ^apriests and ^bkings, who have received of his fulness, and of his glory;

57 And are ^apriests of the Most High, after the order of Melchizedek, which was after the order of ^bEnoch, which was after the ^corder of the Only Begotten Son.

58 Wherefore, as it is written, they are ^agods, even the ^bsons of ^cGod—

59 Wherefore, ^aall things are theirs, whether life or death, or things present, or things to come, all are theirs and they are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.

What's meant by "whether life or death"?

[Duncan]

figure of speech, you can't die after gaining exaltation

[Robert F. Smith]

figure of speech, you can't die after gaining exaltation

Unless we are talking Old Norse Ragnarok, or Wagnerian Götterdämmerung, the "twilight of the gods."

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Edited April 22, 2013 by Robert F. Smith

[CV75]

I was just reading D&C 76:50-59, and wondering what verse 59 means?

And again we bear record—for we ^asaw and heard, and this is the ^btestimony of the ^cgospel of Christ concerning them who shall come forth in the resurrection of the ^djust—

testimony of Jesus, and ^bbelieved on his name and were ^cbaptized after the ^dmanner of his burial, being ^eburied in the water in his name, and this according to the commandment which he has given—

keeping the commandments they might be ^bwashed and ^ccleansed from all their sins, and receive the Holy Spirit by the laying on of the ^dhands of him who is ^eordained and sealed unto this power;

overcome by faith, and are ^bsealed by the Holy Spirit of ^cpromise, which the Father ^dsheds forth upon all those who are just and true.

church of the ^bFirstborn.

all things—

priests and ^bkings, who have received of his fulness, and of his glory;

priests of the Most High, after the order of Melchizedek, which was after the order of ^bEnoch, which was after the ^corder of the Only Begotten Son.

gods, even the ^bsons of ^cGod—

all things are theirs, whether life or death, or things present, or things to come, all are theirs and they are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.

What's meant by "whether life or death"?

"...all things are theirs, whether life of death..." means they can choose to exercise all power over (or exercise all the keys for) all things, no matter what they are.

[inquiringmind]

"...all things are theirs, whether life of death..." means they can choose to exercise all power over (or exercise all the keys for) all things, no matter what they are.

Thank you

[Questing Beast]

Let's be clear: we are immortals, we cannot die or cease to exist. This world is a deliberate exercise in learning, through contrasts and oppositions, what is most beloved to "God" and what is antithetical to that Joy. So "exalted" beings are simply those closest to "God" in willful nature and purpose, achieved through experience. How much we already know about this will be made clear after we "shuffle off this mortal coil" and return to our full immortal nature....

Edited April 22, 2013 by Questing Beast

[Robert F. Smith]

Let's be clear: we are immortals, we cannot die or cease to exist. This world is a deliberate exercise in learning, through contrasts and oppositions, what is most beloved to "God" and what is antithetical to that Joy. So "exalted" beings are simply those closest to "God" in willful nature and purpose, achieved through experience. How much we already know about this will be made clear after we "shuffle off this mortal coil" and return to our full immortal nature....

By George, I think you've got it, Beast!!

[Tsuzuki]

figure of speech, you can't die after gaining exaltation

What if you wanted to commit suicide? Whatever has a beginning has an end, right? So maybe not total extinction, but I like to think that an exalted being has the power to go all the way back to being a disenspirited intelligence if they wanted to.

[Bikeemikey]

In my opinion... We have conflated the notion of death with the notion of change in the nature of our physical body and resurrection.

Death can have two distinct natures:

1. A change in the nature if the physical structure our finer spirit matter resides within...

2. A separation of our physical an spiritual entities.

Resurrection to a different form of physical body does not require death in the second sense... Those who will be transformed in the twinkling of an eye with out tasting death.

Furthermore, we can have multiple changes in the physical body we inhabit. Those prophets translated pre Christ presumably were transformed to a more perfect body that was also not celestial and will also be charged again to celestial glory, of they have not already been.

Will there be death? I'm not sure. We there be a reasonable chance for additional resurrections (as defines by a change in the glory of our physical body) after we leave this world. Probably.

Edited April 28, 2013 by Bikeemikey

[Glenn101]

In my opinion... We have conflated the notion of death with the notion of change in the nature of our physical body and resurrection.

Death can have two distinct natures:

1. A change in the nature if the physical structure our finer spirit matter resides within...

2. A separation of our physical an spiritual entities.

Resurrection to a different form of physical body does not require death in the second sense... Those who will be transformed in the twinkling of an eye with out tasting death.

Furthermore, we can have multiple changes in the physical body we inhabit. Those prophets translated pre Christ presumably were transformed to a more perfect body that was also not celestial and will also be charged again to celestial glory, of they have not already been.

Will there be death? I'm not sure. We there be a reasonable chance for additional resurrections (as defines by a change in the glory of our physical body) after we leave this world. Probably.

When we speak of death, we must define whether it be physical or spiritual. The first spiritual death occurred when Adam and Eve were driven out of the Garden of Eden. There will come a second spiritual death at the time of the judgement for those who earn it.

As far as physical death, the LDS scriptures teach us that is the separation of the body and spirit. Once they are reunited, as in the resurrection, there will be no more spiritual death, from what I have been able to ascertain. The spirit is already immortal, and the body will attain immortality also. I can find no scriptural basis for any person to be able to cast off that immortality at will after ressurection, whether it be a body telestial, terrestrial, or celestial.

Glenn

[Bill “Papa” Lee]

figure of speech, you can't die after gaining exaltation

It may sound odd, but idea of being around for billions of years seems exhausting. When "people" die, we of them finally being able to rest from cares and worries. If we are to indeed become like God, we could have billions of Spirit offspring, most like now rejecting us, many committing unspeakable crimes to Children and others. Some that would have to be cast off forever...sounds painful and exhausting. No wonder the scriptures make reference to the "Heavens weeping".

[Questing Beast]

Well, that's an uplifting, positive thing to read first thing in the mourning. (hahah) As Nibley enjoyed putting it to his students, we are already living forever in the here and now, what do you think is really going on? His students when asked what they thought about living forever often said that they didn't think about it much and if they did they tended to be uncomfortable doing so, as if there were some option with all of this immortality stuff. It is amazing, how a people can profess belief in a doctrine/concept and yet deny it in so many words. Immortality is not an option, it is how we are. Therefore this life is part of the overarching paradigm of immortality. Anyone who even imagines that there is "rest" from immortality is seriously deluding himself.

What is immortality? It is continual, conscious awareness/thought about the self and surrounding world. It is egocentric, and the only thing waiting beyond the horizon of awareness and knowledge is "God", continually beyond the next "horizon", forever. We never get "there" because we are finite and "God" is infinite. So we discover "God" forever and never arrive at any place or finality. And while we are continually discovering "God" in the world (which is infinite) we are discovering Joy. I believe that Joy is the fundamental state that is bound to creation. Misery and exhaustion are not joyful, and their presence means that something is not well, not understood, not being attended to correctly. We literally have all the time in the world to figure it out, and that's what we are continually doing. The way "God" talks to us most directly is through each other....

Edited April 29, 2013 by Questing Beast

[Calm]

It may sound odd, but idea of being around for billions of years seems exhausting. When "people" die, we of them finally being able to rest from cares and worries. If we are to indeed become like God, we could have billions of Spirit offspring, most like now rejecting us, many committing unspeakable crimes to Children and others. Some that would have to be cast off forever...sounds painful and exhausting. No wonder the scriptures make reference to the "Heavens weeping".

However the oneness with God seems to me the ultimate rejuvenator.