God's divine work and man's divine work

[Vort]

Moses 1:39 For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.

D&C 11:20  Behold, this is your work, to keep my commandments, yea, with all your might, mind and strength.

D&C 18:38 And by their desires and their works you shall know them.

[NeuroTypical]

I’m a big fan of the two great commandments.  I’m grateful they’re so easy to understand, and act as general principles upon which hang the law and the prophets.

[laronius]

11 hours ago, Vort said:

Moses 1:39 For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.

D&C 11:20  Behold, this is your work, to keep my commandments, yea, with all your might, mind and strength.

D&C 18:38 And by their desires and their works you shall know them.

Jacob 2:21 unites your two points "all flesh is of the dust; and for the selfsame end hath he created them, that they should keep his commandments and glorify him forever."

This got me thinking about the doctrine of our "purpose," which I think is synonymous with how "work" is being used here. I asked myself if one's work/purpose is inherent with one's existence or is one's work/purpose something we simply choose. My initial thought was that it was a choice and that we are simply left with the consequences of whatever it is we choose to pursue. For example, I can choose to pursue that which is contrary to God's will and as such make it my work/purpose. But the scriptures appear to teach that work/purpose is inherently tied to existence. 

In 2 Nephi 2:11-12 Lehi teaches Jacob that opposition, including opposing choices, was vital otherwise "there would have been no purpose in the end of [our] creation." But in the next verse he takes it even further and says, if we connect the first and last "if then" type statements: "if ye shall say there is no law" then "there is no God" and "all things must have vanished away." 

A few chapters later, ch 7, Jacob seems to have taken this teaching to heart and teaches: vs 7 "if there be no Christ there be no God; and if there be no God we are not..." 

So we exist to not simply "become for ourselves" as a generation of Nephites sought to do but rather for a specific purpose, a purpose tied directly to God's own existence. It makes me wonder of the eternal fate of any who fall short of that purpose. If we are created for a specific purpose and our very existence is tied to that purpose, can we exist eternally in a condition where that purpose is not accomplished? 

[askandanswer]

On 12/18/2021 at 3:43 AM, laronius said:

So we exist to not simply "become for ourselves" as a generation of Nephites sought to do but rather for a specific purpose, a purpose tied directly to God's own existence. It makes me wonder of the eternal fate of any who fall short of that purpose. If we are created for a specific purpose and our very existence is tied to that purpose, can we exist eternally in a condition where that purpose is not accomplished? 

We exist on this earth to learn, grown and (im)prove ourselves by choosing how we will act in relation to God's commandments. That is our specific purpose and the only one that matters. Those who chose to obey those commandments will exist eternally in an ideal situation, and those who choose not to fulfill that purpose will not exist in as ideal a situation.

Taking another approach, if there is a scenario where our purpose in God's plan is to assist with the salvation of souls A, B and C, and instead, we held to save souls X, Y, and Z, I don't think that will have any impact on the conditions under which we will exist eternally. There are multitudes of actions that are of equal righteous worth when it comes to shaping the conditions under which we will live eternally, and it seems to me that which group of actions of equal righteous worth we choose to involve ourselves in will do more to shape our post mortal condition than the extent to which any particular set of actions is in line with God's plan and purposes, because all and any of those actions of equal righteous worth will make a contribution to the achievement of God's purposes.