Question
Dear Gramps,
Hey there! My friend and I ran into this website the other day and we really love it! We got asked a question just today about why God felt the need to create man in the first place. We have no idea really what to answer. We know that God is our Father and loves us, just like earthly parents love their children. But is there any scriptures or answers to why He felt the need to create us in the first place? Thank you for the awesome site! We would love to hear back from you.
Sister
Answer
Dear Sister,
Welcome! I’m glad you found the site and are enjoying it. Thank you for your kind words!
Just a few months before the prophet Joseph Smith’s death, he gave a sermon at the funeral of a dear friend, King Follet. This sermon is considered a church classic and has come to be known as The King Follet Sermon. In it he addresses your question. He said:
“Intelligence is eternal and exists upon a self-existent principle. It is a spirit from age to age and there is no creation about it. All the minds and spirits that God ever sent into the world are susceptible of enlargement.
“The first principles of man are self-existent with God. God himself, finding he was in the midst of spirits and glory, because he was more intelligent, saw proper to institute laws whereby the rest could have a privilege to advance like himself. The relationship we have with God places us in a situation to advance in knowledge. He has power to institute laws to instruct the weaker intelligences, that they may be exalted with Himself, so that they might have one glory upon another, and all that knowledge, power, glory, and intelligence, which is requisite in order to save them in the world of spirits.”
I recommend the whole talk, as I said, it is a classic. You can find it here:
