From Brad Wilcox’s book ‘Changed Through His Grace’:
If we knew the day Adam and Eve fell, we could rightly celebrate it just as we do Christmas and Easter. Maybe choirs of angels sang, “Glory to God in the highest” on that occasion too, for without the Fall and the opposition it brought, we could never fully appreciate the “peace” and “goodwill toward men” (Luke 2:14) proclaimed at Christ’s birth.
Many religious leaders see our bodies as ugly, corrupt, and evil. They see death as freeing our spirits from the prison of their bodies. Latter-day Saints do not see our bodies as prisons but as sacred, beautiful temples (see 1 Corinthians 6:19) and as absolutely essential to our progression. Through Resurrection, our spirits and bodies will be united eternally, “never to be divided” (Alma 11:45).
After I spoke at a treatment center for troubled teens, some of the young people approached me with questions. One girl asked, “Do you believe everyone will be resurrected?
I responded, “Yes. I believe that is a gift Christ has given everyone.”
She then shocked me by saying, “Tell Jesus to just keep his stupid gift, I don’t want to be resurrected. I hate my body. It’s ugly and gross. I can’t wait to get rid of it. Her strong words revealed the same deep issues as her tattoos and body piercings. She had multiple scars where she had cut herself and huge gauges in both earlobes. I said, “One day, I hope you can see the beauty Christ sees in you.”
“Whatever,” she muttered as she turned and walked away. When we abuse or defile our sacred bodies, we disrespect a central purpose of mortality and downplay our eternal destinies. Satan and those who chose to follow him in the premortal existence forfeited the opportunity to have bodies. That’s why Education Week presenter Mary Ellen Edmunds humorously calls them (no bodies!) and Scott Anderson, another popular Education presenter, tells the youth, “When Satan tells you that your body is ugly, just say, “Well, at least I have one!'” The spirits who followed Satan have such a strong desire for tabernacles of flesh that they are willing to possess swine for even a brief moment (see Mark 5:6-13). We, on the other hand, will enjoy perfected and glorified bodies forever free from every mutilation, deformity, and scar. ~Brad Wilcox, Changed Through His Grace (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2017, (244-246 Dwarsligger edition) (continued)
