Adam's Baptism - Moses 6:61-68

6:61-63 – To understand the message of verse 61, which is long, we have to first go to verse 62 which explains, that “this is the plan of salvation unto all men, through the blood of mine Only Begotten, who shall come in the meridian of time.” What is the plan of salvation, what is He referring to here? Through the atonement we can keep the commandment to be baptized, and become purified in our character by the Spirit, then we can also have ‘the peaceable things of immortal glory,” and the truth which has “wisdom, mercy, truth, justice, and judgment.” We can look to “all things” because they were “created and made to bear record of me, both things which are temporal, and things which are spiritual… all things bear record of me.” The IM comments, “In the creation of the heavens and the earth, the Lord used physical symbols to teach us doctrines and principles of Jesus Christ and His gospel. Understanding gospel symbols requires the uniting of an earthly or concrete dimension with a transcendent, spiritual dimension… These things not only testify of the existence of a Supreme Being, but also that He is Jesus Christ, the Creator of all.” I love when Alma talks about “all things denote there is a God,” because I very much feel that way too, but I had never considered before that it was created that way intentionally. I thought that everything around us and the testimony that it bore was a side effect of the creation, but maybe it’s the focal point, but the backdrop. 6:64-68 – It makes it sound like the Lord scooped up Adam and dropped him in the lake, but that’s probably not what happened. It said that AFTER “the Lord had spoken with Adam, our father, that Adam cried unto the Lord,” and that’s when “he was caught away by the Spirit of the Lord,” and carried to the water to be baptized. It says that Adam and God had a discussion, then Adam called on the Lord, meaning that he probably demonstrated that he wanted to make a commitment to God. It’s also interesting because this calls back to King Benjamin’s speech when the people cried out that they accepted his words, and that connoted that they were willing to make a commitment to God. Adam is baptized, “and the Spirit of God descended upon him.” A voice from heaven says that this is Adam’s baptism of fire. Adam is ordained “after the order of him who was without beginning of days or end of years,” and God pronounces Adam “Thou art one in me, a son of God; and thus may all become my sons.” This commitment yielded to Adam all the benefits of the plan of salvation, and all it took was getting wet, it seems like a pretty easy trade off to me. This is all that is asked of any of us to make a commitment to God and become “a son of God.”