As One Earth Shall Pass Away… Even So Shall Another Come

I’ve been pondering this verse for a few days now:

“As one earth shall pass away, and the heavens thereof even so shall another come…For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.”

Moses 1:38-39

I decided to journal about it this afternoon, and while I was writing, I glanced out the glass door on my back porch. There, perched on a snowball bush, was a beautiful male cardinal. In that moment, these words entered my mind:

“This bird, the bush, the soil, the trees are all created to support My grand mission to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.”

Suddenly, something clicked. All things support this plan—to bring joy, purpose, and eternal life to mankind. Every little thing sustains it. Eternal beings need purpose, creative outlets, learning, growth, and progression. Everything that brings joy, delight, beauty, and gladness of heart is part of God’s plan for the eternal happiness of His children.

An earth with natural resources and energy sources is part of that plan. Even phases of creation that support fuel formation serve a purpose. Nothing is wasted. Nothing is random.

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Creation, Chaos, and Continuity

In Genesis, we learn that God took an earth that was “without form and void.” In Hebrew, tohu va-bohu means desolation, chaos, unorganized matter. Something already existed. It was chaotic—or became chaotic—and God organized it, or re-organized it.

Perhaps the earth existed and served various purposes and iterations before Adam and Eve were placed in the Garden of Eden.

Science teaches that matter is neither created nor destroyed—it only changes state and organization. Restoration scripture echoes this idea. In Doctrine and Covenants 93:33 we read:

“For man is spirit. The elements are eternal, and spirit and element, inseparably connected, receive a fulness of joy.”

If elements are eternal, then carbon dating in the millions or even billions of years becomes easier to understand. Humans think in terms of time—beginnings and endings. God thinks in terms of eternity and cycles.

We feel there must be a beginning. We can’t imagine there not being one. But beginnings only exist when God says—or when we say—that there are beginnings. In truth, there is no absolute beginning or end. With God, everything moves in one eternal round: patterns, cycles, renewals. When a cycle restarts, we call it a “beginning,” even though it is also an ending.

I see this in a meditation I practice, where I silently think the word gone to mark each segment of my breathing. Over time, I’ve realized that each section of the breathing process is both an ending and a beginning.

There is no beginning to you, and no end to you. There are beginnings and endings to states of being—but not to intelligence, which is what you and I are at our core.

“You are intelligence—light and truth.” (Doctrine & Covenants 93:36)
“Man was also in the beginning with God. Intelligence, or the light of truth, was not created or made, neither indeed can be.” (Doctrine & Covenants 93:29)

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Alignment, Not Force

If elements are eternal, then they are also intelligence. Intelligence is what Wallace Wattles once called “thinking stuff.” This “thinking stuff” obeys the commands of the Creator—and it will obey us, too, as creators made in God’s image, when we ask in faith and alignment with God’s will. The elements will never violate God’s will. They use their agency to align with it.

The natural man may manipulate matter to his own will, but the elements will not obey “word power”—what God calls “the word of my power” in Moses 1:32—to accomplish something outside of divine will. The power to speak and have the elements respond requires alignment.

There is faith, and there is force.

Of their own volition, the elements act only when faith aligned with God’s will is exercised. God never operates through force. This is why it was better for humanity to fall—and risk separation from God—than to be forced to do good, as Lucifer proposed.

Lucifer’s rebellion wasn’t rooted in ignorance. He understood the law of faith, which hinges on respect for agency. Agency governs the heavens. He chose force because he wanted his own will, not the Father’s—and he wanted the Father’s glory. His plan was not only doomed to fail; it was impossible.

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Creating Without Forcing

As I pondered these things, I began to wonder how often I use force in my own life—when I cut a tree, tear out a misplaced plant, build a house, shape clay, or build a fire.

I felt God’s response almost immediately:

It is aligned with My will that you utilize this earth to create, to experiment, to build, dismantle, grow, and learn to respect everything here. This is why I gave Adam dominion. You are here to learn the mechanics—and also to learn that when you co-create with Me in divine alignment, outcomes flow gracefully, unlike the rigid, difficult, and destructive path of force.

“Making things happen” pushes. It infringes on the agency of the elements and often the agency of other people or creatures. This usually leads to unintended harm. Co-creating with the elements—and with people—in alignment with God’s divine will feels different. It feels joyful, flowing, and almost effortless.

That realization stopped me. I saw that I need to take more time to ask before I create.

It reminded me of this verse:

“But behold, I say unto you that ye must pray always, and not faint; that ye must not perform any thing unto the Lord save in the first place ye shall pray unto the Father in the name of Christ, that he will consecrate thy performance unto thee, that thy performance may be for the welfare of thy soul.”
— 2 Nephi 32:9, Book of Mormon

Communicate. Align. Trust. Let the timing flow.

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Living the Principle

Recently, as I’ve been assembling a backup power system, I’ve tried to work consciously with God—mainly because I truly didn’t know what I was doing. I felt prompted to create it, and I had to lean completely on Him for help.

Step by step, I’ve been guided to the right people, companies, equipment, suppliers, and systems. Each time I reached the end of what I knew how to do, I paused, realigned, and trusted. And each time, the next step came.

Whatever you are building—on the land, in your home, in your work, or in your soul—keep aligning. Keep trusting. Creation is not about forcing outcomes. It’s about learning to co-create with God in a way that honors agency, timing, and grace.

After all, this is His work and His glory—and it’s about your immortality and eternal life as a sublime, divine creator learning to live in harmony with all that is.