A New Concept of Glory

In the time of Joseph Smith, and even in our time, men thought that they were either saved or damned. Every man was bound to go to heaven or hell, depending on either his works or his faith or both, depending on his religious denomination. Amidst this belief, the Lord restored His Church to the earth, but the members of the Church continued with one belief that they had always held--those not of their faith were destined to go to hell, while those of their faith would go to heaven.

All of this changed in 1832, however, when Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon received a revelation on the three kingdoms of glory, which is now known as D&C 76. The revelation does not refute the concept of heaven and hell--in fact, the Lord confirms it. However, God explains that this state of paradise and hell, referred to as the spirit world, is not the end of being. There is more that will happen afterwards. Those who live good lives on the earth will enter into a paradise in the spirit world, and those who live unworthy lives will enter a prison or hell. Spirits will stay there until the resurrection of the just and unjust, when all will be given glorified, immortal bodies, and receive one of three kingdoms of glory. All of these kingdoms are of glory, meaning that every human being, including sinners, will receive glory and will receive many blessings from the Lord in a kingdom of glory. This is a huge departure from traditional thought of eternal reward or endless punishment, with nothing in between.

Section 76 also marks the beginning of the "exaltation revelations," when the Lord begins to explain what will follow this life in more detail. Salvation will come to all men--all will receive a kingdom of glory--but there will be rewards of varying degree within the kingdoms of glory, the highest of all being exaltation. Exaltation means being able to have an eternal family and continuing on forever in a path of perfection, just as God does. From this time on, the Lord explained to Joseph Smith and to the Church what it meant to be exalted, and what had to be done to receive the blessing of eternal lives.

This revelation also changed the world of the Saints by showing that the universe is not centered around the earth, or even around the Sun. Verses 23-24 explain that the worlds were all created through Christ, and all of their inhabitants are begotten sons and daughters of God. Nothing about world or earth mentioned--the worlds were made by God, and the people on each world are all subject to the same Gospel and the same Atonement. Gone was the concept that the Gospel is only for certain people, or that we are the center of God's creations. All men everywhere must repent, be it now, past, or future, all must forsake their sins and receive cleansing through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the Lord.