Light

And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. (Genesis 1:3)

Light is a symbol of Jesus Christ.

We can't really do very much without light.  It helps us to see what's around us and where we are going.  Life wouldn't be possible without light.  We wouldn't be able to see a single thing without it.  We would stumble and fall no matter where we tried to go.

Christ Himself said:

I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. (John 8:12)

The Savior is the Light of the world.  We cannot live without Him.  He shows us where to go, helps us see, and illuminates the path before us.  If we allow Him to be the Light of our lives, we will not stumble or fall.  We will see clearly what path we need to take in order to live righteously and obtain eternal life.

Water

And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. (Genesis 1:2)

Water is a symbol of Christ.

Liquid water is essential for life.  The human body is about 60% water.  This water helps protect our organs, regulate body temperature, and keeps our cells alive and working.  We can only survive a few days without drinking water.

When you get thirsty, you must drink water.  You really cannot quench your thirst with any other beverage. Only water gives us what we need.  And even if another beverage does quench your thirst, it's only because it contains some amount of water.

Water is pure.  It cleanses things.  Because of its polar nature and ability to dissolve almost anything, it is called the universal solvent.  It's really the only liquid we can use to wash ourselves.  Can you imagine trying to take a shower in maple syrup?



Christ is the Living Water.  He is essential for life.  He protects us, gives us nourishment.  He created us.  How many days could we survive without Him?

Jesus Christ is the only one who can quench our spiritual thirst and give us what we truly need.  We can try other "beverages," other ways to satiate our thirst, but only He can do it.  We need Him, just like our bodies need water.

He is pure.  He cleanses us from our sins, like water washes the dirt away.  There is nothing that He cannot dissolve or make pure.  He is the ultimate Solvent.  He is the only one who can make us clean again.

Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again:But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. (John 4:13-14)

The Earth

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. (Genesis 1:1)

The Earth itself is a symbol of Christ.

All of the planets in our solar system are named after Roman gods, except for the Earth.  There is Mercury, the messenger god; Venus, the goddess of love; Mars, the god of war; Jupiter, the king of the gods; Saturn, the god of agriculture; Uranus, the god of the sky; Neptune, the god of the sea; there are even some dwarf planets named in the same manner: Pluto, god of the underworld; Ceres, goddess of agriculture; Eris, goddess of discord.  

The Earth is the only planet which holds a name that doesn't come from a mythical god. 

And it is interesting to note that Earth is the only planet which has life.  You can go to Venus, or to Mars, or to Neptune, but you will find no life there.  They are desolate, cold, and do not have the things necessary to sustain life.  Only on the planet Earth will you find life. 

And so it is with deity.  Christ is the only God that has life.  The others are dead and you will find no life in them, for they can "neither... see, nor hear, nor walk" (Revelation 9:20).  They do not answer; they do not bless; they do not live, but Christ does.  He does all of those things, because He is a true God, and He lives.  We will find life in Christ, and in no other god.

Also, the Earth is the third planet from the sun.  3 is a symbolic number. 

There are three Personages in the Godhead: God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost. (Articles of Faith 1:1)

During the creation, there were no life forms until the third day when God created “grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit.” (Genesis 1:11-13)

And on the third day, Christ rose from the dead. (1 Corinthians 15:4)

All Things Bear Record of Me

I recently took an institute class entitled “Finding Christ in the Old Testament.”  We spent the entire semester going through some of the stories in the Old Testament and looking for how they teach us about Jesus Christ.  Now, I know what you’re thinking- The Old Testament doesn’t teach of Jesus Christ!  That was before His time!... Well, you’re wrong.  It does teach of Jesus Christ.  Actually, ALL of the stories teach of Him.  We just have to know how to find Him.

The Book of Mormon prophet Nephi gave us a good clue of where to start looking.  He said:

Behold, my soul delighteth in proving unto my people the truth of the coming of Christ; for, for this end hath the law of Moses been given; and all things which have been given of God from the beginning of the world, unto man, are the typifying of him. (2 Nephi 11:4)

All gifts that God has given unto man, even from the beginning of the world, are types of Christ.  For what was the greatest gift that God ever gave to the world? “His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)

The first gift from God to man that we have record of in the Bible is the Creation.  That is where we will start.  The Lord, speaking to Moses said the following,   

And behold, all things have their likeness, and all things are created and made to bear record of me, both things which are temporal, and things which are spiritual; things which are in the heavens above, and things which are on the earth, and things which are in the earth, and things which are under the earth, both above and beneath: all things bear record of me. (Moses 6:63)

How is it that every single thing that was ever created bears record of Jesus Christ?  The trees?  The animals?  The sky?  Do all these things symbolize Christ?  How can this be?  Well, the fact is that everything really DOES testify of Jesus Christ.  As we search to find symbols of Christ in the natural world, we will see that this is true. 

We will start by going through the Creation as recorded in Genesis.  As we do this, we will learn more about Him and His plan, and our knowledge of the Atonement will expand, and we will see, as the scripture says, that “all things bear record of [Him].”