6 The angels do not reside on a planet like this earth;
7 But they reside in the presence of God, on a globe like a sea of glass and fire, where all things for their glory are manifest, past, present, and future, and are continually before the Lord.
8 The place where God resides is a great Urim and Thummim.
9 This earth, in its sanctified and immortal state, will be made like unto crystal and will be a Urim and Thummim to the inhabitants who dwell thereon, whereby all things pertaining to an inferior kingdom, or all kingdoms of a lower order, will be manifest to those who dwell on it; and this earth will be Christ’s.
10 Then the white stone mentioned in Revelation 2:17, will become a Urim and Thummim to each individual who receives one, whereby things pertaining to a higher order of kingdoms will be made known;
11 And a white stone is given to each of those who come into the celestial kingdom, whereon is a new name written, which no man knoweth save he that receiveth it. The new name is the key word. (D&C 130)
Growing up in the LDS church, I was taught that the celestial kingdom was the highest kingdom a person could attain in the afterlife through our experiences in this life. I was taught the church’s version of how to get there, and I adopted a lot of beliefs that were vain and false, which I have had to go to great lengths to disabuse myself of.
Without going into details that are unnecessary for the purposes of this series of blogposts, I think that attaining the celestial kingdom looks a whole lot different than what most LDS people believe. Many of those details are included in other posts. And while I will say that the specifics of the verses above only apply to a very small number of people (see Matthew 7:13-14) at a certain stage of progression, I also believe that there are general principles we can learn from, regardless of where we are in our progression.
God gives us laws, and we have the ability to obey or disobey them. They are written in “stone,” and it is appropriate that the first of Jesus’ temptations in the wilderness has similar imagery.
1 Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.
2 And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred.
3 And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.
4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. (Matthew 4)
Words that proceed out of the mouth of God are written in stone. It is those laws that we live by, not physical bread, and we shouldn’t attempt to change them into something that is more palatable to us.
Our obedience to one law positions us in between that law and the next one that will draw us closer to God. As we progress towards him, we should be constantly putting laws “under our feet.” All those who have come to obey, understand, and appreciate a law clearly see the effects of that law, and when a set of laws that exist in one sphere is completely obeyed, those truths are circumscribed and the sphere becomes a fit and common habitation for those who are ready to receive things pertaining to a higher kingdom, which come individually and uniquely in the form of another stone. The sphere becomes a sea of glass, where things pertaining to a lower kingdom are easily seen and understood.
The white stone has a new name on it. Again, this is specific to individuals who inherit the celestial kingdom. But in our own progress, each law that is given to us is meant to bring us closer to that new name, and each law that we receive sanctifies us and causes us to become someone that wasn’t proven before.
We should be constantly getting new and higher laws. As everything below us becomes something that we can understand through our obedience, we receive greater and greater portions of those things that are above us that we do not yet understand, but will through our obedience.