Now, just why it is necessary that the atonement should provide that means we are unable to say. There apparently were two ways by Whitaker has said I agree with, he became mortal, and what Brother Whitaker has said I agree with, with reference to his fall and man’s coming here. And when once man became mortal, there were two ways apparently by which he would get back. I do not think, when we consider the Fall, when we know all abut the Fall—I do not think it happened in a day or in an hour—I think it was perhaps some process by which there was a change wrought upon the physical bodies of Adam and Eve, and they by partaking of things that only mortals should partake of, become changed. There was a way by which they could get back; one way was to partake of the things provided for immortals in the Garden of Eden, which if they had continued to have partaken of in the beginning, they would have lived forever in their immortal state in the Garden; and the Lord sent an angel down to drive them out of the Garden lest they now, having fallen, stretch forth their hands and partake of the Tree of Life and live forever. You see, that was a possibility. If they had gone back and partaken now of the things which were provided for them in their immortal state as they were placed in the Garden of Eden, they might have recovered from the mortal condition apparently from that scripture, but the law had been broken, and by no such means as this could they now recover their fallen state and condition. I presume the immortal things in the Garden were destroyed so that man was left with but once choice now, or one means, and that was known beforehand, because the atonement was provided for before the foundation of the world. That was the end of it.

To help illustrate it sometimes I have used this story, or have called attention to the story that is so very vivid when once you have seen it or read it, to the minds of boys and girls, the story of Dr. Jeckyl and Mr. Hyde. The story sets forth that the man has two natures and the genial Dr. Jeckyl goes about continually doing good, blessing everybody; but he has discovered a potion of which when he takes it he puts the genial Dr. Jeckyl to sleep, so to speak, and awakens the other individual in Mr. Hyde. Then he discovers another potion by which when he wants to take it he can dethrone Mr. Hyde and become the genial Dr. Jeckyl again. You remember how that one works at counter purposes to the other one , exactly opposite, and after a while his potion fails and be dies.

Well, man has fallen. How can he get back? What is the antidote? The antidote was the tree of life, but he was driven out from it. Now what else? The antidote was the death of a God, and Jesus Christ was a God before He came into this world, and he was born the Son of God in this world and there was not in Him the elements of death. Dr. Talmage, I think, sets that forth in his “Jesus the Christ” which has the approval of the First Presidency of the Church. He, Himself said, “I have power to lay down this body and take it up again,” and He might have lived on and on, and the seeds of death were not in His flesh and God’s child, First Begotten in the spirit, and the Only Begotten in the flesh, come to appease and to atone. So may have asked, “Why didn’t the Lord say, it works out all right, we will just forgive, we will just pass it by—the end justifies the means?” The very foundations of God would totter if sin and transgression could be passed by lightly. The law of obedience through which He became what He is made it necessary that the transgression must be atoned for. The law of justice is older than the God who rules over the universe to which we belong – eternal. It must be satisfied. No passing it by, no setting it aside.