CREATION, GOD THE CREATOR

Book of Abraham is Lord's Blueprint of Creation
Joseph Fielding Smith

The account of the creation in the Book of Abraham is "The Lord's Blueprint of Creation." By this I mean Abraham gives an account of the planning in heaven for this earth and its inhabitants, before the work of building was done. I do not say that this planning contemplated the creation of the sun or other heavenly bodies, but rather the placing of the earth in the position which it was to occupy in relation to these orbs.

(President Joseph Fielding Smith, DOS 1:74-75)
___
Genesis and Moses- Creation of the Physical Earth
Joseph Fielding Smith

The account of the creation of the earth as given in Genesis, and the Book of Moses, and as given in the temple, is the creation of the physical earth, and of physical animals and plants. I think the temple account, which was given by revelation, is the clearest of all of these. These physical creations were made out of the natural elements.

(President Joseph Fielding Smith, DOS 1:75)
___

God Organized the Earth from Existing Elements
Joseph Smith

You ask the learned doctors why they say the world was made out of nothing; and they will answer, "Doesn't the Bible say He created the world?" And they infer, from the word create, that it must have been made out of nothing. Now, the word create came from the word "baurau" which does not mean to create out of nothing; it means to organize; the same as a man would organize materials and build a ship. Hence, we infer that God had materials to organize the world out of chaos--chaotic matter, which is element, and in which dwells all the glory. Element had an existence from the time he had. The pure principles of element are principles which can never be destroyed; they may be organized and re-organized, but not destroyed. They had no beginning, and can have no end.

T. 351-352
___
Elohim means Gods- The Head of the Gods organized the Heavens and Earth
Joseph Smith

In the beginning the head of the Gods brought forth the Gods...The head of the Gods called the Gods together...The head God organized the heavens and the earth. I defy all the world to refute me. In the beginning the heads of the Gods organized the heavens and the earth...The head one of the Gods said, "Let us make a man in our own image..." I once asked a learned Jew, "If the Hebrew language compels us to render all words ending in "im" in the plural, why not render the first Elohim plural?" He replied, "That is the rule with few exceptions; but in this case it would ruin the Bible." He acknowledged I was right.

T. 371-372
___
The Plurality of Gods
Joseph Smith

In the very beginning the Bible shows there is a plurality of Gods beyond the power of refutation. It is a great subject I am dwelling on. The word Elohim ought to be in the plural all the way through--Gods. The heads of the Gods appointed one God for us; and when you take [that] view of the subject, it sets one free to see all the beauty, holiness and perfection of the Gods. All I want is to get the simple, naked truth, and the whole truth.

T. 372
___
God has made Fixed Decrees, Bounds, Laws, Conditions
Joseph Smith

God has made certain decrees which are fixed and immovable; for instance, God set the sun, the moon, and the stars in the heavens, and gave them their laws, conditions and bounds, which they cannot pass, except by His commandments; they all move in perfect harmony in their sphere and order, and are as lights, wonders and signs unto us. The sea also has its bounds which it cannot pass. God has set many signs on the earth, as well as in the heavens...

T. 197-198
___
Plan of Salvation Established Before World Was
Joseph Smith

The great Jehovah contemplated the whole of the events connected with the earth, pertaining to the plan of salvation, before it rolled into existence, or ever "the morning stars sang together" for joy; the past, the present, and the future were and are, with Him, one eternal "now;" He knew of the fall of Adam, the iniquities of the antediluvians, of the depth of iniquity that would be connected with the human family, their weakness and strength, their power and glory, apostasies, their crimes, their righteousness and iniquity; He comprehended the fall of man, and his redemption; He knew the plan of salvation and pointed it out; He was acquainted with the situation of all nations and with their destiny; He ordered all things according to the council of His own will; He knows the situation of both the living and the dead, and has made ample provision for their redemption, according to their several circumstances, and the laws of the kingdom of God, whether in this world, or in the world to come.

T. 220
___

Organization of Worlds Agreeable to Perfect Order
Joseph Smith

The organization of the spiritual and heavenly worlds, and of spiritual and heavenly beings, was agreeable to the most perfect order and harmony: their limits and bounds were fixed irrevocably, and voluntarily subscribed to in their heavenly estate by themselves, and were by our first parents subscribed to upon the earth.

T. 325
___
Never was a Time when there was not an Earth
Joseph Fielding Smith

The Lord never created anything for nothing, nor out of nothing. Everything has a place and was created for a purpose. Man was not created to be destroyed. This work has been going on forever. There never was a time when there was not an earth; never a time when there were not people on it, for that is the work of the Lord, and the heavens are innumerable, and so are the earths that have passed away to their exaltation and glory. As they pass away others take their places. This is not the only world.

(President Joseph Fielding Smith, DOS 1:61-62)
___

We have Brothers and Sisters on Other Earths
Joseph Fielding Smith

We are not the only people that the Lord has created. We have brothers and sisters on other earths. They look like us because they, too, are the children of God and were created in his image, for they are also his offspring. His great work is to create earths and people them with his children who are called upon to pass through the mortal probation like unto this we are now in, suffering pain, sorrow, and the ills of the flesh, coming face to face with sin, with temptation; and having the right within themselves, God-given, to reject the evil and receive the good or reject the good and receive the evil, if they will, with the understanding, of course, that they shall be judged before his bar for their deeds and receive their reward accordingly. Every man has his agency to choose good or evil, to be rewarded or debased, and of course each will be rewarded.

(President Joseph Fielding Smith, DOS 1:62)
___
Man was Created by Heavenly Father
Bruce R. McConkie

From other sacred sources we know that Jehovah-Christ, assisted by "many of the noble and great ones" (Abr. 3:22), of whom Michael is but the illustration, did in fact create the earth and all forms of plant and animal life on the face thereof. But when it came to placing man on earth, there was a change in Creators. That is, the Father himself became personally involved. All things were created by the Son, using the power delegated by the Father, except man. In the spirit and again in the flesh, man was created by the Father. There was no delegation of authority where the crowning creature of creation was concerned.

(Bruce R. McConkie, Promised Messiah, p. 62)
___
God the Creator; God the Redeemer; God the Testator
Bruce R. McConkie

Everlasting covenant was made between three personages before the organization of this earth, and relates to their dispensation of things to men on the earth; these personages, according to Abraham's record, are called God the first, the Creator; God the second, the Redeemer; and God the third, the witness or Testator. (T. 190.) From this we learn that the work of the Father is creation (though he uses the Son and others in the creation of all things except man); the work of the Son is redemption (though he performs this infinite work by the power of the Father); and the work of the Holy Ghost is to bear witness of the Father and Son, whose minister he is.

(Bruce R. McConkie, Promised Messiah, p. 63)