Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints believe in a doctrine known as “exaltation”, also known as “eternal life”. This belief entails receiving the life that God lives, in His eternal presence in the Celestial Kingdom. Members of the Church of Jesus Christ believe that we can be heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ (Romans 8:17), and we take that belief literally. We shall receive a crown of glory that will not fade away (1 Peter 5:4), and we shall be granted the gift of sitting with Christ in His throne, even as He sits with the Father in His throne (Rev 3:21), and shall inherit all things (Rev 21:7). In that belief, we shall be “gods”, yet God will always be our God, and shall always be above us. To receive the gift of exaltation, one must have continuous faith in our divine Savior Jesus Christ and His atoning sacrifice and resurrection, continuous repentance, be baptized by one having authority from God, receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, and endure to the end, receiving further sacred ordinances and covenants, such as the holy priesthood, being sealed for time and eternity to one’s spouse, and being endowed with power from on high in the Lord’s House, the temple.
On the issue of “receiving planets”, this is a speculative belief that has been taught in a number of Church manuals and by a number of Church leaders at times (which reminds me to a degree of the speculative belief of limbo that was taught for some time in Catholic belief, i.e. speculative belief being taught). In my opinion, the belief that we will receive or create worlds is based on the belief that we inherit all things from God, that we live the life He lives, and that we are heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ. It is therefore stated that we may receive or create worlds as God did, as heirs of Him. This is not something that is focused on by Latter-day Saints. We strive to follow the example of Christ our Savior, follow His commandments, and strive to endure to the end to live in God’s presence for eternity with our families, and be heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ. What exactly that entails is not really dwelled on, though yes, it has been taught that we may receive worlds or create worlds.
Interestingly, the Jewish Talmud apparently has this to say (relevant only because some critics may claim that Joseph Smith and/or his successors originated this belief in the 1800s and has no place in Judeo-Christian thought at all):
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The Holy One, blessed be He, will in the future call all of the pious by their names, and give them a cup of elixir of life in their hands so that they should live and endure forever. . . . And the Holy One, blessed be He, will in the future reveal to all the pious in the World to Come the Ineffable Name with which new heavens and a new earth can be created, so that all of them should be able to create new worlds.** The Holy One, blessed be He, will give every pious three hundred and forty worlds in inheritance in the World to Come. . . . To all the pious the Holy One, blessed be He, will give a sign and a part in the goodly reward, and everlasting renown, glory and greatness and praise, a crown encompassed in holiness, and royalty, equal to those of all the pious in the World to Come. The sign will be the cup of life which the Holy One, blessed be He, will give to the Messiah and to the pious in the Future to Come.
Code:
Midrash Alpha beta diRabbi Akiba BhM 3:32
Also:
en.fairmormon.org/Mormonism_and_the_nature_of_God/Deification_of_man/Gods_of_their_own_planets
