Indeed the Atonement of the
Only Begotten Son of God in the flesh is the crucial foundation upon
which all Christian doctrine rests and the greatest expression of divine love
this world has ever been given. Its importance in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints cannot be overstated. Every other principle,
commandment, and virtue of the restored gospel draws its significance from this
pivotal event (Jeffery R. Holland, "The Atonement of Jesus Christ",
Ensign Mar. 2008).
Now, the next thing of which I am
certain, and of which I bear witness, is the Atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ. Without it life is meaningless. It is the keystone in the arch of our
existence. It affirms that we lived before we were born in mortality. Mortality
is but a stepping-stone to a more glorious existence in the future. The sorrow
of death is softened with the promise of the Resurrection. There would be no Christmas if there were no Easter (Gordon B.
Hinckley, "The Things of Which I Know", General Conference Apr.
2007).
In preparation for the atoning
sacrifice, Jesus prayed to His Father in the Garden of Gethsemane as He
took upon Himself the sins, sorrows, and sufferings of all mankind. In those
hours alone, He again made it clear that He was not performing His own work. He
prayed, “Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not
as I will, but as thou wilt.” 16 In this most crucial moment for Him
and for all of us, He was not talking to Himself or relying on His own
strength. He was calling upon His Father, God Omnipotent, to sustain Him and
allow Him to do His Father’s will; and His Father sent an angel “from heaven,
strengthening him.” 17 I so love the love that the Father has
for His Son and for all of us (Robert D. Hales, "Gaining a Testimony
of God, the Father; His Son, Jesus Christ; and the Holy Ghost", General
Conference Apr. 2008).
[Jesus Christ] concluded His mortal ministry with
the single most compassionate and significant service in the history of the
world: the Atonement."
--Elder Russell M. Ballard;
Ensign, November 1994, page 65.
The literal meaning of the English
word Atonement is
self-evident: at-one-ment, the bringing together of things that have been
separated or estranged. The Atonement of Jesus Christ was indispensable because
of the separating transgression, or Fall, of Adam, which brought two kinds of
death into the world when Adam and Eve partook of the fruit of the tree of
knowledge of good and evil. 3 Physical death brought the separation
of the spirit from the body, and spiritual death brought the estrangement of
both the spirit and the body from God (Jeffery R. Holland, "The
Atonement of Jesus Christ", Ensign Mar. 2008).
Of course neither the unconditional
nor the conditional blessings of the Atonement are available except
through the grace of Christ. Obviously the unconditional blessings of the
Atonement are unearned, but the conditional ones are not fully merited either.
By living faithfully and keeping the commandments of God, one can receive
additional privileges; but they are still given freely, not technically earned.
The Book of Mormon declares emphatically that “there is no flesh that can dwell
in the presence of God, save it be through the merits, and mercy, and grace of
the Holy Messiah 13 (Jeffery R. Holland, "The Atonement of Jesus Christ",
Ensign Mar. 2008).
In this extremity, did He, perchance,
hope for a rescuing ram in the thicket? I do not know. His suffering—as it
were, enormity multiplied
byinfinity—evoked His later
soul-cry on the cross, and it was a cry of forsakenness. (See Matt. 27:46.)
Even so, Jesus maintained this sublime
submissiveness, as He had in Gethsemane: “Nevertheless not as I will, but as
thou wilt.” (Matt. 26:39.)
While bearing our sins, our
infirmities, our sicknesses, and bringing to pass the Atonement (see Alma 7:11–12), Jesus became the perfect Shepherd, making these lines of Paul’s
especially relevant and reassuring: “Who shall separate us from the love of
Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or
nakedness, or peril, or sword?” (Rom. 8:35.)
Indeed, we are in His hands, and what
hallowed hands!
The wondrous and glorious Atonement
was the central act in all of human history. It was the hinge on which all else
that finally matters turned. But it turned upon Jesus’ spiritual
submissiveness! (Neal A. Maxwell, "Willing to Submit", General
Conference Apr. 1985).
Brothers and sisters, the gospel of the Savior is not simply
about avoiding bad in our lives; it also is essentially about doing and
becoming good. And the Atonement provides help for us to overcome and avoid bad
and to do and become good. There is help from the Savior for the entire journey
of life--from bad to good to better and to change our very nature. (David A. Bednar, “In the Strength of the
Lord,” BYU Devotional 23 Oct. 2001)
If
any has stumbled in his journey, there is a way back. The process is called
repentance. Our Savior died to provide you and me that blessed gift. Though the
path is difficult, the promise is real: 'Though your sins be as scarlet, they
shall be as white as snow' (Isaiah 1:18) (Thomas S. Monson, "Preparation Brings Blessings," Ensign, May 2010, 66).
Should choices be wrong, they can be rectified
through repentance. When its conditions are fully met, the Atonement of Jesus Christ, our
Savior, provides a release from the demands of justice for the errors made. It
is wondrously simple and so incomparably beautiful (Richard G. Scott, “How to
Obtain Revelation and Inspiration for your Personal Life,” General Conference
April, 2012).
The Atonement of Jesus Christ and the healing it offers do much
more than provide the opportunity for repentance from sins. The Atonement also
gives us the strength to endure 'pains and afflictions and temptations of every
kind,' because our Savior also took upon Him 'the pains and the sicknesses of
his people' (Alma 7:11). Brothers and sisters, if your faith and prayers and
the power of the priesthood do not heal you from an affliction, the power of
the Atonement will surely give you the strength to bear the burden (Dallin H.
Oaks, "He
Heals the Heavy Laden," Ensign, Nov. 2006, 9).
God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, but we are not.
Each day, ours is the challenge to access the power of the Atonement so that we
can truly change, become more Christlike, and qualify for the gift of
exaltation and live eternally with God, Jesus Christ, and our families.33 For
these powers, privileges, and gospel gifts, thanks be to God! (Russell M.
Nelson, “Thanks be to God!” General Conference, Apr. 2012)
My gratitude for the Atonement is beyond words and yet it is not deep enough. I do not understand it, yet I know it works. Were it not for the Atonement, there would be no hope for the future; no reason to do anything. Christ has made ALL things possible. Life is worth living because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ.
ReplyDeleteThe Atonement of Christ was a sacrifice of pure love. Christ tells us to “love one another as I have loved you” (John 13:34). To love each other as Christ loved us, we must develop the pure love of Christ, or in other words, Charity. Charity then, requires not just affection, but willing sacrifice. Our sacrifice becomes a type and shadow of Christ’s ultimate sacrifice of the Atonement - the only perfect example of Eternal love. Thus, the love we show for our fellow man, if it emulates Christ’s love, is our testimony of the Atonement. The purpose of loving others is to draw them towards Christ. If we truly have Charity, it will act as a tool – a powerful magnet for bringing others into the kingdom of God. It will also repel those who are working against the kingdom and will bring their works to light. This makes me realize that we have more than a little responsibility in these latter days for helping to divide the wheat from the tares before Christ comes again. We can accomplish this through the Pure Love of Christ.
ReplyDeleteIf the “word” is Christ, then the nourishment of Christ in our lives would be to follow His example and use the gift of the atonement and hope for the day of redemption and resurrection. This takes a lifetime for most of us. For Christ to take root in us we must root out sin. He is the tool by which we can do that. The fruit that is most precious, which is sweet above all that is sweet and white above all that is white, I believe, will be the purity brought upon us by Christ and the grace of God. This purity will allow us into God’s kingdom with our families to live Eternal lives of progress and to receive all that our Father has.
ReplyDeleteWhen we partake of the Sacrament, we promise to always remember the Savior’s Atonement and to make Him the center of our lives by giving up our wills to Him and being obedient children, called by His name. “We must never forget what He did for us, for without His Atonement and Resurrection, life would have no meaning.”(Elder D. Todd Christofferson, BYU Devotional, April 2011)
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