 |
| Source If we could truly understand the Atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ, we would realize how precious is one son or daughter of God. I believe our Heavenly Father’s everlasting purpose for His children is generally achieved by the small and simple things we do for one another. At the heart of the English word atonement is the word one. If all mankind understood this, there would never be anyone with whom we would not be concerned, regardless of age, race, gender, religion, or social or economic standing. We would strive to emulate the Savior and would never be unkind, indifferent, disrespectful, or insensitive to others. |
This past January our family suffered the tragic loss of
our grandson Nathan in an airplane crash. Nathan had served in the
Russian-speaking Baltic Mission. He loved the people and knew it was a
privilege to serve the Lord. Three months after I officiated at his eternal
marriage to his sweetheart, Jennifer, this accident took his life. Nathan’s
being taken so suddenly from our mortal presence has turned each of our hearts
and minds to the Atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ. While it is impossible for
me to put into words the full meaning of the Atonement of Christ, I pray that I
can explain what His Atonement means to me and our family and what it might
also mean to you and yours.
The Savior’s precious birth, life, Atonement in the
Garden of Gethsemane, suffering on the cross, burial in Joseph’s tomb, and
glorious Resurrection all became a renewed reality for us. The Savior’s
Resurrection assures all of us that someday we, too, will follow Him and
experience our own resurrection. What peace, what comfort this great gift is
which comes through the loving grace of Jesus Christ, the Savior and Redeemer
of all mankind. Because of Him we know we can be with Nathan again.
There is no greater expression of love than the heroic
Atonement performed by the Son of God. Were it not for the plan of our Heavenly
Father, established before the world began, in a very real sense, all
mankind—past, present, and future—would have been left without the hope of
eternal progression. As a result of Adam’s transgression, mortals were
separated from God (see Rom. 6:23) and would be forever unless a way was found
to break the bands of death. This would not be easy, for it required the
vicarious sacrifice of one who was sinless and who could therefore take upon
Himself the sins of all mankind.
Thankfully, Jesus Christ courageously fulfilled this
sacrifice in ancient Jerusalem. There in the quiet isolation of the Garden of
Gethsemane, He knelt among the gnarled olive trees, and in some incredible way
that none of us can fully comprehend, the Savior took upon Himself the sins of
the world. Even though His life was pure and free of sin, He paid the ultimate
penalty for sin—yours, mine, and everyone who has ever lived. His mental,
emotional, and spiritual anguish were so great they caused Him to bleed from
every pore (see Luke 22:44; D&C 19:18). And yet Jesus suffered willingly so
that we might all have the opportunity to be washed clean—through having faith
in Him, repenting of our sins, being baptized by proper priesthood authority,
receiving the purifying gift of the Holy Ghost by confirmation, and accepting
all other essential ordinances. Without the Atonement of the Lord, none of
these blessings would be available to us, and we could not become worthy and
prepared to return to dwell in the presence of God.
The Savior later endured the agony of inquisition, cruel
beatings, and death by crucifixion on the cross at Calvary. Recently, there has
been a great deal of commentary about this, none of which has made clear the
singular point that no one had the power to take the Savior’s life from Him. He
gave it as a ransom for us all. As the Son of God, He had the power to alter
the situation. Yet the scriptures clearly state that He yielded Himself to
scourging, humiliation, suffering, and finally crucifixion because of His great
love towards the children of men (see 1 Ne. 19:9–10).
The Atonement of Jesus Christ was an indispensable part
of our Heavenly Father’s plan for His Son’s earthly mission and for our
salvation. How grateful we should be that our Heavenly Father did not intercede
but rather withheld His fatherly instinct to rescue His Beloved Son. Because of
His eternal love for you and for me, He allowed Jesus to complete His
foreordained mission to become our Redeemer. The gift of resurrection and
immortality is given freely through the loving grace of Jesus Christ to all people
of all ages, regardless of their good or evil acts. And to those who choose to
love the Lord and who show their love and faith in Him by keeping His
commandments and qualifying for the full blessings of the Atonement, He offers
the additional promise of exaltation and eternal life, which is the blessing of
living in the presence of God and His Beloved Son forever.
We often sing a hymn that expresses what I feel when I
consider the Savior’s benevolent, atoning sacrifice:
I stand all amazed at the love Jesus offers me,
Confused at the grace that so fully he proffers me.
I tremble to know that for me he was crucified,
That for me, a sinner, he suffered, he bled and died.
(“I Stand All Amazed,” Hymns, no. 193)
Jesus Christ, the Savior and Redeemer of all mankind, is
not dead. He lives—the resurrected Son of God lives—that is my testimony, and
He guides the affairs of His Church today.
In the spring of 1820, a pillar of light illuminated a
grove of trees in upstate New York. Our Heavenly Father and His Beloved Son
appeared to the Prophet Joseph Smith. This experience began the restoration of
powerful doctrinal truths that had been lost for centuries. Among those truths
that had been dimmed by the darkness of apostasy was the stirring reality that
we are all the spirit sons and daughters of a loving God who is our Father. We
are part of His family. He is not a father in some allegorical or poetic sense.
He is literally the Father of our spirits. He cares for each one of us. Though
this world has a way of diminishing and demeaning men and women, the reality is
we are all of royal, divine lineage. In that unprecedented appearance of the
Father and the Son in the Sacred Grove, the very first word spoken by the
Father of us all was the personal name of Joseph. Such is our Father’s personal
relationship with each of us. He knows our names and yearns for us to become
worthy to return to live with Him.
Through the Prophet Joseph Smith came the Restoration of
the gospel. The Lord Jesus Christ has once again revealed, through His chosen
prophet, the ordinances and the priesthood authority to administer them for the
salvation of all who will believe.
Another prophet in another time was shown “the nations of
the earth” (Moses 7:23). “And the Lord showed Enoch all things, even unto the
end of the world” (Moses 7:67). Enoch saw also that Satan “had a great chain in
his hand, and it veiled the whole face of the earth with darkness; and he
[Satan] looked up and laughed” (Moses 7:26).
With all that Enoch beheld, there was one thing that
seemed to capture his attention above everything else. Enoch saw God look “upon
the residue of the people, and He wept” (Moses 7:28). The sacred record then
has Enoch asking God over and over: “How is it that thou canst weep? … How is
it thou canst weep?” (Moses 7:29, 31).
The Lord answered Enoch: “Behold these thy brethren; they
are the workmanship of mine own hands … ; unto thy brethren have I … also given
commandment, that they should love one another, and that they should choose me,
their Father; but behold, they are without affection, and they hate their own
blood” (Moses 7:32–33).
Enoch saw the conditions of these latter days. He and
other early prophets knew that only as we accept the Atonement in our lives and
strive to live the gospel can we meet the challenges of life and find peace,
joy, and happiness. Coming to understand this great gift is an individual
pursuit for each child of God.
Brothers and sisters, I believe that if we could truly
understand the Atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ, we would realize how
precious is one son or daughter of God. I believe our Heavenly Father’s
everlasting purpose for His children is generally achieved by the small and
simple things we do for one another. At the heart of the English word atonement
is the word one. If all mankind understood this, there would never be anyone
with whom we would not be concerned, regardless of age, race, gender, religion,
or social or economic standing. We would strive to emulate the Savior and would
never be unkind, indifferent, disrespectful, or insensitive to others.
If we truly understood the Atonement and the eternal
value of each soul, we would seek out the wayward boy and girl and every other
wayward child of God. We would help them to know of the love Christ has for
them. We would do all that we can to help prepare them to receive the saving
ordinances of the gospel.
Surely, if the Atonement of Christ was foremost in the
minds of ward and branch leaders, no new or reactivated member would ever be
neglected. Because every soul is so precious, leaders will counsel together to
see that each one is taught the doctrines of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
When I think of Nathan and how precious he is to us, I
can see and feel more clearly how our Heavenly Father must feel about all of
His children. We do not want God to weep because we did not do all we could to
share with His children the revealed truths of the gospel. I pray that every
one of our youth will seek to know the blessings of the Atonement and that they
will strive to be worthy to serve the Lord in the mission field. Surely many
more senior couples and others whose health will permit would eagerly desire to
serve the Lord as missionaries if they would ponder over the meaning of the
atoning sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. It was Jesus who said, “If … you
should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring,
save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the
kingdom of my Father!” (D&C 18:15; emphasis added). Not only that, but
great shall be the Lord’s joy in the soul that repenteth! For precious unto Him
is the one.
Brothers and sisters, our Heavenly Father has reached out
to us through the Atonement of our Savior. He invites all to “come unto Christ,
who is the Holy One of Israel, and partake of his salvation, and the power of
his redemption” (Omni 1:26). He has taught us that it is through our faithful
adherence to gospel principles, through receiving the saving ordinances that
have been restored, through continual service, and by enduring to the end that
we can return to His sacred presence. What possible thing in the whole world is
remotely as important as to know this?
Sadly, in today’s world, a person’s importance is often
judged by the size of the audience before which he or she performs. That is how
media and sports programs are rated, how corporate prominence is sometimes
determined, and often how governmental rank is obtained. That may be why roles
such as father, mother, and missionary seldom receive standing ovations.
Fathers, mothers, and missionaries “play” before very small audiences. Yet, in
the eyes of the Lord, there may be only one size of audience that is of lasting
importance—and that is just one, each one, you and me, and each one of the
children of God. The irony of the Atonement is that it is infinite and eternal,
yet it is applied individually, one person at a time.
There is a level at which the child’s hymn “I Am a Child
of God” (Hymns, no. 301) harmonizes with the music of eternity. We are children
of God. Each one of us is precious to the point of bringing the Lord God
Almighty to a fulness of joy if we are faithful, or to tears if we are not.
As the resurrected Savior said to the Nephites, so He
might say to us today:
“Blessed are ye because of your faith. And now behold, my
joy is full.
“And when he had said these words, he wept, and the
multitude bare record of it, and he took their little children, one by one, and
blessed them, and prayed unto the Father for them” (3 Ne. 17:20–21; emphasis
added).
Brothers and sisters, never, never underestimate how
precious is the one. Remember always the simple admonition of the Lord: “If ye
love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15). Always strive to live worthy of
the sacred full blessings of the Atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ. In our
sorrow over the separation from our dear Nathan has come the peace that only
the Savior and Redeemer can give. Our family has turned to Him, one by one; and
we now sing with greater appreciation and understanding:
Oh, it is wonderful that he should care for me
Enough to die for me!
Oh, it is wonderful, wonderful to me!
(“I Stand All Amazed,” Hymns, no. 193)
My dear brothers and sisters, may you give to others and
receive for yourselves every blessing the Atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ
offers, I humbly pray, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment