“For God so loved the world, that
he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not
perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16).” You’ve seen the scripture reference hundreds
of times on televised sporting events.
However, I’m not certain that most of us fully grasp the wide-sweeping
meaning of that single verse.
I wish I had begun studying the Atonement
of Jesus Christ years ago by only marking my scriptures that referred to this
singular important event for mankind. I
think that if I had done so I would have a greater understanding of His
Atonement. However, I also think that if
I had done this, I would have the same scriptures marked that I do now. How does one read the scriptures and not come
to the conclusion that every story, every parable, every scene that is played
out, and every teaching in the scriptures point to the Atonement of Jesus
Christ?
Perhaps you have been like me in
studying the scriptures. As I read and
pondered upon them I found comfort, understanding, peace, and great teachings
and principles by which to live. The
scriptures are replete with celestial ideals for living. But, doing so makes them nothing more than
field books for living. Yes, they become
our Liahona pointing the way back to
Heavenly Father, but that only encompasses a terrestrial level of
obedience. However, if we look at the
teachings in the scriptures as a type
of things to come as Alma taught, we then begin to unlock the power of His
Atonement (Alma 33: 19). We come to
understand what the Apostle Paul said when he taught that all the hidden
treasures and knowledge are a shadow
of things to come (Colossians 2: 3, 17).
As we think of His Atonement we
tend to think of two marvelous and important miracles. Specifically, we teach
that we are punished for our own sins and not for Adam’s transgression and that
through the Atonement of Jesus Christ all mankind may be saved by obedience to
the laws and ordinances of the gospel (Articles of Faith 1: 1 – 2). Herein is what may be referred to as saving
principles of the gospel.
To understand His Atonement, we
must look first to our pre-mortal existence for that is where it began. It was there where we participated in a
council and selected a course of action.
It was there that we accepted a plan to enter mortality and be allowed
the opportunity to exercise agency. It was
there that we understood we would be tested and be proven worthy to return to
live in the presence of God through eternity (Abraham 3: 24-26). It was also there that we understood all
would sin and come short of the glory of God (Romans 3: 23). And it was there that the Savior said it was
His work and His glory to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man
(Moses 1: 39). Elder Jeffrey R. Holland
of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught “The Atonement was the foreordained
but voluntary act of the Only Begotten Son of God in which He offered His life
and spiritual anguish as a redeeming ransom for the effect of the Fall of Adam
upon all mankind and for the personal sins of all who repent” (March 2008 Ensign).
Overcoming Physical
Death
The act of the Atonement we
celebrate this day is the resurrection of all the dead from the grave. The Apostle Paul explained that as we are
planted in death like Christ that we will also be raised in His likeness in the
resurrection (Romans 6: 5). He also taught,
“For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive (1
Corinthians 15:22). Peter taught that
Christ has “begotten us again unto a lively hope of (His) resurrection (1 Peter
1: 3). Again as Paul taught, Christ
risen from the dead became the firstfruits of them that slept” (Corinthians
15:20).
Overcoming Spiritual
Death
We also believe that another act of
the Atonement took place in the Garden of Gethsemane in addition to the cross. Luke records in his gospel that Christ “being
in an agony…prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of
blood falling down to the ground” (Luke 22: 44). King Benjamin speaking of the Atonement
testified that “
he shall suffer temptations, and pain of body,
hunger, thirst, and fatigue, even more than man can suffer, except it be unto
death; for behold, blood cometh from every pore, so great shall be his anguish
for the wickedness and the abominations of his people” (Mosiah 3: 7). Nephi testified that Christ continued to
suffer for our sins when He was lifted up on the cross” (1 Nephi: 11: 33). Again, Elder Holland explains that “To…meet
the demands of the Atonement, the sinless Christ went into the Garden of
Gethsemane…to bear the agony of soul only He could bear.”
Salvation of those
Who Died without Knowledge
There are other aspects of the
Atonement that we seldom consider and often overlook. The Apostle Paul speaking to the Saints at
Corinth said, “If in this life only we have hope
in Christ, we are of all men most miserable” (1 Cor. 15: 19). As we read this scripture we tend to focus on
a teaching that we can have hope in Christ not only in this life, but also in
the life to come. While this is a true
principle, if you shift the emphasis of the wording of Paul’s teaching you
discover another true principle.
Consider Paul’s message when we read it as follows: “If in this life only we
have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.” In other words, hope in Christ is available
not only for us, the living who have had the opportunity to hear, see, or learn
the words of Christ in this life, but is available for all mankind, including
those who never had the opportunity to know of Christ. Paul hinted at this when speaking of the
Atonement to the Romans when he taught that “until the law sin was in the
world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law” (Romans 5: 13). In other words, where there is no law sin
cannot be attributed, ascribed, or assigned to those who do not have the law.
We understand, of course, that “for
this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might
be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the
spirit” (Peter 4:6). This understanding
of the Atonement rests at the foundation of our reason for seeking out our
kindred dead and performing ordinances necessary for their exaltation.
Redemption of Little
Children
A fourth aspect of His Atonement is
the salvation of little children who die before the age of accountability.
Mormon in his epistle to his son
Moroni spoke of the “gross error” (Moroni 8: 6) that exists in the teaching of
the necessity of baptizing little children.
He explains that those who believe little children need to be baptized
are in the “gall of bitterness” (Moroni 8: 14).
Mormon continued his epistle by teaching repentance and baptism were
reserved for those who are accountable and capable of committing sin and that
little children are alive in Christ.
Further, he said that those who teach that baptism is necessary for
little children deny the mercies of Christ (Moroni 8: 10, 12, & 20).
Pains, Afflictions,
and Temptations
The prophet Isaiah spoke of yet
another dimension of the Atonement when in speaking of the coming Messiah he
said that “he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows” (Isaiah 53:
4). King Benjamin taught of the coming
Savior when he said Christ would “suffer temptations, and pain of body, hunger,
thirst, and fatigue, even more than man can suffer” (Mosiah 3: 7). And finally, Alma in speaking to the people
of Gideon said, “…he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and
temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which
saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people. And he will take upon him death, that he may
loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their
infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh,
that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to
their infirmities” (Alma 7:11 - 12).
As I have pondered upon these verses
it has occurred to me that if He has suffered pains and afflictions and
temptations of every kind there must be evidence of those sufferings in the
scriptures. And so I turned to the New
Testament to do a brief search to satisfy my curiosity. What I found was over one-hundred examples of
when He suffered pains, afflictions, and temptations of every kind. For example, during His lifetime He was:
Abandoned
Accused of Blasphemy
He was Accused of Keeping Bad
Company
And Wrongly Accused of Evil or
Doing Something Bad
He was Beaten, Hit, Injured, Struck
by Another
He became Angry
He was Betrayed
Caught in a Storm
Conspired Against
Criticized because of the Company
He Kept
He dealt with Quibbling
Others Failed to Thank Him
He had Faithless Followers
He dealt with the death of a close
friend and family member
He was Denied
Disappointed and
Left Alone to Face a Huge Task
while Others Slept
He was Forsaken
Hungry
Thirsty
Hated
And Homeless
He Suffered Indignities in front of
Loved Ones
Laughed at
Mocked
Many Murmured Against Him
Many did not believe Him
He was misunderstood
Persecuted
His motives and authority were
questioned
He was Rejected by His Own
Community
He was Reviled
Scourged
Shamed and
Spit Upon
He was Willing to Subject Himself
to Someone Else’s Authority
He faced temptation
He was Passed Over for Someone Less
Qualified than He was
He was Wearied and Tired
Stripped of His Belongings
He associated With People Who
Couldn’t Keep Up with Him
He was Tasked with a Cross
Nailed to a Cross
He did the Unpleasant and
Associated with the Unpleasant
And He was Unemployed
Additionally, He
Provided Direction and Instruction
Increased in Wisdom and Stature
Dealt with Popularity
He Preached
Selected Followers
Sent Followers into Harm’s Way and
Taught with Authority
Took Charge of the Ward Dinner for
thousands of people and not just once
Held a Personal Priesthood Interview
·
He was
indeed “despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with
grief:” (Isaiah 53:3)
Strengthening and
Enabling Power
Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum
of the Twelve Apostles speaks of the strengthening and enabling power of the
Atonement of Jesus Christ as he taught that it is “one thing to know that Jesus
Christ came to the earth to die for
us….But we also need to appreciate that the Lord desires, through His Atonement
and by the power of the Holy Ghost, to live
in us—not only to direct us but also to empower us” (BYU Devotional, Oct. 23,
2001). Consider the following examples
from the Book of Mormon.
Nephi in his prayer said, “wilt
thou deliver me from the hands of my brethren; yea, even give me strength that I may burst these bands with which I am
bound” (Nephi 7:17). Rather than praying
to be released from the binding that held him he prayed for strength to
overcome those bonds. Remember when Alma
and his people were persecuted by Amulon that “it came to pass that the burdens
which were laid upon Alma and his brethren were made light, yea, the Lord did strengthen them that they could
bear up their burdens with ease” (Mosiah 24: 14-15). Rather than removing the burdens from Alma
and his people, the Lord gave them strength which made the burdens lighter. Or, when Alma prayed while he was in prison
he said, “O Lord, give us strength according to our faith which is in Christ,
even unto deliverance” (Alma 14: 26). We
see later when Alma prayed that he would have strength that he would “suffer
with patience” the afflictions that would come upon him (Alma 31: 31).
In the Old Testament David
acknowledged that God was his
strength and power: and made his way
perfect (Samuel 22:33). Isaiah taught
that the Lord gives power to the faint; and an increase in strength to those
who have no might (Isaiah 40:29). In
speaking to the Corinthians as to why the Lord gives men weaknesses and the
grace that he had received from Christ, Paul stated that his strength was made
perfect in weakness and that he would rather glory in his infirmities that the
power of Christ would rest upon him (2 Corinthians 12: 9).
The Lord can provide strength to us
in those times of physical or temporal need, but we would be mistaken if we
believed that it happens all the time.
We would not; however, be mistaken to believe that the Lord will
consistently give us strength and power to overcome spiritual hazards of life.
Without question, He has empowered us
to act and not be acted upon (2 Nephi 2: 13-14, 26).
Grace
There are other aspects of the
Atonement of Jesus Christ such as the fulness of joy that is promised to us not
only in the life to come but for the here and now. None, however, would be meaningful without at
least a passing mention of grace. We teach
that “Our sins make us unclean and unfit to dwell in God’s presence, and we
need His grace to purify and perfect us “after all we can do” (2 Nephi 25: 23, True to the Faith). I think that sometimes we place too much
emphasis on the “all we can do” part of Nephi’s teachings and pay too little
attention to His grace. The fact of the
matter is that we will never be capable of achieving a celestial level of glory
without the Savior lifting and pulling us up.
He did not have to accept this role.
Just as each of us has the agency to choose, He also had His agency, and
He chose to be the Mediator, the Savior.
Only He chose to accept the weight of the names Wonderful, Counselor,
The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9: 6), and to
be King of Kings and Lord of Lords (Rev. 19: 16). Without Him there is no hope. He is
our hope.
© 2017 Gregory B. Talley, Binghamton Ward, April 16, 2017
