Atonement
As I consider the
atonement I have found the best way to describe it is to create a mental image;
We find ourselves on this Earth, it is an interesting place,
filled with laughter, family friends, joy, but also pain, heart ache, trial and
tribulation. We are blessed to have physical bodies that can experience so
much, but we are mortal. We are subjected to illness, temptation, injury, and
pain of so many kinds, we experience endings of all kinds, and we hurt. I don't
think there is a person on this planet who is exempt from that.
We know, and have
heard of a place though that is much like this place we have now, in that we
will have our bodies, we will have our families, it will be a place though so
much better as we will be free from pain and suffering and we will not only be
with those we love forever, but we will also be with God. This is a place
beyond perfection.
BUT there is a
problem, there are two massive obstacles (I tend to picture them as giant
towers!) that we must overcome in order to make it to that wonderful place we
will call eternal life.
The first
obstacle is related to these great bodies we have, it is physical death. We
know our bodies age, they get sick, they get hurt and broken and worn out, and
eventually they day. This poses a problem because in this ideal eternal life
situation we would like our bodies!
The second
obstacle is also a big deal, it is spiritual death. We all make mistakes, we
all sin, part of this mortal life is learning from our mistakes, but it poses a
different sort of problem because we understand that no unclean or imperfect
person can live with God, and that puts a huge damper on this making it to
eternal life thing.
So the question
remains, how do we overcome these two massive obstacles of physical death and
spiritual death? I want you to imagine a remarkable bridge that forms the path
that overcomes these two massive towers. That bridge, or path, is the Atonement
of Jesus Christ.
When Christ was
in the Garden of Gethsemane He suffered for our sins, he paid the price,
experienced the punishment and took upon him each and every mistake and sin we
have ever made so that we would not have to suffer the price. It was there that
he overcame the obstacle of spiritual death for us. From there he was taken to
the cross on Calvary and was crucified. On that cross he died, and three days
later he rose from the tomb and came forth with a perfected body. In Christ's
resurrection he overcame death, paving a way so we could do the same.
I would also like
to add that in this atonement, Christ also felt our pains so that he would know
exactly how we felt, and as a result would know exactly how to help us. Alma
7:11-12 reads
"And 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."
It is possible, through Christ, to overcome those obstacles
and to make it to a place where we can live with those we love again. It is
through His atonement that we can find peace in knowing we will be reunited with
those we love and cherish, and we can know that there will be many great surprises.
I am so grateful for this knowledge, and for my Savior Jesus
Christ. I am so grateful for His love and for the love of my Heavenly Father,
because it is through that love that all of this is possible.
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