On Sunday I had the opportunity to speak in church. I was asked to speak on the atonement. How grateful I was for the chance to study and gain a deeper understanding and appreciation for the act that our Savior performed for us.
Some years ago, President Gordon B. Hinckley told
“something of a parable” about “a one room school house in the mountains of
Virginia where the boys were so rough no teacher had been able to handle
them. Then one day an inexperienced
young teacher applied. He was told that every teacher had received an awful
beating, but the teacher accepted the risk. The first day of school the teacher
asked the boys to establish their own rules and the penalty for breaking the
rules. The class came up with 10 rules, which were written on the blackboard.
Then the teacher asked, ‘What shall we do with one who breaks the rules?’ ‘Beat him across the back ten times without
his coat on,’ came the response. “A day
or so later, … the lunch of a big student, named Tom, was stolen. ‘The thief
was located—a little hungry fellow, about ten years old.’ “As Little Jim came up to take his licking,
he pleaded to keep his coat on. ‘Take your coat off,’ the teacher said. ‘You
helped make the rules!’ “The boy took
off the coat. He had no shirt and revealed a bony little crippled body. As the
teacher hesitated with the rod, Big Tom jumped to his feet and volunteered to
take the boy’s licking. “‘Very well,
there is a certain law that one can become a substitute for another. Are you
all agreed?’ the teacher asked. “After
five strokes across Tom’s back, the rod broke. The class was sobbing. ‘Little
Jim had reached up and caught Tom with both arms around his neck. “Tom, I’m
sorry that I stole your lunch, but I was awful hungry. Tom, I will love you
till I die for taking my licking for me! Yes, I will love you forever!”’”
President
Hinckley then quoted Isaiah:
“Surely
he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows. …
“…
He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the
chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.”
Today I was asked to speak on the atonement and
specifically on how the scriptures can deepen our understanding of the
atonement. I pray that as I read the
words from different prophets and apostles that it will witness in your heart
and mind the realness of the atonement and the need for us to understand and
use the atonement in our everyday life.
Why
is it so important that we understand the atonement? Understanding what we can
of the Atonement and the Resurrection of Christ helps us to obtain a knowledge
of Him and of His mission. Any increase in our
understanding of His atoning sacrifice draws us closer to Him. Literally, the
Atonement means to be “at one” with Him. The nature of the Atonement and its
effects is so infinite, so unfathomable, and so profound that it lies beyond
the knowledge and comprehension of mortal man.
The scriptures are a great place to read about and learn how the
atonement can be used throughout our life.
During my talk today you will hear about many different ways that I
deepened my understanding of the atonement by studying the scriptures and words
from our prophets.
No man knows the full weight of what our Savior bore,
but by the power of the Holy Ghost and also by the
teachings in the scriptures we can know something of the supernal gift He
gave us. In the words of our sacrament hymn: We may not know, we cannot tell, What
pains he had to bear, But we believe it was for us, He hung and
suffered there. He suffered so
much pain, “indescribable anguish,” and “overpowering torture” for
our sake. His profound suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane, where He took
upon Himself all the sins of all other mortals, caused Him “to tremble because
of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit.” “And
being in an agony he prayed more earnestly,” saying, “O my
Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be
done.” What the Savior
did could only be done by Deity. As the Only Begotten Son of the Father in the
flesh, Jesus inherited divine attributes. He was the only person ever born into
mortality who could perform this most significant and supernal act. As the only
sinless Man who ever lived on this earth, He was not subject to spiritual
death. Because of His godhood, He also possessed power over physical death.
Thus He did for us what we cannot do for ourselves. He broke the cold grasp of
death. He also made it possible for us to have the supreme and serene comfort
of the gift of the Holy Ghost.
As
we consider the comprehensiveness of the Atonement and the Redeemer’s
willingness to suffer for all of our sins, we should gratefully acknowledge
that the atoning sacrifice also covers so much more! Consider these words of
Alma to the faithful people of Gideon almost a century before the Atonement was
actualized: “And [Jesus] 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.
“Now
the Spirit knoweth all things; nevertheless the Son of God suffereth according
to the flesh that he might take upon him the sins of his people, that he might
blot out their transgressions according to the power of his deliverance; and
now behold, this is the testimony which is in me” (Alma 7:11–13).
Think
of a full and comprehensive remedy for our pains, afflictions, temptations,
sicknesses, sins, disappointments, and transgressions. Can you imagine any
alternative to Jesus’s Atonement? Then add to that the incomparable
Resurrection, and we begin to understand just enough to sing, “I stand all
amazed at the love Jesus offers me.”
What
does the Atonement mean to you and to me? It means everything. As Jacob
explained, we can “be reconciled unto [the Father] through the atonement of
Christ, his Only Begotten Son” (Jacob 4:11). This means that we
can repent, come into full harmony and complete acceptance with Him, and avoid
the mistakes or misunderstandings that “denieth the mercies of Christ, and
setteth at naught the atonement of him and the power of his redemption” (Moroni 8:20).
We
avoid dishonoring and disrespecting the Savior’s Atonement by heeding the
counsel of Helaman, which is as pertinent today as it was in the years
immediately preceding the Lord’s earthly advent: “O remember, remember, my sons
… that there is no other way nor means whereby man can be saved, only through
the atoning blood of Jesus Christ, who shall come; yea, remember that he cometh
to redeem the world” (Helaman 5:9).
His
Atonement does indeed cover the world and all people from the beginning to the
end. Let us not forget, however, that in its comprehensiveness and completeness
it is also intensely personal and uniquely crafted to fit perfectly and address
perfectly each of our own individual circumstances. The Father and the Son know
each of us better than we know ourselves and have prepared an Atonement for us
that is fully congruent with our needs, challenges, and possibilities.
Also
speaking of the Atonement, Jacob, the brother of Nephi, taught: “Wherefore, it
must needs be an infinite atonement—save it should be an infinite atonement
this corruption could not put on incorruption. Wherefore, the first judgment
which came upon man must needs have remained to an endless duration. And if so,
this flesh must have laid down to rot and to crumble to its mother earth, to rise
no more” (2 Nephi 9:7).
One
person in the scriptures that we can learn more about the atonement is through
Nephi, and specifically his attitude that he carried through out his life. His life was not easy, particularly when
compared with the comfort most of us take for granted today. Nephi and
his family lived for years in
the wilderness before arriving in the promised land. They suffered periods of
hunger, thirst, and danger. Nephi had to deal with serious family problems
exacerbated by Laman and Lemuel, finally separating himself, with his
followers, from those who sided with Laman and Lemuel.
In
the face of all these privations and difficulties, Nephi was able to say, “It
came to pass that we lived after the manner of happiness” (2 Nephi 5:27).
He
understood that there is a pattern for living that results in happiness,
independent of the difficulties, challenges, and disappointments that come into
all of our lives. He was able to focus on the big picture of God’s plan for him
and his people and was thus able to avoid being brought down by his
frustrations or by the accurate observation that life is not fair. It isn’t
fair, but he and his people were happy nevertheless. They understood that an
Atonement would take place, and they had confidence that it would include them.
Nephi
asked himself important questions that we might ask ourselves as we consider
the place of Christ’s Atonement in our own lives:
“O
then, if I have seen so great things, if the Lord in his condescension unto the
children of men hath visited men in so much mercy, why should my heart weep and
my soul linger in the valley of sorrow, and my flesh waste away, and my
strength slacken, because of mine afflictions?
“And
why should I yield to sin, because of my flesh? Yea, why should I give way to
temptations, that the evil one have place in my heart to destroy my peace and
afflict my soul? Why am I angry because of mine enemy?” (2 Nephi 4:26–27).
After
his lament he answered his own questions, knowing the approach to his problems
that he must take: “Awake, my soul! No longer droop in sin. Rejoice, O my
heart, and give place no more for the enemy of my soul. … O Lord, I have
trusted in thee, and I will trust in thee forever” (2 Nephi 4:28, 34).
Does
this mean that Nephi no longer had problems? Does it mean that he fully
understood all that was happening to him? Remember the answer he gave to an
angel several years before when he was asked an important question related to
the Atonement of Christ, which was to occur in the future: “I know that [God]
loveth his children; nevertheless, I do not know the meaning of all things” (1 Nephi 11:17).
We
also can’t and won’t know the meaning of all things, but we can and must know
that the Lord loves His children and that we can be the beneficiaries of a full
measure of Christ’s grace and Atonement in our lives and in our struggles.
Likewise, we know and must remember the foolishness and danger of giving the
evil one place in our hearts. We can be
grateful that the Savior, understanding us better than we understand ourselves. As we
follow the pattern that allows us to “live after the manner of happiness,” our
repentance and our performance assume a higher quality, and our ability to
understand and appreciate the Atonement increases.
The
Atonement not only benefits the sinner but also benefits those sinned
against—that is, the victims. By forgiving “those who trespass against us”
(JST, Matt. 6:13) the Atonement brings a measure of peace and comfort to those
who have been innocently victimized by the sins of others. The basic source for
the healing of the soul is the Atonement of Jesus Christ. This is true whether
it be from the pain of a personal tragedy or a terrible national calamity.
A
sister who had been through a painful divorce wrote of her experience in
drawing from the Atonement. She said: “Our divorce … did not release me from
the obligation to forgive. I truly wanted to do it, but it was as if I had been
commanded to do something of which I was simply incapable.” Her bishop gave her
some sound advice: “Keep a place in your heart for forgiveness, and when it comes,
welcome it in.” Many months passed as this struggle to forgive continued. She
recalled: “During those long, prayerful moments … I tapped into a life-giving
source of comfort from my loving Heavenly Father. I sense that he was not
standing by glaring at me for not having accomplished forgiveness yet; rather
he was sorrowing with me as I wept. …
“In
the final analysis, what happened in my heart is for me an amazing and
miraculous evidence of the Atonement of Christ. I had always viewed the
Atonement as a means of making repentance work for the sinner. I had not
realized that it also makes it possible for the one sinned against to receive
into his or her heart the sweet peace of forgiving.”
The
injured should do what they can to work through their trials, and the Savior
will “succor his people according to their infirmities.” He
will help us carry our burdens. Some injuries are so hurtful and deep that they
cannot be healed without help from a higher power and hope for perfect justice
and restitution in the next life. Since the Savior has suffering anything and
everything that we could ever feel or experience, He can help
the weak to become stronger. He has personally experienced all of it. He
understands our pain and will walk with us even in our darkest hours.
Thanks
be to God for the gift of His Son, and thanks be to the Savior for His
Atonement. It is true and is in effect and will lead us where we need and want
to be.
I
bare testimony that the atonement is real.
It is in effect and it will lead us where we need and want to be. Jesus is the Christ. He is our Savior. Because of him and because of the atonement
we are able to live with our Heavenly Father once again. I am grateful to Jesus for his example and
his sacrifice on our behalf. May we
always remember the atonement in our life and remember to use it to draw closer
to him and our Heavenly Father.
In
the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
