I was asked to speak on the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Immediately after receiving the call I ran to the Ensign to read the talk I was suppose to pull mine from. It was the Atonement of Jesus Christ by Jeffrey R. Holland. As I began reading it I got a little scared because the story told in the Ensign made me cry and I want to be able to give this talk without sobbing. So, here I go....
As a young missionary, Elder Orson F. Whitney (1855-1931), who later served in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, had a dream so powerful that it changed his life forever. He later wrote:
"One night I dreamed...that I was in the Garden of Gethsemane, a witness of the Savior's agony... I stood behind a tree in the foreground... Jesus, with Peter, James, and John, came through a little wicket gate at my right. Leaving the three Apostles there, after telling them to kneel and pray, He passed over to the other side, where He also knelt and prayed..."Oh my Father if it be possible, let the cup pass from me; nevertheless not as I will but as Thou wilt."
"As He prayed the tears streamed down His face, which was turned toward me. I was so moved at the sight that I wept also, out of pure sympathy with His great sorrow. My whole heart went out to Him with all my soul and longed to be with Him as I longed for nothing else.
"Presently He arose and walked to where those Apostles were kneeling--fast asleep! He shook them gently, awoke them, and in a tone of tender reproach, untinctured by the least show of anger or scolding, asked them if they could not watch with Him one hour...
"Returning to His place, He prayed again and then went back and found them again sleeping. Again He awoke them, admonished them, and returned and prayed as before. Three times this happened, until I was perfectly familiar with His appearance--face, form, and movements. He was of noble stature and of majestic mien... the very God that He was and is, yet as meek and lowly as a little child.
"All at once the circumstance seemed to change...Instead of before, it was after the Crucifixion, and the Savior, with those three Apostles, now stood together in a group at my left. They were about to depart and ascend into heaven. I could endure it no longer. I ran from behind the tree, fell at His feet, clasped Him around the knees, and begged Him to take me with Him.
"I shall never forget the kind and gentle manner in which He stooped and raised me up and embraced me. It was so vivid, so real that I felt the very warmth of His bosom against which I rested. Then He said; "No my son; these have finished their work, and they may go with me; but you must stay and finish yours.: Still I clung to Him. Gazing up into His face--for He was taller than I--I besought Him most earnestly: "Well, promise me that I will come to You at the last." He smiled sweetly and tenderly and replied; " That will depend entirely upon yourself. I awoke with a sob in my throat, and it was morning.
This story represents the tender sacrifice of our Savior and how he freely gave himself for our opportunity to repent in hopes to one day return to live with him again. Elder Holland explains that, every other principle, commandment, and virtue of the restored gospel draws its significance from this pivotal event.
Elder Holland expressed how Christ volunteered to honor the moral agency of all humankind even as He atoned for their sins. In the process, He would return to the Father all glory for such redemptive love.
This infinite Atonement of Christ was possible because (1) He was the only sinless man ever to live on this earth and therefore was not subject to the spiritual death resulting from sin, (2) He was the Only Begotten of the Father and therefore possessed the attributes of godhood that gave Him power over physical death, and (3) He was apparently the only one sufficiently humble and willing in the premortal council to be foreordained to that.
Elder Holland explains that a universal gift is the Resurrection from the dead of every man, woman, and child who lives, has ever lived, or ever will live on earth.
As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints I have realized how crucial the Atonement is in my life. Early in our marriage I lost my little brother in a terrible way. I was having a hard time sleeping at night and I just could not find peace of mind. Brenton tried everything he could to help me get through it. He administered husband blessings to me. As I prayed and studied my scriptures, through time, I felt a sense of peace in my heart. Time helped the healing; however, the miracles that came from the Atonement played a big role in my peace of mind and strengthened my Faith.
President Holland also explained how other aspects of Christ's atoning gift are conditional. They depend on one's diligence in keeping God's commandments. For example while all members of the human family are freely given a reprieve from their own sins unless they pledge faith in Christ, repent of those sins, are baptized in His name, receive the gift of the Holy Ghost and confirmation into Christ's Church, and press forward in faithful endurance the remainder of life's journey. Of this personal challenge, Christ said,
"For behold, I, God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent;
"But if they would not repent they must suffer even as I."
I want to talk a little about the importance of pressing forward in Faith even when adversity is upon you.
As Brenton and I have worked together to accomplish our goals and desires we have found that Gods plan is not always our plan.
There have been times in my life that I find myself wondering if God truly hears me. I read a talk by Elder Scott that helped me focus on my blessings and not the challenges I am facing.
Elder Scott explains that just when all seems to be going right, challenges often come in multiple doeses applied simultaneously. When those trials are not consequences of your own disobedience, they are evidence that the Lord feels you are prepared to grow more (Prov. 3: 11-12). He therefore gives you experiences that stimulate growth, understanding, and compassion which polish you for your everlasting benefit. To get you from where you are to where He wants you to be, and that generally requires a lot of stretching which can be painful.
When you face adversity, you can be led to ask many questions. Some serve a useful purpose; others do not. To ask, Why does this have to happen to me? Why do I have to suffer this, now? What have I done to cause this? will lead you into blind alleys. It really does no good to ask questions that reflect opposition to the will of God. Rather ask, what am I to do? What am I to learn from the experience? What am I to change? Whom am I to help? How can I remember my blessings in times of trial? Willing sacrifice of deeply held personal desires in favor of the will of God is very hard to do. Yet, when you pray with real conviction, "Please let me know Thy will" and "May Thy will be done," you are in the strongest position to receive the maximum help from your loving Father.
Four years after we were married I found out I was pregnant and I was so excited I would day dream about holding this beautiful little infant in my arms. In my 39th week of pregnancy I went to my doctors appointment hoping to hear news of the delivery, however, when they checked for a heart beat the baby could not be found. I had developed a blood clot in a crucial part of the cord and the baby had passed within the day. I was devasted and my hopes of holding a sweet little baby had turned into a very painful experience. I dealt with feelings of hopelessness and despair and I would cry myself to sleep at night. Despite Brenton's own pain he would pray for me morning and night that I would be able to understand God's will and find joy in my life.
At that time I had a very smart Bishop that put me to work serving. My first thought was doesn't he know that I am not whole and I can not be out serving while I feel this way? As time passed I noticed that I enjoyed the calling and I began to make friends and was able to help others with the compassion I had learned. A few months later I found myself praying constantly for peace of mind. It was then that I received the answer that Heavenly Father Loves me and he would never take anything from me that was a righteous desire. This was for my own personal growth and I needed this experience. I did not realize it then, but, I have been greatly reimbursed for my lose. I am so thankful for the comfort of the Holy Ghost.
This life is an experience in profound trust--trust in Jesus Christ, trust in His teachings, trust in our capacity as led by the Holy Spirit to obey those teachings for happiness now and for a purposeful, supremely happy eternal existance. To trust means to obey willingly without knowing the end from the beginning(Prov. 3: 5-7). To produce fruit, your trust in the Lord must be more powerful and enduring than your confidence in your own personal feelings and experience.
Elder Scott explains that, to excercise Faith is to trust that the Lord knows what He is doing with you and that He can accomplish it for your eternal good even though you cannot understand how He can possibly do it. We are like infants in our understanding of eternal matters and their impact on us here in mortality. Yet at times we act as if we knew it all. When you pass through trials for His purposes, as you trust Him, exercise Faith in Him, He will help you. That support generally come step by step, a portion at a time. While you are passing through each phase, the pain and difficulty that comes from being enlarged will continue. If all matters were immediately resolved at your first petition, you could not grow. Your Father in Heaven and His Beloved Son love you perfectly. They would not require you to experience a moment more of difficulty than is absolutely needed for your personal benefit or for that of those you love.
When I read this talk I thought of the adversity I have faced and the personal sacrifice made by Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father and how great the suffering of Jesus Christ must have been.
Elder Holland explained, to begin to meet the demands of the Atonement, the sinless Christ went into the Garden of Gethsemane, as Elder Whitney saw in his dream, there to bear the agony of soul only He could bear. He "began to be sore amazed and to be very heavy," saying to Peter, James, and John, "My soul is exceeding sorrowful, unto death." Why? Because He suffered "the pains of all men, yea the pains of every living creature, both men, women, and children, who belong to the family of Adam." He experienced "temptations, and pain of body, hunger, thirst, and fatigue, even than man can suffer, except it be unto death; for behold, blood cometh from every pore, so great [was ] his anguish.
Through this suffering, Jesus redeemed the souls of all men, women, and children "that his bowel 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." In doing so, Christ " descended below all things"--including every kind of sickness, infirmity, and dark despair experienced by every mortal being--in order that He might "comprehend all things, that he might be in all and through all things, the light of truth.
The utter loneliness and excruciating pain of the Atonement begun in Gethsemane reached its zenith when, after unspeakable abuse at the hands of Roman soldiers and others, Christ cried from the cross. "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? In the depths of that anquish, even nature itself convulsed. "There was a darkness over all the earth... And the sun was darkened." causing many to exclaim, "The God of nature suffers." Finally, even the seemingly unberable had been borne, and Jesus said, "It is finished." "Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit." Someday, somewhere, every human tongue will be called upon to confess as did a Roman centurion who witnessed all of this, "Truly this was the Son of God." "And, behold the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent,"
Elder Neal a Maxwell said, "By personally understanding and believeing in the Atonement, you and I can teach and testify of it with greater gratitude, greater love, and greater power".
I'd like to bear my testimony of the glory of the Atonement. I am truly grateful for what Jesus endured and for descending below all things inorder to comprehend all things. I am grateful to Heavenly Father for all he experienced as he gave his Only Begotten Son, with who He was well pleased. I am grateful for the divine empathy and all that he experienced. I am so thankful for the blessing of the Atonement which were received at such a great price.
