Truly our Savior has given us the perfect
example to follow, an example of love, kindness, courage and deep abiding trust
in our Father in Heaven. When he
appeared following His resurrection to those on the American continent, His
first declaration was one of glory and submission to His Father, “Behold, I am Jesus Christ, whom the prophets testified shall
come into the world. And behold, I am the light and the life of the
world; and I have drunk out of that bitter cup which the Father hath
given me, and have glorified the Father in taking upon me the sins of
the world, in the which I have suffered the will of the Father in all
things from the beginning.”
Of all the doctrines, of
all the principles He could have born testimony of, He chose to witness of His
identity and the completion of the atoning sacrifice He had performed on behalf
of all mankind, and to bear testimony of His perfect obedience to the will of
the Father, in ALL things. Elder Scott, stated,
“Your personal testimony of the
Atonement of Jesus Christ is a powerful tool… To be effective and to do as
Christ has done, concentrate on this basic principle of the gospel: the Atonement of Jesus Christ makes possible
our becoming more like our Father in Heaven so that we can live together
eternally in our family units.”
My
first question would be, how is this done, how does the Atonement make us more
like our Father in Heaven? The Savior showed us the way in His conclusion of
that statement,
“I have suffered the will of the Father in all things from the
beginning.”
Can we say this about our
lives? Have we suffered the will of the Father in ALL things? I know the answer
for me is no. I know that I have fallen short of this example many times. Elder
Scott also said,
“God’s purpose is ‘to bring to pass the immortality and
eternal life of man.’ That is fundamental to all we do. Sometimes we get so
wrapped up in things that we find fascinating or become so consumed by mundane
responsibilities that we lose sight of God’s objectives."
As we partake of the sacrament, we renewed the promise that we
are willing to take the Savior’s name upon us. In doing that, we are witnessing
that we are His, that we are “ONE” with him. In the scriptures to be “one”
means to be of one mind, and heart and purpose, if that is true of us, if we
are one with the Savior, then we too would always be found “about our Father’s
business”. We would strive to “glorify the Father in all things”. We would
honor our baptismal covenants with the same zeal and perfection as the Savior
honored His. To mourn with those who mourn to comfort those who stand in need
of comfort, to take His name upon us and to be about His business. If we are
found about our Father’s business by taking the name of the Savior upon us, we
would be working tirelessly to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life
of each other.
How do we do this? Right now our bank accounts already overdrawn. We are in the
negative. We are imperfect. We have already been found as unprofitable
servants. We have all failed to perfectly live up to the covenants we’ve made.
And yet the invitation is still extended “come unto me, follow my example, be
ye even as I am”. As Elder Scott said, it
is “the Atonement of Jesus Christ which makes possible our becoming more like
our Father in Heaven”.
The scriptures are full
to overflowing of examples and explanations of the Atonement. All the Prophets
before Christ came and every one since have born witness and testimony of His
infinite Atoning sacrifice. Amulek teaches:
“ And thus he shall bring salvation to all those who
shall believe on his name; this being the intent of this last sacrifice, to
bring about the bowels of mercy, which overpowereth justice, and bringeth about
means unto men that they may have faith unto repentance. And
thus mercy can satisfy the demands of justice, and encircles
them in the arms of safety, while he that exercises no faith unto repentance is
exposed to the whole law of the demands of justice; therefore only unto
him that has faith unto repentance is brought about the great and eternal plan of redemption.”
The Apostle Paul writing
to the Corinthians taught,
“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new
creature: old things are passed away; behold all things are become new. And all
things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath
given to us the ministry of reconciliation; For he hath made him to be sin for
us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”
Do
we understand what these scriptures are saying? Do we understand the promises
that are being given? Do we really understand what has happened here? I wish I could help you all feel the importance of
these truths and what they would mean for your life if you could understand
them. I hope you’ll excuse the analogy, but it was the first thing that came to
my mind.
It is as if we are all in
a bull fight. The law of justice is the bull and we are all stained red from
our sins and our transgressions. That bull, the law of justice, has us in his
sights and he is charging, full speed ahead to take what justice demands.
Payment and penalty for laws broken. In the scripture from Paul, we are taught that Christ
actually became sin for us if we apply the Atonement in our lives.
He took the red stains upon himself so that the full blow of that charging bull
landed completely on Him. And we, we were made clean and white through his
Atonement, rendering us invisible to that bull. Invisible to the law of
justice.
Let's explore this a little more. When we sin, the law of justice demands payment for the law
broken, Amulek teaches us that through the sacrifice of the Savior, the law
of mercy was able to be in effect. But the law of justice cannot be ignored.
The Savior’s sacrifice provided the payment necessary to justice, for the
scriptures teach,
“What, do ye suppose that mercy can rob justice?
I say unto
you, Nay; not one whit. If so, God would cease to be God”.
The law of Justice
had to be satisfied, and through the Savior’s perfect and infinite sacrifice he
made that payment on our behalf and allowed mercy to claim us if we exercise
faith unto repentance. If we don’t, it is as if no redemption were made.
“He
that exercises no faith unto repentance is exposed to the whole law of the
demands of justice.”
In the teachings of
Paul, we see that this is done through our baptismal covenants, taking His name
upon us or as Paul wrote “if any man be IN Christ, he is a new creature.” When we take the yoke of the Savior upon us we
become one with Him. Our weaknesses and shortcomings are made whole through the
merits of our perfect Savior and the infinite power of the Atonement. He took
upon Himself our punishments so that “we might be made the righteousness of God
in him.”
What a marvelous blessing! We are taught that when we repent the
Lord remembers our sins no more and it’s as if it never happened. That is
because, once we have repented, the sins are no longer ours. Think of it this
way. In school when grades are handed out, we can only keep a 4.0 as we score
perfectly in all our classes. If we ever get an A-, even one, we will never
again be able to have a 4.0 again, we will always be imperfect. So if our sins
remained ours or counted against us, if all of our blemishes were not truly
washed clean and white through the blood of the Atonement, we would never be
able to return to live with our Father in Heaven again for no unclean thing can
dwell in the presence of God.
I wanted to focus on the
infinite power of the Atonement in order to give us the confidence we need in
standing up as examples of the Savior. He has asked us to take the light He has
given us and let it shine forth unto the world. We are a light on a hill. No
matter what kind of example we are, good or bad; we are reflecting His name by
our membership in His church. A city or a people set on a hill cannot be hid,
no matter what kind of light is shining forth. In order to be the examples He
needs us to be, we have to first get our lives and testimonies on a strong
foundation.
Recently, as I sat in the
temple, I reflected on the creation of this magnificent earth. We know that the
sun, moon and stars were placed in the heavens by our creator to give light
unto the world. I remembered visiting Bryce Canyon a few years ago and reading
a sign in the visitor’s center which explained that the sky in Bryce Canyon was
one of the few places left on earth not affected by “light pollution”. Light
pollution is caused by man-made light here on earth which makes it impossible
to see the stars and, in some cases, the moon. It made me sad to think that the
light created by the world was covering our ability to see the unwavering light
sent to us by a loving eternal Father in Heaven. What light are we following?
What light is filling our eyes? Where do
we look for our examples, the light given by the world, or the eternal,
unwavering, unchanging light from the heavens?
I imagine when we stand
before our judgment bar, we will be asked for a similar report as the Savior
gave when He appeared on this continent. Who were we? What fruits did we bring
forth? And did we submit to the will of the Father and glorify His name in all
things? We can know of a surety that we are about our Father’s business when we
do whatsoever thing we’ve been taught the Savior did. Elder Scott said, “We best
serve our Father in Heaven by righteously influencing others and serving them.
The greatest example who ever walked the earth is our Savior, Jesus Christ. His
mortal ministry was filled with teaching, serving, and loving others. He sat
down with individuals who were judged to be unworthy of His companionship. He
loved each of them. He discerned their needs and taught them His gospel. He
invites us to follow His perfect example.”
I testify as we first, in
faith, apply the Atonement to our lives, we will be in the best position to
stand as examples, filled with the light from heaven, and invite all mankind to
come unto Christ and be washed clean through the blood of His sacrifice. In the
name of Him who makes us clean, Jesus Christ, Amen.
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