Area Leadership Message
Jesus Christ Can Save Us Because of His Atonement
The most popular and revered commemoration of covenanted Israelites was the feast of Passover. The deliverance from the bondage in the hands of the Egyptians was a miraculous gift and an unforgettable journey of exodus. After many plagues, the last and the one that brought freedom to the Israelites was the token of the blood of the lamb without blemish (see Exodus 12:5–13).
The day of deliverance became perpetual day of memorial: “And this day shall be unto you a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the Lord throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever’’ (Exodus 12:14).
Scripturally, there is no doubt that the dealings between the Jehovah and Israelites were given as typifying and symbolizing the Atonement of Jesus Christ (see 2 Nephi 11:4). The Lord commanded our first parents, Adam and Eve, and their children to make holy sacrifice. This continued through the Old Testament, including the Passover, the Exodus, and the commandment to Abraham to sacrifice Isaac.
Everything in the plan of salvation hinges on the Atonement of Jesus Christ. In the gospel of Jesus Christ, there is only one single act of expiatory sacrifice that has connected, linked, brought back, rejoined, united, yoked, and reconciled a man and a woman to God: It is the Atonement of Jesus Christ.
To fully appreciate this sacred gift, we should look at His Atonement in a dual perspective by answering these two questions:
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What would be the effect on the human race without the Atonement?
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What has Savior done for us through His Atonement?
The spiritual and physical calamity that would have befallen a man and woman without the Atonement of Jesus Christ would have been fatal:
We would have had to remain in the first estate. To receive tabernacles of flesh was one of the main purposes of our existence in this mortality. Lucifer and a third of his accomplices of the host of the spirits in heaven were denied their second estate because they rebelled against our Father in Heaven.
Consenting to the lies of Lucifer by partaking of the forbidden fruit, Adam and Eve transgressed the commandment of God. This act of transgressing brought a spiritual and physical death to all humankind and prevented us from returning to our Father in Heaven, which could have been the end of man. All mankind would have unavoidably perished (see 2 Nephi 9:6; Alma 34:8–10).
We would have become miserable. From the beginning, Lucifer wanted us to be part of his ways, and he demanded to force every soul to follow him. This wish of Satan has never been abandoned (see Moses 4:1–4). Because Lucifer rebelled against God and sought to take the agency of man, he and one-third of his accomplices were cast down and became sons of perdition and most miserable (see John 17:12; Doctrine and Covenants 76:25–28).
The intention of the devil to lie to our first parents, Adam and Eve, was to make us miserable forever, as he is and will be forever. “He said unto Eve, yea, even that old serpent, who is devil, who is the father of all lies, wherefore he said: Partake of the forbidden fruit, and ye shall not die” (2 Nephi 2:18). Thankfully, the divine mercy of God and the infinite Atonement of Jesus Christ have brought the gift of repentance to all humankind, and all men might not be miserable like the devil (see 2 Nephi 2:27; 9:9).
What has Savior done for us through His Atonement?
President Dallin H. Oaks answered a similar question in his message “What Has Our Savior Done for Us?”:
“I met a woman who said her friends had asked her to come back to church after many years of inactivity, but she could not think of any reason why she should. To encourage her, I said, ‘When you consider all of the things the Savior has done for you, you have many reasons to come back to worship and serve Him.’ I was astonished when she replied, ‘What’s He done for me?’ What has Jesus Christ done for each of us?”
I will focus on the two cardinal rescues the Savior did for us out of the four principal features President Oaks beautifully taught us.
1. Resurrection of Jesus Christ
The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is the gift of hope and unconditional ransom to humankind—not only to rescue those who would die after the Resurrection of Jesus Christ but also all those since the day of Adam. As Apostle Paul declared, “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive” (1 Corinthians 15:22).
President Oaks said:
“The promise that the Resurrection can include an opportunity to be with our family members—husband, wife, children, parents, and posterity—is a powerful encouragement to fulfill our family responsibilities in mortality. It also helps us live together in love in this life, and it comforts us in the death of our loved ones. We know that these mortal separations are only temporary, and we anticipate future joyful reunions and associations. The Resurrection provides us hope and the strength to be patient as we wait. It also prepares us with the courage and dignity to face our own death—even a death that might be called premature.
“All of these effects of the Resurrection are part of the first answer to the question ‘What has Jesus Christ done for me?’”
2. Repentance
Forgiveness is possible through the enabling power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. The infinite Atonement of Jesus Christ is the only requisite to free a person from the entanglement of sin and replace the encirclement of love and inner peace of our Savior in this turbulent world. President Boyd K. Packer (1924–2015), former President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, has taught: “There is no habit, no addiction, no rebellion, no transgression, no apostasy, no crime exempted from the promise of complete forgiveness. That is the promise of the atonement of Christ.”
Elder Gerrit W. Gong of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles declared: “Through spiritual transformation in Jesus Christ, we can escape debilitating perfectionism.”
Considering what the Atonement of Jesus Christ has done for me, I testify and rejoice with Jacob, O how great the goodness and mercy and holiness of our God! (see 2 Nephi 9:10, 19–20).