With this in mind, I will not attempt to say everything that
can be said about Jesus Christ. But I
will share a few doctrines accompanied by some of my own personal thoughts and
feelings.
The Living Christ is a document that was issued on January
1, 2000, to commemorate Jesus Christ at the new millennium and is a “testimony
of the reality of [Christ’s] matchless life and the infinite virtue of His
great atoning sacrifice.” I invite you to read the entire document (located here), but I will also use
excerpts from this document (italicized text below) as a springboard for this
discussion about Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
[Jesus Christ] was the
Great Jehovah of the Old Testament, the Messiah of the New. Under the direction
of His Father, He was the creator of the earth. “All things were made by him;
and without him was not any thing made that was made” (John 1:3).
…We solemnly testify that His life, which is central to all human history, neither began in Bethlehem nor concluded on Calvary. He was the Firstborn of the Father, the Only Begotten Son in the flesh, the Redeemer of the world.
Like each of us, Jesus Christ lived with Heavenly Father
before this life.[i] Jesus Christ is the Firstborn of our Heavenly
Father’s children and was light years more spiritually developed than each of
us.[ii] He worked closely with Heavenly Father to
execute the plan that would allow us to come to this earth to gain bodies, be
tried and tested, and develop the characteristics of our Father.[iii] Because we all knew we would fall short of
perfection in this process, He volunteered in the pre-earth life to be our
Savior.[iv] Under the direction and in perfect unity with
our Heavenly Father, He was the creator,[v] and He was Jehovah in the
Old Testament.[vi]
This Supreme Being condescended to this world and took upon
himself mortal characteristics.[vii] While Heavenly Father is the father of each
of our spirits, Heavenly Father is also the earthly father of Jesus Christ.[viii] Thus, with a mortal mother (Mary), and a
divine Father (our Heavenly Father), Jesus Christ was both mortal and
immortal. Through Mary, He was subject to
death, temptation, sickness, and the other frailties of mortality, but as the
literal Son of God, He also had power over this same death, temptation,
sickness, and the other frailties of mortality.
Because of this special nature, He was able to effect the atonement in
which He overcame death so that we all will be resurrected,[ix] He felt all our pains and
sicknesses[x],
and He paid the price for our sins so that (on the condition of our repentance)
we may return to our Heavenly Father’s presence.[xi]
He “went about doing
good” (Acts 10:38), yet was despised for it. His gospel was a message of peace
and goodwill. He entreated all to follow His example. He walked the roads of Palestine, healing the
sick, causing the blind to see, and raising the dead.
Christ performed miracles during his mortal ministry,[xii] and He continues to
perform miracles today for those with faith in Him.[xiii]
Christ provides the perfect example.[xiv] He taught us and showed us what it is to love
and to serve.[xv] He condemned sin, but balanced this with
complete compassion for the sinner.[xvi] One of the goals of this life is to study His
words and works and to strive to emulate Him.[xvii]
He instituted the
sacrament as a reminder of His great atoning sacrifice. He was arrested and condemned on spurious
charges, convicted to satisfy a mob, and sentenced to die on Calvary’s cross.
He gave His life to atone for the sins of all mankind. His was a great
vicarious gift in behalf of all who would ever live upon the earth.
I am grateful each week that I have to attend church,
reflect upon the atonement of Jesus Christ, and commemorate his sacrifice by
partaking of the sacrament. It is
rejuvenating to weekly reflect on my own life, weaknesses, strengths, and personal
progress and to express gratitude to my Heavenly Father for Jesus Christ’s
incomparable gifts of resurrection, repentance, redemption, and renewal.
Among my favorite scriptures is Isaiah 1:18: “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” I love this scripture because of the imagery it brings to my mind. Not just the imagery of “scarlet to white as snow” and “crimson to wool,” which are definitely part of the appeal of this scripture to me, but also the imagery of a merciful Savior, beckoning to me – and to each of us – to “come” and “reason together” with Him. I have made many mistakes throughout my life, and over and over again, I have felt guilt swept away and replaced with renewing hope as I have come to Christ and repented of my sins. Christ is truly the Healer of spiritual wounds.
We bear testimony, as
His duly ordained Apostles— that Jesus is the Living Christ, the immortal Son
of God. He is the great King Immanuel, who stands today on the right hand of
His Father. He is the light, the life, and the hope of the world. His way is
the path that leads to happiness in this life and eternal life in the world to
come. God be thanked for the matchless gift of His divine Son.
I shared in my last post that one of the pillars
of my faith is “the knowledge that Heavenly Father loves me, cares about me,
and is keenly aware of me and my needs.” Similarly, my knowledge of Jesus Christ and
his role as my personal Savior as “the light, the life, and the hope of the
world” is another foundational pillar of my faith. The experiences I describe above of repenting and having
guilt swept away serve as the primary basis for this pillar of faith.
I have reflected on these experiences when doubt threatens to overcome
my faith.
As the video below describes, it is because of Jesus Christ that I
can hit the reset button when I make mistakes (and I make my fair share of
them). It is because of Him that in a
world fraught with turmoil, anger, violence, and despair, I have peace and hope. It is because of Him and His example that I know what will bring me happiness in this life and in the life to come. It is because of Him that I can feel and experience true love and joy. He lived for us, He died for us, and He lives
again. I echo the oft-repeated words: “I know that my
Redeemer lives.”[xviii]
[i] See John 1:1; John 8:58; John 16:28.
[ii] See John 1:1-4; D&C 93:21.
[iii] See Abraham 3:22-27.
[iv] See Abraham 3:27; 1 Peter 1:18-20.
[vi]
See, for example, Isaiah 43:11 and Isaiah 49:26.
[vii] See John 1:14; 1 Nephi 19:10; Ether 3:8-9.
[viii]
In the scriptures, Christ is often referred to as the “Only Begotten Son” (see,
for example, John 3:16 and 1 John 4:9).
See also Luke 1:34-35; Alma 7:10.
[x] See Alma 7:11-12; 2 Nephi 9:21; Mosiah 3:7.
[xi] See Alma 7:13; Matthew 20:28; John 1:29; 2 Nephi 2:6-7; Alma 42:15. For a good analogy of the intersection
between justice, mercy, and redemption, please see this brief video, The Mediator, found here: https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/the-mediator?lang=eng.
[xii] See 1 Nephi 11:31; Matthew 4:23; Mark 1:34.
[xiv] See 3 Nephi 12:48.
[xv] See, for example, Matthew 5:44; John 13:34; John 15:13
[xvi]
See, for example, the account of the woman caught in adultery found in John 8:1-11.
[xvii] See Moroni 7:48.
No comments:
Post a Comment