THE POWER OF THE ATONEMENT OF JESUS CHRIST

We are all here for one reason only and that is Jesus Christ. I know that he lives. I know that he is our Savior and I know that the Atonement of Jesus Christ is real.

I want to be more loving, I want to be more understanding, and I want to be more compassionate. I want to have all of the attributes of Jesus Christ. I want to be more obedient.

Where there is obedience there is the spirit and where there is the spirit there is power and that power is strong enough to change me or you into anything that we want that will bring us closer, and more like our Heavenly Father. I want to practice exact obedience like the Stripling Warriors. Alma 57:21.

The Atonement isn’t just for sinners, or for those with problems, or even those going through troubled times. It is also for the righteous and for making men and women better. Because of the Atonement, we can become like our Heavenly Father.

I believe life, for the most part, was meant to have fun. I even have fun, as I’m sure you do as well, but there are limits and bounds that we must live in. I know that when I am living more obediently and have the spirit strongest in my life is when I am the happiest and that is when life is the most fun and enjoyable.

Because of experiences in my life, I can never deny my Heavenly Father or Jesus Christ. Me being here today is testimony that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ live and love us. It is experiences like right now that reconfirm to me that Jesus is the Christ and that he atoned for our sins. We will live again and we can all obtain eternal life. Heavenly Father lives and answers our prayers. We cannot forget this part of the Atonement.

I had studied for many hours this week preparing for my message today. I even wrote about ten pages that I had prepared from my studying. But then last night the Lord told me that I needed to tell you the things that I have just shared with you. Along with that revelation, soon after I had an overwhelming experience that testified to me of the truthfulness of the words that I have just shared and of the Atonement itself. I know that if not all of us here, at least someone needed to hear these words. I hope that we understand that the Atonement is for making good men and women better.

For those that may be with sin or for those with problems or even those just going through difficult times, the Atonement is there for you as well. My life is not perfect and it has not always gone as I would have liked it to go but I feel almost no pain because of it. The Lord, in my situation, has not removed the burdens but by the grace of God He has made them light. I, like most of you, are benefiting from the Atonement in more that one way.

The Atonement of Jesus Christ contains a healing power and how we can each know it is working in our daily lives.

The Poor in Spirit

From the teachings of Elder Holland,

“The first words Jesus spoke in His majestic Sermon on the Mount were to the troubled, the discouraged and downhearted.

Matthew 5:3 - “Blessed are the poor in spirit,” He said, “for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

He said it to believers, and He said it to those who were not so sure. He said to everyone, whatever their personal problems might be:

Matthew 11:28-29 - “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

“Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.”

“The part “come unto me,” is crucial. It is the key to the peace and rest we seek.”

“It seems clear that the essence of our duty and the fundamental requirement of our mortal life is captured in these brief phrases from any number of scenes in the Savior’s mortal ministry. He is saying to us, “Trust me, learn of me, do what I do. Then, when you walk where I am going,” He says, “we can talk about where you are going, and the problems you face and the troubles you have. If you will follow me, I will lead you out of darkness,” He promises. “I will give you answers to your prayers. I will give you rest to your souls.”

“So how does one “come unto Christ” in response to this constant invitation? The scriptures give scores of examples and avenues. You are well acquainted with the most basic ones. The easiest and the earliest comes simply with the desire of our heart, the most basic form of faith that we know. “If ye can no more than desire to believe,”
Alma says, exercising just “a particle of faith,” giving even a small place for the promises of God to find a home—that is enough to begin. Just believing, just having a “molecule” of faith—simply hoping for things which are not yet seen in our lives, but which are nevertheless truly there to be bestowed —that simple step, when focused on the Lord Jesus Christ, has ever been and always will be the first principle of His eternal gospel, the first step out of despair.”

“Second, we must change anything we can change that may be part of the problem. In short we must repent, perhaps the most hopeful and encouraging word in the Christian vocabulary. We thank our Father in Heaven we are allowed to change, we thank Jesus we can change, and ultimately we do so only with Their divine assistance.
Certainly not everything we struggle with is a result of our actions. Often it is the result of the actions of others or just the mortal events of life. But anything we can change we should change, and we must forgive the rest. In this way our access to the Savior’s Atonement becomes as unimpeded as we, with our imperfections, can make it. He will take it from there.”

“Third, in as many ways as possible we try to take upon us His identity, and we begin by taking upon us His name.”

“My desire today is for all of us—not just those who are “poor in spirit” but all of us—to have more straightforward personal experience with the Savior’s example. Sometimes we seek heaven too obliquely, focusing on programs or history or the experience of others. Those are important but not as important as personal experience, true discipleship, and the strength that comes from experiencing firsthand the majesty of His touch.”

“Whatever other steps you may need to take to resolve these concerns, come first to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Trust in heaven’s promises. In that regard Alma’s testimony is my testimony: “I do know,” he says, “that whosoever shall put their trust in God shall be supported in their trials, and their troubles, and their afflictions.” (Alma 36:3)

“This reliance upon the merciful nature of God is at the very center of the gospel Christ taught. I testify that the Savior’s Atonement lifts from us not only the burden of our sins but also the burden of our disappointments and sorrows, our heartaches and our despair.
Nevertheless, the soul that comes unto Christ, who knows His voice and strives to do as He did, finds a strength, as the hymn says, “beyond [his] own.” The Savior reminds us that He has “graven [us] upon the palms of [His] hands.” Considering the incomprehensible cost of the Crucifixion and Atonement, I promise you He is not going to turn His back on us now. When He says to the poor in spirit, “Come unto me,” He means He knows the way out and He knows the way up. He knows it because He has walked it. He knows the way because He is the way.”

Brothers and sisters, whatever your distress, please don’t give up and please don’t yield to fear.

“Be not afraid, only believe.”

Think of Peter when he walked on the sea. “It was only when Peter’s faith wavered and fear took control, only when he removed his glance from the Master to look at the furious waves and the ominous black gulf beneath, only then did he begin to sink into the sea. In newer terror he cried out, “Lord, save me.”

Matthew 14:31 - And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?

“If you are lonely, please know you can find comfort. If you are discouraged, please know you can find hope. If you are poor in spirit, please know you can be strengthened. If you feel you are broken, please know you can be mended.”

“May we all, especially the poor in spirit, come unto Him and be made whole.”

The Atonement of Jesus Christ not only provided us an opportunity to be forgiven of our sins but the Atonement also heals those who have been sinned against. The innocent victims of others sins can feel the comfort and peace of the Atonement when they have forgiven those that have sinned against them.

Elder Oaks said, “The Atonement also gives us the strength to endure “pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind,” because our Savior also took upon Him “the pains and the sicknesses of his people” (Alma 7:11). Brothers and sisters, if your faith and prayers and the power of the priesthood do not heal you from an affliction, the power of the Atonement will surely give you the strength to bear the burden.”

At times we feel that our burdens are too great and that we cannot go on. We may feel alone and afraid but there is no need to have those feelings. Remember when the disciples were aboard the ship with the Savior.

Mark 4:38 - And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish?
39 And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.
40 And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith?

We each have an opportunity to partake in the healing power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ whether it removes our burdens or gives us the strength necessary to overcome them.

“Come unto me,” the Savior said, “and ye shall find rest unto your souls” (Matthew 11:28–29).

How We Know

From the teaching of President Eyring, “We have been taught that in order to be forgiven of our sins we must be born again and retain a remission of our sins. Do we know when this happens and how can we tell?

Alma 5:14 - And now behold, I ask of you, my brethren of the church, have ye spiritually been born of God? Have ye received his image in your countenances? Have ye experienced this mighty change in your hearts?
15 Do ye exercise faith in the redemption of him who created you? Do you look forward with an eye of faith, and view this mortal body raised in immortality, and this corruption raised in incorruption, to stand before God to be judged according to the deeds which have been done in the mortal body?
26 And now behold, I say unto you, my brethren, if ye have experienced a change of heart, and if ye have felt to sing the song of redeeming love, I would ask, can ye feel so now?
27 Have ye walked, keeping yourselves blameless before God? Could ye say, if ye were called to die at this time, within yourselves, that ye have been sufficiently humble? That your garments have been cleansed and made white through the blood of Christ, who will come to redeem his people from their sins?
28 Behold, are ye stripped of pride? I say unto you, if ye are not ye are not prepared to meet God. Behold ye must prepare quickly; for the kingdom of heaven is soon at hand, and such an one hath not eternal life.
29 Behold, I say, is there one among you who is not stripped of envy? I say unto you that such an one is not prepared; and I would that he should prepare quickly, for the hour is close at hand, and he knoweth not when the time shall come; for such an one is not found guiltless.
30 And again I say unto you, is there one among you that doth make a mock of his brother, or that heapeth upon him persecutions?
31 Wo unto such an one, for he is not prepared, and the time is at hand that he must repent or he cannot be saved!

This is how we know! This is how we know the Atonement is working in our life. When we have the spirit back with us we are clean and forgiven from our sins. If you have ever felt that mighty change of heart and if you have ever felt to sing that song of redeeming love, there is no greater feeling. You know that feeling if you have felt it. If you never have felt it, or if you can’t feel it now, do whatever it takes to feel it now.

President Packer shared a personal experience of how he learned to apply the Atonement in his daily life. He said, “It was through reading the scriptures, and listening, that I could understand, at least in part, the power of the Atonement. Can you imagine how I felt when finally I could see that if I followed whatever conditions the Redeemer had set, I need never endure the agony of being spiritually unclean? Imagine the consoling, liberating, exalting feeling that will come to you when you see the reality of the Atonement and the practical everyday value of it to you individually.”

Heavenly Father wants us to apply it in our lives. He has given us sacrament meetings, the most important meeting in the church, to partake of the sacrament so that we can receive the blessings of the Atonement.

Elder Nelson said, “He instituted the sacrament to remind us of His Atonement… We commemorate His Atonement in a very personal way. We bring a broken heart and a contrite spirit to our sacrament meeting. It is the highlight of our Sabbath-day observance (see D&C 59:8–13).”

Do we understand how important this is to come prepared to sacrament meeting?

2 Nephi 2:7 – Behold, he offereth himself a sacrifice for sin, to answer the ends of the law, unto all those who have a broken heart and a contrite spirit; and unto none else can the ends of the law be answered.

Do we offer a broken heart and a contrite spirit every week? It is not only a sign of humility but also a blessing in our lives to have that broken heart and contrite spirit. Do we understand what a broken heart and a contrite spirit entails? It entails sincere remorse, repentant, penitent, and most importantly a desire for the Atonement. President Packer describes this change of heart as spiritual heart surgery. When we are experiencing this, we are experiencing the Atonement in our lives.

Grace

Grace is one of the greatest blessings of the Atonement. It is not good to say if we do our best then Christ will make up the rest. We don’t even know what our best is! 2 Nephi 31 teaches us the gate and path to the kingdom. We have to go the entire distance on our own and no one is excused not to. There are no short cuts for those who are tired or who believe they have done their best. Doing your best helps you be more prepared for tomorrow and so on. Death doesn’t shorten the path. You keep going in the spirit world. Because there was a Jesus there is a path. He will not do pay for or do part of the path for us. All you can do is more than you think you can do. The atonement allows us to enter the gate. Doctrine and Covenants 93 teaches us that grace allows this to happen. We go by grace to grace until we make it to the end. It is grace that allows you to keep going when you are weak and tired. The Lord didn’t ask us to try, he asked us to do.

Elder Bednar explained, “Nevertheless, the Lord God showeth us our weakness that we may know that it is by his grace, and his great condescensions unto the children of men, that we have power to do these things” (Jacob 4:6–7).

“Brothers and sisters, please pay particular attention to the word grace as it is used in the verse I just read. In the Bible Dictionary we learn that the word grace frequently is used in the scriptures to connote a strengthening or enabling power:”

“The main idea of the word is divine means of help or strength, given through the bounteous mercy and love of Jesus Christ.

“… It is likewise through the grace of the Lord that individuals, through faith in the atonement of Jesus Christ and repentance of their sins, receive strength and assistance to do good works that they otherwise would not be able to maintain if left to their own means. This grace is an enabling power that allows men and women to lay hold on eternal life and exaltation after they have expended their own best efforts” (p. 697).

Thus, the enabling and strengthening aspect of the Atonement helps us to see and to do and to become good in ways that we could never recognize or accomplish with our limited mortal capacity.”

Our Savior and Our Redeemer

During the Saviors life he accomplished two objectives, 1. The Atonement, which includes the resurrection, and 2, He set a perfect example. We show our love and appreciation for what Christ has done for us by following the example he gave.

Because Christ was born of his mother, a mortal, Mary and our immortal Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ was the only person that could voluntarily lay down his life for us and then rise as our resurrected Redeemer.

Before the creation of the world it was known by all that Jesus was the one who was foreordained to complete the Atonement in Heavenly Father’s plan. The Atonement brought forth the opportunity of immortality to all of mankind. It is what allows families to be sealed together. Those that choose to follow Christ will be redeemed. His disciples are those that will take advantage of the blessings of the Atonement and obtain eternal life, a life with our Heavenly Father, which is the greatest gift from God.

John 3: 16 - For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

D&C 19:18 - Which suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit—and would that I might not drink the bitter cup, and shrink—

The Atonement is real. We must take advantage of it. Repentance hurts! Do not believe the lie that it does not. We can each be forgiven of our sins. Living with faith in the Atonement will help us have the strength to avoid sin. We will always have sufficient spiritual strength to draw upon no matter the temptation!

Jesus Christ suffered in Gethsemane and on the cross for all of us so that we could repent and be clean from all sin, so that we can be comforted in our trials, and so that we could live again.

It is incorrect to say that Christ dropped a certain amount of blood for me and a certain amount for you. They were all dropped for all of us. When Christ suffered he went through what was sufficient but not everything. He did not experience all the pains that we might experience. He did not experience all physical catastrophes to his body. His teeth did not fall out and he did not lose a limb, etc. Infinite means that it doesn’t take longer to suffer for one million than it does for one thousand. There is an amount of suffering that needs to be experienced and that is all. It is not infinite plus one. We do not add to or take from the atonement, it is an infinite atonement. Our sins were not preordained. What we do does not add to His suffering. The law of mercy will take care of everything from the fall that we cannot correct on our own and all that we do have power to correct is up to us.

“We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel”
(A of F 1:3).

We do not believe all mankind may be saved by all the ordinances of the gospel. We believe that because of the atonement of Christ all mankind may be saved by obedience to all the laws and ordinances of the gospel. The atonement did not occur to only take away our sins. The atonement isn’t just for sinners, it is for just men. The more righteous you are the more the atonement means to you. The atonement brings forth all that is good and positive. Christ atoned to preserve the truth and His gospel.

We need to call upon the Atonement in our everyday life and not just wait for its affects to come upon us when we die.

Joseph Smith taught the importance of the Atonement by saying, “The fundamental principles of our religion are the testimony of the Apostles and Prophets, concerning Jesus Christ, that He died, was buried, and rose again the third day, and ascended into heaven; and all other things which pertain to our religion are only appendages to it” (Teachings, 121).

An Urge to Be Better

The Atonement is real and we can benefit from it every day of our life. The Atonement has healing power that converts natural men and women to spiritual men and women. It makes men and women whole and because of it each of us can reach our full potential.

Elder Uchtdorf explained, “…If you trust the Lord and obey Him, His hand shall be over you, He will help you achieve the great potential He sees in you…”

“Man is a spiritual being, a soul, and at some period of his life everyone is possessed with an irresistible desire to know his relationship to the Infinite. … There is something within him which urges him to rise above himself, to control his environment, to master the body and all things physical and live in a higher and more beautiful world” (True to the Faith: From the Sermons and Discourses of David O. McKay, comp. Llewelyn R. McKay [1966], 244).

President Eyring commented on President McKay,

“That pull upward is far beyond what you would call a desire for self-improvement. When I felt it, I knew I was being urged to live so far above myself that I could never do it on my own. President McKay had it right. You feel an urging to rise above your natural self. What you have felt is an urging from your Heavenly Father to accept this invitation:”

“And again, if ye by the grace of God are perfect in Christ, and deny not his power, then are ye sanctified in Christ by the grace of God, through the shedding of the blood of Christ, which is in the covenant of the Father unto the remission of your sins, that ye become holy, without spot” (Moroni 10:32–33).

“After all you can do, after all your effort, you need confidence that the Atonement is working for you and on you.”

If we want to be happy and if we want the Atonement in our lives each day we must study the Atonement. President Packer said it best when he said, “The study of behavior is greatly improved when linked to standards and to values. Practical values, useful in everyday life, are found in the scriptures and the doctrines they reveal.”