Good morning brothers and sisters. I’m very grateful and blessed
to have the opportunity to speak to you today. In the back of my mind, I always
knew this day was coming, but I never thought it would get here this fast. That
being said, I can’t think of a better time for me to fulfill my priesthood duty
and serve a mission. Today, I will be speaking on the Atonement of Jesus Christ
and how it can be used in missionary work.
The Atonement of Christ is the most important event in human
history and one of the key foundations of the Gospel and life on earth. Christ
took upon him the sins of the world so that we may return to the presence of
God the Father. While I’ve been preparing for my mission, I have studied the Atonement and had some realizations that I’ll share with you.
The first realization I had about the Atonement was it’s sheer
magnitude. We have often heard of the Atonement referred to as the infinite Atonement because Christ took upon him the sins and pains of everyone that’s
living, has lived, or will ever live. I don’t think that we understand the
sheer amount of pain the Savior went through to fulfill His calling. I want you
to imagine every sin that you have ever committed in your life: every unclean
thought, every lie, and every hurtful word you’ve ever spoken. Now imagine
every sin that you will ever commit in your life; if you’re anything like me,
that’s a lot of sins to have. Now I want you to look at everyone in attendance
today and factor in all of their sins and misdeeds. It seems almost like too
much for any one person to go through, let alone endure, but Christ went beyond
that. Let’s expand a little bit.
According to the 2010 U.S. census, the
population of the state of Utah is roughly 2,800,000 people. That’s 2.8 million
unique individuals each with their own set of sins and trials. The same census
puts the population of the entire United States at just over 308,000,000
people, which for it’s enormous size is only a small fraction of the population
as a whole. Worldwide data collection estimates the population of the planet
around 7,300,000,000 people. Imagine, seven billion people just like you,
putting all of their faults and flaws onto one man. A task of such quantity
seems almost impossible for our brains to understand, but we must remember that
Christ took upon him the sins of ALL. Estimations of population growth put the
number of people to ever live on this earth at approximately 110 Billion
people, and that’s a number that is growing at an exponential pace for everyone
of god’s children that have yet to live on this earth. 110,000,000,000+ sons
and daughters of God, all with lives full of sins, pains, and trials that were
put upon the shoulders of the Savior. Such a volume of action and emotion seems
almost impossible to imagine, it’s a number so large that we cannot grasp it,
it seems never ending. Infinite. The infinite Atonement. The Atonement was an
act so incomprehensibly difficult that it took the Son of God to perform it, and
even this God, the architect in the creation of the world, ask His Father if
there was any other way, “Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me:
nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.”
The needs for this infinite Atonement are explained in 2 Nephi 9:7
7 Wherefore, it must needs be an infinite atonement—save it
should be an infinite atonement this corruption could not put on incorruption.
Wherefore, the first judgment which came upon man must needs have remained to
an endless duration. And if so, this flesh must have laid down to rot and to
crumble to its mother earth, to rise no more.
With the Atonement’s reach in perspective, it may be difficult
to understand how the Savior must have felt and what he experienced while he
suffered, but this leads me to my next realization, which is how incredibly
personal the Atonement is. We have been taught in this church that God knows us
personally; he knows us so perfectly that he knows every choice that we will
make; he knows our strengths and our weaknesses better than we do and will give
us comfort and strength when we need it. God loves us so much that he sent his
only begotten, the only person who lived without sin and could return to live
in his presence, to suffer and die so that all mankind may have the opportunity
to repent and return to live with him again.
D&C 18: 10-11 we read:
10 Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of
God;
11 For, behold, the Lord your Redeemer suffered death in
the flesh; wherefore he suffered the pain of all men, that all men might repent
and come unto him.
When Christ took the sins of the world upon Him, He felt
everything that you and I have ever felt, every instance of physical pain,
every outpouring of emotion, every sickness, every hateful thought, every
trial, and every single sin ever committed by everyone who has ever or will
ever live. Man or woman, young or old, good or evil, Christ took EVERYTHING on
his shoulders. This event was so great that the physical pain caused Jesus to
sweat great drops of blood from every pore, but the love of God and the love of
the Savior is so great, that Christ endured it for us. In the book of Luke,
Christ gives the parable of the one lost sheep. This parable reads:
Luke 15
4 What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of
them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that
which is lost, until he find it?
5 And when he hath found it, he layeth it on
his shoulders, rejoicing.
6 And when he cometh home, he calleth together his
friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my
sheep which was lost.
7 I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over
one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which
need no repentance
This parable reflects one of, if not the most important aspects
of the gospel, love; love for one another, the love that God has for his
children, and the love the Christ had to take the ultimate sacrifice. This
principle of love is explained wonderfully in Elder M. Russell Ballard’s 2004
General Conference talk titled “The Atonement and the Value of One Soul”
Brothers and sisters, I believe that if we could truly
understand the Atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ, we would realize how
precious is one son or daughter of God. I believe our Heavenly Father’s
everlasting purpose for His children is generally achieved by the small and
simple things we do for one another. At the heart of the English word atonement
is the word ONE. If all mankind understood this, there would never be anyone
with whom we would not be concerned, regardless of age, race, gender, religion,
or social or economic standing. We would strive to emulate the Savior and would
never be unkind, indifferent, disrespectful, or insensitive to others.”
The last realization of the Atonement I want to talk about came
to me at the temple. About a month ago, I had the opportunity to take out my
endowment at the Bountiful temple with my family in attendance. Being able to
more fully understand the gospel of Christ in the house of The Lord was one of
the greatest experiences that I have ever had in my life. Before our session
started, I was able to meet with President Garff, the temple president, where
he shared insights of symbolisms in the gospel. He noted that everything that
we learn about in the temple, and every aspect of the church leads back to the
atonement. The one symbol that the president shared with us that struck me the
most was that of the olive. When an olive is put under extreme pressure in an
olive press, it yields oil. During Christ’s ministry on earth and even today,
olive oil is used to anoint priesthood acts in the name of Jesus Christ.
President Garff explained that the olive represents the savior and his
atonement. The oil shed by the olives is representative of the blood the Savior
shed and the sacrifice he made for us. By using his blood, or his atonement,
and having faith in Christ, men might be healed, comforted, and reach eternal
salvation. At this moment, I realized that we should not be ashamed to use the Atonement of Christ.
When I’ve learned more about the Atonement, I at first felt a
sense of guilt. I felt that the Savior had to suffer pains because of me and my
unworthiness. These feelings caused me to not feel like I could use the
atonement to repent and better myself. This is not how we should treat the Atonement. We should never feel like we are too unworthy to utilize the great
power of the Atonement. The Savior’s Atonement and the sacrificing of his life
was the greatest gift ever given to mankind. Without using the power of the Atonement, not one person could be made clean and return to the presence of
God. Without the Atonement, the Gospel as we know it is not possible. We would
not be sealed to loved ones for time and all eternity, we wouldn’t be able to
use the power of the Priesthood, and we would not be able to repent of sins
we’ve made and achieve eternal salvation. To not take advantage of Christ’s
sacrifice for us is to not be grateful of that sacrifice. One of my favorite
Hymns, I Stand All Amazed, reflects how we should treat Christ’s sacrifice for
us. From the third verse and the chorus,
3. I think of his hands pierced and
bleeding to pay the debt!
Such mercy, such love and devotion can I forget?
No,
no, I will praise and adore at the mercy seat,
Until at the glorified throne I
kneel at his feet.
Oh, it is wonderful that he should care for me
Enough to
die for me!
Oh, it is wonderful, wonderful to me!
Brothers and Sisters, the power of the Atonement is not
something we should shy away from, rather, we should use it’s power to perfect
ourselves in Christ and treat is humbly as the great gift it is. The Atonement
is, like stated in the hymn, wonderful, and should be a key part of our
everyday lives. I am so excited to be able to teach the people of Oregon the Atonement. Acting as a representative of Christ, I can show people the light of
the gospel, and bring families, and souls back to God.
I bear my firm testimony
on the power of the Atonement; there is no way that we can survive without it.
Without the Atonement, I would not be standing in front of you today. The Atonement can and does change lives; I’ve seen it. I know that because of the Atonement, all other aspects of the Gospel, the restoration, the ordinances in
the temple, the Book of Mormon, and every aspect we believe in is true, because
the Atonement is true.
I would now like to take a moment to thank those that got me to
this point. I would like to thank my wonderful leaders and teachers for always
keeping the gospel focused in my life, and all of the members in this ward that
have extended hands of fellowship to my family and myself. I’d like to thank
all of the elders who have gone before me, like Elder Hall, for setting such a
great example for me. I hope that my example can touch those around me like
theirs have touched me. I would like to thank my great friends and Wardies for
always being there for me and keeping my life on the track and keeping me close
to the iron rod. I would like to give a special thanks to my family, to all of
my grandparents, aunts and uncles, for being such amazing examples of Christ in
my life and teaching me so much. There’s no way that I could be here, the almost-man
I am today, without my loving family; my brothers and my sisters, for giving me
a reason to better myself always, my dad who’s been the greatest teacher and
example of the Priesthood in my life that I could ever ask for, and to my
amazing mom, my rock and my best friend. I love them so much and am so grateful
for the sacrifice Christ has made so that we could be together forever.
Brothers and sisters, I know this gospel is true and I’m so
grateful for the guiding light it has been to me. I know that my mission now is
what our Father in Heaven has called me to do and I couldn’t be more excited to
serve. I know these things to be true, and share them with you in the name of
our Savior, Jesus Christ, Amen.
