Jesus Christ: His Atoning Sacrifice

"The atoning sacrifice had to be carried out by the sinless Son of God, for fallen man could not atone for his own sins. The Atonement had to be infinite and eternal―to cover all men throughout all eternity."

See the complete discourse: "The Miracle of the Atonement," by Elder Scott Grow, April 2011 General Conference

References

1. 
   
   1.  Luke 15:17.
2.  
   2.  Doctrine and Covenants 58:42–43.
3.  
   3. See 2 Nephi 2:25–26.
4.  
   4. See Alma 34:14.
5.  
   5.  Alma 42:15.
6.  
   6. See Alma 34:11.
7.  
   7. See Alma 34:10.
8.  
   8. See Alma 22:14.
9.  
   9.  Mosiah 15:7.
10.  
    10.  Mosiah 14:10.
11.  
    11.  Mosiah 3:7.
12.  
    12.  Alma 7:11–12.
13.  
    13.  Mosiah 14:4.
14.  
    14.  Preach My Gospel: A Guide to Missionary Service (2004), 2.
15.  
    15.  Doctrine and Covenants 18:12.
16.  
    16.  Doctrine and Covenants 19:15–18.
17.  
    17.  3 Nephi 9:13.
18.  
    18.  Doctrine and Covenants 88:74.
19.  
    19.  Doctrine and Covenants 45:4–5.
20.  
    20.  2 Nephi 2:27.
21.  
    21.  3 Nephi 9:13.

Atonement: Remission of Sins and then Reconciliation

We have hope through the Atonement of Christ to be raised unto life eternal.

Jesus's atoning sacrifice took place in the Garden of Gethsemane and on the cross at Calvary. In Gethsemane He submitted to the will of the Father and began to take upon Himself the sins of all people. He has revealed some of what He experienced as He paid the price for our sins:

“I, God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent;

“But if they would not repent they must suffer even as I;

“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—

“Nevertheless, glory be to the Father, and I partook and finished my preparations unto the children of men”

See Atonement of Jesus Christ, Elder Dallin H. Oaks

Scripture References

Isaiah 49:13-16;  53 
Matthew 26;  27;  28 
Mark 14;  15;  16 
Luke 22;  23;  24 
John 10:14-15;  11:25-26;  14:6;  15:13;  19;  20 
1 Corinthians 15:20-22 
Hebrews 4:14-16 
1 John 1:7 
1 Nephi 10:6 
2 Nephi 2:1-10;  9;  25:23-26 
Jacob 4:12 
Mosiah 3:1-19 
Alma 22:14;  34:5-18;  42 
Helaman 5:9-12;  14:13-19 
3 Nephi 9:14-22;  27:13-22 
Mormon 9:10-14 
Ether 12:27, 41 
Moroni 8:5-26;  10:32-33 
Doctrine and Covenants 18:10-12;  19:15-24;  20:17-34;  45:3-5;  76:40-43 
Moses 1:39

The Atonement: Reconciliation and Eternal Life

The Savior’s gift of immortality comes to all who have ever lived. But His gift of eternal life requires repentance and obedience to specific ordinances and covenants. Essential ordinances of the gospel symbolize the Atonement. Baptism by immersion is symbolic of the death, burial, and Resurrection of the Redeemer. Partaking of the sacrament renews baptismal covenants and also renews our memory of the Savior’s broken flesh and of the blood He shed for us. Ordinances of the temple symbolize our reconciliation with the Lord and seal families together forever. Obedience to the sacred covenants made in temples qualifies us for eternal life—the greatest gift of God to man —the “object and end of our existence.” 

^{The Atonement, by Elder Russell M. Nelson}

Jesus Christ's Infinite Atonement

Atonement: Infinity vs Finite

In preparatory times of the Old Testament, the practice of atonement was finite—meaning it had an end. It was a symbolic forecast of the definitiveAtonement of Jesus the Christ. His Atonement is infinite—without an end. It was also infinite in that all humankind would be saved from never-ending death. It was infinite in terms of His immense suffering. It was infinite in time, putting an end to the preceding prototype of animal sacrifice. It was infinite in scope—it was to be done once for all. And the mercy of the Atonement extends not only to an infinite number of people, but also to an infinite number of worlds created by Him. It was infinite beyond any human scale of measurement or mortal comprehension.

Jesus was the only one who could offer such an infinite atonement, since He was born of a mortal mother and an immortal Father. Because of that unique birthright, Jesus was an infinite Being.

Creation-Fall-Atonement
The Atonement, October 1996 General Conference, Elder Russell M. Nelson

Christ's Atonement: Greatest Single Act of Love

The ordeal of the Atonement centered about the city of Jerusalem. There the greatest single act of love of all recorded history took place. Leaving the upper room, Jesus and His friends crossed the deep ravine east of the city and came to a garden of olive trees on the lower slopes of the Mount of Olives. There in the garden bearing the Hebrew name of Gethsemane—meaning “oil-press”—olives had been beaten and pressed to provide oil and food. There at Gethsemane, the Lord “suffered the pain of all men, that all … might repent and come unto him.” He took upon Himself the weight of the sins of all mankind, bearing its massive load that caused Him to bleed from every pore. 

^{Atonement, October 1996 General Conference, Elder Russell M. Nelson}

Jesus's Atonement: The Reconciliation

“Christ died for us. …

“We were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.

“And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement” (Rom. 5:8, 10–11; italics added).

Joy cometh through our Savior, Jesus Christ because of His atonement. "Man is that he might have joy" (2 Nephi 2;25),  and this joy is available to the obedient.

See Atonement-Agency-Accountability, by Elder Boyd K. Packer, for Elder Packer's entire discourse.

Jesus-Gethsemane-Crucifixion-Me

To begin to meet the demands of the Atonement, the sinless Christ went into the Garden of Gethsemane, as Elder Whitney saw in his dream, there to bear the agony of soul only He could bear. He “began to be sore amazed and to be very heavy,” saying to Peter, James, and John, “My soul is exceeding sorrowful, unto death.” Why? Because He suffered “the pains of all men, yea, the pains of every living creature, both men, women, and children, who belong to the family of Adam.” He experienced “temptations, and pain of body, hunger, thirst, and fatigue, even more than man can suffer, except it be unto death; for behold, blood cometh from every pore, so great [was] his anguish.”

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

Jesus' Atonement: Conditional and Unconditional Blessings

The Resurrection of the body is a free and universal gift, a result of the Savior’s victory over death. It is one of the unconditional blessings available through the grace of Christ.

Other aspects of Christ’s atoning gift are conditional. They depend on one’s diligence in keeping God’s commandments. For example, while all members of the human family are freely given a reprieve from Adam’s sin through no effort of their own, they are not given a reprieve from their own sins unless they pledge faith in Christ, repent of those sins, are baptized in His name, receive the gift of the Holy Ghost and confirmation into Christ’s Church, and press forward in faithful endurance the remainder of life’s journey. Of this personal challenge, Christ said,

“For behold, I, God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent;

“But if they would not repent they must suffer even as I.”

Jeffrey R. Holland

Jesus' Atonement Was Possible Because…….

This infinite Atonement of Christ was possible because:

(1) He was the only sinless man ever to live on this earth and therefore was not subject to the spiritual death resulting from sin.

(2) He was the Only Begotten of the Father and therefore possessed the attributes of godhood that gave Him power over physical death.

 (3) He was apparently the only one sufficiently humble and willing in the premortal council to be foreordained to that service.

Read the entire document "The Atonement of Jesus Christ" by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

Jesus Christ: Meek and Lowly

As a young missionary, Elder Orson F. Whitney (1855–1931), who later served in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, had a dream so powerful that it changed his life forever. He later wrote:

“One night I dreamed … that I was in the Garden of Gethsemane, a witness of the Savior’s agony. … I stood behind a tree in the foreground. …Jesus, with Peter, James, and John, came through a little wicket gate at my right. Leaving the three Apostles there, after telling them to kneel and pray, He passed over to the other side, where He also knelt and prayed … : ‘Oh my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless not as I will but as Thou wilt.’

“As He prayed the tears streamed down His face, which was [turned] toward me. I was so moved at the sight that I wept also, out of pure sympathy with His great sorrow. My whole heart went out to Him. I loved Him with all my soul and longed to be with Him as I longed for nothing else.

“Presently He arose and walked to where those Apostles were kneeling—fast asleep! He shook them gently, awoke them, and in a tone of tender reproach, untinctured by the least show of anger or scolding, asked them if they could not watch with Him one hour. …

“Returning to His place, He prayed again and then went back and found them again sleeping. Again He awoke them, admonished them, and returned and prayed as before. Three times this happened, until I was perfectly familiar with His appearance—face, form, and movements. He was of noble stature and of majestic mien … the very God that He was and is, yet as meek and lowly as a little child.

“All at once the circumstance seemed to change. … Instead of before, it was after the Crucifixion, and the Savior, with those three Apostles, now stood together in a group at my left. They were about to depart and ascend into heaven. I could endure it no longer. I ran from behind the tree, fell at His feet, clasped Him around the knees, and begged Him to take me with Him.

“I shall never forget the kind and gentle manner in which He stooped and raised me up and embraced me. It was so vivid, so real that I felt the very warmth of His bosom against which I rested. Then He said: ‘No, my son; these have finished their work, and they may go with me; but you must stay and finish yours.’ Still I clung to Him. Gazing up into His face—for He was taller than I—I besought Him most earnestly: ‘Well, promise me that I will come to You at the last.’ He smiled sweetly and tenderly and replied: ‘That will depend entirely upon yourself.’ I awoke with a sob in my throat, and it was morning.”

“The Divinity of Jesus Christ,” Improvement Era, Jan. 1926, 224–25; see also Liahona, Dec. 2003, 16; punctuation, capitalization, and spelling standardized.

Christ's Atonement: at-one-ment

The literal meaning of the English word Atonement is self-evident: at-one-ment, the bringing together of things that have been separated or estranged. The Atonement of Jesus Christ was indispensable because of the separating transgression, or Fall, of Adam, which brought two kinds of death into the world when Adam and Eve partook of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Physical death brought the separation of the spirit from the body, and spiritual death brought the estrangement of both the spirit and the body from God. As a result of the Fall, all persons born into mortality would suffer these two kinds of death. But we must remember the Fall was an essential part of Heavenly Father’s divine plan. Without it no mortal children would have been born to Adam and Eve, and there would have been no human family to experience opposition and growth, moral agency, and the joy of resurrection, redemption, and eternal life.

Read the entire document "The Atonement of Jesus Christ" by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

Faith in the Atonement 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."
David L. Bednar
In the Strength of the Lord, David L. Bednar, BYU-I Devotional Address, then President of BYU-I. 

Christ's Atonement and Eternal Life

“We understand that the Atonement of Jesus Christ gives us the opportunity to overcome the spiritual death that results from sin and, through making and keeping sacred covenants, to have the blessings of eternal life.”

—Dallin H. Oaks

“Teachings of Jesus,” Ensign, Nov. 2011, 93

Gethsemane-Crucifixion-Resurrection

Scott Grow, regarding the Atonement of Jesus Christ, said, “His Atonement began in Gethsemane and continued on the cross and culminated with the Resurrection.”

Click here for the entire discourse on "The Miracle of the Atonement," by Scott Grow

JESUS CHRIST: PRINCE OF PEACE

Christ gives us peace. Sources of peace are:

1. Jesus Christ
2. Humility
3. Praying always
4. Being disciples of Christ

By Elder Quinton L. Cook,

April 2013 General Conference

JESUS CHRIST APPEARS TO THE BROTHER OF JARED

17 And now, as I, Moroni, said I could not make a full account of these things which are written, therefore it sufficeth me to say that Jesus showed himself unto this man in the

spirit, even after the manner and in the likeness of the same body even as he showedhimself unto the Nephites.

 18 And he ministered unto him even as he ministered unto the Nephites; and all this, that this man might know that he was God, because of the many great works which the Lord had showed unto him.

 19 And because of the knowledge of this man he could not be kept from beholding within the veil; and he saw the finger of Jesus, which, when he saw, he fell with fear; for he knew that it was the finger of the Lord; and he had faith no longer, for he knew, nothing doubting.

 20 Wherefore, having this perfect knowledge of God, he could notbe kept from within the veil; therefore he saw Jesus; and he did minister unto him.

JESUS CHRIST: FOREORDAINED IN HEAVEN

Behold, I am he who was prepared from the foundation of the world to redeem my people. Behold, I am Jesus Christ. I am the Father and the Son. In me shall all mankind have life, and that eternally, even they who shall believe on my name; and they shall become my sons and my daughters.

--Ether 3:14

Jesus was selected and foreordained before the world was created to redeem the children of Heavenly Father.  He bore witness of His name when He said, “I am Jesus Christ.” Those who believe in Christ can become His sons and daughters. In Him is life and light, even the abundant life. Jesus is the Savior of the world. His mission was to carry out the perfect, infinite atonement. His ministry was to bless and teach people. We can follow His ministry example, but we cannot follow His atonement example. He was and is the only one who could perform the perfect and infinite atonement. For Him we will be eternally grateful. We can really pay Him back. All He asks of us is to keep His commandments.

JESUS CHRIST: GOD OF THIS LAND

Behold, this is a choice land, and whatsoever nation shall possess it shall be free from bondage, and from captivity, and from all other nations under heaven, if they will but serve the God of the land, who is Jesus Christ, who hath been manifested by the things which we have written.

--Ether 2:12

Jesus Christ is the God of this land (the Americas), making this land choice above all other lands. If people in this nation obey God and serve Him, then God will bless this nation with freedom, safety, and prosperity; however, if people of this land are evil, God will not and cannot keep His end of the bargain. It is up to us as the people to have faith in Christ, follow Him, and obey all the commandments because God cannot force us to obey and be righteous.

"BEHOLD, I AM JESUS CHRIST"

Behold, I am Jesus Christ the Son of God. I created the heavens and the earth, and all things that in them are. I was with the Father from the beginning. I am in the Father, and the Father in me; and in me hath the Father glorified his name (3 Nephi 9:15).

And it came to pass that he stretched forth his hand and spake unto the people, saying: Behold, I am Jesus Christ, whom the prophets testified shall come into the world (3 Nephi 11:10).

Jesus literally introduces himself when He said, ‘Behold, I am Jesus Christ.” You can get any more clear than this. He wanted the people to know who He was, and that He was indeed Christ, the Son of God. He even invited the people to come unto Him, feel the prints of the nails in His hands, wrists, feet, and to thrust their hands into His side to know for a more surety that He was who He said He was. During this time, the Holy Ghost bore witness to the people that it truly was Jesus Christ as He had introduced himself.

JESUS CHRIST: LOVE ONE ANOTHER

And he shall be called Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Father of heaven and earth, the Creator of all things from the beginning; and his mother shall be called Mary.

--Mosiah 3:8

Jesus Christ is the Only Begotten Son of God in the flesh, the creator of all things from the beginning. He is the Savior of the world and Redeemer of Mankind. Beside Him there is no other Savior or Redeemer. Jesus was tortured, beaten, spit upon, scourged, mocked, and crucified to carry out the infinite and perfect atonement. Only Jesus could carry out this ultimate atonement. Our part is to live all His commandments, including having charity for all people. Charity is the pure love of Christ, loving as He loved. May we all love one another.