The Atonement of Jesus Christ

"I am the resurrection and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die..." (John 11: 25-26)

There is no event in time or eternity that impacts us more than the atonement of Jesus Christ. It is commonly viewed as Christ having paid the price for our sins. It IS that, but much, much more. To be clean but not changed is not salvation. The origin of the word Atonement in English means 'at one' or ‘to be in harmony with'. The earlier Latin meaning is 'to unite'. In His great intercessory prayer, recorded in the seventeenth chapter of John, Christ pled that we may be made one with Him just as He was one with the Father. The Atonement is the process where Christ unites us with Him by making us like Him, and it's a process that began before the world was formed and will continue long into the eternities.

The Atonement is the process where Christ unites us with Him by making us like Him

There is so much more to gain from our association with Christ than only the forgiveness of sin. To one day live with Him we must be like Him, and that means knowing Him. In His (and the Father's) great condescension, the Atonement allows Jesus to part the veil and walk with us in mortality. The Savior is called Emmanuel, meaning ”God with us” (Matt 1:23), and it is the Atonement that makes it literally so.

There are two opposing forces in mortality that drive our motivations. One is fear. The other is love. In the early Christian church, fear was used (as it had been since the beginning) to force obedience, and coerce men to comply. Fear is a faithless companion, for once the threat is removed, so is the obedience. Only change inspired by love is lasting.

The Atonement takes us from being motivated by fear -to- being motivated by love

The Atonement takes us from being motivated by fear -to- being motivated by love. That is its great transformative power. When we are motivated by love, we do not fear at all, knowing that God is good and merciful, and has our back. We can move forward without worry, knowing that Christ will endure with us until we figure it out. It is no longer a matter of if, but when. From a favorite hymn of mine, “The soul that on Jesus hath leaned for repose, I will not, I cannot, desert to his foes; That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake, I'll never, no never, no never, no never, no never, no never, no never forsake. " (LDS Hymnal p.85) This is the Savior speaking to us! The Atonement makes us his, not just after death, but here and now, while we are learning by trial and error the lessons of life.

The idea that God and Christ are waiting to heap punishment on the unrepentant sinner is hogwash. It is a relic of early, fear-based Christianity. The truth couldn't be further from it. “For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved." (John 3:17). Law was decreed before the earth was formed, and the consequences of disobedience are fixed and immutable (as they must be) in the slowing of our progression as we learn by our own experience to make better choices. These natural consequences are not intensified or added to by God and Christ. Instead, they step in and offer mercy and respite at every opportunity. They love us, and that is what the Atonement is all about…the manifestation of the love of God through His Son's involvement in our lives.

Fully embraced, the Atonement gives us relief from sorrow, from despair, from grief, and even from physical as well as emotional pain. It is meant to intercede into every facet of our lives, and give us the support we need in any and every situation. That is why Christ had to 'descend below all things' so that He could understand our needs, and know how to succor us. He is faithful, and will not turn from us even if we from time to time, turn from Him. He is patient…much more patient than we can now understand. He does not, as the great theologian Johnathan Edwards taught, hold us as a spider over a flame while the clock ticks away our opportunity to repent, but knows that the only way we can become like Him, and enjoy all that the Father has as He does, is by the permanent change of heart that only love can bring.

Love is the impetus to repentance, not fear. And love takes time. It’s not the hurried hare that fear is, but the lumbering (and certain) tortoise. The older I get, the clearer it is to me that life is not a test we either pass or fail, but a classroom, where we learn and progress. The Lord is far more interested in you than in your mistakes. Man emphasizes our failures out of fear. God emphasizes our successes out of love. In the next life, the emphasis will be on the good we have done, not the bad. And our learning and progression will continue.

In its clear analysis, the Atonement is love, the greatest power of all

In its clear analysis, the Atonement is love, the greatest power of all…God's love made present in our lives through the intercession of His Son, Jesus Christ. To learn to live in love and trust, and not fear is a seminal step on our path to becoming like Christ.

The Apostle Paul tells us that "all things will pass away, except charity." Charity is the pure love of Christ and is the one thing that endures forever. In heaven, there is no need for faith, and hope and knowledge fade away. But in that supremely holy place, love remains in all its infinite intensity, where it will work forever to heal, bless, support, and sustain.

Love is powerful…perhaps the most powerful force in both time and eternity. Consider this singular power of love: Love can fill the gaps when there are no answers...for love is more influential than knowledge. In a time of crisis, keeping faith is less about fending off doubt, and more about experiencing the reassurance of God's love. For those who may be questioning their faith, doubts are best resolved, not with knowledge per se, but in loving relationships, where the pure love of God is felt…for perfect love chases away all fear. It spreads its light over every dark corner and gives us something to hold in our heart when our mind fails us.

The Atonement of Jesus Christ, now more fully understood, is power. Power given from God to man through Jesus Christ to rise from his fallen state, and ascend to a mind and heart that, full of enabling love, will carry us across the divide of time into life eternal.

TestifyofChrist

September-2018

(For a continuation of this theme, read our companion article “The Real Meaning of Perfection”)