Something Different - Relief and Restitution

So I'm gonna do something different. I want to be part of the goodness that is on the internet. There isn't just filth and time-wasting going on here but I want to bring those powerful things that are so important to me. Might as well start today. I'll be including various papers I have written on a multitude of subjects in a hope that I can bring some light into a darkening world.

Relief and Restitution

            The Book of Mormon helps expound upon many truths in the Bible and probably the most important is the power of the infinite healing power of the atonement. I love the verses expressed by Alma the Younger to the people of Gideon in Alma 7:11-13. Due to their striving “in the paths of righteousness” and “keeping his paths straight” (Alma 7:19), Alma is allowed to preach many wondrous things about the Savior’s life and ministry. He includes Christ’s mother’s name, Mary, the unique role of faith, hope and charity in living a righteous life and as a distinctly important message, the vast number of things that the Atonement covers on our behalf. These verses express how Christ not only redeemed us from our sins through His Atonement but also experienced all of our human weakness: from “sicknesses” and “pains” to loneliness and “death” so he could “succor his people” and completely understand each and every one of us individually. Our Father in Heaven created us and loved us; He loves us. His gift to us in our hardest times and in our greatest joys, He sent our Elder Brother to sooth us and heal us of our physical and spiritual wounds through the Atonement and the Resurrection. Our Lord Jesus Christ is the Savior of the World and the Healer of our hearts. This wonderful piece of doctrine that “the Son of God suffereth according to the flesh that he might take upon himself the sins of his people. . .[to] blot out their transgressions” (Alma 7:13), is of extreme importance to us struggling through our mortal probation. A scripture train that helps relate the infinite degrees of the atonement includes Alma 7:11-13, Mosiah 3:5-7, 3 Nephi 17:7-10, Mosiah 14:3-5, 2 Nephi 16:9-10, 3 Nephi 9 13-14,20-22, 1 Nephi 21:15-16, Mosiah 5:2, Revelation 21:4,Matt 25:21.

            The passage in Mosiah 3:5-7 again details Jesus Christ as a Healer. One who would make “mighty miracles” in healing physical defects of all kinds even unto “raising the dead” and “cast[ing] out . . .evil spirits [from] the hearts of the children of men.” In verse 7 however the focus shifts to describing the heightened humanity of the Savior. He, like all those of humankind before and after him, would “suffer temptations . . .pain . . .hunger, thirst, and fatigue”. He displayed this compassion towards men again when he visited the Nephites in the Americas in 3 Nephi 17:7-10.  Christ asked the people if they had persons “that are afflicted in any manner” . . . “for I see that your faith is sufficient that I should heal you”. “And [after] he did heal them every one . . . [the multitude] both they who had been healed and they who were whole, bow down at his feet, and did worship him”. This shows some very important principles: we must be willing to come unto Christ, have faith to be healed by knowing that He can heal any wounds we may have, spiritual or physical. Russell M. Ballard said,

“The sequence of His pattern is significant. Faith, repentance, baptism, a testimony, and enduring conversion lead to the healing power of the Lord . . .[This and a] willingness to serve and strengthen others stands as a symbol of one’s readiness to be healed.”

No matter how big and no matter how small, our Lord Jesus Christ will ransom us from both our pains and our sins if we are willing to be endure well inn righteousness.

We also take great comfort in the fact that Christ was indeed a Man; one of flesh and bone brought forth by his mortal mother, Mary, so He could empathize with us in all our human frailties. In the case of the Atonement in Gethsemane, He experienced every aspect of being human at once “even more than man can suffer [without having a divine Father] . . .so great shall his anguish be [from] the wickedness and abominations of his people.” (Mosiah 3:7) Mosiah 14:3-5 continues to describe the Lord’s willful suffering on our behalf telling of how “he has bourne our griefs . . .carried our sorrows . . . was wounded for our transgressions . . .bruised for our iniquities . . .and with his stripes we are healed.” In True to the Faith: A Gospel Reference we read that

“through [our] faith and righteousness and through His atoning sacrifice, all the inequities, injuries, and pains of this life can be fully compensated for and made right . . .although He may not relieve all your sufferings now, He will bless you with comfort and understanding and with strength to ‘bear up your burdens with ease’ (Mosiah 24:15)” (20).

Christ knows our struggles and more importantly, he knows us better than we do; He suffered our pains and our sins almost two thousand of years before we were even born. Elder Jeffrey R. Holland spoke of those agonizing moments that were completely for us in this manner; to complete His Son’s sacrifice,

“the Father briefly withdrew from Jesus the comfort of His Spirit, the support of His personal presence. It was required, indeed it was central to the significance of the Atonement, that this perfect Son who had never spoken ill nor done wrong nor touched an unclean thing had to know how the rest of humankind--us, all of us—would feel when we did commit such sins [for the first time in His entire existence the Lord Jesus Christ experienced a spiritual death; having] the divine Spirit withdraw, leaving one feeling totally, abjectly, hopelessly alone.”

A more powerful act of love and devotion cannot be found anywhere in all of human history or perhaps all of our eternal history. For me, a perfect Man sweat blood from every pore, for me an Eternal God descended below all men with “my burden gladly bearing, He bled and died to take away my sin” that I might live with Him and my Father in Heaven again: all my songs, prayers and words of thanks the world can never be enough to express my gratitude for my Savior’s sacrifice. Indeed, sometimes it is very difficult to keep an eternal perspective in our mortal probation when our trials weigh on us continually it sometimes seems to be no way out of our situation. When “we are alone or feel alone or, worse yet, feel abandoned” Elder Holland gives consolation “that because Jesus walked such a long, lonely path utterly alone, we do not have to do so . . . Truly the Redeemer of us all said: “I will not leave you comfortless: [My Father and] I will come to you [and abide with you].” This is one of the most important things to always remember, in good times or bad; Our Lord God and Elder Brother, Jesus Christ will never forget me nor any of the children of the Earth for “behold, [He] has graven [me] upon the palms of [His] hands” (1 Nephi 21:15-16).

The Atonement is nothing but a lost cause for us if we are not willing to receive it. Would we really forget our Lord and Savior in our petty pride? Would we have allowed “God the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain . . . and to suffer both body and spirit” only for His message to fall on deaf ears and cold hearts and to be left to “suffer even as [He did]” (D&C 19:16-19)? In 2 Nephi 16:9-10, He pleads for us to be humble and teachable and to “see with [our] eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart and be converted and be healed.” This pleading is repeated in 3 Nephi 9:13-14, 20-22, to come to Him and repent of our sins, “for such [He hath] laid down my life, and have taken it up again”, and with “a broken heart and a contrite spirit”, we can be saved and healed of all our wounds. When everything seems hedged against us or we feel like we cannot be worthy of such an eternal sacrifice, we must always remember the words of Elder Nelson,

“When sore trials come upon us, its time to deepen our faith in God, to work hard, and to serve others. Then He will heal our broken hearts. He will bestow upon us personal peace and comfort. Those great gifts will not be destroyed, even by death. (italics added)”

We must have faith that when we have done all we can do, “God will wipe away all tears from [our] eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things [will pass] away” (Rev 21:4).

            God, our Father, and Jesus Christ, our Savior and Redeemer, both eternal in their capacities for love and understanding, provided the Atonement as a part of the Plan of Happiness so that we, as humble children of God, can stumble in life and go through all the trials life can bring and still return to their presence if we are will to accept and live the gospel. It is our duty and responsibility to take the fullest advantage of the Atonement (or At-One-ment) so that we can be healed of our spiritual wounds from both sin and trials and come to God. There is no other way. With the Book of Mormon and living prophets today, we have all the tools and guidance necessary to make it back to our eternal home, after all our effort and our trust set completely in God, and to hear from the Father we have served, “well done thou good and faithful servant” (Matt 25:21)        

Works Cited

First Presidency. True to the Faith: A Gospel Reference. Salt Lake City, UT: Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2004. Print.

Holland, Elder Jeffrey R. "None Were with Him." Ensign May 2009: 86-88. LDS.org. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, May 2009. Web. 30 Sept. 2010.

"Jesus Blesses the Nephite Children." Sofia's Christmas Ideas. Web. 30 Sept. 2010. <http://sofiaschristmasideas.blogspot.com/>.

Nelson, Elder Russell M. "Jesus Christ---the Master Healer." Liahona Nov. 2005: 85-88. LDS.org. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Web. 30 Sept. 2010.

"Simon Dewey Religious Fine Art On Jesus Christ,Living Water." Fortune Art Gallery. Web. 30 Sept. 2010. <http://www.fortuneart.net/store/SD_O_My_Father.htm>.

"With Faith In Every Footstep Along The Mission Road ~ A Father's Testimony." Dan     Fogelberg ~ Ever On ~ Web Site / Fan Forum. Web. 01 Oct. 2010. <http://everon.info/testimony/>.