My thoughts on this special day: (Kevan Clawson)
Understanding the Atonement of Christ
I have often heard it said that it is impossible to understand the atonement of Christ. However, I don’t believe there are any doctrines of God that cannot be understood. Here are 4 keys I have found to understand the atonement of Christ in a more personal and profound way:
I am a child of God
There is an old adage that one cannot truly understand or judge another person unless and until you walk a mile in their shoes. If we are actually children of God, and Christ is our spiritual brother, then we should be able to understand Christ in a very personal way.
The first key to truly understanding Christ is to see him as a real, mortal person and Try put yourself in his place.
For example, picture yourself among the large crowd of people in the Grand Council held in the pre-mortal life, when decisions were being made as to who would be the Savior, who would be the first Man, who would be Prophets, etc. As you listen to God the Father talk about the need for a Savior, He looks in your direction, calls YOUR name, and declares before everyone that He has chosen YOU to be the Savior of the world! How would you feel? I believe that Christ felt exactly the same way!
As you read about Christ’s ministry on earth, put yourself in his place. He was just as much a mortal as you and I. The Scriptures clearly state that Christ was tempted in every way—perhaps even more—than we are. He experienced pain, sorrow, disappointment, even fear. Here are just a couple of passages that clearly show just how mortal Jesus was:
The Lord was well aware of the approaching agony that awaited him and the suffering to which he would willingly submit (Mark 10:33-34; John 10:17-18). When he spoke to his disciples about his forthcoming death, there was great sorrow in his voice and strained tones that would have denoted fear—not a fear of death, for after death he knew he would be resurrected and glorified, but a fear of something much more terrifying—Gethsemane.
The sight of this great sorrow within the man he loved and followed, and the apostle's own fear that Christ would willingly go to his death, caused Peter to actually rebuke the Lord saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee! (Matthew 16:22). Feeling deeply hurt that his disciples understood so little about the sacrifice he would make (even though he had spoken of it time and time again as the event neared), and that they would burden him with the temptation of not fulfilling his mission, Christ gave his strongest rebuke to his chief apostle saying, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men (Matthew 16:23). Instead of receiving strength and reassurance from his followers, Christ was further burdened by them.
It seems clear that Peter’s words struck Jesus sharply precisely because it was a sore spot: it was perhaps Satan’s greatest temptation to Jesus: that Jesus didn’t have to complete his mission and suffer all that pain…after all, Jesus had committed no sin, so why should he suffer?
Throughout his ministry, Christ had tried to prepare himself for his great and final trial at Gethsemane. Angels had appeared and ministered unto him; prophets had communed and strengthened him; and the Father had personally reaffirmed the trust and confidence He had in him; and yet, did Christ himself feel prepared? Did even he fully realize the extent of the suffering he would have to endure? This only was he sure of—that time and time again, his Father had spoken reassuring words to him and, with the ultimate faith he could do it, Christ proceeded to the garden of Gethsemane (for it was in this garden that the actual atonement took place).
In entering the garden, Christ permitted only the First Presidency (Peter, James, and John) to remain with him, perhaps because he felt only they could understand the trial that was before him (Mark 14:32-33). The anxiety and sorrow Jesus felt was overwhelming, could even he comprehend the suffering he would face in overcoming death? ... And he began to be sore amazed, and to be very heavy; and saith unto them, my soul is exceedingly sorrowful unto death: tarry ye here and watch (Mark 14:33)… And he went a little further and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt (Matthew 26:39). What kind of suffering would cause Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God, to fear and to pray to the Father for a way to escape, knowing there could be no other way, knowing that for this reason he had come to the earth? Like any other man, Christ feared the unknown but, like a God, he accepted the Father's will and put his own will aside (John 12:27).
It is clear that Jesus was truly feeling mortal. He was feeling uncertainty and fear, and clearly sought a way out of the pain and suffering he was about to face!
Seeking support, Christ went back to his three apostles. But he was meant to face this trial alone because his apostles were fast asleep. Hurt by their lack of concern, he said, What, could ye not watch with me one hour? (Matthew 26:40).
After returning to the garden alone, Christ pushed all doubt and fear aside. He had made his final decision and, in a prayer of submission and acceptance, said, O my Father, if this cup may not pass from me except I drink it, thy will be done (Matthew 26:42).
As we read those moments where Jesus shows the mortal side of his character, we should be able to put ourselves in that same situation, where uncertainty and fear have left us wanting to change our circumstances and just walk away! And, although we can understand His weaknesses coming out in times of great stress, it is to Christ’s eternal honor and glory that he was able to set his personal weaknesses and doubts aside, and move forward to do the will of God.
We are all children of God. Christ is a child of God. As we are both descended from a common ancestor, our mortal experience should also be similar. I believe that by viewing Christ as a fragile mortal man, and putting ourselves in his place as we read through the history of His life on earth, we will come much closer to understanding Christ as a person, and just what His earthly experience was like.
Understanding the ‘ends of the law’
Wherefore, aredemption cometh in and through the Holy Messiah; for he is full of dgrace and truth. 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. (2 Nephi 2:6-7)
What are the ‘ends of the law’?
He that ascended up on high, as also he descended below all things, in that he comprehended all things, that he might be in all and through all things, the light of truth; (D&C 88:6)
Understanding the ‘ends of the law’ will give us a new understanding of exactly what Christ experienced during his suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane.
In order for Christ to become like his Father— a literal God—he had to experience both ends of the eternal spectrum: the destruction of his soul (the fate of the Sons of Perdition), and celestial exaltation.
In the Garden of Gethsemane Christ descended below all things: he suffered what the Sons of Perdition will suffer when they are destroyed by being cast into the bottomless pit:
D&C 76: 32-48: They are they who are the sons of perdition, of whom I say that it had been better for them never to have been born; For they are vessels of wrath, doomed to suffer the wrath of God, with the devil and his angels in eternity; Concerning whom I have said there is no forgiveness in this world nor in the world to come—Having denied the Holy Spirit after having received it, and having denied the Only Begotten Son of the Father, having crucified him unto themselves and put him to an open shame. These are they who shall go away into the lake of fire and brimstone, with the devil and his angels—And the only ones on whom the second cdeath shall have any power; Yea, verily, the only ones who shall not be redeemed in the due time of the Lord, after the sufferings of his wrath. For all the rest shall be brought forth by the resurrection of the dead, through the triumph and the glory of the Lamb, who was slain, who was in the bosom of the Father before the worlds were made. And this is the gospel, the glad tidings, which the voice out of the heavens bore record unto us—That he came into the world, even Jesus, to be crucified for the world, and to bear the sins of the world, and to sanctify the world, and to cleanse it from all unrighteousness; That through him all might be saved whom the Father had put into his power and made by him; Who glorifies the Father, and saves all the works of his hands, except those sons of perdition who deny the Son after the Father has revealed him. Wherefore, he saves all except them—they shall go away into everlasting punishment, which is endless punishment, which is eternal punishment, to reign with the devil and his angels in eternity, where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched, which is their torment—And the end thereof, neither the place thereof, nor their torment, no man knows; Neither was it revealed, neither is, neither will be revealed unto man, except to them who are made partakers thereof; Nevertheless, I, the Lord, show it by vision unto many, but straightway shut it up again; Wherefore, the end, the width, the height, the depth, and the misery thereof, they understand not, neither any man except those who are ordained unto this condemnation.
Christ is not the only person to have experienced this kind of suffering! As noted at the end of the quote above, the Lord has shown this vision, or experience, to others:
Moses: Moses 1:20: And it came to pass that Moses began to fear exceedingly; and as he began to fear, he saw the bitterness of hell. Nevertheless, calling upon God, he received strength, and he commanded, saying: Depart from me, Satan, for this one God only will I worship, which is the God of glory.
Paul: Acts 9: 3-9: And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, awhat wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do. And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man. And Saul arose from the earth; and when his eyes were opened, he saw no man: but they led him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus. And he was three days without sight, and neither did eat nor drink.
Alma the younger: Alma 36: 12-16: But I was racked with eternal torment, for my soul was harrowed up to the greatest degree and racked with all my sins. Yea, I did remember all my sins and iniquities, for which I was tormented with the pains of hell; yea, I saw that I had rebelled against my God, and that I had not kept his holy commandments. Yea, and I had murdered many of his children, or rather led them away unto destruction; yea, and in fine so great had been my iniquities, that the very thought of coming into the presence of my God did rack my soul with inexpressible horror. Oh, thought I, that I acould be banished and become extinct both soul and body, that I might not be brought to stand in the presence of my God, to be judged of my deeds. And now, for three days and for three nights was I racked, even with the pains of a damned soul.
Joseph Smith: JS History: 15-16: After I had retired to the place where I had previously designed to go, having looked around me, and finding myself alone, I kneeled down and began to offer up the desires of my heart to God. I had scarcely done so, when immediately I was seized upon by some power which entirely overcame me, and had such an astonishing influence over me as to bind my tongue so that I could not speak. Thick darkness gathered around me, and it seemed to me for a time as if I were doomed to sudden destruction. But, exerting all my powers to acall upon God to deliver me out of the power of this enemy which had seized upon me, and at the very moment when I was ready to sink into despair and abandon myself to destruction—not to an imaginary ruin, but to the power of some actual being from the unseen world, who had such marvelous power as I had never before felt in any being—just at this moment of great alarm, I saw a pillar of clight exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me.
In addition to experiencing one end of the Law— ‘below all things,’ or what the Sons of Perdition will suffer— Christ was able to experience the other end of the Law: exaltation, or becoming like God the Father.
When we think of God, we think of a person who is perfect, who knows all things, and has progressed to the ‘ultimate’ state of power, perfection, joy, and happiness. We have been told that God no longer processes in knowledge and/or power—He has achieved a perfect, or the ultimate state of existence.
We are taught that God is perfect and that He does not progress in knowledge, physical attributes, or in His ability to experience joy and happiness. God progresses in His creations and in His dominion. God knows all things; He is omnipotent, and His spiritual and physical attributes are perfect and eternal. In other words, God has obtained the ultimate measure of joy, happiness, and perfection.
Balanced with and opposite to God's existence, there is a dark force in the universe: Satan and his dominions. Like God, Satan does not progress in his power to do evil; he has perfected his abilities to cause pain, sorrow, and death. He is a perfect being of evil. He has obtained the ultimate ability to destroy and to cause pain and suffering.
With this understanding of the ultimate ends of the Law, or of good and evil, it will become clear that it did not matter how long Christ suffered in the garden; there was no time element (as such) involved. Christ met and overcame an ultimate—or perfect—pain, sorrow, and anguish. It was not the quantity, but the quality of suffering that caused the purging of blood to take place. This is what is meant when the scriptures state that Christ "answered the ends of the law," because he has experienced both ultimate suffering and ultimate joy and happiness.
We all experience what Christ experienced
It might surprise people to realize that everyone who has ever lived upon the earth, who has grown to the age of accountability, has experienced the same suffering that Christ suffered in the Garden of Gethsemane. This personal suffering happens to us when we sin. And since everyone who has reached the age of accountability has sinned, we have all suffered to one degree or another as Christ suffered!
D&C 19:15-20: Therefore I command you to repent—repent, lest I smite you by the rod of my My thoughts on this special day: Understanding the Atonement of Christ
These four keys to understanding the atonement will aid in understanding Christ and the atonement He suffered for all mankind., and by my wrath, and by my anger, and your sufferings be sore—how sore you know not, how exquisite you know not, yea, how hard to bear you know not. 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; 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. Wherefore, I command you again to repent, lest I humble you with my almighty power; and that you confess your sins, lest you suffer these punishments of which I have spoken, of which in the smallest, yea, even in the least degree you have tasted at the time I withdrew my Spirit.
I have often heard it said that it is impossible to understand the atonement of Christ. However, I don’t believe there are any doctrines of God that cannot be understood. Here are 4 keys I have found to understand the atonement of Christ in a more personal and profound way:
I am a child of God
There is an old adage that one cannot truly understand or judge another person unless and until you walk a mile in their shoes. If we are actually children of God, and Christ is our spiritual brother, then we should be able to understand Christ in a very personal way.
The first key to truly understanding Christ is to see him as a real, mortal person and Try put yourself in his place.
For example, picture yourself among the large crowd of people in the Grand Council held in the pre-mortal life, when decisions were being made as to who would be the Savior, who would be the first Man, who would be Prophets, etc. As you listen to God the Father talk about the need for a Savior, He looks in your direction, calls YOUR name, and declares before everyone that He has chosen YOU to be the Savior of the world! How would you feel? I believe that Christ felt exactly the same way!
As you read about Christ’s ministry on earth, put yourself in his place. He was just as much a mortal as you and I. The Scriptures clearly state that Christ was tempted in every way—perhaps even more—than we are. He experienced pain, sorrow, disappointment, even fear. Here are just a couple of passages that clearly show just how mortal Jesus was:
The Lord was well aware of the approaching agony that awaited him and the suffering to which he would willingly submit (Mark 10:33-34; John 10:17-18). When he spoke to his disciples about his forthcoming death, there was great sorrow in his voice and strained tones that would have denoted fear—not a fear of death, for after death he knew he would be resurrected and glorified, but a fear of something much more terrifying—Gethsemane.
The sight of this great sorrow within the man he loved and followed, and the apostle's own fear that Christ would willingly go to his death, caused Peter to actually rebuke the Lord saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee! (Matthew 16:22). Feeling deeply hurt that his disciples understood so little about the sacrifice he would make (even though he had spoken of it time and time again as the event neared), and that they would burden him with the temptation of not fulfilling his mission, Christ gave his strongest rebuke to his chief apostle saying, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men (Matthew 16:23). Instead of receiving strength and reassurance from his followers, Christ was further burdened by them.
It seems clear that Peter’s words struck Jesus sharply precisely because it was a sore spot: it was perhaps Satan’s greatest temptation to Jesus: that Jesus didn’t have to complete his mission and suffer all that pain…after all, Jesus had committed no sin, so why should he suffer?
Throughout his ministry, Christ had tried to prepare himself for his great and final trial at Gethsemane. Angels had appeared and ministered unto him; prophets had communed and strengthened him; and the Father had personally reaffirmed the trust and confidence He had in him; and yet, did Christ himself feel prepared? Did even he fully realize the extent of the suffering he would have to endure? This only was he sure of—that time and time again, his Father had spoken reassuring words to him and, with the ultimate faith he could do it, Christ proceeded to the garden of Gethsemane (for it was in this garden that the actual atonement took place).
In entering the garden, Christ permitted only the First Presidency (Peter, James, and John) to remain with him, perhaps because he felt only they could understand the trial that was before him (Mark 14:32-33). The anxiety and sorrow Jesus felt was overwhelming, could even he comprehend the suffering he would face in overcoming death? ... And he began to be sore amazed, and to be very heavy; and saith unto them, my soul is exceedingly sorrowful unto death: tarry ye here and watch (Mark 14:33)… And he went a little further and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt (Matthew 26:39). What kind of suffering would cause Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God, to fear and to pray to the Father for a way to escape, knowing there could be no other way, knowing that for this reason he had come to the earth? Like any other man, Christ feared the unknown but, like a God, he accepted the Father's will and put his own will aside (John 12:27).
It is clear that Jesus was truly feeling mortal. He was feeling uncertainty and fear, and clearly sought a way out of the pain and suffering he was about to face!
Seeking support, Christ went back to his three apostles. But he was meant to face this trial alone because his apostles were fast asleep. Hurt by their lack of concern, he said, What, could ye not watch with me one hour? (Matthew 26:40).
After returning to the garden alone, Christ pushed all doubt and fear aside. He had made his final decision and, in a prayer of submission and acceptance, said, O my Father, if this cup may not pass from me except I drink it, thy will be done (Matthew 26:42).
As we read those moments where Jesus shows the mortal side of his character, we should be able to put ourselves in that same situation, where uncertainty and fear have left us wanting to change our circumstances and just walk away! And, although we can understand His weaknesses coming out in times of great stress, it is to Christ’s eternal honor and glory that he was able to set his personal weaknesses and doubts aside, and move forward to do the will of God.
We are all children of God. Christ is a child of God. As we are both descended from a common ancestor, our mortal experience should also be similar. I believe that by viewing Christ as a fragile mortal man, and putting ourselves in his place as we read through the history of His life on earth, we will come much closer to understanding Christ as a person, and just what His earthly experience was like.
Understanding the ‘ends of the law’
Wherefore, aredemption cometh in and through the Holy Messiah; for he is full of dgrace and truth. 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. (2 Nephi 2:6-7)
What are the ‘ends of the law’?
He that ascended up on high, as also he descended below all things, in that he comprehended all things, that he might be in all and through all things, the light of truth; (D&C 88:6)
Understanding the ‘ends of the law’ will give us a new understanding of exactly what Christ experienced during his suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane.
In order for Christ to become like his Father— a literal God—he had to experience both ends of the eternal spectrum: the destruction of his soul (the fate of the Sons of Perdition), and celestial exaltation.
In the Garden of Gethsemane Christ descended below all things: he suffered what the Sons of Perdition will suffer when they are destroyed by being cast into the bottomless pit:
D&C 76: 32-48: They are they who are the sons of perdition, of whom I say that it had been better for them never to have been born; For they are vessels of wrath, doomed to suffer the wrath of God, with the devil and his angels in eternity; Concerning whom I have said there is no forgiveness in this world nor in the world to come—Having denied the Holy Spirit after having received it, and having denied the Only Begotten Son of the Father, having crucified him unto themselves and put him to an open shame. These are they who shall go away into the lake of fire and brimstone, with the devil and his angels—And the only ones on whom the second cdeath shall have any power; Yea, verily, the only ones who shall not be redeemed in the due time of the Lord, after the sufferings of his wrath. For all the rest shall be brought forth by the resurrection of the dead, through the triumph and the glory of the Lamb, who was slain, who was in the bosom of the Father before the worlds were made. And this is the gospel, the glad tidings, which the voice out of the heavens bore record unto us—That he came into the world, even Jesus, to be crucified for the world, and to bear the sins of the world, and to sanctify the world, and to cleanse it from all unrighteousness; That through him all might be saved whom the Father had put into his power and made by him; Who glorifies the Father, and saves all the works of his hands, except those sons of perdition who deny the Son after the Father has revealed him. Wherefore, he saves all except them—they shall go away into everlasting punishment, which is endless punishment, which is eternal punishment, to reign with the devil and his angels in eternity, where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched, which is their torment—And the end thereof, neither the place thereof, nor their torment, no man knows; Neither was it revealed, neither is, neither will be revealed unto man, except to them who are made partakers thereof; Nevertheless, I, the Lord, show it by vision unto many, but straightway shut it up again; Wherefore, the end, the width, the height, the depth, and the misery thereof, they understand not, neither any man except those who are ordained unto this condemnation.
Christ is not the only person to have experienced this kind of suffering! As noted at the end of the quote above, the Lord has shown this vision, or experience, to others:
Moses: Moses 1:20: And it came to pass that Moses began to fear exceedingly; and as he began to fear, he saw the bitterness of hell. Nevertheless, calling upon God, he received strength, and he commanded, saying: Depart from me, Satan, for this one God only will I worship, which is the God of glory.
Paul: Acts 9: 3-9: And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, awhat wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do. And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man. And Saul arose from the earth; and when his eyes were opened, he saw no man: but they led him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus. And he was three days without sight, and neither did eat nor drink.
Alma the younger: Alma 36: 12-16: But I was racked with eternal torment, for my soul was harrowed up to the greatest degree and racked with all my sins. Yea, I did remember all my sins and iniquities, for which I was tormented with the pains of hell; yea, I saw that I had rebelled against my God, and that I had not kept his holy commandments. Yea, and I had murdered many of his children, or rather led them away unto destruction; yea, and in fine so great had been my iniquities, that the very thought of coming into the presence of my God did rack my soul with inexpressible horror. Oh, thought I, that I acould be banished and become extinct both soul and body, that I might not be brought to stand in the presence of my God, to be judged of my deeds. And now, for three days and for three nights was I racked, even with the pains of a damned soul.
Joseph Smith: JS History: 15-16: After I had retired to the place where I had previously designed to go, having looked around me, and finding myself alone, I kneeled down and began to offer up the desires of my heart to God. I had scarcely done so, when immediately I was seized upon by some power which entirely overcame me, and had such an astonishing influence over me as to bind my tongue so that I could not speak. Thick darkness gathered around me, and it seemed to me for a time as if I were doomed to sudden destruction. But, exerting all my powers to acall upon God to deliver me out of the power of this enemy which had seized upon me, and at the very moment when I was ready to sink into despair and abandon myself to destruction—not to an imaginary ruin, but to the power of some actual being from the unseen world, who had such marvelous power as I had never before felt in any being—just at this moment of great alarm, I saw a pillar of clight exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me.
In addition to experiencing one end of the Law— ‘below all things,’ or what the Sons of Perdition will suffer— Christ was able to experience the other end of the Law: exaltation, or becoming like God the Father.
When we think of God, we think of a person who is perfect, who knows all things, and has progressed to the ‘ultimate’ state of power, perfection, joy, and happiness. We have been told that God no longer processes in knowledge and/or power—He has achieved a perfect, or the ultimate state of existence.
We are taught that God is perfect and that He does not progress in knowledge, physical attributes, or in His ability to experience joy and happiness. God progresses in His creations and in His dominion. God knows all things; He is omnipotent, and His spiritual and physical attributes are perfect and eternal. In other words, God has obtained the ultimate measure of joy, happiness, and perfection.
Balanced with and opposite to God's existence, there is a dark force in the universe: Satan and his dominions. Like God, Satan does not progress in his power to do evil; he has perfected his abilities to cause pain, sorrow, and death. He is a perfect being of evil. He has obtained the ultimate ability to destroy and to cause pain and suffering.
With this understanding of the ultimate ends of the Law, or of good and evil, it will become clear that it did not matter how long Christ suffered in the garden; there was no time element (as such) involved. Christ met and overcame an ultimate—or perfect—pain, sorrow, and anguish. It was not the quantity, but the quality of suffering that caused the purging of blood to take place. This is what is meant when the scriptures state that Christ "answered the ends of the law," because he has experienced both ultimate suffering and ultimate joy and happiness.
We all experience what Christ experienced
It might surprise people to realize that everyone who has ever lived upon the earth, who has grown to the age of accountability, has experienced the same suffering that Christ suffered in the Garden of Gethsemane. This personal suffering happens to us when we sin. And since everyone who has reached the age of accountability has sinned, we have all suffered to one degree or another as Christ suffered!
D&C 19:15-20: Therefore I command you to repent—repent, lest I smite you by the rod of my mouth, and by my wrath, and by my anger, and your sufferings be sore—how sore you know not, how exquisite you know not, yea, how hard to bear you know not. 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; 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. Wherefore, I command you again to repent, lest I humble you with my almighty power; and that you confess your sins, lest you suffer these punishments of which I have spoken, of which in the smallest, yea, even in the least degree you have tasted at the time I withdrew my Spirit.
This scripture is clearly talking about the atonement of Christ, and the suffering He had to endure in the Garden of Gethsemane. But notice what God says at the end: that the person has in fact tasted of the suffering of the Savior when the spirit left him after sinning! And since all men have sinned, we have all suffered, in some small degree, as Christ suffered.
It’s all about the blood
Have you ever wondered why Christ had to shed his blood? From the time of Adam, God has required men to shed blood as a means of atonement. We know now that the shedding of an animal’s blood in ancient time was just a symbol of the blood Christ would shed for us in the future. But, again, why the shedding of blood? Why not just prayer, or fasting and prayer, or some other kind—any other kind—of sacrifice or form of worship towards God?
The key to understanding this mystery is to go back to the beginning—to Adam and Eve and the fall. What exactly happened to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, and what exactly caused the ‘fall’ of mankind, and the world?
We are told that before Adam and Eve fell, they lived in a near perfect world. There was no death, and Adam and Eve could have lived forever if they had not sinned and fallen from grace. The reason Adam and Eve could not die was because they did not have polluted blood in their veins—they had what we would call a form of spirit fluid coursing through their bodies, that kept them from aging and eventually dying. By partaking of the forbidden fruit, they were literally taking poison into their bodies, and as a result, the fluid within their veins was changed from spirit to blood. The result of this change, was that they could age, and would eventually die.
In the Garden of Gethsemane, the blood of Christ was purged from his system—He literally bled from every pore of his body! The purpose of this cleansing of Christ's blood was to reverse the consequences of the fall of Adam and Eve.
When Adam fell, the spirit fluid in his veins became corrupted and changed to blood. Christ reversed this process by shedding his own mortal blood while his body continued to function through the spiritual strength inherent in him as the literal Son of God in the flesh:
Question: Why did Christ have to shed his blood in the Atonement to relieve us of the responsibility of the fall?
Answer. The reason that the blood of Christ had to be shed is because Adam was without blood before the fall. The blood came into his body afterwards. Therefore, it was necessary that the blood which came by the fall should be shed in the Atonement. For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul. (Answers to Gospel Questions, Vol. 3, p. 207)
This cleansing of Christ's blood was a result of the pain and suffering Christ endured. By purging his body of tainted blood, his body functioned through the power of His spirit, and thus He was able to overcome death, and bring about the resurrection.
This scripture is clearly talking about the atonement of Christ, and the suffering He had to endure in the Garden of Gethsemane. But notice what God says at the end: that the person has in fact tasted of the suffering of the Savior when the spirit left him after sinning! And since all men have sinned, we have all suffered, in some small degree, as Christ suffered.
It’s all about the blood
Have you ever wondered why Christ had to shed his blood? From the time of Adam, God has required men to shed blood as a means of atonement. We know now that the shedding of an animal’s blood in ancient time was just a symbol of the blood Christ would shed for us in the future. But, again, why the shedding of blood? Why not just prayer, or fasting and prayer, or some other kind—any other kind—of sacrifice or form of worship towards God?
The key to understanding this mystery is to go back to the beginning—to Adam and Eve and the fall. What exactly happened to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, and what exactly caused the ‘fall’ of mankind, and the world?
We are told that before Adam and Eve fell, they lived in a near perfect world. There was no death, and Adam and Eve could have lived forever if they had not sinned and fallen from grace. The reason Adam and Eve could not die was because they did not have polluted blood in their veins—they had what we would call a form of spirit fluid coursing through their bodies, that kept them from aging and eventually dying. By partaking of the forbidden fruit, they were literally taking poison into their bodies, and as a result, the fluid within their veins was changed from spirit to blood. The result of this change, was that they could age, and would eventually die.
In the Garden of Gethsemane, the blood of Christ was purged from his system—He literally bled from every pore of his body! The purpose of this cleansing of Christ's blood was to reverse the consequences of the fall of Adam and Eve.
When Adam fell, the spirit fluid in his veins became corrupted and changed to blood. Christ reversed this process by shedding his own mortal blood while his body continued to function through the spiritual strength inherent in him as the literal Son of God in the flesh:
Question: Why did Christ have to shed his blood in the Atonement to relieve us of the responsibility of the fall?
Answer. The reason that the blood of Christ had to be shed is because Adam was without blood before the fall. The blood came into his body afterwards. Therefore, it was necessary that the blood which came by the fall should be shed in the Atonement. For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul. (Answers to Gospel Questions, Vol. 3, p. 207)
This cleansing of Christ's blood was a result of the pain and suffering Christ endured. By purging his body of tainted blood, his body functioned through the power of His spirit, and thus He was able to overcome death, and bring about the resurrection.
These four keys to understanding the atonement will aid in understanding Christ and the atonement He suffered for all mankind.
