I woke up this morning and felt a strong desire to write about the Atonement of Christ. I’ll talk about what the Atonement is, and why it was necessary. I felt a concern that people don’t know why our Savior needed to do what He did.
First though, what is the Atonement? As used in the scriptures, to atone is to suffer the penalty for sins, thereby removing the effects of sin from the repentant sinner and allowing him or her to be reconciled to God. Jesus Christ was the only one capable of carrying out the Atonement for all mankind. Because of his Atonement, all people will be resurrected, and those who obey His gospel will receive the gift of eternal life with God.
Why was the Atonement necessary? There are some who assume that God’s love for us allow us to overcome His own laws. This is false. Our God is a God of law as well as love, and all of His laws are necessarily perfect. In other words there is no circumstance wherein any law would or could ever be broken by Him. Let us reflect for a moment: God is pure and perfect. Heaven is also pure. If any unclean thing were to return to heaven, then heaven would become unclean also, but of course the Kingdom of God is not filthy, and there “cannot any unclean thing enter into the Kingdom of God.” The problem is, all of us sin and are unclean. If we are not perfect, we cannot dwell with God.
As descendants of Adam and Eve, all of us inherit the effects of the Fall. In our fallen state, we are subject to opposition and temptation. When we give in to temptation we are alienated from God, and if we continue in sin we experience spiritual death, being separated from His presence. We are also all subject to the death of the physical body. The only way for us to be saved is for someone else to rescue us. Someone who can satisfy the demands of justice—standing in our place to assume the burden of the Fall and pay the price for our sins. Jesus Christ has always been the only one capable of making such a sacrifice.
Only Christ had the power to lay down His life and take it up again. From his mortal mother, Mary, He inherited the ability to die. From His immortal Father, He inherited the power to overcome death. He declared, “As the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself” (John 5:26). Only He could redeem us from our sins. God the Father gave Him this power (Helaman 5:11). He was able to receive this power and carry out the Atonement because He kept Himself free from sin. Having lived a perfect, sinless life, He was free from the demands of justice. Because He had the power of redemption and because He had no debt to justice, he could pay the debt for those who repent, thus bringing about mercy.
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. Our savior continued to suffer for our sins when He allowed Himself to be crucified–lifted up upon the cross and slain for the sins of the world. After He allowed Himself to die, His body was laid in a tomb until He was resurrected and became “the firstfruits of them that slept” (1 Cor 15:20). Through His death and resurrection, He overcame physical death for us all: “For in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.”
Jesus Christ redeems all people from the effects of the Fall. Through our Savior’s gift of mercy and redeeming grace, we will all receive the gift of immortality and live forever in glorious, resurrected bodies. We will also be brought back into the presence of God to be judged.
Because He ransomed us He becomes our judge, He gets to determine which of us will benefit from his sacrifice and return to the presence of God, and which won’t. What are his terms? “And he commandeth all men that they must repent, and be baptized in his name, having perfect faith in the Holy One of Israel, or they cannot be saved in the kingdom of God.” Again, “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” And again, “except ye shall keep my commandments, which I have commanded you…ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.”
Although we are redeemed unconditionally from the effects of the Fall, we are accountable for our own sins. But we can be forgiven and cleansed from the stain of sin if we apply the atoning blood of Christ. We must exercise faith in Jesus Christ, repent, be baptized for the remission of sins, and receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
What a glorious plan! What a plan of happiness! The more we keep God’s commandments the happier we are, because they grant us freedom and are a guide in how to navigate all of the false messages we see in the world, wanting us to “be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive.” I’ve written a previous article on Christ and His message, and how to know for yourself if these words are true or not. One of my favorite scriptures of all says “Adam fell that men might be. Men are that they might have joy.” This drives an important point home: the reason the Atonement occurred, the reason his Father sent him, the reason he chose to live and die for us, is because he loves us and wants us to be happy. What a concept! This article has briefly scratched the surface of this great subject. Still I want to say, how great is our potential for joy because of the glorious Atonement of Jesus Christ!