"And this is the gospel, the glad tidings, of 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...."
The week before conference I began my scripture study of the atonement. The General Women's Conference came and added to my thoughts on the atonement- and then the week flew by. I have struggled to find the time that I want to spend studying this. General Conference also added to my desire to truly understand the atonement.
This is a word that I will study for at least a few more weeks- there is so much to learn!
The word ATONE means to ransom, repair, to satisfy, to reconcile, redeem.
My poor brain. It must define everything- so I begin with ransom.
A ransom is the release of a person in return of payment. I have heard and sang those beautiful words- "That so fully He ransoms me" and I have always thought of this as a payment, a gift really, that Christ gave to me through the atoning sacrifice- but I had not yet placed myself in that as the person being ransomed, the person being released-
Christ freed me!
He released me of sin.
Of course there are steps that I must take to receive the full blessings of that ransom, but that is a small price to pay in comparison to the price that Christ paid for me.
As I study I read many articles that help me to understand the "word" that I am studying. The following I share with you from Elder Kikuchi:
"Imagine, in the center of the universe, our loving and kind Heavenly Father must have wiped His holy tears. Imagine the great gratitude of the Father for His Son’s willingness to give Himself for all of the Father’s children. The Father could have sent multitudes of the hosts of heaven to rescue His Son from that awful situation. But our Father must have closed His eyes in those final moments in order that you and I and other sons and daughters could have hope."
December 2009 New Era "Do We Know How Much He Went Through?"
I to have been trying to gain a deeper understanding of the Atonement. It is a subject I could read on and on and on about and it never gets old. The last comment I made a while back I mentioned a book I'm reading. It is an AMAZING book about the Atonement. I'll share a simple quotes from it that I like..."The Savior does more than cleanse us from sin. He also give us new strength to be admitted to His presence, we must be more then clean. we must also be changed." I really liked that! Not only does the Atonement give us the ability to be cleansed but in return it gives us new strength! :)
ReplyDeleteYou of all people know just how much the atonement means to me personally. I know that talking about the atonement and seeing how the atonement can help the loved ones around you is a lot easier then it is to look at yourself and apply it to yourself. To think of everything that Christ went through so that we could have the atonement and see yourself worthy of such a blessing? It's difficult. But without the atonement I could not and would not be where i am today. What Sharise said is completely true, the atonement not only cleans you but gives you a strength that you could never gain with out it.
ReplyDeleteThe Atonement certainly takes on new meaning when you are faced with physical ailments. Each time I feel myself getting swept away in the physical pain or discomfort of this blasted cancer, I try to remind myself that my Savior suffered all pain for me. He knows exactly how I feel and what I am going through. He is crying with me when I cry and He is taking my hand to help me through the bad times.
ReplyDelete