Discover Hope Through the Atonement of Christ

As I have studied the history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I have learned many things that can seem strange or even concerning when evaluated in our current social environment. However, I have also learned doctrines that have helped me to discover hope through the atonement of Christ.

Hope gives us power

If you search the Psychology Today website for “the power of hope,” you will see article after article that discuss the benefits of hope and how to increase hope in our lives. Although hope in Christ is different from hope in general, psychologists recognize the power of hope.

One author wrote that he worked to help his patients find hope because hope has the power to turn their psychological mindset from victim to survivor: “If I could find a way to package and dispense hope, I would have a pill more powerful than any antidepressant on the market.”¹ He further comments that “[t]o have hope is to empower yourself in order to face the toughest of times and emerge a survivor,” and he recommends three things that are the most important in developing hope:

“Faith. The belief that there is something bigger and more important than you. Whether it’s God, a higher power, a child, a loved one, a mission, or a cause. It is a reason to go on, and it has nothing to do with just you.

“Gratitude. Focus on what you have to be thankful for, not on what you don’t have or what you have lost or what you want. Remind yourself of this every day.

“Love. Think about the people in your life that you love and those that love you—family and friends. Make it a point to connect often with each and every one. This is best accomplished in person, but as we know that is not always possible, a phone call, text, or a quick email will do.”¹

Another author wrote that hope can help improve mental health treatment outcomes: “Hope is a powerful tool for resolving mental health issues such as addiction, trauma, depression, and anxiety. Hope can provide individuals with the strength and motivation to overcome their challenges and persevere through difficult times. Hope is associated with improved outcomes in mental health treatment, including reduced symptoms and improved quality of life..”²

Hope should motivate us to act

At its most basic level, hope is “the positive feeling that your goals can be accomplished.”³ Hope is more than just a pipe dream, and so we must recognize honest hope from false hope: “Honest hope uses an appraisal of current situations based on evidence that reasonably estimates that things can improve . . . . False hope ignores the serious physical, political, and technological problems that must be solved . . . and blithely assumes that solutions will turn up, or worse denies the seriousness of the problem. . . . Hope requires a balance between optimism and realism.”³

Hope without motivation has no power to make any difference: “Hope can often be an abstract concept that is difficult to define. . . . Aristotle defined goals as ‘action caused by purpose.’ If you define your hopes as your purpose then you can see how goals are the physical steps (actions) that you can take to accomplish these hopes. By having and achieving goals that you set for yourself you can maintain the motivation and direction needed to achieve anything that you truly desire.”⁴

For hope to have power in our lives, we need to allow that hope to motivate us to act. Hope is much more than just an empty wish.

What is hope through the atonement of Christ?

Through the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ, we have significant teachings about hope in Christ. These teachings demonstrate that hope in Christ requires learning about the promises that Christ has made us, learning what He wants us to do to obtain those promises, and then living our lives in a way to be worthy of those promised blessings. (It is vital to distinguish between “earning” blessings, which we cannot do, and becoming “worthy” of the promised blessings, which we can only accomplish through the atonement of Jesus Christ by satisfying the conditions that Christ has placed upon receiving those blessings).

Whan discussing faith, hope, and charity, the prophet Mormon asked, “And what is it that ye shall hope for? Behold I say unto you that ye shall have hope through the atonement of Christ and the power of his resurrection, to be raised unto life eternal, and this because of your faith in him according to the promise.”⁵

At the end of the Jaredite civilization, the prophet Ether taught the people to believe in God: “Wherefore, whoso believeth in God might with surety hope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God, which hope cometh of faith, maketh an anchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in good works, being led to glorify God.”⁶

What promises have we been given that motivate us to believe in and follow Christ? What is this “better world” that we should hope for? During his mortal ministry, Jesus Christ taught his disciples to believe in God, that in his Father’s house “are many mansions,” and that he was going to “prepare a place” for them.⁷ This is the ultimate blessing, and is expanded upon in the teachings of the restoration:

“[T]his is the testimony of the gospel of Christ concerning them who shall come forth in the resurrection of the just— They are they who received the testimony of Jesus, and believed on his name and were baptized after the manner of his burial, being buried in the water in his name, and this according to the commandment which he has given— That by keeping the commandments they might be washed and cleansed from all their sins, and receive the Holy Spirit by the laying on of the hands of him who is ordained and sealed unto this power; . . . They are they into whose hands the Father has given all things— . . . Wherefore, all things are theirs, whether life or death, or things present, or things to come, all are theirs and they are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s. . . . These shall dwell in the presence of God and his Christ forever and ever.”⁸

Hope in Christ is not just a general hope. It is focused on Jesus Christ, learning of Him, His commandments, and the blessings that He has promised. As we learn of those blessings, we find motivation to keep His commandments in order to be worthy to receive those blessings.

Hope in Christ requires us to contemplate His mercy and grace

Christ has promised us many blessings, but He has taught that if we want to receive those promised blessings, we must keep His commandments.⁹ However, “all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.”¹⁰ Therefore, we cannot perfectly keep the commandments and so we cannot qualify for the promised blessings.

But that is why we must have hope through the atonement of Christ: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.”¹¹

The teachings of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ are filled with discussions of Christ’s grace: “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. . . . [T]here is no flesh that can dwell in the presence of God, save it be through the merits, and mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah, who layeth down his life according to the flesh, and taketh it again by the power of the Spirit, that he may bring to pass the resurrection of the dead, being the first that should rise. Wherefore, he is the firstfruits unto God, inasmuch as he shall make intercession for all the children of men; and they that believe in him shall be saved.”¹²

We have hope in Christ! And what does he ask of us? “Now this is the commandment: Repent, all ye ends of the earth, and come unto me and be baptized in my name, that ye may be sanctified by the reception of the Holy Ghost, that ye may stand spotless before me at the last day.”¹³

It is so simple! That doesn’t mean it’s easy, but it’s definitely simple. It’s so simple in fact that prophets in the Book of Mormon compare following Christ to Moses lifting up the brazen serpent: “Behold, [the Son of God] was spoken of by Moses; yea, and behold a type was raised up in the wilderness, that whosoever would look upon it might live. And many did look and live. But few understood the meaning of those things, and this because of the hardness of their hearts. But there were many who were so hardened that they would not look, therefore they perished. Now the reason they would not look is because they did not believe that it would heal them. O my brethren, if ye could be healed by merely casting about your eyes that ye might be healed, would ye not behold quickly, or would ye rather harden your hearts in unbelief, and be slothful, that ye would not cast about your eyes, that ye might perish?”¹⁴

In the history of the Church of Jesus Christ we encounter complexities, oddities, weaknesses, frailties, and many such things that can distract us from Christ. But in the teachings of the restoration we find a foundation firmly established in Christ. He is our hope. And as we learn of the blessings He has promised us, we can hope that those blessings are true and live in a way to become worthy of those promised blessings.

What should we do?

What can we do to discover hope through the atonement of Christ? How can we foster this hope? It begins with an understanding of the mercy of Christ as taught in the restored gospel:

“Listen to him who is the advocate with the Father, who is pleading your cause before him—Saying: Father, behold the sufferings and death of him who did no sin, in whom thou wast well pleased; behold the blood of thy Son which was shed, the blood of him whom thou gavest that thyself might be glorified; Wherefore, Father, spare these my brethren that believe on my name, that they may come unto me and have everlasting life.”¹⁵

For the Savior to apply his atoning blood, we just have to believe. That is remarkable to me. We just have to believe! But that belief is demonstrated by following the commandments, and repenting when we fall short.

So what can we do to discover hope in Christ? Just give it a try: “But behold, if ye will awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith, yea, even if ye can no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe in a manner that ye can give place for a portion of my words.”¹⁶

Study the doctrine of Christ as found in the teachings of the restoration. Focus on the teachings instead of the people. The people are imperfect, but learning of Christ can fill us with hope. The restored gospel of Jesus Christ teaches of a covenant relationship with Christ. As taught by President Russell M. Nelson, “Your commitment to follow the Savior by making covenants with Him and then keeping those covenants will open the door to every spiritual blessing and privilege available to men, women, and children everywhere.”¹⁷

In other words, we discover hope in Christ through our covenants with Him. In our covenants, as taught in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we learn of the promised blessings and the conditions we have to satisfy to obtain those blessings. We don’t have to be perfect! “With the gift of the Atonement of Jesus Christ and the strength of heaven to help us, we can improve, and the great thing about the gospel is we get credit for trying, even if we don’t always succeed.”¹⁸

If we want to discover hope through the atonement of Christ, all we need to do is look to our covenant relationship with Christ. What has Christ promised us in those covenants? What has He asked us to do? As we focus on our covenants, we will discover hope through the atonement of Christ.

References

1. Dale Archer M.D., “The Power of Hope,” Psychology Today, July 31, 2013, https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/reading-between-the-headlines/201307/the-power-hope.
2. Constance Scharff Ph.D., “The Healing Power of Hope,” Psychology Today, May 16, 2023, https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/ending-addiction-for-good/202305/the-healing-power-of-hope.
3. Paul Thagard Ph.D., “What Is Hope and Is There Any?” Psychology Today, December 4, 2020, https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/hot-thought/202012/what-is-hope-and-is-there-any.
4. Jaime Booth Cundy BSW, MAPP, “The Goal of Hope,” Psychology Today, May 21, 2011, https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-beauty-in-the-beast/201105/the-goal-hope.
5. Moroni 7:41.
6. Ether 12:4.
7. John 14:1-3.
8. Doctrine and Covenants 76:50-70.
9. Matthew 19:17, “if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.”
10. Romans 3:23.
11. John 3:16-17.
12. 2 Nephi 2:8-9.
13. 3 Nephi 27:20.
14. Alma 33:19-21.
15. Doctrine and Covenants 45:3-5.
16. Alma 32:27.
17. Russell M. Nelson, “As We Go Forward Together,” Ensign, April 2018, https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/2018/04/as-we-go-forward-together?lang=eng.
18. Jeffrey R. Holland, “Tomorrow the Lord Will Do Wonders among You,” Ensign, May 2016, 125-126, https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/2016/05/sunday-afternoon-session/tomorrow-the-lord-will-do-wonders-among-you?lang=eng.