The Atonement of Jesus Christ

Joseph Smith taught, “The fundamental principles of our religion are the testimony of the Apostles and Prophets, concerning Jesus Christ, that He died, was buried, and rose again the third day, and ascended into heaven; and all other things which pertain to our religion are only appendages to it.”¹

On January 1, 2000, the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles published “The Living Christ: The Testimony of the Apostles.”² I would encourage you to read and study this document to not only learn more about Christ, but to feel the power of the testimony of his apostles.

Jesus Christ was the premortal Jehovah

In a prior post, (The Nature of God), I wrote briefly about Christ. As I mentioned, he “was the Great Jehovah of the Old Testament.”³ In writing his gospel, John started by saying, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”⁴ As Johovah, he was chosen even before the creation of the earth to be our savior.⁵

Jehovah was the Firstborn of all of our Father in Heaven’s spirit children.⁶ He was the God of the Old Testament.⁷ In the Book of Mormon, we read about the appearance of the premortal Jehovah to an ancient prophet:

“[T]he Lord showed himself unto him, and said: Because thou knowest these things ye are redeemed from the fall; therefore ye are brought back into my presence; therefore I show myself unto you.

“Behold, I am he who was prepared from the foundation of the world to redeem my people. Behold, I am Jesus Christ. I am the Father and the Son. In me shall all mankind have life, and that eternally, even they who shall believe on my name; and they shall become my sons and my daughters.

“And never have I showed myself unto man whom I have created, for never has man believed in me as thou hast. Seest thou that ye are created after mine own image? Yea, even all men were created in the beginning after mine own image.

“Behold, this body, which ye now behold, is the body of my spirit; and man have I created after the body of my spirit; and even as I appear unto thee to be in the spirit will I appear unto my people in the flesh.”⁸

Even before he was born and received a physical body, he was God.

The condescension of God

Just like the rest of God’s children, Jesus Christ needed to be born on this earth to receive a physical body. But unlike the rest of God’s children, as one who had already obtained his godhood, he was born as the “only begotten of the Father.”⁹

The Book of Mormon testifies of Christ, and in doing so the message is clear that “God himself” would redeem his people.¹⁰ In the early chapters of the Book of Mormon, we read about Nephi’s vision in which he is taught about the “condescension of God”:

“And it came to pass that I looked and beheld the great city of Jerusalem, and also other cities. And I beheld the city of Nazareth; and in the city of Nazareth I beheld a virgin, and she was exceedingly fair and white. And it came to pass that I saw the heavens open; and an angel came down and stood before me; and he said unto me: Nephi, what beholdest thou? And I said unto him: A virgin, most beautiful and fair above all other virgins. And he said unto me: Knowest thou the condescension of God? And I said unto him: I know that he loveth his children; nevertheless, I do not know the meaning of all things. And he said unto me: Behold, the virgin whom thou seest is the mother of the Son of God, after the manner of the flesh. And it came to pass that I beheld that she was carried away in the Spirit; and after she had been carried away in the Spirit for the space of a time the angel spake unto me, saying: Look! And I looked and beheld the virgin again, bearing a child in her arms. And the angel said unto me: Behold the Lamb of God, yea, even the Son of the Eternal Father!”¹¹

The condescension of God is a straight-forward concept: God himself, Jehovah, would be born and receive a physical body, and grow from childhood to adulthood¹² Through the years he “increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man,”¹³ meaning he had to learn and progress. Despite the fact that he was God and held the power of creation, he would suffer all things:

“I looked and beheld the Redeemer of the world, . . . that he went forth ministering unto the people, in power and great glory; and the multitudes were gathered together to hear him; and I beheld that they cast him out from among them. . . .

“And I beheld multitudes of people who were sick, and who were afflicted with all manner of diseases, and with devils and unclean spirits; and the angel spake and showed all these things unto me. And they were healed by the power of the Lamb of God; and the devils and the unclean spirits were cast out. . . .

“And I looked and beheld the Lamb of God, that he was taken by the people; yea, the Son of the everlasting God was judged of the world . . . [and] lifted up upon the cross and slain for the sins of the world.”¹⁴

Despite his power, he allowed himself to be taken, judged of the world, and crucified. It is remarkable to think of who judged him: he was judged of his own people, his covenant people, those who professed that they were “Abraham’s seed.”¹⁵ Jehovah entered into the covenant with Abraham,¹⁶ yet when Jesus Christ proclaimed himself as Jehovah, their God, they tried to kill him.¹⁷

In the Book of Mormon we read of prophets teaching that “God himself” would save us. Abinadi taught, “[W]ere it not for the atonement, which God himself shall make for the sins and iniquities of his people, that they must unavoidably perish.”¹⁸ Alma taught his son that “the plan of mercy could not be brought about except an atonement should be made; therefore God himself atoneth for the sins of the world, to bring about the plan of mercy, to appease the demands of justice, that God might be a perfect, just God, and a merciful God also.”¹⁹

God himself. In a prior post I wrote about the Fall. As a result of that event, we experience spiritual death, physical death, and pain and suffering in this life. God planned for the Fall and allowed the Fall to occur, but he also prepared the way for us to overcome the effects of the Fall. God would offer himself as an infinite and eternal sacrifice for us to overcome the consequences of the Fall.

The gospel accounts of the Atonement of Jesus Christ

Each of the four gospels in the New Testament provides details about the Savior’s atonement. The following is taken from Matthew, with additional details or different wording from Mark and Luke included in brackets.

• Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder. [And he came out, and went, as he was wont, to the mount of Olives].
• And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful [sore amazed] and very heavy.
• Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me. [he said unto them, Pray that ye enter not into temptation].
• And he went a little further [about a stone’s cast], and fell on his face [kneeled down], and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible [if thou be willing], let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt. [And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt.]
• [And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him. And being in agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.]
• And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour? [Simon, sleepest thou? couldest not thou watch with me one hour?] [And when he rose up from prayer, and was come to his disciples, he found them sleeping for sorrow, and said unto them, Why sleep ye?]
• Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing [ready], but the flesh is weak.
• He went away again the second time, and prayed, [and spake the same words] saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done.
• And he came and found them asleep again: for their eyes were heavy [neither wist they what to answer him].
• And he left them, and went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words.
• Then cometh he to his disciples, and saith unto them, Sleep on now, and take your rest: [it is enough], behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.
• Rise, let us be going: behold, he is at hand that doth betray me.²⁰

To be one with God

The book of John does not contain a description of the atonement, but instead recites the Savior’s prayer offered in the Garden. For the entirety of the prayer, read John 17. The following are quotes from that prayer that have been significant for me:

• And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
• I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.
• While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.
• Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word.
• That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
• And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one.
• I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.²¹

The Savior’s great intercessory prayer demontrates that his atonement is meant to help us become one with Christ, as he is one with the Father. Elder Jeffrey R. Holland taught how the atonement of Christ helps us overcome the Fall, which separated us from God:

“The literal meaning of the word ‘Atonement’ is self-evident: at-one-ment, the act of unifying or bringing together what has been separated and estranged. The Atonement of Jesus Christ was indispensable because of the separating transgression, or fall, of Adam, which brought death into the world when Adam and Eve partook of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil (Gen. 2:9; 3:1–24). . . . For Latter-day Saints, it is crucially important to see the agreed-upon and understood fall of man only in the context of the equally agreed-upon and understood redemption of man—redemption provided through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Thus, one of the most important and oft-quoted lines of Latter-day Saint scripture says, “Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy. And the Messiah cometh in the fulness of time, that he may redeem the children of men from the fall’ (2 Ne. 2:25–26).”²²

Because of the Fall, we were separated from God. Not only does the atonement of Christ overcome this separation, it helps us to become one with God.

What did the Savior experience during the atonement?

In a revelation given through Joseph Smith in 1829, the Savior himself described his suffering: “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.”²³

The prophet Alma taught that not only did Christ suffer for our sins, but he also bore our infimities:

“And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people. And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities. Now the Spirit knoweth all things; nevertheless the Son of God suffereth according to the flesh that he might take upon him the sins of his people, that he might blot out their transgressions according to the power of his deliverance; and now behold, this is the testimony which is in me.”

What was the Atonement of Christ?

Several years ago, I was in a Deacons Quorum meeting, and a young man (about 12 years old), said, “What is the atonement? We talk about it all the time, but nobody ever says what it is.” I was about 41 years old at the time, and I was amazed at the question. I wasn’t sure that up until that time I had ever really thought about that. So what is the atonement? Thanks to that question, I began to study and ponder.

The answer was given simply by Russell M. Nelson, while serving as President of the Quorum of the Twelve. In a talk titled, “Drawing the Power of Jesus Christ into Our Lives,” President Nelson discussed the atonement of Christ:

“As Latter-day Saints, we refer to His mission as the Atonement of Jesus Christ, which made resurrection a reality for all and made eternal life possible for those who repent of their sins and receive and keep essential ordinances and covenants.

“It is doctrinally incomplete to speak of the Lord’s atoning sacrifice by shortcut phrases, such as ‘the Atonement’ or ‘the enabling power of the Atonement’ or ‘applying the Atonement’ or ‘being strengthened by the Atonement.’ These expressions present a real risk of misdirecting faith by treating the event as if it had living existence and capabilities independent of our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ.

“Under the Father’s great eternal plan, it is the Savior who suffered. It is the Savior who broke the bands of death. It is the Savior who paid the price for our sins and transgressions and blots them out on condition of our repentance. It is the Savior who delivers us from physical and spiritual death.

“There is no amorphous entity called ‘the Atonement’ upon which we may call for succor, healing, forgiveness, or power. Jesus Christ is the source. Sacred terms such as Atonement and Resurrection describe what the Savior did, according to the Father’s plan, so that we may live with hope in this life and gain eternal life in the world to come. The Savior’s atoning sacrifice—the central act of all human history—is best understood and appreciated when we expressly and clearly connect it to Him.”²⁴

The atonement is something Jesus Christ did. The atonement is not an entity itself, or a source of power. Instead, by performing the atonement, Jesus Christ gained power from the Father, and it is that power that enables Christ to extend to us his grace and mercy. Thus, Jesus Christ should be the focal point of our lives.

Christ’s death and resurrection

After suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane (on a Thursday night), Jesus Christ was taken, tried by the Jewish leaders (during the night between Thursday and Friday), delivered to the Romans, and crucified (on Friday). His body was taken by Joseph of Arimathea sometime before the Sabbath began Friday night, and was placed in a tomb, with a “great stone” rolled to the door of the sepulchre.²⁵

The crucifixion

We often talk about the Savior’s suffering in Gethsemane and his suffering on the cross as separate events. But I have come to believe that perhaps the event of the “atonement” of Christ was not confined to the Garden of Gethsemane. His suffering did not end when he left the Garden, and it was not finished until he yielded up the ghost while on the cross.

“And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”²⁶ Just before he “gave up the ghost,” he said, “It is finished.”²⁷ What did he mean when he said that God had forsaken him? What was finished?

The sacrifice of the Savior continued as he hung on the cross. Elder Jeffrey R. Holland spoke of those horrible, but glorious final moments:

“Now I speak very carefully, even reverently, of what may have been the most difficult moment in all of this solitary journey to Atonement. I speak of those final moments for which Jesus must have been prepared intellectually and physically but which He may not have fully anticipated emotionally and spiritually—that concluding descent into the paralyzing despair of divine withdrawal when He cries in ultimate loneliness, ‘My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?’ . . .

“With all the conviction of my soul I testify that He did please His Father perfectly and that a perfect Father did not forsake His Son in that hour. Indeed, it is my personal belief that in all of Christ’s mortal ministry the Father may never have been closer to His Son than in these agonizing final moments of suffering. Nevertheless, that the supreme sacrifice of His Son might be as complete as it was voluntary and solitary, 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 His Atonement to be infinite and eternal, He had to feel what it was like to die not only physically but spiritually, to sense what it was like to have the divine Spirit withdraw, leaving one feeling totally, abjectly, hopelessly alone.”²⁸

It should also be noted that the Savior was not “killed.” His life was not taken from him. He said, “I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep. And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd. Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.”²⁹

As Jehovah, the God who condescended, and the literal son of the Eternal Father, Jesus Christ held the power of life, death, and resurrection. Everything that happened to him, he allowed to happen. And so once he completed his work, once it was finished, he “yielded up the ghost.”³⁰

The Savior’s work among the dead

After his death and before his resurrection, Jesus Christ organized his work among the spirits of the righteous who had died. This teaches us of the eternal nature of spirits, and that his atonement works not only for those who are living, but also for the dead.

It should be noted that in the preexistence, during the war in heaven, we prevailed “by the blood of the Lamb.”³¹ The Savior’s atonement is an “infinte and eternal sacrifice,”³² and so somehow we received strength from the Savior’s atonement even before it occurred. As we see the Savior working among the spirits of the dead, we learn of the eternal nature of spirits, the love of God for all his children, whether living, dead, or resurrected, and that the Savior’s redeeming power applies in any state of our existence.

In October, 1918, President Joseph F. Smith had a vision of the Savior’s visit to the spirit world after his death:

“And there were gathered together in one place an innumerable company of the spirits of the just, who had been faithful in the testimony of Jesus while they lived in mortality; . . . the Son of God appeared, declaring liberty to the captives who had been faithful; And there he preached to them the everlasting gospel, the doctrine of the resurrection and the redemption of mankind from the fall, and from individual sins on conditions of repentance.

“But unto the wicked he did not go, and among the ungodly and the unrepentant who had defiled themselves while in the flesh, his voice was not raised; Neither did the rebellious who rejected the testimonies and the warnings of the ancient prophets behold his presence, nor look upon his face. Where these were, darkness reigned, but among the righteous there was peace; . . .

“I marveled, for I understood that the Savior spent about three years in his ministry among the Jews and those of the house of Israel, endeavoring to teach them the everlasting gospel and call them unto repentance; And yet, notwithstanding his mighty works, and miracles, and proclamation of the truth, in great power and authority, there were but few who hearkened to his voice, and rejoiced in his presence, and received salvation at his hands. But his ministry among those who were dead was limited to the brief time intervening between the crucifixion and his resurrection; . . .

“And as I wondered, my eyes were opened, and my understanding quickened, and I perceived that the Lord went not in person among the wicked and the disobedient who had rejected the truth, to teach them; But behold, from among the righteous, he organized his forces and appointed messengers, clothed with power and authority, and commissioned them to go forth and carry the light of the gospel to them that were in darkness, even to all the spirits of men; and thus was the gospel preached to the dead. And the chosen messengers went forth to declare the acceptable day of the Lord and proclaim liberty to the captives who were bound, even unto all who would repent of their sins and receive the gospel.

“Thus was the gospel preached to those who had died in their sins, without a knowledge of the truth, or in transgression, having rejected the prophets. These were taught faith in God, repentance from sin, vicarious baptism for the remission of sins, the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands, And all other principles of the gospel that were necessary for them to know in order to qualify themselves that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.

“And so it was made known among the dead, both small and great, the unrighteous as well as the faithful, that redemption had been wrought through the sacrifice of the Son of God upon the cross.³³

The Savior’s work among the dead was very similar to the work among the living. He taught his faithful servants, gave them authority, and they then taught his gospel to the spirits in prison.

The resurrection

On the third day (Sunday), the Savior rose from the dead, a resurrected being, “the firstfruits of them that slept.”³⁴ Events in the scriptures teach us something about his nature after his resurrection. He invited his disciples to “handle” him, and so they experienced for themselves that he had a body of “flesh and bones.”³⁵ He was also able to eat, as shown by the fact that they “gave him a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb. And he took it, and did eat before them.”³⁶

During his mortal ministry, the Savior invited his followers to be “perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.”³⁷ But after his resurrection, as he visited the American Continent, he said, “I would that ye should be perfect even as I, or your Father who is in heaven is perfect.”³⁸

The term “perfect” has a deeper meaning. The Greek word used in Matthew 5:48, “τέλειος,” or “teleios,” means “brought to completion; fully accomplished, fully developed.”³⁹ When we hear the term “perfect,” we so often think of without sin, or without mistake. But the Savior’s different use of this phrase before and after his resurrection shows that to be complete, we must be resurrected. After his resurrection, he was complete, he was fully developed, fully accomplished, perfect. And he invites us to follow him.

Because of Christ’s resurrection, all will be resurrected: “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.”⁴⁰

Hope through the atonement of Christ

The atonement of Jesus Christ is a topic for a lifetime of study. The blessings are countless. Because of the atonement, Jesus Christ gained power from the Father, and he wants us to be able to draw that power into our lives. Through his grace, mercy, and love, we can be forgiven, cleansed of our sins, strengthened to overcome the world, comforted in our sorrows, and blessed in so many other ways. The ultimate blessing is to become one with God.

Because of all these blessings, we have hope: “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.”⁴¹

We have hope because of the atonement of Christ. When things are hard, when we doubt, when we worry, when we face any trial of any kind, we can have hope that Christ has the power to help us. He is our savior, helping us overcome every trial and challenge we may face. If we make him the central focus of our lives, we can receive all the blessings that are available to us because of his atonement.

References

1. “Teachings of the Presidents of the Church, Joseph Smith,” The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah, 2011, 49, https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/teachings-joseph-smith/chapter-3?lang=eng&id=p18#p18. ↩︎
2. The Living Christ: The Testimony of the Apostles, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/the-living-christ-the-testimony-of-the-apostles/the-living-christ-the-testimony-of-the-apostles?lang=eng&id=title1-subtitle1#title1. ↩︎
3. The Living Christ: The Testimony of the Apostles. ↩︎
4. John 1:1. ↩︎
5. Moses 4:2; Abraham 3:27. ↩︎
6. Doctrine and Covenants 93:21. ↩︎
7. Exodus 6:2-8. ↩︎
8. Ether 3:13-16. ↩︎
9. Moses 5:7. ↩︎
10. Mosiah 13:33. ↩︎
11. 1 Nephi 11:13-21. ↩︎
12. Luke 2:40. ↩︎
13. Luke 2:52. ↩︎
14. 1 Nephi 11:27-33. ↩︎
15. John 8:33-58. ↩︎
16. Genesis 17:3-4. ↩︎
17. John 8:58-59. ↩︎
18. Mosiah 13:28; Mosiah 15:1; Mosiah 17:8. ↩︎
19. Alma 42:15. ↩︎
20. Matthew 26:36-46; Mark 14:33-42; Luke 22:39-46. ↩︎
21. John 17:3, 6, 12, 20-23. ↩︎
22. Jeffrey R. Holland, “Atonement of Jesus Christ,” in Latter-day Saint Essentials: Readings from the Encyclopedia of Mormonism, ed. John W. Welch and Devan Jensen (Provo, UT: BYU Studies and the Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 2002), 12–7, https://rsc.byu.edu/latter-day-saint-essentials/atonement-jesus-christ#. ↩︎
23. Doctrine and Covenants 19:16-19. ↩︎
24. Russell M. Nelson, “Drawing the Power of Jesus Christ into Our Lives,” Ensign, May, 2017, https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/liahona/2017/05/saturday-morning-session/drawing-the-power-of-jesus-christ-into-our-lives?lang=eng&id=title1#title1. ↩︎
25. Matthew 27:57-60. ↩︎
26. Matthew 27:46. ↩︎
27. John 19:30. ↩︎
28. Jeffrey R. Holland, “None Were with Him,” Ensign, May, 2009, 87-88, https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/liahona/2009/05/none-were-with-him?lang=eng&id=p13#p13. ↩︎
29. John 10:14-18. ↩︎
30. Matthew 27:50. ↩︎
31. Revelation 12:11. ↩︎
32. Alma 34:9-10. ↩︎
33. Doctrine and Covenants 138:11-35. ↩︎
34. 1 Corinthians 15:20. ↩︎
35. Luke 24:39. ↩︎
36. Luke 24:42-43. ↩︎
37. Matthew 5:48. ↩︎
38. 3 Nephi 11:48. ↩︎
39. The Online Greek Bible, “Matthew 5:48,” https://www.greekbible.com/matthew/5/48. ↩︎
40. 1 Corinthians 15:22. ↩︎
41. Moroni 7:41. ↩︎