The Atonement is Today :)

The greatest event in the history of mankind was announced nearly 2,000 years ago, with the words “He is not here, but is risen”.

 

The Atonement of Jesus Christ is and should be a life changing event for each of us. It can make "bad men good, and good men better", by changing our human nature.

 

So, how do you and I access this life changing power? I have heard people say many times in Sunday school or in our Sacrament meetings that they have applied the atonement.. Like it's a bandage to apply when you're hurt, or a math formula you leverage to overcome an obstacle.

 

I used to get the impression that the atonement is some kind intangible object locked away in a vault, and we have to find out how to open it and then how to use it.

 

Then I heard one scripture in particular which completely flipped my understanding of the atonement.

With a better understanding of what the atonement of Jesus Christ is, I was better equipped on how to access it.

 

 

Interestingly enough, Jesus never actually used the word Atonement. In the King James Version, Atonement is mentioned only once; but in many versions of the bible it is not even be mentioned at all. Weird right? The most important event in the history of the world and it is hardly mentioned in the New Testament?

 

Would you be interested in finding out what Jesus himself called the atonement?

 

Though He never mentioned the word "atonement", He did describe the events that would take place. He said he would:

• "suffer many things" - Luke 9:22
• "Be betrayed" - Matthew 17:22
• "be mocked, scourged, crucified" - Matthew 20:19
• "tremble because of pain" - D- DC19:18
• "bleed at every pore" - DC19:18
• "be slain" - Luke 9:22
• "laid in a tomb" - Matthew 27:60
• "rise up the third day" - Mark 9:31

 

But, when it was all said and done, Jesus described his actions collectively as "glory be to the Father, and I partook and finished my preparations" - D&C19:19

 

 

What we call the atonement, Christ calls his preparations.

 

 

Accessing the atonement isn't opening a vault and taking out some gold to pay off your debt  of sin. If we want to keep using the vault analogy, it's opening the vault only to see Jesus Christ sitting on a throne, smiling at you and saying: "Hello Ryan, how can I help?"

 

Christ's atonement is not a book to check out at a library, a mathematical equation to solve life's problems, or a first aid kit to use in emergencies. It is Him. Everything He went through was so that He could be prepared.

 

Prepared for what?

 

Prepared to answer our prayers.

Prepared to mourn with those who mourn.

Prepared to comfort those who stand in need of comfort.

Prepared to stand as a witness of God.

Prepared to pay the demands of justice, in our place.

Prepared to give mercy to those who don't deserve it.

Prepared to put off the natural man in each of us.

Prepared to sanctify us.

Prepared to know exactly the pains we are feeling.

Prepared to know how it feels to be completely alone.

Prepared to give us strength to change our circumstances.

Prepared to give us courage in the face of fear and doubt.

Prepared to be a light in places of darkness.

Prepared to help us expand our capacity to love.

Prepared to know how to overcome death.

 

"There is no physical pain, no anguish of soul, no suffering of spirit, no infirmity or weakness that you or I ever experience during our mortal journey that the Savior did not experience first. You and I in a moment of weakness may cry out, “No one understands. No one knows.” No human being, perhaps, knows. But the Son of God perfectly knows and understands, for He felt and bore our burdens before we ever did. And because He paid the ultimate price and bore that burden, He has perfect empathy and can extend to us His arm of mercy in so many phases of our life. He can reach out, touch, succor—literally run to us—and strengthen us to be more than we could ever be and help us to do that which we could never do through relying upon only our own power." - Elder David A. Bednar

 

So, when did the atonement take place? 33AD? No. That was just the preparation.

 

The atonement is TODAY 😊