A BELONGING

 

“When Jesus completed His atoning act, He uttered these words from the cross: “It is finished” (John 19:30).  When the meaning and purpose of His Atonement are first realised in our lives, we may say, “It has begun”. What has begun? The process of becoming forever “at one” with him – belonging to him.

“Those who come unto Christ also enter into a spiritual child-parent relationship with him. They take upon themselves his name – not only “Christians” in a general sense, but as King Benjamin wrote of those who accepted Christ’s Atonement and His gospel, “ye shall be called the children of Christ, his sons, and his daughters, for behold this day he hath spiritually begotten you” (Mosiah 5:7).

“The unlimited parental commitment the Saviour feels for those who are in this sense His children is anchored deeply in the sacrifice of His Atonement. A mother descends into the dark valley of pain and death, risking her life to bring forth the life of her child. And when the child is born, she feels the awesome limitlessness of maternal bonds that are stronger than the cords of death.

“This sacrifice, understandable to any parent, yet most understandable to mothers, mirrors both the Saviour’s sacrifice and His everlasting commitment to nourish and cherish the children of Christ for whom He offered His body and His blood (see 1 Nephi 21:15-16)”

-          Elder Bruce C. Hafen, “The Belonging Heart” p 142-144

Elder Hafen goes on to say that the parent-child relationship which we are in with the Saviour goes beyond His commitment to nourish and cherish us as His children. The crucial component of this relationship is that the child develops and grows to become like the parent: “Ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him…” (Moroni 7:48).

It gives the phrase “you are just like your father” a whole new meaning, does it not?

The day You climbed the fateful hill

And embraced the pain of Calvary

You freed us from this world of sin

And from every agony.

 

How noble, how enduring

How strong You must have been

To fight my soul’s enemy

In the Garden of Gethsemane.

 

I give You my heart

I give You my all

To one day see Your

Reflection in my soul.

 

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Sands of Serenity and Joyful Teachings by Ivan Guaderrama)

WHO YOU ARE

 

“An old rabbi once said that every man ought to carry two pieces of paper in his pocket.

“In times of self-satisfaction and complacency he should read the one that says: “I am dust and ashes”.

“When dejected and dispirited he should read the other that says: “For my sake was the world created”.

“And at all times he should remember: “I am made from the dust but it is in God’s image I am made”.

-        Author Unknown

When Moses encountered God on Mount Sinai, God revealed Himself to him and Moses saw the glory of God and every particle of this earth and all the children of men (Moses 1:8,27) that have ever been created.

The vision of God's power was overwhelming to a man who grew up in an Egyptian court believing that Pharoah was god and there was no one greater than him so he exclaimed that now he could see that man is nothing (Moses :10).

God, however, didn't want Moses to miss the point so He showed him the same vision again and concluded it with the most important message in the scriptures: "For behold this is my work and my glory - to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man" (Moses 1:39). The point that God didn't want Moses to miss is this: amongst all of God's creations, none are greater than man…..

Moses learnt something else of great importance on that occasion. God addressed Moses as, “my son” (Moses 1:7). Moses comprehended the significance of this straight away. When Satan appeared to him after the vision was given for the first time demanding that Moses worship him, he addressed him as “Moses, son of man”, emphasizing his mortality and thereby attempting to discredit his divine origin.

Moses’ rebuttal was perfect: “I am a son of God…..get thee hence, Satan, deceive me not…” (Moses 1:13).  

Satan’s crushing ideologies of the world seek to destroy our belief in our divine origin now more than ever but he can never alter the truth that the seeds of deity are implanted within each of us. Because we are the literal offspring of God the Father, the potential within us to rise to the greatest heights of our existence is unmistakable.

When the enemy comes to you in his clever disguise to discourage you and confuse you as to who you are, believe him not.

When the Saviour came to earth, He repeatedly affirmed He was the Son of God. He knew who He was and He behaved as such and fulfilled His mission as such. We might not be as great as Him but in the words of Moses: “…I am a son of God, in the similitude of his Only Begotten….” (Moses 1:13)

Let the everlasting hills and mountains

Hear Thy exalted voice;

That the ends of the earth

Might proclaim Thy eternal fame.

May all who hear, walk in Thy holy name

And seek Thy mercy and Thy grace;

And may those found worthy

Be endowed with Thy image

In the countenance of their face.

 

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Gentle Christ by Del Parson)

BY HIS NAME

 

Imagine if we had no names. Imagine if we were known only by our physical description. What a chaotic world that would be. Being known by a name keeps order in our society. Names are very significant in many cultures and naming a child upon birth is a matter worthy of thoughtful consideration. The hope is that the child will grow up to fill the stature of its given name. Both Mary and Joseph were instructed to give the Saviour the name of ‘Jesus’ (Matt 1:21; Luke 1:31) which is the Greek form of the Hebrew and Aramaic name of Yeshua which means ‘the Lord is Salvation’. But this is just one of the names He is known by. I am always on the look-out for His names when I am reading the scriptures. So far I have recorded 51 but I am sure there is more.

When we are born into this world, we take upon ourselves our father’s name. When we are spiritually born through baptism, we take upon ourselves the name of Jesus Christ. We become CHRISTians. King Benjamin explained this means that we become ‘the children of Christ’. He mentions the importance of having Christ’s name 11 times in 6 verses of Mosiah 5 (V 7-12). Why is this important? Because, just as we are genetically predisposed to inherit physical and mental traits of our earthly fathers, so we, when we take upon ourselves the name of Christ, and live his teachings, inherit His spiritual qualities. In other words, we become like Him by the virtue of our newly acquired parental bond (Moroni 7:48). This gives a whole new meaning to the phrase ‘you’re just like your father’, does it not???

King Benjamin closes his address admonishing his people to be steadfast and immovable and always abounding in good works for the greatest of all blessings depends on this: "....that Christ, the Lord God Omnipotent, may seal you his, that you may be brought to heaven, that ye may have everlasting salvation and eternal life..." (Mosiah 5:15)  The Saviour will hold us responsible for His name when we face Him at the judgment bar.  As his children, it is our duty to bring honour and glory to his name through the life that we live.  For this He will exalt us so that we can have all that He has and be all that He is. Alma spoke of being spiritually born and thereby receiving His image in our countenance (Alma 5:14).  Let us live so that this image will be recognized by all we associate with and that we will be known by His name more readily than by our own. What we do with Christ's name speaks volumes about our integrity and character. Being Christian means being like Christ and behaving as He would behave. It reminds me of that saying:  "If you were arrested for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?" 

When through the water’s gate

I was given the Saviour’s name,

His law was written in my heart

Forever there to remain.

 

I offered love, I obeyed,

I followed the paths He had me take;

I’ve endured all my trials

For His name’s sake.

 

And when in clouds of heaven He appears

And I stand in the shadow of His frame,

I want to hear the Saviour say:

I love what you have done with my name!

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art by Greg Olsen)