THREE PILLARS OF ETERNITY: THE ATONEMENT

 

“You shall have eternal life, which gift is the greatest of all the gifts of God (D&C 14:7). It is a pure gift – we have no right to it: we have proved our helplessness to achieve it and our unworthiness to possess it. Jesus Christ bought it for us: He paid the ransom price, He redeemed us when we could not redeem ourselves, and He gave us eternal life as a free gift. He has taught us how to qualify for the gift, but the gift itself we could never earn by our own efforts.” (Hugh Nibley, “Approaching Zion” p 137)

The above quote is the greatest understanding that I have received regarding the Atonement of Jesus Christ, the study of which can be overwhelming.  I don’t think we will ever come to understand how it was executed, in this life or even the next. It’s an experience exclusive to one person and to fully understand someone’s experience one has to be a partaker of it to some degree.

The best we can do is understand the three principal purposes of the Atonement:

1.      To restore all that was lost by the Fall of Adam which brought about physical death (1 Corinthians 15:21-22).

2.      To overcome the first spiritual death by bringing us back into God’s presence to be judged and the second spiritual death for those who will repent (Helaman 14:16-18).

3.      To provide the power necessary to exalt us to the status of a god (D&C 76:69).

Much can be said about all three of these reasons but I would like to expound a little on the third one as I feel that exaltation is the main purpose of the Plan of Salvation. The role of the Atonement of Jesus Christ plus our own efforts of repentance is meant to produce one thing and that is not only to live with God the Father, but to become like Him. God the Father is not only a perfect, resurrected being but an exalted one, meaning He is God, therefore our goal is exaltation:

“To live with God does not assure us we will be like Him. All who live in the celestial kingdom dwell with God, but only those who are exalted become as He is. The objective of the Atonement is not just to cleanse us, but to so transform our lives and our way of thinking and acting that we become like God.” (Tad Callister, “The Infinite Atonement”, p 27)

What is the life of God the Father like? It is one of eternal joy in a marital capacity that never ends, being a co-creator of posterity and worlds without end with someone who loves you with a perfect love, a love that lasts forever and ever. This is the crowning blessing and the perfect state of a God. This is where we hail from and this is where the Atonement of our Saviour Jesus Christ can take us to.

 My heart is full of love for Thee,

As I stand in awe of Thy Godly majesty,

The magnitude of worlds

And the stars of heaven

That roll upon their wings praising Thee.

The creation of man, a crowning glory

To Thy priesthood and Thy throne,

In endless praise of Thy name

In the splendour of Thy celestial home.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Worlds Without Number by Rose Datoc Dall) 

THREE PILLARS OF ETERNITY: THE FALL

 

“He [Adam] stood in the presence of his Maker, conversed with him face to face, and gazed upon his glory, without a dimming veil between. O reader, contemplate for a moment this beautiful creation, with peace and plenty: the earth teeming with harmless animals,….the air swarming with delightful birds whose never-ceasing notes filled the air with varied melody;….while legions of angels encamped round about him and joined their glad voices in grateful songs of praise and shouts of joy.

“Neither sigh nor groan was heard through the vast expanse; neither was there sorrow, fear, pain, weeping, sickness, nor death; neither contentions, wars, nor bloodshed, but peace crowned the seasons as they rolled, and life, joy, and love reigned over all God’s works.”  (Parley P. Pratt, “Key to the Science of Theology and Voice of Warning, ; p 85)

Such was Parley P. Pratt’s vision of the idyllic world of Eden. But as idyllic as it was, a Harvard philosopher, John Fiske, called it rightly a “way-station, not a destination” a fool’s paradise where nothing called ‘character’  could have been produced there” (Fiske, “Studies in Religion”, p 252)

The Garden of Eden, where such tranquility existed, had two positives and two negatives. The positives were: 1. Immortality; 2. The presence of God. This state of existence produced only one thing, “a world of spiritual sterility” (Tad R. Callister, “The Infinite Atonement, p 34)

The two negatives of Eden were: 1. No knowledge of good and evil hence no moral agency and no progression; and 2. No procreation. “A continuation of this condition would literally defeat the plan of salvation (ibid, p 35)

There is much that can be written about this subject but this has to be the most important thing we should take away from it. When Adam and Eve partook of the fruit, the seeds of death were planted in their veins and when they were cast out from the Garden of Eden they became ‘spiritually dead’ (D&C 29:41). To be spiritually dead means to be ‘cut off from the presence of the Lord’ (2 Nephi 9:6; see also Helaman 14:16).

“To be cast from the presence of the Holy One is estrangement of the worst kind. It is to take from us that which means most – our sense of belonging to the divine family. It is to strip us of security and self-worth in one fatal blow…It is akin to restricting our communication with a loved one to the telephone; the lines can be clear, the conversation frequent, but the happiness that comes from being in another’s physical presence is missing.” (Tad R. Callister, “The Infinite Atonement, p 41). This is the state Adam and Eve were in after they left Eden. And this is the state of us now. Only the telephone line is there.

This is what we should take notice of…..There is a return from the first spiritual death through the Atonement of Christ but there shall be no return from the final spiritual death that shall be pronounced upon all the wicked on Judgment Day when God shall say: Depart, ye cursed (D&C 29:41).  

This is something we would feel the effects of for eternity: a perpetual sorrow, a wanting, a longing that can never be satisfied. To be cut off from the presence of God is the greatest tragedy there is. Even Cain in his depraved condition considered his banishment from God’s presence more than he could bear (Genesis 4:13,14).

I think the Saviour knew in the beginning what it means to be cut off from Father’s presence forever. This is why He yearned to save us from this devastation, hence so much emphasis on the sheep that are ‘lost’.

 

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Creation of Eve by Rose Datoc Dall)