Are you willing to obtain Eternal Life?

Jesus Christ was the perfect Sacrifice as called upon by his Father to be so. In
the beginning when the plan was laid out and we understood it perfectly, it
was shown to us that in order for us to be saved, someone would have to save
us.
In Abraham, we understand that after the plan was laid out before God's
children, the Father asked, “Whom shall I send?” To which, the Savior
responded, “Send me.” That plan, which was established prior to our coming
to this earth, became conditional. The plan called for us to bind, or seal
ourselves to a perfect sacrifice, meaning, that through the Mercy of God by
Sacrificing His Son, we would be found just by believing on Him, Keeping
his Commandments and following Him.
Therefore, an Atonement would have to be offered. There had to be someone
who was willing to be the perfect sacrifice for the unperfect to bind
themselves to to be declared just and able to gain Salvation. As the Plan
demanded, the Atonement must be carried out by someone who was perfect,
unblemished, pure in heart, Godly by nature. The act of performing the
Atonement must be carried out in perfect Obedience by the one chosen to do
so. There could be no substitutes.
Why? Because we became estranged from God. And in this estranged
time, we alone would have no power to save us, nor would God, who would
be left unable to save the the unperfect. The role of Jesus becomes clearer at
this point. As said, he becomes the perfect sacrifice, the Atoning One. The
Mediator and the Advocate with the Father. Allowing us the ability to repent
and become clean, while allowing the Father to declare forgiveness because
of the sacrifice of His Perfect Son, thus allowing the Father to extend mercy.
The First Presidency testified recently as such: “We give our sure witness that
Jesus is the Christ. Though He was crucified, He rose triumphant from the
tomb to our everlasting blessing and benefit. To each member of the human
family He stands as our advocate, our Savior, and our Friend.”
I was attending a business class years ago at Washington State University. It
was a grueling class. One night, my friend Alan Cox and I were leaving the
library after a long evening of studying and found a man near our cars. He
asked if we had any money to assist him. Being poor college students and
having just studied for a finance test, this man was asking the wrong people
for cash. We felt the need to help though. I called the Bishop and let him
know the situation, to which he responded that we were not to give him any
money, but see to it that he gets to where he needs to go. I let my wife know
what is going on and asked her to contact Alan's wife as well. She was
scared, but we were doing what we felt was right. A few trips turned into
wasted journeys around Pullman and then to Moscow Idaho. The man grew
impatient and turned out to be very vulger and threatening to Alan and I.
Finally, he grew frustrated and asked to be let out of the car. We were greatly
relieved. I got home and found my wife with our good friends, nervous, but
glad to see I was OK. I even found out, that my good friend Sam Bell had
gone out looking for us, telling my wife and his, “I am going to save my
friend.”
To be considered a friend of the Lord, one whom the Lord would lay his life
down. He told his deciples in Jerusalem this very point with the condition
that came with it.
“This is my commandment, that ye love one another, as I have loved you.
Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his
friends. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.” (John
15:12-14)
Nephi, the son of Lehi, who journeyed with his family out of Jerusalem and
found refuge in the American Continent, taught his people in one of his final
messages this (2 Ne. 31:13)
13.Wherefore, my beloved brethren, I know that if ye shall follow the Son,
with full purpose of heart, acting no hypocrisy and no deception before
God, but with real intent, repenting of your sins, witnessing unto the
father that ye are willing to take upon you the name of Christ, by
baptism – yea, by following your Lord and your Savior down into the
water, according to his word, behold, then shall ye receive the Holy
Ghost; yea, then cometh the baptism of fire and of the Holy Ghost; and
then can ye speak with the tongue of angels, and shot praises unto the
Holy One of Israel.
Because the Plan called for a perfect sacrifice, or an Atonement, the first born
was chosen to go and save God's children, or all those who were willing to
accept the conditions as the Father had laid them out. And we sustained it.
We understood the risk involved and we had faith that by our actions, God
would put in place all that was necessary for us to overcome.
The adversary will convince that it is impossible and cannot happen. Since
the natural man is an enemy to God, the devil will use that knowledge to
discourage you. The Atonement will erase the fear and replace it with faith to
help you understand that you can put off the Natural Man and gain Eternal
Life.
Thus, the top priority for the Plan of Salvation is God's desire to save His
children. And the Atonement of Christ becomes the keystone to that Plan. It
ties all other conditions and covenants together, establishing a path that is
purposeful and capable of saving the soul that becomes lost.
During a discourse with the Pharisees and Sadducees, the Savior taught three
parables consecutively with the same meaning. The first, he taught about the
shepherd who would leave the 99 to seek out the one. Second, the woman
who searched for the lost coin, and the third, the Prodigal Son. In each of
these discourses, Jesus teaches the same principle:
Regarding the sheep: “Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which
was lost.
Regarding the lost coin: “Rejoice with me; for I have found the piece which I
had lost.”
And regarding the Son: “It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad:
for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.”
Elder James E. Talmage wrote in Jesus the Christ: “The three parables, which
appear in the scriptural record as parts of a continuous discourse, are as one
in portraying the joy that abounds in heaven over the recovery of a soul, once
numbered among the lost ...”
And to the opposite, Talmage wrote: “The loss of a soul is very real and a
very great loss to God. He is pained and grieved thereby, for it is His will that
not one should perish.”
And yet, we believe, that God is not mindful of us. To who we are, or our
suffering in whatever capacity it may be. For the devil takes hold, and pulls
us down, saying that God cannot save you for what you have done. And we
limit the ability and the power of the Atonement, saying it can save those
whom it will save, but for me it will not. You may have had trials in your life,
or experiences, or you recognize your shortfalls and shortcomings and you
believe that God may have power to save others, but he does not have power
to save you.
The faith that we have that the Atonement of Christ, distances and absolves
and becomes a fear. Yet, the very purpose of the Atonement is to bring back
faith to the weak, the downtrodden. Elder Jeffrey R. Holland stated in the
Sunday Morning Session of General Conference:
“Brothers and Sisters, my Easter-season message is intended for everyone,
but it is directed in a special way to those who are alone, or feel alone, or
worse yet, feel abandoned. These might include those longing to be married,
those who have lost a spouse and those who have lost – or never been blessed
with – children. Our empathy embraces wives forsaken by their husbands,
husbands whose wives have walked away, and children bereft of one or the
other of their parents – or both. This group can find within its broad
circumference a soldier far from home, a missionary in those first weeks of
homesickness, or a father out of work, afraid the fear in his eyes will be
visible to his family. In short, it can include all of us at various times in our
lives.
“To all such, I speak of the loneliest journey ever made and the unending
blessings it brought to all in the human family. I speak of the Saviors solitary
task of shouldering alone the burden of our salvation.”
Nephi felt the burdens of his calling soon after his father Lehi passed away.
During that time, he wrote that he felt inadequate and imperfect. He said, “I
am encompassed about, because of the temptations and the sins which do
easily beset me. And when I desire to rejoice, my heart groaneth because of
my sins; nevertheless, I know in whom I have trusted. My God hath been my
support; he hath led me through mine afflictions in the wilderness; and he
hath preserved me upon the waters of the great deep.”
The Lord knows you. He came to this earth to save the Children of God,
because they are precious to him. He suffered all things, as James E. Talmage
wrote, “but over that sinner's repentance and contrition of soul, God and the
household of heaven rejoiced.” And for God to be able to rejoice, the Father
had to be willing to sacrifice His Son.
“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,” Elder Holland said in
that same conference talk.
With all of this said. It leads me to what I titled this talk: Are you willing to
obtain Eternal Life?
Elder Holland answered, “Brothers and sisters, one of the great consolations
of this Easter season is that because Jesus walked such a long, lonely path
utterly alone, we do not have to do so. His solitary journey brought great
company for our little version of that path—the merciful care of our Father in
Heaven, the unfailing companionship of this Beloved Son, the consummate
gift of the Holy Ghost, angels in heaven, family members on both sides of the
veil, prophets and apostles, teachers, leaders, friends. All of these and more
have been given as companions for our mortal journey because of the
Atonement of Jesus Christ and the Restoration of His gospel. Trumpeted
from the summit of Calvary is the truth that we will never be left alone nor
unaided, even if sometimes we may feel that we are.”
The Savior himself said, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy
laden, and I will give you rest.”
As a result of the Atonement of Christ, the keystone of the Plan of Salvation
was put into place and we could obtain Eternal Life if we are willing to do as
He has commanded.
Elder Bruce R. McConkie wrote:
I believe in Christ; he stands supreme!
From him I'll gain my fondest dream;
And while I strive through grief and apin
his voice is heard: “Ye shall obtain.”
I believe in Christ; so come what may
With him I'll stand in that great day
When on this earth he comes again
To rule among the sons of men.