Each of us has two animals residing within us, the first I like to refer to as the Lion. The lion is the natural man in all of us, the part of us that encompasses all of our weaknesses, insecurities, fears, and doubts. The lion in us desires things that are not of God, struggles with a desire and conviction to choose right. It encompasses the darkest parts of ours souls. This is the part of us that satan likes to encourage, the part of us satan wants us to feed so that one day it will consumes us.
On the other hand, we all have a divine spirit, a part of us I like to call the lamb. This is our true identity, our identity as sons and daughters of God. This part of our spirits is the part of us that yearns for something greater, that comprehends that we have so much potential, that longs for and strives for righteousness and for all that is pure and holy. It longs for home.
So what decides the prominence of these animals in our lives? What determines which beast will occupy our souls and hearts? It's as simple as this...whichever animal we decide to feed will be the animal that dominates and thrives.
There will be different times in our lives when either the lamb or the lion demands our attention or seems to consume our control, but ultimately it's up to us to decide who we will let rule us. I've been thinking about this a lot lately as the lion in me has fought to take precedence over the lamb. Sometimes I feel consumed by my natural man and the weaknesses inside of my heart that it exploits. But I'm learning that it's completely and totally up to me to decide who will win out.
So how do we feed these animals? If we choose to feed the lion we do things that are selfish, we ponder on our weaknesses and let our flaws consume us and blind us to others and their needs. When we focus so deeply on our weaknesses, our mistakes, or our unholy desires we give fuel to the lion.
Likewise, each time we sin, whether by omission or commission, we feed the lion a feast that strengthens him.
On the flip side, when we choose to "put off the natural man" (Mosiah 3:19) we choose to feed the more precious part of our souls, the lamb. Each time we sincerely pray, seek truth, study the scriptures, selflessly serve others, and choose righteousness we are fueling the lamb.
President Monson once said that "Our decisions determine our destiny," and it's absolutely true. Each of us are fighting an inner battle, a battle between good and evil. We have both beasts residing within us but it's up to us to decide which one we will feed, ultimately resulting in the one who will dominate. It is only by "putting off the natural man and becoming a saint through the atonement" (Mosiah 3:19) that we will be able to return to God's presence and live forever in happiness. I know this is true. My greatest desire is to have the conviction, courage, and strength to feed the lamb and become like the Lamb of God, my elder brother Jesus Christ, for truly the ultimate test of this mortal probation is who we choose to become.
Sunday, May 19, 2013
The Atonement
On Easter Sunday Kip and I were asked to speak in sacrament meeting on the single most important event in all of history and eternity--the atonement of Jesus Christ. I had several people ask for a copy of the talk so I decided I would just write it on my blog as a blog post.
I have a great love in my heart for the Savior and His sacrifice on my behalf. I wish I could claim my limited understanding comes on account of my personal righteousness but the complete opposite is true. It is because of my sinful nature that I have come to more fully rely on and comprehend, however minutely, the Savior's atonement.
What is the atonement? In Alma 7: 11-13 it reads, "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."
To more fully understand the atonement, I want to talk about a momentous event that occurred, an event that each one of us was present at but that we cannot remember; the council in heaven. In the council of heaven two plans were presented for our spiritual progression; God's plan and satan's. Satan's plan was to strip us of our agency and more or less force us to return to God's presence. He would ensure that not one soul would be lost and in return he wanted all of the glory. God's plan was to allow each of us our agency, our ability to choose if we would follow Him and live or follow the evil one and die. Central to Heavenly Father's plan was the Savior, a sinless person willing to pay the price for our misuse of agency. Every one of us chose Heavenly Father's plan or we wouldn't be here. We chose to take advantage of the Savior's atonement. Satan and a third of our brother's and sisters were cast out of Heaven as a result of this war, but whereas in the pre mortal life satan's plan was to lead us captive at his will in order to ensure our salvation, his plan now is to lead us captive at his will to ensure our destruction. We came to this earth amidst a great battle, terrible destruction abounds and our enemy has gained many victories. We're all subject to temptations of the flesh and temptations of an adversary who knows us and our weaknesses well.
The Bible tells us that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. It was no secret to our Heavenly Father that we would struggle and in His great mercy and love for us He provided a way for us to overcome the effects of our sinful behavior.
I've been thinking a lot lately about how the effect of one sin can potentially alter the course of our lives and our eternity. It's so tragic to think of the opportunities lost and the pain inflicted by sin, both our own and other peoples. God knew this would be the nature of mortality and that no amount of repentance or restitution on our part could ever pay off the monumental debt our sins would accrue. We needed somebody who would settle the account, who would assume our debts as his own.
Jesus Christ was foreordained to this role. I can easily imagine the cunning that satan employed in the pre mortal life to convince and deceive us into thinking that it couldn't be done, that no man could take upon himself all of our sins and temptations, our weaknesses and sorrow and refrain from committing a single sin in return. Seeds of doubt were planted and eventually a third of the hosts of heaven were led away.
There is no question in my mind that when Christ entered the Garden of Gethsemane where He would take upon Him the incredible burden of our sins, or as James E. Faust put it, "the indescribable anguish and overpowering torture for our sake," that satan and his angels were eagerly watching in hopes and anticipation of Him, the very Son of God, to fail. One sin is all it would've taken for the atonement to be rendered incomplete, yet Christ, as He lay in the garden suffering in such complete agony that He bled from every pore, was able to break the bonds of sin. He suffered personally and intimately for each one of our sins, our disappointments, our pains, our humiliations. He felt what it was to be a sinner and to be sinned against and not once did He subject himself to sin. I imagine it was a devastating and horrific day for the adversary when Christ successfully completed the atonement, but more importantly, for all of us it was a day of great rejoicing! A day of victory! A day where we were fully bought and paid for and could now be freed!
President Faust said, "Our salvation depends on believing in and accepting the atonement. Such acceptance requires a continual effort to understand it more fully. The atonement advances our mortal course of learning by making it possible for our natures to become perfect. All of us have sinned and need to repent to fully pay our part of the debt. When we sincerely repent, the Savior's magnificent atonement pays the rest of that debt."
This month when I taught sharing time it was on the atonement and I asked the primary kids to take a minute to think of a world where there was no Savior. Think about that for a moment. Some of their answers were, "Well we wouldn't have a church," and "We wouldn't be able to have eternal families" and they were exactly right, we wouldn't. We would be forever spiritually damned, there would be no possible way for us to ever return to our Father's presence, there would be no hope for us and we would forever remain in captivity to the devil. But there is hope because Jesus lives, His perfect sacrifice complete.
As members of the church we have this knowledge, we are taught of the atonement and what we need to do to access it's power, but do we treat this knowledge lightly? Do our actions betray the awesome gift we have been given? It's not simply enough to know that the atonement was performed, for even satan knows of its reality. The scripture in 2 Nephi 25:23 tells us, "that it is by grace we are saved after all we can do" implying that there is a work expected of us. We can and should all be more loving and kind, a little more humble and teachable, quicker to repent and to choose righteousness and more faithful in keeping our covenants and then after we have exhausted our best, most noble effort, which will still fall completely short, our Savior, our older brother's grace will make up the difference and enable us to return to our Heavenly Father's presence.
I know that Jesus is the Christ. I know that He lives. And though I don't comprehend the entirety of His marvelous atonement, I know that it is real. I have been given a new heart many times, I have been healed from the devastating affects of sin, both mine and others, and through my own trials in my own personal garden of Gethsemane I have come to know and love my Savior more fully. This is His church, of this I am sure. I say this in the sacred and reverent name of my Redeemer, Jesus Christ, Amen.
I have a great love in my heart for the Savior and His sacrifice on my behalf. I wish I could claim my limited understanding comes on account of my personal righteousness but the complete opposite is true. It is because of my sinful nature that I have come to more fully rely on and comprehend, however minutely, the Savior's atonement.
What is the atonement? In Alma 7: 11-13 it reads, "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."
To more fully understand the atonement, I want to talk about a momentous event that occurred, an event that each one of us was present at but that we cannot remember; the council in heaven. In the council of heaven two plans were presented for our spiritual progression; God's plan and satan's. Satan's plan was to strip us of our agency and more or less force us to return to God's presence. He would ensure that not one soul would be lost and in return he wanted all of the glory. God's plan was to allow each of us our agency, our ability to choose if we would follow Him and live or follow the evil one and die. Central to Heavenly Father's plan was the Savior, a sinless person willing to pay the price for our misuse of agency. Every one of us chose Heavenly Father's plan or we wouldn't be here. We chose to take advantage of the Savior's atonement. Satan and a third of our brother's and sisters were cast out of Heaven as a result of this war, but whereas in the pre mortal life satan's plan was to lead us captive at his will in order to ensure our salvation, his plan now is to lead us captive at his will to ensure our destruction. We came to this earth amidst a great battle, terrible destruction abounds and our enemy has gained many victories. We're all subject to temptations of the flesh and temptations of an adversary who knows us and our weaknesses well.
The Bible tells us that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. It was no secret to our Heavenly Father that we would struggle and in His great mercy and love for us He provided a way for us to overcome the effects of our sinful behavior.
I've been thinking a lot lately about how the effect of one sin can potentially alter the course of our lives and our eternity. It's so tragic to think of the opportunities lost and the pain inflicted by sin, both our own and other peoples. God knew this would be the nature of mortality and that no amount of repentance or restitution on our part could ever pay off the monumental debt our sins would accrue. We needed somebody who would settle the account, who would assume our debts as his own.
Jesus Christ was foreordained to this role. I can easily imagine the cunning that satan employed in the pre mortal life to convince and deceive us into thinking that it couldn't be done, that no man could take upon himself all of our sins and temptations, our weaknesses and sorrow and refrain from committing a single sin in return. Seeds of doubt were planted and eventually a third of the hosts of heaven were led away.
There is no question in my mind that when Christ entered the Garden of Gethsemane where He would take upon Him the incredible burden of our sins, or as James E. Faust put it, "the indescribable anguish and overpowering torture for our sake," that satan and his angels were eagerly watching in hopes and anticipation of Him, the very Son of God, to fail. One sin is all it would've taken for the atonement to be rendered incomplete, yet Christ, as He lay in the garden suffering in such complete agony that He bled from every pore, was able to break the bonds of sin. He suffered personally and intimately for each one of our sins, our disappointments, our pains, our humiliations. He felt what it was to be a sinner and to be sinned against and not once did He subject himself to sin. I imagine it was a devastating and horrific day for the adversary when Christ successfully completed the atonement, but more importantly, for all of us it was a day of great rejoicing! A day of victory! A day where we were fully bought and paid for and could now be freed!
President Faust said, "Our salvation depends on believing in and accepting the atonement. Such acceptance requires a continual effort to understand it more fully. The atonement advances our mortal course of learning by making it possible for our natures to become perfect. All of us have sinned and need to repent to fully pay our part of the debt. When we sincerely repent, the Savior's magnificent atonement pays the rest of that debt."
This month when I taught sharing time it was on the atonement and I asked the primary kids to take a minute to think of a world where there was no Savior. Think about that for a moment. Some of their answers were, "Well we wouldn't have a church," and "We wouldn't be able to have eternal families" and they were exactly right, we wouldn't. We would be forever spiritually damned, there would be no possible way for us to ever return to our Father's presence, there would be no hope for us and we would forever remain in captivity to the devil. But there is hope because Jesus lives, His perfect sacrifice complete.
As members of the church we have this knowledge, we are taught of the atonement and what we need to do to access it's power, but do we treat this knowledge lightly? Do our actions betray the awesome gift we have been given? It's not simply enough to know that the atonement was performed, for even satan knows of its reality. The scripture in 2 Nephi 25:23 tells us, "that it is by grace we are saved after all we can do" implying that there is a work expected of us. We can and should all be more loving and kind, a little more humble and teachable, quicker to repent and to choose righteousness and more faithful in keeping our covenants and then after we have exhausted our best, most noble effort, which will still fall completely short, our Savior, our older brother's grace will make up the difference and enable us to return to our Heavenly Father's presence.
I know that Jesus is the Christ. I know that He lives. And though I don't comprehend the entirety of His marvelous atonement, I know that it is real. I have been given a new heart many times, I have been healed from the devastating affects of sin, both mine and others, and through my own trials in my own personal garden of Gethsemane I have come to know and love my Savior more fully. This is His church, of this I am sure. I say this in the sacred and reverent name of my Redeemer, Jesus Christ, Amen.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)