Scripture Journal - the Atonement

Q: What is the Atonement?

A: The triumph of Jesus Christ over spiritual death by His suffering & over physical death by His resurrection. it is the process which allows us to return to Him. It is endless, eternal, and will never expire.

Scriptures:

Matthew 11:30 "for my yoke is easy and my burden is light"

Matthew 28:20 "lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world."

--Isn't it comforting to know that Christ is always there with us? He NEVER forgets us, even though, at times, we may forget Him.

Galatians 3:24 the law of Moses was our school master to bring us unto Christ. Christ's atonement fulfilled the law of Moses and a new law was introduced with His death.

PMG "the Atonement included His suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane & His suffering & death on the cross, & it ended with His resurrection."

D&C 122 - this is by far my favorite section of the Doctrine and Covenants. It truly testifies to me of the power the atonement has in cleansing us to make us worthy to stand before God and Jesus Christ in the eternities.

Favorite quotes:

"The more we study, pray, & ponder the atonement, the more we will realize that we are in His & the Father's hands. But, brothers & sisters, we were never really anywhere else!"- Maxwell & McConkie

"oh, it is wonderful to know that our Heavenly Father loves us - even with all our flaws! His love is such that even should we give up on ourselves, He NEVER will. We might see ourselves in terms of yesterday or today, but our HEavenly Father sees us in terms of forever. The gospel of Jesus Christ is a gospel of transformation. It takes us as men & women of earth and refines us into men & women of the eternities."

Christ did not just descend to your condition; He descended below it - Truman Madsen

I know that Christ truly knows what we experience each and every day. He is the only person who understands us perfectly because He's the only one who has been through our trials deeper than we have ourselves.

All that is unfair about life can be made right through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. - Preach My Gospel

The Atonement is like an Umbrella term because it includes so much.
We believe in an ALL-ENCOMPASING ATONEMENT, so what can the atonement cover?
1. SIN
2. addictions
3. stubbornness
4. injustice
5. anger
6. judgement
7. adultery
8. loss
9. pain
10. anxiety
11. neglect
12. misunderstanding
13. slavery
14. abandonment
15. infirmities
16. death
17. greif
18. embarrassment
19. abuse
20. heartache (D&C 138:42 talks about how He will "bind up the broken hearted"
21. loneliness
22. bullying
23. uncertainty
24. fear
25. cancer/sickness/illness/disease
26. temptation
27. it covered everything that happened with the Haolocaust and other such terrible events such as wars (WWI,WWII,Vietnam, War on Terror, Pearl Harbor, Cold War, Civil War, all other wars).
28. it even covers everything we feel as women

pregnancy
birth
pMS
cramps
menopause
rape
infertility
abortion

29. the Atonement covers the TOTALITY OF MORTAL EXISTENCE.

and all manner of afflictions:

Mosiah 26

Alma 4

Alma 26

Alma 34

Alma 36

Alma 60

Alma 62

3 Nephi 6

30. Then, take all this, and know that the Atonement extended to other worlds as well!!!

How is the Atonement infinite?

1. it is not limited by space. It applies to all people who live everywhere, even in other worlds.

2. it is not limited by time. the atonement worked before and after it took place.

3. it was performed by an infinite being. Jesus Christ, a divine being, could not be bound or limited by death.

4. it was infinite in scope. It was to be done once for all people.

It is only through the gift of the Atonement that we can return to live with God.

I am grateful to have the Atonement in my life. I make mistakes every single day, and often I wish I didn't because I want nothing more than to be clean enough to enter God's presence, but then I remember that the Atonement exists and that I get second, third, and 100th chances to repent. There is always hope and Christ is always there. I know that the Atonement is the greatest gift given out of perfect love that I have personally ever received, and it is my prayer that I will be able to show to the people of the Czech Republic and Slovakia that they too have been given such a gift if they will just chose to receive it.