An Infinite Atonement
READ Mark 14:32-36 and D&C 19:10-12,
15-20
What
do these verses teach us about Christ and the Atonement?
He was amazed by the intense torture of
the atonement – even He was awestruck and astonished by it – after all of the
ions of preparation He’d been through.
He thought He would die from it (“unto
death”).
His initial response was to pray to His
Father.
Although He knew that His whole life was
in preparation for this moment, He asked that the Cup be taken from Him – that
He be saved from this terrible ordeal.
Why
would Christ ask this of the Father?
The trial of the Atonement was so great
that He seems to be starting to fear (no doubt with the Adversary there to fuel
the doubts) – His faith was finally truly tested, as fear and perfect faith
cannot co-exist.
Perhaps He was afraid that He might fail
all those depending upon Him.
What
punishment did Christ suffer in the Garden?
Eternal and endless punishment = God’s
punishment or all the suffering a God can endure.
Which caused even God to tremble because
of pain, bleed at every pore, suffer body and spirit, and wish there was
another way.
READ Alma 34:10-14
What
sacrifice was required to reconcile God and man?
The sacrifice of a God – man could never
do this – God had to come back down to earth to rescue man from his hopeless
condition = the Condescension of God.
If
you had sinned less, would Christ have had to have suffered less?
No, the arithmetic of the atonement is
infinite.
It is not a finite, cumulative number –
regardless of the large size.
In an infinite and eternal sacrifice or
in other word’s a “God’s sacrifice”, Christ suffered all that a God can suffer.
In
the ancient religions of human sacrifice (like that practiced by Abraham’s
father), what was the purpose of the sacrifice?
Humans suffered and died to reconcile God
to humanity – to supplicate God.
What
was the purpose of Christ’s sacrifice?
A God suffered and died to reconcile
humanity to Himself and His Father.
“We’re not trying to reach God and touch
his heart with OUR sacrifices, rather God is trying to reach us and touch our
hearts with HIS infinite sacrifice. The
sacrificial Lamb of God who died on Calvary WAS God” (Stephen Robinson).
Is
it possible to sin so badly that Christ cannot save you?
No – He descended below ALL things (see
D&C 122:8 and D&C 88:6).
He chooses not to forgive those who sin
against the Holy Ghost (those who have had their salvation’s assured by the
Father but then deny Him with full knowledge), but His atonement covers even
them.
Convicted of Sin Before the Father
READ 2 Corinthians 5:21
What
does it mean that Christ was made “sin for us”?
He became guilty of the sins we commit
(like Abigail before David).
There was a real transference of guilt
and innocence in the Atonement from us to Him.
Christ was not only punished for our sins
but was also declared “guilty” of committing them.
If He had only assumed the punishment for
our sins but not the sins themselves, we would merely be “guilty but forgiven”
instead of being proclaimed “innocent.”
This is what it means to be “perfect in Christ.”
READ Luke 22:43-44 and Mormon 9:3-5
What
is it like to be in the presence of God as a sinner?
You would rather be anywhere else – you
cannot abide the glory.
And your guilt and shame are overpowering
in the face of a just, holy and glorious God.
But God is not punishing the sinner, He
is just existing – it is the sinner who breaks himself against the “rock” of
God or runs away cowering from His presence.
Who was the angel who came to Christ and what was happening?
Christ's sufferings required the Father
to be present in order to reconcile man to the Father. It was the presence of
the Father that made the suffering possible. Therefore, we know the identity of
the unnamed angel in Luke (see Luke 22: 43). Christ could not have suffered the
guilt of all mankind in the presence of a just and holy God, unless during this
moment of torment His suffering was before that very Being. He performed this great burden before
His Father, who would never leave Him; even in His hour of temptation,
despite the fact that all His followers would abandon Him (see John 16:32).
When He suffered the guilt of all mankind, it was necessary for His Father to
draw near to Him (see Luke 22:42-43).
This was required because it is
impossible for Christ to know how to redeem mankind from the guilt and shame of
sin unless He experienced the pains of uncleanliness before God the Father, as
mankind will do if they are unclean in the Day of Judgment (see Mormon 9:4-5).
Unlike all of us, however, Christ knows how to overcome this shame because He
has done so. He can succor or relieve or
teach mankind how to overcome every form of guilt, affliction, and weakness
(see Alma 7:11-12), because He did it.
What does Gethsemane mean?
Geth = press.
Semane = oil.
It was an olive garden with a press. Many of these gardens also had grape
vines. In Gethsemane, Jesus becomes the
olives or grapes that go into the press and His blood flows as He suffers
through the pressure of the infinite atonement – taking upon Himself the guilt
and punishment for our sins and then seeking to be reconciled to a perfect God. From the symbol of the crushed grape, its
blood spilled and then allowed to ferment, comes a symbol of the great work of
the Lord. The grape juice changes through fermentation from something which
affects the senses. As the Psalmist puts it, wine gladdens the heart (see
Psalms 104:15). His blood was spilled and then transformed or grew into a new
power intended to gladden the heart of all those who will receive it.
“God uses no magic wand to simply wave
bad things into nonexistence. The sins
that he remits, he remits by making them his own and suffering them. The pain and heartaches that he relieves, he
relieves by suffering them himself.
These things can be shared and absorbed, but they cannot be simply
wished or waved away. They must be
suffered.” (S. Robinson).
Waves of Suffering
READ Mark 14:37-40 and Matthew 26:44-45
What
do we learn from these verses regarding the specifics of the Atonement?
That despite the fact that the Atonement
was infinite and eternal (i.e. “God’s sacrifice”), it seemed to come in waves –
Christ comes to visit His disciples several times during the ordeal and then
goes back to experience additional waves or rounds of suffering.
What
kinds of suffering might have been included in the waves?
Physical suffering – sickness, injury, torture,
death.
Emotional suffering – loneliness,
disappointment, depression, despair (see Alma 7:11-12).
Spiritual suffering from sinning – guilt,
uncleanness, extreme regret.
Spiritual suffering from being a victim
of sin – anger, bitterness, judgment, resentment, and the struggle withhold
peace from the perpetrator rather than forgive and love the one who has hurt or
sinned against you.
Meaning of Atonement
What
does “atonement” mean?
To reconcile.
To take two things that have become
separate, estranged and incompatible and make them one again.
Implied that they were “one” at one point
in the past.
The Semitic origin of the word Atonement
(kafar) means to cover in a close embrace.
Anciently, it was the custom for one fleeing for his life in the desert
to seek protection in the tent of a great sheik. The Master would place the hem of his robe
protectively over the kneeling man’s shoulder, then they embrace, and the
Master makes a place for him – they are at-one.
This imagery is found in the Book of Mormon – 2 Nephi 1:15 and 2 Nephi
4:33 (Read), Alma 5:33 and Alma 34:16.
It is the sacred embrace (the “hpet”) where the Son is received, at
last, in the arms of His Father, becoming “one person” or “at one” where before
they were two.
What
does “redemption” mean?
To “buy back” or reacquire something that
was owned previously.
There is a slave market connotation to
this word.
We are not our own, but are bought with a
heavy price.
Be Even As I AM
The Lord has descended below all
things. He can tutor us and help us lay
down any burden we may be bearing. We
are all required to come to peace with our sins and with the offenses we have
suffered – to lay them down. To be fully
redeemed, we must leave this life having peace through a clear conscience
before God and all mankind (like Joseph Smith on the way to Carthage, see
D&C 135:4). This can only be
obtained by forgiving others their trespasses against us and those we love.
READ Matthew 6:14-15
How
do we begin to accept the Atonement?
By imitating part of the atoning work of
the Son and forgiving those who have sinned against us.
READ Matthew 5:44-45
Is
forgiving others enough?
No, you must actually love them.
You must intercede on their behalf to God
– “Father forgive them…”.
Gaining true charity requires forgiveness
of, and intercession on behalf of, those who have sinned against us – even if
they do not repent. He wants us to learn
to become like Him – to atone or cover the sins of others.
To be saved, we must become precisely as
He is and nothing else (see LoF 7:9).
