I have been richly blessed by my membership in this church and the relationship I have been able to develop with Jesus Christ, my savior.

I like to take this time to consider the blessings I have in my life and to recognize Him from who all blessings flow.

The Mission of Jesus Christ

In this season that the world celebrates the birth of our savior Jesus Christ, I would like to talk about his role in our life and how we can be a more blessed and happy people.  I love Christ’s influence in our lives.

 For me, I need to refocus and seek the quiet pure spirit that the Holy Ghost uses to testify of Christ.  In speaking and thinking of Christ, I want to discuss how extraordinary His mission and life and death were. He changed the world and unlocked eternity for all of us. 

So in the beginning as God, Christ and Satan considered the plan for this earth, two competing ideas were proposed. Satan wanted to save everyone by forcing compliance and then he could claim the glory. Christ had another plan, He wanted to have us retain our agency, take upon himself our sins and help us return to God and give all the glory to His father.  The hosts of heaven voted and Christ’s plan won the day. We chose at that time to accept the plan of salvation and come to earth. Once the plan was in place, God our Father had the earth created and beautified and made ready for all of us.  He taught our first parents in the garden of Eden. Adam and Eve broke God’s command and death became part of our experience. We were given a chance to choose good from evil, an opportunity to repent and through Christ’s atonement return unto God and have eternal life.

 Christ was Jehovah of the old testament. He inspired and taught prophets.

When the world expected a valiant warrior that would free the Jews from Roman rule, we received a humble little babe who left His heavenly home to come to earth and save us all.

President Eyring said, “In His mortal ministry He walked the dusty roads of Palestine, healed the sick, raised the dead, taught His gospel to people who rejected Him, gave His life on Calvary’s hill, and rose on the third day in what began the Resurrection to break the bands of death for us all.”

From a talk by Gordon B Hinckley in April 1994 speaking of Christ’s Atonement:

It is the miracle that encompasses all who have lived upon the earth, all who now live upon the earth, and all who will yet live upon the earth. Nothing done before or since has so affected mankind as the atonement wrought by Jesus of Nazareth, who died on Calvary’s cross, was buried in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea, and on the third day arose from the grave as the Living Son of the Living God—the Savior and Redeemer of the world.

As mortals we all must die. Death is as much a part of eternal life as is birth. Looked at through mortal eyes, without comprehension of the eternal plan of God, death is a bleak, final, and unrelenting experience described by Shakespeare as “the undiscovered country, from whose bourn / No traveler returns” (Hamlet, act 3, scene 1, lines 79–80).

But our Eternal Father, whose children we are, made possible a far better thing through the sacrifice of His Only Begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. This had to be. Can anyone believe that the Great Creator would provide for life and growth and achievement only to snuff it all into oblivion in the process of death? Reason says no. Justice demands a better answer. The God of heaven has given one. The Lord Jesus Christ provided it.

His was the ultimate sacrifice, His the sublime victory.

“as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive” (1 Cor. 15:22).

He taught, He Blessed, He led by example, He bowed Himself to God’s will and took upon Himself the sins of the world. His last and great sacrifice opened the gates of eternity to each of us.

After Christ’s resurrection he visited the prophets in America and healed, prayed for them and blessed them. He organized His church.

He visited the prophet Joseph with His Father as Joseph asked which church to join.

We see through Christ’s service to each of us, God’s mighty arm lifting and helping us return to Him.

 

• Christ gives revelation to the leaders of the Church today

• Christ Loves and helps us

• He will come again

• Our Mission in life is to Know Him better and rely on Him to help us overcome and perfect ourselves

• What role do you let Christ have in your life?

• Christ's atonement can be accessed by you each day as you repent and seek to follow Him.

• Who do you know that could use the blessings of the Gospel in their life?