"And thus God breaketh the bands of death, having gained the victory over death; giving the Son power to make intercession for the children of men—"
Mosiah 15:8
Right before this, the chapter is talking about the suffering and crucifixion of Christ, and this is the verse that talks about the point of all of that... *why* Christ suffered. It was to break the bands of death and gain the power to save us. And reading this, I think... wow. How unselfish and amazing is it for him to sacrifice for all of us, because we are unable to save ourselves. Sometimes we think of God as this powerful and greedy tyrant, randomly tossing out justice or injustice without concern for how it affects us. But God has never been like that. This world, our existence as mortals, Christ's entire life, every one of God's decisions and actions... none of it is arbitrary or tyrannical. All of it is about us--for us. He created spirits and bodies for us. He made a world for us. Everything he does is for us, including the crucifixion and the atonement. He's about saving us and teaching us. And when we think of him as a tyrant rather than as a father, we really wrong him and do ourselves a disservice by not understanding what we worship. I think on some level maybe we want it all to be arbitrary so that we don't have a responsibility to do anything about it. :) But it makes sense, and there is a plan, and if we follow it, God can save us. Today, let's remember how amazing it is to be able to follow Christ and to know that death is just a temporary obstacle, because he overcame it. We will all live again, and have a chance to progress well beyond our mortal limits, as we follow God's path.
Mosiah 15:8
Right before this, the chapter is talking about the suffering and crucifixion of Christ, and this is the verse that talks about the point of all of that... *why* Christ suffered. It was to break the bands of death and gain the power to save us. And reading this, I think... wow. How unselfish and amazing is it for him to sacrifice for all of us, because we are unable to save ourselves. Sometimes we think of God as this powerful and greedy tyrant, randomly tossing out justice or injustice without concern for how it affects us. But God has never been like that. This world, our existence as mortals, Christ's entire life, every one of God's decisions and actions... none of it is arbitrary or tyrannical. All of it is about us--for us. He created spirits and bodies for us. He made a world for us. Everything he does is for us, including the crucifixion and the atonement. He's about saving us and teaching us. And when we think of him as a tyrant rather than as a father, we really wrong him and do ourselves a disservice by not understanding what we worship. I think on some level maybe we want it all to be arbitrary so that we don't have a responsibility to do anything about it. :) But it makes sense, and there is a plan, and if we follow it, God can save us. Today, let's remember how amazing it is to be able to follow Christ and to know that death is just a temporary obstacle, because he overcame it. We will all live again, and have a chance to progress well beyond our mortal limits, as we follow God's path.
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