"Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief; when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand."
Mosiah 14:10
It's a little hard to accept the first phrase here, I think. It's about Christ and it sounds a little sadistic to our ears, and God is definitely not that. And, you know, if God could feel that way about his most obedient son, how does he feel about *our* suffering, which is sometimes innocent as his was, but which we also often bring on ourselves and very much deserve?
I think the answer here is the same reason that God designed the whole Earthly experience in the first place. We don't necessarily enjoy seeing children frustrated or upset, but we *are* pleased when it teaches them something--how to keep trying, or how to avoid that consequence in the future. We aren't happy about what we ourselves went through when we were growing up, but we *are* pleased about at least some of the results--all the lessons that we have learned, and the modicum of wisdom that we have gained in the process.
God had to be happy about the atonement because he was so proud of his son for doing the single most important thing in the history of the world, and also because he knew what it would mean, not only for all of us, but for him as well (Mosiah 15:12). It wasn't a joy in the fact that he was feeling pain, but a joy that Christ was pulling all of us together, and handing us the keys to salvation.
Today, let's try to understand why God allows us to suffer, and how happy he is to see us learning and growing. Let's also be thankful to Christ, who makes it possible for all of us to be happy and to return to God. :)
Mosiah 14:10
It's a little hard to accept the first phrase here, I think. It's about Christ and it sounds a little sadistic to our ears, and God is definitely not that. And, you know, if God could feel that way about his most obedient son, how does he feel about *our* suffering, which is sometimes innocent as his was, but which we also often bring on ourselves and very much deserve?
I think the answer here is the same reason that God designed the whole Earthly experience in the first place. We don't necessarily enjoy seeing children frustrated or upset, but we *are* pleased when it teaches them something--how to keep trying, or how to avoid that consequence in the future. We aren't happy about what we ourselves went through when we were growing up, but we *are* pleased about at least some of the results--all the lessons that we have learned, and the modicum of wisdom that we have gained in the process.
God had to be happy about the atonement because he was so proud of his son for doing the single most important thing in the history of the world, and also because he knew what it would mean, not only for all of us, but for him as well (Mosiah 15:12). It wasn't a joy in the fact that he was feeling pain, but a joy that Christ was pulling all of us together, and handing us the keys to salvation.
Today, let's try to understand why God allows us to suffer, and how happy he is to see us learning and growing. Let's also be thankful to Christ, who makes it possible for all of us to be happy and to return to God. :)
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