Christ's atonement saves me today.

For much of my life, I viewed Christ’s atonement as two future, life-saving blessings:

1. Resurrection.

2. Paid for my sins.

While this is true, I wasn’t fully understanding. I was missing something important. His atonement wasn’t simply a gift that I would receive after this life. What he did and is doing could permeate every facet of my life. I receive the blessings of Christ’s atonement right now.

Elder Bednar said, “Help from the Savior is available for the entire journey of mortality - from bad to good to better and to change our very nature.”

Today, I would like to explain this in four principles.

First, Christ’s atonement gives us strength.

Does any of us believe that Christ has the power to overcome sin and death yet cannot strengthen us right now? I must admit that I’ve, unconsciously, thought that. I’ve thought that today’s strength comes from me.

I’ve learned that this is not how he works. The light of Christ is inside all of us and can be a source of mental and physical strength. In D&C 88, we learn more about the light of Christ, “This is the light of Christ. As also he is in the sun, and the light of the sun, and the power thereof by which it was made. …And the light which shineth, which giveth you light, is through him who enlighteneth your eyes, which is the same light that quickeneth your understandings; Which light proceedeth forth from the presence of God to fill the immensity of space—The light which is in all things, which giveth life to all things, which is the law by which all things are governed.”

The light of Christ gives us life. It is the power by which all things were made. Our minds can be enlightened. Really. The light of Christ can help us see things as they are and understand what’s happening in the world around you.

The light of Christ gives us life - SURELY it gives us strength.

Elder Bednar explained, “Not only does the Atonement of Jesus Christ overcome the effects of the Fall of Adam and make possible the remission of our individual sins and transgressions, but His Atonement also enables us to do good and become better in ways that stretch far beyond our mortal capacities. The enabling power of the Atonement strengthens us to do and be good and to serve beyond our own individual desire and natural capacity. ”

How exactly does He give us strength? I don’t know. But I know it happens. If we’re struggling with anything, we can receive strength from Christ. Today. We don’t have to do go through this life alone. That was never part of the plan of salvation. We don’t have to be independent. It’s not weak to ask for help.

However, he does NOT solve challenges. He doesn’t usually remove trials. He won’t make temptation disappear. Challenges, trials and temptations are all part of the refining process for us. Elder Christofferson said in this last conference, “There is too much refining needed for it to be easy.”

We should realize this and even embrace life’s challenges. Our growth is packaged in life’s trials. Our growth is in the overcoming. But, we don’t have to overcome alone. Christ wants to help. When the Nephites were being persecuted by Amulon, the Lord promised to help. In Mosiah we read, “And I will also ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs, even while you are in bondage; and this will I do that ye may stand as witnesses for me hereafter, and that ye may know of a surety that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions. And now it came to pass that the burdens which were laid upon Alma and his brethren were made light; yea, the Lord did strengthen them that they could bear up their burdens with ease, and they did submit cheerfully and with patience to all the will of the Lord.”

He can make our current burdens feel light. I used to think that was simply about maintaining perspective - that with an eternal perspective, all burdens seem lighter. While this is true, I think it’s much more literal - our burdens feel lighter because we are literally strengthened.

We can all use a little help. We all need a little more strength. There will be things happen that bring us to our knees and we need Christ to lift us up.

Second, Christ’s atonement brings peace and joy to our daily lives.

In 2nd Nephi 2:25, we read, “Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy.” Before the fall, Adam and Eve couldn’t experience joy because they didn’t know sorrow. Emotions are appreciated when compared. Adam said, “Blessed be the name of God, for because of my ​​​transgression​ my ​​​eyes​ are opened, and in this life I shall have ​​​joy​, and again in the ​​​flesh​ I shall see God.” Eve said, “Were it not for our transgression we never should have had ​​​seed​, and never should have ​​​known​ good and evil, and the joy of our redemption, and the eternal life which God giveth unto all the obedient.”

This joy wasn’t meant to be enjoyed only after the resurrection. We are meant to experience joy throughout our lives. However, as we know, life is about struggle. For many, there appears to be more suffering than joy.

How are each of you suffering? Everyone in this room is suffering somehow. We may not look like it, but we are. It is a part of this fallen world that we live in. Do I look like I’m suffering?

However, it is in our suffering that we become like Christ. In Romans, we read, “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.”

What a great verse! We are children of God and stand to inherit all that he has IF we suffer with him. It is in our suffering that we are refined. Again, as Elder Christofferson said, “This path cannot be easy for any of us. There is too much refining needed for it to be easy.” Why is our struggling so important? I’m not sure but it is.

I think there wasn’t a lot of suffering in the premortal world. How could we gain empathy without struggle? Knowing good and evil was a primary reason for the fall. We had to leave God’s presence to experience suffering and learn that everything has its opposite. It’s only through suffering that we can gain empathy. It’s only through true empathy that we can lift others. That’s what eternity is all about: lifting others.

So here we are. In this place. If we look to this world as a source of joy and peace, we will not find it. The world’s sources of joy and peace are fleeting.

The peace and joy that comes from Christ is different. It is lasting. It is permanent. Christ said, “Peace​ I leave with you, my ​​​peace​ I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be ​​​troubled​, neither let it be afraid.” We don’t have to be troubled or afraid! We can experience joy and peace that isn’t affected by all of the bad things that can and will happen to us.

Christ also said, “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have ​​​peace​. In the ​​​world​ ye shall have ​​​tribulation​: but be of good ​​​cheer​; I have ​​​overcome​ the world.” All of the bad things that can happen to us in this world are temporary. They all have an end. Sickness, burdens, frailties, disability, depression, oppression will eventually end. Nothing bad will endure because Christ overcame the world. There is no question mark hanging over this certainty. There is a hymn that says, “Earth has no sorrow that heav’n cannot cure.”​​​​

This knowledge should help us endure this world with peace in our heart. Events will happen that will turn our world upside-down. But nothing, and I mean nothing can reverse what Christ accomplished. This is the good news. Christ already won. We are saved.

Isaiah knew this. He said, ”The ​​​Spirit​ of the Lord ​​​​​God​​​ ​is​ upon me; because the ​​Lord​​ hath ​​​anointed​ me to ​​​preach​ ​​​good tidings​ unto the ​​​meek​; he hath sent me to ​​​bind​ up the brokenhearted, to ​​​proclaim​ ​​​liberty​ to the ​​​captives​, and the opening of the ​​​prison​ to ​them that are​ bound.” Christ’s atonement is the good tidings!

However bad we have it, it could get worse. In some ways, it certainly will. There will come a time for all of us when our health will get worse and worse until it’s finally fatal. We all will die. It’s true. We will all suffer and die. However, I’d like to go back to what Paul said to the Romans, “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.”

Our sufferings are not worthy to be compared to the glory revealed inside of us. No matter what happens to us in this life, we all have a bright future and it’s Jesus Christ and his atonement that made it so. Every wrong will be made right.

This knowledge gives me peace and joy even through the cascade of challenges and disappointments that have been ever-present in my life.

Third, Christ descended beneath all to succor us.

Has someone:

• Told you that they understand what you’re going through when they haven’t?

• Judged you without knowing anything about your situation?

• Attempted to help you get through something they haven’t experienced?

I’ve experienced all of those things. In every case, nothing those people said or did helped.

There is one person who can completely understand. It is Jesus Christ. Through his atonement, he experienced everything we can experience. Elder Packer said, “He had no debt to pay. He had committed no wrong. Nevertheless, an accumulation of all of the guilt, the grief and sorrow, the pain and humiliation, all of the mental, emotional, and physical torments known to man—He experienced them all.”

I know he experienced all of this in the Garden of Gethsemane. However, he also experienced these pains throughout his life. He lived a life in this world like we do:

• He grew up without all of the answers at first. He progressed from grace to grace. He had to study and gain an understanding and build a relationship with his Heavenly Father.

• He knew what it was like to be betrayed. He was disappointed as disciples left him.

• He could be injured. He was hungry. He was treated unfairly. He was judged by those who should have recognized him instantly.

• He knew what it felt like to be tempted and the effort it takes to resist it.

He did NOT live a charmed life free of suffering. He didn’t have a life six inches off the ground and untouched by the trials and temptations of the world. Aside from the suffering in Gethsemane, he suffered in the same ways that we suffer - and then some.

Elder Oaks explained, “Our Savior experienced and suffered the fulness of all mortal challenges ‘according to the flesh’ so He could know ‘according to the flesh’ how to 'succor his people according to ​​their infirmities.’ He therefore knows our struggles, our heartaches, our temptations, and our suffering, for He willingly experienced them all as an essential part of His Atonement. And because of this, His Atonement empowers Him to succor us—to give us the strength to bear it all.”

So as we’re struggling and suffering, we can know that there is one person who completely understands and knows EXACTLY how to comfort and strengthen us.

Lastly, No one is beneath or out of reach of Christ’s atonement.

Does anyone feel that they are somehow out of Christ’s reach? Does someone feel like they’ve sinned too much? Does anyone in this room promise themselves to be better and then disappoint themselves again and again? Do we possibly think that we’ll get the cold shoulder from Jesus when we see him again?

Perhaps some of us feel we have somehow descended beneath where he’s able, or willing, to reach. I bear testimony that this is NOT true. Christ made it a point to show that his arms are wide open to us all - regardless of our past. Sharon Eubank said, “The New Testament shows the great efforts Jesus made to reach out to all kinds of people: lepers, tax collectors, children, Galileans, harlots, women, Pharisees, sinners, Samaritans, widows, Roman soldiers, adulterers, the ritually unclean. In almost every story, He is reaching someone who wasn’t traditionally accepted in society.“

Christ told the Nephites, “I have commanded that NONE of you should go away.”​​​​ Instead, he says come. Peter learned of his unconditional love as he watched the Savior throughout his ministry. In Acts 10, we learn that Peter said, “God hath shewed me that I should not call any [person] common or unclean.”

At the time of the Savior, few were considered as unclean as lepers. Elder Walter Gonzalez wrote, “Lepers were considered unclean, both physically and spiritually. For this reason, the law of Moses required that lepers wear torn clothing and call out, “Unclean!” as they walked.​​​​ Sick and despised, lepers ended up living in abandoned houses or in the tombs.​​​​ It is not hard to imagine that the leper who approached the Savior was broken.“

Have any of you felt broken or unclean? The youth seem especially vulnerable to this line of thinking. You are worthy. You are a child of God and he has created all of this so you can take another step in becoming like him. Christ has shown that he is willing to do anything for you to succeed. He suffered and died for you - not to be condemned but to be saved. In John 3:17, we read, “For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.”

Elder Gonzalez continued about the leper, “As He walked, He was approached by a man sick with leprosy. The man showed reverence and respect as he knelt before Christ, seeking relief from his affliction. His request was simple: ‘Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.’ The leper came forward because of the power of hope. The world gave him no solutions, not even comfort. Thus, the Savior’s simple touch must have felt like a caress unto his entire soul. We can only imagine the deep feelings of gratitude the leper must have had at ​​the Savior’s touch, especially when he heard the words ‘I will; be thou clean.’”

The Lord is willing to strengthen and heal all of us. No one is out of reach. The Psalmist wrote “If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.” He is always right there with open arms - waiting for us to turn around and ask if he will make us clean. His answer to the leper will be the same as with us “I will; be thou clean.”

Today, we celebrate the day he was resurrected. He didn’t first appear with any fanfare and angels singing. He first showed himself to Mary. To a single person. This is, yet again, evidence of how much he cares for every ONE of us.

I’ve never heard Jesus’ voice. But when I do, I think it will be the most familiar voice I’ve ever heard. I’ve never seen Christ but what he did is changing me. The power of Christ’s atonement is ever present - whether we realize it or not. If we pay attention, we can see and feel the effects of it every day. Jesus told Nicodemus, “The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth.” The daily blessings of the atonement are like that - I can feel it and see the effects of it but don’t know how it works.

I know that he lives. I know he knows each one of us and loves us. I invite all of us to learn more about how his atonement saves us in eternity AND saves us today.

Today is Easter Sunday. We are celebrating the resurrection.

• His resurrection will allow me to rise again with a perfect body someday after I die. Knowing about the resurrection can bless me TODAY.

• Christ’s atonement will allow me to enter God’s kingdom someday, even though I’ve made mistakes. Knowing that nothing I have done or will do is unforgivable strengthens me TODAY.

I know that Christ lives. I don’t know where he is or what he’s doing exactly, but He is living. I am grateful for him and will be forever. I want him to know that I, in my imperfect way, am his. He bought me with a great and terrible price that only he could pay.

Because He rose, I know that we can look forward to rising to meet him when he comes again.