Today we enjoyed a lesson based on the April 2015 General Conference address by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland which was actually given on Easter Sunday 2015. Sister Marvetta Hole lead us in reading through this talk in order to help us gain a deeper understanding of the effect of the Atonement and Resurrection of our Savior, Jesus Christ in our own lives.
Elder Holland began his talk by telling a story of two young brothers, Jimmy, age 14, and John, age 19, (fictitious names) who attempted to scale a sheer cliff in southern Utah without ropes, harnesses or other safety equipment. As they came near the top of their climb, they found a protruding ledge blocked their ascent so that they could not get around. They could not now turn around to go back down, either, so they were stranded. Eventually, John managed to boost his brother safely to the top of the ledge, but then there was no way for him to lift himself. He was unsuccessful in his attempts to obtain a handhold or foot leverage that would enable him to join Jimmy on top of the ledge. His muscles began to cramp, he began to panic and fear for his life. John decided his only option was to try to jump vertically, grab the top of the overhanging ledge and, hopefully, pull himself to safety by his own arm strength. He sent Jimmy to go search for a tree branch strong enough to extend down to help him even though he knew there was likely nothing suitable. He said this was a "desperate ruse" that, if he failed in the jump, he hoped would prevent his brother from witnessing him fall to his death. He waited long enough to make sure his brother was out of sight, said a last prayer and then he leaped upward. A surge of adrenaline accompanied his leap that caused his arms to extend above the ledge, but as his hands slapped down on the surface, he could only feel loose sand on the stone. In his own words, John said, "I can still remember the gritty sensation of hanging there with nothing to hold on to - no lip, no ridge, nothing to grab or grasp. I felt my fingers begin to recede slowly over the sandy surface. I knew my life was over." What a feeling of desolation that must have caused!
He continued, "But then suddenly, like a lightning strike in a summer storm, two hands shot out from somewhere above the edge of the cliff, grabbing my wrists with a strength and determination that belied their size."
On top of the ledge, his little brother, suspecting what John had in mind, had not gone looking for the tree branch. He waited, silently, knowing that John would jump. When John finally did, "he grabbed me, held me, and refused to let me fall. Those strong brotherly arms saved my life that day as I dangled helplessly above what would surely have been certain death."
Elder Holland makes the connection of this story with the Savior's sacrifice by comparing the hands of the Savior and His outstretched arms as the saving grace that will rescue us from our own failings. He states that ". . . this (being Easter) is the most sacred day of the year for special remembrance of brotherly hands and determined arms that reached into the abyss of death to save us from our fallings and our failings, from our sorrows and our sins." He expressed gratitude for the Atonement and Resurrection of Jesus Christ and acknowledged "events in the divine plan of God that led up to and give meaning to 'the love Jesus offers [us].'"
In order to fully use the Atonement in our own lives, we need to have an understanding of the situations that led to Adam and Eve's fall into mortality.
Elder Holland points out that today's society does not generally speak of Adam and Eve, or the Garden of Eden, or of the fall. In his familiar way, he stresses that ". . . we cannot fully comprehend the Atonement and Resurrection of Christ and we will not adequately appreciate the unique purpose of His birth or His death . . . without understanding that there was an actual Adam and Eve who fell from an actual Eden with all the consequences that fall carried with it."
As we come to understand the Plan of Salvation we will know, as Elder Holland reminds us, that Adam and Eve were created by the divine hand of God, that they first lived alone in a paradise where there was neither death nor future family. Through the choices they made there, they transgressed a commandment of God which required for them to leave their garden, but at the same time allowed them to have children before their inevitable physical death. They also suffered the spiritual consequence of being cut off from the presence of God forever. They were foreordained in the premortal life to participate in this Plan to bring all the Children of God to the earth and because we all were born into a fallen world and because we too would transgress the laws of God, we received the same penalties that Adam and Eve faced.
Now, Elder Holland presents a scene of the entire human race "physically tumbling toward permanent death, spiritually plunging toward eternal anguish" and he asks, "Is that what life was meant to be?" He goes on to compare this mass human free fall to the earlier situation of the two boys climbing a canyon wall with nothing to save us, nothing to hold on to, nothing to hold on to us.
Then, he answers his own question with "an unequivocal and eternal no!" He gives testimony of the prophecy from 2 Nephi 2:24: "all things have been done in the wisdom of him who knoweth all things." Affirming that from the very first moment in the Garden of Eden, God our Father anticipated, actually knew what Adam and Eve's decision would be. God sent angelic messages to them and through time, to us, that this was part of His divine Plan for our eternal happiness. He provided a Savior, whom the Apostle Paul would call "another Adam" to come to earth to atone for the first Adam's transgression. The Atonement of this Savior would provide complete victory over physical death, grant unconditional resurrection to every person who has been born or who will ever be born into this world. The Atonement also provides forgiveness for the personal sins of all on condition of repentance and obedience to the Lord's commandments.
As an ordained witness of Jesus Christ, Elder Holland makes his own declaration that "Jesus of Nazareth was and is that Savior of the world, the 'last Adam', the Author and Finisher of our faith, the Alpha and Omega of eternal life." The Apostle Paul declared in 1 Corinthians 15:45: "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive." In 2 Nephi 2:25-26, Lehi states that "Adam fell that men might be . . . And the Messiah cometh in the fulness of time, that he may redeem the children of men from the fall." Elder Holland tells us that the prophet Jacob in the Book of Mormon says it "most thoroughly of all" in 2 Nephi 9:6, which reads "the resurrection must . . . come. . . by reason of the fall."
On the occasion of this particular Easter Sunday, Elder Holland indicated that we are able to celebrate the gift of victory over "every fall we have ever experienced, every sorrow we have ever known, every discouragement we have ever had, every fear we have ever faced - to say nothing of our resurrection from death and forgiveness for our sins. That victory is available to us because of events that transpired . . . nearly two millennia ago in Jerusalem."
Sister Hole asked the question, "Where do we feel peace?" We each have a special place we seek in order to escape the pressures of the world, the stress of our lives, a place where we can experience a special closeness to our Father in Heaven and our Savior Jesus Christ and receive peace and comfort. We should acknowledge who it was that created that place and be grateful, even more than grateful, for the blessings we receive there. We can show our faith by obeying the commandments we have been given to make our way through this earthly trial. We are not perfect. The process to perfection is not a one-time thing or something that happens overnight. We face opposition in all things in order to gain spiritual strength and to develop our faith. As we follow the teachings of the Church, obey and remain true to our covenants, we will find that "getting there" is a continual learning experience and that part of our journey is to grow in knowledge and understanding. We all need the Atonement because we all are flawed and our eternal progression depends greatly on the forgiveness we receive from our Savior's Atonement.
Many of the feelings we feel when we are not following God's laws make it difficult to progress, to get back on the strait and narrow path. Some of the negative feelings we may develop are inadequacy, a tendency to say "why bother?", we may make bad choices and feel that we are not worthy. Steps that can help to overcome these tools of the adversary are to just go to church and quietly let the Spirit work on you; sit in the back and just listen until you gradually progress further toward the front and find yourself actually beginning to participate. No one can do this for another; we must each do it for ourselves; feel the desire to overcome our mistakes and let go of the guilt that wants to linger. Each of us working in this life at our own pace to overcome takes serious effort, but there is such a wonderful promise waiting for each of us. One of our class members mentioned a quotation from Elder Neil A. Maxwell that is the perfect statement for this effort: "Direction is more important than Speed."
Through our obedience to His commandments, Jesus Christ will lift us to eternal life.
Know and believe that He will do what was promised.
Your bloggess,
Karen
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