Mosiah 3

In Mosiah 3, King Benjamin relates to his people, and us, a visit he had from an angel.  The angel brought "glad tiding of great joy." (v. 3)  King Benjamin was told by the angel a little of Christ's birth, life, death, and resurrection.  He was told much of what meaning Christ's Atonement has to us here on Earth.  In short, it means everything.  Christ is the way, the only way back to our Heavenly Father.

Through the Atonement, those ignorant of God's will and also little children are saved, as stated in verses 11 and 16.  This doctrine is different than many beliefs held by other christian faiths.  It is a doctrine that often gets me thinking of how the Lord works.  It is a piece of doctrine that I'm very glad to know.

Through the Atonement. we--who do know of God's commandments--can repent and receive mercy.  We can have faith in Jesus Christ and partake of his grace.  I have known for a long time that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love us, and I used to wonder, when I was young, why I was always hearing from society, Hollywood, and even quoted scripture how Heavenly Father was always damning people to hell in a lake of fire and brimstone.  It is scriptures like Mosiah 3:25 that have helped me to better understand.  It says:

"And if they be evil they are consigned to an awful view of their own guilt and abominations, which doth cause them to shrink from the presence of the Lord into a state of misery and endless torment, from whence they can no more return; therefore they have drunk damnation to their own souls."

I added the italics because it is not Heavenly Father damning, or stopping our eternal progression, it is us.  It is how things work.  It is how things are.  Here on this Earth, you can't aim your car at a tree and expect to continue traveling down the road safely.  No, you aim for the tree and you will crash into it and experience an abrupt halt to your journey's progress.  I believe it is the laws of physics that would be involved in the tree scenario, where it is God's laws and plan that are followed during our eternal journey.  He has a wonderful plan of happiness for us, but in no way can it be followed if we do not look to Christ for guidence and forgiveness.  We can not aim our attention elsewhere and expect to continue on the path our Father in heaven has laid out for us.