Day 23

  • Principle: Jesus Christ had the power to perform the Atoning sacrifice because he is the Only Begetton. 
  • Read: 1 Nephi 16:17 - 16:39
    • What does the phrase "And thus we see that by small means the Lord can bring about great things." (verse 29) mean to you?  Why does the Lord use small means?
  • Continuing on from yesterday read Mosiah 3:7–8.  Why did Christ need the traits from a mortal mother and an immortal Father?
  • Jesus Christ was prepared from the foundations of the world to be your Savior.  He came to earth with unique blessings to overcome sin and death of this world.  Over the last 23 days you have been studying all of the attributes and characteristics of Jesus Christ.  Elder Robert E. Wells taught

    • "First is the divine Sonship of Jesus Christ, which is central to understanding the entire plan of salvation. He is the First Begotten Son of the Father in the premortal existence and the Only Begotten Son of the Father on earth. God the Eternal Father is the literal parent of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and of His other spirit children (see 1 Ne. 11:18, 21; James E. Talmage, The Articles of Faith, 12th ed., Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1924, p. 466).

      When we refer to the divine Sonship of Jesus Christ, we are also referring to His role as a God in the premortal sphere. This Firstborn Son of Elohim the Father was chosen and ordained in the primeval councils in heaven to be the Savior of the yet-to-be-born race of mortals (see James E. Talmage, Jesus the Christ, 3rd ed., Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1916, p. 4). Jesus was also chosen and sent by the Father to organize and create this earth, our solar system, our galaxy, even worlds without number.

      Jesus Christ was and is Jehovah of the Old Testament, the God of Adam and of Noah, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Jehovah appeared to and talked to the ancient prophets. When He spoke He did so on behalf of the Father, and He said what His Father would have said. Jehovah of the Old Testament became Jesus Christ of the New Testament when He was born into mortality.

      The “divine Sonship” also refers to the designation “Only Begotten Son in the flesh.” Ancient and modern scriptures use the title “Only Begotten Son” to emphasize the divine nature of Jesus Christ. This title signifies that Jesus’ physical body was the offspring of a mortal mother and of an immortal Eternal Father, which verity is crucial to the Atonement, a supreme act that could not have been accomplished by an ordinary man. Christ had power to lay down His life and power to take it again because He had inherited immortality from His Heavenly Father. From Mary, His mother, Christ inherited mortality, or the power to die.

      This infinite atonement of Christ and Christ’s divine Sonship go together hand in hand to form the single most important doctrine of all Christianity. Elder Bruce R. McConkie said, “We view the atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ as the center and core and heart of revealed religion” (A New Witness for the Articles of Faith, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1985, p. 81). The book of Alma declared, “This is the whole meaning of the law” (Alma 34:14)." (Robert E. Wells, “Our Message to the World,” Ensign,Nov. 1995, 65–66.) 

    • How can understanding the traits Jesus Christ inherited from his mother and Father increase your faith in Him? 
    • Why is it important for you to understand the unique ways Jesus Christ is prepared to be your Savior?
  • Additional Study
    • Dallin H. Oaks, Witnesses of Christ, October 1990
    • Away in a Manger, Hymns, 206
    • When Joseph Went to Bethlehem, Children's Songbook, No. 38