"Joyful redemption out of sin and despair"

A few thoughts on Sunday about my Savior come from the book, "The Infinite Atonement," by Tad R. Callister:

1.

"One wonders about his [Christ's] emerging Godhood, as he grew from infancy to boyhood, and boyhood to manhood. What were his feelings? What was it like to be a God among mortals? With whom did he discuss his burdens? True, the bodies of other men walked by his side, but none was his intellectual and spiritual equal. None could see and feel and understand as he saw and felt and understood. What was it like for Christ to walk the dusty trails of his own creation, to see his divine works through mortal eyes? When did he come to know that the birds that sang music to his ears, the flowers that scented the air, the hills and valleys on which he loved to run and play, the sunsets and stars upon which he longed to gaze and ponder were his creations? he was their designer, their architect, their framer -- yes, their very creator."

What an interesting thought - was it over a process of time? When did He truly realize that everything on this earth was created by His hands and word?

2.

The Atonement was both an exercise of power and an acquisition of power. One of the ironies of life is that we acquire love as we give it away; we increase in knowledge as we dispense what we have. And so it is with certain power. As we exercise power in righteousness, we acquire more power. As we exercise power in unrighteousness, we lose even more than we 'gave away.'"

That IS one of the ironies of life - what we give away, we keep. It is a reflection of the parable of the talents.(Matthew 25:14-30) How is it, other than through the power of God, that when we serve someone, we develop a greater love for them?

3.

The Atonement seems infinite, as so designated by the Book of Mormon prophets, for at least the following eight reasons:
First, as Elder Maxwell has suggested, it is "infinite in the divineness of the one sacrificed." The title of the song, "O Divine Redeemer" is a reminder that he who brought about the Atonement is the consummate expression of godliness.

Second, it is infinite in power. The Savior went from grace to grace until he "received all power, both in heaven and on earth." (DC 93:17)

Third, the Atonement is infinite in time. It applies retroactively and prospectively through time immemorial.

Fourth, it is infinite in coverage. It applies to all God's creations and all forms of life thereon. Elder Maxwell called it "infinite... in the comprehensiveness of its coverage."

Fifth, it is infinite in depth. It is infinite not only in who it covers, but in what it covers. "The Son of Man hath descended below them all." (DC 122:8)

Sixth, it is infinite in the degree of suffering endured by the Redeemer. It was that suffering that caused "even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every power." (DC 19:18)

Seventh, it is infinite in love. The words of the hymn "He Died! The Great Redeemer Died" are a powerful reminder of his boundless love:

Here's love and grief beyond degree;
The lord of glory died for men.

Eighth, it is infinite in the blessings it bestows. The blessings of the Atonement extend far beyond its well-known triumph over physical and spiritual death. Some of these blessings overlap; some complement and supplement each other; but in the aggregate the effect of this event so blesses our lives in a multiplicity of ways, both known and yet to be discovered, that it might appropriately be said to be infinite in its blessing nature.

I know this is a long post, but I invite you to just give five more minutes. With these thoughts in your mind, watch this short Mormon Message... I think it sums everything up quite well.