In the meridian of time, which means 0 a.d., Jesus Christ came into the world. The millennia which had passed since the creation of the world had brought about much corruption in the gospel which had been given to Adam and Eve. He came into the world to save it, not to destroy it, not to condemn it, but to provide all of Heavenly Father’s children with redemption and immortality. He accomplished this by restoring the plain and precious truths of His gospel which had been destroyed; by suffering for all the sins, sorrow, suffering, illness and grief of all of Heavenly Father’s children and by breaking the bands of death.

Jesus Christ MormonDuring the last three years of the Savior’s life, culminating in the Atonement in the Garden of Eden, His crucifixion on Golgotha and His resurrection at the Garden Tomb, He restored, in its entirety, the gospel as it was to be taught to the children of God.

And then the Great Apostasy occurred. In his book, Tad R. Callister quotes an early Church apologist:

For what things He [the Savior] predicted would take place in His name, these we do see being actually accomplished in our sight. For he said, “Many shall come in My name, clothed outwardly in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.” And “There shall be schisms and heresies.” And Beware of false prophets.” . . . There are, therefore, and there were many, my friends, who, coming forward in the name of Jesus, taught both to speak and act impious and blasphemous things . . . So that, in consequence of these events, we know that Jesus foreknew what would happen after Him. (Justin Martyr (A.D. 110-165), The Inevitable Apostasy, Salt Lake City, Deseret Book, 2006 14)

Jesus Christ, our Lord and Redeemer, the Son of God, knew that the gospel He had restored would be lost in the matter of a century of two. Because of this loss, a restoration would once again be necessary.

Adam and Eve had the pure gospel of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ restored that pure gospel, and now For Joseph was given the promise that it would never be removed from the earth again.

Joseph’s life changed when he was 14-years-old and ten years later, when he was 24-years-old, he formally organized and restored the gospel of Jesus Christ on April 6, 1830. From 1830 to 1844, Joseph received revelation, directed and guided the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its members, and attempted to build temples up unto God. Through his efforts of translation and revelation we have the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, The Pearl of Great Price and the inspired translation of the King James version of the Holy Bible.

Because of his efforts to continually serve Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, Joseph restored the ordinances lost to mankind. Because of the work he began on behalf of Jesus Christ, tens of thousands of churches dot the land in almost every country, temples have risen, over 100, across the world, over 13,000,000 have heard and now participate in the restored gospel of Jesus Christ, a living prophet and twelve apostles stand as the mouthpiece and special witnesses of Jesus Christ . . . oh yes, my friends, the gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored and is available to you now. All because a humble boy, sincerely wanting to know which church was true, knelt in a quiet grove with certainty of receiving an answer and prayed.

Recommended Reading:

Eve: The Mother of All Living
Adam: The First of Us All
In the Garden
Book of Mormon
Doctrine and Covenants
Pearl of Great Price

About Candace

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