Jesus Christ is the Light of the World, and a Light unto me that cannot be extinguished. In a world so torn with despair, disaster, war, and terror, my only hope lies in the light of the gospel of Jesus Christ and His sacred Atonement.
Tragedy after tragedy strikes and yet some people still get up every single morning and keep moving forward. How do they that? How can they pick up the broken pieces of their lives and keep putting one foot in front of the other? It is because Jesus Christ is not some made-up ethereal being. He isn’t just some random person who lived and died 2000+ years ago. He is the real and living God, the “Great Jehovah of the Old Testament, the Messiah of the New.” Because He is real, I believe His message and the hope He offers.
Our Savior descended from on high that He might not only restore the fulness of the gospel, but to endure the Atonement. He suffered on our behalf, freeing us from an eternity of sin and pain, then broke the bands of death with His Resurrection. There is a peace that comes with this knowledge regardless of the trials life throws at you.
The loss of a loved one tears at the very fabric of a family, and yet with that sorrow comes the peace of understanding that mortality is but a brief moment in time, and that the eternities await. In those eternities, if we have sought truth and have striven to live by its precepts, we will be reunited with those we love.
“Eternal life is the phrase used in scripture to define the quality of life that our Eternal Father lives. The Lord declared, “This is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man” (Moses 1:39). Immortality is to live forever as a resurrected being. Through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, everyone will receive this gift. Eternal life, or exaltation, is to live in God’s presence and to continue as families (see D&C 131:1–4). Like immortality, this gift is made possible through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. However, to inherit eternal life requires our “obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel” (Articles of Faith 1:3) (LDS.org Gospel Topics, “Eternal Life“).
This is more than vain hope. It is more than a childhood wish. It is truth in its purest form. With this truth comes the knowledge that great joy awaits us if we can but endure to the end.
Yes, I have fallen to my knees in pain and sorrow and wept to my Heavenly Father, begging for release from the pain.
Yes, my faith has been shaken on occasion.
Yes, I have cried unto my God when it seemed I had not the strength to continue.
In the darkest of nights, when my spirit drooped low, it was at that moment, with tears coursing down my face, that I knew my God lived. I knew Jesus Christ had bled from every pore to pay for my sins, my sorrow, my grief… And that because He did, I was able to shake off that sorrow, lift my head, and stand tall.
This is not a knowledge I can give you, but something you must seek after yourself. I testify that Jesus is the Christ, the Everliving God, and through Him—and only through Him—may relief from the pain of life be found. Only through Him and His teachings will you find the principles, practices, and precepts that will lead you ever closer to perfection. And in your deficit of perfection, if you testify of Him, live for Him, teach of Him, and preach of Him, He will reach down with a loving, scarred hand to lift you up.
Truth is testified of in so many ways. But as the warmth of that knowledge infuses my body and spirit, there is a certainty in my heart: there is Hope and His name is Jesus Christ.
This post was originally published in May 2008. Minor changes have been made.
