A Modern Testament

The Doctrine and Covenants has some of the most beautiful and powerful teachings about the Savior’s atonement.  What we might consider as a summary statement about the Savior’s sacrifice says this: “Wherefore, the Almighty God gave his Only Begotten Son, as it is written in those scriptures which have been given of him.  He suffered temptations but gave no heed unto them.  He was crucified, died, and rose again the third day; And ascended into heaven, to sit down on the right hand of the Father, to reign with almighty power according to the will of the Father” (D&C 20:21-24).  The Savior overcame temptation (sin) and death through his faithfulness even in suffering, and many passages in the Doctrine and Covenants teach us about both his suffering that took place as part of the atonement as well as the great love that motivated His sacrifice.

                Several verses in the Doctrine and Covenants help us to understand, at least to a small degree, the incredible suffering that He went through.  Perhaps the most famous description is this one: “Which suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit—and would that I might not drink the bitter cup, and shrink—Nevertheless, glory be to the Father, and I partook and finished my preparations unto the children of men” (D&C 19:18-19).  The Savior Himself testified of how terrible the pain was that it even caused “the greatest of all” of the Father’s children to nearly falter.  Another passage states, “For, behold, the Lord your Redeemer suffered death in the flesh; wherefore he suffered the pain of all men, that all men might repent and come unto him.  And he hath risen again from the dead, that he might bring all men unto him, on conditions of repentance” (D&C 18:11-12).  The phrase that he “suffered the pain of all men” gives us a glimpse at the utter magnitude of His suffering.  We often say to one another to commiserate, “I feel your pain.”  But Christ can literally say that to the billions of people who have or will be born on the earth.  He suffered the pains of all of them.  He told Joseph, “The Son of Man hath descended below them all. Art thou greater than he?” (D&C 122:8)  Christ went lower than any of us can go, and the Doctrine and Covenants stands as a witness of the great suffering that He endured. 

                In the Doctrine and Covenants also helps us to understand the why of the atonement: He loves us and wants us to return to the Father.  We read that He “so loved the world that he gave his own life, that as many as would believe might become the sons of God” (D&C 34:3).  President Joseph F. Smith described it this way: “And reflecting upon the great atoning sacrifice that was made by the Son of God, for the redemption of the world; And the great and wonderful love made manifest by the Father and the Son in the coming of the Redeemer into the world; That through his atonement, and by obedience to the principles of the gospel, mankind might be saved” (D&C 138:2-4).  It was indeed “wonderful love” that motivated both the Father and the Son to accomplish the atonement.  That love is evident in these words of the Savior: “Listen to him who is the advocate with the Father, who is pleading your cause before him—Saying: Father, behold the sufferings and death of him who did no sin, in whom thou wast well pleased; behold the blood of thy Son which was shed, the blood of him whom thou gavest that thyself might be glorified; Wherefore, Father, spare these my brethren that believe on my name, that they may come unto me and have everlasting life” (D&C 45:3-5).  One can hear in His voice the earnest desire to exonerate us before the Father, and that is made possible because of His blood that was spilt.  We can hear that same love of the Savior in this passage: “Listen to the voice of Jesus Christ, your Redeemer, the Great I Am, whose arm of mercy hath atoned for your sins; Who will gather his people even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, even as many as will hearken to my voice and humble themselves before me, and call upon me in mighty prayer” (D&C 29:1-2). 

We have the Old Testament, New Testament, and Another Testament (The Book of Mormon) which all bear witness of the Savior and His mission.  We could certainly call the Doctrine and Covenants “a modern testament” of Jesus Christ, for it bears witness in its own unique language that the atonement of the Savior is real and can save each of us “by the virtue of the blood which [He has] spilt” (D&C 38:4).