The Great Atoning Sacrifice

Doctrine and Covenants 138 is a powerful testimony of the atonement of Jesus Christ. The revelation was given as Joseph F. Smith was “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” (v2-4). Pondering on the sacrifice of the Son of God, throughout the subsequent vision he saw, President Smith referred to that sacrifice. He saw first the hosts of the righteous dead and described them this way: “And there were gathered together in one place an innumerable company of the spirits of the just, who had been faithful in the testimony of Jesus while they lived in mortality; And who had offered sacrifice in the similitude of the great sacrifice of the Son of God, and had suffered tribulation in their Redeemer’s name. All these had departed the mortal life, firm in the hope of a glorious resurrection, through the grace of God the Father and his Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ” (v12-14). The righteous were identified based on their relationship to the sacrifice of the Son of God and their hope in His resurrection. President Smith continued, “They were assembled awaiting the advent of the Son of God into the spirit world, to declare their redemption from the bands of death…. While this vast multitude waited and conversed, rejoicing in the hour of their deliverance from the chains of death, the Son of God appeared, declaring liberty to the captives who had been faithful; And there he preached to them the everlasting gospel, the doctrine of the resurrection and the redemption of mankind from the fall, and from individual sins on conditions of repentance” (v16, 18-19). Their hope in the Savior was not in vain, for He appeared to them and confirmed the everlasting gospel and His redemption for all mankind from the fall. I love their response: “And the saints rejoiced in their redemption, and bowed the knee and acknowledged the Son of God as their Redeemer and Deliverer from death and the chains of hell” (v23). These faithful spirits who had departed mortality knew that the Son of God had delivered them from death and hell through His great atoning sacrifice.  

                Subsequent passages in the vision also focus on the atonement of Jesus Christ. President Smith describe how he beheld the gospel being preached to the dead. He wrote, “And so it was made known among the dead, both small and great, the unrighteous as well as the faithful, that redemption had been wrought through the sacrifice of the Son of God upon the cross. Thus was it made known that our Redeemer spent his time during his sojourn in the world of spirits, instructing and preparing the faithful spirits of the prophets who had testified of him in the flesh” (v35-36). What were the dead taught? They were taught that “redemption had been wrought through the sacrifice of the Son of God upon the cross”—the atonement of Jesus Christ was the focus of their teaching. President Smtih also referenced the prophets he saw, and he said this about Isaiah: “And Isaiah, who declared by prophecy that the Redeemer was anointed to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that were bound, were also there (v42). This of course references Isaiah 61:1 which is one of the most important prophecies of the Savior’s mission in the Old Testament. President Smith also described the work that members today engage in when the depart mortality: “I beheld that the faithful elders of this dispensation, when they depart from mortal life, continue their labors in the preaching of the gospel of repentance and redemption, through the sacrifice of the Only Begotten Son of God, among those who are in darkness and under the bondage of sin in the great world of the spirits of the dead” (v57). Again their message is centered in the atonement of Jesus Christ. Whether in mortality or on the other side of the veil, the message of missionaries will always be focused on the great atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ that saves us from sin and death through our repentance.