The King of Zion

I have written recently about how the Pearl of Great Price is another witness of Jesus Christ, showing His status as the premortal Christ and the mortal Savior.  In addition to these testimonies, other passages similarly highlight the grandeur of the Savior and our need to hold fast to Him in mortality.  One of my favorite passages comes from the vision of Enoch who recorded these words: “Blessed is he through whose seed Messiah shall come; for he saith—I am Messiah, the King of Zion, the Rock of Heaven, which is broad as eternity; whoso cometh in at the gate and climbeth up by me shall never fall; wherefore, blessed are they of whom I have spoken, for they shall come forth with songs of everlasting joy” (Moses 7:53).  These powerful words give us a sense of His majesty and dominion, His all-encompassing power and prominent place in the heavens.  He is the Messiah, the King of Zion, the Rock of Heaven, and His influence reaches through eternity.  We are saved by coming in at the gate He prescribed and climbing up by Him—it is only through Him that we can be saved. 

Abraham similarly learned of the majesty and power of the Savior.  He recorded these words of the premortal Christ: “For I am the Lord thy God; I dwell in heaven; the earth is my footstool; I stretch my hand over the sea, and it obeys my voice; I cause the wind and the fire to be my chariot; I say to the mountains—Depart hence—and behold, they are taken away by a whirlwind, in an instant, suddenly. My name is Jehovah, and I know the end from the beginning; therefore my hand shall be over thee” (Abraham 2:7-8).  He has all power and even the elements of nature are in His control.  Oliver Cowdery in his poetic way also declared the greatness of the Savior when he rejoiced in “one touch with the finger of his love, yes, one ray of glory from the upper world, or one word from the mouth of the Savior, from the bosom of eternity.”  He testified of His experience with Joseph, saying, “we heard the voice of Jesus, and the truth unsullied as it flowed from a pure personage, dictated by the will of God” and that he “shall ever look upon this expression of the Savior’s goodness with wonder and thanksgiving.”  And most importantly, the Father highlighted the Savior’s preeminence when He told the boy Joseph, “This is my Beloved Son. Hear Him!” 

Other passages in the Pearl of Great Price emphasize our need to indeed hear Him and to have faith in Him.  The angel told Adam that Christ should be central to his life: “Wherefore, thou shalt do all that thou doest in the name of the Son, and thou shalt repent and call upon God in the name of the Son forevermore” (Moses 5:8).  All that we do should be with the Son in mind, and we repent and call upon the Father always in the name of the Son.  Noah preached to the people of his day: “Believe and repent of your sins and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, even as our fathers, and ye shall receive the Holy Ghost, that ye may have all things made manifest” (Moses 8:24).  And in our dispensation the Prophet Joseph Smith wrote that the very first principle of the gospel is “Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ” (Article of Faith 4).  For those who choose to follow Him, He “suffereth for their sins” and He is, in the Father’s words, “My Chosen [who] shall return unto me,” and only through Him we can likewise return (Moses 7:39).