Sacrifice in Similitude of the Savior

In his great vision on the redemption of the dead, President Joseph F. Smith described how he saw “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” (Doctrine and Covenants 138:12-13). Of all of the statements he could have used to describe what the righteous do in mortality, he chose to focus on sacrifice: those who are faithful will make sacrifices in similitude of the atonement of the Son of God. We know of course that Adam and his righteous posterity all did this quite literally in the offering up of sacrifices on the altar. When Adam offered up the firstlings of his flocks, the angel told him, “This thing is a similitude of the sacrifice of the Only Begotten of the Father, which is full of grace and truth” (Moses 5:6-7). So from the time of Adam until the time of Christ, all of the faithful followed that commandment and offered up sacrifices on the altar in similitude of the sacrifice of the Savior whom the Father offered up for the salvation of the world. Certainly President Smith had reference to them and this physical sacrifice of animals they made on the altar.   

               I do not believe, though, that this is the only type of sacrifice that President Smith was referring to when he wrote of the faithful making sacrifices like the Savior. For example, we know that the individualized sacrifice that Abraham offered up, when he put Isaac on the altar, was also in similitude of the Savior’s sacrifice. Jacob explained, “For this intent we keep the law of Moses, it pointing our souls to him; and for this cause it is sanctified unto us for righteousness, even as it was accounted unto Abraham in the wilderness to be obedient unto the commands of God in offering up his son Isaac, which is a similitude of God and his Only Begotten Son” (Jacob 4:5). So just as the law of Moses pointed to the Savior and his sacrifice, so did this sacrifice required of Abraham when he offered up his son. And lest we think that Abraham’s sacrifice was totally unique to him and not relevant to us today, the Lord stated, “Therefore, they must needs be chastened and tried, even as Abraham, who was commanded to offer up his only son” (Doctrine and Covenants 101:4). Each of us will then likewise need to make sacrifices like Abraham and like the Savior; if we want to be part of the “company of the spirits of the just” in the next life, we must “offer sacrifice in similitude of the great sacrifice of the Son of God.”

               So how do we make such sacrifices in our lives? What Abraham’s sacrifice teaches us is that the Lord wants to see that we are willing to give up even our most prized possessions for Him. Joseph Smith put it this way, “A religion that does not require the sacrifice of all things never has power sufficient to produce the faith necessary [to lead] unto life and salvation” (Lectures on Faith, p. 58). The Lord in our day has said that we need to be “willing to observe [our] covenants by sacrifice—yea, every sacrifice which I, the Lord, shall command” (Doctrine and Covenants 97:8). Ultimately to offer sacrifice as the Savior did, to say to the Father “not my will, but thine, be done,” we must learn His will for us and then do whatever is required to accomplish it (Luke 22:42).