Jesus Christ Who Shall Come

I have written the past few days on some of the lessons that Alma’s life and teachings show us about priesthood service. He focused on the power of the word of God and prayed fervently for the Lord’s help in his ministry. Over and over he taught repentance and he served selflessly as he showed great love towards the people. This is exactly how we should ministry in our own responsibilities. One final and perhaps most important theme of his teachings is the coming of Jesus Christ. Over and over he taught the people about the fact that Jesus Christ would come among them. He described how he felt about the coming of the Savior in these words: “For behold, I say unto you there be many things to come; and behold, there is one thing which is of more importance than they all—for behold, the time is not far distant that the Redeemer liveth and cometh among his people” (Alma 7:7). To him the Savior’s coming was the most important thing in the future, and surely for us it should be the same—nothing in our future is more important that the second coming of Jesus Christ. In our priesthood service we too should focus on the Savior, both His first coming among the children of men and preparing the world for His return.  

                Here are some of the testimonies that Alma bore concerning the coming of Jesus Christ among men. He told the people of Zarahemla, “I say unto you, that I know that Jesus Christ shall come, yea, the Son, the Only Begotten of the Father, full of grace, and mercy, and truth. And behold, it is he that cometh to take away the sins of the world, yea, the sins of every man who steadfastly believeth on his name” (Alma 5:48). To the people of Gideon he described the Savior’s atonement that He would perform in this powerful description: “And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people” (Alma 7:11). He testified to the Nephites in Ammonihah about the glory of the Savior’s coming in these words: “And not many days hence the Son of God shall come in his glory; and his glory shall be the glory of the Only Begotten of the Father, full of grace, equity, and truth, full of patience, mercy, and long-suffering, quick to hear the cries of his people and to answer their prayers” (Alma 9:26). To the poor among the Zoramites he exhorted them to look to the Savior who would redeem them from their sins: “Cast about your eyes and begin to believe in the Son of God, that he will come to redeem his people, and that he shall suffer and die to atone for their sins; and that he shall rise again from the dead, which shall bring to pass the resurrection, that all men shall stand before him, to be judged at the last and judgment day, according to their works” (Alma 33:22). Alma knew not just that the Savior would come but that His most important work would be to atone for the sins of mankind and bring forth the resurrection of the dead. As he spoke to his son Helaman he told of how the knowledge of the coming of the Son of God had saved him in his moment of anguish: “I remembered also to have heard my father prophesy unto the people concerning the coming of one Jesus Christ, a Son of God, to atone for the sins of the world. Now, as my mind caught hold upon this thought, I cried within my heart: O Jesus, thou Son of God, have mercy on me, who am in the gall of bitterness, and am encircled about by the everlasting chains of death” (Alma 36:17-18). And to his son Corianton who had strayed from the path he testified again of the Lord’s coming: “And now, my son, I would say somewhat unto you concerning the coming of Christ. Behold, I say unto you, that it is he that surely shall come to take away the sins of the world; yea, he cometh to declare glad tidings of salvation unto his people” (Alma 39:15). Alma yearned for the day that the Savior would indeed come among the children of men and did all he could to prepare his people for that day. I love his simple question to his son Helaman which he asked shortly before he finished his work on earth: “Believest thou in Jesus Christ, who shall come?” (Alma 45:4) That is a question for all of us—we should believe not just in Jesus Christ who came but in the Savior who shall come again. In our priesthood service He should be our focus as we seek to help prepare the world for His return to the earth.