Ye Shall Bear Record That It Is the Son of God

At the start of the vision that Nephi received, after he desired to see the things that his father saw, the Spirit of the Lord told him what he was going to see and what he then had to do because of it. He said, “Thou shalt also behold a man descending out of heaven, and him shall ye witness; and after ye have witnessed him ye shall bear record that it is the Son of God.” Nephi was going to see the Savior, and his instruction was that after he did, he was required to bear witness of the Son of God. That is exactly what happened. Nephi recounted, “And I looked and beheld the Redeemer of the world, of whom my father had spoken;… And I looked, and I beheld the heavens open again, and I saw angels descending upon the children of men; and they did minister unto them. And he spake unto me again, saying: Look! And I looked, and I beheld the Lamb of God going forth among the children of men…. And it came to pass that the angel spake unto me again, saying: Look! And I looked and beheld the Lamb of God, that he was taken by the people; yea, the Son of the everlasting God was judged of the world; and I saw and bear record” (1 Nephi 11:7, 27, 30-31, 32). Interestingly, among all the names that Nephi used for the Savior in this chapter, he called him the Son of God as he said, “I saw and bear record.” The angel told him he would see and then witness that he had seen the Son of God; Nephi indeed saw and then bore record.

            He didn’t just bear record once, though; I believe that Nephi continued to follow this instruction the rest of his days. Indeed, this may have been a great turning point in his life as he took this counsel to heart. What we have in the rest of his writings in the Book of Mormon shows that he spoke and wrote of the Son of God again and again. He wrote, “And my soul delighteth in proving unto my people that save Christ should come all men must perish. For if there be no Christ there be no God; and if there be no God we are not, for there could have been no creation. But there is a God, and he is Christ, and he cometh in the fulness of his own time” (2 Nephi 11:6-7). Nephi described his daily walk this way, “And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins” (2 Nephi 25:26). He was clearly committed to teaching and speaking of Jesus Christ. He also declared, “And as I spake concerning the convincing of the Jews, that Jesus is the very Christ, it must needs be that the Gentiles be convinced also that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God; And that he manifesteth himself unto all those who believe in him, by the power of the Holy Ghost” (2 Nephi 26:12-13). Nephi did not shirk from the responsibility that the Spirit of the Lord gave him to be a witness of the Son of God. He testified of the reality of Christ’s life just as he had seen in vision: “Behold, they will crucify him; and after he is laid in a sepulchre for the space of three days he shall rise from the dead, with healing in his wings; and all those who shall believe on his name shall be saved in the kingdom of God. Wherefore, my soul delighteth to prophesy concerning him, for I have seen his day, and my heart doth magnify his holy name” (2 Nephi 25:13). Nephi was and is a powerful witness of the Son of God, and his invitation from over 2500 years ago to us today is this: “And now behold, I say unto you that the right way is to believe in Christ, and deny him not; and Christ is the Holy One of Israel; wherefore ye must bow down before him, and worship him with all your might, mind, and strength, and your whole soul; and if ye do this ye shall in nowise be cast out” (2 Nephi 25:29).