From Before the Foundation of the World

One of the important truths about the atonement of Jesus Christ that we gain from the scriptures is that Christ’s infinite sacrifice was effective even before the event took place in time as we measure it. We read this in the account of Enoch’s vision of the Lord: “And it came to pass that Enoch looked; and from Noah, he beheld all the families of the earth; and he cried unto the Lord, saying: When shall the day of the Lord come? When shall the blood of the Righteous be shed, that all they that mourn may be sanctified and have eternal life? And the Lord said: It shall be in the meridian of time, in the days of wickedness and vengeance. And behold, Enoch saw the day of the coming of the Son of Man, even in the flesh; and his soul rejoiced, saying: The Righteous is lifted up, and the Lamb is slain from the foundation of the world; and through faith I am in the bosom of the Father, and behold, Zion is with me” (Moses 7:45-47). In these few verses we see both that the Savior would come at a specific moment in history—the meridian of time—and yet somehow He was also “slain from the foundation of the world.” Before the world was even created, before Adam and Eve came and the fall occurred, the atonement of Jesus Christ was in effect. John’s vision of the premortal world also suggests this: “And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.  And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death” (Revelation 12:7-11). In the next chapter John also referred to the “Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Revelation 13:8). Before even the world was begun, the faithful found strength through the blood of the Lamb. Peter similarly wrote, “Ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you” (1 Peter 1:18-20). Christ was ordained from before the foundation of the world to redeem all mankind.

               We see this truth as well in the story of the brother of Jared on mount Shelem. This took place thousands of years before the Savior would come in the flesh. Jehovah appeared with His Spirit body and said to the brother of Jared, “Thou hast seen that I shall take upon me flesh and blood…. This body, which ye now behold, is the body of my spirit; and man have I created after the body of my spirit; and even as I appear unto thee to be in the spirit will I appear unto my people in the flesh.” So this happened before the Savior even had a body, and He taught this to the brother of Jared: “Because thou knowest these things ye are redeemed from the fall; therefore ye are brought back into my presence; therefore I show myself unto you. Behold, I am he who was prepared from the foundation of the world to redeem my people. Behold, I am Jesus Christ. I am the Father and the Son. In me shall all mankind have life, and that eternally, even they who shall believe on my name; and they shall become my sons and my daughters” (Ether 3:9, 14, 16). Even though in the chronology of time as we understand it the Savior had not yet made His atoning sacrifice, through it the brother of Jared was redeemed and brought back into the presence of God.

               Other passages in the Book of Mormon similarly confirm this infinite nature of Christ’s atonement. King Benjamin taught his people, over a hundred years before Christ would be born, about “the atonement which has been prepared from the foundation of the world, that thereby salvation might come to him that should put his trust in the Lord.” He explained that we receive “salvation, through the atonement which was prepared from the foundation of the world for all mankind, which ever were since the fall of Adam, or who are, or who ever shall be, even unto the end of the world. And this is the means whereby salvation cometh” (Mosiah 4:7-8). Alma taught the people of Ammonihah (about 80 years before the Savior’s birth) about those priests who were “called and prepared from the foundation of the world according to the foreknowledge of God, on account of their exceeding faith and good works.” They were “prepared with… a preparatory redemption,” and their priesthood was “after the order of the Son, the Only Begotten of the Father, who is without beginning of days or end of years, who is full of grace, equity, and truth.” These “were called after this holy order, and were sanctified, and their garments were washed white through the blood of the Lamb” (Alma 13:3, 9, 11). Even though the Savior had not actually come yet, His atonement was in force, and they were washed in the blood of the Lamb. These scriptures and others confirm that the infinite atonement of Christ was infinite in time stretching forward and backward to save and redeem all who would repent and have faith on His name.