Day 205 The Atonement: Infinite Scope, Intimate Nature

In Matthew 5:13, Jesus tells his followers that they are the salt of the earth, and in the same sentence offers a warning that savorless salt is good for nothing. Join me in an attempt to be savory salt as I share each day one verse of scripture and one small thought. Perhaps this small daily emphasis can lead to greater savor in your life and ultimately you and I can be savory salt.

Hello, my friends and family, wherever you're listening from. Thank you for joining me and know that I'm cheering for your every success. Welcome to day 205 on our 365 day journey through the Book of Mormon together.

Today, you're going to be reading Alma chapter 34, verses 1 through 14. And Amulek is going to deliver some of the most powerful verses that we have on the Atonement of Jesus Christ, the Gospel of Christ, and specifically inside of its infinite and eternal power in our lives. I want to dive straight into this because today I'm actually going to add inside of the comments of this podcast episode a link to a devotional that was given in 2005 by Robert Millet.

And in this devotional, it is titled, "The Atonement of Christ, Infinite in Scope, Intimate in Nature." And what we are going to take a look at inside of this is our verse for today, and then I want to make sure that I give you some time to go over there and read his view of the infinite Atonement of Jesus Christ as he includes many incredible thoughts from presidents of the Church, from prophets that have testified, and from of course the Book of Mormon itself. Our verse for today is Alma chapter 34, verse 9. To the great plan of the eternal God there must be an Atonement made, or else all mankind must unavoidably perish.

Yea, all are hardened, yea, all are fallen and are lost, and must perish except it be through the Atonement which it is expedient should be made. Now this is just the intro that Amulek is posing here to the Atonement in its infinite and eternal nature. Remember that Amulek and Alma are living before Christ has come, so they're going to be speaking of it in a sense that it hasn't happened yet, and yet their verbiage here suggests that they understand that whether it's happened yet or not, the infinite power of this Atonement goes through all time and space.

And it's very hard for us to comprehend how that works. But the challenge I want to provide for you today is what if it's not about understanding it? What if it's simply about believing it and seeing what it means for us in our lives?

Inside of Robert Millet's talk, he gives this from C.S. Lewis, and I want to provide just this snippet, and then I want to make sure that you got the link and the time to dive into it yourself. It says: "Now think about what Amulek is saying.

The Atonement of Christ is infinite and eternal in the sense that it seems almost to defy human law and human logic." The great Christian thinker C.S. Lewis put it this way. He said, "Among the Jews, there suddenly turns up a man who goes about talking as if he were God.

I mean, he claims to forgive sins. He says he has always existed. He says he's coming to judge the world at the end of time.

Now, unless the speaker is God, this is really so preposterous as to be comic. We can all understand how a man forgives offenses against himself. You tread on my toes and I forgive you.

You steal my money and I forgive you. But what should we make of a man himself unrobbed and untrodden upon, who announced that he forgave you for treading on other men's toes and stealing other men's money. He told people that their sins were forgiven and never waited to consult all the other people whom their sins were undoubtedly injured.

He unhesitatingly behaved as if he were the party chiefly concerned, the person chiefly offended in all offenses. This makes sense only, C.S. Lewis said, if he really was the God whose laws were broken and whose love is wounded in every sin." There is some great introspect there to dive into.

And then he says, the Atonement is timeless. The Atonement defies human law and logic. The Atonement overcomes the universal thing we know as death.

Now that's only a fraction of this talk. I want to give you time to dive into this devotional. I want to testify again to you that I believe in the Atonement of Jesus Christ.

I don't know exactly how it works, but I don't need to know exactly how it works. What I do feel and believe inside of me is that it does work, that I can receive forgiveness for my shortcomings and that the offenses against me, I can find forgiveness in as well. I hope you can find that and feel the love, and I hope that this devotional uplifts you.

That's all for today, my friends. Remember that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass. Keep it small, keep it simple, and always seek to be savory salt. I'll be here tomorrow and I hope you are too.