This week’s Gospel Doctrine lesson discusses the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. As we ponder this topic, I would first like to address what this significant event means to each and every one of us.
Like the Atonement, the events that occurred on the first day of the week many years ago did not affect only the Savior. When He reunited His body and His spirit, He made it possible for each and every one of us to do so likewise. In 1 Corinthians 15:20-22, Jesus is called “the firstfruits” of those risen from the dead. Similarly, in Alma 11: 42, we read that “Christ shall loose the bands of this temporal death, that all shall be raised from this temporal death.” When Christ overcame death, He made it possible for every single one of us to obtain this gift, as well.
President Ezra Taft Benson stated, “The greatest events of history are those which affect the greatest number for the longest periods. By this standard, no event could be more important to individuals or nations than the Resurrection of the Master. The eventual resurrection of every soul who has lived and died on earth is a scriptural certainty” (The Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson [1988], 15).
We know that Heavenly Father sent us to Earth with a great and divine plan that would ultimately lead us back to His presence, and help us to become more like Him. But becoming more like Him is quite difficult; in fact, without the help of our Savior, it is impossible. We know that God the Father has a perfected physical body. To be like Him, we must also have a physical body. And so we were sent to Earth.
However, when Adam and Eve were banished from Eden, death entered the world. This death meant that, at some point, our spirits and our bodies would separate. Once we die, we are not like our Father; we are spirits only, and lack bodies. Thanks to the resurrection of Christ, all men are able to regain their bodies. In fact, Alma teaches his son Corianton that “all things shall be restored to their proper and perfect frame” (Alma 40:23). Thus, when we are resurrected (after the Second Coming of Christ), we will not only have our bodies, we will have our perfected bodies. With these bodies, we will stand in the presence of God and be judged of our sins.
The resurrection is a gift that all may take of without effort. All men – those that believe and those that do not – are given this gift simply because Christ loves us. The resurrection gives us the ability to literally stand in the presence of God, and to have our bodies throughout all eternity.
For other blogs on this week’s Sunday School lesson, click on the Gospel Doctrine link at right.
Related Articles:
Gospel Doctrine: “Thou That Destroyeth the Temple…”
General Conference: “I Know That My Redeemer Lives!”