Jesus Is the Christ

My brethren and sisters, those who are before me and those who are on the air: I rejoice with you in the glorious inspiration that we had in the morning session and for the encouragement which it gave to us as to the way in which we are regarded in the world, and as to the duty which that imposes upon us, and for the other instructions which we received. It is my earnest desire and my prayer that I may be able to say something today that will be fruitful, that will build up our faith, and that will, I hope, call attention to one great principle which I think is at the base, one of the two great incidents that are at the base of all that we believe and all that we know. ¶

Paul, speaking to the Corinthians, in the beginning of his First Epistle, thanked God that he had only baptized two of them in Corinth, Crispus and Gaius, and he more or less repudiated the rest of them because of their paganism and their unbelief. Very early in his First Epistle he told them about how he felt about this. He said: "For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified." (I Cor. 2:2.) And if you would read in this connection, and I hope you will, the fifteenth chapter of First Corinthians, dealing with the resurrection, you will read there one of the great, masterful sermons that have been preached in the world on the resurrection, in which, with searching logic and great argument, Paul showed how vain was all we believed and all we taught if Christ was not resurrected. ¶

I recall, also, in this connection, those words of Peter at the time he and John had gone to visit the Temple. As they started inward from the Court of the Gentiles to the Court of the Women, there at the Gate Beautiful, which was the entrance, they came to a beggar who seemingly had been brought there for years. He made his living by what he got begging from those who went in. Peter and John stopped a moment, said to him: "Look on us," and he, expecting to receive alms from them, looked up, and Peter said to him: "Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk." And he reached down and took the man by the hand, and as the man came to his feet, his feet and his ankles straightened, and he walked and leaped for joy and praised God. (See Acts 3:1-8.) ¶

The Jewish rulers could not endure this challenge. Peter and John were arrested, thrown into jail, and then, when morning came, they were called before Annas, the real high priest, Caiaphas, his son-in-law, who was the titular high priest, made so by the Roman government, with John and Alexander, and others, kindred of the high priest, and the others who were members of the Sanhedrin. These demanded of Peter and John by what power and by what name they had done these things. (See ibid., 4:1-12.) Peter, who made their defense, said: ". . . by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified." And added: "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." (Ibid., 4:10, 12.) ¶

Today the great Christian world are retreating from their early and true belief in Jesus as the Christ. They are explaining him in different ways. They are taking away from him his divinity. One great church is loosening, apparently, the bands which they formerly had that bound them to Jesus Christ, by setting up in his place the mother of Jesus, Mary. We of our faith know that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ. This is our knowledge. We must proclaim it at all times and under all circumstances. ¶

You know, it is not difficult to understand that the Christian world does not have the knowledge which we possess, because the Bible, the Old Testament, contains scant notice about the Christ and about his work. There are some glorious passages in the Psalms which describe his crucifixion, tell about his birth, but by and large there is not much told about him. Why should Jesus of Nazareth assume this tremendous place and importance in the Christian world, as described by Paul and Peter? Modern revelation has revealed this to us. ¶

I have not time, this is not the place, to undertake to discuss the Fall and the atonement, more than to say a few words. We know of the Grand Council, we know of the determinations there made, we know that the world was created in order that the spirits from the spirit world might come here and be tabernacled. We know of the placing of Adam in the Garden and the instruction which was given to him regarding the two trees. We know of the disobedience to the instruction with reference to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. I do not like to call it a transgression because the act that was done by Adam had been foreseen; and it had been planned before the world was that he would do all he did do. ¶

But an immortal being had disobeyed the commandment of the Lord. An immortal being had eaten the fruit. An immortal being had suffered the consequence. He and Eve became mortal, and she afterwards sang in a great hymn of praise, her gratitude for thus having disobeyed, because now they could have seed. (See Moses 5:11.) We know that by having seed they could go forward in fulfilling the plan that was originally mapped out in the Grand Council. Adam became mortal; spiritual death came to him; and mortal death came to him. This was the first great crisis in the history of mankind. Indeed, it may be said to have produced mankind. ¶

In order for him to get back to the place whence he began, it was necessary that there should be an atonement for this disobedience. Quite obviously, Adam could not retrace his steps; he could not un-eat. He was mortal. No matter how good any of his children might be, they, also mortal, had no more power than had he. So, to pay for the disobedience, it took a Being conceived by the Infinite, not subject to death as were Adam's posterity; someone to whom death was subject; someone born of woman but yet divine. He alone could make the sacrifice which would enable us to have our bodies and our spirits reunited in the due time of the Lord and then go back to the Father, thus reunited; and finally, body and spirit together, we might go on through all the eternities. ¶

Jesus of Nazareth was the one who was chosen before the world was, the Only Begotten of the Father, to come to earth to perform this service, to conquer mortal death which would atone for the Fall, that the spirit of man could recover his body, so reuniting them. (Note: Speaking to the multitude in Jerusalem, Jesus said: "Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father." [John 10:17-18.]) That is the reason why, however good any man, son of Adam, may have been, he could not do the things, make the atonement that would bring us back into the presence of our Heavenly Father. Again, he could not un-eat the fruit. Jesus was not the son of Adam, but of the Father. ¶

As John was baptizing in the Jordan, he saw Jesus approaching and exclaimed: ". . . Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." (Ibid., 1:29.) The record does not say sins. We frequently are told and understand that not alone did Christ atone for that "original sin," so-called, but that he atones for our sins, generally. As I understand it, so far as the resurrection is concerned, the overcoming of mortal death, he did atone for our sins. That is to say, no matter what we do here on earth, even though we commit the unpardonable sin, yet the atonement of Christ will for that purpose and to that end atone for our sins, and so will bring about our resurrection. But after the resurrection, then we have to be judged according to the deeds of the flesh, good or bad. On the judgment day we will receive our rewards or punishments; we must pay for our own sins. ¶

So as I conceive it, we must stand adamant for the doctrine of the atonement of Jesus the Christ, for the divinity of his conception, for his sinless life, and for, shall I say, the divinity of his death, his voluntary surrender of life. He was not killed; he gave up his life. You know, I think that all through his life, he gave evidences of his divinity, his divine powers and authority. It is true that frequently other prophets who were not divinely begotten had done some of his works. If you run it over in your mind, you will remember that by walking on the water he defied gravity. You will remember his control over the elements, the winds, and the waves, and the storm. You will remember the exercise of his creative powers, for he created food when he fed the five thousand and the four thousand, and he made wine out of water. You will remember how he cured the halt, the lame, the blind. You will recall how he brought life back to the lifeless. You will recall his great duel with Satan which he won. You will recall his great victory, when he died and was resurrected. ¶

I often think that one of the most beautiful things in the Christ's life was his words on the cross, when, suffering under the agony of a death that is said to have been the most painful that the ancients could devise, death on the cross, after he had been unjustly, illegally, contrary to all the rules of mercy, condemned and then crucified, when he had been nailed to the cross and was about to give up his life, he said to his Father in heaven, as those who were within hearing testify: ". . . Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do." (Luke 23:34.) ¶

It is our mission, perhaps the most fundamental purpose of our work, to bear constant testimony of Jesus the Christ. We must never permit to enter into our thoughts and certainly not into our teachings, the idea that he was merely a great teacher, a great philosopher, the builder of a great system of ethics. It is our duty, day after day, year in and year out, always to declare that Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ who brought redemption to the world and to all the inhabitants thereof. ¶

I bear my testimony that I know that God lives, that Jesus is the Christ, that he was divinely begotten, was born, lived his life, was crucified, and on the third day arose, the first fruits of the resurrection, thus making it possible for all of us to be resurrected. I bear my testimony that he, with the Father, appeared to the young Prophet and opened up the Dispensation of the Fulness of Times. I bear my testimony to the truth of the restored gospel. I bear my testimony to the restoration of the priesthood. I bear my testimony that the keys and powers which Joseph the Prophet held as President of the Church, as prophet, seer, and revelator, have come down from him until now with the Presidency of this Church, down to and including our present President, David O. McKay. ¶

God give us all increasingly, day by day, this testimony. God give us the power and the faith and the courage always to declare, Jesus is the Christ, the only name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. This is one of the prime duties of this people. That we may fulfil it and meet it unto the last degree, I humbly pray, in the name of Jesus. Amen. ¶