I think this is one of the most fascinating and inspirational things about Christ and His nature and perfection. He never does anything other than the will of the Father. The Temple endowment makes this so starkly plain. In all the wonderful, powerful, majestic and inspirational things He has done, He always gives the Father the credit, having done it all at the Father's behest.2 And because he dwelleth in flesh he shall be called the Son of God, and having subjected the flesh to the will of the Father, being the Father and the Son—
It might, from our mortal and western perspective be assumed then, that He was completely bereft of freedom. Instead, it turns out, He is the freest of us all. Elder Boyd K. Packer observed:
Perhaps the greatest discovery of my life, without question the greatest commitment, came when finally I had the confidence in God that I would loan or yield my agency to him - without compulsion or pressure, without any duress, as a single individual alone, by myself, no counterfeiting, nothing expected other than the privilege. In a sense, speaking figuratively, to take one's agency, that precious gift which the scriptures make plain is essential to life itself, and say, 'I will do as you direct,' is afterward to learn that in so doing you possess it all the more" (Obedience, Brigham Young University Speeches of the Year [Dec. 7, 1971], 4)It seems to me that ultimately, it comes down to this or rebellion.
26 But behold, and fear, and tremble before God, for ye ought to tremble; for the Lord redeemeth none such that rebel against him and die in their sins; yea, even all those that have perished in their sins ever since the world began, that have wilfully rebelled against God, that have known the commandments of God, and would not keep them; these are they that have no part in the first resurrection.As Amulek will tell us Christ does not redeem us in our sins but from them. We will sin. We must be willing to let Him redeem us. We must be willing to let Him change us. We must be willing to surrender our will to Him. I tremble that too often, I reject Him anew.
2 comments:
Thank you, Candleman. I've been worry surrender like a dog with a bone. I don't know that I will ever 'get there', 'figure it out'.
My thoughts:
4 And they are aone God, yea, the very bEternal cFather of heaven and of earth.
Being born in the church I have a very fuzzy line drawn between what is common belief among all Christians and what is specific to our church. We know that the Godhead consists of 3 distinct individuals, one in mind and purpose. I wonder why this has been effectively veiled from the rest of Christendom. I read an internet article that explained why Mormons were not Christians, and this was one of the things on the list. It said we were not monotheistic, but that we believed in many Gods, and even aspired to Godhood ourselves. I realized as I read all of this, that most people, even those who recognize the Savior, do not KNOW who they are. I expect in a way, it is Father in Heaven protecting them, because knowledge is responsibility, but, as for me, I am glad to know I am a part of His family.
Two things about agency. One -- it is never "free" -- as either we or Christ (if we choose to accept his atonement) have to pay for the choices we make; and two -- the only thing we truly possess is our agency, and so that is the only thing we can actually give to the Lord that He didn't already own!
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