The Atonement is Powerful

So few people understand the power of the atonement.  At least I didn't, until I read The Continuous Atonement by Brad Wilcox.  I grew up a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  I was taught about the atonement and how to use it to repent, but I don't think I really understood how far reaching it was until recently. 

"Christ makes all the difference.  He requires us to repent, but not as part of paying justice--only as part of helping us to change."  Repentance is changing who we are.  It is the process of becoming better--more like Christ.  Repentance needs to be a daily pattern in our lives. 

Brad Wilcox says that knowledge of the atonement is "the difference between merely existing and truly living, between stagnating and progressing." He writes about our ultimate goal in life. If it is just to return to live with God, then why did we leave in the first place? Our goal needs not to be with God, but to be like God. The atonement does more than just erase our sins, it makes us better than before.  "The atonement is not just to cleanse, but to complete; not just to comfort, but to compensate; not just to liberate, but to lift."  I love the idea of change.  It is something we learn from reading classics.  As we read and discuss great literature, we notice how the characters have changed and start to apply how we, too, can change.  Repentance is the process of change.

The atonement shows mercy.  When Adam and Eve took the fruit, God put a sword in front of the tree of life.  The sword was His mercy.  God wanted them to repent of their sins, not live forever in their sins.  He wanted them to have immortality AND eternal life not just immortality.  Immortality and eternal life together are better than immortality alone because those who receive it will be spending eternity with those they love and those who just get immortality will spend eternity alone.  The atonement allows for mercy to overpower justice.  But it isn't automatic.  We need to do the work.  We need to pray, humble ourselves, be charitable, have patience, repent and bear our afflictions.  (Alma 42)

The atonement is more than just for repentance.  President Packer says "the atonement is an ever-present power to call upon in everyday life."  It covers us when we feel worthless and inadequate, when we feel lost and discouraged, when we feel abused and hurt, and when we feel defenseless and abandoned.  This is the part of the book that resonated most with me.  When I'm feeling angry, I can turn to Christ and ask Him to take those feelings from me.  When I'm feeling inadequate, I can pray and ask Christ to lift me.  When I'm sad or alone, Christ will be there as long as I ask.  So many times I have forgotten this and suffered alone.  Now I pray to remember and can be found on my knees many time during a day.  The atonement is a precious gift that Christ has given to everyone.  Don't let it be a waste.  Remember to use it.