Understanding the Atonement of Christ

Guo Nian

When I was a boy, I was a voracious reader, particularly of any mystery in the world. I was a collector of X-Files long before that was even a thing. So when I started studying anthropology after my mission, I naturally gravitated towards studying myths, legends, and folklore. When my oldest daughter, my wife and I lived in Taiwan and we experienced our first Chinese New Year, I was very interested when a good friend explained the celebration of guo nian, or the passing of the year. This story may be familiar to you in more ways than one. I will tell you the way it was told to me:

Once upon a time, an old man came to a village. The people of the village were very, very sad and the old man asked them what was wrong. They were somewhat surprised that the old man had not heard, but replied saying, “Each year a monster named Nian comes and devours people in the village. We can do nothing to stop him and cannot run away, so we are sad.” The old man said, “I will go and stop this beast.” The villagers were again surprised and doubted, “This monster cannot be stopped. Surely he will eat you as well.” And the old man left them as sad as when he came.

Sure enough, the old man found the monster, Nian, stomping towards the village. He cried out, “Nian, you cannot go and eat the people of the village anymore.” The Nian simply laughed: “You cannot stop me. I will eat you up as well.” The old man said, “I am just an old man and it is no big thing to eat me, but turn around and let me take off my outer clothing so I will taste better.” The Nian compliantly turned around. (I find it intensely humorous that a ruthless bloodthirsty monster is also a respecter of modesty.) When he turned back the monster recoiled from the old man in shock. “NO!” he cried. The old man, wearing a red undergarment, said, “I knew it! I knew you were afraid of the color red.”

Back at the village that night, the people’s hearts grew sadder as they heard the monster approaching. Fearing for their lives they hopelessly hid themselves, knowing Nian could still find them. But this time, they heard a voice call out to them. As they peeked to see, they saw the old man riding the Nian! He called, “Rejoice! I know how you can defeat this monster. He is afraid of red!” They shouted for joy because they were so happy. The old man taught them to place red on top and sides of their doorways and gather as a family to eat a meal together each year. By doing this the Nian would pass them by.

And so each Chinese New Year, Chinese families do just that. Red banners are placed on the top and sides of the doorway and they gather as families to eat a meal and celebrate the passing of the Nian, thanks to the wisdom of this old man whom they revered as a god.

This theme can be found, with striking similarity, in the Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi chapter 9:

10 O how great the goodness of our God, who prepareth a way for our escape from the grasp of this awful monster; yea, that monster, death and hell, which I call the death of the body, and also the death of the spirit. 

26 For the atonement satisfieth the demands of his justice upon all those who have not the law given to them, that they are delivered from that awful monster, death and hell … and they are restored to that God who gave them breath, which is the Holy One of Israel.1

Understanding the Purpose of the Atonement

I’ve been fond of asking the Young Men repeatedly what the purpose of life is. I hope any one of them could answer the question now. In short, the reason we are here is to become like our Father in Heaven. We are here to fulfill His work and His glory, bringing to pass our immortality and eternal life.2 It was necessary for us to have a mortal experience, to test us and see if we would do all things which the Lord has commanded.3 The Fall of Adam brought about those conditions through which the test could be applied.4 But those conditions of “opposition in all things”5 were also the same which condemned us never to return to our Father in Heaven, since all would die and remain separated from their bodies6, and all would sin and remain separated from God, stopping our progression.7 It would have been akin to throwing us in the monster’s lair to test us knowing that we would not survive. The monster death and hell would have all power over us, terrorizing us forever and ever.8 But all of this was foreseen by our Father in Heaven and His love for us was so great, He sent His Only Begotten Son to atone for us, and prepare the way for our escape.9

Of course, unlike the story of Chinese New Year, the banners and the garment in the story of the Atonement are dyed red from being soaked in the blood of the Lamb of God,10 applied to lives and homes who believe on His name. Christ bore all of the consequences of sin, and subdued the monster only by exhausting it, interceding between it and every single person,11 until the beast had no more power. As the Only Begotten Son of God in the flesh, he was the only one who could possibly have accomplished this task, the only one who could have endured the suffering of so many.12 Even death could not win. He came back, the only one who could unlock the gates for everyone to be resurrected.13

The Atonement was so complete, He even bore the collateral damage we suffer from the sins of others. Because of the Atonement, we need not live in constant hiding from the monster’s minions: wraiths and specters of fear, doubt, pain, sickness, and grief.14 We can confidently face them because the Savior is our protector. If we turn to Him, He will always strengthen us, help us, give us aid, and comfort us.15 He is the ultimate Patronus to our personal Dementors that we have no need of a magic wand or incantation to conjure. All we need to do is seek Him, not even with words, but with a broken heart and a contrite spirit that yearns for His protection.16

From the Infinite to Now

The Atonement was prepared before the foundations of the world, and is itself an infinite Atonement,17 performed by the Great I AM, the First and the Last, our Lord, Jesus Christ. Just as there is little wonder why the concept shows up in legend and myth in cultures all over the world, there is also no surprise, particularly as we live in a world that is increasingly disconnecting itself from its divine origins, as to why we find this eternal and epic event difficult to apply to the every day.

How do we take what we so often understand as infinite and divine and apply it to what we view as momentary and earthly? How does understanding the Atonement help us bring Christ, the Savior and Redeemer of all mankind into our seemingly mundane lives?

Embracing Others in the Arms of Mercy

The answer is actually very simple. Our Father offers us the opportunity to become like Him because He loves us.18 He sent His Only Begotten to overcome death and hell because He loves us.19 The Savior declared: “By this shall men know, ye are my disciples if ye have love one to another.”20 The answer is simply: love.

President Eyring taught in the General Women’s Session of Conference: “We grow closer to the Savior as we, out of pure love, serve others for Him.”21

Think for a moment about one of the symbols of both love and atonement. The symbol of love is the embrace.

In an Ensign article, Hugh Nibley explained one way in which this symbol is manifest in the Middle East and in the Book of Mormon. He says:

It was the custom for one fleeing for his life in the desert to seek protection in the tent of a great sheik, crying out, “I am thy suppliant,” whereupon the host would place the hem of his robe over the guest’s shoulder and declare him under his protection. In one instance in the Book of Mormon we see Nephi fleeing from an evil enemy that is pursuing him. In great danger, he prays the Lord to give him an open road in the low way, to block his pursuers, and to make them stumble. He comes to the Lord as a suppliant: “O Lord, wilt thou encircle me around in the robe of thy righteousness! O Lord, wilt thou make a way for mine escape before mine enemies!” (2 Ne. 4:33.) In reply, according to the ancient custom, the Master would then place the hem of his robe protectively over the kneeling man’s shoulder. This puts him under the Lord’s protection from all enemies. They embrace in a close hug, as Arab chiefs still do; the Lord makes a place for him (see Alma 5:24) and invites him to sit down beside him—they are at-one.22

This imagery is used throughout the scriptures in various ways, as the Lord says that his arms of mercy are outstretched towards His people or as Lehi says: “the Lord hath redeemed my soul from hell; I have beheld his glory, and I am encircled about eternally in the arms of his love.”23

We can embrace others in the arms of our love in the smallest of ways even to those considered “the least of these”.24 Sister Esplin said in the General Women's Session:

“Showing love and service doesn’t have to be big and grandiose to be meaningful and make a difference. … Some of you listening may feel stretched to capacity ministering to the needs of family members. Remember, in those routine and often mundane tasks, you are ‘in the service of your God’”.25

Sometimes we may find it difficult to know exactly what we can do for another. Again the Savior has the answer as he said, “for the works which ye have seen me do that shall ye also do; for that which ye have seen me do even that shall ye do.”26 We have His example to emulate in all things, another way in which we bring Christ into our lives.

Sometimes it seems hard, and we may think our physical or spiritual limitations will keep us from performing these acts of love. I believe that the act of crucifixion was placed in the hearts of the people of the time by Satan, who wanted to physically show that Jesus was no Savior as His hands were nailed down, outstretched, but unable to embrace His people. Of course, even on the cross, He was still concerned for His mother and found someone to care for her.27 He forgave His tormentors.28 He comforted those suffering on the cross with Him.29 His love for us, shown in very personal, individual ways could not be contained, or held back by mere nails, or any monster. We have Him to embrace us. That means we can use His love to help us embrace others no matter what our circumstances.

The Worth of Souls

Understanding the Atonement helps us to see that “the worth of souls is great in the sight of God. For, behold, the Lord your Redeemer suffered death in the flesh; wherefore he suffered the pain of all men, that all men might repent and come unto him.”30

Elder Ballard said in a recent article:

“I believe that if we could truly understand the Atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ, we would realize how precious is one son or daughter of God. I believe our Heavenly Father’s everlasting purpose for His children is generally achieved by the small and simple things we do for one another.”31

One of those small and simple things is doing work for our ancestors in the temple. Another is simply forgiving, allowing for the second, third and four hundred and ninety number of chances32 that the Atonement enables. This includes forgiving ourselves and trying again when we fail. Our Savior gave his life so that we could repent and try again. Our love for Him should include honoring that sacrifice by not giving up on ourselves or each other.

I don’t know how the judgment works logistically, but I like to imagine a queue of people behind the one being judged, as evidence of all those that they have helped bring to Christ through acts of forgiveness and love. Do not be surprised when you look behind you and see me being counted as one of the many souls that your examples and your teachings have caused to repent and brought to Christ. My joy, at least, will be great standing in that line.33 And my heart will be grateful.

How Understanding the Atonement Brings Christ into My Life

I feel the Lord has blessed me as I have sought to understand the Atonement in my own life. He has used many different symbols to teach me. In addition to those used in the scriptures, I’ve personally been taught by a combination of the Spirit and such things as Chinese legends, talent shows, Russian olive trees, and an epic fail making a pancake in a rice cooker. Stories for another day. But I felt impressed to end with a recent event.

Last month, we received a call that Mee’s (my wife's) stepfather, sick in a Seattle hospital for weeks, was not going to make it past the following morning. I felt strongly impressed that I needed to give him a blessing even though he was not a member, and not even a believer in Christianity. I offered to drive my wife and my sister-in-law, Mai, through the night to make sure we could get there by morning.

When we arrived at his hospital bed, after asking my mother-in-law’s permission, I laid my hands on his unconscious head amidst a tangled array of tubes and wires. As I pronounced blessings upon him, that he would not be afraid and would be greeted by his ancestors in the spirit world, that he would one day have a perfect body not subject to sickness and death, and that in that body he would again see and embrace his family, a thought came very clearly to my mind.

I had always viewed my father-in-law as a flawed individual, choosing to define him only by some of his less-than-perfect choices. But at that moment, the Lord granted me a gift, to see him as God did, to feel the love that He has for a precious son who had a difficult mortal experience. I blessed him to know that he was a good man who loved his family and cared for his daughters. His transgressions were certainly no more and possibly substantially less than my own.

I know that this was the Atonement at work. Jesus Christ paid the price for him, subduing the monster of hell, so that he could live in the glory of the Lord. And though it would seem as if the relentless monster death had won this victory, I know that his state is only temporary; it is just a moment before he rises again as he is made alive in Christ, a blessing granted to him and to all of us by the Resurrection of our Lord.

Some day I will stand and embrace my fathers-in-law, both my wife’s father and stepfather and we will rejoice together. And in our then perfect bodies, with all of my family, we will kneel at the feet of our Savior, where I will gladly confess that He is the Christ, the One who has paid for my sins with his precious blood, and spilled even more that He may know how to bear me up in my sorrows and pain in this life. But I imagine another moment, one where I can personally embrace Jesus, and recognize, one more time, the arms of mercy that I’ve felt all of my life.

I know He lives. He is my own Alpha and Omega for whom I am so grateful that His great love, and the love of my Father in Heaven, prepared a way for me to be with Him again. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.