My testimony of Christ started a long time ago. I was taught the gospel from my earliest days. At the Christmas season when I was about 12 years old, I remember our congregation was singing a simple Christmas carol.
Once in royal David’s city
stood a lowly cattle shed
where a mother laid her baby
in a manger for his bed.
Mary was that mother mild,
Jesus Christ her little child.
When we sang the third verse, something happened to me that I had never experienced before.
And our eyes at last shall see Him
through His own redeeming love
for that child, so dear and gentle
is our Lord in Heaven above.
And he leads his children on
to the place where he is gone.
I sang “and our eyes at last shall see Him” and was immediately overcome with the truth of that statement. I could no longer sing. I could only mouth the words until the hymn ended. Tears rushed down my face and the idea that I would see Him with my own eyes filled me with such joy and testimony that I will never forget it.
Now, I was very young. I had very little experience with sin and repentance. I certainly had no experience with death. I was not a penitent sinner or a despairing world weary soul longing for comfort. I was simply a child who wants at the most basic level what all of us want—to see Him again.
As far as I remember, that is how my testimony of the Savior began.
And so today I ask, how is it that we, imperfect humans living in the 21st century, will see with our own eyes a man who died two thousand years ago in a land far away?
I know that we are here today largely because we believe that this church answers this question for us with clarity and truth. But I want to talk a bit about the answers.
1. Jesus Christ died.
I know that no one would dispute about that point, but it is very important. He was the only begotten of the Father in the flesh. That means that if he chose, he had the power NOT to die. He died because he chose to do so.
Here’s how Abinadi (a great prophet we learn about in the Book of Mormon) teaches this: And after all this, after working many mighty miracles among the children of men, he shall be led, yea, even as Isaiah said, as a sheep before the shearer is dumb, so he opened not his mouth.
Yea, even so he shall be led, crucified, and slain, the flesh becoming subject even unto death, the will of the Son being swallowed up in the will of the Father.
He submitted himself to be crucified brutally and then voluntarily gave up the ghost. Matthew 27:50 reads: Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost.
This means, literally, that he allowed his spirit to depart from his body and was physically dead.
The scriptures teach us that he had to die. But we’ll talk more about that in a little bit.
2. Jesus Christ, the child born in a lowly stable, lives today.
That is the celebration of this day, our ultimate reason for rejoicing evermore. That one who died lives again and that eternally. We know He lives in part because of the witness of prophets who have seen Him.
This is Joseph Smith’s account of seeing Him in 1832:
And while we meditated upon these things, the Lord touched the eyes of our understandings and they were opened, and the glory of the Lord shone round about.
And saw the holy angels, and them who are sanctified before his throne, worshiping God, and the Lamb, who worship him forever and ever.
And now, after the many testimonies which have been given of him, this is the testimony, last of all, which we give of him: That he lives!
For we saw him, even on the right hand of God; and we heard the voice bearing record that he is the Only Begotten of the Father—
That by him, and through him, and of him, the worlds are and were created, and the inhabitants thereof are begotten sons and daughters unto God.
Joseph Smith writes also of having seen him in the Kirtland Temple and describes the resurrected Lord this way:
We saw the Lord standing upon the breastwork of the pulpit, before us; and under his feet was a paved work of pure gold, in color like amber.
His eyes were as a flame of fire; the hair of his head was white like the pure snow; his countenance shone above the brightness of the sun; and his voice was as the sound of the rushing of great waters, even the voice of Jehovah, saying:
I am the first and the last; I am he who liveth, I am he who was slain; I am your advocate with the Father.
Because I know that Joseph Smith truly was a prophet called of God, and because the Holy Ghost has borne witness to me of what I have just shared, I can testify that these accounts are true. And that Christ lives. I haven’t seen him myself, but I cannot deny the workings of the Holy Ghost upon my soul, confirming that these things are true. He lives today.
3. If we are to see Him with our own eyes, He had to die and he had to rise again.
In Helaman 14:15 we read: For behold, he surely must die that salvation may come; yea, it behooveth him and becometh expedient that he dieth, to bring to pass the resurrection of the dead, that thereby men may be brought into the presence of the Lord.
Or, we can read in Mosiah 16: 6-10
And now if Christ had not come into the world, speaking of things to come as though they had already come, there could have been no redemption.
And if Christ had not risen from the dead, or have broken the bands of death that the grave should have no victory, and that death should have no sting, there could have been no resurrection.
But there is a resurrection, therefore the grave hath no victory, and the sting of death is swallowed up in Christ.
He is the light and the life of the world; yea, a light that is endless, that can never be darkened; yea, and also a life which is endless, that there can be no more death.
Even this mortal shall put on immortality, and this corruption shall put on incorruption, and shall be brought to stand before the bar of God, to be judged of him according to their works whether they be good or whether they be evil—
These scriptures explain with great clarity how essential Christ’s death and resurrection are to us all. We talk a great deal about his Atonement—about his suffering in Gethsemane and his agonizing death. But we must not forget that the Resurrection is part of the Atonement. Indeed, it is the culmination of the Atonement. Without it, the suffering in Gethsemane and on the cross would have been in vain.
So, the resurrection is an essential part of the atonement. And the atonement is essential to our hope of salvation and exaltation with him in the eternal world. In the words of Elder Christofferson, a modern-day apostle of Jesus Christ, “We must never forget what He did for us, for without his Atonement and Resurrection, life would have no meaning. With his Atonement and Resurrection, however, our lives have eternal divine possibilities.”
4. Christ’s Resurrection overcame death.
Almost without exception, whenever I sing or hear a hymn that states that Christ triumphs over death, that the grave has no victory, I always feel a strong confirmation of the Holy Ghost that it is true. I have a firm belief that death is not the end, that it can have no lasting power over us because of our Savior Jesus Christ. As it says in Isaiah 25:8, He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces.
Or, as we just read, He is the light and the life—a life which is endless, that there can be no more death.
One hymn I especially love was written by President Gordon B. Hinckley. The first verse reads
I know that my redeemer lives, triumphant Savior, Son of God,
victorious over pain and death, my king my leader and my Lord.
Time and again, as I worship in song, the truth of Christ’s triumph over death comes powerfully to my heart and mind. And I cling to it with all my faith and hope.
In teaching about hope, the prophet Mormon asks
And what is it that ye shall hope for? Behold I say unto you that ye shall have hope through the atonement of Christ and the power of his resurrection, to be raised unto life eternal.
And so we come to the last hymn I want to share with you today, a hymn that doesn’t speak explicitly about the resurrection, but which I have come to associate with my belief in the power of the resurrection.
At the time of my father’s death, my other sister sang this at his funeral. She somehow had the courage and strength to get through it, despite the emotions of the circumstances. I love the words and will always remember the sweet sound of her voice bringing me this message of peace and hope.
Be still, my soul: The Lord is on thy side;
With patience bear thy cross of grief or pain.
Leave to thy God to order and provide;
In ev'ry change he faithful will remain.
Be still, my soul: Thy best, thy heav'nly Friend
Thru thorny ways leads to a joyful end.
Be still, my soul: The hour is hast'ning on
When we shall be forever with the Lord,
When disappointment, grief, and fear are gone,
Sorrow forgot, love's purest joys restored.
Be still, my soul: When change and tears are past,
All safe and blessed we shall meet at last.
Christ lives. The tomb was empty that Sunday morning. Through His redeeming love, our eyes at last shall see Him. If we can but follow Him, love’s purest joys will all be restored to us and we shall be forever with the Risen Lord.
I pray that we will center our lives around Him, learn of Him, and rely upon Him. And I testify that this is His church. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
